The Puerto Rico Tip-Off

For the second straight season, the Indiana Hoosiers are headed to a tournament in an island setting with a 2-0 record. Last season, IU went to Maui and got blasted by Notre Dame and St. Joseph's before surviving for a two-point win over Chaminade. They aren't playing a ranked team in the first game (barely) and this team is much more equipped than last season's. Still, this is going to be a huge test for a very young team. First up, the Ole Miss Rebels.

The Rebels were 16-15 last season. Don't let the record fool you, they were ravaged by injuries and coach Andy Kennedy (yes, he of bad taxi incident last year in Cincinnati) did a great job to keep them over .500. This season, they return two of the injured starters plus Terrico White, an explosive shooting guard who averaged nearly 14 points a game as a freshman last season. Chris Warren is a very good scoring point guard that is back after a knee injury. Watch for an intriguing matchup between two talented freshman forwards when Reginald Buckner battles the Hoosiers Christian Watford. Bottom line, Ole Miss is a skilled and experienced borderline Top-25 squad.

Three Keys to Victory
1. Off On the Right Foot
This is the first time the freshmen have played away from Assembly Hall. The crowd will probably have more Hoosiers fans than anyone else but it is still a game away from home. Ole Miss is the better team and Indiana cannot afford to fall behind early. If they can build a little lead, Indiana might be able to get some confidence and stay with the Rebels throughout.

2. Limit White and Warren
Chris Warren and Terrico White are an explosive backcourt duo that can score a lot of ways. Indiana's defense is going to have be focused and locked in if they want to limit these two. I think the goal is to hold them to a combined 25 points. Ole Miss is capable of producing points from other places but these two are the biggest pieces of their offense. Look for Rivers, Dumes, Creek and Jones to rotate on these two guards all afternoon.

3. Limit Turnovers
Turnovers were a problem for Indiana all last season. Things looked better in game one but digressed in game two. The Hoosiers need to keep their turnovers down and maximize their possessions to be in this one. I would like to say "limit it to ten or less" but that is unrealistic at this point in the season. How about "limit it to under 15 turnovers." That's realistic and it would give Indiana a good chance to challenge Ole Miss.

Prediction
Indiana is not going to get embarrassed like they were by Notre Dame. However, it would be unrealistic to expect Indiana to beat this team right now. I think Ole Miss is going to win their division in the SEC and make the NCAA tournament. The Hoosiers are not quite ready for a test like this. Ole Miss wins by 15. I hope I am wrong!

College Football Thoughts
It has been a little while since I have written about college football. So, some quick thoughts from the past few weeks.

-There are still six undefeated teams (Florida, Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State). Wow! There can only be five at the end of the season because of the showdown between the Gators and the Tide. I don't see Texas, TCU or Boise State losing. The Bearcats might fall against Pittsburgh next Friday night. So, at the very least, I think there will be four unbeatens.

-Does anyone really think Charlie Weis is the right man for the Notre Dame job?

-Rich Rodriguez is already under immense pressure at Michigan. The Wolverines are suffering through their second straight terrible season and Rich Rod's honeymoon was over a long time ago. A blowout loss to Ohio State (that is happening) could send him packing after two seasons. I know it sounds ridiculous but the alumni don't like him and Michigan has the NCAA investigation as an excuse to get rid of him.

-My top three Heisman candidates are not quarterbacks. Colt McCoy doesn't deserve it, Tim Tebow doesn't deserve it, Case Keenum has lost one too many games. My list: Toby Gerhart (Stanford RB), Mark Ingram (Alabama RB), CJ Spiller (Clemson RB).

-If Oregon wins the PAC-10 and gets invited to the Rose Bowl, they will be playing Ohio State. I guarantee one thing, they will smoke the Buckeyes and embarrass the Big Ten again. Oregon is a terrible matchup for Ohio State (see mobile quarterbacks and speedy running backs against OSU in the past five years).

An IU loss will likely pit them against Boston University. A win would match them up against Kansas State. Either way, two wins in this tournament would be awesome, one (with no blowouts) would be fine, and no wins would signal another very long season. Go get 'em Hoosiers!