Once again, the vast majority of not only conferences but also non-ESPN TV networks inexplicably decided to take a January siesta from college basketball on the Monday night of college football’s supposedly biggest night of the year.
ESPN’s beyond-saturation coverage of the denouement of the far-more-invitational-than-championship College Football Playoff appears to have influenced almost all of NCAA Division I into giving it reverence reserved only for the Super Bowl and Christmas Day. Only 10 games were played across the country, and the only conferences to play close to a full schedule were the low-budget Southwestern Athletic Conference and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference.
Sports networks besides the six (or was it sixty?) ESPN channels showing the football game also all bypassed the chance to present something interesting for those who might want something other than a pair of same-region football powers annually meeting in early January. One prominent national network last night featured, in no particular order, bull riding, World Poker Tour and paddlesurfing. We couldn’t make that up if we tried.
While others sat on their hands to allow a 28-point blowout to play out, the SWAC and MEAC deserve a call for not bowing to Big Football. And while it may not always be easy to see when their teams are taking their lumps on the road in November and December, both still have some solid teams that should make for quality league races the next two-plus months.
Texas Southern is the team most will know from the SWAC, the Tigers having beaten Baylor, Oregon and Texas A&M out of conference, and they’re now 2-0 in conference after a 77-67 win at rival Southern on Monday. Four scored in double figures for TSU, which has plenty of different players capable of leading the way and has had six different players lead the team in scoring in a game so far.
(Texas Southern and Duke have something in common. Kind of. While the Blue Devils are still waiting to play their first true road game of the year, the Tigers also are still awaiting their first home game against a Division I team. [TSU did host NAIA Huston-Tillotson and NCAA Division III Concordia Texas, proving apparently anyone can get a buy game if they try hard enough.] They’ll finally get it Jan. 19 against Grambling State.)
The SWAC won’t be all TSU, though. Prairie View A&M also was good enough to win at Santa Clara in November and challenged Baylor, UNC Greensboro and Louisiana Tech while playing its first 12 on the road. (The Panthers edged Alcorn State 57-54 on the road Monday night to also get to 2-0 in the SWAC, with Darius Williams coming off the bench to score 20 points.) Alabama State also is 2-0 in conference for the first time in four years after 59-57 win over Jackson State, this on the heels of a blowout of preseason favorite Grambling State. And even Alabama A&M, all of 2-14 on the season, now has wins over Tulane of the American Athletic Conference and Grambling after edging the Tigers 65-60 in overtime on Monday.
The MEAC may be even more wide-open. With still four teams waiting to play their second conference game, already there are only four unbeaten left and just two at 2-0. One is no surprise: Norfolk State-which edged Florida A&M 72-67 on Monday-has the best overall record of any team at 7-10. The other is a major surprise, as Coppin State-0-for-15 in non-conference play-is now 2-0 in the MEAC after a 64-60 win at Delaware State. Along with regular standby North Carolina Central plus preseason trendy pick Bethune-Cookman, there are plenty of teams in play for the title in a league where three teams tied for regular season honors last year and five were separated by one game at the top.
Side Dishes:
- There was one game in the Metro Atlantic on Monday, where Fairfield played at home in comfy old Alumni Gym and handled Niagara 77-59. Senior Jonathan Kasibabu was the best player on the court with 20 points and 14 rebounds, while 6-foot-1 guard Aidas Kavaliauskas also added a single-double off the bench with six points and 10 rebounds. The Stags are just 4-11 but get their first win in the MAAC.
- There also was one game out West, where Northern Colorado remained the only undefeated team in the Big Sky after topping Eastern Washington 75-63. Jordan Davis took scoring honors for the night with 30 points and the Bears shot 52.1%. The other UNC is ahead of some good squads like Montana and Weber State early on.
Tonight’s Menu:
- While TV networks try to treat college football’s final game like a national holiday, today has an occasion that maybe should be observed like one in the college basketball season: Duke is playing a true road game. The Blue Devils are at Wake Forest in ACC play (7 p.m. Eastern, ESPN).
- The Blue Devils are one of seven ranked teams going on the road Tuesday. Another top-3 squad doing so is Tennessee, which travels to Missouri (7 p.m., ESPN2).
- The night includes some big-time heavyweight conference clashes. Among them: newly ranked St. John’s is at Villanova (7 p.m., FS1), while top 25 teams clash as Oklahoma is at Texas Tech (9 p.m., ESPNews) and North Carolina takes on rival North Carolina State (9 p.m., ESPN).
- A big one in the MAC lost a little shine when Toledo was roughed up by Ball State on Friday, but the Rockets’ trip to Buffalo is still one to watch.
- Iowa State is another team taking a ranking on the road; the Cyclones have a winnable one at Baylor (7 p.m., ESPNews).
- Maryland seems to be perpetually hanging out just outside the rankings, and the Terrapins’ game at Minnesota just might be a play-in game for a national rank next week (7 p.m., Big Ten Network).
- Missouri Valley play is into its second week, and a highlight tonight is Loyola Chicago-suddenly scorching hot its last two games-at unpredictable Evansville (8 p.m., CBSSN).
- Purdue looked good in drilling Iowa last week; now it faces a big road challenge at Michigan State (9 p.m. ESPN2).
- Can South Carolina strike again? The Gamecocks have a golden chance with Mississippi State coming to town (9 p.m., ESPNU).
- Also in the SEC, streaking Alabama (five straight wins, including a biggie over Kentucky on Saturday) now hits the road to take on rusty LSU, which hasn’t played since Dec. 28. (9 p.m., SEC Network) The SEC is just better when both of these teams are good.
- Finally, a pair of chances to check out the Mountain West late, with Wyoming at seriously struggling San Diego State (10 p.m., CBSSN) and a flashy one with UNLV at New Mexico, with the Lobos looking to build off their destruction of Nevada (11 p.m., ESPN2).
Have a super Tuesday.
Twitter: @HoopvilleAdam
