Behold the Unbeatens, and Those Treacherous Pre-Conference Schedules

Fight On, Go-Pher

Need a break from the football, so we decided to take a quick whirl around the college hoops world. Figured it was worth seeing who still carried an undefeated record as teams turned their eye toward their respective conference schedules.

For those dying with curiosity, you can count Pitt, UConn, Oklahoma, Clemson, UNC, Wake, Illinois St., Stanford and Ohio St. in the class of the unblemished. Ahh yes, for all you Gopher fanatics, the University of Minnesota can also hold their chest out with pride over an 11-0 sprint out the gate. Or maybe…

See, this is what gets me about the whole March Madness craziness come Selection Sunday. So, this year I’m going to remember Minnesota when they start talking about that bubble thing. Now, I’m a big Tubby Smith fan. Think the guy’s a good coach, got a somewhat raw deal in Lexington and he’s going to do good things with this program (already has). And, yes I realize you need to boost that win total to hit that magic 20-win mark and increase your chances to go dancing and all. But, c’mon. Really?

Shall we, folks? Let’s take a brief journey.

The Gophers opened up their campaign with the University of Concordia-St. Paul. Granted the Golden Bears recently took down Northwestern, but they play in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference. What, you ask? Exactly. 1-0

Next up? Bowling Green who has already dropped games this season to Central Arkansas and Savannah St. 2-0.

It goes on like this for the most part…

Georgia St. 3-0
Colorado St. (the Mountain West, a conference we can identify!) 4-0
Eastern Washington 5-0
North Dakota St. 6-0
Virginia (at least one “big conference” team) 7-0
Cornell 8-0 (my alma mater’s no slouch, not to mention their schedule to date should make Minnesota embarrassed in comparison, but still)
South Dakota St. 9-0 (to complete the Dakotas swing)
Louisville 10-0 (we give them credit for this win)
Southeastern Louisiana 11-0
High Point ????

Maybe the Golden Gophers are for real, but how is one to know with a schedule like this? Even my Hoyas, who are notorious for a joke non-conference schedule, managed to cram Drexel, Wichita St., Tennessee, Maryland and Memphis into their first 10. UConn’s taken on three top 20 teams. Oklahoma’s defeated two. Clemson at least goes to Charlotte, Miami, Illinois and USC.

We’re just saying…