Moment of Truth Weekend

Now than conference play is in full swing, there are a couple of nice stories that I fear will come crashing back to Earth this weekend.

Jacksonville -- They're unbeaten in conference so far, including 2 overtime wins, so they'll probably still find themselves in first place come Tuesday morning. But ETSU is coming to town, and the Bucs are strong in the Dolphins weak places. Jacksonville makes its living on 3-point defense, and in the A-Sun, that's as close to a recipe for success as you're going to find. That said, ETSU is the conference's best-shooting team inside the arc. Even on Jacksonville's home court, this match-up plays to ETSU's strengths. Look for the Belmont's and Lipscomb's of the league to take notice.

Stetson -- Their only loss in conference so far is a 3-OT thriller at Jacksonville, and since then they have won 5 straight including a non-conference win over Longwood. That run should end this weekend, as they make the North Carolina trip. Garfield Blair has played well, but the rest of his team doesn't match up well against the deeper GW. Campbell is a lot like Stetson in their make-up, but their top player (Jonathan Rodriguez) is just better than Blair. Sorry, but he is.

The closest match-up this week looks to be Lipscomb at Mercer. If both teams play the way they are capable of, this should be a great match-up. Eddie Ard has risen to the occasion of conference play after struggling in the '07 part of the schedule, and Adnan Hozdic has been a revelation. Mercer is as balanced as ever, and gave league-leader Jacksonville all they wanted before falling by 2 in overtime. They're not real deep, but they're shooting the lights out in conference. Can Mercer's hot shooting continue against one of the league's best defenses? Can Lipscomb force Mercer to defend somebody other than Eddie Ard? Will Lipscomb have a conference game end in regulation?

We shall see.