GAME NOTES: The Mark Turgeon Era in College Station gets underway this evening, as the 16th-ranked Texas A&M Aggies open up their 2007-08 season when they play host to the McNeese State Cowboys at Reed Arena. The Cowboys went 9-7 last season in the Southland Conference and with plenty of talent returning to the mix, it is hard to imagine the team not being one of the primary players in the league again in 2007-08. It will be up to head coach Dave Simmons to harness his talented roster and build off a solid inaugural season with the team. The Aggies won a school-record 27 games last year, so Turgeon inherits a program certainly going in the right direction. This is the third all-time meeting between these two teams, with the series knotted at 1-1.

McNeese State returns four starters and should be a legitimate threat to win the Southland this year. The team's best player is 6-6 senior forward Jarvis Bradley, who averaged 15.1 ppg and 7.3 rpg a year ago. Bradley scored in double figures in 19 of the last 20 games in 2006-07, and is one of the top performers in the entire conference. John Ford is small at 5-10 and 150 pounds, but is a solid all-around player at the point, coming off a season in which he averaged 11.7 points, 3.6 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. Notable newcomers to the roster include freshmen Stephan Martin (26.5 ppg prep scoring average), C.J. Collins (16.8 ppg, 9.1 apg as a prep senior) and P.J. Alawoya (15.0 ppg, 12.0 rpg as a HS senior). All three will come off the bench to start the season.

Billy Gillispie built a powerhouse in College Station, now it will be up to Mark Turgeon to continue the upward swing. Turgeon, the head man at Wichita State the last seven seasons, leads a team that returns three starters from a 27-win campaign in 2006-07. It won't be a cakewalk though, as the team must find a way to replace All-Conference Acie Law (18.1 ppg). The team does however boast one of the nation's top frontcourts, led by power forward Joseph Jones. The 6-9, 250-pound senior is tough to move around the basket and he returns as the team's top scorer (13.4 ppg) and rebounder (6.8 rpg). Jones will surely see an abundance of double-teams and that should open up some room for freshman DeAndre Jordan. The seven-foot Jordan is one of the top recruits in Texas A&M history. At the perimeter, the team will rely on the trio of Dominique Kirk, Donald Sloan and Josh Carter. Kirk is a tenacious defender, with definite scoring ability. Sloan will move into the starting lineup now that Law is gone and he should have no problem inflating his offensive numbers. Carter is a 6-7 swingman who could really blossom this year. He averaged 11.8 ppg and 4.0 rpg as a sophomore, and he can be deadly from long range, making a school-record 86 three-point attempts last season.

The Cowboys are a contender in the Southland Conference, but to come in and knock off one of the Big 12's top teams is a little much to ask for. The Aggies, who always play tough defense at home, will have their way with McNeese State inside and should cruise to victory in this one.