2007-08 Gameday Previews: November 2007 Archives

School Databank:

Location: Savannah, Georgia

Enrollment: 3200

Famous sports alumni: Ernest "The Cat" Williams (WWE), Shannon Sharpe (NFL)

Last game: Defeated North Florida 58-32

Last game vs Creighton: N/A

Series: This is the first-ever meeting

The Tigers of Savannah State make the first of two trips to the state of Nebraska tonight when they come to Omaha to play the Jays. They return to play the Huskers on December 11, as part of their ambitious non-conference slate. With a game against Wisconsin already under their belt (a 79-32 loss), they have upcoming games against Marquette, Maryland, and Kansas State in addition to the aforementioned games with Creighton and Nebraska. In all, just four of their first 15 games are at home, making their 5-4 record thus far pretty impressive.

Savannah is perhaps best-known as the team that went winless in 2004-05, when they went 0-28, but to associate that teams' woes with the current squad would be a mistake. The current version is more athletic, deeper and infinitely more competitive; but when you're using one of the handful of worst seasons by any team in history as a measuring stick, saying a team is "better" is perhaps a misnomer.

School Databank:

Location: Itta Bena, Mississippi (two hours south of Memphis)

Enrollment: 3673

Famous sports alumni: Jerry Rice, Ashley Ambrose, Deacon Jones

Last game: Lost at #19 Pitt, 78-45

Last game vs Creighton: Lost in Omaha 78-42

Series: Creighton leads 5-0, with all five wins taking place in Omaha

The defending SWAC Champions won 18 games a year ago and return two starters, including preseason all-conference pick Stanford Speech. Last year they were picked to finish seventh in the SWAC, which most ranking metrics say is the worst conference in America, but overachieved to win the conference. However, they lost in the title game of the SWAC tourney to Jackson State, and were relegated to the NIT, where they dropped a 19-point decision to Mississippi State. For the record, Jackson State lost 112-69 to eventual champion Florida as a 16 seed in the Midwest Region.

For whatever reason, people seem to be overlooking Mississippi Valley State, or worse, underestimating them. Most predictions I've heard from fans indicate they predict a 30-point blowout, which is a mistake, I think. MVSU is a decent team that plays hard for their coach, and if Creighton overlooks the Delta Devils, this game will be much closer than it ought to be. Be forewarned.

Creighton only plays two quote-unquote BCS teams this year. I abhor that term; BCS stands for Bowl Championship Series, after all, which is a College Football classification and has nothing whatsoever to do with College Hoops. But national media use it as an easily-defined method of classifying schools into nice little groups. Makes their jobs easier.

Like it or not, that's the way the system works. A win over a "BCS" team carries more weight in the court of public opinion than a win over a superior mid-major. For instance, in 2004 Creighton defeated a decent Ohio State team on a neutral court, and a pretty damn good Xavier team on the road. Guess which game got more attention nationally? Ohio State, because "Creighton upsets Ohio State" is a better story than "Creighton defeats Xavier", even though Xavier was the superior team.

Which brings us to DePaul. The Blue Demons are picked to finish anywhere from 10th to 14th in the Big East, depending on which prognosticator you believe. Its entirely possible that future Creighton opponents such as Drexel, Xavier and St. Josephs could all wind up with better teams than DePaul. But a win over DePaul carries more weight, because they're in the Big East.

"Oh, they beat DePaul? Wow!"

Right. You bet.

Earlier this week, I got an email from a buddy of mine. He had taken my generous gift of two complimentary tickets to tonight's exhibition game (since I'll be in a business meeting in New York City) and was curious about something.

"Have you been able to find a roster for these guys? I've Googled in years past and they're harder to find than a Wookie on Endor."

First things first. Wookies don't come from Endor, and if there was one there, it would stick out like Sasquatch in a cubicle sending IMs to the Loch Ness Monster and Starman. Second things second, it is indeed hard to find information on the EA Sports team.

Part of the problem is that their title sponsor is a video game company, so no matter how you search, you wind up with info on NBA Live and March Madness games. I told him that no, I hadn't heard who was on the team this year -- but if the past was any indication, the Jays would be in for a battle. They're just 5-3 against EA Sports all-time, and typically their experience (average age: 26) gives them an experience edge that is a tough test in the first game.

Finally on Wednesday, a poster on the Bluejay Cafe found the EA Sports roster. At first glance, it looked...interesting to say the least.