By Thursday evening, most of us will have forgotten about bowl week,  Laura Quinn , and Reggie Bush's area code - which is why I am shifting the focus of my blog to college basketball for the first time...

Week 1 Assignment: Game Preview

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The Skinny:

The last time Michigan State (12-2) and Illinois (14-0) played in the same arena their fans cheered for one another, but when they do battle again on Thursday night the atmosphere and the fans won't be so friendly.

Well removed from last year's Final Four appearances, Michigan State and Illinois are once again front runners for a congested Big Ten conference championship and the fans know it. Touting an unblemished record the Illini face their toughest task of the season when the Spartans bring three potential first round draft picks to town in Paul Davis, Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown. Illinois has not faced a team this talented since last season when they lost in the National Championship to North Carolina.

With the exception of a North Carolina rematch in November the Illini, led by star point guard Dee Brown, have not played any ranked teams this season. Michigan State on the other hand, has faced No. 8 Gonzaga, No. 9 Arizona and No. 6 Boston College - fairing well with a 2-1 record - their only loss coming in double overtime against Gonzaga in the Maui Invitational.

After Luther Head, Deron Williams, Alan Anderson, Kelvin Torbert and Chris Hill graduated last season this match-up was seemingly meaningless. But with both teams reloaded it may turn out to be a better game than last season's 81-68 donnybrook that swung in the Illini's favor.

Quick  Facts:

-Michigan State is 9-0 when Steve Mariucci is living in Tom Izzo's basement

- Bruce Webber has terrible taste in sport coats

-Paul Davis constantly looks like someone just poked him in the eye

- If you do a google image search for Bruce Weber (with one "b") it yields pictures

of naked models

In hindsight,  I would rather have him wearing this Halloween love fest of polyester wool blends than nothing at all, but consider the look on my face when I misspelled his last name on google and saw some guy wearing only a sock.

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Tale of the Tape  

 

 

 

 

 

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Category	Illinois	Michigan State	Edge:
Better Student Section:	Orange Krush	The Izzone
Better Cooks:	The Illini grill with Webber - as in Bruce Webber their head coach.	Michigan State burns unsightly couches after unsightly basketball losses. (Or wins for that matter).
Better Sports Alumni:	Dick Butkus, Kendall Gill, Simeon Rice, Jeff George.	Magic Johnson, Kirk Gibson, Scott Skiles, Morten Anderson.	Push
Best Basketball Moment in school History:	Last years almost undefeated season and National Championship run.	1979 National Championship with Magic Johnson (better known on campus as Morgan Freeman - See Below).
Better Mascot:	Do they even have one?	Sparty- the two time Mascot of the Year award winner.	Michigan State: It's a P C world out there.

Below is the infamous statue of Magic Johnson in front of the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University. I've been told there is an indentical statue in front of the Staples Center in Los Angeles.. As I mentioned before, the statue looks more like Morgan Freeman or any other number of people that aren't Magic Johnson.

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                  The Player matchups

 

   Dee Brown vs. Drew Neitzel

Edge:

 

 

     Illinois senior Dee Brown's post Final Four ankle injury may have been a blessing in disguise for the Fighting Illini who lost starters Luther Head and Deron Williams to the 2005 NBA Draft. Dee Brown is one of college basketball's quickest and most athletic players. Although he is only averaging 14.5 points a game - a stat much lower than star players such as J.J. Redick or Adam Morrison - the bottom line is- he knows how to win games. Without Dee Brown this game would be a blowout. Brown's speed and shooting proficiency is the main reason Illinois has had recent success. Brown may be small, but he has ten pounds of raw athleticism on Michigan State's Drew Neitzel who isn't exactly a barishnikov when it comes to handling the basketball. Neitzel's has had significantly fewer turnovers this season, but he hasn't defended any point guards as talented as Dee Brown this season. Lately, the Spartans haven't even played any opponents tougher than my brother's seventh grade basketball team (see Coppin State, Tennesee Tech, Cleveland State and Florida International). Don't expect Neitzel's game play to be at same level that it was at last year's end. Brown's speed should control the tempo of the ball game because by comparison Neitzel is as nimble as Oliver Miller. Illinois has a obvious edge cocerning talent and because Neitzel looks like he starred in the movie Powder. Would it kill him to go tanning?  Edge: Illinois

 

                   Jamar Smith vs. Shannon Brown               

 Edge: 

 

            

 If for some reason Shannon and Dee guard each other it could go down as the greatest match-up between players with the same last name that went to the same high school (Proviso East) and aren't related. It will also go down as the topic for the worlds longest run-on sentence. As I mentioned earlier, Dee will probably match-up against Powder, leaving  freshman Jamar Smith to cover Brown. If we are lucky,  Shannon will provide his usual arsenal of dunks and nifty passes. One time last season Shannon was running so fast that when he jumped to dunk the ball, he slammed his shoulder into the backboard and landed on his head. Maybe that's why he never answered any questions in our history class last semester. Smith will need to slow down Shannon offensively while providing some offensive output of his own to keep Illinois in the game. Shannon Brown and Maurice Ager tend to feed of one anothers energy. Slowing one down could slow down Michigan State's run and gun offense that has earned the Spartans 78.5 points per game thus far. Shannon holds a height and weight advantage over Smith and has also averaged seven more points and three more corn rows per game this season.Edge: Michigan State

 

             Brian Randle vs. Maurice "Mo" Ager       

Edge:   

                        

 

Rumor has it every time Maurice Ager hits a three pointer Michigan State students drink a Jager bomb. That could be why there are so many riots on campus - the man likes to shoot,  as we saw in the nine hour Gonzaga basketball marathon. Illinois sophomore Brian Randle is averaging 8.5 points per game this season which is comendable for a player who did not play a game last season. Like Randle, Ager averaged 8.5 points per game as a sophomore- unfortunately for Illinois, Ager is a senior now - and Michigan State's leading scorer with a steady flow of 22 points per game and a three point percentage of .385. Moreover, at six feet seven, Randle is primarily a forward whereas Ager is a shooting guard. It should be interesting to see if Michigan State will try to keep Ager on the outside to take away Illinois' height advantage.Edge: Michigan State

 

               Rich McBride vs. Whichever Spartan is having a better week. 

                                    Edge:        

                        

Every team has its weaknesses -for Michigan State it's the power forward position. The Spartans have toyed with four forwards this season but none have been consistent enough to complement Paul Davis. Freshman Goran Suton and Marquise Gray have been a crapshoot all season (Gray only managed two points in his last game -versus Coppin State). Meanwhile Drew Naymick has been sidelined with a shoulder injury leaving football player Matt Trannon to clean up the mess. Trannon did not play against Coppin State leaving a big question mark in the paint for the Spartans. Thunder chunky Rich McBride's 9.5 points per game should be enough to take care of whoever starts for the Spartans. McBride could see a rise in his rebounding numbers if Randle is forced to guard Ager on the perimeter.If Trannon plays though, what's the over/under for the number of times the ESPN announcer says "touchdown Spartans" when Trannon touches the ball? My guess is about three. Unless Brent Mussberger is calling the game then the line moves to about 107. Edge Illinois

 

 James Augustine vs. Paul Davis

 

                            Edge:  

 

 

 One of three Spartan John Wooden pre-season All-Americans (Brown, Ager), Davis has finnally emerged as Michigan State's premier post threat - something the Spartans have been missing since Erzam Lorbek departed early for the NBA draft three seasons ago. Although Davis's numbers are up from last season, 19.9 points a game (up from 12.3) and 10 rebounds per game (up from 8.0) containing James Augustine will be no easy task. Augustine is a quicker, longer more agile big man who should cause problems in the paint for Davis. Augustine's is averaging 14.5 points per game and 9.0 rebounds per game- numbers that are also up slightly from last season. In past match-ups Davis and Augustine have played at the same level - however last season Augustine was helped by Nick Smith - while Davis was flanked by healthy teammates Drew Naymick and Matt Trannon. Davis has been known to be inconsistent in past seasons,  but is arguably playing tougher than ever before. Barring a sloppy game by Davis or a dominant performance by Augustine, three dribbles and a cloud of plexi-glass should be in the Spartans favor. By the way does Paul Davis ever smile? If Davis ever makes the NBA, and has to take a tip-off against Darko Milicic what will happen? Will they both jump? Or just stand there and sulk? Just wondering. Edge: Michigan State.

 

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 The Much Aniticipated Prediction

 You knew it was coming - and not just because I am a Michigan State student  -you know I happen to be a huge Michigan fan.......

Michigan State 80, Illinois 74

When Illinois was victorious against the Spartans last season it was because they had one of the best starting line-ups in the nation. The Spartans held the edge with monumental bench depth behind seniors and former starters Chris Hill and Kelvin Torbert - however much has changed since then. The Spartans are now the ones with the dominant starters -  on average, Neitzel, Davis, Ager and Brown are account for 87 percent of the Spartans scoring. Bench depth however is an area where both teams are lacking. Michigan State has a size advantage coming off the pine - but none with any outstanding talent. Both teams benches are uncharacteristically young for teams ranked this high. Like the bench situation, the coaching match-up is fairly even. Tom Izzo and Bruce Webber each know what it takes to win. Illinois' greatest advantage may be home court advantage,  but with classes not beginning until Monday, Assembly Hall, and the Orange Krush specifically, may not be as rowdy as usual. The only noticeable descrepancies remain within the starting line-ups -whichever teams starters play better should win the game. On paper, the Spartans have the advantage. All they need to do is play as they have been (not like the Hawaii game) and they should get a win. A win that will put them in the driver seat of the Big Ten conference. Even that's enough to put a smile on Davis's face.

 

Well... maybe not.

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