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Welcome to this edition of Game-Planning. We've got some good games on the schedule that you need to watch this week. But you don't want to watch them with no prior knowledge of the teams so here ya go.

1st Quarter- Michigan St. at BYU

Winner: BYU

Why They'll Win: Upset alert. The Brigham Young Cougars are a very, good team this year. They had an impressive game against North Carolina in which two players for BYU made very big impressions on me. One was Trent Plaisted, whose name will forever remained etched in my memory from that night alone. The big man scored 24 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, outdoing All-American Tyler Hansbrough. Prior to that game, he led his team to an upset of Louisville, a game that he had 21 points and 12 rebounds. Currently, he's averaging 18 points and 9 rebounds, just shy of a double-double. The second player I was surprised by was a sophomore sharpshooter by the name of Jonathan Tavernari. In the UNC game, he had 18 points on 6 threes. He also had a good showing against Pitino's squad when he scored 29 points (5 threes). Ben Murdock leads the team in assists (5 a game) for the 20th-ranked Cougars. Regarding Michigan State, I am worried with their play recently. The Spartans defeated Bradley by...six? Terrible for such a highly-ranked team. They are led by sophomore Raymar Morgan (18 pts, 8 reb) and senior Drew Neitzel (14 pts, 5 ast). Honestly though, I don't think Morgan will do very well against Plaisted underneath. Besides the two previously mentioned, no other Michigan State player is averaged double figures in points. Their leading rebounder is Goran Suton (9 per game). Michigan State is currently ranked ninth in the AP Poll.

When To Watch: Saturday, December 8th at 4pm eastern time on Versus.


2nd Quarter- Marquette at Wisconsin

Winner: Marquette

Why They'll Win: Coming off a big win over UW-Milwaukee, the Golden Eagles are led by Jerel McNeal (16 pts, 5 reb, 4 ast) and Dominic James (15 pts, 3 ast). Marquette's leading rebounder is Lazar Hayward (6 a night). Also worth mentioning is that they have five players averaging 23+ minutes per game. They'll be going up against an Alando Tucker-less Wisconsin led by Trevon Hughes (17 pts, 5 reb) and Brian Butch (13 pts, 9 reb). Other than that, the Badgers don't have much to go to. Marcus Landry and Michael Flowers are both giving them a little bit averaging 9 points per contest. The Golden Eagles have a good inside-outside duo, but Wisconsin doesn't have a true point guard. No one is averaging more than three assists per game. I've seen Marquette and Wisconsin both play against Duke and it's safe to say that the former looked a lot better. This could be closer than some think though.

When To Watch: Saturday, December 8th on ESPN2 at 6pm eastern time.


Halftime Thoughts-

I would like to take the time to mention Arizona's 6'3" guard, Jerryd Bayless. I've mentioned him a couple of times but never really told you much about him. He's a freshman and deserves to have his name up there with guys like Singler of Duke, Gordon of Indiana, and Love of UCLA. In the last two games, he's averaged 24 points and 4 assists. He put up 26 on one of the best teams in the country in Texas A&M. His team is 5-2, thanks in large part to his 20 points, 5 assists, and 4 rebounds he's averaging each game. Interestingly enough in the Wildcats' two losses, Bayless is averaging 20 points. Anyways, you should definitely keep an eye on this guy.

Author's Note: Starting this edition, every Game-Planning blog will feature the Rotoworld.com Hot Topic.

Rotoworld.com Hot Topic: Hitting all over the message boards is freshman Eric Gordon. (It seems I only talk about freshman as of late.) Up until a few days ago, Gordon hadn't scored less than 20 points in a collegiate game; Tennessee State put an end to that. He's averaging 24 points per game and is shooting 50% from deep. Also take notice of his 84% average from the line and 54% average on field goals. This guy is off to a fantastic start and is must-see TV right now.

Who's the nation's number 1 team? North Carolina? Memphis? Maybe even Kansas? In my opinion, it's Memphis. They play a brand of basketball that seems nearly impossible to defend. The ony flaw in their system is that they're vulnerable if they have an off-shooting night (as a team; it doesn't happen very often). However, the leadership of Rose, Douglas-Roberts, and Dorsey will help them in key games. Derrick Rose is already playing like an experience-laden senior. Douglas-Roberts has proved to be the go-to-guy when the Tigers need a bucket down the stretch. And, finally, Dorsey is the man coming up with key rebounds and blocks, the little stuff a team needs to win.


3rd Quarter- Boston College at Maryland

Winner: Maryland

Why They'll Win: The talk this year is all about the freshman, yet it's important to remember last year's fabulous freshmen as well. One of them, you may remember, was Greivis Vasquez. He was pretty good then, but he's even better now. This year, he's scoring 16 points, dishing out 6 assists, and grabbing 5 rebounds per game. Vasquez is 6'5", and he'll be matched up against the 6'1" Tyrese Rice (20 pts, 6 ast, 4 reb). I think this one easily goes to Vasquez because of his height and quickness which will wreak havoc against the much shorter Rice. The Terrapins also have James Gist (14 pts, 7 reb) and Eric Hayes (12 pts, 6 ast, 4 reb). Boston College hasn't faced a ranked opponent yet and that will hurt them in this game. Their team is very young. They only have three upperclassmen on the team. Three of the starters are freshman as well. All of this doesn't bode well against Maryland. The Eagles' leading rebounder is Shamari Spears (10 per game).

When To Watch: Sunday, December 9th at 8pm eastern time on FSN.

Are you interested? If so, you can read the rest by checking out my blogspot.

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