Up in Oregon everyone is talking about who the Ducks will face in the Holiday Bowl (emphasis added throughout):

There’s an even split this week in projecting whether Oregon will face Missouri or Oklahoma State in the Holiday Bowl. Nobody is predicting a UCLA win over USC, which would send the Ducks to Las Vegas or perhaps the Emerald Bowl.

While down in LA, on "What's Bruin," which is supposed to be LA Times's special blog on all matters UCLA, the lead blogger (who is a Trojan alum) is writing this:

[E]ven though this is UCLA's "bowl game," motivation isn't likely to muster them through. In terms of talent, physicality and practice intensity, there's no contest in this one. Home-field advantage is muted by the fact that USC is actually closer to the Rose Bowl than UCLA, and Trojan fans will be out in force to check out the venue of their next contest, scheduled for Jan. 1.

Just noting all of this down now ... because some day we are going to look back at this and lol a little.

GO BRUINS.

So the NCAA has changed its rule in response Pete Carroll’s unilateral decision to have his team wear home jerseys at the Rose Bowl (HT to bucknellbruin):

The NCAA today altered its rule regarding visiting teams not wearing white jerseys. Now, USC will be penalized just one timeout on Saturday, at the start of the game, as opposed to the previous rule of one timeout per half. UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel has agreed to burn one of his timeouts at the start of the game as well.

Let’s make something very clear. In terms of tradition, it is awesome that these teams will get to wear home and home jerseys on Saturday. It was about time. It is something we have supported pretty passionately (laying out our detailed arguments in support of it) previously on Bruins Nation. And no matter how the NCAA had done, it's a pretty good bet Neuheisel would have burned his TOs if Carroll was going to go ahead with this stunt and call on Carroll to the do the same next year.

However, IMHO it was disrespectful and incredibly arrogant on Carroll’s part to make this unilateral decision without conferring with Neuheisel this past Sunday, when there was no prior agreement in place. Yes, Neuheisel and Carroll had agreed on the concept back in February but that idea hit a snag when Pac-10 seem to balk on the agreement from earlier in the year. So with no agreement in place, Carroll uncorked what amounted to a successful PR stunt by paying lip-service to “tradition” and “rivalry” without showing any actual respect for it by working with Neuheisel. Again Carroll made this move only after it became clear to him that the Trojies were overwhelming favorites to clinch the Rose Bowl on our home turf.

Anyway, clearly the weak, pathetic, joke of an NCAA administration has all the time in the world to jump quickly and cave in response to a Pete Carroll stunt, while they keep lollygagging re. Reggie Bush, OJ2, and all other scandals at Southern Cal.

Guess the Trojans really own the NCAA.

GO BRUINS.

We will start our Tuesday roundup focusing on the positive. Kevin Pearson from the Press Enterprise has a report on Bruin Defense, which has been rolling in its last two games:

"Right now we're rolling on defense," senior tackle Brigham Harwell said. "These young guys are learning the defense and are comfortable. We're clicking."

Despite having three first-year starters in the secondary, the Bruins' pass defense is second to only USC's in Division I-A, allowing just 158 yards per game, and the overall defense has been even better in the past two games, allowing just 135 yards to Washington and 122 at Arizona State. The totals were the lowest by a UCLA opponent since Arkansas managed just 42 in the 1989 Cotton Bowl.

Though UCLA has allowed 320 points, a great deal of those have been the result of turnovers and short fields created by a lackluster offense that has handcuffed its defense too often. Despite that, UCLA is ranked 35th in total defense.

"This Saturday, hopefully our defense can do the same thing," Harwell said. "Our defense is going to have to come on strong and play our best game this year."

That won't be easy against a USC offense that has found its groove. But like the 2006 matchup at the Rose Bowl, a 13-9 Bruins victory, this game could come down to a defensive slugfest and be a low-scoring affair.

While the goal is to turn Saturday into a low scoring game, Harwell and his team-mates know too well playing Southern Cal will be a little different than taking on Washington and ASU:

Harwell figures that he and his teammates are playing their best football, understanding defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker's schemes and executing their assignments.

But they also know that playing well against Washington and Arizona State doesn't guarantee success against the Trojans, who have the second-ranked offense in the Pacific 10 Conference.

"They're a monster," Harwell said.

To kill the monster Harwell and co will have to generate all out pressure on the trigger man. The game plan for Saturday will not be any different from 13-9, when Walker’s defense throttled the vaunted Trojan offense, by pounding Booty all afternoon.

The key for our defense will be to disrupt Sanchez by hammering him to the Rose Bowl turf all afternoon on Saturday. Sacking him will be gravy but more importantly they will have to make sure that he doesn’t get in any kind of rhythm. In addition, while we are being aggressive on defense, it will be imperative for our guys to stay disciplined and not rack up penalties like they were doing against Arizona State.

On the other side of the ball, the numbers aren’t pretty:

UCLA's lone motivation in pulling one of the great upsets in 77-game history of the series is pride. The Bruins (4-7) were eliminated from bowl consideration by the loss to Arizona State, and need a win to avoid its worst season since the 1989 team finished 3-7-1.

But this is a statistical mismatch when pitting USC's vaunted defense against UCLA's hollow offense.

The Trojans lead the nation in total defense (210.6 ypg) and points allowed per game (7.8ppg). UCLA is 110th out of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in total offense (294.7 ypg) and 107th in scoring (18.6 ppg), and Arizona State scored four defensive touchdowns against the Bruins last week.

That was from Brian Dohn who has been full of positive energy this week. Again, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out Trojan’s defensive game plan. They will force UCLA to win the game with Craft.

What could be interesting is that Pete Carroll is arrogant enough that he could dare UCLA to beat the Trojan offense without shaking up his defensive scheme (why should he … it has been working for him the whole season). Given the pathetic state of our OL, not sure Trojans even need to stack the LOS to stop our running game. So we will see what happens … could be amusing to watch if Carroll dares to Chow beat his offense straight up.

And Carrol is already sending signals that he will show no respect for this rivalry on Saturday. So he posted on his fansite yesterday that how he changed his mind on a whim and decided that his guys will be wearing home jerseys this Saturday. Wolfie from the Daily News has this on Carroll’s flip-flop w/o conferring with Neuheisel:           

Carroll's maneuver was an about-face from comments he made last week and Sunday night about the possibility of wearing cardinal jerseys.

"I don't know anything about that," he said Sunday. […]

He said he also brought the idea up to UCLA coach Rick Neuheisel but admitted the pair had not spoken since August and it was solely Carroll's idea to do it now.

Uh hum. He is such a Humanitarian.

He has so much respect for this “rivalry” that he decided to change his mind re. home jerseys without conferring with Neuheisel, putting him on the spot. Yeah. Okay.

It’s amusing to see Trojans to go ga ga over this jersey shenanigans, when they showed no interest in doing this while we were beating them up doing our 8 game winning streak.

Make no mistake about it. What Carroll is doing here is not some kind of grand gesture but a total disrespect of UCLA. This will just complement “own the Rose Bowl” rhetoric coming out of their mouths in coming days. They will use this PR stunt to amplify that rhetoric on the recruiting front.

Carroll made this move because right now he is in a state of mind that is well beyond confidence. He is basically telling the world that his team and his players can wear their home jerseys in our house and beat us with their hands tied behind their back. As I said above, we never heard about such concern for tradition and pageantry from the Trojans during our 8 game winning streak.

Whatever. At this point Neuheisel should call Pom Pom's bluff and agree to give up one TO (in each half) and then call on Carroll to do the same next season at the Rose Bowl. But what Carroll did on Sunday w/o conferring with Neuheisel is a total sign of disrespect.

Anyway, it is their time now. They are clicking on all cylinders and this is par for the course for an out of control, unchecked program, which hasn’t been held accountable by the NCAA, Pac-10 or the traditional media. Let them have fun this week just like the Yankees and their fans were pouring it on the Red Sox Nation during their better days.

What goes around, comes around.

GO BRUINS.

In case you haven't done it yet, check out the notes Bald Eagle graciously shared with all of us from his Thanksgiving vacation in Maui. BB had a chance to scout out couple of future Bruin opponents - Texas and Notre Dame - in the 2008 Maui Invitational when he had chance to check out the great game between those two teams. Notre Dame won that game barely before getting pummeled by UNC but it's pretty clear based on BB's observations and from what we have seen from both UCLA and Texas this season, our Ben Ball warriors (now back in the top-10 at least according to one poll) will be underdogs when they take on the Horns (ranked number 8 in both polls) this Thursday night in Austin (tip off scheduled for 6 pm PST on ESPN2). Here were BB's early impressions on the Longhorns:

As expected, this is a very athletic team.  They return 4 starters and 9 of their top 10 scorers from last year’s team that went 31-7, including a gut-wrenching, last second victory at Pauley last year.  They return 73 percent of their scoring from last year.

Their backcourt is absolutely terrific.  A.J. Abrams is their floor leader.  They went to him consistently at the end of the game to make threes to bring UT back from a late 7 point deficit.  Justin Mason also ran the point some and was lighting fast on D and created numerous shots driving to the hoop. 

Dexter Pittman started at center and he is Tight End in hoops shorts.  At 6-10 298 he is a load down low.  Thankfully he is a foul waiting to happen.  Worse than AA2 on his worst day.  Connor Atchley, a 5th yr. Senior was active around the hoop but really nothing to write home about.  I got the same impression last year when I watched him at Pauley.  If you don’t put a body on him he’ll sneak in for some put-backs and easy hoops.

Damion James is arguably their best player.  He killed us last year.  A 6-7’ G/F who can leap out of the building, he is a nightmare match-up.  He didn’t have a huge game today, but every time you looked up he was flying above the rim grabbing rebounds or slashing to the hoop for easy points off the glass.  If JA can’t guard him this year, he could be our Achilles Heel again.

I am assuming BB meant JS instead of JA because last year it was JS who simply got abused by Damion James. I am extremely worried about this game on Thursday night because I am not sure if we have the answer for James. He is a matchup nightmare and based on what I have seen from JS this year, I am not sure if he is ready to guard him.

I am not sure how Howland will scheme his defense to help out JS because he will need a lot of it. If JS can't handle James (which he didn't much of last year) who will get to step up?  Can we feel confident about either ND or MR handling James? Oy vez.

As for rest of the team, just like Rick Barnes has done in previous years he has reorganized his talented roster to fill in for the departure of D.J. Augstin just like his teams stepped up in previous years to make up for the losses of college stars such as Durant, Ford, Mim and on and on. From Sportsline.com:

Returnees abound for Texas, though the biggest question entering the season is how the Longhorns will function without All-American point guard D.J. Augustin.

It's not as if coach Rick Barnes hasn't fielded such inquiries before.

This is the same coach who's sent the NBA other lottery picks, such as Kevin Durant, LaMarcus Aldridge, T.J. Ford and Chris Mihm, so the Longhorns are accustomed to reloading and doing so before players exhaust their eligibility.

"We don't replace those guys," Barnes said. "This is a new year with a different team, so roles will change."

So who has stepped in for Augustin? Well Bald Bruin mentioned Abrams. Apparently per Burnt Orange Nation (BON), Justin Mason is now the point guard:

Mason is your point guard. The Abrams at point experiment is over. Unless Balbay was also in the game, Mase handled the duties at the point. Again, this is not a knock on Abrams. In fact, AJ is better able to score off catch-and-shoot jumpers when he plays off the ball and can run the baseline as well. Abrams is also able to make plays for his teammates off baseline curls when he is off the ball. This may not bode well for Abrams’s future as a point guard in the NBA. It does, however, bode well for the Texas Longhorns this season.

Imagine DC and JA will get the assignments to take him on while JH will get the duties to take on Abrams.

As Mason and Abrams make up the starting backcourt for the Long Horns, keep an eye on Dogus Balbay, a soph guard from Turkey who sat out last season due to a knee injury. Per BON Balbay has emerged as a key contributor off the bench for the Longhorns as they dubbed the kid the defensive MVP of their last game (a blowout win over Rice):

The Defensive MVP was: Dogus Balbay. Again, this designation could go to a couple of players. James played well defensively and ended with two steals and a block and Mason added three steals of his own to complete a solid overall performance. However, Balbay stood out with the most memorable defensive play of the game.

Rice had an easy two on zero fast-break lay-up erased by an incredibly athletic block by Dogus. Balbay caught the ball from behind, slashed across the lane, and threw a one-handed attempted lay-up backwards. For the second game in a row, he made a block that most players six inches taller than him can’t make.

The combination of Balbay, Abrams and Mason no doubt will be a huge test for our backcourt which is deep but of course laden with freshmen inexperience. It will be interesting to see how our cubs respond in a true environment.

Meanwhile, on the other end of the court we mentioned about the nightmare matchup against James. Also look out for Dexter Pittman, who BB noted is built like a football TE. The guys at BON think that Pittman has some developing to do:

The Dexter Pittman Watch: 6 points (1-of-3) and three rebounds in eight minutes. Big Dex is a starter in name only. He has started the last few games and played until just shy of the first tv timeout before he becomes visibly winded. When he is in the game, he is a force in the paint. Unfortunately, he is still not able to stay on the floor long enough to be a real factor in the game.

In the last couple of games, it has been foul trouble that plagued him; this afternoon, it was probably stamina and the pace of the game being too fast for him. Most of you are bigger Dex supporters than I am. However, I really want to see him succeed and I want Texas to have an interior force that opponents must game-plan to stop. Call me pessimistic, but I don’t see that happening this season. Dex is still not able to play more than four or five consecutive minutes, is slow on off-the-ball defense, and has trouble elevating on jump hooks and rebounds.

Yet, I am sure AA and rest of our front court guys will not take this kid lightly. Inspired by a marquee matchup and a fired up home crowd, I can see this kind having a great game against a Bruin front court which is going through its own development process during this early non conference season.

Speaking of going up against a marquee opponent early in the season, I think it's too early to make too much out of data points available on Kenpom.com but for those who are curious here are the scouting stats on a 5-1 Texas team. The number that sticks is that they are ranked number 5 (adj. efficiency) in the country in defense while 114th on offense. That is off compared to the defensive/offensive rankings in the same category from 2008 (36/3), 2007 (62/5), and 2006 (10/4). Again, I am not sure if you want to put a lot of stock in their early 2009 numbers but at least judging by their offensive output from their first 6 games, it looks like they are still figuring out a way to replace the lost offensive firepower from the departures from studs like Augustin and Durant. FWIW they are making it up early on a via strong defense. As for UCLA as we have discussed heading into the FIU game we have a lot of work to do on our defensive front, as at least in the early going our defensive stats are no where close to what they have been in recent years. Here are the early 2009 numbers which show UCLA with the 75th ranked defense (adj efficiency) in 2009. Anyway, like I said above I don't put a lot of stock in these stats at this point of the season even though they are kind of fund to play around with.

So with all that said here are my three key factors for Thursday night's games:

• DC's performance. I don't need to go over how he went missing against Michigan. Although he rebounded well against the Salukis, the spotlight is going to be on him in this matchup against a great Texas backcourt. Given DC's performance (or lack thereof) against Michigan guards and the nightmarish Final-4 against Memphis, this could be a huge opportunity for DC to make a statement (don't forget he was also somewhat of nonfactor in this game last year as he was trying to come back from a serious injury)
• JS v. James. I am having nightmares about it and unless someone can talk me down, I think this could be the potential matchup that might cost us thsi game
• The composure of our young freshmen. Huge opportunity for JH as he will probably get the chance to guard against one of the better guards in the country in Abrams. Also, the guys like JMM and DG (if they see action) will have a big challenge in dealing with an experienced Texas frontcourt.
  

That's what I got for now on this game. As we get more notes, I will keep sharing them on BN and as always feel free to share your thoughts and takes on Thursday night, setting of a huge week in Bruin Nation.

GO BRUINS.

As we began the “Rivalry Week” Brian Dohn is already salivating over the prospect of a record blowout on Saturday (emphasis added):

As far as lopsided scores go, the 66-19 pasting in 2005 is a recent memory of how bad things can get for the Bruins.

But given that UCLA ranks 110th of 119 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the nation in total offense (294.7 ypg) and 107th in scoring (18.6 ppg), quarterback Kevin Craft has 12 interceptions and no touchdowns in his last four games, and USC leads the nation in scoring defense (7.8 ppg) and total defense (210.6 ypg), perhaps it bears pointing out that the Trojans won the first two games of this series 76-0 (1929) and 52-0 (1930).

Dohn sounds pretty eager in his passive-aggressive way. It's pretty amusing.

The line for this game started around 27.5 points. Last I heard it was going up as much as 30+ points. I think all this noise is perfect and I hope there is not let up in this kind of clippings online and in the traditional media till kickoff on Saturday.

CRN (BTW did you know a bloggy pundit once actually spent an entire blog post whining about use of the initials “CRN”?) as he has done this entire first season didn’t take Dohn’s bait re. worrying about blowout losses:

"I think if you start worrying (about being embarrassed), you're taking yourself out of the focus of how to play our best football," Neuheisel said. "Our job, as a coaching staff, is to give the kids the best possible chance to be successful. Whether that's scheme, whether that's strategy, or it's motivation, whatever it takes, we've got to find a way to give ourselves the best possible chance to be competitive and successful against USC.

Obviously lot of the focus around UCLA will be on the plight of Kevin Craft. If you are expecting dramatic changes at UCLA’s QB situation heading into Saturday, you should get rid of those expectations now. CRN made it clear again following the ASU game that at this point of time the problems our offense is experiencing is a team issue:

"There were some things where we let him down with some route-running details, some protection issues," Neuheisel said. "It just becomes glaring when it's the quarterback letting go of the football (and) it falls on his shoulders, but we all have to accept our share of the blame, starting with me."

It also didn't help that backup Chris Forcier, who entered the game after Craft's final interception with nine minutes remaining, was 2 of 4 for 13 yards. He was also sacked twice.

As for the fans (especially people wailing on the message boards) who are calling for a drastic QB change, CRN’s message was pretty clear: Craft is the “best option” available to our coaches:

"I can understand that," Neuheisel said. "It frustrates me that there isn't another option that gives us a better chance to win, but we have to do what's in our best interest. And Kevin right now, unless we come up with another plan, is our best option."

As I have said over and over again, if Chow and Neuheisel had a better option available to them at QB, they wouldn’t have wasted any time to go with that option.

Neuheisel also made the following observations re. difficulties Craft has had from adjusting to college from JC:

Neuheisel sees across the nation a paucity of young quarterbacks prepared to operate in the pro-style offense that many colleges employ.

"So many of the high school offenses are spread," he said. "They get in the gun . . . so there isn't as much pocket awareness, pocket presence if you will, being taught at that level."

It's a matter of footwork, dropping back from center and knowing how to be in sync with various short, medium and long passes, he said. A late pass can become a turnover.

UCLA starter Kevin Craft played in a spread-style offense at Mt. San Antonio College, where his dad was the offensive coordinator. This season, Craft has completed 56% of his passes for 2,252 yards but has 19 interceptions against seven touchdowns.

Neuheisel believes that Craft and other quarterbacks accustomed to the spread require time to adjust.

"You just have to understand that has to have a real component of the teaching progression," he said.

So how will Craft respond this Saturday?

He doesn’t have a lot of friends this week expect for his coaches and players (and ironically even though the traditional media looking for cheap storylines have constantly harped on Neuheisel/Craft’s sideline interaction, they have mostly missed the obvious fact that Chow and Neuheisel have remained as Craft’s staunchest supporters never throwing him under the bus this entire season). The odds are obviously overwhelmingly against Craft and right now one would be foolish to make a bet that he will not make any mistakes on Saturday against an outstanding Trojan defense.

Yet, one thing Craft has going for him that has made an impact on the entire team is how he has maintained his public composure amidst all the unreal adversity he has experienced this entire season. Not once has he complained about getting chewed out by the coaches. Not once has he complained about having an OL which probably would have sent any other QB to the emergency room (their protection scheme led to PC’s collapsed lungs and BO’s numerous injuries in previous years). Not once has he complained about not having a credible running game. He just keeps taking those bone crunching hits and keeps getting up.

I’ve got to think his team-mates realize and appreciate what this kid is going through and I think it’s one of the primary reason there has been no break in team unity in what has been a sobering rebuilding season. I also think it has allowed the defense not to get too frustrated and keep persevering and improving even as the team collectively has experienced one tough loss after another. All that might amount to something on Saturday. If the team shows the same determination and grit, it has shown since that embarrassment in Provo, they will have a shot no matter how much snickering they are subjected to all week from Trojans, traditional media reporters, pundits and in some cases some of our own fans who are expecting (and some in the traditional media are relishing) a total slaughter.

GO BRUINS.

Over at the LA Times, Trojan Alum - Adam Rose (who is also the lead blogger for "What's Bruin") - is already lamenting the prospect of Southern Cal playing in the 2009 Rose Bowl on All Things Trojan:

Is the Rose Bowl good enough?

Once you get over just how disgusting it is for a headline like the one you see here (I almost threw up in the back of my mouth while typing it), it's actually a fair question.

USC, unless they stumble into the BCS National Championship game or stumble against a completely outmatched UCLA team next week, will be in Pasadena on January 1st playing Penn State. It'll be the Trojans' fourth straight trip, and fifth in the last six years. The one year they missed was due to a bigger engagement -- a national title game in Miami. Had Oregon State beat Oregon on Saturday, the Trojans held out hope for another BCS game -- most likely the Fiesta, but possibly the Sugar or maybe even the Orange.

Adam then runs a poll on his blog asking his readers (Trojan fans) whether they "are satisfied with the Rose Bowl over another non-title BCS game," clearly making plans beyond next Saturday.

Adam's colleague and Pete Carrol's biggest cheer leader - Bill Plaschke - is also upset about Trojans going to the 2009 Rose Bowl (emphasis added):

With Oregon State's championship-costing loss to Oregon, the Trojans are but a slam-dunk victory over UCLA next week from returning to the Rose Bowl for the fourth consecutive season, a development that can elicit only one bit of intelligent analysis.

Whoop-de-darn-do.

As written here before, Pasadena is a nice place to visit, but the Trojans don't want to live there.

They don't need it for reputation. They don't need it for recruiting.

They needed a Fiesta against a high-scoring Big 12 team, some Sugar against a traditional SEC power, anything that could enhance their national presence and propel them into next season's polls.

They don't need another Rose bouquet against another Big Ten vase.

At this point, I should apologize to those e-mailers from Penn State, who were outraged when I included the Nittany Lions in a list of slow teams from the Midwest.

LOL ... Bill is not even worried about "e-mailers" from UCLA.

Why should he? Lot of well intentioned and knowledgeable UCLA football fans are already waving their fight flags pointing to a Saturday where they are expecting Trojan's dominating defense to eviscerate UCLA's anemic offense (from Bruin Report Online's premium football forum)...

... leading to the ultimate rock bottom for this program resulting from years of mismanagement under Bob Toledo and Karl Dorrell:

I understand the frustrations underlying those posts (and some of them in fairness are well reasoned and articulated ... even thought they come with jarring titles). And, I am not sure I need to go to the stats because if we look at them they will pretty much support the basis for some of the comments we are seeing above.

Over here over the years we have always taken pride in building a community which is realistic and which forms opionions based on facts and numbers.  So all that said ... why even bother getting ready for Saturday?

Why should our guys who have been busting their rear ends all year under a new head coach even bother showing up?

CRN points to the 1989 game as a possible answer:

The Bruins figure to be heavy underdogs against the fifth-ranked Trojans, but Neuheisel said he had an answer for that too.

The 1989 UCLA team entered the USC game with a 3-7 record. Quarterback Bret Johnson was inexperienced, just like current quarterback Kevin Craft.

"You know, a lot of similarities," Neuheisel said.

The Bruins would have won that year if kicker Alfredo Velasco's 54-yard field goal attempt had not bounced off the crossbar at the Coliseum. The final score was 10-10.

I know, I know. I have already heard the rant about how Craft is worse than Bret Johnson. If you want to do more of that attacking a kid who has shown incredible courage and heart all season without voicing a single complaint in public about the unreal beating he has taken behind a fragile OL ... please find a message board.

I remember that game really well watching it as a high school student. But for me it was the 1992 game that framed my mindset for this rivalry as a student and I will stick with that no matter what the circumstances are around this game.

I am not going to go into details of 1992 all over again. I think we have shared the John  Barnes story enough of BN.

I will also stick with players like Norris who have found a way to persevere and give his best effort despite having a difficult season on the field. Norris is sticking with the program and his coaches' message of unity:

The message Neuheisel, and his coaching staff, sent to the Bruins after the (ASU) loss was one of unity. It was the same message delivered several other times this season, and it is being received.

"We just have to keep fighting. That's all we can do," Bruins cornerback Michael Norris said. "We'll never be divided, because that's poison to a team. That's cancer. We're not going to let that happen."

Well, I think it would be a good idea to take the cue from Norris and rest of our players and stick with them and our entire team this week. I am not asking that we need to go all rah rah and delude ourselves re. our chances next Saturday. But at the same time, that doesn't mean we concede this game.

GO BRUINS.

I didn't get to see this game. So you guys will have to fill me and rest of us (who didn't get to watch tonight) on what we missed out on.

This game was supposed to serve as a classic tuneup for our young Ben Ball warriors as they continue to prepare themselves for the conference season. From the final score - 89-54 - it sure sounds like JA and rest of our freshmen had a blast:

Photo Credit: AP (via Yahoo)

Per the box score, JA finished the night with 8 points. It was his freshman team-mate - JH- who let the entire team in scoring with 20 points (w 2 assists and 4 boards). Heading into this game Bruins were working on basic team defense and judging by the scoreboard, it looks like they had a decent night, shutting down the Panthers and limiting them to 34.9% shooting.

Anyway, I think we should be careful about not taking too much out of what was essentially a practice game for our Ben Ball warriors. Hopefully the in game experience our youngs got tonight will be a useful building block for our next game, which is a big one against a great Texas program.

So if you watched the game tonight on TV or from Pauley, share your impressions right here in the post game thread.

GO BRUINS.

UPDATE - N: Don't forget .... right now our women' soccer team is taking on Duke Bluedevils out at Drake in the Elite Eight. Full details on the matchup here and here. rye will be keeping us updated right in this thread. GO BRUINS.

JS and rest of our Ben Ball warriors are back in action tonight:

Photo Credit: Jack Rosenfeld

They have had more than a week off since their last game in the Big Apple. Per practice reports Coach Howland has been trying out a a little motion offense during practices this week. It will be interesting to see the result of those practices tonight when they take on Florida International Golden Panthers.

The tipoff is scheduled for 4:30 pm PST.  Once again it will be broadcast on FSNPT. You can track it via the official site.

As always if you are watching the game, share your instant thoughts/commentary here in our game thread.

Fire away.

GO BRUINS.