The Holy Land of Hoops

5 games on Sunday... with each of our 3 ranked teams in action.

12pm, St Peter's at Seton Hall.
1:30pm, Fordham at #24 St John's.
2pm, #15 Butler at Tennessee.
2pm, Temple at #7 Villanova.
4pm, Illinois State at DePaul.

- Seton Hall should handle St Peter's, though last year the Peacocks won at the Hall.
- Not a big fan of the Fordham coach, and the Johnnies look aggressive and hungry.
- Road games are tough, as we've learned, and Butler at Tennessee is a tough matchup... Marquette has already beaten the Vols, by 8 pts, by holding Tenn to 3-for-20 on threes, and limiting Tenn to only 6 free throws, though Tenn outrebounded MU 42-26... very winnable for Butler, but for some reason, Tennessee scares me.
- I like Villanova's chances vs Temple.
- Illinois State, from what i remember, kinda played a lighter version of Havoc... but DePaul likes to play a fast, running, unpredictable offense... kind of a toss-up here, I think... not sure what to expect.

So, I think 3 wins are pretty safe. Butler should beat Tennessee, and DePaul is a toss-up. Worst case at 3-2. Solid chance at 4-1. And 5-0 is attainable if everyone stays focused.

here is your TV crews....

Saint Peter's @ Seton Hall, 12:00
Fox Sports 1: Jeff Levering, Jim Spanarkel

Temple @ Villanova, 2:00
Fox Sports 1 Joe Davis, Bill Raftery

Butler @ Tennessee, 2:00
ESPNU Mike Morgan, Darrin Horn

MSG Holiday Festival
Fordham @ St. John's, 2:30
Fox Sports Networks Chris Carrino, Ron Thompson

Illinois State @ DePaul, 4:00
Fox Sports 1 Steve Physioc, Donny Marshall

I am a long-time DePaul fan but an Illinois State alum and can tell you that Illinois State is a very solid basketball team. I know their personnel well as this should be a very tough battle.

For me, DePaul comes first though.

The Nova/Temple game will be a hard fought battle even though Nova is better by far. All the Philly games are battles, but with Nova beating out Temple for that top 10 recruit, you know the Temple fans and players will be out for blood.

St. Peter's is proving to be a tough opponent for a very good Seron Hall team. They had won 4 of their last 6 coming into today, including wins over Rutgers, BU, and Princeton. 5 of their 6 losses have been by 3 points or less . They could just as easily be 9-1 as 4-6. Dangerous team.

Very impressed with Whitehead, he will definitely be in the league soon enough. Also impressed with Seton Hall altogether. A little more discipline and they can be a great team.

I expected the Manziel show to take up most of my afternoon, but Bengals already took his lunch money so I am going to watch some more Big East!

Butler 28 Tennessee 22 late in the 1st half on ESPNU

Fordham 14 St. John's 11 on FSN

Villanova 26 Temple 19 on FS1

Yea, if the Johnnie could stop losing to the whipping by of the A 10 that wold be greatttttttt

That being said, college hoops is the most unpredictable sport out there, so every game nees to be played as if u are the underdog