Tuesday, Dec. 22nd in College Basketball

Not a lot of time to write this, but there's some great games on Tuesday, so here's what you should expect.

Game of the Night:

Michigan St. @ Texas: Well, people questioned whether or not Texas was ready on Saturday, and they passed test #1. Here's #2. Yes, the Spartans lost to the team Texas just beat. That doesn't mean they're not any good. Michigan St. is still a very deep team with size at the wings. They're also a better rebounding team than UNC. They probably won't (and shouldn't) try to run with Texas, so I'd imagine they'd look to slow down the game, limit possessions and turnovers, and play a physical game. Will it work? Maybe. State may be able to match up decently enough on the perimeter, but their weakness is at the 5, where they don't really have a solid presence to deal with Pittman. That, and the more you slow down the game, the more Pittman becomes a factor. I think it's too much Texas, especially since it's in Austin.

Pick: Texas 84, Michigan St 76

Others:

Cal v. Kansas: Theo Robertson is back, which makes this game an intriguing one. Upset? Probably not, but do not rule out a team that can hit the 3 consistently.

Stanford v. Texas Tech: Not the most exciting of matchups, but Tech needs a bounceback win after the loss to Wichita State.

Texas A&M v. Washington: Washington failed test #1 vs. G-Town but passed against Portland with flying colors. It doesn't get any easier for UW tonight.

LSU v. Washington St: It will be interesting to see if either of these two teams win enough in conference to make a tournament run. The wins are there for the taking.

Monday, Dec. 21st in College Basketball

Top things to take away from this weekend:

1. Texas is for real. The thing that amazed me is the number of guys you need to shut down in order to stop Texas offensively. Even if you somehow figure out how to stop Damion James, you still have to hold Avery Bradley in check, and keep Dexter Pittman off the glass, and stop Jordan Hamilton, and J'Covan Brown, and Gary Johnson can score at times... there's a lot of guys in both the frontcourt and backcourt that can hurt you. Plus, they have the best rebounding frontcourt tandem I have seen this year with James and Pittman. They grabbed 30 rebounds combined against a big (albeit not great rebounding) UNC team. I thought the Heels played well too. They shot well, got good production out of Ed Davis, even limited turnovers somewhat. But the final minute of the first half where they gave up 6 points in 30 seconds turned the game from a manageable halftime deficit to a double-digit one. Big win for Texas.

2. This Duke team isn't as talented as earlier teams, especially on the perimeter, but they are probably as good defensively as they've ever been, which will keep them in many games. As for Gonzaga... this team is not this bad. They can't be. But they're clearly nothing more than a top 20 team at this point. When it comes down to it, they don't have that killer scorer, a guy who can take over the game. Gray? Maybe, but he's a jump shooter. Bouldin? Not really. Sacre? Got owned by Zoubek and co. The Zags may have somewhat limited potential this year.

3. Somebody for Michigan other than Harris and Sims needs to start knocking down some shots. And their D wasn't as bad today, but they need to get more defensive intensity too. Lots of things going wrong in Ann Arbor right now.

4. Teams that are for real: New Mexico, Kansas St, the entire A-10 (well, not the whole conference, but much of the top half), Old Dominion, and Iowa State. Teams that are not for real: Georgetown (I thought they turned the corner too...), Tennessee, Texas Tech, and Memphis.

Now for Monday:

Game of the Night:

Drexel @ Kentucky: Only because Kentucky has a shot at becoming the first college basketball team to 2,000 wins. As much as you many not like them, they are one of the greatest programs of all time. Now if only their fan base was better...

Pick: Kentucky 87, Drexel 59

Others:

UTEP v. Oklahoma: The Sooners have been playing better basketball as of late. And UTEP is no pushover.

La Salle v. Oklahoma St.: Other A-10 programs got some decent wins over the weekend. Okie St hasn't really been tested. Who knows?