In less than a month, players will hit the hardwood for another season of college hoops. And with an impressive slate of games, it is setting up to be an exciting opening day.
On the mid-major side of things, many will look at Saint Louis/Santa Clara and McNeese/South Dakota State as the matchups they have circled on the calendar.
However, below is a list of three matchups that aren’t receiving the accurate amount of buzz they should be.
Vermont vs UAB
John Becker’s Vermont program begins the season on the road with tough matchups against UAB and Auburn, respectively. But this matchup is exciting because it features two of the better mid-major programs in the country, the Catamounts and the Blazers. UAB will return four of their six leading scorers from their NCAA Tournament, including Defensive Player of The Year Yaxel Lendeborg. Vermont also returns major contributors from their team that qualified for the Big Dance, including TJ Long and Sahmir Bouges.
Lipscomb vs Duquesne
The long-awaited return of Lipscomb ASUN Player of The Year candidate Jacob Ognacevic. Dru Joyce III, former teammate of Lebron James, takes over for Duquesne after the NCAA Tournament dream season under Keith Dambrot. Those are two of the many storylines make this matchup between the Dukes and the Bisons intriguing. And with a meeting with John Calipari and Arkansas to follow for Lipscomb, the stakes couldn’t be higher to get a confidence-boosting victory in the Steel City.
Indiana State vs Florida Atlantic (Neutral Site)
The final spotlighted matchup features a meeting that would have had mid-major fans salivating last year. Now, a year later, this matchup brings a lot of change. Both teams feature new coaches and players, leading to questions on how they will fare. The transfer trio of Baba Miller (Florida State), Lealand Walker (Eastern Kentucky) and KyKy Tandy (Jacksonville State) make the Owls intriguing, while the Sycamores also have added new pieces. That said, the teams will head to the Wooden Center in Los Angeles for a neutral-site matchup that should be interesting.
