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The Breakfast Buffet: Saint Louis, The Big 12, BYU/San Diego State

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

Saint Louis is emerging as this year’s Dayton
Will that sentiment continue for the rest of the season? Nobody knows for certain, but the Billikens are starting to make believers out of people. Thursday night’s 11-point win over NC State coupled with a November victory over LSU has Saint Louis at 6-0 entering Sunday’s game at Minnesota. Saint Louis is similar in mold to the teams that Dan Hurley had at Rhode Island a few years ago before he took his current post at UConn. Travis Ford’s squad is old, tough, and physical. The Billikens out rebounded NC State 53-26 in Thursday night’s victory.

The winner of the Big 12 regular season title will likely have at least four or five conference losses
If Kansas’ one-point win over Texas Tech on Thursday night in Lubbock reiterated anything, it’s that this year’s Big 12 is going to be a gauntlet at the top of the league. These two teams plus Baylor, West Virginia, and Texas all have the ability to win the conference’s regular season title while Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and TCU also look capable of winning their share of games as well. While Baylor has separated itself early as the team from the Big 12 who boasts the highest ceiling, that doesn’t mean that the Bears are going to go through this type of a league unscathed. I’d be shocked if the winner of this conference has a better regular season league record than 14-4. 

Friday’s best game is at Viejas Arena
A pair of old rivals face off this afternoon in Southern California as BYU visits San Diego State. The Cougars again look like one of the best teams in the WCC in their second season under Mark Pope, but the Aztecs look like one of the best teams in the country. BYU has already beaten a pair of power conference teams — St. John’s and Utah — this season and it will be interesting to see how effective its offense can be against San Diego State’s defense. The Cougars enter today’s game averaging 77.8 points while the Aztecs are only surrendering 57 points through their first five outings. Tip off is at 5 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.

On The Side

  • Gonzaga’s game against Virginia on Dec. 26th in Fort Worth ensures that the Bulldogs will have five high profile non-conference tilts before beginning WCC play. In addition to the matchup with the Cavaliers and Saturday’s showdown with Iowa in Sioux Falls, Mark Few’s squad already owns wins over Kansas, Auburn, and West Virginia. Gonzaga’s games against Iowa and Virginia will both be on CBS.
  • Oklahoma State’s home loss to TCU in its Big 12 opener is going to sting. The Cowboys’ next two tilts are on the road at Texas and Texas Tech which precede a home game against West Virginia. Yikes!
  • St. John’s is allowing an average of 89.3 points during its first three Big East games. There’s no such thing as a must win in December, but Sunday’s game against Georgetown is close for the Red Storm after an 0-3 start in conference play. 
  • Remy Martin has attempted eight or less shots in four of Arizona State’s first seven games. Martin averaged 15.2 shot attempts each time he took the floor last season. The Sun Devils need to get their star back on track — quickly. 
  • Tyler Burton is starting to blossom for Richmond. The 6-7 forward is averaging 16 points and nine rebounds over his last three games and is constantly reiterating why he’s the best long-term prospect in the Spiders’ program. Burton was inserted into Richmond’s starting lineup when Nick Sherod was lost for the year due to injury. 

Daily Specials

  • BYU at San Diego State
  • Richmond/Loyola Chicago (Indianapolis)
  • Davidson at Rhode Island
  • Iowa State at West Virginia

Leftovers: