Dr Pepper Classic at a Glance

There will plenty of coverage of the Dr Pepper Classic in the coming days, to prepare everyone for what is a huge couple of days in Mocs basketball, and maybe a couple of other teams too.

It's an interesting mish-mash of teams. Looking at the RPI's some things stand out instantly:

Utah Valley- 279
Longwood- 286
Chattanooga- 310
Hampton- 329

So, if two things stand out. First, if this thing was being seeded based on RPI right now, the first round match-ups would feature Utah Valley taking on Hampton, and Longwood taking on Chattanooga, with the Wolverines and the Lancers being the two favorites, based on RPI. Somewhat interestingly, that is the exact first round match-ups.

However, let's face it- the games matter more to Hampton and Chattanooga.  Utah Valley is in the Great West Conference, which means that they are only eligible for the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid. That's not going to happen. Longwood is an independent, which means they are only eligible for the NCAA Tournament with an at-large bid. That's not going to happen.

However, in the preseason, Hampton was picked to finish second in the MEAC, and the Mocs (as we all know) were picked to win the North of the SoCon, and were likely to finish second in the SoCon. So these two teams that so much were expected from, have both struggled as this year has begun to take shape. Hampton lost to Savannah State by 16 at home. That should tell you plenty about how very average the Pirates have been so far. The fact that the Mocs needed a big comeback to beat them by two at home tells you plenty about the Mocs struggles so far.

Both teams still have a chance to get to the NCAA Tournament, and could improve their seeding by starting to play better basketball. That's what needs to happen. So this tournament provides a real opportunity for both Hampton and Chattanooga to start turning things around. Utah Valley is probably the favorite to win the tournament at this point, though. The Mocs are the home team. Hampton are an underachieving team looking to turn things around. That makes Longwood the wildcard. They are good enough to win this thing, though.

The Dr Pepper Classic may lack some star power in terms of big name teams, but this tournament does not lack intrigue. There are four evenly matched teams, two of which are desperate to come up with the tournament win. The other two are hoping to continue to improve and make a name for themselves on a mid-major level. This should be very interesting.

Tomorrow, I'll try to look at some of the stars on each of the three visiting teams as we all continue to prepare for what should be a wildly entertaining Dr Pepper Classic.

GO MOCS!