Clemson at Georgia (-1.5) - 4:00pm Pacific - Game #521-522
Georgia really played with a short deck last year but still won 8 games and were competitive in several others that they should not have been.  They were one of the biggest overachievers in the country in my opinion which is a tribute to head coach Dennis Felton.  This year the Bulldogs return everyone and finally have their full share of scholarships.  Top freshman recruits guard Billy Humphrey and Mike Mercer already are making a big impact ranking 1st and 3rd on the team in scoring.  Meanwhile, returning starters G Sundiata Gaines, F Channing Toney, F Steve Newman, G Levi Stokes, and C Dave Bliss all are a year more experienced.  Reserve forward Younes Idrissi has proven to be a reliable option off the bench.  Freshman forward Terrence Woodbury played significant minutes early in the season but has missed the last 7 games with a sprained knee.  He has a good chance of returning to action tonight.  Georgia is 7-3 and all three of their losses have come away from home vs good teams in Old Dominion (lost by 9 but game was much closer than final score), vs Oregon State (in Portland, game went down to the wire), and at Nevada (extremely difficult place to play, game went down to the wire). 

Clemson was last seen winning three straight games in Puerto Rico and are now 11-0.  However, their level of competition has been very suspect.  The lone decent opponent they have faced thus far is South Carolina.  They won that game by 20 but it was at Clemson and the game was closer than the final score indicates.  Clemson has had a lot of success with full court pressure early in the season but I do not believe that strategy will be very effective in a true road game vs a guard heavy Georgia team.  This will be by far Clemson's most difficult test of the season. 

Both of these teams are relatively young, so home court advantage is even more significant than usual.  Even being down last year Georgia was a respectable 7-9 at home and is a perfect 3-0 at home this year including an impressive 16 point win over Georgia Tech.  Georgia has impressed me and has played well from the start of the season.  This is a good spot for them to get a key win.  Take the home team. 

RAS Official Play:  Georgia -1.5  1 UNIT