Tuesday Lay-up Lines

The SEC/Big East Invitational kicks off tonight. Well, invitational might not be the right word for it. More like the SEC/Big East three-terrible-games-and-one-good-game. Anyway, the game of the night is Marquette vs. Tennessee in a "neutral-court" game in Nashville. Regardless of where this game is played, it should be one of the most entertaining games of the year. Both teams love to push the ball and push the tempo, and both teams will take a ton of three's. The key to this game will be Tennessee's press. Marquette has great guard play, and should be really tough to trap because of their quickness. But with the exception of Wesley Matthews, all of their back court guys are short, so if Tennessee does get traps it will be tough for Marquette to pass out of it due to Tennessee's length. It will also be interesting to see how Marquette handles the boards. Tennessee has a ton of long, athletic wings that love to crash the glass, so controlling the defensive boards will be very important for Marquette. They've outrebounded their opponents by 8.2 a game, and only allowed six in their win against Wisconsin. I like Tennessee in this one.

Not much else on the schedule tonight:

• 7:00 PM: North Florida (0-7) @ Clemson (10-0)
• 7:00 PM: South Florida (3-4) vs. Vanderbilt (6-3): The other SEC/Big East game of the night in Nashville. ZZZZ....
• 8:00 PM: Texas Southern (0-8) @ Texas (8-1)