Tonight the Longhorns (2-0) face their first “real” team of the season in Michigan State (3-0) as they play in the semifinals of the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer. Both teams advanced to tonight’s game in Madison Square Garden after beating horribly overmatched opponents in four-team home “pod” brackets.

Michigan State struggled in their opener, beating the Ivy League’s Brown Bears 45-34. Their second round game proved much easier, as they coasted to an 86-61 victory over the Youngstown State Penguins. Not even the approaching release of Happy Feet could give YSU a boost against their Big 10 opponents. The Spartans also played The Citadel between rounds of the College Hoops Classic, crushing them 73-41 on Sunday.

Interestingly enough, the Spartans did not only struggle with Brown. In their first exhibition game, Michigan State trailed Grand Valley State for nearly the entire contest, finally taking their first lead of the game with four minutes to play. If not for the great play of guard Drew Neitzel, the Spartans may have been victims of a gargantuan letdown.

This year’s Michigan State team will look incredibly different to college basketball fans familiar with the likes of Mateen Cleeves. Besides the aforementioned Neitzel, the current Spartans roster lacks names that are recognizable outside of East Lansing. While Texas reloaded this year with a great freshman class, Michigan State sports a mix of new, young guys and returning role players who are being asked to step up.

In this space last week, I predicted that Texas would be able to rebound against a much smaller Chicago State team. That did not happen. Tonight they face a much larger squad in MSU, and will most likely get destroyed on the glass. In particular, freshman forward Raymar Morgan and 6-foot, 10-inch center Goran “G” Suton should pose problems for a Texas team that has yet to show good rebounding fundamentals.

Against Sisters of the Poor University and Kentucky Medical Tech Seminary, Texas was able to push the tempo and create transition buckets. It will be interesting to see if they can continue this trend against more able competition. In addition, you should keep your eyes on our young players. Will they be able to handle the spotlight of Madison Square Garden and a nationally televised game in only their third contest at the NCAA level?

For those Longhorns in Austin and across the country, tune in at 8 PM (central) on ESPN2 to catch the game. Or if you’re in the New York area, swing by MSG and catch it live; tickets are still available.

To the Cougars of Chicago State, Illinois doesn’t exist. And their really large city sitting along that really large lake is the 51st state. Sorry Puerto Rico, they beat you to it. And if this little fact doesn’t make a degree from this fine institution next to worthless, it should at least make the geography department a running joke. But if we can dispense with bad nomenclature humor, there’s a much bigger task at hand. Namely preparing my dear readers for tonight’s second round game.

Chicago State (1-0) somehow squeaked past St. Bonaventure last night, winning the right to get kicked in the face repeatedly by the Longhorns. They were carried largely by redshirt sophomore guard David Holston, who is listed at 5’8″, but is actually not much taller than Earl Boykins. Holston scored 43 against the Bonnies last night, which broke the school record of 40 according to some random staffer on the Chicago State bench.

But more important than Holston’s J.J. Redick impersonation was Chicago State’s absolute lack of rebounding skill. The final box score had them only outrebounded 37-30 by St. Bonaventure, but much of that defecit was made up during the Cougars’ winning push in the final eight minutes of the game. And if it weren’t for a monumental meltdown by the Bonnies at the line (the team finished 22-for-41 from the stripe), the Longhorns would have a different opponent in tonight’s ballgame.

Last season, Chicago State finished the year 11-19, yet still somehow made the championship game of the Mid-Continent Conference tournament, where they finally fell to Oral Roberts, 85-72. The Cougars return seven seniors from that team, so they should be quite experienced….at losing. Besides 7-footer Chidozie Chukwumah, the Chicago State team is a small one that will most likely be abused the same way that Alcorn State was.

So bring the family out to the Erwin Center tonight for a little doubleheader, or show up late and forget about those losers in the consolation game. The Horns are scheduled to tip at 7:30, but I’m personally banking on it being a little later than that. Come early, be loud, stay late, and wear orange…but don’t plan on drinking Dr. Pepper. Because apparently the FEC is the only place in the whole state of Texas that doesn’t sell it.

Tonight the Longhorns kick off the regular season with a home game at 8:30 PM against Alcorn State in the 2K Sports College Classic benefitting Coaches vs. Cancer. With a win, the Horns move on to the quarterfinals of the tournament on Friday night at 7:30, while a loss would send them to the 5:30 consolation game.

Alcorn State finished their 2005-06 season with an 8-20 record, with all eight of their wins coming in Southwestern Conference play. Their last NCAA tournament appearance came in 2001-02, where they were one-and-done with an 81-77 loss to Siena.

The Alcorn State Braves have no notable basketball alumni, but their most famous graduates include professional quarterback Steve McNair, wide receiver Donald Driver, and Roots author Alex Haley.

And why do you need to know all of these mundane facts about a 3,000-person college from a podunk town in Mississippi? Because as G.I. Joe taught me, knowing is half the battle.

This game should not present any problems for Texas, and will hopefully allow the team a chance to iron out some more wrinkles. Some interesting storylines to follow will be A.J. Abrams hot shooting from behind the arc and the regular season debut of phenom Kevin Durant.

For those heading to the Frank Erwin Center tonight, doors open at 4:30 for the first game between Chicago State and Saint Bonaventure, with the Longhorns tipping off at 8:30, or 30 minutes after the end of the previous game if it runs long.

No, it’s not those bastards who knocked us out of the NCAA tournament back in 2004 in Atlanta. You may remember the game. Brandon Mouton fouled out in the final minutes and reportedly asked referee Ted Valentine for an explanation on his foul, to which the zebra replied, “This isn’t the fucking NBA.” Oh, and Rick Barnes received two technicals and was ejected by the same ref in the stretch of about 0.009 seconds. And then of course, there was the corn-fed fatty jumping around with her “X-Men” sign just in front of our section.

But this isn’t that team. So tonight should be completely free of the venom a rematch with that particular Xavier could have brought. Instead, tonight the Longhorns take on Xavier University from New Orleans, a team that didn’t even have a 2005-06 season because of the effects of Hurricane Katrina. So while playing in the Erwin Center against an Elite Eight team from last year will certainly be a huge moment for the Xavier players, just getting to play basketball again is too.

It looks like Xavier goes by the Gold Rush, although if you were to read their circa-1995 website, you might think they are the Xavier Rush Gold Nuggets. They play in the NAIA, which as far as I can tell is a league made up of colleges that make my old high school look huge. You know, powerhouses such as Montana State-Northern and Rio Grande…..Ohio.

Last Tuesday, Xavier played Arkansas in an exhibition and fell, 82-49. As fans, we should obviously avoid the “transitive analysis” of who-beat-whom and by how much. Tonight is a good opportunity to see if the guys are going to get better position for rebounds, and if it’s possible for a team to hit 75 three-pointers.

It ought to be another fun one. See y’all at the Drum.

We’re less than 24 hours from the tip-off of the 2006-07 season, and I’m feeling like absolute shit. Nothing like a well-timed illness to take some of the luster out of the new basketball year.

Tonight we get our first look at the seven newest faces on the Longhorn roster. Or eight, if you feel like counting Ian Mooney as “new.” We have so much talent coming in that it’s hard not to have pie-in-the-sky dreams. But a quick reminder of how young our team is should temper any of those feelings.

Fans won’t really learn a whole lot from tonight’s exhibition against Lenoir-Rhyne, the alma mater of coach Rick Barnes. But it ought to be fun to see our highly-touted recruits beating up on incredibly overmatched competition. In particular, the play of Kevin “K-Smoove” Durant should blow away the crowd. Our other most exciting recruit is Damion James, a late signee after OU coach Kelvin Sampson made more (illegal) phone calls than a 15-year-old girl. James should also put up solid numbers, although he will not look at good as Durant. But in all honestly, who will?

For those thinking of attending the game, it’s free admission to all with general admission seating throughout the arena. If you’ve got little ones, arrive at 5:30 and race down to the front rows, courtside. It’ll be something they remember forever.

And of course, don’t forget your costumes. It’s Halloween, after all.