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One of my favorite times of year. Maybe I'll make it through the entire marathon this year (I doubt it).
All times in EDT.
MONDAY:
Virginia at George Washington, 7:30 PM, ESPN2
Not a pushover by any stretch. We'll see how good this UVA team is. I suspect they're really really good and win this game.
San Diego State at Utah, 9:30 PM, ESPN2
Jakob. Motherfucking. Poeltl. This team, even after losing Delon Wright, is still stacked. I don't expect an upset here.
Baylor at Oregon, 11:30 PM, ESPN2
I'd made an upset call on the podcast, but Oregon might be without Dylan Ellis, and Baylor just *crushed* a good Stephen F. Austin Team soooooooo yeah, I'm gonna row back on that.
TUESDAY:
BYU at Long Beach State, 1:45 AM, ESPN2
This isn't Casper Ware's LBSU team. It probably won't be close, so this might be a good spot for a nap.
Nevada at Hawaii, 4 AM, ESPN2
Hawaii might be the rep in the tournament for the Big West... but really, neither team is likely to bring anything interesting to the tournament in March, so the nap could continue here.
Green Bay at East Tennessee State, 6 AM, ESPN2
Green Bay would have to upset Valpo to make the tournament, as Valpo is looking really good. Might be a close game with Green Bay on the road though-- maybe wake up from your nap to check the second half score.
Stephen F. Austin at Northern Iowa, 8 AM, ESPN2
WAKE UP CALL. Both teams coming off surprising losses-- SFA not because they lost, but because they lost by *42,* and UNI falling to Colorado State in ugly fashion. Home court advantage makes me lean Northern Iowa here, but still a lot of questions with this team in the post-Seth Tuttle era. Should be a great game.
Valparaiso at Rhode Island, 10 AM, ESPN2
Was set to be another great game... but Rhode Island leader E.C. Matthews just tore his ACL, and Valpo just crushed a good Iona team. I like Valpo to pull off the road win.
Alabama at Dayton, 1 PM, ESPN
Avery Johnson's first big game with Alabama, but even though Dayton lost some talent from last year's impressive game, I still expect them to win.
Colorado at Auburn, 3 PM, ESPN
Auburn still isn't quite where Bruce Pearl can get them, and Colorado looked mighty impressive in a close loss to Iowa State on Friday. Buffs get the road win.
DePaul at Penn State, 5 PM, ESPNU
Don't really know much about either team. KenPom has these teams ranked 117th and 118th, respectively. Could be a close game. *shrug* I'll pick Penn State exclusively out of home court advantage.
Oklahoma at Memphis, 5 PM, ESPN
Might be the start of the Pastner Farewell Tour. Oklahoma is super good this year. Memphis may have some advantage on the inside, where Oklahoma isn't as deep, but this one shouldn't be close unless the Sooners are very rusty.
Kentucky vs Duke, 7:30 PM, ESPN
THE BIG ONE. No clue what to expect. I was pretty convinced Duke would lose after their first outing, because the open 3 balls simply were not falling... but the team shot much much better in the Bryant game, so I'm encouraged. Haven't gotten to watch the UK games yet, so this may be my first exposure to many of their players. I like that Duke showed a real commitment to interior defense and offensive rebounding in the first two games, and Ingram is a nightmare in the passing lanes. I wouldn't be surprised by plenty of zone tonight from K, to make UK beat us from the outside instead of in the paint (and to protect Amile/Plumlee from foul trouble). Not making a pick, but since I've gone from thinking Duke would definitely lose to feeling encouraged about our chances, that makes me much more excited for the game.
Georgetown at Maryland, 9 PM, ESPN2
I don't think this Georgetown team is *nearly* as bad as they were against Radford. They didn't have Paul White, and they had *so many* open shots for the win, and Radford made *so many* tough contested shots for the win. It was one of those games where everything went right for the underdog and wrong for the favorite. (LJ Peak also looked a little lethargic, which I don't expect for their second outing.) Even though I expect Maryland to win the Big 10, I have a number of questions about how this team works together-- is Sulaimon a realistic backup PG? what do they do about guard depth? can they keep turnovers down? will Layman be consistent this season? It would be a surprise if the Hoyas win this game on the heels of that embarrassing loss, but with Paul White back and the Hoyas absolutely pissed, I'd expect it to be close, and don't be surprised if they find a way to pull off the major upset.
Kansas vs Michigan State, 10 PM, ESPN
I'd love for Diallo to get approved before this game, but it's not looking likely. If they had Diallo, I don't think the game would be very close. Even though they likely won't, Kansas still may have some interior advantage over a shorthanded MSU frontcourt-- who can stop Perry Ellis? KU is deep, talent-wise, with a ton of backcourt options who can shoot as well. I can't see Izzo pulling off this W... but it's Izzo. Anything's possible, I suppose.
CAN'T. WAIT.
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