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On this week’s episode of Check the Net, Impact89’s College Basketball Podcast, join Colin, Kylee and Eli as they discuss a week of upsets on the Women's side, the Champion's Classic, and more!
Creators and Guests
What is Check the Net on Impact 89FM?
Are you a fan of college hoops? Check the Net is a podcast that covers everything about the world of college basketball. Whether it is discussions regarding top teams and weekly rankings, updates on transfer portal and coaching news, or commentary on the latest major stories from around the game, Check the Net has got you covered. The podcast covers both men’s and women’s basketball across all Division I conferences. Check the Net is available through Impact 89FM’s website, as well as via all major audio platforms.
Welcome back to Check The Nat Impact 89 FM's men's and women's college basketball podcast. I'm your host, Colin Pearson. I'm joined today by my amazing cohost, Eli Flickham and Kylie Taber. How are you guys doing?
Eli:Lots of projects, lots of homework, and we lost to Kansas.
Kylee:So very, very true. I agree.
Colin:It's it's been a grind.
Eli:So that's how we're doing.
Colin:It's a nonstop But y'all going.
Kylee:We have, like, what, 3 weeks left in the semester for your
Eli:4? Finals week ends 1 month from today.
Kylee:We are almost done with this semester.
Eli:Which is crazy.
Kylee:Brings us one step closer to graduation.
Colin:Don't remind me.
Kylee:Since we're all you know, we're halfway there right now. So That is crazy. Scary. Yep. But besides that
Eli:Chugging along.
Kylee:Mortifying realization, let's talk about some basketball.
Colin:Let's talk some basketball.
Eli:Despite our lives, people keep playing college basketball. Right.
Colin:Yeah. I guess
Eli:we'll keep talking about it.
Colin:You know, women's side first, as per usual. I mean, why not? Any complaints?
Eli:Always.
Colin:Comments, questions, concerns?
Eli:Very much. A lot.
Kylee:Agree. High second.
Colin:Just just yes. Alright. Let's start with number 11, Duke at number 18, Maryland, where Maryland upset the Blue Devils 85 to 80, which frankly, not terribly surprising because Duke just was not shooting well.
Eli:What a great game,
Kylee:though.
Colin:But phenomenal game. It was. I think it goes to show the Big 10 is still going to be one of the strongest conferences of asphalt. We're you're gonna hear that again and again.
Eli:The big the big 10 showed up and showed out this week. I will say.
Colin:It was 1 team. 1 game after another after another with one exception.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:And, frankly, I'm excited. This big 10 season is kicking off. You're gonna have, like, 8 bids from the big 10, and it's gonna be a good
Eli:I mean
Kylee:This is the only time it's acceptable in women's basketball. An 8 big an 8 big big 10 is only good in women's basketball.
Colin:Well This And when you have 4 of the best Pac 12 teams joining
Kylee:yeah. Probably Pac 12 last year, that was
Eli:a great year.
Kylee:And 3 of them are are looking like they're gonna be tournament teams.
Colin:Absolutely.
Eli:Yeah. Of course, it's watching. It's everybody who says watching.
Kylee:Yeah. Basically, it means
Eli:This this was a super fun matchup. Duke's head coach is from the DMV Baltimore area. During her postgame press conference, she asked for the Washington Commander score from one of the reporters. I can make So really, really fun to have those 2 teams match up. In College Park, Duke shot 53.8% from the free throw line and surrendered 12 opportunities in a 5 point game Yeah.
Eli:Which is just really not great.
Kylee:No.
Eli:And in other shooting news, both of these teams made 6 three pointers, 18 points each. Maryland was 6 of 9. Duke was 6 of 17.
Colin:Yeah.
Kylee:Yeah. No. Watching this game, I the best way I can describe it is is very interesting. Maryland's players, they have so much intensity. Offensively, defensively, just all around the ball, they are very intense.
Kylee:However, they did turn the ball over numerous times because Duke was pressing them. And it's not like Duke it was a hard, like, super insane press. It was Maryland was passing the ball directly to the, like, to the Duke players. And it was kinda crazy because I was like I I was like, I promise they're not on your team.
Eli:That they're wearing blue and white.
Kylee:Yeah. So I think, though, once Maryland kind of gets those kinda kinks worked out and then they have a solid, like, press break and they know, like, how to get open fairly easily and, like, can kinda work that out, they're gonna be perfectly fine, and they're gonna be pretty successful in the big ten if they can get their turnovers under.
Eli:Because one place they will be facing press defenses is conference play.
Kylee:Absolutely. Absolutely.
Colin:Especially in the big ten. I mean, we're already seeing it with Michigan State against some of these small
Eli:conference play. Against, like, Eastern Michigan.
Colin:Yeah. For the entire game when we're up by, like, 60.
Kylee:Yeah. No mercy over here
Eli:in the big ten.
Kylee:We don't play.
Colin:No. It's gonna be fun. Another big ten upset. Number 12, Baylor went out to Oregon, and Oregon beat them 76 to 74, a nice 2 point game against the 12 seeded team in the nation. I think that one was much more surprising because I did.
Colin:Oh, yeah. I mean, Oregon lost a lot of players, but, I mean, the Big 10 is just gonna be strong. The Pac 12 style of basketball is going to continue reigning supreme, I think, is what that tells us. I just watching that game, Oregon still played Pac 12 basketball.
Kylee:Oh, yeah. I mean, they're they're bowling too.
Colin:Yeah. Was that Pac 12, and it just it dominated against the 12 ranked Baylor.
Kylee:Mhmm.
Colin:You know, even though the talent is not quite at that same level, they're still a force to be reckoned with because of their style of play.
Eli:I will say on the talent side, Oregon does have now former North Carolina player, Deja Kelly. She scored 20 points, team lead in the win, and she got the assist. She was the playmaker on the game winning layup that at at the buzzer lifted Oregon over Baylor, and she came away with 3 steals. So Oregon is now ranked as of this week.
Kylee:Mhmm.
Eli:Yep. And their only remaining ranked opponents are the other ranked big ten teams who they only play once each.
Kylee:Yeah.
Eli:So I would expect them to cruise for the next couple of weeks until a match up with USC on December 7th, which is in Eugene.
Kylee:That'll be very fun.
Colin:Being a home game for that match up with USC is a big
Kylee:Yeah. It's huge.
Eli:Especially it being their lone fall conference game.
Kylee:Mhmm. I'm just I'm truly shocked by, like, their by Oregon's success because they were gutted in the off season. They lost the majority, if not all, of their team from last, from last year in the past couple years.
Colin:Oh, absolutely.
Kylee:But all that
Colin:portal hit them,
Kylee:like, crazy. All that proves, though, is that the big ten is, in my opinion, this year, like, the best basketball conference. In my personal opinion
Colin:It's already shaping up now.
Kylee:It's gonna it's gonna be that
Colin:way. Cool.
Kylee:Especially with the addition of those Pac 12 teams. Like, it it's there's gonna be no comparison to any other
Colin:SEC is a close second. SEC isn't too far behind, but Yeah. The big ten is a clear first. Absolutely.
Eli:Agreed.
Kylee:Yeah. Move on to my favorite team in all of college basketball right now. State? No. Yes.
Eli:I love the Wolfpack.
Kylee:No. I'm talking about my girls at South Carolina. NC State took on number 1. South Carolina, South Carolina came away a 71 to 57 win. Michigan was a fluke game.
Kylee:Win.
Colin:Yeah. So, if we remember, you know, flashback to last week, South Carolina beat Michigan by just what? 4. 4?
Kylee:Yeah. It was 4.
Colin:Crazy close game. We're like, is South Carolina still good? Like, is Michigan just good? Now I think Michigan was just a fluke.
Kylee:Yeah. And based on did not have Chloe Kitts
Colin:No.
Kylee:Who had a double double against Michigan.
Eli:Right.
Kylee:They did not have her, during this game. But, I mean, they're often they're often just so explosive. Yeah. And they still have that strong inside presence more specifically on defense without Camila Cardoza, and I think that was, like, the big question of, is their inside presence still going to be that strong? The answer is yes.
Kylee:Absolutely. And that was, like, the big worry. And then you've got players, like, I was listening to the announcers, and I was, like, I really just can't, like, agree more agree more. Like, Tianina Pow Pow developed her game tremendously. Like, for the majority of last year, she really was just an insanely good 3 point shooter, and she still is.
Kylee:However, now she is driving to the basket. She is taking more inside shots. She is making more, like, smart plays that are not just
Colin:Yeah. She has a shooting presence on that court now.
Eli:Yeah.
Kylee:So I think her development and the development of the other players, like, like, Malaysia Full Wiley is insane. She is so fun to watch. Just watching these players, like, continue to develop their game. I mean, they're they're extremely talented, and they're still gonna be insane this year.
Eli:So I will say, speaking of 3 pointers, South Carolina was only 4 of 14 from beyond the arc. Mhmm.
Colin:And that's
Eli:So I I feel like we've really yet to see their offense truly break out. Right? Yeah. Still still shaking off that early season rust against what have been 2 very talented opponents, clearly. But I'm South Carolina is definitely still the best team in the country.
Kylee:Yeah. Yeah. Hands down. Like, without a doubt. But I do think NC State, again, once they develop more into the season, I mean, they're gonna be tough as well.
Kylee:I mean, they have
Eli:a For sure.
Kylee:A a pretty solid defensive presence as well. Like, they've got and their rebounding is pretty solid, so I think they will be fine as well.
Colin:Yeah.
Eli:In small conference games, we had FGCU versus Colombia, and Colombia won 6251, a solid 11 point win.
Colin:Yeah. I mean, Colombia looks like a very strong team. The Ivy League itself is gonna be incredibly strong. There's only
Kylee:Oh, yeah.
Colin:Currently, there are 2 teams in the Ivy League only on the women's side with losing records. But Colombia, looking like a strong team, they're currently 3 and o. A win over Big East Providence, they need more depth though, because really they're relying on their starters. And I worry that one injury will take out that whole Columbia offense.
Eli:Mhmm.
Colin:And that's not gonna fly in such a strong Ivy League. Yeah. And so
Eli:That Columbia offense, I mean, Columbia starter Perry Page spent 39 out of 40 minutes on the court and scored 21. And fellow starter Cecilia Collins also added 22 points, but those 2 combined both spent more than 35 minutes out of 40 on the court, and they scored 43 of the Lions 62 points. Yeah. I mean We're really gonna need to see Colombia use that bench a little more, use those starters to get other players in rotation a little more. Because as soon as a team solves one of those players defensively, Columbia is gonna have a lot harder overtime when it gets.
Eli:Mhmm.
Colin:Yeah. That's a crazy top heavy team for, such a strong conference. They're gonna struggle, I think, a little bit.
Kylee:Yeah. But, I mean, they ended up getting that at large bid last year, so I think they're gonna be another talented team aiming for another either bid for the tournament, like champions, or another at large bid.
Eli:For sure.
Colin:As for Florida Gulf Coast, their season kinda started out a little bit rougher than they were hoping, and it it just got derailed. So their head coach, Carlos Mesko, he has stepped down as their head coach as of 13th November.
Kylee:Wow.
Colin:And is becoming the head coach of the Atlanta Dream WNBA. He's moving on up all the way to the WNBA, kinda making that huge jump. Little fun fact, he actually started FGCU's women's basketball program.
Kylee:Wow.
Colin:Like, started with them.
Eli:Wow.
Colin:And so Dang. He's been there since the beginning, and he has been a big piece of why Florida Gulf Coast has had such a strong program for so many years. They're gonna have a really hard time replacing him midseason.
Eli:Especially losing such a foundational piece.
Colin:Yeah. Mhmm. He's such a key piece. And, you know, midseason, he is going to be a really tough one to lose, and it's gonna be nearly impossible to replace him. I'm a little bit worried about Florida Gulf Coast rest of the season.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:You know, I think a few of us picked them, if not all
Kylee:of them. Did. They were our
Colin:consensus pick. And, you know, that throws a huge wrench in the plans, you know, for Florida Gulf Coast and all of those ladies on that team.
Kylee:Hopefully, they can band together, like, within, like, their team and, you know, hopefully
Eli:Find some leadership on and off the court.
Kylee:Yes. I think But You know, the bonds the bonds are strong on you know, within team sports.
Eli:Especially in small at smaller schools.
Kylee:So I think they should be able to kinda bounce back from this and keep going. Hopefully, they'll pick just an interim coach
Colin:from us. They did pick an interim coach. Okay. Chelsea Lyles. Mhmm.
Colin:She's becoming the second ever head coach of this program Amazing. For the women's. Is she one of their assistants? She started as a player. She's been at FGCU for 17 years.
Eli:Okay.
Colin:Oh, perfect.
Eli:That's a really, really great culture pick.
Colin:2 years as a player and then immediately became a student assistant.
Eli:Got assistant.
Colin:Then became an assistant coach, and she's been the associate head coach for the last
Kylee:6 years. Great. So yeah.
Colin:And she's expected to be named their official head coach, just officially get the job.
Eli:I I will say that does mean the ASUN looks a lot more wide open now
Colin:on the women's side. It does. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Colin:It will probably Depending
Eli:depending on how FGCU recovers from this.
Kylee:I think especially with that with, her stepping up to be their head coach, I think they'll be just fine.
Eli:It'll be less rocky of a transition for sure, but clearly, she's been at that program almost as long as Carl was. So they'll probably have very similar coaching styles, but it'll still be a transition.
Colin:It's it's still gonna be a transition, and it's going to be, you know, a rough next couple of weeks, especially starting that, ASUN play out in December. I think it's going to be when it gets a little bit rough and might cost them their season if they can't get it going right away. Mhmm.
Eli:So You know? We'll we'll be following the Eagles as they navigate that.
Colin:Yeah. We got a few more games to talk about. Grand Canyon at Middle Tennessee, big game between the WAC and the Conference USA. Middle Tennessee ended up winning that 57 to 47. Wow.
Colin:Yikes, man. That is a low scoring game.
Eli:Grand Canyon shot just 15 of 55 from the field
Kylee:Gotta love it.
Eli:As Middle Tennessee held WAC preseason player of the year, Trinity San Antonio, to just 2 points and fouled her out of the game with 7 minutes to go. So really just a great defensive game from the Blue Raiders. Grand Canyon also played good, perimeter defense, but lost a lot of the battle in the boards and lost the game by 10.
Colin:I mean, I honestly disagree. It was having watched some of those highlights, the shooting was just not on point for either team that night.
Kylee:I mean, fair. You know? But also, it does take some strategy, some, like, determination to hold their best player to 2 points. That is true. And and foul her out with a considerable amount of time left in the game.
Kylee:So I I take that as a defensive win. I I think that's that's smart. And, like, that that's the smart play in general on defense and on, like, the offensive. Like, to to know that she has 4 fouls, I need to go after her on the offensive end. Like, that's smart.
Kylee:So I think it's good strategy over here. Maybe the shooting wasn't all that great, but in my opinion, I think defense wins games, and they did that by locking her up.
Colin:Grand Canyon only made 15 shots the whole night.
Kylee:That could have been from good defense. It probably was.
Colin:A lot of it a lot of it was
Eli:poor shooting, but some of it was good defense. Yes.
Colin:Yeah. I We'll go with that.
Kylee:Don't be don't be so glass half empty, Colin. Look.
Eli:I was hater.
Colin:Yeah. Kansas MSU did.
Kylee:Oh, don't.
Colin:That first We'll
Eli:get to it.
Kylee:Yeah. We'll get to it. Don't get us started on that train because we won't stop.
Colin:Alright. Rhode Island went out to Albany this week as well. That was a pretty big game. I
Kylee:believe Eli's pick? I think
Colin:it was Eli's pick. Was. Albany ended up winning that by 106757. I will say Albany had a much better first half, 30 to 20 at the half with a lead of 10, same as what they won by. But if Rhode Island played the rest of the season like they did in that second half, they could be a really great team.
Colin:They really had a big transition from 25% shooting and 0 of 10 from 3 in that first half. They improved that to 50% shooting, 3 of 10 from 3 in the second half, 30% from 0. I mean, that's a big turnaround for, Rhode Island.
Eli:And that speaks to great coaching.
Colin:That is absolutely great coaching. And that's something you can build off of. Now that you've seen it, you've done it in a second half against a good team, you can continue on that route and, keep playing like that specifically.
Eli:For sure.
Colin:Mhmm. That's exciting, I think.
Eli:We had a little bit of a human interest story in this matchup. Twin sisters, Lily Phillips, who's a Great Dane, and Sophie Phillips, who's a Ram, so Albany and Rhode Island respectively, were squared off against each other on defense for most of the night. And the Albany sibling, Lily, held her counterpart, which is Rhode Island's who is Rhode Island's statistically best shooter from beyond the arc, she shot 33.7% last year and 40.7% 2022 to 2023. Wow. Held her sister to o for 7 from the field and o for 6 from 3.
Colin:That is crazy. The parents in the house, you know Oh,
Eli:I'm sure they were there.
Kylee:Oh, they
Colin:were hyped. They were having a fun time watching that one.
Eli:They're they're from a town in upstate New York about 20 minutes from Albany.
Colin:Yeah. They were definitely there. That's a great great matchup. Did not know about that. That's awesome.
Colin:Mhmm.
Eli:Yeah. But I I think think Albany, they've they lost some good talent in the transfer portal as we talked about in our preseason episode. But I think they should still be good enough to at least get a good seed in the conference tournament for the America East. UT RGV, UT Rio Grande Valley was playing at UTSA, UT San Antonio, coming off of their big upset win against Houston, and UTSA won 70 4 to 69. So the scoreline really doesn't look like it, but this was a shootout.
Eli:Both of these teams shot at least 50% from the field. UTRGV shot exactly 50, and UTSA was 51.1. UTRGV shot better than 50% from a 3 at 52.4.
Kylee:Nice.
Eli:And UTSA shot 46.7. But both both schools missed 5 free throws, but the roadrunner shot a lot more of them. They converted on 19 of 24 from the line to secure the win in the last minute or 2.
Colin:That's impressive. That is really, really impressive.
Kylee:Great shooting. Like, insanely good shooting.
Eli:So this this tells me that both of these are very slow paced offenses. Yeah. Very Because they were they weren't taking a lot of shots, and they were making half of them. But this final score is 7469.
Colin:Yeah. Yeah. It's it's interesting because, you know, Texas, Rio Grande Valley, obviously, coming off of that big win against Houston, that big upset. UTSA also just came off a really good game. They had a 4 point loss to Texas A&M right before that.
Colin:So, you know, both teams coming off of really strong games. Both teams played really well. Lots of good defense, lots of good shots. You know, just a lot of fun to watch because they're just hitting everything.
Kylee:Yeah. Teams take notes. It's great when you can make shots. Yeah. Basically, it's it's awesome.
Eli:And I shooting better than 50% for the 3 is
Kylee:Insane. Like, that is that that's Yeah. Very impressive.
Eli:2.4 is incredible Yeah. And 50% from the field.
Colin:Yeah.
Eli:So great game. I wish both of these teams good luck because they seem they both seem very talented and ready for basically any competition.
Colin:Yeah. Alright. Well, we already talked about 2 ranked upsets. We've got a few more coming your way because this week on the women's side, we finally had upsets. I don't know what that speaks to because the women's side doesn't usually have upsets.
Colin:We don't usually have that kinda turnaround between the mid majors and the, power 5. But I
Eli:will say Colin wasn't very excited about this one.
Colin:This particular one, I was not. I'm excited about it.
Eli:But,
Colin:highly highly concerned about it. Yeah. Because I
Kylee:have no Basically, Harvard, played at number 25 Indiana, and, they won. Harvard won, 72, 68 in overtime, but then they they went recently lost to Quinnipiac, 76 to 53. Yikes. However but that win over Indiana, first of all, a ranked team. 2nd of all, a big 10 team.
Kylee:This just proves Collins wrong. And I lose
Eli:I was gonna say, 3rd
Colin:of all, Colin
Eli:picked to win the big ten.
Kylee:Exactly. 3rd of all, Colin's picked to win the big ten. This just proves that me and Eli were right, and Colin is wrong. Hold on. Hold on.
Colin:Hold on. That does not prove you and Eli are right.
Kylee:And it also proves more right than you are.
Eli:And it proves that Indiana would have lost to Quinnipiac by 27.
Kylee:Exactly. I mean, listen. Indiana, they're like, I could have told I tried to tell Colin this. What am I talking about? They are not gonna be great this year.
Kylee:Like, they, lost a lot of people to graduation. Like, they've had injuries. They're not the same caliber team now that they have been the past couple years. I mean, you know, just because of circumstances, it happens. Teams have down years.
Kylee:Like, they're they'll be fine, but they're not gonna be as good. If only Colin would listen to me I
Eli:will say
Kylee:and I save him the embarrassment.
Eli:Even if they had beaten Harvard in overtime, letting Harvard take you to overtime would have set off alarm bells.
Kylee:Not a team that any of us were were on our radar.
Eli:And then when in the Ivy League. And Yeah. And not being able to close out that game, especially at home in the assembly hall is Is concerning.
Kylee:Yes.
Eli:Very concerning.
Kylee:It is. It it's not looking great.
Eli:So the big ten looked great this week except for Indiana.
Kylee:Minus Indiana. Like, that's it.
Eli:Speaking of other big ten teams that looked great,
Kylee:we had more upsets. Illinois knocked off number 19,
Eli:Florida State 83 to 70 sets. Illinois knocked off number 19, Florida State 83 to 74.
Colin:Yes. Yep.
Eli:And then South Dakota State beat number 21 Creighton 76 to 71.
Colin:Yeah. Okay. Which is a big big win for South Dakota State. Yeah. South Dakota State really, really looking strong.
Eli:Our consensus Summit League pick, by the way.
Kylee:Look them
Colin:up right now because as we're recording this, they are currently beating Wisconsin, undefeated Wisconsin, 3832 in the Q3.
Kylee:Undefeated Wisconsin, who really is not that good either?
Eli:So I we'll we'll swing back to that one at
Colin:the end
Eli:of the episode to see.
Kylee:Yeah. If it's getting there.
Eli:But I will say that both Illinois and Oregon, they both got ranked upsets, and they are now ranked as we're recording this.
Colin:Mhmm.
Eli:So, really, there was some preseason. Oh, this is a down year for the big ten even with the LA schools. The a the LA schools are just gonna dominate everybody. I will say that helped quiet some of that. I I still think that the big ten looks really, really strong this year.
Kylee:Oh my gosh. It's it's Very underrated. Absolutely. On it like, any any doubt that the big ten was gonna be good in my mind is just is is dumb. It's baseless.
Kylee:It's dumb.
Eli:And even not currently AP ranked schools, like Iowa looks really good.
Colin:Michigan Michigan.
Eli:Michigan. Michigan and Michigan State
Colin:both looks really good.
Kylee:Looks pretty good so far. I mean I mean, come on. We've got we're consist the mid 10 is consistently a good conference. So, like But this year, it looks year, it looks tough. Very good.
Kylee:Looks very good. And so I'm super
Colin:excited to kind of see how this season is gonna continue to play out.
Kylee:I would love it if an LA school like, a a California school did not win, like, the big 10 because Yeah. I I'm I'm all for home advantage and, like, you know, I want a non Pac 12 team to win the big 10.
Eli:I'm also bitter about them already winning it in, like, 2 of the fall sports.
Kylee:Yeah. That's super annoying. However, you know, I would like to see that not happen here. I don't know if it is. We're just gonna have to get more into the season because Yeah.
Kylee:I mean
Eli:I'm very excited for our one off women's conference games in the 1st week of December Yes. When we're really gonna get our first look at some some of these new conferences.
Kylee:It's gonna be very, very
Colin:fun. Absolutely. Alright. Should we jump into some of our matchups for the coming week?
Eli:Let's do it.
Colin:Alright. Kylie, go for it. I want you to start with your power 5 because
Kylee:Yeah. I like it. Because I'm gonna rub it in Colin's face.
Eli:Do it.
Kylee:Basically, it's number 24 Stanford who I honestly did not think was gonna be that great this year, but we'll see kinda how they hold up. They're playing at Indiana. They are indeed. Colin. So, November 17th, which is Sunday.
Kylee:So, honestly, Colin, if they if they pull this win off, they're back in my good graces. I will take back everything I said.
Eli:Honestly, I'm rooting for them. I want them to prove that the big ten is just that guy.
Kylee:I want them to be
Colin:stamped. Clip that Yeah. The next episode.
Kylee:Yeah. And Alright. When they do it, I I will concede. I will say
Colin:flu game against Harvard?
Kylee:It's a it's a flu game against Harvard. I mean, I I hope that it is a flu game against Harvard.
Eli:I hope it's like lose by, like, 15, you're never allowed to speak again.
Colin:Basically Just never Your opinions are the episode.
Kylee:Your opinions are automatically wrong from here on, like, from then
Eli:on out. If if they lose if they lose by, like, 15, the Kylie curse is officially transferred to you.
Colin:Yeah? Yeah. That that might be
Kylee:I I hope, actually. Because that was painful for me last year.
Colin:It was. Yeah.
Eli:Well, Colin, what's your game?
Colin:Yeah. We'll see if this curse continues because I'm picking, 13 NC State at TCU. I'm picking NC State to win it, but TCU honestly looks really strong.
Kylee:I'm so surprised they're not ranked.
Colin:I am very surprised they're not ranked. And being in a away game at TCU
Eli:This is a great opportunity.
Colin:And coming off of that bad loss at South Carolina, I think NC State's gonna be in for a rough one against TCU.
Kylee:Hailey Van List is back to doing Hailey Van List things.
Colin:It it could easily go either way there. Actually, I might pick TCU as the upset there.
Kylee:Don't. Don't. I'm not
Eli:a fan of mine.
Colin:But, I mean, I'm picking NC State, but it'll be a very close game.
Kylee:It's be a good one. Very good one.
Colin:And TCU, I think, will come out ranked if they win, obviously.
Eli:Oh, for sure.
Colin:Yeah. Eli, what you got?
Eli:I've got, ranked on ranked number 18 Louisville at number 20 Kentucky. Little little Governor's Cup matchup in women's basketball recovered from their close loss to UCLA and Paris with wins over Southern Indiana and UT Martin, and the cards have won 7 in a row in this rivalry series.
Colin:That's really interesting.
Eli:And away.
Colin:Yeah. Really interesting.
Eli:So that's, I mean, that's player succession. That's coaching succession. That's
Kylee:Louisville's a good program.
Colin:Yeah. Period.
Eli:But with but these teams are really, really closely matched this year. Mhmm. And Louisville's still reeling from that loss a little bit. They've beaten a couple of mid majors, but I I think it'll be a good one.
Kylee:I agree. Yep. Absolutely. I'm not gonna pick one way or another because I don't know.
Colin:No. I can't pick them
Eli:either. I'm just excited to see who
Kylee:wins. Game.
Eli:So true. Because they'll be
Colin:top 15 probably in the middle of the year.
Eli:Conference games. Eli, what you got? I've got, St. Louis at Southern Indiana, which is actually really, really fun for Check the Net specifically. But St.
Eli:Louis was last season's, WNIT champion, and they're visiting our consensus transitioning OVC favorite, Southern Indiana. Slough beat Wisconsin in the quarterfinals of the WNIT last year, and this who and Wisconsin had beaten the screaming Eagles of USI one round earlier. And if Southern Indiana had pulled off that upset against Wisconsin, this would be a WNIT quarter final rematch.
Colin:Oh, I love it. It feels like a lot of variables to make this, it's a
Kylee:really good
Colin:game of the week.
Eli:I know. I cooked. It is a good game, for sure. He cooked. Kylie, what you got?
Colin:Yeah. I still caught 1
Kylee:of Collins, LOL. But, basically,
Colin:I have UC Irvine at Drexel.
Kylee:That's the 20th, the consensus Big West favorite, and then Eli and I's CAA pick. So wahoo. Let's get into it.
Colin:Yeah. And, my game, I wasn't quite sure if this would count as a small
Kylee:conference game.
Colin:I don't. However
Eli:We're divided.
Colin:Because it's at the small conference team, I decided it was good enough.
Kylee:It's gonna be a good one.
Colin:I see. We've got number 16 Duke headed on the road to South Dakota State, who just beat ranked Creighton, who is currently up by 12 as we speak against Wisconsin. And, you know, having number 16 Duke at home, I think the Jackrabbits are gonna have a crowd show up at this game.
Kylee:Mhmm.
Colin:I think it's gonna be a hard atmosphere for Duke to play in, and I think they could do it. I mean, we really think it's a whole lot.
Kylee:We really saw how tough it was for them to play at Maryland. I mean, honestly and I feel like there wasn't too insane of a crowd there. However, it was really, really hard for like, they struggled a lot in that game.
Eli:A lot of travel.
Colin:So Yep. But this is a South Dakota state team that just beat a ranked Creighton.
Kylee:Mhmm.
Colin:I think they could have a lot of fun Absolutely. You know, with this game.
Eli:And and if Duke can't fix their shooting woes
Kylee:Exactly.
Eli:Absolutely. The Jack rabbits could easily take this one.
Kylee:And that'll pro that'll more than likely drop Duke out of the ranking. Yeah.
Colin:And so that's why I picked that as my small conference game
Eli:It's a good one. Because
Kylee:I count it.
Colin:Stats. Sounds good.
Kylee:It's good. Alright.
Eli:I'm unconvinced, but we'll see.
Colin:That's basketball. This is a game we do not need to talk forever about.
Kylee:Oh, no. But we do.
Eli:But we will.
Kylee:But we will.
Colin:But I think we will. We will. Because it's the game you've all wanted to hear about. It's Michigan State versus number 1 Kansas in Atlanta. Mhmm.
Colin:Champions classic, Kansas won that 77 to 69 after coming off of just a 3 point win over UNC. They were struggling. Yeah. MSU's free throw shooting was the highlight in my mind.
Kylee:Which is crazy because we are notoriously awful from a
Eli:lot. Terrible.
Colin:Exactly why that was a highlight. They did a shot. Shot really well from free throw. We need to offensively rebound. MSU does because there was none of that.
Eli:And we need to make 3 pointers.
Kylee:And we need to make 3. Oh my gosh. And that, you know Grr. Grr. Grr.
Kylee:Grr. Grr. Grr.
Colin:I will say neither team was shooting well in that
Eli:1st half.
Colin:No. And that really didn't get that much better in the second half.
Eli:It really didn't.
Colin:No. And so, you know, that high score 7769, mostly second half points, and it was just really, really embarrassing to watch.
Kylee:It was 20 to 20 for the longest time in the first half.
Eli:I will say, Hunter Dickinson is still really good. He recorded 28 points and 12 rebounds, solid double double.
Kylee:Mhmm.
Eli:And I Michigan State's defense seemed to have an answer for everybody except for him Well which was unfortunate.
Kylee:He like, based upon last night, what I was watching, he appears to be the only person that teams are gonna have to stop. Honestly, nobody
Colin:else will do.
Eli:Hunter Dickinson, you can beat Kansas.
Kylee:Absolutely. Like, if you hold him to 10 points, I'm just gonna say wins that game. And, like, it's it's crazy because they had some great I forgot AJ Store. I thought I texted them last night. I forgot AJ Store transferred to Kansas.
Colin:Yeah. From Wisconsin. One of the top players for Wisconsin last year.
Kylee:And they had a and Kansas had quite a few of their players returning this year.
Colin:None of them Kansas has a lot of big names, but no one was No one was
Eli:sure at all. Playing
Kylee:well. Dickinson. He was the only one. So if if Kansas' guards consistently continue to play that way, all teams have to do is put put a body on Hunter Dickinson.
Colin:And If you double team Hunter Dickinson Yeah. Kansas is done for.
Kylee:Absolutely.
Eli:I will say, I feel like some of this can be chalked up to just a hangover from their game against UNC, because that's
Colin:a really really tough opponent
Eli:at home that they barely escaped.
Kylee:Yeah.
Eli:And I I think they'll use the next couple of weeks before big 12 play starts to right the ship a little.
Kylee:They play, they play Duke coming up, I think. Yes. I believe they do. That is, I think yes.
Colin:Yes. 2 weeks from now.
Kylee:So that's coming up. I think
Colin:They also play Oakland. Yeah. Well
Kylee:LOL. Really gotta prepare for
Colin:that one. Case anyone was curious. But Yeah. But, you know, their schedule has number 14 Creighton on there too. It has Mizzou and NC State, you know, a tough nonconference before you get right into that big 12 that just is an absolute outlet there.
Colin:Yeah.
Kylee:I don't, yeah, I don't think that they're they're by no means again, I was listening to the people at the halftime report, and they were like, oh, yeah. I could see them winning a national tie. I can't. I cannot see this team winning a national title. I know it's early, you know, and I just don't they're not invincible.
Kylee:I don't think they should be the consensus number one pick right now. Like, I really don't. Like, there are better teams out there. Houston. They well In
Colin:particular, but
Kylee:Houston and Houston doesn't
Colin:look great either, actually.
Kylee:That was
Eli:that was say I I watched Duke lose to Kentucky as we'll just talk about, and I could still see Duke winning the national championship more than I can see Kansas winning.
Colin:That I that I
Kylee:would say. Before we move on to that, I do kinda wanna touch on, me personally, kinda wanna touch on some stuff for MSU.
Eli:We've been experimenting with a lot of roster lineups, especially with starting certain players and then just switching them out almost immediately. So
Kylee:and switching all of them except for
Eli:New York. That volatility probably isn't helping No. With our offensive schemes and our execution of them. But I feel like I hope that'll settle down against our upcoming games against BG and Stan and Sanford.
Kylee:Mhmm. So Yeah. I think
Eli:We'll see.
Kylee:Yeah. Big bright spots. Jackson Kohler has been looking amazing. Yeah. He has.
Kylee:He had a 20 point double double the other night against Niagara. Niagara, and then he had a really great game last night. Just a really strong showing, made really great leaps in the off season. And then Jace Richardson, first team.
Eli:Freshman phenom.
Kylee:Looking great. So I think we just need to really buckle down these next few games and get back to the fundamentals of our outside shooting.
Colin:Yeah. Yep. Speaking of the fundamentals, 23 Kentucky versus Duke, 7 Duke, in the champions classic as well. Kentucky ended up winning that 7772, and I really think it was mostly fundamentals. Mhmm.
Colin:That one of that fundamentals and experience.
Kylee:That's yeah. That's where that comes in.
Colin:I really do think it's wild that Mark Pope was able to essentially build his own team Mhmm. Because not a single player on that Kentucky roster was at Kentucky last year. Not a single one.
Eli:He didn't have a basketball team when he was hired.
Colin:No. The
Eli:University of Kentucky didn't have a basketball team.
Colin:Exactly. And so none of these players have ever played together, and, frankly, it worked. They're
Eli:good Great.
Colin:Good plays, good defense. They had tons of experience, and they won it, you know, 77, 72. Mhmm. I wanna bring up some notable transfers. I have a list of, like, 7 of them.
Kylee:Yeah.
Colin:Kobe Brea from Dayton, their star player from last year. Lebont Butler from San Diego State, their star player from the last few years. He was a final 4 player. Andrew Carr from Wake Forest, pretty big player for Wake Forest in the past few years. Kerr Carissa from West Virginia, another really big big twelve player.
Colin:Amari Williams from Drexel. He was their star. He's and then, Ortega Oeya, from Oklahoma, another one who was a really big star player in the big twelve. I also wanna comment that I believe all of those are seniors. I maybe one of them's a junior, but that is just experience.
Colin:That is some of the top players in the nation who all know how to play by the fundamentals.
Kylee:Yeah. Like, honestly, I I only watched, like, 6 I only had time to watch, like, 6 minutes, like, the last 6 minutes of the first half. But I was truly from what I saw, I was I was surprised that Kentucky ended up winning. But I do think Duke had better much better offense, but Kentucky had way better defense. I mean, the thing is, though, Duke is playing a lot of freshmen mixed in with kind of their, like, juniors and seniors.
Colin:Yes.
Kylee:And they're putting a lot of pressure on those freshmen to
Colin:as good as Cooper Flag is.
Kylee:Yes. And it's not just Cooper Flag. I mean, there they have a few other freshmen that are very talented, that they're playing out there. The they're gonna gain their footing soon. And once they gain their footing and they become comfortable, I mean, sky the limit, honestly, for this Duke team.
Kylee:So
Eli:I will say I watched the last 2 minutes of this game. I watched it go from 71 to 70 to 77 to 72. And, really, it was just 2 or 3 ball handling missteps from some of those young players for the Blue Devils that lost them this game.
Colin:Exactly. Mhmm.
Eli:But, I mean, that is so fixable. That is so they fixed that yesterday. Yeah. They fixed that as soon as the final whistle was blown. But, also, Duke shot 17.4% from 3.
Eli:Only a little bit better than Michigan State.
Colin:That's
Kylee:Which is really bad.
Eli:Rough.
Colin:Yeah. I will say Kentucky played a lot of good defense.
Kylee:They did.
Colin:I don't know if any of those shots were unguarded. I doubt it. Majority of those shots were guarded, and they were tough shots to make.
Kylee:That's awesome, though. But if you make 2 more of those shots, you win.
Eli:Yeah. And good teams should find good looks even if the other team is playing defense today.
Kylee:Mhmm.
Eli:Especially if you're the number 7 team in the country.
Kylee:Yeah. So I think this was a definitely a very good test for these new Duke freshmen. It's kind of given Kentucky also some of their credibility back. Yes. Absolutely.
Kylee:Which is really exciting to see because I do like Mark Pope as a coach, and I think he's bringing defense to their conference.
Colin:Yeah. To the SEC. To the SEC is wild. Just unheard of.
Kylee:And I'm we watched
Colin:a strong defensive team take on Duke and, you know When? Play good defense.
Kylee:They will.
Eli:They will.
Colin:We'll see what they can do in the SEC, but an SEC team with defense is infinitely better than an SEC team without one.
Kylee:So the rest of the SEC teams?
Colin:Well, I don't know. Because, Oh,
Kylee:you cannot tell me that. No.
Colin:Oh. Oh, not Arkansas. I'm talking
Kylee:to you. I was like, you cannot tell me that they
Colin:play Davis. Auburn is a lot of talk Yeah.
Kylee:We'll get to that.
Colin:For defense. Yeah. But Baylor versus Arkansas, let's hop onto that one. That was a technically neutral site game. It was in Dallas.
Colin:Baylor's, like, an hour down the road. But number 8 seat Baylor versus 16 seed Arkansas or ranked Arkansas. Baylor won that 7267 coming off of a 38 point loss to Gonzaga. Oof. I don't understand Baylor.
Colin:Frankly, I I don't know if the Gonzaga game losing by 38 was a fluke because it didn't seem like it. 38 points is a lot
Kylee:to me. Been a bit of a win
Eli:win at all. I understand Baylor completely. But That's exactly what I would expect them to do after losing on the road to what is now a top 5 team. If you come back and you completely rebuild your performance, and then you go out and win the game.
Kylee:I think also too, Gonzaga's just that good. Yeah. And, like, I know they've they barely beat Arizona State recently. However, I still think they're just that good against I
Colin:think Arizona State might be ranked in a in a few weeks.
Kylee:Yeah. Arizona State's not bad either. I just think that Gonzaga, especially against those top, like, 25 teams, is just that
Eli:high. Arizona State did lose to Duke in an exhibition by 60.
Colin:Just by 60.
Eli:It was, like, a 145.
Kylee:Never mind. They're not getting ranked. LOL.
Eli:But, Jaden Nunn, Baylor's only returning starter, scored 16 points in 35 minutes on the court in that game. He also made 4 of Baylor's 73 pointers. And, again, it's a story of teams that are these teams underperformed less, but under for underperforming from beyond the arc. Baylor shot 29.2% from long range, and Arkansas was shot 29.2% from long range, and Arkansas was an even 25%.
Kylee:It's just poor shooting in college men in men's college basketball right
Colin:now.
Eli:And it's early season, so that's expected.
Kylee:It's expected.
Eli:We'll see these rates climb as the season goes on.
Kylee:We hope so.
Colin:We usually do. Yeah. That's usually the case.
Kylee:Honestly, though, Baylor played zone the entire game. Played played his own defense the entire game, and I think Calipari and Arkansas was just thrown off, which it's crazy that that's the way you beat Arkansas is by just playing a zone defense. Like Yeah. How do you not prepare as a coach for the reality of they played man against Gonzaga the entire game and lost by 38.
Eli:So they're gonna switch it up.
Kylee:Exactly. Like, as a coach, how do you not prepare your team for this is a look that we can be seeing. Here's, like, various, you know, common zone defenses. I think they played either a 2 3 or a 3 2. I couldn't really
Colin:tell you. I also wonder if Arkansas kinda let down their guard a little bit. It went, Baylor just lost by 38. Yeah. Yeah.
Colin:They're not
Kylee:a kill. Set. And after Arkansas just came off a win, I mean, there's that mindset.
Colin:With John Calipari before. He tends to underestimate teams. Yeah. In the event typically in March Madness. Yeah.
Eli:And then they didn't shoot well. An SEC team should never be scoring less than 70 points. That's ridiculous.
Kylee:Come on. You only have offense. Yeah. That's all you have going for you.
Eli:So But if
Kylee:you can't play offense, you don't play defense. You're not winning.
Colin:Yeah. Speaking of SCT team not playing offense, except they did play offense.
Kylee:This this matchup was very good.
Colin:It was a great off
Kylee:And it was a very fun game to watch.
Colin:Number 11 Auburn went out to Houston. Number 4 Houston. It was technically a neutral site game again, but it was played in Houston.
Kylee:That's just just not at Houston.
Eli:She was it was at the Rockets arena, I think. Yeah.
Kylee:Yeah. It was. So Yeah. It it
Colin:was a home game for Houston, essentially.
Kylee:But Auburn won it.
Colin:7469. Yeah. Auburn's on a roll, man. They are playing some great basketball that I don't think any of us expected. No.
Colin:I will say they have a really, really tough
Kylee:nonconference schedule.
Colin:They've got number 5, Iowa State, number 7, Duke, number 14, Purdue, and number 21, Ohio State on their nonconference schedule coming up Mhmm. In the next, like, month and a half.
Kylee:Which is kinda crazy, honestly.
Colin:It'll be really, really tough, but I think, you know, Auburn is the kinda team they've shown it against, you know, number 4 Houston.
Kylee:Honestly, they they might come out the of the other side unscathed. They might. They they have a chance. They have a chance to
Colin:come out. I didn't expect that from Auburn this year, but with the way they've been playing, if they can continue, their high shooting percentage, if they can continue playing defense like they have been Yeah. Which they're an SEC school playing defense, again, really big deal.
Eli:I I will say, speaking of shooting, Auburn shot more than 50% from the field, which Yeah. That's easy. From teams this week. No. But they also recorded 7 blocks and 6 steals to Houston's 35.
Colin:Yeah. That's 7 blocks is a big deal. They have
Kylee:to have a huge presence at the Rams.
Eli:Just play some really, really efficient basketball.
Colin:Mhmm.
Eli:And I think if they can keep up that just high efficiency style of play offensively and defensively, they could they could sweep this nonconference.
Kylee:Definitely. And I think there's it was just a very it was a good game. There's very little room for error with either of these two teams, and it was just who was gonna play a little bit better. But I think Houston's gonna bounce back just fine
Eli:For sure.
Kylee:And they'll they'll continue to get better as the season progresses.
Colin:Yeah. No question there. Eli, you wanna take this next one?
Eli:Yeah. So for our 1st small conference men's game, we had Western Kentucky at Grand Canyon, and GCU eked it out 74 to 72 Nice. By scoring 8 unanswered in the last minute and a half, lost 127, including a buzzer beating layup for the win. Yeah. And that was sparked by a Western Kentucky turnover with 22 seconds left to effectively surrender their last possession.
Eli:And g c so GCU won the turnover battle 12 to 16. And, really, this should have been a marquee nonconference win for the Hilltoppers. They outshot Grand Canyon from beyond the 3, from the field. Grand Canyon was slightly better from the free throw line, but it was only by, like, 2 percentage points. So, really, this this game mostly just tells me that Grand Canyon is just that resilient.
Eli:They just have that much fight in them. And I thought Western Kentucky did too, but they're they just had they had a couple late fatal missteps in this one.
Colin:Yeah. Down 6 with minute and a half to go and ended up coming back and winning with 8 unanswered. I mean, that's that's resilience. That is some strength. That is Western Kentucky not having the experience to, you know, win it at the buzzer.
Colin:You know? But at the same time, Western Kentucky is a force to be reckoned with, man. Their conference USA schedule is going to be easy compared to Grand Canyon.
Eli:For sure.
Colin:And Mhmm. That looks really, really good on their resume.
Kylee:I mean, honestly, our our consensus picks, our WACC consensus pick, and then our Conference USA consensus picks. So it's, I mean, it's a great great matchup.
Eli:Great game.
Colin:I'm excited to see. They play Kentucky in a few weeks.
Kylee:Oh.
Colin:And so that should be interesting. Yeah. They also play Michigan in late December. Oh. You know, and, realistically, those are their only 2, like, really tough games left.
Kylee:Mhmm.
Colin:They don't have a whole lot of other, like
Eli:Easily could be a tournament team.
Colin:Yeah. Yeah. Oh, easily.
Kylee:I yeah. Both of both of them fell
Colin:off the road. 30 win win team. Both 30 win team. Just based on their schedule upcoming. They've got they don't have a whole lot of, you know, hard games.
Colin:Yeah. But they're both strong teams. That was Kylie.
Eli:We Mac's school.
Kylee:Mac's school. My game. So I had Akron, at Saint Mary's. Saint Mary's 187 to 68, kinda kinda rolled over Akron. I guess I personally thought it was gonna be a bit closer, but, I mean, Saint Mary's has a great team, coach, program.
Kylee:I mean, they're consistently good. But, Akron is building off of a good year, and they're introducing a lot of like, we discussed our in our preseason rankings. They have a lot of new pieces coming together.
Eli:There's I think they're starting 5 transfers from 5 different schools.
Kylee:Yes. They they're They're
Eli:trying the Kentucky strategy.
Kylee:Yes. They are trying to really fit everybody into, like, this bigger picture and a piece of the puzzle. I'm sure they'll still have a good year. Not as good as Toledo, though, but, I'm they'll bound they'll bounce back. It's just I thought it'd be closer.
Eli:I will say, I think the big story of this dominant win is Saint Mary's outrebounded the zips 55 to 26.
Kylee:Which is crazy. And that's Wow. Very impressive.
Eli:With I mean, that's just huge for possession, for shooting opportunities. And Saint Mary's was really good on those shooting opportunities. They shot 50% from the field, 35 or 70.
Colin:Yep. 55 rebounds is absurd.
Eli:Yeah. Especially out rebounding the other team by 29.
Colin:Yeah. That's absurd.
Eli:The the deficit was more than how many rebounds Akron got.
Colin:I am flabbergasted by that. I you know, obviously, we knew Saint Mary's was gonna continue being a strong program. They're pretty much gonna run the West Coast Conference once Gonzaga leaves in a year and a half.
Eli:I'm excited to see these 2 teams play each other. But
Kylee:yeah. Good to see
Eli:you guys say
Kylee:It's always a heated game every year.
Eli:The one that everybody tunes into for the WCC.
Kylee:The only West Coast conference game we watch.
Colin:But, Saint Mary's could be ranked in a few weeks, and it wouldn't surprise me.
Eli:Like, the way they're playing. Yeah.
Kylee:They've just gotta they've gotta beat someone of of unavailability. Like, Gonzaga.
Eli:You Yeah. I mean, I will say, I I could see this going 1 on 1 in season.
Kylee:I mean, it's they went 1 on 1 last year.
Colin:Exactly.
Kylee:So I agree.
Colin:Now you just have to not lose a silly one to San Francisco and
Eli:Yep.
Kylee:Not good. Not not the San Francisco loss.
Eli:Our last our last,
Kylee:Poor Eli.
Colin:Dan from last week. I can't do it.
Kylee:So I I'll take over. It's okay, honey. UC Irvine at UNI, Northern Iowa. UC Irvine 1 80 to 60. I'm so sorry, Eli.
Colin:Yeah. UCI Irvine role over the
Kylee:past year. Irvine was is our consensus pick for yeah.
Colin:And, frankly, UC Irvine looks really, really good.
Kylee:They're always good.
Colin:Yeah. They're always one of the best teams in the Big West, but, like, 20 point win over a team that was supposed to be pretty good, you and I, and frankly still looks pretty good, Eli. Yeah. Don't don't get your hopes.
Kylee:It's okay. It's just
Colin:preseason. Thoroughly disappointed. It was a hard broken.
Eli:The the Cats struggled defensively. They allowed the anteaters to shoot 55% from the field
Kylee:Wow.
Eli:Which I mean Ouch. Listen. For these teams that we're seeing put up these great shooting numbers early in the season, they're gonna be a problem because they Absolutely. They're not gonna have that adjustment period. Everybody else is still adjusting.
Kylee:They're gonna keep shooting.
Eli:Already here. I
Kylee:mean, they could fall off. They could be like Virginia and not make shots ever.
Eli:But
Colin:But, you know But And that's for Virginia.
Kylee:Me and my Virginia shade.
Eli:I will say Northern Iowa did put up a pretty respectable 7 of 17 from 3.
Colin:So Yeah. Absolutely.
Eli:Go Cats. Always.
Kylee:Yes. Yes. You and I, we love you.
Colin:Alright. We've got a few other notable mentions that we're gonna get to quickly. We've got some ace on dominance going on that we didn't expect. North Florida, we talked about it a little bit last week. They beat South Carolina 7471.
Colin:And then after our episode last week, they beat Georgia Tech a 105 to 93.
Kylee:That's only offense. No defense. But they And they won.
Colin:But, you know, and that's an ACC team too. They did lose to Georgia right after that 90 to 77, but that is 3, you know, power teams in a row.
Eli:And you beat 2 of them. And you beat 2 of them. Incredible.
Colin:And still when you know, it was a 13 point game against Georgia, and you still you scored 77. Like that Yeah. There's nothing to be ashamed of there. North Florida is a force to be reckoned with.
Eli:APSU beat Butler 68 to 66. Another ace on team beat a big east team. And I will say the Ospreys are everybody's early mid major darlings for really good reason. And both of those teams, got AP votes this week. So good for them.
Kylee:Rank North Florida. I know they lost, but rank them anyway.
Eli:Like, 4 different voters have one of these teams at 25, which is great.
Kylee:Rank them, honestly.
Colin:And it's reasonable. Yeah. You know, ASUN's looking like a good conference. We've got some mixed things in there. I think they could easily have a sweet 16 surprise come tournament time.
Kylee:I hope so.
Colin:And if both of these teams continue to win,
Eli:if Could be.
Colin:Big big, you know, they they could maybe even have a 2 bid conference. Yeah. Depends on a lot of factors. But Yeah.
Kylee:I was gonna say that might
Eli:be how well South Carolina and Georgia Tech finish in their respective conferences.
Kylee:I'm not expecting any great things out of them in either of their conference.
Eli:But I would love to see UNF in the tournament in March.
Kylee:I agree.
Colin:Alright. Some other notable mentions. Grambling State, lost to 24 Ole Miss, 66 to 64. Why is
Kylee:Ole Miss in the rankings?
Eli:Barely Unrank
Colin:them. Barely see it that
Eli:way now.
Colin:New Mexico beat 22 u c l UCLA.
Kylee:Unrank them now. 72
Eli:to 64. Now.
Colin:Good. They are unranked now.
Eli:I think Ole Miss is too.
Colin:I believe both of them are.
Kylee:They both UCLA shouldn't have been in the rankings to be on with. And neither should have Ole Miss, and I'll stand by that.
Eli:So overhyped.
Colin:But is it time to overhyped the Mountain West? In my opinion, absolutely.
Eli:I mean, always.
Kylee:We overhyped the Mountain West last year in the tournament. They all lost, Colin.
Colin:Mexico looks good again, though. New Mexico looks good.
Kylee:Might be a little bit too early.
Eli:Break my heart again. I know they
Colin:are. Alright. I'm
Kylee:gonna pick all of the mountain west, and then we're gonna lose again.
Colin:Yeah. The Pac 12 was weak last year. UCLA was bad in comparison to the rest of the Pac 12, so I don't know why they were ranked.
Eli:Good recruiting. That was it.
Colin:You know? Yeah. Pretty much just good recruiting, but that doesn't mean you should be ranked.
Eli:I will say, as much as it deeply pains me, Andy Katz did pick Grambling State to win the SWAC when none of us did.
Kylee:Did. Yeah.
Eli:And if they pull it off, I will be really sad.
Kylee:I'll cry, actually.
Eli:We all will be. But I will say, this was one of UCLA's only non conference games that wasn't at home, and it was at a neutral site in Vegas. And I believe, yeah, their only other they don't play a single non conference road game. UCLA UCLA does not play a road game. Nonconference.
Eli:And their other neutral site games are Arizona, North Carolina, and Gonzaga.
Kylee:They're not winning a single one of those. Maybe maybe
Colin:Arizona. No. I watched Arizona. No. I haven't seen Arizona play.
Kylee:It ain't happening.
Eli:The Arizona game is in Phoenix. The UNC game, I think, is at MSG in New York.
Colin:Oh. Well, that'll be fun.
Eli:And the Gonzaga game is at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles. So, technically, New Jersey Light Games, still a hometown game. Yeah. Still probably gonna lose to Gonzaga.
Kylee:Oh, fully. Let's talk about our games of the week.
Colin:You remember when I was riding the New Mexico hype train? Yeah. We're gonna keep He's still on it.
Kylee:He's We're
Colin:gonna stay on
Eli:it. He's rolling up the windows.
Colin:My power 5 game. Yeah.
Kylee:This is actually not power 5,
Eli:but pop off.
Colin:You guys. New Mexico at number 22, Saint John's. Saint John's
Eli:is ranked?
Colin:Saint John's is a big east team.
Kylee:Saint John's, honestly, I don't know why they're ranked. Because they feel the need to rank multiple teams from the big east that aren't Yukon
Eli:and Cruden. Because the Big East is a power conference.
Kylee:Yeah. Yeah.
Colin:They've been dominating, like Fordham, Quinnipiac, Wagner. Wow. Should be.
Kylee:Like You're a power 5 school.
Colin:New Mexico is gonna do now. Shocked. And then Baylor is gonna just throw them for a loop. So
Kylee:Baylor's gonna make sure they unranked. Good.
Colin:Yeah. So that is, my power 5 game specifically for New Mexico. Pick a New Mexico there. Okay.
Eli:Alright. My power 5 game is number 13, Purdue at number 15, Marquez.
Kylee:This is gonna be a good game.
Eli:Which I think is gonna be a great game because I need to know if Purdue is good now and not later.
Kylee:Yeah. I agree. I need
Eli:them to prove it to me now.
Kylee:This is a good test for them. I think Marquette lost a good amount of their, like
Eli:They did.
Kylee:Team as well. So I think it's a good test for both teams to see, like, who's actually gonna be good.
Eli:And I also we've we've seen such varied shooting efficiency from these teams early season. So I wanna see how these teams are gonna play offensively Yes. And how it's gonna compare to how they play
Kylee:in the ranks. Outside shooting's gotta be hot, or else they're they're cooked. They they don't have a strong inside presence like they used to, so they they need to shoot well. And you I mean, most of their players are hot and cold besides Braden Smith.
Eli:So Yeah. This will be a really great test for that.
Colin:Absolutely. Kylie, what you got?
Kylee:Yeah. I have, number 2 Alabama, loads of offense, versus Illinois, which Interesting. And it's on November 20th. So Illinois is Eli is picked to win the big ten.
Eli:Correct.
Kylee:And they have they have, like, a basically a completely new team, and they're all young. So I think this is especially gonna get mixed to number 2 number 2 team in the country. It's a good test.
Colin:Yeah. Unfortunately, that is not a game we'll be able to talk about.
Kylee:No. Because it'll be occurring while we're recording.
Colin:It will be occurring while we're recording.
Kylee:Maybe we'll throw it on a TV. Yeah. Honestly. And we'll, we'll give you live updates.
Eli:We will.
Colin:Yeah.
Eli:But small conference wise, my pick is Princeton at Merrimack, which is Kylie and I's Ivy favorite at Colin and I's MAAC favorite.
Colin:Yeah.
Eli:All it's key these keep these great conference favorite games just keep happening, and they keep lining up perfectly.
Kylee:It's beautiful.
Eli:But Meramec beat Vermont in their season over season opener 65 to 51, which, as everyone knows, scoring 60 points on Vermont when you're a mid major team is kind of difficult. So that was really impressive. And Princeton has also handled their early competition well, but they only beat Iona, fellow MAAC team, 81 to 80 in their own season opener. So this should be a really, really good matchup for both of these teams, both of them with conference title hopes this year.
Colin:Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah.
Kylee:Come on, Princeton. Please pull through
Colin:Yeah. For me. Alright. I'm heading out to the West Coast with mine. I've got, Montana at
Eli:You're not really making it to the coast.
Colin:Not quite. Out to the mountains. You know? The big sky country, if you will. Montana at Utah State.
Colin:That is Kylie and I's big sky favorite Yeah. Heading to a top Mountain West team. None of us actually picked Utah State.
Kylee:RIP.
Colin:But they started out really strong this year. They are 2 and o right now. I
Eli:mean, who is it? Us?
Kylee:Michigan State is not 2
Colin:and o. They're they're 2 and o and currently, up 53 to 23 on Westminster College. So
Eli:Well, thank you so much.
Colin:3 and o by the,
Kylee:by the end of my them.
Colin:But, you know, Utah State, obviously, Mountain West favorite for a lot of people, and Montana, our big sky favorite, should be a fun game.
Kylee:Yeah. Mountain West favorite for none of us nor Andy Katz. So
Eli:No love no love for the Aggies.
Kylee:No love for them. So keep that in mind, everybody.
Eli:Kylie, what you got?
Kylee:Me. I'm back to Ivy basketball.
Eli:Always. Never left.
Kylee:Never left. I'm always there. So I have Yale versus Minnesota. Interesting. On Saturday.
Kylee:Kind of small, half small, half not. I'm really counting this one when I'm picking this one because I think Yale's gonna win.
Colin:Yeah. Minnesota's men's team
Kylee:is not I
Colin:mean, they're the best.
Eli:Predicted to be basement of the big ten.
Colin:Yeah. That that is true.
Eli:And I guess the Harvard women beat Indiana. So
Colin:So why can't the Yale men beat Minnesota? Exactly.
Kylee:Ivy League is about to run the big 10. They own the big 10.
Colin:It's it's concerning how confident you are in that.
Kylee:I mean, it's not that I'm confident. I just I I'm not confident in Minnesota.
Eli:I will say, I will I will not be tolerating any more of this big game, small game cheating next week, you 2.
Kylee:Do you know how hard it is right now to find good small conference games? Because I was searching.
Colin:So here's the deal.
Eli:The industry is playing a big team. And picked all the good
Colin:teams.
Kylee:And every, like, notable small team is playing a big team. So I feel as if I I took a bad big 10 team.
Eli:Where where did I find my games then?
Kylee:You took the only good ones. Yes. Yes. Yes. You you went a a week and a half in advance, and we're like, You probably have them all written down already for the for the foreseeable future.
Colin:I wanna give one quick update. South Dakota state is up by 20 on Wisconsin right now.
Kylee:Oh, the big 10
Colin:in the Q4.
Kylee:Big 10. Not our allegations of the best
Colin:to go. For women, the 18th. Basketball, and, you know, so my game of South Dakota State at Duke Versus Or sorry. Duke at South Dakota State is looking really promising for me.
Kylee:That is. It is Go Jackrabbits. Yeah.
Colin:Anyways, shall we close it out?
Kylee:We shall.
Colin:Let's do it. Thank you guys for all listening to this week's episode. Check the net on Impact 89 FM. Let us know what you guys think by connecting with the station on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram at wdBM and at Impact 89 FM. Reminder that this is our 2nd basketball season.
Colin:We're very excited. We're in the regular season games. We're having a lot of fun. We're about to get to conference play. We're gonna get to in season tournaments, some of the Maui stuff, really soon.
Colin:And we cannot wait to talk about more next week on Chex Than That. Thank you guys for all listening.