Spice up the Schedule

Early season tournaments have always given a preview of which teams could be dark horses in March. The pre-season NIT did wonders for Butler last year, giving them a chance to knock off some power house programs and ride the wave of success all year into the NCAA tournament. Mason could have really used a pre-season tournament to help with chemistry last year and this year they will get their chance to prove themselves early. The field was just announced for the Old Spice Classic which has the Patriots squaring off against Kansas State thanksgiving night on ESPN2. The tournament also features Penn State, South Carolina, Villanova, NC State, Rider and UCF. The casual college hoops fan might not think much of this Big 12 Kansas State team but there's nothing about them this year that should be overlooked as they have arguably the best recruiting class of 2007. Before Bob Huggins bolted for West Virginia he was able to sign Michael Beasley (ranked #1 on scout.com) and Bill Walker (ranked #2). Why those two have chosen to stay at Kansas State without Huggins is beyond me. Let's just hope they have not bought into 1st year head coach Frank Martin's system yet, who coached at Northeastern from 2000-2004 by the way. But serious match-up problems aside this is a great opportunity for the Patriots and give me another reason to ignore my family thanksgiving night.