College Basketball is Finally Back!

The 2013-14 college basketball season finally tips off tonight and while the opening night games are not as good as last year there are some interesting match-ups. Listed below are three intriguing games along with a few pre-season awards.

Florida Gulf Coast University at Nebraska, 9pm, Lincoln, Nebraska -2.5

Last spring FGCU captured the nation’s attention with their run to the Sweet 16 as a fifteen seed. This year they have a new coach in former Kansas assistant Joey Dooley but return flashy point guard Brett Comer and shooting guard Bernard Thompson. They also add guard Jamail Jones, a transfer from Marquette. With FGCU coming to town, Tim Miles and Co. open up their sparkling brand new arena. In his second season, Miles looks to improve upon his first year where Nebraska won five games in the Big 10, but will have to start the season without their top returner in senior guard Ray Gallegos who is suspended for the first two games of the season. The new arena will be rocking but look for Dunk City to continue their high flying ways.

St. John’s vs. Wisconsin, 7pm, South Dakota, Wisconsin -4

A Big East-Big 10 showdown in South Dakota will feature two teams with drastically different personnel and styles. Last year Wisconsin ranked 318^th in the country in Ken Pomeroy’s tempo rankings and prefer to initially look for quick hitters or run the shot clock down to under 10 seconds. The Badgers return senior guard Ben Brust who averaged 11.1 ppg along with sophomore Sam Dekker who had a 116.7 offensive efficiency rating in limited minutes. St. John’s returns junior guard D’Angelo Harrison who averaged almost 18 points per game along with sophomore forward JaKarr Sampson. They also add freshman guard Rysheed Jordan who could turn out to be on one of the top freshman scorers. St. John’s will look to push the pace and get out in the open court while Wisconsin will try to force the game into a half court game where every possession counts.

Oakland at UNC, 9pm, Chapel Hill, UNC -16

The Tar Heels are ranked number 12 in the country but tonight’s game against Oakland will give some insight into how the team plans to adapt without star shooting guard P.J. Hairston and shooting guard Leslie McDonald. Without Hairston, the team will struggle mightily in the ACC and their tough out of conference games due to the lack of wing depth and shooters. 6’1” point guard Marcus Paige will get significant time at the 2G position, while freshman Nate Britt and P.J. Tokoto will step into much larger roles. Meanwhile, Oakland returns 6’5” senior sharp shooter Travis Bader who hoisted 360 three point attempts last year while hitting 38.6%. Oakland shouldn’t have a problem scoring, but last year their overall defense was relatively poor in all statistical categories. Expect McAdoo to get out for some open court finishes, but the lack of shooting will hurt the Tar Heels in what could be a long, long season.

Player of the Year:

Doug McDermott, F, Creighton

Last year McDermott averaged 23.2 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in the Missouri Valley. Despite a step up in competition with a move to the Big East look for McDermott to continue his high scoring ways. 

Rookie of the Year:

Julius Randle, PF, Kentucky

In a very close call, I gave the nod to Randle over the future number one draft pick in Andrew Wiggins. While Wiggins is the better of the two players, Randle will be more of a consistent beast on the court and should not have a problem powering his way to the basket for buckets. Wiggins will definitely showcase his athleticism and his potential, but will also blend in to the crowd at times during Kansas games. I fully expect Wiggins to have a great game against Duke as he always dominated the top ranked competition in high school, but Randle should have the more consistent season.

Most Important Player:

P.J. Hairston, SF, UNC

Most pre-season magazines and polls have UNC ranked in the top 15 to start the season. If Hairston is deemed eligible at some point, this ranking could prove to be legit, but if Hairston is forced to miss substantial games or the entire season the Tar Heels turn into a team that would struggle to make the tournament. Hairston has a scorer’s mentality and can drain three’s from deep or dunk on an opposing player with a drive down the middle of the lane. Last year he averaged 18 points per game once he was moved into the starting line-up. Without Hairston, the lack of wing depth will be on full display as will the lack of a go to scorer. No person is more important to their team that Hairston this year.

Most Underrated Freshman

Bronson Koenig, G, Wisconsin

Wisconsin’s freshman guard Bronson Koenig finished his senior year unranked in Scout.com’s Top 100. As a sophomore, Koenig was considered a top 50 recruit and had the coaches from Duke, UNC, and UVA all over him before his early commitment to Wisconsin. This year Koenig will come off the bench for the Badgers but will be able to play both the point and shooting guard positions. Despite lacking the athletic ability to blow by defenders, Koenig has strong ball-handling abilities and is a stellar mid-range and three point shooter. He won’t “wow” anybody, but expect him to make a solid contribution in Big 10 play. There was a reason many of the top schools in the country went after him despite his drop in the rankings.