Long Beach State at Kansas

The Long Beach State 49ers has returned four starters from a 22-win team a year ago. They have also added the top JUCO transfer from California that has blended in well, scoring nearly 10 points per game and leading them in steals. This is a team that will play an out of conference schedule vs. five teams ranked in the top 15, and to date every team they have faced is over .500. They are well tested, but Kansas is tough at home with an out of conference home winning streak of 48 straight, which is tops in the country, but for one reason. Long Beach St. went to Pittsburgh who had a streak of 58 games and won by 10. Kansas lost 55 points and 22 rebounds from last year's team, and has two very good players, but needs some of the role players to step up, which hasn't happened yet. Long Beach State is a competent opponent and coming up Saturday Kansas plays Ohio State here, so a young team could be out of focus. Long Beach St. is the pick.