Friday, Nov. 27 in College Basketball

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! Most of you were probably watching football (to be honest, so was I!) but hopefully you were able to catch some good basketball. Creighton and Michigan went to OT, and although the Bluejays played some inspired basketball at the end, Michigan shut them down in the overtime period and won. They'll take on Marquette today, who played Xavier even for most of the game but was able to pull away late. On the other half of the bracket, Alabama pulled out a close one over Baylor, and Florida State got all it could handle from Iona but advanced. In Anaheim, Clemson found out it's a little more difficult to run for 40 minutes against a quality opponent and fell to Texas A&M. West Virginia awaits the Aggies in the semis. Also, Minnesota upset Butler off some big three point shots late. However, the big story of the night was the demise of UCLA, who suffered their worst loss of the Ben Howland era to Portland. Don't get me wrong, the Pilots are a decent team, but this definitely isn't the UCLA of old, particularly offensively. So now on to today:

Game of the Night:

Preseason NIT final:

UConn v. Duke: After a one day absense, the NIT preseason tournament is back, and this final looks to be a good one. Maybe. See, the thing is, I'm not sure how well Duke matches up in this game. Their strength is inside, but UConn certainly didn't have any problems on the glass on Wednesday against a pretty good rebounding team. Duke has Singler, but UConn counters with a taller and more athletic Stanley Robinson. And if Arizona St. was able to get to the rim on Duke like they did in the 1st half, then how are they gonna stop Dyson and Walker? I'm pretty sure the game will be closer than my prediction. I'm just not sure how to justify that.

Pick: UConn 85, Duke 68

Others:

Old Spice Classic:

Michigan v. Marquette: Just finishing up as I type. If Marquette doesn't win, well, they've certainly looked like the better team. Michigan threw 1-3-1 and 2-3 zones in the 2nd half and while Marquette struggled early, they pulled it together and never gave up the lead. Bottomline: Marquette was the more athletic team, and Michigan (other than Manny Harris) had no answer.

Alabama v. Florida State: We could see a Bama-Marquette final on Sunday. Raise your hand if you picked that. I shouldn't see any hands.

Creighton v. Xavier: Neither mid-major could pick up a good non-conf win, so it's a fight to the death instead, where the winner's at-large hopes are still alive. Actually, Xavier will have some games vs. Dayton to prove themselves. The Bluejays are running out of quality opponents on their schedule.

76 Classic:

West Virginia v. Texas A&M: No Ebanks means this is probably the Aggies' best shot at getting a marquee win. Unless they want to take down KU or UT in conf, which I would not recommend relying on.

**EDIT** Ebanks is playing.

Minnesota v. Portland: The Pilots are one win away from having enough decent wins to be in the at-large discussion in March, provided they don't lose any cheapies. And if they don't get this one, they still have @ Washington and two vs. Gonzaga to prove themselves.

Butler v. UCLA: A better sounding matchup than it actually is.

Las Vegas Invitational:

Illinois v. Utah: Don't forget about this one, and do NOT sleep on the Illini. Paul and Richardson have added a new dimension to this Illini offense.

Michigan St. v. Florida: This is the best non-tournament matchup of the day. I really, really believe the Gators are gonna give Sparty a good fight tonight.

South Padre Invitational:

Old Dominion v. Missouri: My pick for underrated game of the evening.