Vandy vs. Oregon St. (TicketCity Championship)

Oregon State will try to go to 5-0 and win the TicketCity Legends Classic tonight at 6:00 PM vs Vanderbilt.  The Commodores are ranked 18th in the nation.  This will be a stiff contest for the Beavs but if they win they would match the best start to a season in the last 25 years.  This is a program defining matchup every bit as much as Texas was because of what is at stake.  Another win here would add to the resume to potentially make the NCAA tourney later and is expected to be enough to get Oregon State ranked in the Top 25 AP Poll.  The game will stream on ESPN3.  You can also listen on 860AM in the Portland area.

Cunningham ended up with 37 points against Texas.  He will most likely have to have another showing in the 30s to give OSU its best chance.  We will need contributions all around but against the best teams we have to keep our scoring going and avoid any lulls longer than a couple minutes.  Collier also put up good numbers against Texas and Angus Brandt had a field goal percentage in the upper 70s.  If we play with as much chemistry as we have to this point and we also play physical with the likes of Burton, Collier, Brandt and Moreland then we should be in this game with our shot to win at the end.  Ahmad Starks is also playing well this season and providing good support to the star performances of Cunningham in his last two outings.

I see this as a very tight game but am not sure if the team is ready to stake a 25 year old claim with an amazing 5-0 start.  If they are able to it will be very impressive and Craig Robinson should be able to keep his squad playing at a high level for the rest of non-conference action and heading into Pac-12 play.  I will say I expect a final score around 78-72 with the team who can stake a 5 point advantage heading into the final minute taking it.  All of Beaver Nation should tune in tonight and cheer our guys on.  This should be a fun game and with a great effort we can be TicketCity Legends Classic champions!