We'll start with Thursday's match up against OJ Mayo and the Trojans.

A quick background on Mayo:

He was the top recruit in the country last year out of Huntington, West Virginia (if you haven't seen the YouTube video of his final high school dunk...you have to check it out). He was considered a superstar by the time he was in 6th grade (he was already 6'1"). While waiting for the season to start at USC, Mayo played pickup games with NBA players, including former Gonzaga star Adam Morrison.

Mayo is the Trojans leading scorer averaging 20.1 points per game. He also grabs nearly five boards a contest and is second on the team with 40 assists.

Here's the good news Cougar fans...USC is 0-2 in the conference. Mayo scored 34 points in a loss to California and was held to 14 in a low-scoring, defensive minded game against Stanford.

Obviously, Wazzu will have to shut down Mayo to be successful. If the Cougars play "their game" (defense, defense, defense) that shouldn't be a problem. Again (not that you really need reminding), conference road wins are hard to come by...Mayo is the key.

If one star freshman wasn't enough, WSU plays Kevin Love and UCLA on Saturday.

Some background on Love:

He was one of the top recruits in the country last year out of Lake Oswego, Oregon. He's the son of former NBA player Stan Love. The big man (he's 6'10") holds the Oregon state high school scoring record with more than 2,600 points. Love's high school team played for three state championships while he was there (they only won once).

Love has led the 5th ranked Bruins in scoring in more than half of their games this year. He averages a double-double with more than 16-points and 10 rebounds per game.

Love isn't only tall, he's also bulky (he weighs 260 lbs.). If you liked the Brockman/Baynes match up...you'll really love this heavy-weight bout (Baynes is 6'10" 270 lbs.). If Baynes gets into foul trouble, Wazzu doesn't have enough size to contain Love (Robbie Cowgill is a great defender, but I don't see his 210 lbs. doing much against the freshman).

Expect a low scoring game between UCLA and WSU. The Bruins allow only 55 points per game, while the Cougars do even better allowing a little less than 50 points a contest.

If the Cougars come back to Pullman with a So-Cal split, fans should be happy. WSU has only won once in their last 50 games at Pauley Pavilion (UCLA's home floor).

We'll see if experience can overcome two really good rookies...