A Little Thanksgiving Spice

The Old Spice Classic kicks off tomorrow at noon in Orlando, Florida in what has become one of the premier "pre-season" tourneys. This year's field may not have the top flight headliner, but it does have a field full of teams with March aspirations.

The top of the class is probably Michigan which returns do-everything star Manny Harris and three starters to John Beilein's squad. Harris and Ohio State's Evan Turner will be one of the best head to head match-ups come March, and isn't nearly as one-sided as some might make it out to be. Harris is that good. Behind him, Michigan has to be the favorite.

Manny Harris is a close second-best player in the Big Ten

But the road won't be easy, starting in the Noon tip-off against always pesky Creighton. The Jays opened with a loss to fellow mid-major darling Dayton but have aspirations of begining a new NCAA Tourney streak this year. An "upset" win over Michigan would be a nice feather in their cap.

The second game features the undervalued Xavier Musketeers against the rebuilding Marquette Warriors. Gone is the backcourt trio that led Marquette for a Top Ten ranking before Dominc James' injury. Lazarus Haywood returns to try and steady the ship. X has been good in the early going, with Jordan Crawford fitting in nicely to an experienced Musketeers squad that will look to him to carry much of the scoring load from the perimeter. They will get their first true test in the 2PM tip.

The evening features a matchup of two squads trying to rebound from dissapointment in 2008-2009 when Alabama meets Baylor. Both figure to be in the lower half of their respective leagues. This game might give a nice glimpse into the relative depths of the SEC and Big 12 respectively. Neither have played a top-tier team yet in 09 (though that didn't stop the Tide from dropping a game to Cornell...)

The nightcap features a Florida State squad fresh off a humiliating shellacking by in-state rival Florida, against the Iona Gaels. A week ago, Florida State figured to be the favorite (or co-favorite along with Michigan). Now? The 'Noles might be grateful for a relatively soft draw.
Maniac's Picks: Michigan, Xavier, Florida State and Baylor. Give me the Noles and the Muskies in what should have been a rematch of last year's NCAA Rd 2 (except for Bo Ryan's Badgers! Intentionally forced reference for the benefit of my Nole-fan readers!)

Yes. I honestly like the Musketeers cutting down the nets in Orlando, but admit Michigan has the most overall talent in the field.

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