The college basketball season kicked off Friday and has been very exciting to watch. Tuesday was the annual midnight marathon that schools around the country do to kickoff the season. There have been a bunch of marquee matchups in the first week so far. UCONN took on Michigan State on an aircraft carrier in Germany. The Huskies knocked off the then-14 Spartans. MSU bounced back with a thrilling win over Kansas in Atlanta last night. Kentucky started their quest for a National Championship on Friday. The Wildcats barely squeezed past Maryland. However, Kentucky fell to Duke in Atlanta on Tuesday. A bunch of top 25 teams survived scares. UCLA beat UC Irvine in OT last night. The Bruins had a great recruiting class that came in this year. Kyle Anderson [St. Anthony's, NJ] has played well for UCLA in the first few games. The Bruins were without Freshman star Shabazz Muhammad against UCI. Muhammad is in the dog house for recruiting violations. The Freshman from Bishop Gorman [Las Vegas, NV] has not played this whole season, and might not for a couple of games. UCLA needs him back, though. The Bruins are participating in the Legends Classic at the Barclays Center this Monday. The other three teams including in the event are Georgia, Georgetown, and the #1 team in the country, Indiana. The Bruins are set for a matchup with the Hoyas in the first round. Georgetown had a tough time against Duquesne on Sunday. That gave Hoya fans a little worry, but Freshman D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera[Oak Hill, VA] came up big for Georgetown off the bench. I think Georgetown will knock off the Bruins in a good game. The big reason for that is that Muhammad [if he plays] might be a little out of sync and has a difficult challenge of going up against Otto Porter. In the Legends Classic Finals, I think Indiana will beat Georgetown. Indiana has the best Cent in the country in Cody Zeller. Zeller is one of the top candidates for Naismith Player of the Year. I have waited since early April to say this, but college basketball is finally back! You can see all of my thoughts on all of the games by following me on Twitter @MM8sports.
