The Border Battle Preview
Pre-Season Tournaments are a way how to gauge how a team stacks up against the rest of the country. Teams coming from all over the country to play the best and to see how they stack up for the rest of the season.
Over in Nevada, there is a tournament called The Border Battle that is hosted by Southern Nevada. For the most part, all of the schools are from states that are bordering Nevada with the exception of New Mexico (NMJC). Three days, 32 games, 3 games between Top 50 teams, 2 of those games will be among Top 25 Teams (#7 CAC vs #4 CSN, #4CSN vs #12 Yavapai).
Looking at this year's teams and their schedules the team that has the most to gain from winning out this weekend is NMJC. A team from the WJCAC who is no stranger to playing in big games, winning the World Series in 2005 and making another appearance in 2007. They are also always one of the top teams in the Region 5 Tournament every year. While in Nevada they will play Gateway, #12 Yavapai, #7 Central Arizona, and #4 Southern Nevada. If they can come out with a win in all three there is no question that they should make the Top 50 let alone the Top 25 when the next polls come out.
The team that has the most to lose this weekend is a toss-up. It is tied between #7 Central Arizona and #12 Yavapai. Both teams play the same exact teams this weekend, Colorado Northwestern, Utah State University-Eastern, NMJC and #4 Southern Nevada. If either team were to lose any of these games with the exception of the game against Southern Nevada then their spots in the polls should/will change dramatically. Both teams though shouldn’t have anything to worry about.
All in all, this should be a great tournament for all teams that are involved.
