Opening Night Slate Primer

College basketball is back baby! We’ll drop a daily slate primer that runs down all you need to know for the day’s games. Here’s what to watch for on opening night.

KenPom’s Thrill Score Top-10 | 11.6.23

Compared to last year’s opening night, this is actually pretty good! The highest rated game was Memphis vs. Vanderbilt at 68.4 and the next best game was Kent State vs. Northern Kentucky at 43.7. College basketball media has lamented about the slow start to the season and we tend to agree. The exhibition games were awesome, but playing those games on opening night doesn’t hurt anybody either! Thank goodness for the mid-majors who will carry the load this evening with some solid matchups.

10 things we’re excited to watch:

• IUPUI at 11:00am (!)
• New look Georgia
• Elliot Cadeau’s college debut
• The tip-off between Samford and Purdue
• The track meet between Iona and Charleston
• The Battle of New Jersey (Princeton vs. Rutgers)
• No defense in Queens vs. Marshall
• Syracuse’s man-to-man defense
• USC’s electric backcourt
• How quickly Enrique Freeman registers a double-double

Storylines to keep an eye on:

How will Purdue’s guards handle the pressure?

Purdue got a healthy dose of pressure in their exhibition game vs. Arkansas, leading to 20 Boilermaker turnovers. Their opening night matchup vs. Samford feels like it’s on the schedule for a reason – to get better at handling chaos in the backcourt. Samford was one of the best teams in the country at generating turnovers last season. The Bulldogs averaged 8.1 steals and 14.62 turnovers a game, finishing in the top-50 in both categories. Bucky McMillan’s patented “Bucky Ball” style of play is exactly what Purdue needs as a litmus test for their poise under pressure. Matt Painter will get a good feel for his guards’ decision making after this game.

Can Louisville get it together?

Last year, Louisville lost to a D2 team in an exhibition and proceeded to lose nine straight games to open their season. After losing to Kentucky Wesleyan last week, is history destined to repeat itself? The Cardinals open with UMBC, a team with a ton of roster turnover from last season. Jim Ferry’s squads rarely turn the ball over and shoots a ton of threes – the perfect recipe for an upset. Kenny Payne is under the microscope, with multiple sources saying the first ten games will determine whether or not Payne makes it through the season. Louisville has an opportunity to right the ship with a win over a middle-of-the-pack mid-major.

Is West Virginia able to overcome the adversity?

The Mountaineers’ roster was decimated in recent weeks. First, Jose Perez was kicked off the team. Then, Akok Akok collapsed during an exhibition game (we’re very happy he’s okay). And just last week, RaeQuan Battle’s waiver was denied and Kerr Kriisa was suspended for nine games for selling some tickets for profit. Josh Eilert has eight (!) scholarship players to work with for the season opener against Missouri State. Is there anyone in the country that will go through as much adversity over the course of an entire season than WVU went in the last few weeks? Eilert and his staff are up against it – how will they respond on the court?

Tobin Anderson makes his Iona debut.

The darling of last year’s NCAA tournament starts his new job with a tough test, going on the road to face Pat Kelsey and Charleston. Tobin Anderson had to rebuild a roster from scratch after Rick Pitino left for St. John’s. Anderson is bringing his fun and gun tempo with him to a league that is very winnable in year one. The matchup with Charleston will give Iona a great idea of where they stand early on. Charleston plays a similar game and TD Arena is one of the best mid-major environments in college hoops. We expect a ton of points in this one.

The best games of the day feature mid-majors.

Georgia vs. Oregon and USC vs. Kansas State will steal the headlines, but we’re locked in on some potential Cinderella teams to start the season. Bradley vs. UAB. Akron vs. South Dakota State. Louisiana Tech vs. Colorado State. Youngstown State at Louisiana. Four quality matchups featuring four quality programs. The power conferences will always drive revenue and dictate the future of the sport, but it’s mid-major games like these that make college basketball great. The talent gap is smaller than ever and any one of these four games could end up being the game of the night.

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— Trilly Donovan (@trillydonovan) November 6, 2023

Follow @trillydonovan on X (Twitter). Stay tuned to burnerball.com to keep up with all things coaching carousel and transfer portal.

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