Men's Basketball Non-Conference Opponent Update: December 2

What a great week in college basketball! The Big Ten rises up to the challenge and takes home the Big Ten/ACC Challenge crown by a score of 6 to 5. That victory continues to provide the perception that the Big Ten is the best conference in the land, something that we'll be banking on come tournament selection time. More importantly, the 'Cats drubbed Georgia Tech in what was probably one of the best clinics in downtown shooting that I've seen in my life. Imagine if they did that for 25-30 minutes against the likes of Michigan State! I'm starting to feel a lot more optimistic about our tournament chances with each passing game.

That said, it's been almost two weeks since we last looked in at our non-conference opponents. Let's see how they're doing and how they're hurting helping the 'ole RPI, huh?


Northern Illinois (1-3) - Beat Maryland Eastern Shore on the road, then laid an egg against Boise State at home. Oh yeah, I should mention that Boise State is strictly a football school.  RPI #190

UT Pan-American (1-6) - Have since lost three straight to the likes of Texas State, Lamar and Colorado. Two of those were home games. Did we seriously nearly lose to these guys?  RPI #304

Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-6) - Lost to Stanford, Hawaii and Missouri on the road. Their home opener is against Missouri Valley State on January 4.  RPI #218

Creighton (4-3) - Lost a very close one to a very competitive Iowa State on a neutral court, beat Kennesaw State (the same team that blew Georgia Tech out), lost to us and now #25 BYU by 12 points.  RPI #147

Georgia Tech (4-2) - Well, we know what happened on Tuesday. They took Syracuse to within four at the Legends Classic and beat a decent UTEP squad en route.  RPI #122

Long Island (4-1) - Won two consecutive games on the road against Manhattan and Fordham, followed up with a close loss against St. Peters.  RPI #134

American (5-2) - Won a semi-meaningful game on the road against Florida Atlantic and followed it up with another road win against Howard. They then went back home and took a close loss against Columbia before taking the road again. They played West Virginia. Guess what the outcome was.  RPI #160

St. Francis, NY (1-3) - Also used Howard as a tune-up team, that's their lone win so far. Lost a close one at Brown a few days later. KenPom currently projects us to win this neutral-court game by 17. We'd better win by more than that.  RPI #259

St. John's (5-1) OR Davidson (3-3) - Still the most important game of the non-conference season, assuming we play St. John's in the final. The Red Storm has rattled off four more wins, including an 82-39 complete massacre of the once-great Drake Bulldogs. If they have a solid season, this could be considered a statement win on a "neutral" site. Davidson hasn't fared so hot, beating Western Kentucky and Monmouth U but losing double-digits to Rhode Island.  RPI #21 (St. John's) / #77 (Davidson)

Mount St. Mary's (2-4) -Won against two cupcakes, lost against two more cupcakes. This one shouldn't even be close.  RPI #313


Current Record: 5-0
Current RPI: #59
Target Non-Con Record: 9-1 (10-1 after SIU-E)
Target Big Ten Record: 10-8

Go 'Cats!