College Hoops Today

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The Breakfast Buffet: Auburn/Baylor, Isaiah Collier looked the part against Kansas State, Rick Pitino

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

Auburn/Baylor
The game of the night in college basketball will be played at the Sanford Pentagon in South Dakota. It has the feel of a second round matchup in the NCAA Tournament. Both Auburn and Baylor are ranked in the Top 36 of the ROTHSTEIN 45 and both are capable of finishing in the top tier of their respective leagues. The Tigers should be a much better shooting team than they were a year ago thanks to the additions of both Denver Jones (Florida International) and Chad Baker-Mazara (JUCO). The Bears meanwhile, have a special talent in 6-5 freshman Ja’Kobe Walter and one of the deepest frontcourts in the sport with Jonathan Tchamwa Tchatchoua, Josh Ojianwuna, and Yves Missi. This game is appointment TV for the college basketball junkie.

Isaiah Collier looked the part
Are we sure this guy is only a freshman? The broad shouldered Collier scored 18 points on nine shots to go with six assists in USC’s 82-69 win over Kansas State on Monday night in Las Vegas. Armed with tremendous size for a point guard at 6-5 as well as incredible strength, Collier is not your typical freshman from a physical perspective. He’ll be a national name by Thanksgiving — if not sooner.

Rick Pitino makes his St. John’s debut
Fans of the Red Storm may wake up this morning thinking that this is a dream, but it most certainly is not. St. John’s now has a Hall-of-Fame head coach and its quest to return to national relevance begins tonight in Queens against Stony Brook. Pitino’s hiring instantly added expectations for the Red Storm, who are currently ranked 23rd in the ROTHSTEIN 45. St. John’s has not won a game in the NCAA Tournament since 2000.

On The Side

  • Michigan has a dangerous opener tonight in Ann Arbor against UNC Asheville. The Bulldogs return several key pieces from last season’s team that won 27 games and reached the NCAA Tournament, headlined by do-everything forward Drew Pember (20.9 points, 9.1 rebounds).
  • Ed Cooley will make his debut tonight as Georgetown’s head coach against Le Moyne. It’s the first time since March 4th, 1972 that the head coach of the Hoyas does not have a direct tie to John Thompson. That’s 18,875 days ago.
  • Michigan State was just 1-20 from three-point range in its overtime loss to James Madison on Monday.
  • Xavier has now won 34 straight home openers — that’s utterly ridiculous.
  • N’Faly Dante’s 16-point, 21-rebound performance in Oregon’s 82-71 win over Georgia on Monday in Las Vegas was a quick reminder that this 6-11 big man has All-American caliber ability if he’s healthy. Keep an eye on this guy.

Daily Specials

  • Florida Gulf Coast at Indiana
  • Stony Brook at St. John’s
  • UNC Asheville at Michigan
  • Florida A&M at Creighton
  • Auburn/Baylor (Sanford Pentagon)

Leftovers