College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: UCLA/Villanova, Brandon Slater, Parity is everywhere

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

UCLA/Villanova
A Final Four caliber game in November? You better believe it. The first installment of this home-and-home series takes place tonight in Westwood as UCLA will attempt to earn a victory over college basketball’s true model program. It won’t be easy. Villanova (1-0) returns every single piece of significance from last year’s team that reached the Sweet 16 and lost to Baylor aside from Jeremiah Robinson-Earl, who is now in the NBA with the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Wildcats also have two fifth-year seniors — Collin Gillespie and Jermaine Samuels — in their starting lineup. The Bruins will have to push forward tonight without their starting center Cody Riley, who is out with a sprained MCL. In Riley’s absence, Rutgers grad transfer Myles Johnson has to give UCLA mileage at the rim on both sides of the floor. The 6-10 Johnson had two points, five rebounds, and two blocks in Tuesday night’s opener against CSU Bakersfield.

Brandon Slater steps to the forefront
Most people in college basketball know all about Villanova’s nucleus of Gillespie, Samuels, and Justin Moore, but Slater’s name is still in relative obscurity. It won’t stay that way for long. Tonight’s game at UCLA is Slater’s first major platform this season to make a national statement. After watching a Villanova practice in Philadelphia about a month ago, it was clear to me that he’s ready to have a breakout season. Armed with good length at 6-7, Slater has added strength and confidence. He had 17 points, five assists, and four rebounds in Tuesday’s win against Mount St. Mary’s and was 5-7 from three-point range. Slater made just 10 three-point shots during all of last season. There’s a good chance that this kid becomes a national name before the weekend is over.

Parity is everywhere
As of Friday morning, 13 teams in college basketball had lost “buy” games in the first three days of the season. This includes three teams from the ACC — Virginia, Georgia Tech, and Pitt — and three teams — Arizona State, Washington, and Cal — from the Pac-12. It shouldn’t be a surprise. The lack of player retention in college basketball combined with mid-majors being older than usual because of the additional COVID year has leveled the playing field. Rhythm and chemistry are now much harder to achieve out of the gate. Remember: Only four power conference teams — Villanova, UConn, Purdue, and Stanford — did not take a transfer during the offseason.

On The Side

  • Auburn’s Allen Flanigan (achilles) remains on track to return at some point in December and will not play at the Battle 4 Atlantis in two weeks, Bruce Pearl told College Hoops Today on Thursday. “We really miss him,” Pearl said of the 6-6 Flanigan, who averaged 14.3 points and 5.5 rebounds last season. “He’d be my best player right now.” The Tigers are 1-0 and will host UL Monroe tonight.
  • Texas’ Dylan Disu (knee) is fully practicing and will return to game action “sooner rather than later,” Chris Beard told College Hoops Today on Thursday. The 6-9 Disu averaged 15 points and 9.2 rebounds last season at Vanderbilt. The Longhorns are 1-0 and visit top-ranked Gonzaga on Saturday night.
  • SMU’s Kendric Davis is the best guard in America that nobody really knows about. He’ll get a chance to change that tonight against Oregon in Eugene. Davis led the American Athletic Conference in both scoring and assists last season and had 18 points, eight rebounds, and five dimes in the Mustangs’ win over McNeese on Tuesday. This is a dangerous early opponent for the Ducks.
  • There’s usually no such thing as a “must win” during the first week of the season, but tonight’s game between San Diego State and BYU in Provo is incredibly critical for both teams. Why? Both teams are expected to finish near the top of their respective leagues, but both teams also have only a handful of key non-conference opportunities to boost their NCAA Tournament resume. The winner of this game will likely have a quality thing to point to on its resume on Selection Sunday. The loser will not.
  • Is Navy’s game tonight against Virginia Tech in the CBS Sports Veterans Classic the biggest home game that the Midshipmen have had under Ed DeChellis? It has to be! Navy is coming off an epic upset of Virginia on Tuesday in Charlottesville and now has a chance to start its season with two wins over two ACC opponents. I’m looking forward to being on the call for this game along with both Tom McCarthy and Steve Lappas. Richmond faces Utah State in the other game of the doubleheader. Tip off for the event is at 6:00 PM ET on CBS Sports Network.

Daily Specials

  • South Dakota State at Alabama
  • Virginia Tech at Navy (Veterans Classic)
  • San Diego State at BYU
  • SMU at Oregon
  • Villanova at UCLA

Leftovers