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The preseason favorites in two western conferences bump heads on Monday (midnight ET) when San Diego State plays 14th-ranked Gonzaga on the Bulldogs homecourt in Spokane, Wash.Three things make that game look like a major challenge for San Diego State, the preseason favorite in the Mountain West Conference.First of all, the Aztecs were not particularly impressive in their 69-59 season-opening win at home against the University of San Diego, which was picked to finish last in the West Coast Conference.More significant is the fact that San Diego State may be missing some of the same players who were held out against San Diego. Four regulars sat out that game with injuries, the most important being returning starter Malik Pope, who reinjured his knee before the Aztecs exhibition game.I dont know if well have any of the guys who were unable to play today, San Diego State coach Steve Fisher told the San Diego Union-Tribune after Fridays win. Youd have to say questionable, maybe highly questionable.Last, but not least, is the fact that the game will be played at the McCarthey Athletic Center, a 6,000-seat horror house where the Bulldogs are 163-13 since it opened in 2004.Gonzaga is again the preseason favorite to win the West Coast Conference title, but four starters, including Kyle Wiltjer and Domantas Sabonis, are gone from last seasons NCAA tournament team.The Bulldogs restocked with two transfers from Pac-12 schools -- Jordan Mathews from Cal and Nigel Williams-Goss from Washington. Both were in the starting lineup in the Bulldogs 92-69 victory over Utah Valley in their opener. Also in the starting lineup was 7-foot-1 Przemek Karnowski, who missed all but the first five games last season because of a back injury.Perhaps all the new parts led to the Bulldogs struggling against Utah Valley despite the lopsided score.Its not going to be picture perfect the first time out, but I was happy with how we competed, said Williams-Goss, according to the Spokane Spokesman-Review.Silas Melson led Gonzaga in scoring in the opener with 17 points, followed by Mathews, who had 16 points and hit four 3-pointers. Williams-Goss and Karnowski had 14 apiece in the typical Gonzaga balanced scoring.Utah Valley coach Mark Pope figures its just a matter of time before the Bulldogs get things in order.That is a great team, and theyre going to be way better than this in four months, Pope said, according to the Spokesman-Review. They did a great job with their length, challenging at the rim, and being disciplined to stay out of help and staying with shooters.The fact that Gonzaga had three players 7 feet or taller get playing time in the opener may be a bit intimidating for San Diego State.The Aztecs certainly need to start off better against Gonzaga than they did against San Diego, when they trailed by nine points in the first half.We came out, and we were so excited and so pumped up to play, said junior Trey Kell, according to the Union-Tribune. We just had to come back to Earth and play our normal game.The Aztecs return five of the seven players who started at least 16 games on last seasons San Diego State team that won the conference regular-season title by three games but failed to reach the NCAA tournament.Kell, the teams leading scorer last season, had 23 points in the opener, and Jeremy Hemsley, the No. 2 scorer a season ago, was the teams top scorer with 25. John Havlicek Celtics Jersey . -- The plastic that was taped across the lockers in Oaklands clubhouse came down and the champagne that was on ice went back into the cooler. Paul Pierce Jersey .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. http://www.celticssale.com/kids-danny-ainge-celtics-jersey/ . -- Stanford squashed Oregons national championship hopes again, schooling the Ducks in power football. Jaylen Brown Jersey . A knee to the thigh might have stung him the most, but his sixth straight double-double made up for the brief burst of pain. Larry Bird Jersey . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif. Clemson faces a very different kind of challenge less than a week after defeating Louisville in what might go down as the best game of the college football season.Tigers coach Dabo Swinney might have to tell his players to B.Y.O.E to Boston College on Friday night: Bring your own energy. Literally and figuratively, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, is a long way from Death Valley.Each game is very exciting, Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson said. You only get 12 opportunities to play. You work so hard over the offseason and throughout the week preparing for those 12 Saturdays. Each game is very special. Each game is a championship game for us.The Eagles (3-2, 0-2 Atlantic Coast Conference) should have their largest crowd of the season by far after averaging 23,465 at Boston College Alumni Stadium, capacity 44,500, for their first two home games. And its a Red Bandanna game at BC. The Eagles uniforms will be trimmed in a red bandanna theme to honor Welles Crowther, a former BC lacrosse player who was killed in the south tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001. That should help inject some juice into the stadium.Fortunately for BC, it does not have to go head-to-head with the Red Sox playoff game against the Indians in Cleveland on Friday afternoon. That should be close to wrapping up when the Tigers and Eagles kick off at around 7:30 ET. Still, Boston College has lost 10 straight conference games, so it is understandable if a visit from the No. 3 team in the nation produces more dread than excitement among Eagles fans.The Eagles three wins have come against Massachusetts, Buffalo and Wagner. The best team they have played so far was Virginia Tech, and they lost 49-0. Clemson (5-0, 2-0) is another level up.The issue youre going to have is youre just playing against some of the finest players in the country, BC coach Steve Addazio said. Thats the issue youre going to have. Therere no weaknesses.The Tigers won last seasons meeting 34-17 and Watson threw for 420 yards. As has been the case the last couple seasons at BC, the defense is solid but there is just not much offense. The Eagles rank first in the ACC in yards per play allowed (3.53) and second-to-last in yards per play gainned (5.dddddddddddd2).Some things to know as Clemson attempts to extend its winning streak against BC to six straight games:ROAD WARRIORS: Clemson has won seven straight road games, one shy of matching the school record set from 1978-79. This trip is extra tricky because the Tigers had less time to recover from that draining 42-36 victory against Louisville.Getting rest, catching up on film and taking care of your bodies, Watson said about the short work week.The last time Clemson played a regular-season Friday game was 1956 at Miami. The Tigers lost that one. The last time they won a regular-season Friday game was 1952 against Boston College.WHAT A RUSH: Clemson is third in the ACC with 18 sacks and Boston College is tied for fourth with 16.For the Eagles, defensive end Harold Landry leads with 5.5 sacks and is one of the most unheralded stars in the ACC.The Tigers have one of the deepest and most talented defensive lines in the country. Carlos Watkins and Albert Huggins are tied for the team lead with three sacks each.HOMEBOY: The best of Clemsons defensive linemen is from Massachusetts. Christian Wilkins grew up rooting for the Red Sox, Patriots, Bruins, Celtics and Boston College in Springfield.Wilkins said this week he was doing his best to trade tickets for future games with teammates to accommodate all the requests he has from family and friends. He figures he would need about 100 tickets to fill all requests.Wilkins could also be seeing more time at his more natural defensive tackle spot starting this week with defensive end Austin Bryant set to return from a broken foot. The 308-pound Wilkins was moved outside more often to compensate for the missing starter.UPSETS: The Eagles are looking for their first victory against a top-10 team since they beat Southern California 37-31 on Sept. 13, 2014, which was also a Red Bandanna game. Boston College has not defeated a top-five team since a 14-7 victory at No. 4 Notre Dame in 2002.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at www.twitter.com/ralphDrussoAp and the APs college football website at www.collegefootball.ap.org ' ' '