Ever since I can remember, there were six D-1 schools in Kentucky: UK, U of L, Western, Eastern, Murray, and Morehead. My life has been spent tracing the adventures of the Wildcats, Cardinals, Hilltoppers, Colonels, Racers, and Eagles. But now, we have a new team -- the Northern Kentucky Norse. NKU -- as their web page calls them -- is a school of almost 16,000 students in Highland Heights, Kentucky, a redundantly-named suburb of Cincinnati in Campbell County, Kentucky. The Norse's colors are black and gold, which are colors we Heath fans can appreciate.
The Norse belong to the Atlantic Sun Conference, which used to be Belmont's stomping ground before the Bruins left for the OVC. Ken Pomeroy ranks the A-Sun as the nation's 20th-best conference, right behind the Belt (19th) and a few spots ahead of the OVC (23d). Among other teams, the A-Sun includes ETSU (which I always think should be in the OVC) and Jacksonville (which played for the National Title in 1970). Here are KenPom's current rankings for each team:
123. Mercer: 3-3
127. S. Carolina Upstate: 2-4
137. Florida Gulf Coast: 4-3
160. N. Florida: 2-4
196. Stetson: 2-2
216. E. Tennessee St: 1-3
241. Jacksonville: 3-4
243. N. Kentucky: 0-4
262. Lipscomb: 2-3
329. Kennesaw St: 1-6
Remarkably, the Norse don't get to play a single home game until January 5. We will hope they get their first win before then.
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