Wednesday Lay-up Lines

There are two really good games to pay attention too tonight. The first is Davidson heading to Cameron Indoor to take on Duke. Now, I think Davidson is going to get manhandled in this one. Duke's defensive pressure is as good as anyone in the country's, and I just don't see Curry being able to go off, especially if they put Gerald Henderson (not sure if that is who it will be, but I would expect that it would be Henderson) on him.

So why do you want to watch this game? Because Mark Jackson, Jeff van Gundy, and Mike Breen will be announcing it.

Wait a second... Does anyone actually care about this publicity stunt ESPN is pulling? To be honest, I am just thankful that Dickie V won't be announcing the Duke-Davidson game. I love Dickie V; he is like a crazy uncle that won't stop ranting and raving at a family reunion. You accept him for what he is, appreciate his passion for the game (which is unrivaled), and realize that he really seems like a good person (Jimmy V foundation, cure for "CAN-suhh", etc).

But I don't think I would have been able to deal with Vitale doing a game between his favorite team (the Dookies) and his favorite player (Steph Curry). Would have been too much.

So am I going to watch him do the NBA game? Doubtful. As much as I would love to watch the guy with a 34-60 career record in the league wax poetic about how kids shouldn't leave school early while he analyzes a game that will be no where near exciting enough for him (seriously, what is Dick Vitale if he isn't excited and screaming?), I think the Gonzaga-Tennessee game will be much more enticing (look at the segue ... who needs journalism school).

The game between the 'Zags and the Vols is as close to a must-win for both teams as you can get, but moreso for Gonzaga. The 'Zags right now are not a lock for an at-large berth in the NCAA tournament if they were too, say, lose out on both the regular season and conference tournament titles to St. Mary's. Beating Tennessee for the second time this season, this one on the Vols home court, would go a long way towards changing that. For Tennessee, the fact of the matter is that the SEC is looking pretty weak right now, and in order to secure their spot in the tournament, they don't want to lose twice to the same team in the same year.

The rest of the nights games:

• 6:30 PM: Indiana (5-8, 0-1) @ Michigan (11-3, 1-1)
  
• 7:00 PM: Louisville (9-3, 0-0) @ South Florida (5-8, 0-1)
  
• 7:00 PM: Harvard (7-6) @ Boston College (13-2)
  
• 7:00 PM: Towson (7-8, 2-1) @ George Mason (10-3, 3-0)
  
• 7:00 PM: DePaul (8-7, 0-2) @ Syracuse (14-1, 2-0)
  
• 7:00 PM: Providence (10-4, 2-0) @ Cincinnati (10-4, 0-1)
  
• 7:30 PM: Marquette (13-2, 2-0) @ Rutgers (9-6, 0-2)
• 8:30 PM: Northwestern (8-4, 0-2) @ Wisconsin (11-3, 2-0)
  
• 9:00 PM: Marshall (7-6) @ Memphis (10-3)
  
• 9:00 PM: Charleston (10-2) @ UNC (13-1)