Cupcakes continue: Indiana Hoosiers v. USC Upstate Spartans.

USC Upstate Spartans
Current record: 0-1
Current RPI: 240
Location: Spartanburg, South Carolina
Conference: Atlantic Sun
Current Sagarin: 302
Current Pomeroy: 202
2008-09 record:
2008-09 RPI: 288
2008-09 Sagarin: 296
2008-09 Pomeroy: 293
Series: First meeting
Pomeroy scouting report
TV: 8:30 pm, BTN

Tonight, IU plays its second and final tuneup before heading to Puerto Rico for some higher end competition.  This is going to be a busy week.  Between now and Sunday night, IU will play four basketball games plus the Bucket game.  I'll try to keep up. 

USC Upstate is in only its third season in Division I and is 16-45 so far, and have only two wins over teams that finished in Pomeroy's top 200.  The bad news: one of those wins was last season against Lipscomb, a team that won at Assembly Hall.  As the Pomeroy scouting report makes clear, the Spartans block a lot of shots and play decent two point field goal defense, but ultimately have the sort of numbers that would be expected of a team that is so new to Division I.  The Spartans' only double-figures scorer from last season is gone, and the Spartans seem likely to rely upon center Nick Schneider and guard Josh Chavis.  Ultimately, this team seems to be a bit of an upgrade by Howard, and it's probably not worth knowing much more about the Spartans.  Famous last words, I know.