Here we go! The first RTC Live of the brand-spanking new season will come to you tonight from the granola hills around the campus of UC Berkeley (the institution known as Cal among us sports fans). It’s the first round of the 2kSports Coaches vs. Cancer Classic (bracket here), but we already know the matchups for the first three rounds.
Maybe we’re just a little too hyped in hoping for a good game tonight, but Cal should not take this Murray State team lightly. The Racers return four starters from a solid second-place OVC team last year, and one of their strengths (defending the 3-ball: 32.2%) could neutralize Cal’s exceptional three-point attack of Jerome Randle (46.3%), Patrick Christopher (35.8%) and company (#1 nationally at 42.7% in 2009). For a top 25 team, Cal doesn’t have the inside presence that would overwhelm the smallish Murray Staters, and in fact, MSU may have the best post presence on either team in 6’7 forward Ivan Aska (10/6), who was the OVC FrOY last season.
We encourage you to join us tonight whether you’re a fan of either team or just college basketball in general. You can watch along on ESPNU while we try to give you additional insights from inside the arena. And you can send us questions to take with us into the media interviews afterwards if something in particular is gnawing at you. So strap yourself in and come along with us for the ride this year. We hope to see you tonight…