Thursday Lay-up Lines

Tonight is the semifinals of the CvC in Madison Square Garden. The first game pits Southern Illinois against Duke. Duke has not played well yet this year and barely survived Jimmy Baron and the Rhody Rams (a team picked ninth in the A-10). Tonight they get a tough defensive team in the Saluki's. Since Duke has had problems with turnovers in their first three games and back up PG Greg Paulus (I love saying that) has a hand injury, it will be interesting to see how the Blue Devils handle SIU's defensive pressure.

The second game will be UCLA against Michigan. The two things I can't wait to see out of this game: the Bruin's highly touted freshmen, especially Jrue Holiday, and Manny Harris from Michigan go up against a real defense. He is averaging 28 this year, but it is against Michigan Tech and Northeastern (who actually are good, but are no UCLA).

What is interesting is that there are quite a few games tonight that could have real repercussions come Selection Sunday - Mizzou-Xavier, USC-Seton Hall, Illinois-Vandy. Just something to keep in mind while watching these early season games. The rest of the games to keep an eye on tonight:

• 1:00 PM: Missouri @ Xavier - Both teams come in 2-0, and neither has had a challenge yet this year.
• 4:30 PM: Chattanooga @ Memphis
• 7:00 PM: USC @ Seton Hall - Much bigger game for Seton Hall than for USC. If the Pirates want to reach the NCAA tournament from the loaded Big East, a non-conference win like this would be huge.
• 8:00 PM: Southern Utah @ Florida
• 8:00 PM: Illinois @ Vanderbilt - Both teams look like they will be squarely on the bubble this year.
• 8:00 PM: Tulsa @ Oklahoma State - I wish I would have been able to see this game - both James Anderson (OK State) and Jerome James (Tulsa) are potential NBA Draft picks.