A personal POV on expansion

It's an interesting college basketball weekend. Not because of anything official but rather the start of dozens of "secret scrimmages" between D1 programs. It's an annual tradition of getting box scores and seeing who did what and if any surprises occur. 

Of course, it means absolutely nothing in the grand scheme of things but for those starved for anything college hoops related, be prepared for overreactions. For other teams to overreact about, check out the top stories of the day.

STARTING FIVE

1. A coach's perspective on NCAA tourney expansion

There's no shortage of opinions regarding NCAA Tournament expansion. It's been at 68 teams since 2011, but the tourney is back in the news because officials are considering expansions for postseason events in every sport.

Coaches and conference leaders have spoken about it the last few weeks because of media days. Conference commissioners, analysts and journalists have given their two cents and the opinions have certainly varied. Most have come via soundbites or tweets, so today's a good time to offer a more in-depth POV. The following is a letter from Richmond coach Chris Mooney concerning his thoughts on the subject. 

Richmond's made the NCAA Tournament three times during Mooney's tenure, including last season. But two of those have come by winning the conference tournament and automatic bid.

The key phrase in the letter is: "it wasn't destiny — it was opportunity." That's worth considering because opportunity is what expansion would provide to programs. The question is if those programs would be from mid-majors or from power conferences. A league like the Atlantic 10 consistently received three or more bids from 2007 to 2017 (including six in 2013) but has only been a two-bid league in each of the past three tournaments.

The motivation for expanding the NCAA Tournament depends on who you ask. When polled at SEC media day, five coaches wanted to stay at 68, six would be open to a larger field and three abstained. Some onlookers worry that more at-large bids would simply mean more teams from power conferences. And as always, some will argue that any expansion dilutes the tournament and devalues the regular season. Coach Mooney laid out his opinion on the matter... do you agree?

2. Teams who have "Secret Scrimmages" lined up

There are a ton of "secret scrimmages" this weekend as teams get ready for the start of the 2022-23 season. Here's a look at the key games to keep an eye on. There's a full list of them here, courtesy of Jeff Goodman.

Saturday

• Bryant vs Princeton

• Houston vs Texas

• Boston College vs Seton Hall

• Florida vs Miami (FL)

• North Carolina vs Rutgers

• NC State vs. Davidson

• Virginia vs Maryland

• Dayton vs West Virginia

• Illinois vs Kansas

• Stanford vs BYU

• Arizona vs Saint Mary's

Sunday

• Tennessee vs Michigan State

• Clemson vs Ole Miss

• DePaul vs Notre Dame

• Wake Forest vs Ohio State

• Auburn vs UAB

• Baylor vs LSU

• Drake vs Oral Roberts

• Virginia Tech vs Richmond

• San Diego vs UCLA

3. Hunter Dickinson might be college basketball's MVP

In the “Year of the Big,” there are three players who continually get mentioned: Oscar Tshiebwe, Drew Timme and Armando Bacot.

But Hunter Dickinson might be more important to his team than any of them.

The junior center leads a revamped Michigan roster that lost all four other starters from last season. The Wolverines have unproven top-100 talent and a couple of transfers (Jaelin Llewellyn and Joey Baker) who'll need to play key roles. While teams like Kentucky, Gonzaga and North Carolina have other stars that can take over, Michigan will need Dickinson to produce on a nightly basis. 

He can do it, too. Dickinson averaged 18.6 points and 8.6 rebounds a game last season, despite being the focal point for every opposing defense. He even expanded his game beyond the arc, making 21 of 64 attempts (33 percent). The Wolverines will need every bit of that production this season.

So is Michigan as a team a true contender to win the Big Ten this season? Check out the full preview in The Almanac, for just 20 dollars, more than worth the investment.

4. Michigan gets Papa Kante

On the topic of Michigan, the Wolverines are on the board for the 2023 class.

Kante is a consensus 4-star prospect ranked in the top 100 overall. He’s a 6-11 big man with tremendous athleticism and physical traits, including a 7-4 wingspan, and projects as a strong interior defender.

The easy comp is former Michigan forward Moussa Diabate, who was a one-and-done a year ago. Kante is seen more as a 3-4 year player. He can play both frontcourt positions, which is important for the Wolverines as they have potentially one more year of Hunter Dickinson, or Tarris Reed Jr., a top-40 freshman prospect at center.

Michigan's still in the mix for No. 1 overall prospect, Isaiah Collier as well as 4-star combo forward, Eric Dailey Jr. 

Also in recruiting news:

• Forward Jayden Hastings, a Top 150 recruit, is heading to Boston College.

• North Texas grabbed 3-star shooting guard Alex Cotton.

• 6-5 guard Max Sims committed to Binghamton.

• George Mason lands 3-star prospect Richard Barron.

5. A new challenger in the America East?

Vermont has either won or shared the America East regular-season championship in seven of the past nine years, including the past six. Its dominance under coach John Becker has made them one of the country's best mid-major programs, and once again, it's the favorite to win the league. 

But the Catamounts have some new competition in Bryant, who's in its first season in the league after moving over from the Northeast Conference. The Bulldogs return star guard Charles Pride and add former top-50 prospect Earl Timberlake (Memphis) to the roster. Both of them made the 6-man preseason all-conference team. Returning guard Finn Sullivan and Bellarmine transfer Dylan Penn earned the honors for Vermont.

Also notable: UMass Lowell (led by junior forward Max Brooks) getting the third spot, while Binghamton is No. 4, captained by the other preseason all-league member, senior Jacob Falko.

The regular season and conference tournament titles should come down to Vermont and Bryant, making those regular-season matchups (Jan. 5 and Feb. 25) incredibly important.

Want more America East analysis? You're in luck.

THE FAST BREAK

Links as you apply to become the next UK Prime Minister. 

• UAB is the overwhelming favorite to win Conference USA.

• The MEAC preseason poll has Norfolk State as the team to beat.

• The NCAA may move the men's and women's Final Fours to separate weekends.

• New guidance for NIL rules should be issued by the NCAA next week.

• This news first emerged in Sept., but Stony Brook coach Geno Ford confirmed Thursday that Dean Noll will miss the season due to a knee injury.

• Could the Big 12 have a new media deal in place by November?

• Former Villanova coach Jay Wright will be on the call this season.

THE DTF PODCAST

What to make of the Big Ten?

Indiana is the team to beat and has the preseason POY in Trayce Jackson-Davis. But can the Hoosiers handle those expectations? And can they or any other Big Ten actually emerge as a national title contender?

Spend a few minutes with Terrence Oglesby, Rob Dauster and John Fanta as they go through everything to know about the league.

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Thanks for reading! Have a great weekend everyone.

And if you need some reading material, it's not too late to buy The Almanac. But we wouldn't advise trying to consume all 600,000 words over the new few days...