Thursday, December 20th Highlighted Match-ups

SPOTLIGHTED GAMES

-DUKE VS PITTSBURGH (New York). This game should be great and the atmosphere should resemble an NCAA Tournament game. Both teams are undefeated, so it’s interesting from a rankings point. Pittsburgh is a tough, defensive team (or at least appears to be) wheras Duke can really shoot the ball and produce on offense, so it’s interesting from a match-up point. Duke has had a few tests this year, but Pittsburgh really hasn’t. They did have a somewhat impressive win at Washington, but Washington isn’t nearly as good as Duke. Granted, this game is on a neutral floor, but it’s still going to be a real test for both squads. It certainly won’t be the last challenge for either team, though.


HIGHLIGHTED MATCH-UPS

-MIAMI, OH AT ILLINOIS. Both of these teams really need this win. Miami has some good wins and has played well for the most part, but is just 4-4 on the year. That has to sting considering two of those losses came on last second three point shots. Illinois hasn’t really gotten any quality wins yet. This win won’t be overly impressive, but I think it would qualify as decent. It should be a close, defensive oriented game. It usually is when Miami plays.

-GONZAGA VS OKLAHOMA (All College Challenge). This game is part of a double header in Oklahoma City, so Oklahoma should have the advantage of the crowd. Both these teams need a big win to boost their resume. Gonzaga has a win against Connecticut, but it’s hard to say how much that will end up helping them out. Neither team’s resume seems to be a reflection of either team’s full potential, which is what makes this game so important.

-OKLAHOMA STATE VS ORAL ROBERTS (All College Challenge). This game is interesting because head coaches Sean Sutton and Scott Sutton will be facing off. Oklahoma State has a lot of work to do in order to get themselves in the NCAA Tournament discussion and this certainly isn’t a game they can afford to lose.


RAINBOW CLASSIC

-TULANE VS SAINT MARY’S
-EAST TENNESSEE STATE VS GEORGIA

The winners will face in the semifinals tomorrow. Georgia and Saint Mary’s are the obvious favorites, and that would be a very interesting game if those two were to advance. Doing well in this tournament would especially help out Saint Mary’s. On the other side of the bracket, Ohio downed Saint John’s and will most likely face Hawaii in the other semifinal game.


SAN JUAN SHOOTOUT

-CLEMSON VS LA SALLE
-MISSISSIPPI VS DE PAUL

This is a round robin tournament, so all of these teams will face one another. Clemson and Ole Miss are both unbeaten, so when the two face each other it will be a hugely important game. Unfortunately it doesn’t look as if the game is going to be on television.


BUY GAMES

-DELAWARE STATE AT CALIFORNIA. Delaware State is just 1-6 against div1 teams this year and stands little chance against Cal. Cal can improve to 7-1 with a win.

-NORTH CAROLINA CENTRAL AT CREIGHTON. Creighton shouldn’t have any trouble improving to 7-1 on the year.

-IPFW AT KENT STATE. Kent State is off to a great start and can improve to 9-2 on the year. They appear to be good enough to play their way into position to receive an at-large bid if they need it.

-NORTH FLORIDA AT MIAMI, FL. Miami should have no trouble remaining undefeated.

-THE CITADEL VS WASHINGTON STATE (Seattle). The fact that this game isn’t being played on Wazzu’s campus should have no effect on the outcome. I expect this to be a blowout and Wazzu should remain unbeaten.