There was no college basketball on Tuesday and the day after Christmas, and the NCAA Division I schedule is still mostly light for tonight as many take their time wading back into play after a brief holiday break.
The Big East and Mountain West will both waste no time getting busy with conference play, though, as both start their league slates this evening. The Big East will have the first three of its 90 conference games, while no league dives into the heart of its schedule more quickly after Christmas than the Mountain West, which has five games tonight.
The Big East is once again primed to be well-represented in the NCAA Tournament in March, ranking second in conference RPI as the new year approaches. Four teams (Xavier, Villanova, Seton Hall, St. John’s) are in the top 20 in the RPI, and eight of the 10 are in the top 70, which means once again that opportunities for high-ranking wins will be plentiful.
Big East play opens with Butler and No. 1-ranked Villanova both looking to avoid a bad loss on the road, with the Bulldogs at Georgetown (6:30 p.m. Eastern, FS1) and the Wildcats on the road at DePaul (7:30 p.m., CBSSN). Don’t be misled by the Hoyas’ 200+ power rating, though, based primarily on a deliberately awful schedule; Patrick Ewing has enough talent for his team to hover around .500 in conference, and this is not an easy game for Butler.
The best game of the night in the league is easily Xavier on the road at Marquette (8:30 p.m., FS1). The Musketeers measure as well as just about anyone in the black-and-white, win-or-lose RPI (No. 2 as of Tuesday, even ahead of Villanova) but it doesn’t take a mathematics degree to know X has been vulnerable at times-just watch the first 30 minutes of their game against East Tennessee State, or their second half against Marshall. Marquette, meanwhile, seems bound to test just how far three players, including two small guards, can take a team; Markus Howard and Andrew Rowsey have mostly carried the Golden Eagles, both averaging over 20 points per game, and along with Sam Hauser (15.2 ppg, 49.4% from 3-point range), the trio is literally more than two-thirds of Marquette’s offense.
The Mountain West had an O.K. non-conference season, one marked mainly by missing out on most of its biggest chances, but accomplishing just enough to keep some hope alive that the league is back on the way up. The MWC ranks ninth in conference RPI, solidly in the top 10 but also solidly behind the eighth-place Missouri Valley, and while four teams won at least 10 games out of league, five more also have at least six losses.
There’s also a dearth of quality wins; Nevada beat Rhode Island early in the season, San Diego State topped Gonzaga late, and Boise State had a big win at Oregon and decent victories over Illinois State and Loyola (Ill.) of the MVC, but in general Mountain West teams have missed far more than they’ve hit in their biggest chances, going 3-18 against the current top 50, even while playing six of those games at home and four more at neutral sites. As a result, just three MWC teams are in the top 100 currently, and that’s just not good enough for a league with the resources and the history to do considerably better.
Say this, though: the Mountain West has not waited to play some biggies. Preseason favorite Nevada gets a major test right away against dangerous Fresno State (how on earth is this game not on national television?). San Diego State also will try to keep up the momentum from its big win over Gonzaga, but it won’t be easy up at 7,220 feet at the Arena-Auditorium at Wyoming, a team whose three-point shooting will test the Aztecs. Meanwhile, Boise State opens at home but against another team in Colorado State (9:30 p.m., CBSSN) that could contribute to a lot of cannibalization in conference play.
Side Dishes:
- A little bit of news from college basketball’s FBI scandal, as former USC recruit Taeshon Cherry has been identified as the recruit mentioned in the probe in connection with Trojans assistant coach Tony Bland, per the Los Angeles Times. Cherry decommitted from USC last week and per the story heard from 15 schools the day he reopened his recruitment. Interesting that the Times got someone to speak on this without being identified, but the slow pace and lack of news from this probe of late makes one only more skeptical that a whole lot less is going to come from this than it seemed might be the case at first.
Today’s Menu: College hoops slowly gets back to work after Christmas
- An attractive matchup is Florida Gulf Coast at Rhode Island (7 p.m., ESPNU). Don’t be misled by the record; as the Eagles showed at Wichita State, they’re good enough to beat just about anyone, and should match up quite well with URI.
Eastern Michigan at Syracuse is a matchup of pupil vs. mentor; EMU coach Rob Murphy uses Jim Boeheim’s 2-3 zone for the Eagles and attempts to duplicate the Cuse’s length. (7 p.m., ESPN2) - Defense-minded Cal State Bakersfield will take its best shot at Arkansas (8 p.m., SEC Network), though the Roadrunners likely lack the firepower to hang with the high-powered Hogs.
- An important game in the American right off the bat is Central Florida on the road at SMU (9 p.m., ESPN2). The Knights have not lost in nearly a month, since a close loss at home to Missouri.
- A better game than many might think, Morgan State faces Grand Canyon in Las Vegas. The Bears are one of the favorites in the MEAC and in their last five losses (all on the road) fell by seven points or less four times against the likes of George Washington, Navy, Towson and George Mason.
Enjoy your Wednesday, the third day of Christmas.
