Bowl Picks (Part 2)

Little Ceasars Bowl

Florida International(6-6) vs Toledo(8-4)        Connor.FIU                   Josh/Ranny/Nash/Andrew/Taylor.Toledo

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl

Tulsa(9-3) vs Hawaii(10-3)           Taylor.Tulsa           Josh/Connor/Ranny/Nash.Hawaii

Independence Bowl

Air Force(8-4) vs Georgia Tech(6-6)         Josh/Connor/Ranny/Taylor.AF         Nash/Andrew.GT

Champs Sports Bowl

West Virginia(9-3) vs NC State(8-4)        Josh/Connor.WVU          Ranny/Nash/Andrew/Taylor.NCSU

Insight Bowl

Iowa(7-5) vs Missouri(10-2)             .Iowa            Josh/Connor/Ranny/Nash/Andrew/Taylor.Mizzou

Military Bowl

Maryland(8-4) vs East Carolina(6-6)         Josh/Connor/Ranny/Nash/Andrew/Taylor.Mary         .ECU

Texas Bowl

Illinois(6-6) vs Baylor(7-5)      Andrew.Ill             Josh/Connor/Ranny/Nash/Taylor.Bay

Alamo Bowl

Oklahoma State(10-2) vs Arizona(7-5)       Josh/Connor/Ranny/Nash/Taylor.OK State       Andrew.Zona

Armed Forces Bowl

SMU(7-6) vs Army(6-6)          Josh/Connor/Taylor.SMU          Ranny/Nash/Andrew.Army

Pinstripe Bowl

Syracuse(7-5) vs Kansas State(7-5)             Ranny/Andrew.Cuse             Josh/Connor/Nash/Taylor.KSU

Music City Bowl

North Carolina(7-5) vs Tennessee(6-6)             Josh/Connor/Ranny/Andrew/Taylor.UNC            Nash.Tenn

Holiday Bowl

Nebraska(10-3) vs Washington(6-6)              Josh/Connor/Ranny/Nash/Andrew/Taylor.Neb             .Wash

Meineke Car Care Bowl

USF(7-5) VS Clemson(6-6)           Josh/Ranny/NashTaylor.USF               Connor/Andrew.Clem

Sun Bowl

Miami(7-5) vs Notre Dame(7-5)         Josh/Connor/Nash/Taylor.U                       Ranny/Andrew.ND

Liberty Bowl

Georgia(6-6) vs UCF(7-5)              Josh/Connor/Ranny/Nash.UGA           Andrew/Taylor.UCF

Chick-Fil-A Bowl

Florida State(9-4) vs South Carolina(9-4)          Nash.FSU           Josh/Connor/Ranny/Andrew/Taylor.USC

Bowl Picks (Part1)

Bowl season officially starts tomorrow. We have given our first round of picks.


New Mexico Bowl:
BYU(6-6) vs UTEP(6-6)               Ranny/Connor/Taylor.BYU                 Josh/Nash/Andrew.UTEP



Humanitarian Bowl:
Northern Illinois(10-3) vs Fresno State(8-4)               Andrew/Nash/Josh/Ranny/Connor/Taylor.NIU          .FSU



New Orleans Bowl:
Ohio(8-4) vs Troy(7-5)          Ranny/Connor/Taylor/Josh.Ohio              Nash/Andrew.Troy



St. Petersburg Bowl:
Southern Miss(8-4) vs Louisville(6-6)          Taylor.So Miss            Josh/Andrew/Nash/Ranny/Connor.L’ville



Las Vegas Bowl:
Utah(10-2) vs Boise State(11-1)         .Utah           Andrew/Nash/Josh/Ranny/Connor/Taylor.BSU



Pointsettia Bowl:
Navy(9-3) vs San Diego State(8-4)       Josh/Andrew/Nash/Ranny/Connor/Taylor.Navy          .SDSU

Watch This..... Or Not

There are 34 bowl games in 2010-2011. In my opinion 34 bowl games is overkill. Some of these bowl games have gotten to ridiculous. 6-6 is bowl worthy. Essentially this awarding mediocrity. To show my frustration I am going to give you the worst 5 bowl games this bowl season. 

R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl: December 18

Troy (7-5) vs Ohio (8-4)

What a way to spend your saturday night. The primetime game Saturday night has the winner of the Sun Belt, yes the winner of the Sun belt is (7-5), against the #5 C-USA team, The Ohio Bobcats. It does not get much worse then this. This will be a snore-fest from start to finish. 

Sheraton Hawaii Bowl: December 24

Tulsa (9-3) vs Hawaii (10-3)

Same thing every single year. Hawaii gets to take on some average mid-major every year at home. Both of these teams are pretty good, but really its the same old, same old.

Little Ceasars Pizza Bowl: December 26

Toledo (8-4) vs Florida International (6-6)

The only thing somewhat appealing about this game is the name of the bowl.... enough said.

GoDaddy.com Bowl: January 6

Middle Tennessee State (6-6) vs Miami (OH) (9-4)

The only reason anyone will watch this game is because of the commercials.

Liberty Bowl: December 31

Georgia (6-6) vs UCF (10-3)

Put an SEC team up against a C-USA team, not that tough to guess what the outcome is going to be. I do not care which SEC team it is. If they can make a bowl game, and are playing any team from the C-USA, they will win by a lot. UCF does not stand a chance, even if they are 10-3.-Josh Neighbors

Brothers in Arms

Army vs. Navy
For the last few years Navy has dominated this rivalry game, gone onto their bowl game, and left Army to think about their disappointing season. This year it is not the case. Army is 6-5, and already in The Armed Forces Bowl. Army has a great triple-option running attack in which 6 players have rushed for over 100 yards total this season. Sophomore quarterback Trent Steelman has played very solidly in this system. He has passed for 837 yards, and has rushed for 620 yards, making him the second leading rusher on the team. This dynamic rushing attack needs to be efficient if they want to have a chance at beating Navy.
Navy looks a lot like Army, except they are a little bit stronger in each position. They are a triple-option style offensive team. The offense is directed by early-season Heisman contender, Rick Dobbs. Dobbs leads the team in rushing with 806 yards and has run for 13 touchdowns. He has also thrown for 10 touchdowns. Navy has 8 rushers over 100 yards on the season. Navy is 45th in points allowed per game. Army is 55th in points allowed per game. Navy is just a little bit better in each aspect of the offense and defense, and that is why I think they will win this game.-Josh Neighbors


Army vs Navy Army.Taylor                    Navy.Josh/Andrew/Connor/Ranny/Nash

Results Week 14

A quality week all-around. This was the last week of regular season picks. Now it is on to the bowls.


Ranny Kennon: This week(15-5) overall(170-70)

Connor Jones: This week(14-6) overall(168-72)

Josh Neighbors: This week(15-5) overall(160-80)

Taylor Bostic: This week(17-3) overall (145-95)

Andrew Reed: This week(13-7) overall(144-96)

Nash Wiley: This week(13-7) overall(137-103)

Cuse For Concern?

#8 Michigan State and #7 Syracuse face-off in the garden tonight. Syracuse has not yet played a ranked team. The first ranked team they play, is one of my early Final Four picks. The one thing about Syracuse that is very impressive is the consistency of their 2-3 zone defense. They rotate well to the ball, and cause problems for opposing teams offense. The other thing, or person I should say, on Cuse is Rick Jackson. This is a guy who is averages double-figures in point and in rebounds. He averages 13.1 point and 12.4 rebounds a game. Michigan State will need to key-in on Jackson. Junior guard Scoop Jardine needs to feed the ball inside to Jackson early and often. Jardine averages 12 points and 7 assists a game. One final not about Syracuse, they are a very deep team. They have so many guys who can come off the bench and give a solid few minutes of play.

The Spartans are 6-2. Regardless of there 2 blemishes, I still think they are one of the top 3 teams in the country. Kalin Lucas is an All-American in my mind. I have said it before, but I think this game will come down to Michigan State's guard play. The have so many good guards who can step in and be big threats. Korie Lucious, Durrel Summurs, and Kieth Appling are key players in Michigan State's offense. I think the  MSU bigs will be able to hold off Rick Jackson, and get MSU a 9-point win.-Josh Neighbors

Old Story New Faces

This is one of my favorite events in college athletics. The Jimmy V Classic. Great basketball, promoting a great cause. The Jimmy V Foundation for cancer research is my favorite charity  and I encourage you to donate money for a very worthy cause. I also encourage you to watch Coach Jim Valvano's very inspiring ESPY speech. Now to the basketball. The 1st matchup has the 2008 National Championship game. #14 Memphis and #4 Kansas square-off in a battle of un-beatens. We will find out if Memphis is for real. They are a relatively un-tested team. They also are another one of those young, reloaded teams. This team finds leadership in their junior guard/forward Wesley Witherspoon. He is averaging almost 14 points, and about 5 rebounds a game. Now amazing numbers, but getting the job done. The core freshman on this team, are key pieces to this team. Freshman guard Joe Jackson is averaging 12 points and over 4 assists a game. Guard Will Barton is averaging about 12 points and 4 rebounds a game. These guys will have to give more then usual if Memphis wants a shot at winning this game.

Kansas is a very strong team. They are averaging about 90 points per game. That is 3rd best in the NCAA. Not only that, but they average the most assists per game and have the highest field goal percentage in the country. So its pretty obvious why Kansas is 7-0. They play quality team basketball. Junior forward Marcus Morris averages almost 19 points, and 7 rebounds a game. He is the leader of this team skills wise. Also the experience of Kansas gives The Jay Hawks the edge. The Hawks start 3 juniors, a senior, and a sophomore. This is why I like Kansas by double digits.-Josh Neighbors

No Rest For The Weary

It is a huge weekend in the world of college sports. In basketball we get a rematch of last years National Championship game, as Butler travels to Duke. Also, UNC goes to Kentucky to face The Wildcats. In football, it is conference championship week. There are BCS implications in just about every game. Here are your saturday story lines.

Butler @ #1 Duke, Izod Center:
This one should be interesting. There is some bad blood between these two teams after last years National Title game. Butler was literally an inch away from become champions, but that is a thing of the past. Gordon Hayward is no-more, and the Bulldogs have had a rough start this year. Duke comes into this game riding a massive off of Michigan State on Wednesday night. Duke is going to win this game, they have too much fire-power. My only concern is the fact they had only 2 full days to prepare. Michigan State wore Duke out in a hard fought game. Kyrie Irving may still be a little bit injured, and he has to guard a great shooter in Shelvin Mack. Butler will fall to 4-3 after today's game, but do not be surprised to see a close game into the 2nd half.

#11 Kentucky @ Butler:
UNC continues to struggle, and that trend will continue. Kentucky is way to loaded for Carolina to hang with. Harrison Barnes is the best player on UNC as a freshman. Kentucky has 3 star freshman. Doron Lamb, Brandon Knight, and Terrence Jones. UNC does not have enough defense to stop the great Kentucky players. For the 2nd consecutive year, Kentucky may have the most talented team in the country.

Football:

#2 Oregon @ Oregon State:
Civil War time. Nothing better then this rivalry. Nothing like a beat down in Corvalis on the last weekend of the season. Oregon State has no chance. 1 Rogers brother limits them. The Beavers are very 1 dimensional. On the other side of the ball, Darren Thomas and LaMichael James are the best 1, 2 punch in the country. Oregon State's defense will have no answer for them. I like Oregon by at least 21.

The other half of our saturday preview will be coming later.-Josh Neighbors.

Picks Week 14

Due to the lack of college games this weekend, we have added some pro picks in. This is the last round of picks before bowls.

Arizona State vs Arizona               .ASU              Nash/Josh/Taylor/Andrew/Ranny/Connor.AU

Illinois vs Fresno State          Nash/ Josh/.Illinois           Taylor/Andrew/Ranny/Connor .FSU

Rutgers vs West Virginia         .RU               Taylor/Nash/ Josh/Andrew/Connor/Ranny.WVU

Pittsburgh vs Cincinnati          Nash/Josh/Andrew/Ranny/Connor/Taylor.Pitt         .Cinci

Oregon vs Oregon State         Nash/Josh/Andrew/Ranny/Connor/Taylor.Oregon           .OSU

Auburn vs South Carolina           Ranny/Connor/Taylor/Josh.AU            Nash/Andrew.USC 

Washington vs Washington State        Nash/Ranny/Andrew/Connor/Josh.Wash           .WSU

Florida State vs Virginia Tech           .FSU Andrew/Ranny          Nash/Josh/Connor/Taylor.VT

Connecticut vs South Florida        Ranny/Josh.UConn         Nash/Andrew/Connor/Taylor.USF

USC vs UCLA             Nash/Ranny/Josh/Connor/Taylor.USC                .UCLA Andrew

UNLV vs Hawaii          .UNLV         Nash/Ranny/Josh/Andrew/Connor/Taylor.Hawaii

Houston vs Philadelphia         .Houston         Nash/Ranny/Josh/Andrew/Connor/Taylor.Philly 

Jacksonville vs Tennessee         Nash/Ranny/Andrew/Connor/Josh/Taylor.J’Ville           .Tenn

Denver vs Kansas City          Andrew/.Den              Nash/Ranny/Connor/Josh/Taylor.KC

Oakland vs San Diego      Andrew/Taylor.Oak          Nash/Ranny/Josh/Connor.SD

Atlanta vs Tampa Bay           Nash/Ranny/Andrew/Josh/Taylor.Atl          Connor.TB

Buffalo vs Minnesota        Ranny/.Buff           Nash/Connor/Josh/Andrew/Taylor.Minn

Dallas vs Indianapolis            .Dallas       Nash/Ranny/Connor/Andrew/Josh/Taylor.Indy

Pittsburgh vs Baltimore         Nash/Josh/Taylor.Pitt        Ranny/Connor/Andrew.Baltimore

New York Jets vs New England        Nash/Andrew/.NYJ       Ranny/Josh/Connor/Taylor.NE

ACC Big 10 Challenge Preview

The annual ACC Big 10 challenge starts tomorrow night. For the 10 of the 11 years this challenge has been held, the ACC has won 10 of them. They look to continue that dominance this year, I will preview the 3 biggest games in this event.

North Carolina vs #20 Illinois

Harrison Barnes and The Tarheels travel to Champagne to face The Illini. North Carolina has struggled so far, and Roy Williams needs to right the ship. Illinois is lead by star guard Demetri McCamey, and the thing that sticks out about this team is the number of 3’s this team takes. They have taken 127 3’s and have made 47 of them. They are shooting 37% from behind the arc. Then you have the young Tarheels, who are struggling. Harrison Barnes is the star of this team, and needs to play well if The Tarheels want to have a chance to win. They are also going to need some quality play from big man, Tyler Zeller. Ilinois is the better all-around team, and I think they will bury enough treys to beat UNC by double digits.

#6 Michigan State vs #1 Duke

This is the big 1. Tom Izzo and his Michigan State team goes into Cameron Indoor to play Defending National champs, Duke. This Michigan State team is very well-rounded, Kailen Lucas is maybe the best point guard in the country. Draymond Green is a great presence inside, Durrel Summers and Korie Lucious are great compliments to Lucas in the backcourt. Duke has familiar faces, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, The Plumlees, and a new face that has taken the college basketball world by storm. Kyrie Irving, everyone had heard of this guy in high school, but nobody though he was going to be this good. He is averaging 14.5 points per game, and 5.8 assists. But he will face a massive challenge in Kalin Lucas, this is the key matchup in this game. I think Kalin Lucas wins the battle, and leads his team to victory by 3.

#22 Purdue vs Virginia Tech

E’Twaun Moore and company need this win badly. They are coming off a loss to Richmond, and need a rebound win. The loss of Robby Hummel for the year has really hurt this team both in talent, and in leadership. They look to E’Twaun Moore in the backcourt and JaJuan Johnson down low. They need to have strong nights if Purdue wants a win. The Hokies got roughed up against Kansas State 2 weeks ago, but have rebounded. These Hokies have guys who are prolific scorers in Malcolm Delaney and Derenzo Hudson. The key matchup in this game is the battle going on inside between Jeff Allen of VT and JaJuan Johnson. Jeff Allen has a tendency of racking up fouls . If Johnson can exploit this, then VA Tech will struggle due to the lack of depth at big man. Season ending injuries have plagued both of these teams, and it will be interesting to see which team exploits that injured area the best. I look for Purdue to pound it inside and come out of Castle Colliseum with a 5 point win.


I look for the Big 10 to win this challenge for the 2nd year in-a-row to give them there 2nd victory, all-time, in this event.-Josh Neighbors

Results Week 13

Last week of full regular season picks is in the books. Things are still very tight at the top of the leader board, and Ranny has a 1 game lead over Connor

Ranny Kennon: This week(14-6) overall(155-65)

Connor Jones: This week(15-5) overall(154-66)

Josh Neighbors: This week(14-6) overall(145-75)

Andrew Reed: This week(11-9) overall(131-89)

Taylor Bostic: This week(11-9) overall(128-92)

Nash Wiley: This week(11-9) overall(124-96)

Close Encounters

The 10-1 LSU Tigers are the highest ranked one lost team in all of college football at #5 in the country.Those ten wins have been anything but easy. The Tigers most recent game came down to the wire in a seesaw game with Ole Miss which featured 890 yards of total offense. With the Tigers down again late in the 4th quarter by 1 point, recently criticized quarterback Jordan Jefferson led the tigers down the field and finished the drive off  with a seven yard touchdown run by Stevan Ridley. Which was followed by a successful two point conversion by Jefferson to cap off a 43-36 tiger victory .That thriller was just one of The Tigers six games decided by seven points or fewer.
     Earlier in the season The Tigers had to take on Tennessee. This was no pretty game. The Tigers turned the ball over four times in the form of 3 interceptions and a fumble. Late in the game with the Vols leading 14-10, and just seconds remaining.LSU had a 3rd and goal sitiuation, where they almost let the clock tick down to 0. The rest is history. LSU was stopped, and Tennessee players rushed the field. The celebration was halted when officials ruled the Volunteers had 13 defensive players on the field when the ball was snapped. Les Miles had already tossed his headset aside, cutting him off from communication with his offensive coordinator. "I had to call a play because I had nobody to talk to," Miles said. It turned out Les Miles had called the right play and running back Stevan Ridley took it in from a yard away to seal a 16-14 victory, in a mistake filled performance by The Tigers. "It went from a cry, to a frown, to a smile, to a realization of how you really won the game," said linebacker Kelvin Sheppard after the game. Les Miles said afterwards "I don't know that we could play any sloppier. I don't know that we could have planned it any more poorly, he added we're a very talented team. Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley said "Sometimes you do everything right and things don't go your way. All you can do is move on.”

          Another one of those six  games decided by seven points or less was against Florida in a seesaw battle in Gainesville. With 35 seconds remaining,  LSU lined up for a game-tying, 52-yard field goal, but holder Derek Helton threw a no-look pitch over his head to placekicker Josh Jasper. The ball took a lucky bounce; Jasper scooped it up on a hop and ran for the first down. The play was reviewed to determine if it was a forward pass, which would have ended The Tigers chances, but of course the ball was not a forward pass. We are talking about LSU here.  Later in the drive Jarrett Lee hit Terrence Toliver for a 28 yard gain to get The Tigers down to the three yard line when once again Lee hit Toliver with a fade to the corner of the end zone for the game-winner."How about that one, huh?" Miles said afterwards. "These games are becoming more routine."
          So why do we bring up these lucky Tigers now? Well, The Byu Bengals are in a curious situation. They trail the SEC West by 1 game to Auburn. They cannot win the division, but the National Title is still a possibility. Help is needed though, they need an Auburn loss in 1 of the next 2 weeks. If this happens, they will need to jump Boise State and TCU, which most people think will happen. A 1-loss SEC team or the undefeated, mid-major teams, that beat up on the little sister’s of the poor.
Before The Tigers can think about this, they need to beat Arkansas this week. Well all know Arkansas, Ryan Mallet, Greg Childs, and an average defense. LSU should win this game, but its going to be a close encounter as always. Moral of the story is, LSU needs luck, and why shouldn’t they get it? They have got the Mad Hatter calling the shots. -Ranny Kennon

Making them Feel Gray

Cyrus Gray was fantastic last night, as Texas A&M defeated Texas 24-17. The Aggies have won 6 in-a-row and capped off there season with a huge rivalry win. Cyrus Gray 223 yards on 27 carries. He had 2 scores as well, both of which were over 45 yards. He had an 84 yard run, and a 48 yard run. Ryan Tanehill  remains unbeaten as a starter for TAMU. Last night he improved his record to 5-0. This Aggies team has made huge improvements since the installment of Tanehill at quarterback. Tanehill has lead TAMU to a 9-3 season, and a possible share of The Big 12 South title.

On the other side of this there is The Texas Longhorns. They finish the season at 5-7, so they will not be heading to a bowl game. This team has made a complete 360 degree turn from where they were last year. Mac Brown needs to take a step back, look at his team, and get them ready to contend for a Big 12 title next year. This is a young team; so this season can be counted as a "growing pain". One thing is for sure though, Texas will not stay down for long. These Longhorns are to talented to be held down for long.-Josh Neighbors

Picks Week 13

This is the last week of regular picks. We will see if things tighten up, or if Ranny pulls away.

Texas A&M vs Texas           Ranny/Josh/Connor/Nash/Andrew/Taylor.TAMU                .Tex

Louisville vs Rutgers             Ranny/Connor/Nash.L’Ville            Josh/Taylor/Andrew.Rutgers

West Virginia vs Pittsburgh         Ranny/Josh/Connor.WVU               Nash/Andrew/Taylor.Pitt

Souther Methodist vs East Carolina            Ranny/Josh/Connor/Nash/Andrew.SMU              Taylor.ECU

Auburn vs Alabama           Ranny/Nash/Andrew/Taylor.AU                     Josh/Connor.Bama

Colorado vs Nebraska            .Colo                Ranny/Josh/Connor/Andrew/Nash/Taylor.Neb

Arizona vs Oregon            Nash.Zona                 Ranny/Josh/Connor/Andrew/Taylor.Oregon 

Boise State vs Nevada          Ranny/Nash/Andrew/Taylor/Connor.BSU               Josh/.Nevada

Michigan vs Ohio State             Andrew.Mich             Nash/Taylor/Ranny/Josh/Connor.OSU

Michigan State vs Penn State          Ranny/Andrew/Taylor/NashJosh/Connor.MSU                .PSU

Virginia vs Virginia Tech                 .UVA                Ranny/Josh/Connor/Nash/Andrew/Taylor.VT

LSU vs Arkansas               Ranny/Josh.LSU                 Connor/Andrew/Nash/Taylor.Ark

Northwestern vs Wisconsin             Nash/Andrew.NW               Taylor/Ranny/Josh/Connor.Wisc

Florida vs Florida State             Ranny/Connor/Taylor.Fla                    Josh/Andrew/Nash.FSU

North Carolina State vs Maryland              Ranny/Nash/Andrew/Taylor/Josh/Connor.NCSU               

.Mary

Oregon State vs Stanford              Andrew/Nash/Taylor.OSU            Ranny/Josh/Connor.Stan

South Carolina vs Clemson              RannyJosh/Connor/Andrew.USC             Taylor/Nash.Clem

Georgia vs Georgia Tech                  Ranny/ Josh/Connor/Taylor.UGA                 Andrew/Nash.GT

Oklahoma vs Oklahoma State              Andrew/Nash/Taylor.Okla             Ranny/Josh/Connor.OK State

Notre Dame vs USC                      .ND                      Nash/Taylor/Andrew/Ranny/Josh/Connor.USC

Results Week 12

We have a new leader for the first time in 10 weeks. Ranny Kennon has taken the lead, but not significantly. Next week is the final week of full picking. Then it is on to conference championships, and bowl games.

Ranny Kennon: This week(18-2) overall(141-59)

Connor Jones: This week(16-4) overall(139-61)

Josh Neighbors: This week(16-4) overall(131-69)

Andrew Reed: This week(11-9) overall(120-80)

Taylor Bostic: This week(15-5) overall(117-83)

Nash Wiley: This week(11-9) overall(113-87)

Saturday Scare

In this week's Saturday Scare, we have a key battle in the Big 10. The #9 Ohio State Buckeyes travel to Iowa to face the #20 Iowa Hawkeyes. The Hawkeyes have already knocked off Michigan State. I think they will do the same to The Buckeyes. Ricky Stanzi needs to be on his A game, and attack this Ohio State defense. I think Iowa's front 4 will get enough pressure on Tyrelle Prior and force him to make mistakes late in the game. I like the Hawkeyes in a close win.-Josh Neighbors

2K Sports Classic Preview (Part 2)

The 2nd half of the double-header tonight has #22 Texas against # 16 Illinois. After somewhat of a late season struggle last year, The Longhorns look to prove to the nation that they are back. That is no small task tonight, as they are playing a strong Illinois team. This Illinois team has strong leadership from senior guard Demetri McCamey. He is one of the best 3-point shooters in the country. Illinois also has all 5 starters returning.
Then there is this young Texas team. They have a great player in Jordan Hamilton, he is  great athlete and scorer. It is not very often that a sophomore is the leader of a team. This is the case in Texas. Guard Gary Johnson also helps carry the load for The Longhorns. Rick Barnes can coach this young team to an upset victory, but it will be tough. Illinois will win this game because the amount of experience they have.-Josh Neighbors