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It's the first full week of the college basketball season, and so we have a full slate of games to pick from for this week's Big Five. There's four pretty obvious choices, which leaves one spot open. I'm making an executive decision on which game I'm going to use for that slot based completely on entertainment purposes only, because I can.
Last Week: 3-2 (Thanks for nothing, Georgetown and St. John's)
Overall: 3-2
Tuesday, November 12: Tennessee at Xavier (8pm Central, Fox Sports 1) - Nice job by the Musketeers at getting a power conference team to come in to the Cintas Center! The Vols are picked to finish third in the SEC, but that's like getting picked to finish first with Kentucky & Florida running around over there. And now, Jeronne Maymon lets a snake crawl all over him:
Wednesday, November 13: Brown at Providence (6pm Central, Fox Sports Networks) - This is the game I picked for entertainment purposes. There's seven teams playing Big East opponents this week that have better KenPom rankings than the Bears, including Wright State playing two different teams. But those teams don't have TJ Sorrentine as associate head coach, which gives me an excuse to head out to the parking lot:
Wednesday, November 13: Southern Miss at DePaul (8pm Central, Fox Sports 2) - This early in the season, all you can really say about an opponent is their KenPom ranking and where they were picked to finish in their conference. But Conference USA refuses to do a preseason poll because they hate your freedom. Luckily, that's where Mr. Pomeroy steps back in to be of assistance. He assembled a panel of 36 voters to determine a preseason favorite in CUSA, and the Golden Eagles came out on top with 17 first place votes.
Saturday, November 16: #10/#9 Ohio State at #17/#17 Marquette (12pm Central, Fox) - If you get heavily advertised during NFL broadcasts because you're the first ever college basketball game broadcast on "The Simpsons are on next" Fox, then you make the Big Five. It's in the charter and everything.
Saturday, November 16: Creighton at St. Joseph's (7pm Central, SNY) - This game is one of only two road games for Big East teams this week, and all due respect to Seton Hall traveling to play at Mercer, but this is a much more impressive game. The Hawks are picked to finish fifth in the 13 team Atlantic 10, and this is a nice early season test for the Bluejays to see where they stand from a national perspective.