It's October, so it's time to start looking at the upcoming season for the Buffs. While many smarter people than I (looking at [MENTION=945]RumblinBuff[/MENTION]) will come up with grand previews, think of this as your Cliff Notes's version. These are our opponents this season. Who should you look out for? Who's better than you think? Who is absolutely horrible (hi Oregon State)? Today we're going to look at the first five games the team will play this year. Tomorrow will get the next 4 and then Thursday we'll look at the Diamond Head Classic. Next week is all about the Pac-12.
So with that, dig in and tell me how stupid I am.
Drexel
Drexel is a slow down team that will win games by grinding it out on defense and hitting the opportune 3 point shot. Due to injuries the last few years, the team has underachieved a bit, but they should be an NCAA tournament team this year. The team will be led by Damion Lee. Lee lead the Dragons in scoring with 17.1 ppg in 2012-13 while battling injuries and then only played five games last season before blowing out his knee. Also keep an eye on 6'7" forward Tavon Allen who put up 11.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game last season.
Auburn
Bruce Pearl is back in the SEC. There's a 99% chance that this ends with Aubrun on probation in 5 years and Pearl once again being forced to work for ESPN, but the Tigers are going to be a good team in years 2, 3 and 4. Fortunately for the Buffs, they won't be ready to go this year. The team will be led by KT Harrell. The senior was sixth in the SEC in scoring last year and can hit it from everywhere on the court.Helping him out will be Antoine Mason (son of Anthony Mason) who averaged 25.6 ppg last year for Niagra before transferring to Auburn as a graduate transfer. With those two leading the way, the Tigers will be high powered in the backcourt. And Pearl's teams at Tennessee liked to run and they liked to put up points, so this will be a good early test for the Buffs defense.
Wyoming
The Mountain West is legit once again. And while lots of people are (rightfully) talking about CSU being a spoiler who could win the conference, not enough people are talking about Wyoming and potential MWC POY Larry Nance, Jr. Nance tore his ACL last season after leading Wyoming in points (15.4), rebounds (8.6), blocks (2.1) and steals (1.4). Despite the injury in February, Nance was still named first-team all-conference and the MWC Defensive Player of the Year. If he's healthy, you can expect him to add even more hardware to the trophy case. Another player who is familiar to Buff fans is Boulder native Riley Grabau who put up 10.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists a game last year along with leading the team in three point shooting (42%). Add in coach Larry Shyatt - who is wildly underrated - and one of the best home court advantages in the conference, and Wyoming could make a run for the conference title.
Air Force
While a lot of teams in the MWC are ready to make their name heard this year, Air Force is not one of them. The Falcons lost their best player - Tre' Coggins - after the season when he decided that academy life wasn't in his future. Coggins then transferred to Cal State Fullerton, but all four of the other starters from last year's squad returns. The Falcons will once again be slow and deliberate, and will have to rely on their bigs to keep them in games while their backcourt figures out what is going on. There are a few bright spots such as Max Yon - the 6'4" senior who was the only Falcon to start all 30 games last year. But ultimately, this is a rebuilding year for Air Force.
Lipscomb
The Bison return four starters from last year's team that all averaged over double digits in scoring. Leading the way is Martin Smith - a four year starter who has a solid all around game (15.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 spg) and his brother Malcolm (13.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.5 apg). Joining the Smiths will be graduate student (and incredibly large human being) Chad Lang. Lang is 6'11", 310 lbs and gives the Bison a post player that they were lacking last year as they didn't have one starter taller than 6'6". It was Casey Alexander's first year coaching the team and they rallied late - winning eight of its last 10 before bowing out in the conference tournament. With Lang in the middle, the team should shift away from it's bombs away from 3 technique a bit and be a little bit more well rounded.
So with that, dig in and tell me how stupid I am.
Drexel
Drexel is a slow down team that will win games by grinding it out on defense and hitting the opportune 3 point shot. Due to injuries the last few years, the team has underachieved a bit, but they should be an NCAA tournament team this year. The team will be led by Damion Lee. Lee lead the Dragons in scoring with 17.1 ppg in 2012-13 while battling injuries and then only played five games last season before blowing out his knee. Also keep an eye on 6'7" forward Tavon Allen who put up 11.7 points, 3.0 rebounds and 1.9 assists per game last season.
Auburn
Bruce Pearl is back in the SEC. There's a 99% chance that this ends with Aubrun on probation in 5 years and Pearl once again being forced to work for ESPN, but the Tigers are going to be a good team in years 2, 3 and 4. Fortunately for the Buffs, they won't be ready to go this year. The team will be led by KT Harrell. The senior was sixth in the SEC in scoring last year and can hit it from everywhere on the court.Helping him out will be Antoine Mason (son of Anthony Mason) who averaged 25.6 ppg last year for Niagra before transferring to Auburn as a graduate transfer. With those two leading the way, the Tigers will be high powered in the backcourt. And Pearl's teams at Tennessee liked to run and they liked to put up points, so this will be a good early test for the Buffs defense.
Wyoming
The Mountain West is legit once again. And while lots of people are (rightfully) talking about CSU being a spoiler who could win the conference, not enough people are talking about Wyoming and potential MWC POY Larry Nance, Jr. Nance tore his ACL last season after leading Wyoming in points (15.4), rebounds (8.6), blocks (2.1) and steals (1.4). Despite the injury in February, Nance was still named first-team all-conference and the MWC Defensive Player of the Year. If he's healthy, you can expect him to add even more hardware to the trophy case. Another player who is familiar to Buff fans is Boulder native Riley Grabau who put up 10.1 points, 2.5 rebounds and 2.2 assists a game last year along with leading the team in three point shooting (42%). Add in coach Larry Shyatt - who is wildly underrated - and one of the best home court advantages in the conference, and Wyoming could make a run for the conference title.
Air Force
While a lot of teams in the MWC are ready to make their name heard this year, Air Force is not one of them. The Falcons lost their best player - Tre' Coggins - after the season when he decided that academy life wasn't in his future. Coggins then transferred to Cal State Fullerton, but all four of the other starters from last year's squad returns. The Falcons will once again be slow and deliberate, and will have to rely on their bigs to keep them in games while their backcourt figures out what is going on. There are a few bright spots such as Max Yon - the 6'4" senior who was the only Falcon to start all 30 games last year. But ultimately, this is a rebuilding year for Air Force.
Lipscomb
The Bison return four starters from last year's team that all averaged over double digits in scoring. Leading the way is Martin Smith - a four year starter who has a solid all around game (15.6 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.0 spg) and his brother Malcolm (13.8 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.5 apg). Joining the Smiths will be graduate student (and incredibly large human being) Chad Lang. Lang is 6'11", 310 lbs and gives the Bison a post player that they were lacking last year as they didn't have one starter taller than 6'6". It was Casey Alexander's first year coaching the team and they rallied late - winning eight of its last 10 before bowing out in the conference tournament. With Lang in the middle, the team should shift away from it's bombs away from 3 technique a bit and be a little bit more well rounded.
