2007-08 Gameday Previews: December 2007 Archives

I have to be brutally honest with you here. Tonight's game, the second consecutive against a first-year D1 team, does not excite me. In fact, I don't mind tellin' ya I spent an inordinate amount of time trying to figure out a way to properly preview the carnage our eyeballs will endure upon viewing this game. Here's what I came up with:

A few years ago, I went to a graphic design conference in Austin, Texas and a couple of nights before I left, I bought an eight-piece chicken pack from Wal-Mart. I ate half of it, and put the rest in the fridge for later. When I left for Texas, it was still in there, and during the six days I was gone, the power went out in my apartment. When it came back on, the ensuing power surge fried something electrical in the fridge, causing it not to come back on. Everything in the fridge spoled, but the most offensive odor was that chicken.

When I returned to Omaha, I smelled something offensive in the hallway. Assuming it was my neighbors again, I hurried into my unit because it was really bad -- if Andrew Dice Clay was a stench, it would have smelled a lot like that. Because, you know, it started out OK, even mildly amusing for a moment, and then all of a sudden, its hurt just to be around it. Shut up, this analogy will work.

School Databank:

Location: Houston, TX

Enrollment: 1,992

Famous sports alumni: None so far

Last game: Lost to SMU 90-79

Last game vs Creighton: Jays won 73-72 on 12/14/1981

Series: First ever meeting

Note: This is Houston Baptist's first year in Division 1

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that the three-game non-conference swing Creighton was about to embark on was one of the toughest in recent memory. Well, on Monday Creighton begins one of the weakest three-game stretches of non-conference opponents in recent memory. Talk about a roller coaster.

School Databank:

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Enrollment: 4,250

Famous sports alumni: Matt Guokas (NBA), Jim O'Brien (NBA Coach), Dr. Jack Ramsay (NBA Coach, ESPN Analyst), Jameer Nelson (NBA), Delonte West (NBA)

Last game: Lost to Holy Cross 71-66

Last game vs Creighton: Jays won 73-72 on 12/14/1981

Series: St. Joe's leads 4-1

The second Philadelphia school on the Jays schedule comes to town on Sunday, Phil Martelli's St. Josephs's Hawks of the Atlantic 10. The last time these teams met, Creighton won by one point in a game at the Civic Auditorium...in December of 1981. That game was payback for St. Joe's eliminating Creighton from the NCAA Tournament eight months prior, 59-57. It also stands as the only time Creighton has won a game in the series. For the record, I was three years old when this happened. This is what you call "research", because I don't exactly remember those games first-hand...

One of the interesting things about St. Joe's, to me, is the fact that they bring their mascot to every game, no matter where its played. "The Hawk Will Never Die" is the chant, and the mascot flaps its wings non-stop for the entirety of the game -- as ESPN calculated in a 2003 game, this can be as many as 3500 flaps per game! At home games, it flies in figure eights during timeouts on the court to the delight of the crowd; I would imagine he will refrain from such shenanigans in Omaha, lest Billy take him down a notch. But this is fascinating to me. At a road game where perhaps 500, or at the most 1000 Hawks fans will be in attendance, the mascot will stand there flapping its wings non-stop all afternoon? It has for 50 years, so obviously the answer to my question is a resounding "yes", but still. Man, that's something I have to see to believe.

School Databank:

Location: Cincinnati, OH

Enrollment: 4,000

Famous sports alumni: Tyrone Hill, Brian Grant, Byron Larkin, David West

Last game: Defeated Belmont 90-49

Last game vs Creighton: Lost 73-67 in Omaha on 12/9/06

Series: Xavier leads 7-6

The fourteenth all-time meeting between these two Jesuit rivals takes place tonight in Cincinnati, as #21 Xavier takes on the Jays at the Cintas Center. The last seven games in the series have been decided by a sum total of 22 points, making the series not just a marquee matchup for the fans to look forward to but an entertaining and competitive one as well.

School Databank:

Location: Philadelphia, PA

Enrollment: 12,906

Famous sports alumni: Malik Rose (NBA), Bob Alejnikov (NBA)

Last game: Lost to George Mason 85-38

Last game vs Creighton: Won 64-58 on 2/17/07

Series: Drexel leads 1-0

One of the toughest stretches of non-conference basketball in recent memory begins today for the Jays, as they travel to Philadelphia to take on the Drexel Dragons in the Jays' first trip to Pennsylvania since a 1973 tilt with Duquesne. Afterward, its on to Cincinnati to take on Xavier, before playing St. Joseph's next Sunday back in Omaha.

I'm excited to see this game, because its the first chance to see Creighton's newcomers outside of the friendly confines of the Qwest Center. And as far as tough venues to play your first college road game in, it doesn't get much tougher than the Daskalakis Athletic Center (DAC for short). The 2300-seat arena may be small, but its size actually works to its advantage, as it is loud and the close proximity of the fans to the court make it an intimidating atmosphere. Not exactly the type of place you'd prefer to take a team with just three returning letterman from a year ago, and certainly not for their first road game. Yet this is the hand they're dealt, so the outcome should be very interesting.