15* Maryland/Kentucky CBB Season Opener on Maryland +10.5

Maryland vs. Kentucky, 11/09/2012 20:30 EDT, Score: 69 - 72

Point Spread: +10½/-105 Maryland

Sportsbook: JustBet.cx

Result: Win

The Kentucky Wildcats are way over-hyped coming into the season. They won the National Championship last year, and now they have a TV show about them on ESPN heading into the 2012-13 campaign. They can't live up to the hype, and that will be reflected against the point spreads early in the season.

Kentucky loses all five starters from last season. Sure, John Calipari is an excellent recruiter, but you just don't replace the five guys they lost. They will have to replace 92 percent of last year's offense with another freshman class.

"I like our talent. I like our size. I like our length. We have some guys with pretty good speed," Calipari said. "We're just not a good basketball team right now. Too many young guys that we're trying to bring along."

Several key players return for Maryland. They are 7-foot-1 sophomore center Alex Len, 6-8 senior forward James Padgett and guards Pe'Shon Howard and Nick Faust. With Len, Padgett, and highly touted freshmen Shaquille Cleare (6-9, 262 pounds) and Charles Mitchell (6-8, 260) rotating in the frontcourt, the Terrapins expect to control the boards against most teams. Both Cleare and Mitchell were Top 100 recruits.

I just like the veteran experience on this team up against the inexperienced, over-hyped Wildcats in the first game of the season. This one should go right down to the wire as the Terrapins easily stay within double-digits. Roll with Maryland Friday.