Now that the 2014 NCAA basketball season is officially underway, it is never too early to begin scouting which teams to select as underdogs that will have a chance to pull off some upsets once the NCAA Tournament begins in March. The best way to figure out which teams are good is to check out some of the early season tournaments, which usually pits some of the top schools in the country against some lesser known teams that are talented enough to upset the big schools. Unfortunately, there weren't any upsets this past weekend, but there were a lot of exciting games played.
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The game between Minnesota and eighth ranked Louisville was one of the biggest games on opening night, because it was the second time Hall of Fame coach Rick Pitino, would coach against a team coached by his son Richard. The elder Pitino got his second coaching win against his son, but the Gophers made it an interesting game in the second half, after going down by 13 in the first half, but still lost 81-68.
#14 Iowa State, also had to hold off a furious rally by Oakland, to win their season opener 93-82. The Cyclones were led by junior forward Georges Niand, who dropped 30 points, grabbed 9 rebounds, and also had 5 assists against the Golden Grizzlies, establishing himself as the go to player on the team in the process. Their defense on the other hand, still has a lot of kinks to be fixed, after allowing Oakland to score 44 points in the second half.
Now that opening night is over, things are going to start getting more difficult for the top teams in the nation, starting with the tournaments scheduled for this week. Here are a few notable games to watch out for this week.
Texas A&M Aggies vs. Dayton Flyers, Thursday, November 20, 10:30 AM. ET.
The Aggies won 18 games last season, and went to the CBI tournament, so they will be hoping to earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament, if they can avoid the type of stretch they had last season, when they dropped seven of nine games from January to February, which essentially cost them a spot in the major tournaments. The Flyers were the Cinderella team last season, knocking off some of the biggest teams in college basketball, before eventually losing to Florida in the Elite 8. They will be trying to recapture some of that magic again this year, and will face a good test against A&M.
Marshall Thundering Herd, vs. #7 Louisville, Friday, November 21, 9 PM. ET.
Marshall won only 11 games last season, and is already off to a 2-0 start, which has their fans thinking they might have a good team this year. They will be going for an upset of Louisville, a team that won the championship two seasons ago, and lost in the sweet Sixteen last year, so they will have their work cut out for them.
Boise State Broncos vs. Wisconsin Badgers, Saturday, November 22, 10 PM. ET.
The Broncos won 21 games last season, but didn't get an invite to any postseason tournaments, mainly because of the competition they faced in their conference, and they will be trying to rectify that this season, by getting some quality wins against ranked opponents, starting with their game against Wisconsin, a team that made it to the Final Four last season, and also have the best player in the country on their team.
These three games should get you through the second weekend of college basketball, and there are plenty more games being played this weekend to keep you busy.