Thursday Night Preview

We only see four real games of note tonight and two of them are in NY.

Predictions:

Southern Illinois v. Duke
Contrasting styles meet. Chris Lowery is one of our favorite coaches and his squad is ready to forget last season's disastrous 18-15 record. Lowery's squads are known for lockdown defense and being feisty. Duke led by Coach K and the familiar cast of America's most hated team. Happy thought is that Paulus isn't even starting this year. Duke gets up and down and loves to put up points. We like Duke in this matchup but it will be closer than the 13 point spread.
Pick: Duke 77 So Ill 66

USC v. Seton Hall
Demar Derozan is one of the top freshman in the country this year. Tim Floyd one of the "how did I get here" slimeballs. Seton Hall is missing Brian Liang one of the most underrated players in the country last year. Seton Hall doesn't have an answer for Taj Gibson (right) downlow and Derozan and Daniel Hackett outside. Look for USC to move on.
Pick: USC 83 Seton Hall 71

Michigan v. UCLA
The Beilein era at Michigan is underway and has started 2-0. Manny Harris is a stud, one of the better players in the country but doesn't have too much help. If Michigan wants to make a tourney run this year this would be the necessary major resume win. Unfortunately for Michigan, they don't have the interior play to compete with the Bruins. The matchup at the 3 Josh Shipp v. Manny Harris is good but aside from that they will have trouble with the many weapons UCLA has. Darren Collison is the best point guard in the country and will be hard to stop.
Pick: UCLA 68 Michigan 58


Illinois v Vandy
Illinois was the unluckiest team in the country last season according to Ken Pom. Vandy seemed like the luckiest and has the biggest homecourt advantage in the country. Luckily for Illinois they are playing in Puerto Rico. Vandy has 3 stud freshman to go along with A.J. Ogilvy who is now the second most talked about Aussie in college basketball (thanks to Jay Bilas and ESPN calling Patty Mills the next Stephen Curry, despite the fact they are different players and anyone that saw the Olympics would know that Mills was already a stud). The Illini still have a young team and are athletic but may take a year more until they are poised for any type of run.
Pick: Vandy 76 Illinois 68