November 13: Duke vs Kentucky- Names mean everything, and Duke and
Kentucky are two of the biggest. This game will tip off in the finale
of the marathon, 30 minutes after Kansas and Michigan State (more
than enough time for fans to process through the refractory period).
Nerlens Noel, Alex Poythress & Archie Goodwin (all in the top 20
the 2012 recruiting class) take the court against Duke, who, though
not throwing any top 10 recruits onto the court (Rasheed Sulaimon and
Amile Jefferson are #12 & #25 respectively) have the ACC Player
of The Year front-runner in Mason Plumlee leading the team. Coach K
is happy he didn't leave, add Seth Curry into the mix, and this game
should be exciting.
November 13: Kansas vs Michigan State- Second-last game in the ESPN
Tip-Off Marathon, Champions Classic in the Georgia Dome. Both teams
are very alike: Tom Izzo always puts together a good team, and has
proven over the past decade that he should not be overlooked come
tournament time. Draymond Green isn't there anymore, so it will be
interesting to see what Michigan State will do without such a focal
piece of their team. The same can be said about Bill Self and Kansas.
Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor are off in the NBA. First game of
the year, and both teams are unsure about their teams offense and
leadership.
November 28- Ohio St. @ Duke- ACC vs Big 10 Challenge, two big name
teams, NCAA tournament resume-building game, what more is there to
like? All-Americans leading both teams? Yes! Aaron Craft versus Seth
Curry will be interesting, while Deshaun Thomas will have even more
trouble with Mason Plumlee. Not much more to say about this game,
except, can't wait for this one.
December 15- Louisville @ Memphis- A different border battle, but
equally as good. Memphis may be missing Will Burton, but they still
are a fast, dangerous team, who will most likely win the Conference
USA regular season and conference tournament championships in their
final year as a member. Tarik Black and Joe Jackson are back, leading
a home-grown group of talent against Big East favorite, Louisville.
Peyton Siva and Gorgui Dieng are the reasons why the Cardinals are
picked to win the Big East this year, and Siva's leadership, along
with Dieng's presence in the middle will be key to the teams success.
If Memphis wants to make a statement, this is the game to do it.
December 15: Florida @ Arizona- Experience vs Youth. Arizona has the
third best recruiting classes this year (four ESPN Top 100 players:
Kaleb Tarczewski #4, Grant Jerrett #9, Brandon Ashley #16, Gabe York
#65) vs a Florida team that, even with losing two of their top three
scorers (Bradley Beal and Erving Walker), Florida returns top scorer
Kenny Boynton, as well as throw a lineup out there that has seven
players of junior class or higher (four which contributed 20 minutes
or more per game last year). It will be interesting to see how such a
young team deals with an experience and well-coached team. This may
come down to the coaches decisions regarding strategy and matchups.
It's not just Experience vs Youth on the court, it's also on the
sidelines.
December 22- Kansas @ Ohio St- Ohio State doesn't want to make their
out of conference schedule easy. Even in Columbus, this game will
resemble the Duke versus Ohio State game nearly one month earlier.
Jeff Withey, the 7-0 senior center for Kansas will need to be a go-to
player this year if Kansas is going to go for another Big 12 title.
Ohio State should isolate him from the offense and force a Kansas
team without Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor to facilitate
offense. Bill Self can motivate though.
December 29- UNLV @ North Carolina- This is an interesting game. UNLV has a ton
of hype, Anthony Bennett, the #7 prospect in the draft class, and an
experienced team led by Mike Moser. North Carolina is in a rebuilding
year (losing four starters to the NBA), but this wouldn't be the
first time Roy Williams makes names out of nameless players. More
interested to see how UNLV handles Chapel Hill.
January 9- UNLV @ New Mexico- This is one of three conference games on my top
10 that I am excited to watch. UNLV will be 11 days removed from
Chapel Hill, and may be undefeated when they start conference play
against New Mexico. The Lobos will be coming off games at Cincinnati
and St. Louis, before coming home to play UNLV. Three of the top four
scorers for New Mexico are back, trying to duplicate the success they
had last year. Should be fun in the dessert.
January 10- Saint Marys @ Gonzaga- Another conference game that has the
potential to be something special. These teams have ruled the West
Coast Conference for over the past decade. Five of the last six years
they've played in the conference final. St. Mary's won the regular
season championship outright last year, the first time since the
1999-2000 season Gonzaga didn't have at least a share of the title.
Matthew Dellavedova is the defending WCC Player of The Year, an
All-American, and the Gales center of offense. His success in his
final year will determine how far they go.
March 9- Florida @ Kentucky- Last regular season game of the year,
can't hold anything back for sure. NCAA tournament ramifications,
recruiting possibilities, regular season conference championship may
be up for grabs, excitement! A month before these two meet in
Gainesville, so it will be interesting to see what may change since
then. Kenny Boynton (last years leading scorer) and Erik Murphy will
need to use their senior leadership to overpower a young, talented,
and hyped Kentucky team, led by incoming #1 prospect Nerlens Noel
(future one and done).
Other games that could be great
Nov 22- VCU vs Memphis- Battle 4 Atlantis
Dec 28- Missouri @ UCLA
Dec- 18 Long Beach St. @ UCLA
Nov 29- Marquette @ Florida
Feb 19- Florida @ Missouri
Nov 29- Kentucky @ Notre Dame
Jan 19 Gonzaga @ Butler
Paradise Jam- Could have UConn vs New Mexico
Nov 19- Marquette vs Butler-Maui Invitational
Battle 4 Atlantis- Possible Duke vs Memphis, Louisville vs Missouri
semi-final matches
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