Big East Exhibitions

What should we take from the games that don't matter? By Lauren Dellipoali

(kcjc009/Flickr)

For top-flight college basketball teams, exhibition games are usually a joke. It is not uncommon to see a highly-ranked team double, or even triple their opponents score.  For some teams, however, these games become a little too close for comfort.

Take Louisville. They played little known Bellarmine on Thursday, and squeaked out a small victory, 62-54. Now, winning by eight may not be a cause for serious concern, as a lot of players are just getting back into the rhythm, and coaches are trying out new plays and player combination. Still, it gets many fans a bit on edge when their team has a tough time defeating a seemingly harmless opponent.

Now, UConn was able to defeat American International College 78-35, a 43-point margin of victory, and Syracuse was able to defeat Cal-St. L.A.  79-49, a 30-point margin of victory. Both teams are also mixing up their player rotation and working in new young talent, but they seemingly had no issues in disposing of their opponents. So, what’s the deal with these exhibitions?

            

In 2009, when Le Moyne beat Syracuse at the Carrier Dome, it lead SportsCenter. It felt like the world was coming to an end and Syracuse would not have a chance of winning a single game. Yet Syracuse still won 30 games that year and showed no ill effects from that loss.

           

Exhibitions are games that don't count or matter, even though they keep score.  Yes, fans will get nervous if their team does not blow out some Division-II team by at least 20 points, but in reality, it means nothing. Sure, Louisville’s margin of victory was not typical of what one would expect, but that means nothing for their regular season prospective.

            

No matter what has or will happen with the remainder of the Big East exhibition games, they are not indicative of how the regular season will shape up.