QUIZ: Is this an early season D-I basketball opponent, or a fake school we made up?

Good morning, and thanks for spending part of your day with Extra Points.

Quick housekeeping note up front. This Thursday, I am hitting the road and going to Bozeman, Montana for this weekend's Montana/Montana State game. Let the record state that I booked this trip well before College GameDay announced they were coming...but I'm sure glad we'll be crossing paths.

If you're going to be in town, or if you're not but you're a longtime fan of either program and want to talk to me about the game, drop me a line! My email is Matt @ Extrapointsmb.com.

We're in mid-November right now, and I know that for most fans, the bulk of their attention will be focused on college football. But college basketball season has started too, although you'll be forgiven if you've missed it.

The bulk of the very early season matchups this year have been buy games, rather than premier out-of-conference battles. The biggest power programs open their seasons against struggling low-majors. The mid and low-majors pay even worse low-majors, or perhaps D-II teams, to be their early-season cannon fodder. The D-II teams call up NAIA squads, the NAIA teams try to schedule my church basketball team, etc. Everybody wants to get a win or three before seriously challenging themselves.

This sort of scheduling happens in most sports, but since there are so many college basketball teams, it means there simply aren't enough easily recognizable buy game candidates to go around. Even for a degenerate like me, I've found myself scanning the ESPN box scores and wondering, "hold up, there's no way that's a real school....right?"

Like...who is Dean?

And that got me thinking...if there are schools that I don't know, a guy that has been writing about college sports professionally for a decade, surely there are schools that would trip other people up, right?

So I made a little quiz. There are six schools on this list that have, in fact, played D-I opponents in men's college basketball this season...or at least, they have according to ESPN's game schedule. There are six other schools on this list that I made up. I think I made them up...I googled to make sure they're not currently in the NAIA or anything.

Click here to take our EARLY SEASON BUY GAME OR COMPLETELY MADE UP INSTITUTION QUIZ. Feel free to tweet how you did...while you still can!

If you want the quiz answers, I'll share everything after a few quick messages from our sponsors.

I'm sure the basketball schedule will improve as we get later in the season. But for now, enjoy tonight's big Maine-Fort Kent game.

This Extra Points newsletter is brought to you in part by Powerstep:

PowerStep has been helping people with common foot conditions for over 30 years with their wide range of products, most namely orthotic insoles. Designed by a podiatrist, PowerStep has become a leading orthotic manufacturer in the US and is the #1 Podiatrist Recommended insole brand. PowerStep orthotic insoles are clinically proven to relieve and prevent pain. Learn more about PowerStep here.

This edition of Extra Points is also brought to you by Verb.

Great Energy, Every Day.The most delicious, convenient way to energize. Organic Green Tea in a plant-based bar that’s perfectly pocket-sized and ready to unwrap anytime, anywhere. Over 3000 5-star reviews. TRY VERB!

Here are the quiz answers:

Florida National played Florida International on Thursday, Nov 10.

Immaculata played Delaware State on Thursday, Nov 10

Champion Christian played Arkansas Pine Bluff on Wednesday, Nov 9

California Maritime played UC Davis on Wednesday, Nov 9

Valley Forge played James Madison on Monday, Nov 7

Methodist University played Coastal Carolina on Friday, Nov 11

Everybody else is fake!

To sponsor a future Extra Points newsletter, please email sales@extrapointsmb.com.  For article ideas, newsletter feedback, FOIA tips, athlete NIL sponsorships and more, I'm at matt@extrapointsmb.com, or @MattBrownEP on Twitter, and @ExtraPointsMB on Instagram.