Old Spice Classic Preview

OVERVIEW
Villanova plays in the Old Spice Classic in Orlando, FL later this week. While the tournament takes a bit of a backseat to other Holiday tourneys like the NIT Tip-Off, Maui Invitational or Great Alaska Shootout, the 8-team field does feature three ranked teams and 2 more that are right on the cusp of the Top 25. Villanova enters the tourney ranked # 19 (#20 AP), followed by # 20 Kansas St. (#18 AP) and North Carolina St., which was ranked # 22 until an upset loss to New Orleans last night. And don't forget about George Mason and Central Florida (UCF), two mid-majors that bring senior-laden teams to the table that could cause trouble for the younger, higher-ranked teams in this field.

NOVA TV SCHEDULE
When the turkey and stuffing has been devoured and the football games are winding down on Thursday evening, flip over to ESPN2 to watch Nova take on UCF in a first round matchup. Assuming we win (which is not a sure thing), the schedule for the rest of the weekend is below.

• First Round, Thursday, Nov. 22nd, 7:00pm ET, ESPN2 - Nova vs. Central Florida (UCF)
• Second Round, Friday, Nov. 23rd, 5:00pm ET, ESPN2 - Nova/UCF winner vs. Kansas St./G. Mason winner
• Championship, Sunday, November 25th, 6:30pm ET, ESPN2

Note: This TV schedule is the winner's bracket. The only thing that is set in stone is the First Round matchup. If we lose at any point along the way, that will change game times, matchups and TV coverage. You can find the full bracket HERE.

LIKELY NOVA OPPONENTS

Central Florida (UCF) - UCF is an experienced team that won 22 games last year and brings back 5 of their top 7 players. They are considered a bit of an up-and-comer in Conference USA where they face # 3 Memphis twice every season, so they won't be coming into this game wide-eyed and overwhelmed. Accordingly, this will not be a cakewalk for Nova. UCF has an experienced, poised backcourt that could cause us trouble if we shoot poorly or if our young backcourt struggles to defend the 3-point line as they have in the first two games this season. Nova has a considerable advantage in talent and athleticism but UCF has more experience if it comes down to a tight game.

Kansas St. - Kansas St. has Michael Beasley, who can best be described as this season's version of Kevin Durant. The 6' 9" freshman is averaging 30 points and 20 rebounds (that is not a typo!) through his first 3 collegiate games. Paired with super soph small forward Bill Walker, Beasley and K-St. have a considerable frontcourt advantage against most teams they face. Fortunately for the rest of the country, their backcourt leaves a little to be desired which has lead to a lot of turnovers and sloppy offensive organization. As a result, teams are able to let Beasley get his points and focus on stopping everybody else. But if their backcourt gets it together, look out.

George Mason - Last season started off as a bit of a rebuilding year for George Mason after the Final Four run in 2006, but a strong late-season surge had the Patriots just narrowly missing an NCAA tournament bid. This year Jim Larranaga's squad returns its top 6 scorers, including a trio of seniors that played key roles on the Final Four team two years ago. Senior Will Thomas leads the way, averaging 17.3 points per game and 14.0 rebounds per game. They are the definite sleeper of this tournament, with just enough talent and a boatload of experience to do some serious damage against the top teams or even win the whole tournament.

Note: The three teams above plus Villanova comprise the lower half of the bracket. The winner of this 4 team mini-tourney advances to the championship game. If Nova beats UCF in the first round, we will play the winner of Kansas St - George Mason in the 2nd round. If Nova loses to UCF in the first round, we will play the loser of Kansas St. - George Mason.

NC St. - Out of the 4 teams on the other side of the bracket (NC St., Rider, Penn St., South Carolina), NC. St. is by far the best and most talented team. I will be surprised if they don't end up in the championship game. They feature JJ Hickson, the other super frosh big-man in this tournament and the 6' 9" Power Forward is averaging 26.5 points and 10 rebounds through his first two collegiate games. Much like Kansas St, NC St's strength is all in its frontcourt, with 3 players taller than 6' 8" accounting for 75% of its offense and the backcourt not doing much of anything. If the backcourt doesn't turn the ball over, the frontcourt should be able to overpower most teams in this field.

NOVA OUTLOOK

Make no mistake, there will be no easy games in this tournament for Villanova, especially considering we are a young team that is still trying to define roles for everyone and gel as a unit. Expect to see a large rotation and lots of minutes for the young guys, as we play 3 games in 4 days. We certainly have enough talent offensively to win this tournament, but it will come down to how well Jay Wright gets the team to play defense against Top 25 competition.

In the first game, against UCF, the focus will be on defending the 3-point line, where we have been awful the first two games (opponents are shooting 46% from 3PT range against us thus far). That is to be expected from a young team early in the season, but it could become an achilles heel against teams like UCF and later against George Mason, which are two teams with experienced backcourts that know how to exploit sub-par perimeter defense.

Against Kansas St. or NC St., the focus shifts to interior defense and keeping our guys out of foul trouble. We won't be able to completely contain K-St's Beasley or NC St.'s Hickson, but if Cunningham, Clark and Drummond can make them work for shots and hold their own on the boards, we have a good shot to win, given our advantage in the backcourt. Should be fun to watch and a good early test for our young Wildcats.