FanHouse Nevada

At least, that's what one Cal fan thought when word leaked out that college football's confused Pinocchio had committed to their school.

Too bad several coaches went on the record claiming he wasn't even a D-I talent. I don't mean to berate the kid here, I'm simply using coaches' evaluations to contrast with how excitable fans can get a commit that nobody had heard of and say things like:

*Kaboom!*

And:

Yes I have seem him play. He's pretty good. Has college size, good skills. Good addition for Cal.

And:

Sounds like a great young man with D1 size and attitude! Players from the rural areas don't get the stars from the recruiting services, but the right ones sure can play......hello Ryan O'Callahan, who'll be playing on Super Bowl Sunday.

USC 80, (12) Arizona 73. A road conference loss to a quality opponent is not the end of the world. If course, two losses in a row and three of the last four, however ... that might be something to worry about. So they're either in real trouble with that road game at UCLA looming, or it's a chance to get their balls back. You can look at it either way you'd like. This game was decided with an early second-half 15-3 USC run, triggered by Nick Young. He finished with 80 and 8 on the night.

(13) Nevada 85, Fresno State 75. Nick Fazekas returns to freak us, once again. There was no readjustment period, there was no "working him back into the offense," there was just continued Nevada dominance, and typical Fazekas brilliance. He finished with 20 and 10, in just 25 minutes. Sidekick and bonafide star of his own, Marcellus Kemp, had 22 for the 'Pack, 15 of which came in the second half.

Northern Iowa 75, Missouri State 65. Missouri State battle back from a 13-point deficit to tie the game with 3:01 left ... but couldn't find the energy to close it out. 15 and 12 for Grant Stout, and 10 and 10 for Eric Coleman ... the Panthers big men do it well. So the Panthers get a huge road win in the conference, leaving them just a ½ game back of Creighton. Missouri State's just 1 game back themselves.

(17) Duke 62, Wake Forest 40. Duke did it with defense last night, sweating Wake Forest into a 33% shooting night. Of course, doing that to Wake Forest is less of a challenge than doing it to, oh I don't know ... Virginia Tech or Georgia Tech. Josh McRoberts had a nice stat line for Duke: 11 points, 8 boards, 6 assists. Greg Paulus was good, too, with 17 points, 4 assists, and perhaps most importantly ... just 1 turnover. Top 25 Scoreboard

Tonight's game between the Nevada Wolfpack and home favorite Fresno State Bulldogs (8 p.m., ESPN) is the rarest of rare WAC battles: an opening week prime-time affair before a national audience. Both squads had successful seasons last year and went bowling, but the storyline here is that they both view this opener as a proving ground.

At one point last season Fresno State was 9-1 and nearly 10-1, after nearly toppling No. 1 USC. Before that game, one pundit penned, "if the Bulldogs upset the Trojans, it would be the greatest thing to happen to the San Joaquin Valley since irrigation". Obviously the buildup for that game was too much as Fresno State put all its emotional eggs into the USC basket. After the disappointing loss, they tumbled downhill with three more losses including a 31-24 disappointment against Tulsa in the Liberty Bowl.

Nevada is looking to overcome its own disappointments, having been routed in consecutive season openers against Louisiana Tech (38-21) and Washington State (55-21). The Wolf Pack eventually recovered, finishing the season 9-3 and WAC champions thanks to an upset victory over Pat Hill's Bulldogs in the season finale. However, the 'Pack is still smarting about those opening losses, and coach Chris Ault promises for a more focused effort this time around.