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December 13, 2007
Games To Watch - 12/13/07
Calling the ACC. Time to reassert that you are the best basketball conference in America. That means not losing to Massachusetts. That means not losing to Ohio.
Granted both of those losses last night were by teams which weren't among the "elite" this season, such as Duke or North Carolina. I still thought that Boston College was showing something more than what they had against Massachusetts. Guess not.
My beef for the day is that the ESPNU College Basketball Podcast is stealing my thunder here. Their lead offs and final shots over the last two weeks have covered material you would have heard about first in the MRI by reading Games to Watch. Topics have been about Xavier, about the WAC, and some teams to keep an eye on for Selection Sunday that would come out of the smaller conferences. Just remember you heard it here first that the Colonial will be lucky to get two teams this year, and should be happy with a single berth. Just remember that you heard about Duquesne and the possible resurgence of the Atlantic 10. Just remember that you saw Drake in the Top 25 of the MRI during week 3 when they start to win a few games in conference later.
So with that, I am stealing one of their items which shouldn't be news. Davidson has long been a name to worry about when it appears on your schedule. They routinely put scares into the North Carolinas and Dukes of the world. They are in the upper echelon of teams which come from the bottom third of conferences.
In years past, they have done everything they can, including winning a few of those big name games, and going undefeated in the conference regular season. Still, if they slip up during the conference tournament in the Southern conference they lose out on a bid in the tournament, even though they might be better than the 7th team out of a power conference. So they year, they went out and scheduled the heck out of things. Look at the schedule to date: At North Carolina, At Western Michigan (probably one of the best MAC teams), at Duke, at Charlotte (surprisingly decent this season), at UCLA. That is a road warrior's nightmare schedule. Predictably, they lost all five of those games. And so Davidson has a very un-Davidson-like 2-5 record against Division 1 teams. They are still the class of the Southern conference though. They continue that season tonight, already with a win over Appalachian State under they belt.
The Citadel at Davidson
MRI Predicts: Davidson Confidence Factor: 91.96%
In other MRI action, we get a chance to see two teams without losses take a fall tonight.
Winthrop at Mississippi: Winthrop is the Davidson of the Big South. They have won three straight Big South titles and the majority of them over the last decade. Tonight they have a chance to take out Mississippi, who is surprisingly undefeated. The only team that the Rebs have played of consequence is New Mexico and I really thought that game would have gone the other way. The MRI likes the Rebs tonight, but Winthrop is forever dangerous in these situations.
MRI Predicts: Mississippi Confidence Factor: 82.82%
Miami at Mississippi State: The other undefeated tonight is Miami who flies into Mississippi State, who should be the class of the SEC West this season, although that doesn't mean much. Miami does have some decent wins against Marist, VCU, and on the road against Providence. Another team in the "third tier" probably doesn't scare them very much. The first tier being those teams in the top 15 or so in the country. The second tier being those team which will rotate around the bottom of the rankings all year. The third tier being those teams which are likely bubble teams come March. Miami is looking to stay in that second tier with a win tonight.
ESPN, for their part is touting Tyler Hansbrough's brother, Ben, who plays for Mississippi State. He is a fairly solid contributor, although definitely not the type of player that makes a major splash for a team like his brother. Way to hype up a kid before you put him on the ESPN Full Court tonight. I am sure they won't talk about the article at all during the game.
I thought Mississippi State was a little left out last year come tournament time. They were playing their best basketball at the end of the season, and despite how poor the West was in the SEC, you really had to take a hard look at them before leaving them out. They carried that momentum to a semi-final appearance in the NIT and lost on a shot at the buzzer by West Virginia. That shows the talent is there and that is why, despite some stumbles early this season, I think they have the best team in the West. Not Alabama, not Arkansas, not even their cross-state rivals. Mississippi State should win 10 games in conference this season. Of course, after all of that, the MRI likes them to lose tonight, but not by much.
MRI Predicts: Miami Confidence Factor: 52.14%
MRI Stats:
Yesterday: 12 - 4
This Season: 422 - 171, 71.16%
All Time: 12109 - 4773, 71.73%
The MRI is a computer basketball ranking system. It has been picking games since 2003. Ben Miraski writes for MRISports.com and is a featured blogger on FanIQ. Readers can contact Ben at bmiraski@mrisports.com
Posted by bmiraski at December 13, 2007 11:10 AM
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