xubrew

rivarlies galore this weekend!!! TONS of great basketball.

SPOTLIGHT GAMES:

-KENTUCKY AT NORTH CAROLINA (saturday) (***pod system spotlight game***). i know it's a little early for this, but both of these teams are clearly contenders to make the pod system. kentucky is going after either indianapolis or nashville and north carolina is going after charlotte. two great teams who are trying to put an early impressive win on their resume. since losing to santa clara, north carolina has been tremendous, especially on defense. kentucky has not really been tested yet, but they are still going to show up ready to play.




OTHER IMPORTANT GAMES:

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 3RD:

-MEMPHIS AT PURDUE. purdue is off to a god awful 1-3 start. the best game they've played was their last game, but they still came up short against nc state. memphis appears to have a good team. they've won four games, but have been blown out in their two losses against syracuse and maryland. their best win so far has been against a short handed saint mary's team. it's early, but these teams should have a feeling of desperation coming into this one. memphis does not want to be 4-3 with no really good wins, and purdue CERTAINLY does not want to be 1-4. the longer it takes teams to get going, the harder it is to get there.

-AUBURN AT VIRGINIA. auburn is 5-0, but this is by far their biggest test. virginia is also unbeaten and have gotten themselves into the rankings. playing at home against an auburn team who has struggled against the likes of temple and colorado state should be an advantage for uva. they had some trouble getting their transition game going against northwestern, but i don't think that will be the case tonight. if auburn were to pull off this upset, it would be one of their biggest wins in a long time. they'll be 6-0 with a win over a ranked team in a season where not much was expected from them.

-CENTENARY AT IOWA. iowa is off to a good start. they should have little trouble in this one. it's the hawkeye invitational.







SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4TH:

-VERMONT AT AMERICAN. vermont's only loss was a close one against kansas. they have blown out the last two teams they face and could be a team to keep an eye on this year.

-ILLINOIS VS ARKANSAS. illinois destroyed gonzaga and wake forest in their last two games. both teams were ranked. arkansas is unbeaten, but they've done it against a weak schedule. the razorbacks took a lot of flack from the media for scheduling so weak, but they are going through a transition period. they haven't won a lot of games the past three seasons, and one of the ways to change that is to schedule weak. i don't think this will be a regular thing for the razorbacks for very long. their opponent on saturday is not weak by any stretch of the imagination. illinois may make it blow out number three.

-DEPAUL AT BRADLEY. both teams are 3-1. bradley, like most teams in the mvc, is off to a pretty good start, but this promises to be their toughest opponent so far. a 4-1 start for either team would put them in good standing as far as the postseason is concerned.

-WESTERN MICHIGAN AT BUFFALO. we highlight this because it is the first conference game of the season....for anyone. buffalo is 3-1 with their only loss being at uconn. they are favored to win the mac by many, but will need a lot of wins to get themselves in position for an at large bid.

-ALABAMA AT CHARLOTTE. charlotte's only loss so far has been a two point loss to rutgers. other than that they have been untested, but that will change saturday. i believe this charlotte team has a lot of potential. a win in this game will get them some national attention. charlotte is NOT an easy place to win. half the arena is filled with students so it won't be easy for bama. the tide are coming off of a blowout win over east tennessee state and their only loss was a close one to washington up in alaska. these are two pretty good basketball teams, and this should be one of the better games of the day.

-INDIANA AT CONNECTICUT. the hoosiers have played very good defense this season. unfortunately, they have played some very poor offense when it comes to shooting the ball. they struggled to win their first two games, but played great against north carolina (minus the shooting) and managed to keep themselves in the game. the hoosiers are a scrappy bunch that as of now cannot shoot worth a lick. still, they manage to keep themselves in it. uconn appears to have a good team yet again. they should have no trouble making the dance and will likely be in contention for worcester pod. indiana's schedule is tough, but they need to win some games to get themselves in good position. the hoosiers may have overscheduled, but even at that seventeen wins should be more than enough to get them in.

-HIGH POINT AT CREIGHTON. creighton looks to remain unbeaten on the season and inch a little closer to the top 25.

-CINCINNATI AT DAYTON. the bearcats should dominate what is a young dayton team this year. cincinnati has been impressive. they blew out purdue, and came from way behind to beat a pretty good northern iowa team. a win improves them to 4-0.

-MIAMI, FL AT FLORIDA. this is a much better football game. in basketball it's a pretty big mismatch. the gators should role and improve to 5-0.

-MASSACHUSETTS VS GONZAGA. the zags are coming off a huge rebound win against in their in-state rivals after being blown out by illinois. massachusetts has talent...but for some reason they never seem to play well. i don't think it's going to be any different this weekend. gonzaga should be back in the hunt for the big dance yet again.

-WISCONSIN MILWAUKEE AT ILLINOIS-CHICAGO. this is a rematch of last year's conference title game. many do not realize it, but this is a pretty bitter rivarly. the head coaches have taken to not even shaking hands after the game. it's also another early season conference game. uwm is unbeaten at 4-0, but two of those wins came against div2 teams and their next six games are on the road. uic nearly beat georgia tech earlier this year. the horizon league has done well ooc so far. these are probably the two best teams in that league. very interesting early season game.

-PACIFIC AT KANSAS. very intriguing matchup here. it's games like this that make out of conference basketball so great. pacific is a big dog in the big west along with utah state. they've won 23 of their last 25 games and on saturday they get to play against a high profile highly ranked team. it's a situation where they have nothing to lose. a win puts them into the stratosphere. a loss still gives them a great experience to learn from and apply to the rest of the season. it's also a good experinece for kansas, because it is likely that they'll run into teams like pacific come march. pacific could hang with kansas for awhile, but they'll really have to do something incredible to come out with a win. the two faced each other in the ncaa tournament last year, so the jayhawks know how good they are.

-LAFAYETTE AT LOUISVILLE. louisville dropped an early one to iowa, but i still expect them to contend for the pod system. expect them to role at home in this one.

-NORTHERN IOWA AT LOYOLA, IL. northern iowa has a VERY good team and could be in position to get an at large. to do that though, they need lots of wins and cannot afford to drop games like this. loyola is 1-3 and will not likely finish in the rpi top 100. uni does not want a bad loss on their resume.

-UAB AT MARSHALL. uab is a team to watch this season, they're 3-0 and have won convincingly in all three of their games. expect them to improve to 4-0 this saturday.

-BALL STATE AT MIAMI, OH. another early season conference game. both teams are 2-1. miami has wins over purdue and xavier, has a well balanced multi-demensional team and appears to be good enough to make a run at an at large. they can't afford to drop too many in conference though. ball state is 2-1 as well.

-NOTRE DAME AT MICHIGAN. notre dame is unbeaten, but they've been playing very weak opponents. going up to michigan is by far their biggest test of the year. also, competition for indianapolis is going to be tight, so if they want to make the pod system it's a game they need to win. it's one of the few chances they have at a quality win ooc. michigan has lost three in a row and DESPERATELY needs to turn it around. they nearly beat arizona, then lost to providence, and were then blown out by georgia tech. it's as if they are going backwards. a win against a rival like notre dame should refocus them.

-SANTA CLARA AT MONTANA. at 5-2 and with a quality win over north carolina, santa clara is looking like an at large team at the moment. i know this is december and not march, but as of now they are in the picture.

-WESTERN KENTUCKY AT MURRAY STATE. a big rivalry here. western kentucky is trying to improve to 5-0. murray state is 3-1, but only has one win against a div1 team. both teams look to be frontrunners in their conferences. this will be a showcase of guard play and transition. western kentucky has played with as many as five guards on the floor at once, where murray routinely plays a transition game.

-UNLV AT NEVADA. nevada is very young and it will be hard to match the success they had last season. unlv has lofty goals for this season with new coach lon krueger. this is a pretty big rivalry, and with both teams having an early season loss, it's a chance to get an emotional win, a big win on paper, and avoid an early setback.

-NEW MEXICO AT NEW MEXICO STATE. this is the second consecutive game these two have played against each other. new mexico won 99-80 on wedensday. the lobos are 6-1 on the season. their only loss was a close game to oregon. they also have a blowout win against a pretty good santa clara this year. they could be pretty good and are a team to keep an eye on.

-WASHINGTON STATE AT OKLAHOMA STATE. wazzu is 3-1. no real impressive wins, but for a team that is struggled for so long, that's a good start. oklahoma state is unbeaten. it's always interesting to watch a dick bennett team. it's the slow it down, back door style play. in their last game, wazzu beat idaho 37-36. it drives undisciplined (and sometimes even the disciplined) teams nuts. if okie state gets ahead early, they should win because wazzu can't come from behind. if wazzu gets ahead, it'll be frustration city until okie state can get control.

-VANDERBILT VS OREGON. oregon is trying to improve to 4-0. vanderbilt is 4-2, but this is going to be their toughest test so far. it is still questionable as to whether or not they can repeat the success that they had last season.

-DUQUESNE AT PITTSBURGH. pitt should have no problems beating their crosstown rivals and improving to 5-0. the panthers have not been tested yet, but 5-0 is still 5-0.

-RHODE ISLAND AT PROVIDENCE. after being the favorites to win the atlantic ten, the injury bug has hit rhode island and hit them hard. they are only 1-4 on the season and don't appear to be a postseason team. providence has looked like a postseason teams at times, but are inconsistent and are 3-3 on the year. i still expect them to have a good year though. they should role against their rivals in this one.

-WISCONSIN AT RUTGERS. wisconsin is 3-1, but lost their only roa game to pepperdine. rutgers is coming off of a surprising loss of their own to penn state. both these teams will likely be in the ncaa hunt, so this is important as far as jockeying for position goes. the badgers already have a big win over maryland.

-DREXEL AT SAINT JOSEPH'S. a big five plus one showcase for you here. after being blown out at kansas, saint joseph's got it together and won at home convincingly against a pretty good davidson team. the hawks may be an ncaa caliber team after all. drexel plays in the caa and were favored by many to win it, but have not been impressive at all this year. their first five games are on the road, but this one and their first game against penn were both in philadelphia. penn blew them to hell. if they play that poorly again, saint joseph's will do the same.

-HAWAII AT SAINT LOUIS. hawaii is 3-0 and have a big win against southern illinois. this is their first road game. saint louis is 1-3, but one of their losses was in o.t. and the other two were by three points or less. still, they weren't playing teams as good as this hawaii team. a 4-0 start for hawaii will put them on their way to being in the bracketology picture.

-TEXAS AT SETON HALL. texas is 3-1 and well on their way to the bracketology picture. whether or not they're good enough to contend for the pod system in oklahoma city remains to be seen. if they want to get there, they're going to want to win this one. seton hall is 1-1, but their win came against a rather depleted rhode island team. a win here would be good for either team's resume.

-CLEMSON AT SOUTH CAROLINA. hopefully there won't be a brawl in this game like there was in the football edition of this rivarly. south carolina was in the tournament last year and is off to a 4-0 start this year. clemson is 3-1 and is coming off of a win against ohio state. winning this game would put either team on a pretty good pace early on, but this game is just as big off paper as it is on.

-COLGATE AT SYRACUSE. expect the orange (not the orangemen anymore) to absolutely rip colgate a new one at home and improve to 7-0. syracuse will not leave the state of new york until january 10th. that's 59 days into the season.

-VILLANOVA VS TEMPLE. a villanova team who had a strong finish to the end of last season will try to improve to 2-0 against their crosstown rivals.

-UTAH AT UTAH STATE. last year, utah state missed the tournament despite posting a 25-3 record. the reason for that was that they only had two wins against rpi top 100 teams. they are 4-1 this year and REALLY need a big win on that ncaa resume if they want a shot at being selected as an at large. utah is also 4-1 and has been playing pretty well. their only loss was to washington in the great alaska shootout. this would be a nice road win for them against an instate rival. even though it's early, both teams have a lot to play for in this one. that is the case for most potential bubble teams.

-TEXAS TECH AT UTEP. both teams were in the tournament last year and both teams are trying to get back this year. texas tech lost a lot, but they are still off to a 3-1 start and from what i've seen, they have looked impressive. like any knight team, they display excellent ball movement, good defense and good shot selection. granted it was against teams that weren't as good as utep. utep's only loss was to southern illinois in the las vegas invitational. they could REALLY use this win on their resume as far as getting to the ncaa tournament goes. texas tech may not finish in the rpi top fifty, but either way the margin for error is smaller for teams like utep who don't have the opportunity to face the big teams and get teh quality wins that texas tech will have in conference.

-MICHIGAN STATE AT GEORGE WASHINGTON (bb&t classic). after losing to wake in the preseason nit, george washington has won their last three games. michigan state is coming off of an emotional loss at duke where they played very well. expect the spartans to pull no punches because if they win, they get to face the winner of the maryland vs george mason game. if maryland loses that game, it'll be one of the biggest upsets they've suffered in quite some time. speaking of that...

-GEORGE MASON VS MARYLAND. the winner of this, which should be maryland, will face the winner of michigan state and george washington. the loser will get the loser.






SUNDAY, DECEMBER 5TH:

-WOFFORD AT AUBURN. at the time i'm writing this i have no idea how auburn did against virginia because the game hasn't been played yet. either way, this should be an easy win for them at home.

-GEORGIA AT GEORGIA TECH. georgia pulled off the HUGE upset last year when georgia tech was undefeated and near the top of the rankings. this year they're 1-2 going into the game. georgia tech is still unbeaten and still ranked #3. there are as solid as anyone in the country. it's a rivalry and anything can happen, but expect the jackets to role in this one.

-MANHATTAN AT NORTH CAROLINA STATE. manhattan is 4-1. they are coming off of a year where they made it to the second round of the ncaa tournament and nearly upset wake forest. although they lost some talent, they are still expected to finish towards the top of the maac this year. a win on the road, although not likely, would be huge because it will give them something they dont get that often...a quality win on their resume. nc state is unbeaten, playing very well, and trying to get into the charlotte pod, so they have a lot to play for as well. manhattan plays a full court transition game. it should be exciting.

-MISSISSIPPI STATE VS ARIZONA. mississippi state is 5-1 with their only loss coming to syracuse and will once again contend for the pod system. arizona already has two losses to virginia and wake forest. if they want to make the pod system, they need to get some quality wins. this is a chance for both these teams to pick up a big early season win. mississippi state is strong underneath and from what i've seen arizona is strong out on the perimeter.

-BOSTON COLLEGE VS UCLA. both these teams are 4-0, but other than bc's win over clemson neither have played anyone all that good. ucla is trying to get back to the tournament this year, and this will be a huge step in the right direction if they pull off the win. the same holds true for boston college.


-the other games of importance is the championship game of the bb&t classic. it will likely be between maryland and either michigan state or george washington.

__________________
IT'S MILLER TIME!!!

Brian34Cook

Illinois vs Arkansas.. That was TOUGH!!