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NCAAB Preview

-- First road game for Rutgers; they were upset by St Peter's in opener; Knights have 3 starters back from 14-18/6-12 team; they're picked #11 in Big East, whose teams are 4-1 vs spread on road when spread is less than 10 points. Princeton won 59-57 at Rutgers last season.
-- Denver lost 80-59 at California LY; Bears won first two games by 13-17 points- they have 3 starters back from 24-10/13-5 team. Pac-12 clubs covered five of six games with single digit spread. Pioneers lost opener at Iona 65-58, after being down 23 at half- they're picked #2 in WAC.
-- Fresno State won 55-47 at Pacific LY; Bulldogs won a hideous 39-30 game at Cal-Riverside Wednesday- they led 13-11 at half!!!, but they did lose opener by hoop at Texas, so they must have some talent. Bulldogs has 3 starters back from LY. Pacific has all 5 starters back (11-19/6-10).
-- Vanderbilt's leading returning scorer averaged 3.1 ppg LY, so they're starting over; Commodores beat Oregon 78-64 in Nashville LY, but that team finished 25-11. Ducks have seven freshmen and two JC transfers after 3 of their 5 freshmen recruits LY transferred- they're rebuilding.

-- Long Beach State lost 84-78 in Chapel Hill LY, but they had seniors all over place; this 49er team has three transfers (not all of whom are in lineup yet) and five freshmen- they lost 62-44 at USC Tuesday. North Carolina is also young but lot more talented- they're on way to Maui.
-- Oklahoma State needed OT to beat Akron yesterday; they had couple guys play 40 minutes. OSU is picked #5 in Big X. Tennessee had three guys play 30+ minutes yesterday, but no one played more than 34 as Vols beat Asheville by 7 (up 10 at half). Vols are #3 pick in SEC.
-- UMass played seven guys 20+ minutes yesterday, none more than 34 in 77-75 win over Providence team with six scholarship players. UMass is #5 pick in A-16. NC State is picked to win ACC, high praise in itself; they survived Brown's 1-10 shooting Thursday to beat Penn St. by 19.
-- Baylor whacked Colorado 80-63 in 2nd round of NCAAs last March, but Bears graduated whole frontline- Jackson hit 6-10 from arc, had 31 in win yesterday, but Austin has gimpy ankle, minutes may be limited for this game. Well-coached Buffs held Dayton to 32% shooting yesterday.
-- St John's shot 50% inside arc in 64-53 win at Charleston yesterday, its second quality win (Detroit) of week; Red Storm had three guys play 35+ minutes. Murray State was up 45-19 at half over Auburn, won by 20- they made 11-23 from arc. No starter played more than 26:00.

-- Wake Forest is well-coached, but has only one junior, two seniors, so they're real young. Deacons beat Radford by 12 in opener- they're #11 pick in ACC, but improving. UConn beat Michigan State in Germany in its opener last week; they have new coach, good PG in Boatright.
-- Villanova was down 6 with 0:40 left last night, rallied to beat Purdue in OT; they had four kids play 33+ minutes, outscored Purdue 33-16 on foul line. Alabama already has 3-point wins over South Dakota State, Oregon State, two good teams- only one kid played 30+ min. last nite.
-- Notre Dame has 4 starters back from 22-12/13-5 team; they're #3 pick in Big East. Irish won by 9-27 in first two games, allowing 53 ppg. They step up in class playing St Joe's squad that has all 5 starters back from a 20-14/9-7 team- Hawks hammered Yale by 26 in their opener.
-- Clemson's team is five freshmen, six sophs, two seniors, so games on road could be dicey early on; Tigers beat Furman by 10 LY, have date vs Gonzaga Thanksgiving Day in Orlando. Paladins lost three starters from LY's 15-16 team. ACC favorites are 10-4 against spread this month.

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