There was quite a bit of action on the first Saturday of the season, a day that will always have an uphill fight against football for media attention.
The two biggest matchups featured four of the best mid-major programs in the country. In Indianapolis, No. 11 Butler pulled away late to beat Davidson 73-62. It was basically the same story for No. 21 Dayton, as they beat Creighton 90-80. And after a night when Rider won at Mississippi State, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi beat Oregon State in a tourament in Lubbock, and San Diego beat Stanford, the mid-majors pulled two more upsets. Ivy League favorite Cornell ruined Anthony Grant's Alabama debut.and Kent State defeated UAB. A&M-CC couldn't repeat their feat from Friday, as they lost to Texas Tech by 7.
Most major programs were a bit more lucky yesterday. Gonzaga, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, and Oklahoma State won their openers, while 14th-ranked Washington won their second straight in the round-robin event they're hosting.
A few more teams get started today, as yet another hybrid multi-team event gets started. More on today's action after the jump.
The CBE Classic opens up today, and it has the same format as its corporate sibling, the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. Instead of traveling to New York for the semifinals, the four host schools will visit the very underrated Kansas City, which hosts the CBE--or College Basketball Experience, the home of the sport's Hall of Fame. The building is conveniently a part of the Sprint Center, which hosts the final rounds. Three games from this event will be on ESPNU today, starting at 2. (All times are Eastern.)
- Texas hosts UC Irvine in the tournament opener.
- At 4, Wichita State opens up at home agains Fairleigh Dickinson.
- At 6, Iowa faces Texas-San Antonio from the Southland Conference.
In other televised action today,
- Wake Forest opens up their season in the Greensboro Coliseum against East Carolina. (MASN, 2)
- Stetson, who's never made the tournaments, visits Florida, who looks to return after a two-year absence. (Select FSN and CSN Networks/Full Court, 4)
- No. 6 North Carolina gets another tuneup in before they travel to New York for the Coaches vs. Cancer semifinals. They host Valparaiso today at 4 (FS South/FS Florida/NESN).
- Kansas State hosts Western Illinois. (FS Kansas City/Full Court, 4)
- IPFW takes on Wisconsin in Madison. (Big Ten, 5)
- Sean Miller makes his official debut at Arizona when the Wildcats host Northern Arizona. (FS Arizona/FCS Pacific, 5)
- Oregon looks to go 3 for 3 in the round-robin they're hosting. They face Colorado State at 6:30. (OSN/CSN Northwest)
- Washington looks to do the same in their tournament, against defending Big Sky champ Portland State. (10 FSN Northwest/FCS Pacific)
TV info, as always, is from Matt Sarz's College Sports on TV site.