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The Breakfast Buffet: Isaiah Collier versus Tylor Perry, Georgia/Oregon, Washington

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

Isaiah Collier versus Tylor Perry
The No. 1 point guard in the freshman class against one of the top transfers at the point guard position? Sounds delicious. The addition of the 6-5 Collier — a five-star prospect and projected lottery pick in the 2024 NBA Draft — is the biggest reason why so many people are bullish on USC. Perry meanwhile, joins Kansas State after averaging 17.3 points last season at North Texas. It’s a terrific head-to-head matchup in Las Vegas in a game between two teams who are currently ranked in the Top 35 of the ROTHSTEIN 45. This feels like a Round of 32 matchup in the NCAA Tournament. Tip off is at 10 PM ET on TNT.

Georgia/Oregon
There’s not as much sizzle surrounding this matchup in Las Vegas, but a showdown between two power conference programs on opening day is nothing to gloss over. While both Georgia and Oregon do not enter the 2023-24 season with as much hope or promise as USC and Kansas State, they’re still two teams that should both be improved from a year ago. The Bulldogs are entering their second year under Mike White while the Ducks are aiming to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2021. Dana Altman has not missed the NCAA Tournament in three consecutive seasons since he arrived in Eugene in 2010. Tip off is set for 4:30 PM ET on TruTV.

Washington quietly has a tricky week
The Huskies look like the sleeper team in the Pac-12, but their next seven days could feel like a root canal without novacane. Washington hosts pesky Bellarmine tonight in Seattle and then will entertain Horizon League favorite Northern Kentucky on Thursday. Mike Hopkins’ squad will conclude the week with a home game on Sunday against Nevada, who returns its top two scorers — Jarod Lucas (17 points, 2.6 rebounds) and Kenan Blackshear (14.1 points, 4.6 assists, four rebounds) — from last season’s team that reached the NCAA Tournament.

On The Side

  • Adrian “Red” Autry makes his head coaching debut tonight as Syracuse hosts New Hampshire. It’s the first time that someone other than Jim Boeheim has served as the Orange’s permanent head coach since the 1975-76 season.
  • UConn has won five national titles since 1999, but it’s also never advanced to the Final Four in back-to-back seasons. The Huskies begin that quest tonight against Northern Arizona in Storrs. Dan Hurley’s squad is currently ranked SEVENTH in the ROTHSTEIN 45.
  • Tennessee’s Santiago Vescovi (personal) returned to Knoxville on Thursday and is expected to play in tonight’s opener against Tennessee Tech, a school spokesman told College Hoops Today. Vescovi did not play in the Vols’ exhibition last week or in their charity exhibition at Michigan State on Oct. 29th. The 6-3 guard averaged 12.5 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.1 assists last season.
  • Memphis’ projected starting five tonight against Jackson State — Jahvon Quinerly (Alabama), Caleb Mills (Florida State), Jaykwon Walton (Wichita State), David Jones (St. John’s), and Jordan Brown (Louisiana) — currently has an average age of 23 years old.
  • Tonight’s game between Princeton and Rutgers in Trenton is the first meeting between these in-state rivals since 2013. The Tigers lead the all-time series 75-45.

Daily Specials

  • Georgia/Oregon (Las Vegas)
  • Princeton/Rutgers (Trenton)
  • Morehead State at Alabama
  • Kansas State/USC (Las Vegas)
  • Bellarmine at Washington

Leftovers