There’s one good thing about all of this conference realignment nonsense: it gives us some good December games. We’ve got the Apple Cup on the hardwood, and there are genuine questions about whether the home team is tough enough to play in this game.
Which team is the real Butler? Is it the team that showed it could play at a power conference level when it beat Mississippi State and Southern Methodist? Or is it the one that spotted North Dakota State a 23-point lead and lost to both the Bison and Austin Peay?
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It’s safe to say that Memphis has already had an incredibly successful trip to the islands. Given little chance in a bracket that included Connecticut and Michigan State, the Tigers have reached the finals of the Maui Invitational, where they’re up against another brand of Tigers.
Here’s the exact matchup the Big 12 did not want to see when the Maui Invitational was announced last year. A season ago, the Big 12 knew it had scored a coup when it snagged Colorado from the decaying Pac-12, but basketball fans knew that it would create an oddity in the schedule.
This might not be what Iowa State was hoping for out of its trip to the islands. The Cyclones have not prepared well for this matchup, playing three weak opponents in their first three games.
Other than Dayton, Memphis probably has the most to prove in this Maui field. That kind of pressure can work either way, especially with Connecticut both yet to prove itself and used to facing bad offenses.
When a team can’t run with Arizona, it’s going to run into problems. When a team can run with Arizona, the Wildcats really don’t have a good backup plan.
Since Fred Hoiberg arrived in Lincoln, the biggest question in the annual rivalry between Nebraska and Creighton has been simple: can the Huskers slow down the Bluejays?