607 games on today’s slate

No really, there’s about 600 games today give or take a couple hundred.

But of course there are dozens of non DI teams playing the role of automatic victims tonight.

For example,

Middle Tennessee State will be hosting Trevecca Nazarene.

I wonder if Trevecca’s fans travel well.

Anyways,

here are some vital preview tidbits of a few Friday evening games.

St. Johns (H) vs. Long Island (LIU) preview from East Coast Bias

“This Friday, all of the offseason training, speculation, and worrying takes a back seat to the opening game of the 2008-2009 season, in the refurbished on-campus Carnesecca Arena.  For a St. John’s team that went 11-19 with a team filled with freshmen, the new season cannot come soon enough.  The Red Storm have been counted out in preseason polls; many fans anticipate a long year.  But anything can happen when the ball hits the hardwood and the numbers on the scoreboard are entered into the NCAA records.”

Villanova (H) vs. Albany preview from Villanova by the Numbers

“The Great Danes should offer an interesting test for the Wildcat’s front court rotation. Nova’s forwards (and centers) will face off against a mix of upper classmen and power conference transfers.”

Oklahoma (H) vs. American preview from rivals.com

“But OU could have its hands full, too. Eagles guards Garrison Carr (5-11) and Derrick Mercer (5-9) are quicker than hummingbird wings. Jones runs Carr off more screens than Toshiba produces.”

Wake Forest (H) vs. North Carolina Central preview from Matt Beardmore on msnbc

“When the No. 21 Demon Deacons open a season of raised expectations on Friday at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum against North Carolina Central, they’ll start as a ranked team for the first time in three years.”

Texas (H) vs. Stetson preview from Dan Pieringer on journalgazette

“Texas begins its latest retooling against a Stetson team that went 16-16 last season and lost in the opening round of the Atlantic Sun tournament. The Hatters are returning their top two scorers in Garfield Blair and A.J. Smith, a dynamic backcourt duo that combined to score 27.5 points per game in 2007-08.”

Penn St. (H) vs. William & Mary preview from crispinandcream

“Prediction: To be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if PSU loses tomorrow.  William and Mary is not a scrub mid-major team, and PSU rarely plays well in November. But I can’t pick the Lions to lose. The line I saw is PSU -11.5.  So I’ll take W&M against that spread and say PSU wins 69-59….Battle takes over late.”

Purdue (H) vs. Detroit preview from offthetracks

“Ray McCallum may be familiar to some Boilermaker fans as the former head coach of Ball State. He is now in his first year of a massive rebuilding project at Detroit. Detroit is far from the salad days of a decade ago when they made the NCAA tournament as an at large team before losing to the Boilermakers in round 2 80-65. This year’s edition of the Titans graduated last year’s leading scorer, but the next top four in scoring return. Their lineup presents some very interesting challenges that could provide a good opening test of our improved rebounding skills.”
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Briefly,

Not much can be said about Thursday’s two games. Though Miami (Ohio) did put up a helluva fight against the UCLA Bruins.

STAT of the DAY

UCLA managed only 5 assists in their 64-59 victory over the Redhawks.