To me the real feature game of the night is Notre Dame versus UCLA
UCLA has been ranked pretty high in a PAC 10 which really hasnt earned its major status lately except of being lucky that they have Stanford in it. UCLA has some players though and NIkki Caldwell has done a fantastic job building up that program in such a short amount of time allowing kids to have an option to stay out West in So Cal to go to school.
Notre Dame is good though, one player who's been left out of too many conversations is freshman Natalie Achonwa who played on Canada's Senior National Team at 16 years old, the front court player could develop into one of the better players for the Irish who've had a good Devereaux Peters for sometime but Peters really has had issues staying healthy. Add in All-Word Skylar Diggins and Notre Dame could be better then they were last year.
I expect this to be a pretty fast pace high scoring game in which Notre Dame playing at home in South Bend should pull out. My Pick: Notre Dame 83 UCLA 72
Duke vs Auburn
Second dose of high level ACC play for Auburn in less then a week, coming off a close loss to Florida State at home Auburn travels out to Louisville again to play Duke. Duke is coming off a pretty convincing win against USC where they won by 25. I think this game could be around the same, likely for Duke to be winning by high double figures. Duke grinds it out on you and looks like one of the more balanced teams in the country at this point. My Pick: Duke 71 Auburn 56
Tennessee vs Virginia
Tennessee is good this year, it'll be interesting to see how many consecutive games that Simmons can put up 20 or more and tonights guard match up with Chyna Crosby will be her second test and the first one she passed pretty easily versus Shoni Schimmel (Louisville). Tennessee's overall size and athleticism is going to cause big problems for UVA who lacks an offensive weapon like Monica Wright they have had in the past. If Virginia can keep this close they might be a top half of the ACC team but at this point I am not really convinced of that.
The Pick: Tennesse 81 UVA 57
Other Notes: Look for Samford who plays a similar style to Vandy to possibly keep it close in that game tonight both teams are execution fundemental teams obviously Vandy's got more soldiers but Samford's well coached.
South Carolina and Clemson battle for the State bragging rights, Clemson has a new coach and South Carolina has a pretty new team I like South Carolina in this one but not sure by how much. South Carolina had a pretty good win over Illinois the other day at home and looks to be better then many predicted at the start of the season.
Florida vs Depaul - Florida's beat two mid majors that arnt going to win their league now roll up to Chicago to play an expirienced DePaul team many have high expectations for in the Big East. Florida's lack of skilled guard play and post offensive capability make this first game against a BCS opponant a bad match up for the Gators. The Pick Depaul 77 Florida 51
Princeton vs Rutgers - You have defense versus offensive execution ... Rutgers comes back from a 0-2 road trip to play the defending Ivy League Champs and I'll pick my upset special Princeton 49 Rutgers 46 in a low scoring game.
Ole Miss vs Arizona - Valencia McFarland is a player to watch for Ole Miss who's had some close calls but still is 2-0 as is the visitor Arizona who rolls in to Oxford tonight. I think that Ole Miss is pretty well coached and will continue to improve throughout the season and if McFarland has a strong offensive game they'll prevail at home. The pick Ole Miss 66 Arizona 59
Other Games to watch
Green Bay vs Wisconcin - The Pick Green Bay by 7
NC A&T vs Old Dominion - The Pick NC A&T by 3
Memphis vs Indiana - The Pick Memphis by 4
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