Game #64.  RTC Live is proud to enter the hallowed halls of the Palestra for the first time as Big 5 rival Villanova makes a visit.

There’s no denying Penn is much improved this year after three difficult seasons, but beating Villanova in tonight’s Big 5 matchup at the Palestra will be a tall task for Jerome Allen and his Ivy League crew. Led by the dynamic guard trio of Corey Fisher, Corey Stokes and Maalik Wayns, Villanova (6-1) figure to be one of the top teams in the nation throughout the 2010-11 campaign. The Wildcats, however, are currently dealing with an internal issue as freshman Jayvaughn Pinkston was suspended for the entire season earlier this week for a campus fight. The Quakers, meanwhile, are above .500 at 4-3 but are coming off wins against less-than-stellar opponents UMBC and Army. Penn has not beaten Villanova since the 2002-03 season.

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Games #62-#63.  We’re back at MSG in midtown Manhattan for another great double-header of games.

Join us for one of the highlights of the non-conference slate tonight from Madison Square Garden as #4 Kansas takes on #18 Memphis and #6 Michigan State battles #14 Syracuse in the Jimmy V Classic. Memphis comes to NYC an unblemished 7-0, surviving three tests against Miami, LSU and Arkansas State. Josh Pastner‘s young but ultra-talented squad is led by freshman point guard Joe Jackson, scoring threat Will Barton, the versatile Wesley Witherspoon and skilled big Angel Garcia. They’ll take on a Kansas team fresh off two close victories against Pac-10 opponents Arizona and UCLA. The Jayhawks will receive a boost when heralded point guard Josh Selby becomes eligible on December 18, but for now Tyshawn Taylor is doing a fantastic job at point guard. Kansas is led by inside/outside threat and first team All-America candidate Marcus Morris and his twin brother Markieff. In the second game, Michigan State continues their hellacious non-conference schedule in a quasi-road game against Syracuse, who always bring a healthy contingent to NYC. It hasn’t been smooth sailing for either team in the early going. The Spartans performed admirably in a close loss at Duke, but have fallen to both Connecticut and the Blue Devils in the early going. Tom Izzo’s team is led by their backcourt duo of Kalin Lucas and Durrell Summers. Syracuse comes in undefeated, but each contest has been closer than the Orange hoped. Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine are the focal points for Jim Boeheim‘s offensive attack. Join us tonight at RTC Live for a star-studded and much anticipated doubleheader where we celebrate great basketball, and, more importantly, raise money for cancer research in honor of the great Jim Valvano and everyone impacted by this horrible disease.

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Games #60-61.  We’re back in DC for a solid double-dip of games at the Verizon Center.

Game #56. We’re headed to the Rocky Mountains for another first-time edition of RTC Live, this time in the shadow of the Continental Divide.

A slow start to the season has left many wondering if they were wrong about Colorado headed into their final season of Big 12 play. Many had picked the Buffaloes as a sleeper in the Big 12, but a 3-3 start with losses on the road to Harvard and San Francisco weren’t part of the plan. The good news for the Buffaloes is that they return to Boulder where they are 3-0 for a Saturday night contest against Oregon State.  For Oregon State’s part, the Beavers hold an identical 3-3 record and might actually lay claim to an even uglier set of losses. Both teams and both coaches will look to get their season’s back on track in a game pairing two teams that will go from Big 12/Pac-10 opponents to just Pac 10 opponents one year from now with Colorado joining the Beavers in the Pac-12.  Colorado is led by a talented pair of guards in Alec Burks and Cory Higgins, while Oregon State is paced on the interior by leading scorer and top rebounder Omari Johnson. Neither side can lay much claim to a tremendous advantage based on the early season struggles, but Colorado has better guard play and more in the way of a go to scorer. The play of Higgins and Burks early will be key to determining the outcome in this one.

[ed. note: our correspondent had trouble with internet connectivity tonight, so he has provided us with a recap below]

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Game #59. RTC Live is happy to visit Memphis for its first game at the FedEx Forum today.

Saturday’s Western Kentucky-Memphis game marks a homecoming for WKU senior Sergio Kerusch, who grew up in Memphis. Appropriately, Kerusch tweeted on Friday that “the gym will be filled and I won’t disappoint” in Saturday’s game, which tips at 7 p.m. CT. For the Hilltoppers (3-4) to have a shot at host No. 14 Memphis (6-0), they’ll need all they can get from Kerusch, the Sun Belt Conference’s Preseason Player of the Year. Both teams enter off mid-week performances they’d like to forget. WKU lost 82-62 at Vanderbilt, and it took overtime for Memphis to dispatch Arkansas State 78-71 on Wednesday. Oklahoma transfer Juan Pattillo leads the Hilltoppers in points per game (16.9) and rebounds per game (10.6). A trio of Tigers — Wesley Witherspoon, Will Barton and Joe Jackson — all average double figures for Memphis.  Join us this evening for RTC Live from the banks of the Mississippi River.

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The RTC odyssey continues on Saturday night, and one of the many locales at which we will temporarily alight on this snowy eve will be in the eastern part of the state (or should I say, commonwealth) of Kentucky, a place whose inhabitants take their roundball quite seriously at all levels. Sure, the vibe here is domianted by a couple of leviathan programs just down the road a bit, but tonight’s contest features a couple of “other” Bluegrass schools who are pretty darn proud of the basketball they play, too. Surely you know about Morehead State’s Kenneth Faried (16.9 PPG, 13.0 RPG), one of the country’s best players and a man whose hands attract rebounds through some cosmic blend of hard work and leather magnetism. Murray State (specifically, the graduated Danero Thomas) buzzer-beat Vanderbilt in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year and came within two points of erasing eventual finalist Butler two days later, and the Racers have no intentions of missing out on the March fun this year. Every pre-season prognosticator had these two as the best teams in the OVC. The fun in Morehead, Kentucky starts at 8 pm ET and we hope you’ll check it out with us. It might be freezing outside, but we’re happy to be here no matter the weather.

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Game #57. RTC Live is back in Three Rivers City for another game at Pittsburgh taking on a team that has proven it can win against major conference teams on the road.

Welcome to a chilly day in Pittsburgh at the Petersen Events Center, one of the toughest places to play in college basketball. Today visiting Rider takes on Pitt in a non-conference matchup that could prove more exciting than it would seem at first glance. Pitt comes into the game with a perfect 7-0 record,  #3 national ranking according to the AP and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll, and #3 nationally in rebounds per game and #5 in assists per game. Rider, on the other hand, has a #31 ranking in field goal percentage, but languishes in the other categories of note. Rider took down USC by 20 earlier in the season, but it remains to be seen what the rest of the season will hold for them as they have had a seesaw conference season so far. This will be a huge opportunity for Rider to prove itself against one of the best and deepest teams in the country, and an opportunity for Pitt to continue what has been a relatively smooth preseason as it gears up for the Big East conference season.

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Game #55.  RTC Live returns to the nation’s capital for a possible trap game for the streaking Hoyas.

While KenPom may be telling you that Washington State over Kansas State is the upset to watch out for, Utah State and Georgetown will absolutely be a game you need to keep an eye on while Kentucky invades Chapel Hill. Stew Morrill runs one of the most consistently underrated programs in the country. Generally, he avoids playing road games against power conference teams without a return game, but after living on the bubble for much of his tenure, Morrill made the decision to schedule the Hoyas. They are an experienced group with some good perimeter defenders. Tai Wesley is a better post player than Ricardo Ratliffe of Missouri, who had 22 points against the Hoyas. And Nate Bendall is back in the lineup, although he is still battling the foot injury that has plagued him this year. Throw in a potential hangover from Georgetown’s thrilling win over Mizzou, and the Aggies seemed primed for an upset.   That said, Georgetown may have the best baskcourt in the country with Austin Freeman, Chris Wright, and Jason Clark. Utah State better make sure they close out long, because those three are all hitting well above 40% from deep.

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Game # 54.  RTC Live enters the Phog Allen Fieldhouse for the first time in a matchup of college basketball bluebloods in Lawrence.

Game #53.  RTC Live heads to Nashville for a regional battle between two teams with NCAA hopes this season.

Western Kentucky is stuck in a familiar spot facing a familiar opponent. A year ago, the Hilltoppers picked up a signature win over Vanderbilt on a neutral court in Nashville after coming out of the gates early. WKU’s looking to notch a similar win in Vanderbilt’s Memorial Gymnasium at 8 p.m. CT tonight, as the Toppers enter having lost three of their last four games. But this might be WKU’s toughest test yet. The Commodores, who won two of three games in the same Puerto Rico Tip-Off where WKU lost two of three, dominate with size. Vanderbilt starts three players 6’7 or taller and none shorter than 6’3. Sophomore guard John Jenkins leads Vanderbilt with 19.7 points per game. Juniors Jeffery Taylor and Festus Ezeli each average 11.3 points per game. WKU is headed up by senior forward Juan Pattillo, an Oklahoma transfer who has scored in double figures along with senior forward Steffphon Pettigrew in every one of the Toppers’ six games.  Join us tonight for another great edition of RTC Live.

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