I'll confess to a great deal of pessimism heading into tonight's game. It seemed to me that UC Davis' offense was tailor-made to give the young Piggies fits; I was bracing myself for an ugly loss. Considering that, I'm pleasantly surprised not only by the win, but also the margin of victory.

I'll also confess to not paying a great deal of attention to the game: Thursday nights at Expats headquarters usually are devoted to watching "The Office" and the lovely Tina Fey's outstanding "30 Rock," and that was the case this evening.

We'll give the coveted Expats' Player of the Game Award to freshman forward Michael Sanchez, who had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. All in all, the box score indicates a somewhat ragged victory (case in point: 1-14 shooting from behind the three-point line), but to paraphrase famous Razorback fan Gertrude Stein: "A win is a win is a win." Especially when you are as young as these Hogs.

On to Springfield and Missouri State.