South Carolina at Clemson (-3.5) - 1:00pm Pacific - Game #547-548
I like the direction that the Clemson program is headed in.  Last years freshman class of guard Cliff Hammonds, F/C James Mays, and forward Sam Perry was much better than anticipated.  After receiving significant playing time last year, this year they are even better.  Two more impact freshman have joined the team in forward Julius Powell and guard KC Rivers.  Holdover senior center Akin Akingbala is in the best shape of his life and has been much more productive.  Junior point guard Vernon Hamilton has two years of starting experience under his belt and is playing with much more confidence.  Senior guard Shawan Robinson is a dependable double figure scorer.  Senior reserve center Steve Allen has stepped up in his final year to provide added depth.  Clemson has great versatility having already shown success playing different tempos and styles.  They have been effective with full court pressure which usually is hard for opponents to deal with early in the season.  They are forcing 22.4 turnovers per game.  Clemson beat Penn State very convincingly in last game and the fact that it was on the road made it that much more impressive.   

South Carolina won 20 games last year but have lost their leading scorer and rebounder Carlos Powell and top 3-point shooter Josh Gonner.  They squeaked by Alaska Anchorage and Monmouth in the Alaskan Shootout before losing a tough one in OT to Marquette but neither team looked very good and the Golden Eagles came back to lose big at Nebraska in following game.  The Gamecocks went just 1-9 on the road last year.  They started this year with a win at Western Carolina to help their confidence on the road, but this will be a whole new type of test for them.  South Carolina lacks a true post player and a go-to scorer which will make it harder for them to improve their road troubles. 

As good as Clemson looked on the road in last game, I am eager to see how well they can play in their first big home game of the year.  They went 10-5 at home last season with all five losses coming against top ACC teams.  They were 7-0 at home in non-conference play.  They also won on the road in OT at South Carolina last year and appear to be the more improved team this year.  This will be a big statement game for third year coach Oliver Purnell.  Give the points.  

RAS Official Play:  Clemson -3.5  1 UNIT     

San Diego at Furman (-3.5) - 10:00am Pacific - Game #631-632
Furman finished 9-7 in league play last year, the first time they have finished above .500 in 8 years.  They have four starters back from that team and have added a good looking redshirt freshman big man in 6-9/245 Stanley Jones.  The frontcourt was the only real area of concern heading into the season, and Jones has filled the void nicely.  Head coach Larry Davis is in love with his team and for good reason.  They shoot well (52% from the field thus far), rebound well (+6.8rpg), have plenty of depth (10 players are averaging double figure minutes), and play very unselfishly (19.6 assists per game).  The Paladians were leading at Texas Tech for the most of the first 25 minutes of the game before losing by only 9.  Prior to that they led at Vanderbilt by 2 at halftime before surrendering a big second half run, but the game was much more competitive than the 21 point final margin would indicate.    

I don't know how this matchup was scheduled, but San Diego cannot be looking forward to traveling across the country to South Carolina and playing this game at 10:00am local time.  Outside of three upperclassmen the Toreros are relying heavily on first year freshman and JC transfers.  The team played well to come from behind and beat San Diego State in last game, but that was at home.  USD has been a very poor road team over the past 2+ seasons.  They are 2-2 away this year but the two teams they beat UC Riverside and Campbell are among the two worst in Division 1.  The big win over San Diego State also sets up a letdown situation and this will be the Toreros fifth road game in first six outings to start the season. 

Furman is 13-2 at home since the start of last season with the only losses coming vs league heavyweights Davidson by 7 and College of Charleston in OT.  This figures to be a high scoring game which reduces the chances of the pointspread coming into play.  If San Diego can compete on the road in this spot, I will tip my hat to them, but I find that highly unlikely.  Give the points.