Charleston So. +8.5: Early season upsets over a power conference school in game one are commonplace in college basketball. The letdown spot in the next game is also a repetitive pattern. Look for that angle tonight as North Florida comes off an outright win over South Carolina. Charleston Southern is also in a revenge spot from last season’s 81-70 loss to North Florida. Tail the Buccaneers.
Under 149.5: North Florida comes off of a 16-16 season and returns three starters along with two key reserves. The rest comes from transfers from the portal. They lost their top two scorers from last year. The search is on for somebody to score and lead the way. Charleston Southern finished 10-20 last season but they returned four starters and they should be more mature and ready to improve upon that record. The rest of the roster is transfers. We expect a lot of chaos within the offenses and this total s 11 points too high. Under.
Bucknell -2: We like Bucknell in the Patriot League this season. The Bison return four starters and all key reserves from last year's team that closed the season strong. Bucknell looked really good in a 85-73 season opening win at Delaware. USI took DePaul to overtime in its opener after the Blue Demons missed 14 free throws but this is a squad that returns just 19.1 PPG from last year's eight-win team. The Screaming Eagles are transforming the roster with 11 new players, so they could be a good early-season fade. I'll back Bucknell as a short road favorite here.