Game #10.  RTC Live is pleased to make our first trip into the hallowed halls of Cameron Indoor Stadium on the campus of Duke University this afternoon.

The Duke home opener is always a special day in Durham, but today’s game commands even more attention than usual. An extra banner hangs from the ceiling of Cameron Indoor Stadium, and this team enters with pressure its predecessor didn’t have: expectations of another national title. Questions do exist for Mike Krzyzewski’s team, though. Can Kyle Singler improve, or was last year his ceiling? How do Duke’s young guards fill in for Jon Scheyer? Will Seth Curry live up to the hype? How much playing time will Coach K give freshman Kyrie Irving? And was Brian Zoubek one of the most underrated players in college basketball in 2009-10? The preseason #1 Duke Blue Devils will have their first opportunity to answer those questions against the unranked Princeton Tigers. Princeton enters today’s game after an overtime win against Rutgers to open the season on Friday. The Tigers’ first win against a major conference opponent since 2004 was largely the work of senior Dan Mavraides, who had 26 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists in 41 minutes of play. Princeton’s 6’11 center, Brendan Connolly, added 7 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists, and needs to replicate that performance if the Tigers hope to keep Duke’s big men in check. If you can’t be in Cameron for the game, join up here and let RTC Live be there for you.

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Game #9. We’re back in north Jersey to visit our friends at Seton Hall who need to put together a home win after a tough loss at Temple on Friday night.

Coming off of the best season in school history, Cornell rolled into Albany Friday night and knocked off the University of Albany 65-61 to open their 2011 campaign. The Big Red graduated three All-Ivy players, the squad’s fourth starter and lost Head Coach Steve Donahue (gone to Boston College coach the Eagles). Going into their opener against the Great Danes, career assistant-come-head-coach Bill Courtney also learned the lone returning starter from the 2010 team, junior guard Chris Wroblewski, would be DNP with a sprained ankle. Bad perhaps, but not hopeless, seniors Max Groebe and Aaron Osgood stepped up to lead Cornell to the win. Next stop on the the Big Red road tour is the Rock in Newark, New Jersey, home of the Pirates of Seton Hall University. The Hall, like Cornell, sports a new head coach, Kevin Willard, who also debuted on the road Friday night. Seton Hall traveled to Philadelphia for a game with #22 ranked Temple. But the City of Brotherly Love showed SHU no love at all as the Owls sent the Pirates packing 62-56. Led by Herb Pope, Jeff Robinson, Jeremy Hazell and junior guard Jordan Theodore, the Hall will try to get on the winning track as Cornell tries to run their streak to two. Join RTC Live at the Rock Sunday at noon, as Seton Hall hosts Cornell.

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Game #8. It is opening night up in the Wasatch Mountains for a Beehive State rivalry between Weber State and Utah State.

You might remember Weber State from last season’s Big Sky championship game where they were Anthony Johnson’d and had to settle for an NIT berth. The Wildcats bring back Big Sky MVP Damian Lillard, a 6’2 point guard with a sweet jumper and plenty of ability to drive to the hoop. He will be matched by Utah State’s new point guard Brockeith Pane, who has been billed as one of the best defenders on the team and will get a chance to prove that right out of the gate.  Up front the Wildcats will have to find someone to defend Utah State’s do-it-all forward Tai Wesley, the only active player in the NCAA to have at least 1,200 career points, 600 career rebounds, 250 career assists and 100 career blocks.  Combine all of that with an intriguing coaching matchup (Weber’s head coach Randy Rahe was an assistant at Utah State under Stew Morrill from 1999-2004), the always fanatical Utah State home court advantage (Utah State has won 66 of their last 68 in the Spectrum) and a “guess what Wild Bill is going to be” contest and you have all the makings for a great way to start the season.

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Game #7.  RTC Live makes its first-ever visit to the LBC, home of Snoop Dogg and a ghost named Caspar (Ware).

The Mountain West favorite Aztecs open on the road against one of the top contenders for the Big West title, the 49ers of Long Beach State. Kawhi Leonard, the MWC 2009-10 Freshman of the Year leads an SDSU team that returns all five starters from last season’s MWC tournament champions, but they’ll face an LBSU squad that is nearly as experienced, returning four starters, and certainly not afraid of the big boys.  The 49ers will travel to Washington, North Carolina and Arizona State later in the season. For the Niners to have a chance to pull off the home upset in Long Beach, they’ll need to be able to keep up with the Aztecs on the glass, a tough task for a team that will be undersized at nearly every position. If they can keep the rebounding battle close and get out and run, Steve Fisher and his Aztecs could be in for a battle as their fresh new season kicks off. We hope you’ll join us a bit before the 4PM PST tip for what should be an interesting couple hours of hoops.

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Game #6.  RTC Live visits the Three Rivers City for its first-ever trip to Pitt’s Petersen Events Center, one of the finest home court advantages in all of college basketball.

Welcome college basketball fans on an unseasonably warm and sunny November day here at the Petersen Events Center on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh. This is a David versus Goliath battle as far as I am concerned. Pitt is coming off an overachieving season where they finished 25-9 overall with an almost unbeatable 17-1 record at home, and a second round loss to Xavier in the NCAA Tournament. Not only do the Panthers return four of five starters, but they come into the preseason as the Big East favorite as well as with the AP #5, RTC #5 and EPSN/USAT #4 national ranking. Pitt enters the game with a 2-0 record on the season. North Florida on the other hand, is coming off 13-18 season, including an 8-12 conference record and a three-game losing streak to end their season. Two things UNF has going for it is a youthful team and an ability last year to play their opponents close. If they can play Pitt close, it could be an exciting game for everyone. The Petersen Events Center is certainly a great place to watch a game, and we encourage you to chime in with us.

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Game #5.  It’s off to the suburbs of Northern Virginia for RTC Live today, as the CAA looks to continue flexing some early-season muscle.

This is one of the more intriguing games of the weekend. Harvard may have lost Jeremy Lin — arguably the greatest player in school history — but they return enough talent and experience to be considered a contender for the Ivy League title. Scoff at that if you want, but Princeton, the Ivy favorite this season, just knocked off Rutgers on the road. The Crimson will head into this game short handed, however, as reigning Ivy rookie of the year Kyle Casey broke a bone in his foot in October and will not be available.  Like Harvard, George Mason is considered a contender, and not the favorite, to win their conference, but that doesn’t mean the Patriots aren’t a very good basketball team. They return all five starters from last season. And while last year’s group struggled to a 2-7 finish to the year, they were very much in the thick of the conference race for the majority of the season. Senior Cam Long and junior Ryan Pearson are the two players to keep an eye on for Mason.

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Game #2. We’re back in Lexington for Round Two of Calipari’s Young’in Brigade.

All is by no means lost, Kentucky fans. Four recruits out of last year’s top 70 will have to suffice for now. The NCAA’s decision on Enes Kanter has turned the Big Blue Nation…well, blue, and it’s conferred added importance on the more sizable Wildcats like Eloy Vargas and Josh Harrellson. John Calipari is left with a ten-man team out of which only nine will play major minutes. We know what he can do as a recruiter, but this year, more than ever, he’ll have to put his skills on display in managing such talent. The first official test comes at home against East Tennessee State, the team they beat in the first round of last year’s NCAA Tournament. The Buccaneers return all five starters from that team, so this would seemingly be a good time to exact revenge. ETSU, however, will not have senior Tommy Hubbard, their scoring, rebounding, and steals leader from last year as he recovers from knee surgery. Still, they’ll bring four seniors and the core of a team that’s been to the Tournament two straight years, and because of that, this one might be more interesting than it appears at first glance. It starts at 7 PM, and we’ll start things up at Rupp Arena about 15 minutes before the tip. We hope you’ll join us.

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Game #3.  RTC Live makes its first-ever visit to Matthews Arena at Northeastern for a battle of two local  rivals with something to prove this season.

Crosstown rivals Boston University and Northeastern open their seasons at Matthews Arena. The overall series favors the Terriers who lead 71-66 after winning the last two matchups, including last year’s epic overtime battle. This year the Terriers should be favored to win as predicted champions in the America East Conference. Boston is a very young, talented team lead by preseason all-Atlantic East players John Holland and Jake O’Brien–who iced last year’s game for the Terriers with a turnaround jumper in overtime.  But don’t count the Huskies out. Northeastern will have homecourt advantage (not to mention they want to avenge last year’s loss), and Chaisson Allen is a very good player (he averaged 13.6 points, 4.7 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game last season). The Terriers might be more talented, but they’re also very young and on the road. This should be a great game.

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Game #4.  RTC Live visits another new school tonight, enjoying the hospitality of upstate New York in a game between two regional rivals looking for answers.

Fresh off its third consecutive Ivy League conference title and a scintillating Sweet 16 run in last year’s March Madness tournament, Cornell’s Big Red takes a trip to the Capital Region to take on UAlbany’s Great Danes. Cornell welcomes new head coach Bill Courtney to the sidelines after the departure of Steve Donahue, the architect of much of Big Red’s recent success, who has since left to fill a vacancy at Boston College. Coach Courtney has his work cut out for him in trying to replicate Big Red’s 29 wins from last year. On the other sideline, UAlbany coach Will Brown hopes to rebound from a dismal 7-25 campaign, the worst season of his career to date. To do so, he will turn to the talents of sophomores Blake Metcalf and Logan Aronholt, who he named captains back in October. The America East Conference’s preseason poll slated the Great Danes to finish eighth in the conference, just ahead of UMBC, so Coach Brown faces a long road ahead of him in rebuilding the UAlbany brand to its 2006 form, which saw the Great Danes earn a trip to the NCAA tournament and a compelling near-upset of No. 1 seed UConn.

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We’re back with our third season of RTC Live, folks, and we are scouring the entire country for interesting games this year.  If you’d like for us to visit your school, shoot us an email at rushthecourt@yahoo.com, and we’ll do our best to get there.  RTC Live: College Basketball Nation’s Independent Live-Blog.  Join us for a bit tonight, or anytime throughout the season. 

Tonight Rob Dauster of Ballin is a Habit is on-site in College Park, Maryland, for a heckuva interesting game between two old coaching rivals.

Maryland beat their first opponent, Seattle, by 29 points on Monday, but it certainly wasn’t the prettiest game the Terps have ever played. They committed 27 turnovers, including 15 by their three main ball handlers in Adrian Bowie, Pe’Shon Howard, and Terrell Stoglin. That said, both Maryland and Seattle came into the game looking to play an uptempo, full court game. As a result, it devolved into nothing more than glorified AAU ball. Charleston will be a tougher opponent for the Terps. Predicted to finish second in the South Division of the SoCon, Charleston returns five of their top seven, led by a kid named Andrew Goudelock. I’m sure UNC fans remember who he is.

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this game? Its being called by Jay Williams. That Jay Williams. In College Park. We’ll be sure to get there early to be sure that we get the crowd’s reaction when the former Dookie Williams enters the arena.

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