Usually when a team has had a few weeks off, coaches like to be able to gradually ease their teams back into the flow of things.
But that isn't a luxury that West Virginia State and the University of Charleston have as they return from the holiday gauntlet by entering into a pair of the toughest stretches any team will face at the Division II level this week. Within their next four teams, both schools will face the MEC's three top teams, West Liberty, Wheeling Jesuit and Fairmont State - and all of them are currently ranked in the top 10 nationally.
"We're looking at it as an awesome opportunity to get out and compete against the best," West Virginia State coach Bryan Poore said. "That's where we want to get back to, and in the next seven days we'll get to see where we are. It's a good opportunity, so why not get out there, lace them up and see where we stand against some of the best.
"The important thing is getting them to understand the type of challenge this will be because these are some great teams and until you get out there and see what it's like, you just can't simulate that."
Poore's WVSU team will have the benefit of playing the first two games, starting with Tuesday's showdown against West Liberty, on its home court at the Walker Convocation Center. Although it won't be the same as a normal home game when the students are on campus, he said it will be good to get their first shots against a pair of nationally ranked foes on their own floor.
"It'll help because it's our environment, but we won't have the same type of energy," Poore said. "At the same time, I'd much rather have them come here and shoot on our rims than have us go shoot on theirs after this break. It'll be good to get a shot at them here."
West Liberty came into the season as the Mountain East's preseason No. 1 team and continued to look to live up to their usual high expectations.
With Seger Bonifant, last year's National Player of the Year, gone many expected known commodities like point guard David Dennis to make the leap and be the Hilltoppers' go-to threat. And while Dennis has picked up where he left off a year ago, it's been Dan Monteroso - a transfer who played football at Purdue and was West Liberty's top receiver this season - who has emerged as an efficient, versatile threat averaging close to 20 points and seven rebounds per game.
"We knew what they had in Dennis and the other guys they have, and they're all fantastic, and then Monteroso kind of comes out of nowhere and gives them something special," Poore said. "He's really efficient, does a lot of things well. He's going to be a handful."
As for UC, the Golden Eagles will have an even tougher time, facing the three top-10 teams on the road over the course of the next six days.
But, like any other game they'd be playing, coach Dwaine Osborne isn't letting his team get too ahead of themselves as they prepare for the task ahead of them.
"It's really difficult, and when you think about it on the whole it probably seems like trying to climb Mount Everest," Osborne said. "So our goal is to go in thinking about it one game at a time, worrying about one step at a time. You don't want to look at the top of the mountain when you climb it, just the step in front of you. Right now, we're just focusing in on Wheeling Jesuit and get to 1-0 because you can't beat all three at once, you have to take it one at a time."
And if getting ready to play on the road against the MEC's isn't enough, Osborne has been prepping his team for the matchups while dealing with several players missing practices with the flu.
"It's going to be a difficult task because these are some great teams," Osborne said. "It doesn't help that we've had some guys missing time here, but they're focused in and we're going to go out there and try to go into some tough environments and see if we can get a couple wins."
West Virginia State will host West Liberty on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. while Charleston tips off at Wheeling Jesuit at the same time.