Let’s face it — Sunday’s slate isn’t very interesting, but there is an upset watch in Providence as well as an intriguing scheduling trend for teams looking for an RPI boost.

Mercer at Providence (2:30 p.m. ET): The World Vision Invitational may not compete with the Maui Invitational or the NIT Season Tip-Off in terms of attracting marquee programs, but it does offer us one of Sunday’s intriguing matchups. This three-day “tournament,” which has four teams play a round-robin format, features Providence as the host. Mercer, Bryant and Bucknell fill out the field.

(Brief digression: World Vision is a terrific Christian charity that is often among the first responders with support after a natural disaster — like the recent floods in the Philippines. World Vision is also on the vanguard of preventing cases of malaria in the third world. I encourage you to check it out.)

Bryant has just recently become a Division I team, and, while Bucknell is a solid opponent capable of pulling off the upset, Mercer’s reputation as a giant-killer continues to grow. The Bears famously knocked off O.J. Mayo and Southern Cal in the teams’ opener two seasons ago. Last year, the Atlantic Sun program defeated Alabama and Auburn in a four-day span. With six of his top eight players back, head coach Bob Hoffman will hope to add a Big East scalp to his collection.

Mercer is an offensive team — good at offense and offensive on defense. The Bears like to shoot the three and then crash the glass, often at the expense of their defense, which is consistently among the nation’s worst. They’re not going to foul their opposition — in that way, Mercer is very similar to its opponents on Sunday — or get many steals. Basically, their defense seems to have signed a non-aggression pact on that the other team may or may not decide to live up to. Still, when guys like James Florence and E.J. Kusnyer have their shots falling — and the opposition doesn’t — upsets can and have happened.

Providence lost six of the nine scholarship players who saw the court last season, which means this is a year of transition. Keno Davis figures to lean heavily on diminutive guard Sharaud Curry and long wing Marshon Brooks. In fact, the two may combine for something approaching half the team’s points this season. Up front, Jamine Peterson, a red-shirt last year after an intriguing freshman season two years ago, will be asked to do most of the rebounding and scoring inside. He has the athleticism to make up for his lack of size — listed at 6-foot-6 — in the paint and is in line for a huge night against Mercer.

The rest of the team is filled with question marks. Brian McKenzie is a senior, but he took a major step back as a junior, unable to find the range on his once-dependable jumper and displaying a growing lack of confidence as the season progressed. Bilal Dixon, who like Petersen sat out as a red-shirt last year, is likely to start at center, and he has the body for it. The game? We’ll see. It’s also wait-and-see for Russ Permenter, James Still and Kadeem Batts up front. The last two are freshmen with upside — either of whom may be red-shirted — and Permenter is a Juco who figures to be the first frontcourt player off the bench.

In the backcourt, there’s a bit more certainty that freshman Vincent Council will play and play often, with Curry moving to the off-guard spot to take advantage of the fifth-year senior’s scoring ability. Two more freshman — Duke Mondy, a good shooter; and Johnnie Lacy, a lightning-quick tempo-pusher — and another Juco, Kyle Wright, figure to get some run, though it’s unclear just how much, and it’s hard to guess at how effective they’ll be.

With all the questions surrounding the Friars, combined with playing a third game in three days against an opponent chocked with firepower, this afternoon matchup at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center has my attention.

Wake Forest at East Carolina (2 p.m. ET): I’m not so interested in this game for its possible competitiveness — Wake is likely to win and do so comfortably. I’m more interested in the strategy of scheduling a weak opponent on the road. I’ll have to do a study to see if it’s becoming more and more common or if I’m suffering from selection bias, but major-conference teams may be adjusting to the RPI formula and trying to rack up “easy” ratings points with road wins. Also on Sunday, Seton Hall is traveling to Monmouth (4 p.m. ET). On Saturday, Temple — though not a major-conference team, certainly a very strong mid-major — heads to Delaware (noon ET). On Friday night, Georgetown visits Tulane (9 p.m. ET), and Stanford visits San Diego (10 p.m. ET).

Who knows the situation behind the contracts that set these games up? But, if schools are starting to realize the benefit of picking up a cheap road win or two against overmatched competition early in the season, I applaud them. Seton Hall, Wake Forest and Georgetown may or may not be around the NCAA Tournament bubble this season, and Stanford may lose to the Toreros and finish last in the Pac-10, but the opportunity to use the system in one’s favor is very smart.

Click here for a complete breakdown of BaselineStats.com’s article from February about how road and home results play out in the RPI.