Ohio State (-4) at San Francisco - 8:00pm Pacific

The Buckeyes have talent at every position and are very well coached by Jim O'Brien even with his current vocal cord ailment.  After an injury plagued sophomore season, point guard Brandon Fuss-Cheatham is now fully healthy.  He was never himself last season, only playing in 22 games, and starting in 8.  His stats were not impressive but the team always seemed to play better when he was on the floor.  He will play a key leadership role this season.  Joining him in the backcourt is Clemson transfer Tony Stockman who's 12.2ppg average was more than any other sophomore in the ACC in 2001-2002.  He was often times a one man wrecking crew for the Tigers.  Another talented newcomer who will play some time at both the 2 & 3 spots Arkansas transfer J.J. Sullinger.  Sullinger averaged 9.4ppg as a freshman for the Hogs.  He is an Ohio native and decided to come home and play for the Buckeyes. These three make up a very promising backcourt.  Ohio State has a strong center in 7-0 senior Velimir Radinovic.  He is coming off a 9.3ppg, 6.1rpg season.  Power forward will go to 6-9, 260 sophomore Terrance Dials who redshirted last year after a very promising freshman season two years ago.  Sophomore G/F Matt Sylvester is a perfect role player off the bench.  He can defend, shoot from the perimeter, and play defense.  Senior forward Shun Jenkins provides experience on the front line, he started 11 games last season after a finger injury slowed him in the early going.  He is a solid rebounder.  Sophomore guard Rick Billings is back after focusing on academics last season, he can provide quality minutes in the backcourt off the bench.  The final key reserve is true freshman Ivan Harris who simply is a McDonald's All-American.  This is a very versatile team that can beat you in a lot of ways.  Jim O'Brien is a good enough coach without many options, but he will have plenty with this team.  Ohio State had injuries galore last season and still reached the NIT.  It was the first time in five years they did not reach the NCAA tournament, but they will be back this year. 

 

USF head coach Philip Mathews' coaching ability is questionable at best and he is running out of excuses.  There always seems to be something that stops this team from reaching the postseason, but the bottom line is they have not been getting the job done.  Ineligible players, suspensions, transfers awaiting clearance, and key injuries have plagued this team in recent years and this year is no different.  Starting center senior James Bayless (ankle) and starting senior guard John Cox (knee) were injured in the second half of the teams season opening game vs Tennessee Martin in a tournament hosted by SWMS on Monday.  Bayless is said to be probable but not 100% healthy for this game, but Cox who is the teams leading returning scorer will miss at least the next two games.  The Dons already lost leading scorer Darrell Tucker (2nd on schools all time scoring list) and third leading scorer Shamell Stallworth to graduation.  With Cox unavailable they are now missing their top three scorers from last years mediocre 15-14 team.  The Dons do welcome Michigan transfer guard Dommanic Ingerson who coach Mathews calls one of their best players, but he will not be eligible until the second semester.  The Dons do have the advantage of already having played two regular season games but their travel schedule has been hectic.  They played Monday & Tuesday in Springfield, MO and were held up a night in Memphis due to bad weather.  Following tonight's game they will return to Missouri to continue in the Guardian Classic next Monday.  I just do not see them doing well against an opponent of Ohio State's quality, especially without their top player.

 

Ohio State gave up a 3-pointer in the final seconds which forced overtime and ended up losing their final exhibition game eight days ago.  This can work in O'Brien's favor as he was sure to have his teams attention and focus in practices leading up to this game.  In a similar scenario Wake Forest lost their final exhibition game at the buzzer and they responded with a strong showing in Coaches vs Cancer game last week.  Buckeyes are 5-2 ATS as a road favorite the last two seasons.  USF is 2-5 ATS as a home dog in the same time frame.  Give the points.

 

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