Dribblings 1/12/2005 (Bandwagonesque Edition)

Southland: Southeastern Louisiana 56, Sam Houston State 54 (story) - We sold this yesterday as big O versus big D, and the defense won. (I've also heard that it wins championships, but the evidence is inconclusive.) Southeastern kept the Bearkats' normally streaky offense in check, and backup guard Neill Berry laid it up and in with less than a second to go to clinch the home win. Last season, SELU came out of nowhere (or rather Hammond, Louisiana - population: 17,000) to win the Southland regular-season title with an 11-5 record, but did not appear on your office-pool bracket because eventual 16-seed Texas-San Antonio nipped them in the Southland semis. The Lions (8-5, 3-0 SLC) intend to correct that this year.

St. Mary's 59, Air Force 58 (story) - The Gael-wagon is a lot more crowded this week after their thrilling win over UMPFN, and it nearly collapsed whilst driving over The Academy's speed bump. Despite taking a 13-point lead into the break, they couldn't manage a basket for seven second-half minutes against the Falcons' Princeton-style grind, a style the California school has not encountered in over two decades. The non-conference win over AFA was SMC's ninth in a row, and was played in the middle of conference season due to a desperation three-way schedule-filler deal last summer (third wheel: Rutgers).

Marshall 59, West Virginia 55 (story) - Marshall (3-10, 0-4 MAC) is better known as a quarterback factory, and their hoopsters have been kicked around so far in the Mid-American Conference and elsewhere. But the Thundering Herd from Huntington went into Charleston and beat the cross-state rival Mountaineers, a Big East team that folks were taking seriously just one week ago. Marshall's Ronny Dawn (15 points) rained down threes in this misty mountain hoedown.

Shootaround!

Horizon: Wisconsin-Green Bay (10-3, 4-0 HL) stayed perfect, beating lowly Cleveland State (4-7, 1-3 HL) at home by a 81-76 margin.

Southern: The favorites in this league are Charleston and Chattanooga, but Davidson (6-7, 4-0 SoCon) is the first to four wins. They lead the SoCon South division after defending their home court against Appalachian State last night, 66-63.

Games! Of! The! Night!

In the Mid-American Conference, you have two decent matchups this evening that will help define the all-important contenders/pretenders border. In a rematch of last year's MAC title game, TMM league pick Kent State (9-3, 3-1 MAC) is at defending champs Western Michigan (9-1, 3-0 MAC) - a team off to a blazing start despite losing the bulk of their scoring due to graduation. Surprising Bowling Green (8-2, 3-0 MAC) and their abstract falcon logo will be across the Great Lake state in Ypsilanti, facing the Eastern Michigan Eagles (9-4, 3-1 MAC). Both games start at seven o'clock Eastern Standard; webcasts are here and here, respectively. The BGSU-EMU one isn't free, unfortunately.

Southern (6-7, 3-1 SWAC) lost three key players from their preseason roster due to injuries and academics, but it's bringing the team together as their rotation becomes solidified. The Baton Rouge Advocate's Joseph Schiefelbein explains.

Nobody expected Idaho (4-7, 3-0 BWC) to be perfect in Big West play to this point, especially considering their 0-7 start. Now they head out on a southern road trip, which includes that other undefeated team, defending conference champions Pacific (10-2, 5-0 BWC).

A lot can happen in a month... and so can a little. Penn hasn't played at the Palestra for 33 days; the Quakers haven't won a single game since (going 0-3 on the road). Tonight's foe Rider, powered by 7-foot behemoth Steve Castleberry, made their way onto the Metro Atlantic radar by compiling a 4-0 league record during that stretch.

If you're Portland, life in the West Coast Conference is tough: you're the only team in the league not given a chance. But coach Michael Holton continues to sing a happy tune.

Book jacket quote of the day comes from the wonderfully erudite Uncertain Principles blog: "If you're only going to look at one college-basketball-themed weblog this year, make it The Mid-Majority."

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