Steve Bulanda

It's a lackluster opening night for college basketball, as this matchup is really the only one worth getting excited about. With the amount of turnover we see on college basketball rosters from season to season, I expect to see offenses come out to slower starts. Last year in Arizona's first 5 games against Power Conference teams, the totals averaged 148.8. In Florida's first 5 in the same situation, the totals averaged 154.6. Florida had a mostly consistent offense last season, but the Gators will be dealing with what looks like a big downgrade in their backcourt from Walter Clayton Jr, Will Richard and Alijah Martin to Boogie Fland (37.9 FG%) and Xaivian Lee (43.9%).

Is there any offense that is more dependent on a QB-WR combo than Arizona State? When QB Sam Leavitt and WR Jordyn Tyson are healthy, ASU can compete with the best in the Big 12. Unfortunately, Leavitt has been ruled out for this game already, while Tyson is doubtful. The Sun Devils are 0-2 when either player is out, losing by at least 8 in each of those games. Backup QB Jeff Sims, who is completing just 49% of his passes this season, will get the start. This should be a good spot for Iowa State to get right after 3 straight losses.

How high is too high for a game total? The books haven't figured that out for these two teams yet, as Navy and North Texas have each hit the over in six of their games this season. North Texas is the highest scoring team in the country at 46.1 points per game. Navy isn't far behind at 37.3. Defensively, Navy has allowed at least 31 points in 3 straight games, and North Texas just allowed 20 points to a bad Charlotte team and are just 3 weeks removed from allowing 63 points to South Florida.

If you've been backing Texas State the past couple weeks, maybe you've sworn them off, as they blew 8-point 4th quarter leads in back-to-back games to lose straight up and against the spread. So let's avoid another late collapse and invest in the first half. In seven games, the only one that the Bobcats have been down at the half was against reigning Big 12 champ Arizona State. Texas State has one of the great college offenses, averaging 36.1 points per game and should put enough points on the board to at least keep this game close. Look for a fast start at home.