Previewing Jacksonville State

Darrin Horn's squad begins their season tonight against the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. Yes, you heard that right: another school uses the Gamecock as its nickname. Last year, these counterfeit Gamecocks went 7-22 overall and 5-15 in the Ohio Valley Conference. They lost their second- and third-leading scorers from a year ago and have only two seniors on their roster. They do return talented shooting guard Nick Murphy, who led last year's team with 13 ppg. They also have a dangerous big man, 6-11 Amadou Mbodji, who hails from Senegal. Mbodji could cause problems for  us, as we lack a post player of equal size.

All in all, JSU shouldn't be too much of a threat to us. They were a cellar dweller in a low-major conference a year ago and probably won't be much better this year. However, they should prove a better gauge of how good we are than Kentucky Wesleyan, so this is a game to pay attention to.