When college basketball fans think of exciting must watch basketball this time of year, they automatically think of the Men's National Championship Tournament. While this is a very exciting tournament because of the upsets and the Cinderella teams, we often forget about the NIT. The NIT usually lacks the drama because the teams involved are seen as "worse" and the games don't have National Championship implications. However, on Monday night the NIT will have a game featuring two of the top college basketball players in the country going head to head as well as two teams that deserved to be in the big dance. Yes, I'm talking about the matchup between the Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats versus Patrick Mills and the Saint Mary's Gaels.

            Davidson was expecting to have a chance to play for the National Championship, but after winning the Southern Conference's regular season, they were upset in the conference tournament. Saint Mary's failed to make the tournament primarily because of the injury that Patrick Mills suffered early in the season. Mills broke his hand and the Gaels struggles initially before they learned to win without the Australian star. Mills returned for the WCC tournament, but was rusty against Gonzaga. The Gaels were blown out and their tournament bubble was burst. However, if Mills had been healthy the entire season, there is no doubt that the Gaels would be dancing.

            Now for Monday's matchup; the visiting Wildcats will be traveling to California after a 7 point victory at South Carolina. In this game Stephen Curry went 5 of 9 from beyond the arc and has 32 points. The Gaels will remain at home where the defeated Washington State by 11 in the opening round. Mills also went 5 of 9 for three and finished with 27 points.

            Curry came into the national spotlight in last year's NCAA Tournament where he led the 10th seeded Davidson Wildcats to the elite eight. Curry showed everyone what a great pure shooter he was and continued his fantastic shooting this year by averaging 28.7 points per game. Patty Mills became a household name during the Olympics. The Australian point guard had an impressive game against the Americans where his quickness and natural ability surprised many. The sophomore at Saint Mary's missed most of the year due to a broken right hand, but was able to average 18 points per game.

            Curry may be the better shooter than Mills, (he is probably a better shooter than most people in the country) however, I think that Mills is the better all-around player and that the Gaels are the better team. The Gaels are at home and should win this one in front of a crowd that is very intimidating considering its size. This game will be better than most NIT games; the only downside is that the game is at 11:30 pm eastern time so most of the country will be unable to see the duel between Curry and Mills.