I couldn't be more excited. The Christmas tree is up and basketball season is upon us!

What will everybody be looking for while watching the Belmont game? This game presents us with a heck of an opportunity against a tough, veteran team. Personally, I'm most interested in seeing how our rebounding, team defense, and Sears all look. Defense got better down the stretch last season. Hoping that trend continues. For all his strengths, JP wasn't exactly a lockdown defender. Maybe having Sears out there continues to help our team defense trend in a positive direction.

It's going to be a fun season!

That's my plan.

With 8 returning veterans, Belmont should be ranked. Not just the mid-major rankings, all of them. They will dominate the OVC and again be the team in the big dance that nobody wants to play. Add in their perpetual "Rodney Dangerfield" complex about respect (which in reality they actually get plenty of, but having a chip on the shoulder always comes in handy).

Keys to winning:
1) Belmont has to have a bad shooting night, especially from three
2) Stay out of foul trouble. Muzinsky (sp?) is quite a hoss in the paint.
3) Somebody for Ohio has to take over the game. Possibly BVP.
4) Don't underestimate Belmont's athleticism. They may not "look" NBA... but...
4a)Belmont and their neighbor Lipscomb both have players in the NBA. Know this.
5) Hit the boards. Samford (only early season loss 2020) outrebounded them big.
6) Scoring off the bench. Samford had a guy off the bench score 23 that game.

I need to hire you to come down to Cincinnati and get my technology set up.

I'll be looking for a broadcast.

I'm looking for a win. I'm not in the mood to take a moral victory if we lose close. We have a very good roster. I want to see a win.

Belmont presents one of the best guard duos McDay and Brown have probably seen in their time here. Perhaps the best Sears and Schmock have ever seen in college ball. Grayson Murphy is a returning first team All-OVC player and has a triple double to his name. Lots of his game logs look like Cooper or Preston performances. Luke Smith is the OVC's best three point shooter and finished eighth nationally in steals. Our four guards each have some defensive reputation. Let's see if they're up to the task.

We'll need to stay out of foul trouble. Belmont has four guys that play with Granger/Wilson body types on top of the 6'11'' Muszynski. It would be very nice to have Wilson available to match him physically, or even Ezuma to serve as a damage magnet with possibly Granger doing the same, so we can keep Carter and BVP on the floor.

SEC tv color analyst Larry Conley (of the famed "Rupps Runts") used to say before games: "The team that can score the most has a great chance of winning." Except he wasn't being sarcastic. He actually tried to pass that off as legit sport wisdom.

I guess Texas Western proved his strategy was correct that one time.