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Weekend Preview: Quit with the cupcakes

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Jeff Goodman

Jeff Goodman is a senior college basketball writer for FOXSports.com. Check out his Yardbarker blog. MORE>>
 
Updated Dec 11, 2009 9:07 PM ET
     
 
On Thursday night, Florida Atlantic struggled to take care of Warner Pacific. Mercer knocked off Piedmont, Maine crushed Maine-Presque Isle, St. Bonaventure defeated Le Moyne, East Tennessee State defeated North Georgia and Pepperdine actually lost to Cal Baptist. We need to do something about all these games against non-Division I opponents. There's no reason for it. For a while, Southern Miss was among the nation's elite — an exclusive club that numbered about 20 schools that had yet to suffer a loss. But after a close look, there was a reason why Larry Eustachy's team was perfect — his schedule over the first two weeks of the season included games against Loyola (N.O.), William Carey and Spring Hill. Loyola and Spring Hill are both NAIA schools that lost 11 games last season, William Carey, coached by Southern Miss alum Steve Knight, was 9-20 a year ago. That's a joke. There's just no valid reason to litter your schedule with non D-I's. Sure, there are unavoidable instances in which you are forced to play a Division II or NAIA school — when you simply can't find a D-I opponent to come to your place and you need a home game. But more often than not, these coaches and schools have a choice. Some coaches do it in an effort to make their record look more impressive, in an effort to save their job. Others do it because games against D-II's or NAIA schools don't count in the RPI, where a victory against a team towards the bottom of the RPI can actually hurt you. Another reason is simply just to add another home game to the season ticket package — or to help a young team build confidence. I've got no issue with Radford coach Brad Greenberg scheduling a game this weekend with Roanoke College. It's the only non-Division I on the slate, one that includes road games against Duke, Kansas and Louisville. But Southern Miss and some others are a different story. It doesn't end for Eustachy with the trio of non-Division I's already in the books, either. The Golden Eagles will face Dillard University on Dec. 30 in Hattiesburg. This is the same Dillard team that has lost to Texas College, Wiley College and Columbus State already this year.
CAN'T MISS: There's not a big-time heavyweight bout as there has been over the past couple of weekends, but the Georgetown-Washington tilt out on the West Coast should be interesting. It's obviously a major contrast in styles. If Georgetown wins, there's no reason to dispute the Hoyas as a legit top 10 team. If the Huskies come out victorious, it'll give the Pac-10 its first true "résumé" win of the season — and it'll also put U-Dub back on track after the road loss to Texas Tech. UNDERCARD: Texas A&M at New Mexico — It may not look like much, but Mark Turgeon's team has beaten Clemson and Minnesota and the Aggies' only loss came against West Virginia. On the flip side, the Lobos are 9-0 entering the contest with a win against a Theo Robertson-less Cal team. A fairly unheralded A&M team could move into the top 15 with a win, while New Mexico should crack the top 25 if the Lobos can come out on top. HATRED: Cincinnati at Xavier tips at 7 p.m. ET on Sunday, and the two Cincinnati schools don't exactly have much love for one another. In a change from recent years, the Bearcats come into the game ranked while new Xavier coach Chris Mack tries to get everything in gear after the Musketeers have struggled early. DESPERATE: I wrote about Butler and how the Bulldogs are running out of chances to earn an at-large berth following the team's loss to Georgetown this past week in New York. Brad Stevens' team could sorely use a win against Ohio State Saturday afternoon — even if the Buckeyes don't have Evan Turner. REAL DEAL?: I'm still not completely sold on UNLV — even though I have the utmost respect for Runnin' Rebels coach Lon Kruger. They barely knocked off Arizona in Tucson, and they've also won home games against Louisville, Southern Illinois and Nevada. That's impressive. Now, they have a matchup Saturday night in Vegas against a talented Kansas State club. UPSET SPECIAL: I'm still 3-for-4 thus far this season with the streak ending last week with Santa Clara coming up just short at home against UNLV. I'm going with New Mexico to knock off No. 18 Texas A&M at The Pit. The Lobos are just as talented, especially with the addition of Darrington Hobson. MID-MAJOR MATCHUP: Siena travels to Cedar Falls, Iowa, for a rematch of last year's BracketBuster game against Northern Iowa. The Saints won last year, 81-75, but Fran McCaffery's team has struggled a bit this year with a 6-3 mark. Northern Iowa is 6-1 with its lone loss coming against DePaul. BOSOM BUDDIES: Kentucky coach John Calipari and Indiana coach Tom Crean have struck up a close friendship of late, but the two coaches will go against one another Saturday at noon in Bloomington. While Crean continues to rebuild the Hoosiers, Calipari has UK in the hunt for a national title this season and undefeated after the win against UConn in Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. DANGEROUS: Villanova at Temple — These Big 5 matchups are always scary, especially for an undefeated 'Nova club. Fran Dunphy's Owls almost knocked off Georgetown early in the season and have now won three straight, including two on the road. STAYING PERFECT: There are now 15 D-I teams without a blemish on their record, and one-third of them reside in the Big East. Syracuse, Villanova, Georgetown, Seton Hall and West Virginia are all unbeaten thus far. STILL SEARCHING: There are 13 Division I teams still looking to get into the win column. Four of them reside in the SWAC: Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Jackson State, Southern and Alcorn State.
Tagged: Kansas, Fairleigh Dickinson, Siena, Florida Atlantic, Jackson State, Clemson, Arkansas-Pine Bluff, Alcorn State, Butler, Pepperdine, Virginia, Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Santa Clara, Tennessee State, Maine, St. Bonaventure, Temple, Xavier, Kentucky, Georgia, UNLV, Radford, New Mexico, Cincinnati, West Virginia, Villanova, Arizona, Georgetown, Seton Hall, California, Texas Tech, Ohio State, Texas A&M, Texas, Iowa, East Tennessee State, Indiana, Kansas State, Illinois, Minnesota

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