College Basketball Predictions

*Two plays Friday:

UCLA at Oregon State (-4, play to -5) - 3:00pm Pacific - Game #733-734

The Beavers may be the Pac-10's most underrated team. They went just 6-12 in Pac-10 play a year ago but lost more than a few heartbreakers along the way. They were a difficult out for anyone here at home as they blew a big lead vs Washington before losing in OT and beat Arizona soundly here last year on their way to a 5-4 conference record at home. Not only do they return all five starters but have added Iowa transfer Nick Dewitz, New Mexico State transfer Jason Fontenot, and a freshman center in Sasa Cuic that has come from nowhere to lead the team in scoring. All-conference senior forward David Lucas (toe, missed first 10 games) just returned to action in last game scoring 13 points in 17 minutes of action. He is expected to make his first start of the season tonight. Dewitz just became eligible 5 games ago and is averaging 12.4ppg. This team has a lot of weapons and is extremely deep.

UCLA has played just twice outside of Pauley Pavillion and both games resulted in double digit losses. They lost to Boston College by 10 in Anaheim and in last game were beaten soundly by 12 (game was not that close) at Michigan State. The Bruins are starting and relying heavily on three true freshman. They figure to continue to have difficulty performing well on the road. A fourth freshman, F/C Lorenzo Mata is also seeing more playing time down low as the Bruins try to get some consistent inside scoring. With scoring forward Josh Shipp now starting, Ben Howland does not have much firepower off the bench. Reserve senior guard Brian Morrison (.269 FG%) has been in a season long shooting slump. These types of games are when UCLA will really miss the senior leadership and strong defense of Cedric Bozeman who was lost for the year prior to first game.

At 8-3, Oregon State is off to their best start in a while. They could easily be 9-1 but blew late leads vs Georgia (lost by 3 in OT) and East Carolina (lost by 2) away from home. The Beavers are a perfect 4-0 at home and should be very a very formidable opponent now that they are at full strength. Oregon State played UCLA well in both meetings last year. They led by 10 at halftime and played close until the final few minutes in loss at Pauley and won by 9 here in second meeting. The Beavers will be looking for their first win in a Pac-10 conference opener in 10 years. Look for them to take care of business today.

Official Play: Oregon State -4 1 UNIT

Stanford at Washington State (pick, play to -1.5) - 5:00pm Pacific - Game #735-736

The Cougars improved significantly in Dick Bennett's first year going 7-11 in Pac-10 play after going 2-16 the year prior. That improvement should only continue this year as players are now more familiar with the system. Washington State has played one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the conference with six true road games at Kansas State, Idaho, Oklahoma State, BYU, Portland, and Wyoming. That is twice as many road true road games as any other Pac-10 team. They also played Gonzaga at home. They should be well prepared for the start of conference play. Bennett has been high on true freshman point guard Derrick Low, projecting him as a starter in the offseason, but he missed the first five games. Low has played in the last four, starting in 3, and the team has been at its best winning at BYU and at Portland, while losing by just 2 at Wyoming and vs Gonzaga. He will get better with more playing time. Fellow freshman guard Josh Akognon has been a real sparkplug off the bench averaging 5.0ppg in just 10.3 minutes. A third freshman, center Robbie Cowgill has been giving quality minutes inside. The Cougars have four returning senior staters in shooting guard Thomas Kelati, forward Shami Gill, forward Jeff Varem, and forward Chris Schlatter. Kelati is an experienced, proven scorer. Dependable junior guard Randy Green rounds out the rotation. Bennett has a lot more depth to work with this year than he had in his first season.

Stanford comes in at 6-4 but really has not been impressive. Their six wins have come vs BYU, San Francisco in OT, Concordia, Denver, UC Davis, Dartmouth, and Montana. Their 56-52 win at Denver is their only victory on the road and the Pioneers made several unforced errors in the final minute to give Stanford that win. Needless to say, Washington State is a much better team than Denver. Stanford's four losses to Tennessee, Santa Clara, Michigan State, and Louisville came by an average of 15.5 points.

Last years great 30-2 Stanford team barely escaped here with a two point win on a last second desperation 3-pointer by Matt Lottich. This years Cardinal team is nowhere near that level right now and WSU looks to be improved in the second year of the Bennett system with four returning senior starters. Expect the Cougars to start conference play with a big home win.

Official Play: Washington State pick 1 UNIT