2019-2020 Games of Interest

[Stickboy46]

Figured we could start the season off with a fun one.

Loyola drops their exhibition to D2 Indianapolis 65-60 after being down double digits most of the game...

[pogo]

The flagship of the Valley

[WuShock Reaper]

The 50 best non-conference college basketball games of the 2019-20 season - SB Nation

By Mike Rutherford
Nov 1, 2019, 12:25pm EDT

https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2019/11/1/20928762/college-basketball-best-non-conference-games-2019-2020-season

"There are some out there who view college basketball as a sport limited to the period of time from the week after the Super Bowl through the end of the NCAA tournament. If you’re reading this, that probably isn’t you. You’re the intended audience for this list, and if you don’t watch every second of all 50 of these non-conference games in the months ahead, you’re a disgrace to yourself. Don’t let that happen.

[Note: The only games eligible for this list are ones guaranteed to take place. Like the double play, potential preseason tournament semifinal and championship games can never be assumed.]

50. East Tennessee State at Kansas (Maui Invitational Mainland) (Nov. 19)
Steve Forbes is going to be coming to a major conference program in the very near future. In the meantime, he’s captaining an ETSU team that should be one of the best mid-major squads in the country from start to finish this season. They’ll get an early opportunity to earn that title when they head to Allen Fieldhouse for one of the “mainland” games of the Maui Invitational.

49. Houston at Oregon (Nov. 22)
Oregon has the preseason hype, but Houston is the program that has won a whopping 60 games over the last two seasons. The Cougars lost a solid chunk of last year’s production, but that was the same knock on Kelvin Sampson’s club 12 months ago, and that team wound up going 33-4. The NCAA clearing former five-star guard Quentin Grimes after his transfer from Kansas only makes this more intriguing.

44. New Mexico vs. New Mexico State (Nov. 21 and Dec. 12)
The Rio Grande Rivalry gets my vote for the most underrated rivalry in college basketball at the moment. Relations between the two programs had always been tense, but Paul Weir leaving New Mexico State in 2017 to take the head coaching job at New Mexico caused the biggest explosion the state had seen since Gus Fring took his final breath outside that fateful hospital room. The Aggies, who figure to be one of the best mid-major teams in the country once again this season, have not lost a game to Weir yet, and have taken five straight games from New Mexico overall. The Lobos are hoping an influx of former top-100 recruits who transferred in from power five programs — Jaquan Lyle (Ohio State), JJ Caldwell (Texas A&M), Vante Hendrix (Utah) — will be able to change the tide. Additional props to these two on playing a home and home every year, something college basketball could use more of with its non-conference rivalries.

43. VCU at Wichita State (Dec. 21)
Last season, the Shockers missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2011. Gregg Marshall isn’t going to let that become a trend, but here he’ll be facing a VCU squad that strongly resembles some of the better teams he’s coached in recent years. Charles Koch Arena is one of the more underrated home court advantages in college basketball, and the building figures to be electric for this pre-holiday showdown.

35. Memphis vs. NC State (Barclays Center Classic) (Nov. 28)
The ACC has a very well established top tier of Duke, Louisville, North Carolina and Virginia this season. The question is whether any other team in the league can be a pleasant surprise that establishes itself as a legitimate top-25 squad capable of playing deep into the NCAA tournament. Led by explosive point guard Markell Johnson, NC State might be the primary candidate to make that leap. They can start the process of corroborating that belief with an early signature win on Thanksgiving Day. The worst non-conference schedule in America kept the Wolfpack from dancing last season. Kevin Keatts hopes this game along with scheduled tilts at Auburn and vs. Wisconsin keep that from being an issue in 2020.

27. VCU vs. Purdue (Emerald Coast Classic) (Nov. 29)
Florida State-Tennessee might be the Emerald Coast Classic game that catches your eye at first glance, but it’s the nightcap of the double-header that might provide more quality. The winners will meet a night later in what should be a highly competitive title game.

24. Cincinnati at Ohio State (Nov. 6)
Night one of the college basketball season is loaded with showcase games, but Ohio State and Cincinnati don’t want you to forget about night two. New UC head coach John Brannen could make quite a splash if he upsets a top-25 rival in his Bearcat debut.

22. LSU at VCU (Nov. 13)
It’s hard to imagine Will Wade won’t be thinking of simpler times when he brings another LSU squad to Richmond to face his former program. This isn’t a pity trip though. VCU is the No. 25 team in the preseason AP poll and the runaway favorite to repeat as Atlantic 10 champions. This Wednesday night tilt will be the first real test for both squads.

19. Cincinnati at Xavier (Dec. 7)
Duke and North Carolina is the highest-profile rivalry that annually gives us the best games featuring the best teams. Kentucky and Louisville is the rivalry where the fans and the people around the programs despise one another the most. But I would argue that the Crosstown Shootout is the rivalry where the actual players dislike one another more than any other. It has made for some impassioned moments over the years, and it always makes for appointment television. This year’s edition, which features a first-year head coach in Cincinnati’s John Brannen and two teams that should be fully capable of doing some damage in the NCAA tournament, is no different.

11. Memphis at Tennessee (Dec. 14)
In its first year back, the Memphis-Tennessee rivalry gave us a game with 194 total points, a guy pooping on the FedEx Forum concourse during the game because he “had to do what he had to do,” a skirmish at the end of the game, a difference of opinions between Penny Hardaway and Rick Barnes about what took place in said skirmish, and then Hardaway ending his press conference days later by saying: “Rick Barnes, get the f—k out of here.” So, yeah, round two is probably going to be worth your time.

9. Memphis vs. Oregon (Phil Knight Invitational) (Nov. 12)
Coming into this season, there is no team in America more intriguing than the Memphis Tigers. Penny Hardaway’s team will get its first opportunity to prove it’s the real deal when it squares off against a top-15 Oregon team at the Phil Knight Invitational in Portland...."

[Jhook89]

Loyola at Furman 11/8. I am looking forward to keeping track of Furman all season.