(5-0) #1 (6-0)
Las Vegas Invite Orleans Arena 7:30PM PT TV:
BYU all ready beat on top 10 team and their reward is another game against the number one team in the land against UNC. UNC is beatable just look back at their close game against Davidson recently, and BYU has a similar up tempo style game that could cause problems for UNC. Last night against Louisville the Cougars were lead by the two man team of big man Trent Plaisted and Jonathon Tavernari who combined for 50 points and 19 rebounds. UNC also likes to run so BYU better be careful what they wish for in this game. A matchup to watch for is BYU's big man Trent Plaisted against UNC's Tyler Hansbrough. Plaisted does have a slight height advantage, but one trend that I noticed last year when watching Plaisted play against someone who had size he struggled. This will be a good test to see how Plaisted can matchup against someone with size and who is NBA ready. UNC should win because they want to score in the 90's each game and run similar to BYU, but UNC has better athletes. For BYU to stay close they need to play the inside outside game that was going on last night to be able to keep the defense honest and limit mistakes. This game will be close for a half, but I think BYU used most of their energy last night and will falter down the stretch to the Tar Heels
(3-2) (5-0)
Hispanic College Fund Classic Spokane, Washington 2:30PM PT TV: NONE
This is the second game of this mini tournament in Spokane. Air Force was able to knock off Mississippi Valley State by 18 points and have a surprisingly great start at 5-0 and have a chance to make it 6-0 against a solid Montana that comes from the Big Sky conference. Air Force continues to play their grind it out slow it down game and have been successful even with their new coach in Colorado Springs. The Falcons win came down to their defense which they held Mississippi Valley to 24% shooting and that is what they will have to do defeat Montana who likes to score and they have 70 points in every game so far this season, so something must give tonight. Look for the defense to take over and look for Air Force to slow it down and pull out the win. Montana is coming off a pretty good performance where the lost to #9 Washington State by 11, but they were unable to shoot a good percentage because of Wazzu's defense. Now against Air Force Montana will need to make their possessions count because Air Force will slow it down, and throw in the fact that the Falcons play pretty good defense. Look for Air Force to pull this game just as long as the Falcons slow it down because the Grizzlies like to score.
(5-0) (3-0)
Haas Pavilion 3PM PT TV: PPV
Cal so far has played a light schedule with this being their 3rd game in 3 weeks and the opponents have been the traditional pay for play games at Berkley. This Cal team is coming off a season where they went 16-17 and will go as far as Patrick Christopher and Ryan Anderson take them. Those two players are combing to average 40 points per game and then throw in DeVon Howard who in 2 games has 28 rebounds. San Diego State is one of the top tiers in MWC and should provide a good challenge. The Aztecs have played a little bit of a tougher schedule with their best win would be at Fresno State who is typically a mid to upper WAC team. San Diego State likes to score and has averaged 75 points per game and have 6 players who score from 9-14 points per game, so they are a balanced team which means Cal will have to slow multiple players to disrupt the Aztecs. Look for this game to be evenly matched and I give Cal the edge because they are at home.
(2-1)(3-1)
Thomas & Mack Center 7PM PT TV:
First off not sure why this game is available on ESPN Full Court especially since it is on The Mtn, especially since Craig Thompson mentioned that their package would not be available on a pay per view package, but maybe Thompson is smarting up and selling the conference package to ppv and in hopes to get more money and/or have people to view the Mtn. Enough on that and on to the game, this should be a good one because Nevada-Reno is considered to be the top of the WAC once again. Nevada has one loss that is some what odd in their loss on the road to Central Florida and the only loss for UNLV was their loss to Louisville at home in a game where their shooting was terrible. This game should be very close because each team is pretty even in talent, but one thing that could be to UNLV's advantage is that Nevada does not take care of the ball all that well by averaging just over 16 turnovers per game. If UNLV can capitalize on those turnovers and score then the Rebels should win, and if Nevada limits those turnovers they should win. Again the home team gets the edge here and UNLV picks up a quality home win.
(2-1) (2-2)
Charles Koch Arena 7PM CT TV: NONE
The Wichita State Shockers are typically a dangerous team out of the Missouri Valley Conference. This game is a return trip on a home and home series, and last year the shockers easily defeated Wyoming. This years Shocker team is different, because they lost a lot of talent from last years team. With the Shockers they do not really have a go to score because their leading scorer Gal Mekel who scores 12 point per game, but this team plays 9 players who get at least 10 minutes of playing time. So, the scoring can come from multiple players during the game. As for Wyoming they have started nicely under their new regime with Brandon Ewing still leading the team. So far on the road Wyoming has played not so well by losing at University of Denver and then squeaking by Lamar. This road trip to Wichita should prove again to be a tough game for the Cowboys and most likely will end up in a loss for Wyoming.
(3-1) (5-1)
Maples Pavilion 8PM PT TV:NONE
The Cardinal had a surprise loss when they played at MAAC member Siena College last week and that dropped them out of the rankings. While that was a surprise win that really is not a huge upset, because Stanford traveled cross country for that game and Siena is to contend for the MAAC title this year. As for the Rams they are off to a surprise start after winning the Top of the World Classic last week. Logic would say Stanford should roll because they are to contend for the Pac-10 title this year, but with Colorado State's Marcus Walker who can just score. Walker did score 45 against Tennessee State while in Alaska. Look for Stanford to just rollover CSU, because the Cardinal are at home and that on the last true road game Colorado State was run out of the gym against Montana, so look for the same here.