Tomorrow kicks off the Chicago Invitational. I don't really get these tournaments that you are playing home games to start with, but if you lose you still advance. Even when the portion gets to Chicago, regardless of how we do against Saint Louis, we play against the winner of Notre Dame/Northwestern I believe.

I don't really see the point, but whatever.

We're playing Mississippi Valley State again. If you recall, we played them last year at Hilton and won 77-59, and that was a team that was pretty weak at scoring. From what I remember, I think they run the Princeton Offense. Nothing else really stands out too much.

This year, the Delta Devils are 1-2 thus far. They've lost to Washington State (94-66) and Gonzaga (92-74). But they did beat Champion Baptist College 102-56....

I don't think that ISU fans have a lot to worry about. The Delta Devils do not really have anyone that stands out. They have 7 guys that play about equal numbers of minutes, and have 6 guys average 9+ points per game, with their leading scorer averaging 11.7 ppg.

I'm hoping the Cyclones can get off to a quick start, and continue to improve. I don't want to see them start off slow and play down to the Delta's level.

With the regular football season breaking ending yesterday, the focus quickly turns to basketball, and I'm excited to get into Hilton a couple of times over the next few days.

This is the preview, but also the gamethread for the action. I got a little behind due to football stuff.