More photos » by Dino Vournas - AP

California's Jerome Randle, the leader of the Golden Bears.(AP Photo/Dino Vournas)

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The Background

Don't let the 6-3 record fool you.

Sure, it doesn't look like your typical record of a preseason Top 10 team, at least one that hasn't completely choked on its high ranking. But the three teams its fallen short against (Syracuse and Ohio State in New York, @ New Mexico) have a combined 2 losses. Both of those belong to the Buckeyes; one against the defending National Champions and the other sans Evan Turner, the best player in the entire Big 10/11. 

This is still the same Cal team it was expected to be entering the season, and they are playing like a Top 10 team. At least according to KenPom. They have played like the 10th best team in the country so far, according to good ol' KP, highlighted by their stellar, 4th rated offense. The defense is still formidable, too, posting a 38th ranking.

They are good. They have good players. They might be the Pac 10's best team, although that has as much to do with nearly all 10 schools having a simultaneous down year as it does with Cal actually being a dominant team. But they have the tools in place to be one. 

They have a coach, Mike Montgomery, who has led #1-ranked teams before. They have a point guard, Jerome Randle, who is among the best in the country. They have the offensive stalwart on the wing, with two first names no less, in Patrick Christopher. And perhaps most importantly of all, they have size, size and more size down low, headlined by one of the best rebounders in the country (seriously), Omondi Amoke (no, not Amobi Okoye). 

Preseason, this game kinda freaked me out. Especially considering it comes just three days prior to Christmas. But the past couple of weeks, I haven't really been that concerned. For whatever reason, I don't know. After taking just a look-see at their KP page, though, oh my word. I'm like freaked out now. Of course, even given their high standing in KP's eyes, the only numbers only give them an 18% shot at losing. But really, that's pretty sizable. 1/5 isn't that big of an upset.

Anyone else concerned yet?

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As fun as Friday night was, the season basically starts tonight. A challenging opponent, on national television, capping off 24 consecutive hours of college basketball. A rematch of one of the best games of the decade, albeit with two entirely different squads facing each other.

Here is your Open Game Thread for the "Real Season Opener". It should be a dandy, and considering the game's in Saint Louis, should draw plenty of comments and stuff. Hopefully.

Even I'll be here, at least by tipoff, once Xavier is done depositing Bowling Green and I'm back home after yelling my lungs out in the student section. So you should be here too, and we can all yell our lungs out through keyboards and computer screens and the English language. It'll be a grand ol' time. I promise.

But seriously. This is going to be exciting as hell. I can't wait to see all of the new players. I can't wait to see the Morris twins, who will probably get too good by January to still be my favorite players (yeah, I'm kind of sad like that...Thomas Robinson?). I'm giddy with excitement at finally being able to watch the Kansas Jayhawks play some basketball. Even though they've already played 3 games, I haven't watched them. So this is basically like Christmas morning for me.

OMG.

More photos » by Mark Humphrey - AP

This picture is ALWAYS a good thing. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey, File)

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So, I basically lied. No other content came out over the weekend. My b. But I couldn't see the Hofstra game anyways, so any thoughts I had would have been limited to the box score. Fortunately, pending some ridiculous multiple-overtime Xavier game tonight, I should be able to watch the Kansas-Memphis clash tonight. Meaning I'll be itching to let the world hear my thoughts about the game. Which means I'll make time for a game recap. And that's a promise.

Opening Thoughts

You know, in name, this game seems like a gigantic deal. Kansas-Memphis. 2008 National Championship rematch. Two of the best teams from a season prior. But neither of these teams resemble the teams who showed up in San Antonio. Especially Memphis, considering they've lost their entire team, more-or-less, plus their coach since then.

So, while Kansas-Memphis sounds exciting and all, there's one team that, at least on paper, is definitely better. So yeah. This is a game that could trip us up, but it isn't likely. And don't even start talking about 2008. Besides Sherron Collins, no one else really remains that played. Cole and the Big Boy on Memphis, yeah, I guess, but come on.

However, if nothing else, I guarantee they show Mario's shot at least once or twice. And no matter the circumstance, it's always a glorious occasion to watch that. That'll probably be the highlight of the night.

The Background

The Memphis of your older brother who is like 3 years older is not the same anymore. All of those players your older brother grew up watching are gone, and so is the greased hair of the coach who recruited them all there. Now, they are still filled with talent, and their new coach is already shaping up to be reminiscent of his predecessor, but still. Not the same team that was the second-best team in all the land in 2008. Not one bit.

It remains to be seen what will happen with this Memphis Tigers team. Will they continue to be a National Title contender every year-or-two, being capable of beating anybody anywhere at anytime? Or will they sink down a level, to where they continue to dominate the crappy Conference-USA conference they're in, but not really scare the living daylights out of national powers. My money's on some mix of the two, because I like riding fences, but if I had to pick one, give me the second one. They'll still be capable of making intense runs in the NCAA Tournament, because Josh Pastner is going to make sure they always have talent, but I don't think they'll win make a Final Four any time soon. Which isn't a knock, when you think about it, really.

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I'm not sure yet if this means I'm full-fledged back or not. At some point, I'm going to post some form of season preview, and being that the season starts on Friday night, it should be soon. It won't be by tipoff, but it should come on pretty soon. College basketball is so effing exciting though, and I had to post something. And I miss writing these pieces, so I figured why not.

Those of you with us last year remember the drill. To all of the newcomers, it's pretty simple. I preview our upcoming opponent simply by looking at their KenPom page (you can find Hofstra's here). Now, since the season just started, I'll be using last year's numbers. As we move on, I'll do some mix of the two, until we get enough data for this season's numbers to be relevant. They are fun pieces, and usually end up being fairly accurate, which is a testament to just how much genius is inside Ken Pomeroy's brain. Too much, man. Too much. 

So, with that said, here commences the preview.

Opening Thoughts

So, here it begins. The Season of Expectations. This team is good. There's no denying that. This team is the best in the country. There's some denying that, but not enough to supplant the overwhelming national opinion that it is. This team is going to win the National Championship. Serious denial going on here, but still, we're the favorite. The favorite. If someone held a gun to your head, and told you to pick a team to win the NCAA title this year, with a correct pick saving your life and an incorrect one ending it, the majority of people would pick Kansas. That's some powerful stuff.

Hell, Kansas is good enough to incite some Undefeated talk. I've done it with my friends here at Xavier, mostly just to say it. But sometimes, when I really look closely at this team, I start to really believe. This team really could go undefeated. It has the talent. It has the depth. It has the coach. It's basically a mirror image of last year's North Carolina team. That was a team that was clearly #1, that was coming off of a disappointing loss the year before in the NCAA Tournament, and a team that received some serious Undefeated discussion. They didn't go Undefeated, but they did win it all.

I'll take that trade. So, yeah, this game basically means nothing. Obviously, a loss would send some fans off the ledge, and even a narrow win would change the nation's perspective. But in college basketball, as in every other sport, all that really matters is you win the National Championship. At least in terms of achieving Expectation or not. The fun comes from the ride, but the long-lasting feeling of success comes from actually succeeding more than anybody else.

This has gotten way too long. So now, we're just going to move on to Hofstra now. After the jump, of course.

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The classic Trap Game. Oklahoma is next week, and even though they have a losing record, they are still Oklahoma. And it's still going to be a huge game. So, no doubt, we're looking ahead at that.

Plus, Colorado isn't very good. They probably aren't as bad as they showed that one Friday night at the Glass Bowl, but even if they are better, they could still royally suck. They don't suck, and have enough talent/ability to score some points on us and maybe, just maybe, even pull off an upset.

The only thing in our favor, in a sense, was that we played absolutely dreadful last week. I mean, we played just as poorly on defense as we did last year against Texas Tech, it's just that Iowa State didn't have Harrell and Crabtree. And yet, they still put up 36 points, and would have likely won the game had Austen Arnaud not overthrown a wide open receiver in the endzone. That shit sucks, man. That's just really bad.

So, we need to play a lot better. Odds are we do. In any case, this is your Open Game Thread for the game. If need be, we'll put up a new one at halftime. It is away from the friendly confines of Memorial Stadium, so hopefully a bunch of people show up.

I should be here, pending extenuating circumstances. I'd imagine we'll have all of the regulars. Stupid FSOhio is being stupid and not showing the game here, so I'm resorted to the computer, yet again. But it should be okay.

We better win. I want to win so bad, and play Oklahoma in a big game next week. A 2-3 Boomer Sooner team still wears the Crimson and Cream and still has plenty of mystique. But if we are 5-1, it won't feel nearly the same. Just don't blow it. Please.

More photos » by Orlin Wagner - AP

2 months ago: Kansas quarterback Todd Reesing (5) congratulates teammate Dezmon Briscoe (80) following their NCAA college football game against Iowa State, Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009, in Lawrence, Kan. Kansas beat Iowa State 41-36. (AP Photo/Orlin Wagner)

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That was ugly. As Bill Simmons calls it, that was a Moral Defeat to be sure. Yikes.

That's all the commentary necessary for right now. Use this as your Open Game Thread for the rest of the day's action.