It is here! Welcome to the opening week of the college basketball season! Yesterday we watched Villanova and Notre Dame go head-to-head in the Eternal City Tip-Off, while overnight Liberty and High Point kicked off the Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon.
This season has plenty of change coming, including the new 76-team NCAA Tournament format, and we’ll see how that impacts mid-major teams over the course of the season. However, with NIL and eligibility cases taking over the game, it’s become harder for the average mid-major team to make the same splash they used to several years ago.
With that being said, there are plenty of great teams outside of the power conference ranks. Some teams are starting to separate themselves from the pack as well with their strong alumni bases and fundraising circles. Let’s take a look at some mid-major games that you are not going to want to miss on opening day today.
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UAB vs McNeese
The Field of 68 Opening Day Marathon is bringing us some fun mid-major matchups to kick off the season. McNeese has become a powerhouse of sorts over the past few years, and this year is no different. The Cowboys were named the preseason favorites to win the Southland with 11 first-place votes, just ahead of S.F. Austin, and a Texas A&M-Corpus Christi squad that could be sneaky.
The American Conference is loaded this season, with Wichita State looking like a real threat. The Shockers were named the favorites to win the conference in the preseason with nine first-place votes, ahead of Memphis and South Florida. UAB was picked to finish sixth in the conference, ahead of North Texas and FAU. They had two guards named to the Preseason Second Team All-Conference in Justyn Fernandez, Sr. & Deuce Jones, Jr.
While Deuce Jones only appeared in ten games last season for St. Joseph’s, the 6’2 guard showed what he’s capable of. He averaged 15.8 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting 39.8% overall and 26.5% from three-point. The year prior at La Salle, he shot 39.7% overall and 33.3% from three-point on just 2.4 attempts per game vs the 4.9 he averaged last season. Justyn Fernandez was phenomenal at Delaware last year, averaging 16.6 points, 4.6 rebounds, 2.1 assists, and nearly one steal per game. The 6’5 guard shot 44.1% overall from the floor and 40.3% from three-point.
For McNeese, Larry Johnson is back after a dominating season as a freshman. The 6’4 guard averaged 17.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 1.4 assists, and 1.2 steals per game while shooting 49.2% overall from the floor. He isn’t a three-point threat as he shot just 23.8% despite taking 3.1 attempts per game. If he’s able to take a step forward and shoot 30% or better from beyond the arc, he’ll launch his professional projections to the moon. He didn’t shy away from the spotlight, pouring in 14 points with seven rebounds against #2 Michigan and 15 points with five rebounds against Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament.
The game tips off at 4:30pm CST where the McNeese Cowboys are the favorites. If you are looking to skip out of work early on Monday to celebrate the season, this is one game you’ll want to watch.
Miami Ohio vs James Madison
The RedHawks are going to have plenty of attention on them this year following the story of the season last year when Miami Ohio went undefeated in the regular season. It’s no surprise with the returning players they have that they were picked as the favorites to win the MAC, receiving nine first-place votes, which was ahead of Toledo, Akron, and Kent State. Evan Ipsaro is back after missing the last half of the season, and he was named to the Preseason All-MAC First Team along with Luke Skaljac who stepped up in Ipsaro’s place. You can dive into a roster preview of the RedHawks below:
Ipsaro was having a tremendous season through the first 12 games of the year before going down with a season-ending injury. The point guard was averaging 13.9 points, 2.4 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.3 steals while shooting a ridiculous 57.1% overall and 39.4% from three-point. All eyes are on him and how he looks coming back from the injury. When Ipsaro went down, Luke Skaljac stepped up. He finished the season averaging 10.3 points, three rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.4 steals per game. He took off in conference play, finishing with an 18 point, 10-assist double-double against Buffalo, 24 points against Bowling Green, and several other outstanding performances.
James Madison announced that they’d be leaving the Sun Belt to move to The American, which is surely a football decision. In what could be their final season in the Sun Belt, they were picked to finish second in the Sun Belt, despite receiving nine first-place votes, narrowly behind Arkansas State, which finished with three first-place votes. Preston Fowler & Gage Lattimore were both named to the All-Sun Belt Second Team, while K.J. Windham was named to the All-Sun Belt Third Team. You can read more about James Madison in our roster preview below:
Lattimore was a star last season at North Carolina Central where he averaged 16.6 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and 1.3 steals per game. The 6’1 guard shot 39% overall and 39.2% from beyond the arc on 6.7 attempts per game. Fowler spent his freshman season with the Dukes where he averaged 6.2 points and 4.6 rebounds per game, while starting in 14 of his 33 appearances on the court. The 6’8 forward shot 38.9% overall from the floor and 29.8% from three-point on 3.7 attempts per game.
The RedHawks and Dukes will face off in the MAC vs Sun Belt Challenge at 6pm CST, and more conferences should follow suit. Miami Ohio is the slight favorite at the moment, but you aren’t going to want to miss this game against two teams that should be at the top of their conferences.