Top 10 match-up tomorrow night

Tomorrow night it's #4 San Diego State (20-0, 5-0 MWC) at #9 BYU (19-1, 5-0 MWC) at 8 p.m. MT in Provo. The game will be televised on CBS College Sports. I'll be at the game and will be tweeting updates live from the Marriott Center. Utah (10-10, 3-3 MWC) is obviously my team, but the Runnin' Utes aren't playing again until Saturday and I am a big fan of college basketball as a whole. Thus, when there is a marquee match-up featuring two top ten teams within driving distance of where I live, I feel like it's worth making an effort to be there.

I'm interested to see how the Aztecs will perform in what will be their biggest test of the year to date. The game has been sold out for days now and that really is saying something considering that the capacity is over 22,000. I expect it will be a loud, raucous atmosphere and I'm sure that I will be one of the few people not making a lot of noise in support of the Cougars. I just want to be there and hopefully see a great college basketball game. I'll definitely be back here to blog about the outcome and give some analysis following the game.

I think BYU will win a close game because they are at home and because they have Jimmer Fredette. San Diego State presents BYU with a lot of match-up problems with their size and athleticism, particularly with their big and quick forwards Kawhi Leonard and Malcolm Thomas. I expect those guys will each be in double figures and causing problems down low. D.J. Gay could be an x-factor for the Aztecs if he is able to knock down a lot of shots from the outside. However, I think the home crowd will be a huge advantage to BYU -- I think they really feed off the energy of their crowd at home, particularly when they get running in transition. That will be a key for the Aztecs -- to limit BYU's running game and to get back on defense. The bigger problem for SDSU will be trying to limit Fredette. I think ultimately Fredette will be the difference in the game, but it should be a good match-up that could go either way.