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We really wanted to do a Four Factors preview, but with the embedded chart there's only one team on there. That's because Bowling Green hasn't played a D1 game yet... they rolled something named Earlham University 102-49, but who knows what that means. What most USF fans remember about Bowling Green is they were the opponent last year when the lights went out during a three overtime festival of USF Athletics incompetence. Remember, the game was delayed and in the dark for 22 minutes because someone forgot to extend the timers. #GoBulls.
Vic Rudd led everyone with 53 minutes played and 29 points, while slacker Martino Brock only was on the floor for 52 minutes and just 18 points. It was a crazy night, but what might be the most amazing stat is USF only committed 12 team fouls in 55 minutes of play. With the new rules this year, teams are getting to that number before the under 8 timeout in the first half.
The biggest story for the Bulls is the return of Anthony Collins, and that status is...
#USF men's hoops will try to get minutes for recovering Anthony Collins Fri night at Bowling Green. But Corey Allen Jr playing well, too.
— Joey Johnston (@JJohnstonTBO) November 14, 2013
He's right about Allen, who's eFG of .617 this season pairs nicely with his 14 points and eight assists per game. But at some point, we're going to want to see if Allen and AC can get on the floor together. The potential seems huge for the pairing, but the defensive questions can only be answered on the court.
We will also most likely see uber-freshmen Chris Perry and John Egbunu start together for the first time, manning a frontcourt that should have Bulls fans giddy with excitement about the future. This seems to be the highest ceiling a USF post duo has had since Will McDonald and BB Waldon played together in 2001-02. Both rookies have tons of upside, but whereas Perry has stepped in immediately to make a bigger impact, Egbunu has showed flashes of what made him one of the most sought after bigs in the country.
The Falcons two leading scorers from last year's tilt, A'uston Calhoun and Jordon Crawford, are both no longer on the team. Junior guard Jehvon Clarke led BGSU with 17 points against Earlham, but six different players reached double figures in an empty-the-bench special. There's only so much you can tell about a team when they haven't played a real game yet, so we won't try here. We'll let you sound all smart to your friends when you tell them BGSU is picked to finish 5th in the six-team East Division of the Mid American Conference this year.
The Bulls are a five point favorite on the gold sheet, but that's very likely Vegas guessing as much as we are. It's on ESPN3, and we'll be following along on the Twitters and in a game thread if you'd like. Let's see how the Bulls look on the road together, shall we?