Warning ... the following could be considered to be a "commercial endorsement."
While perusing the newspaper section of a favored market earlier today your Hoopscribe saw, and purchased, USA Today's "College Basketball's Special Edition," its seasonal preview issue. Purchase price is a reasonable $4.95.
Much of it is well done, particularly for fans of the major-college version of the sport. Included is a lengthy preview of the Michigan men's team, accompanied by a half-page photo of old friend John Beilein who, once upon a time, turned some good seasons at Canisius into his personal launching pad.
But, if you're a mid-major level fan ... well, there's some meaningful information there, but it's pretty bare bones. It is relatively up to date as the deadline for submission was early September, close to six weeks later than the magazine annuals require of their contributors.
Still, each mid-major league only got half a page of copy, much of that space taken up by a photo, preseason all-star selections, don't-miss games and the upcoming season's predicted order of finish.
Your hoopscribe was the author of the MAAC's preview (so, you know it's well done!), but the amount of copy submitted got cut nearly in half for space purposes.
Still, it is enough to whet the whistle, so to speak.
The good news is that there is plenty more coming, and you can find it right here very soon.
College basketball season begins on November 9th, and that's slightly more than two weeks away.
Within the next couple of days we'll start providing team-by-team previews, for both men's and women's conference programs. They won't be done in any particular order ... basically I'll get to them shortly after I can make contact with the teams' respective coaches for updates, insight, etc.
As in past years, the previews will be lengthy, up-to-date and as comprehensive as anything a fan can find anywhere about his or her favorite MAAC team.
So, check in to this particular blog early and often in coming weeks.
And, as always, thanks for reading.
2 comments:
I notice that the team reports that USA Today had for all teams have disappeared.
I'm sad to see this as they were excellent sources for current info on off-brand teams.
Can you suggest any comparable source where updated info on all teams is provided under one umbrella?
Not sure what you're referring to, in regards to USA Today.
I do know that USA Today, in past years, had an on-line and weekly "notes" package for "off-brand" leagues/teams, including the MAAC, but appears to have discontinued that feature.
Your best source for regular MAAC information is likely right here where I am charged with providing news/insight/features/previews, etc., about all MAAC programs. That includes women's teams as well as men's.
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