Boy, sometimes I even surprise myself as to how good, or how lucky, I am. Yesterday I picked a handful of games I thought might be close, often for no reason but my gut. And what happened last night in those contests? Well:
Memphis 70 - Austin Peay 68 (OT) = Hey, I told you Pastner's boys have at times played like just that . . . boys. To give them some credit, they did finally show up when they needed to, and erased a 15-point 2nd-half deficit to force OT. However, to be honest and objective about it . . .
LSU 78 - McNeese State 66 (OT) = As I said yesterday, I just had a feeling this would be tight.
Tulsa 81 - Weber State 79 (OT) = And as I said yesterday, I just KNEW this one would be tight.
Florida Atlantic 82 - Troy 77 (OT) = This was NOT one of my picks, but give these two crappy teams props for a hard-fought war.
Arizona 63 - Northern Arizona 58 = I'm not sure if this says anything much about either team, as I did not know to begin with what these teams truly are, and this victory showed neither dominance nor incompetence. Still, it was a good game.
Rice 65 - AR Little Rock 55 = And though this one was not nearly as close as some others, it was still close enough to remain interesting until the end.
Tonight there is much less going on, and I only found 4 that have (IMHO) some potential:
Tennessee vs. Charlotte = OK, well maybe not this one. The 49ers have not played all that well so far, and the Vols are likely cheesed about their loss to Oakland, and thus I'd expect them to focus, and win by 20.
Oregon vs. Virginia = But this one could be a lot better. I don't think either team is all that good, but I think both are good enough to give the other game.
Chattanooga vs. Elon = Same here.
Boise State vs. Utah = And again.
There will be many more games, of higher interest, on Saturday. I'll deal with most of them tomorrow, but there are a few with early tips I'll mention now, including:
# 3 Kansas vs. USC = The Jayhawks are a better team, without a doubt. However, they are also a team in some turmoil, as they just suspended a player due to his arrest for assault and trespassing. And I don't know if heralded freshman Josh Selby will be active then or not (I know it should be soon), but even if so, the addition of anyone new to a game situation (as opposed to practice) can be more disruptive than it is helpful, at least initially.
# 15 Georgetown vs. Loyola MD = I don't think the Hoyas are all that good, but they should not have any trouble here.
Oakland vs. Michigan = In case you haven't noticed, Oakland's had a good week. They lost to the Spartans by a point, then gave the Vols their first loss of this season. The Wolverines have only lost close games to Syracuse and UTEP, but they really don't have a "quality" victory. Clemson? Utah? Harvard, by 3? I'm curious to see if Oakland can keep it up.
East Carolina vs. Coastal Carolina = This one's just another of those testy matchups between two decent squads, and should be some fun.
I'll be back tomorrow afternoon to cherry-pick a few more games for you from the balance of the weekend's action. Until then . . . enjoy.