Ten'll Get You Twelve
Last year's NCAA tournament told the story of the season. The Big East was so dominant that its 9th-place team, Connecticut, rolled to 11-straight wins in March to take the conference tournament and the NCAA crown (behind the stellar individual performance of Player of the Year, gKemba Walker). Great. Spectacularly entertaining. But it also says something about the overall quality of the field. Did I mention that a bubble team from the Colonial, VCU, made a run from the new "First Four" Play-In game all the way to the Final Four? How about the previous year's Cinderella national runner-up repeating its run to the final game in an even more improbable fashion? Then, there was the loaded juggernaut Kentucky, led to the Final Four by GC gBrandon Knight. A veteran superstar, a veteran blue-collar team, a team lucky to even be invited, and a superfrosh. Crazy, but it's a healthy sign that all of those different team personas were able to succeed.
This year, we're back to another two or three teams with The "U"-Word
on their minds -- going Undefeated. Start with North Carolina -- all five starters are back,
led by fHarrison Barnes, trees cTyler Zeller and cJohn Henson, and pure-passer pKendall Marshall. (What they lacked
last year was outside shooting, and they got it -- a "McAdoo" to boot!) Ohio State is back for another run,
led by cJared Sullinger, bWilliam Buford and pAaron Craft. Kentucky lost gKnight, but added four new GC players,
led by fAnthony Davis. It would be fun to watch all three of these teams try to run the table, but the Tar Heels
and the Wildcats meet (December 3rd in Lexington), so only one of those two will even get the chance.
If it weren't such an impossible ending to top, you might think that Connecticut had a chance to be better
this year with its very young team now battle tested.
The "Year After" Rule is in effect for them,
and they can certainly improve on their conference play performance from last year. (More likely, a team like Baylor
will be able to make that jump after do-everything bLaceDarius Dunn's departure.)
Duke has a lot riding on its new GC star, gAustin Rivers; (with three brothers on the roster this year,
you might as well refer to it as "Plumlee U"). (Last year, pKyrie Irving stepped into a team with veteran stars
and thrived; this year, besides gSeth Curry, gRivers will have to make them great all by himself right away.
That's a tough ask.)
Having five returning starters can be a double-edged sword. You should be able to hit the ground running to start
the season, for sure, but it's sometimes easier to improve when there's new blood pushing for its place in the lineup.
Which way will Vanderbilt, Missouri, Memphis, Central Florida (now featuring two "Jordan"s) and Nevada go?
Or would you rather have no returning starters? Who knows what's in store for Texas, St. John's and Illinois?
The Mid-Majors look to be strong this year (and their lead teams play each other quite a bit). Last year, the Mountain West
stepped up to play at a true BCS level with two powerhouse teams whose Sweet 16 finishes were underachievements. Alas,
after the best season in school history, everyone at San Diego State has departed; and BYU (with superstar pJimmer Fredette
gone) has itself departed from the MWC altogether. BYU is now a member of the West Coast (with Gonzaga, St. Mary's
and Santa Clara); it's the WCC's turn to try and rise to a BCS-calibre season. Xavier (led by All-America pTu Holloway)
figures to have a strong season for the Atlantic 10. Memphis has everybody back (and more) to lead Conference USA.
The Colonial (George Mason [now led by ex-Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt], Old Dominion, not to mention VCU) is solid.
The Horizon is in good shape with Butler, Detroit and Cleveland State.
In 1BC land, there are only a handful of teams that seem
capable of making a splash at season's end. Belmont (Atlantic Sun), Harvard (Ivy) and Long Beach State (Big West) have
veteran teams that have the talent to make some noise.
It's just the first year of a multi-year process -- call it the "Great Conference Migration" --
but the conference landscape is going through a tumultuous change. The main driving force is non-BCS teams' wanting in
on an automatic qualifying path to the big football payoffs. (Utah left the Mountain West for the new Pac-12
this year; Pittsburgh and Syracuse are leaving the Big East for the ACC next year.) The other driving force was Texas'
power play to forge its own individual TV network deal (in the mold of Notre Dame) and then its demand of more than
an equal share of Big 12 revenues. That's sending teams packing from the Big 12 (Colorado to the Pac-12
and Nebraska to the Big 10 this year; Missouri and Texas A&M to the SEC next year.)
For now, not too much has changed ... except even more conference names don't match their head count! The Big "12"
only has 10 members this season. The Big "10" is up to 12 teams (in a single-division alignment
for basketball). [The Atlantic 10 is still setting the standard with 14 members.] The Pac-12 will
align as a single division for basketball. For this season also, the SEC has decided to align as a single division
(even though the scheduling still reflects the old "East"/"West" divide -- great news for Alabama).
The annual coaching shuffle has some interesting faces in new places. Paul Hewitt was fired from Georgia Tech, but is now
in a better position taking over at George Mason; Jim Larranaga (ex-George Mason) has a veteran squad to work with
at Miami(Florida); ditto for Frank Haith (ex-Miami[Florida]) in as the new coach of Missouri; Mike Anderson (ex-Missouri)
is back at Arkansas (after John Pelphrey was fired); Sydney Johnson (ex-Princeton) has a good team to lead at Fairfield;
Geno Ford (ex-Kent State) is now at Bradley (after Jim Les was fired).
(Brian Gregory [ex-Dayton] has his work cut out for him at cupboard-bare Georgia Tech;
ditto for Cuonzo Martin [ex-Missouri State] who has to clean up the mess Bruce Pearl made at Tennessee; Mark Turgeon
[ex-Texas A&M] doesn't have much to work with at Maryland [after Gary Williams retired]; Mark Gottfried [former Alabama]
has a total rebuild as well at N.C. State [after Sidney Lowe's disappointing tenure]; Lon Kruger [ex-UNLV] is starting
from scratch at Oklahoma [after Jeff Capel III was fired]; Ron Hunter (ex-IUPUI) tries his luck at Georgia State
[after Rod Barnes was fired].)
New coach Bryce Drew takes over at Valparaiso (for dad Homer, who retired); Mitch Henderson takes over at Princeton;
King Rice now heads Monmouth; Paul Lusk leads Missouri State.
Not much on tap this first week of the season.
({Morehouse College} lost by 24 to sorry Georgia last week; what will happen when they visit mighty Kentucky (Monday)!!??.)
North Carolina and Michigan State play Friday on an aircraft carrier (to celebrate Veteran's Day)! More interesting
will be Duke hosting Belmont (Friday) and Vanderbilt hosting Oregon (Friday).
(ESPN's 24-hour TIP-OFF MARATHON is still a week away [overnight next Monday and all day next Tuesday]. Lots of headliner teams will be on display throughout the day.)
We're on the road to New Orleans this year, folks.
(In Atlanta, this year, we get the ACC TOURNAMENT (/PHILIPS/) and the NCAA EAST REGIONALS (/GADOME/) -- a dream set up for local North Carolina fans. I need tickets!)
-- Ron
Meet The New Boss*
Belmont nearly ruined the party for Duke and Mike Krzyzewski (and ESPN), falling just short of a huge upset, 76-@77, at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The follow-up (@96-55) rout of (still reclassifying) {Presbyterian} was the 902nd career win for Coach K, tying Bob Knight for the all-time record. (Tuesday's CHAMPIONS CLASSIC matchup with the aforementioned MichSt Spartans [as part of the TIP-OFF MARATHON] is still on track to be the record-breaking game.) For the long term, the Blue Devils will have their hands full keeping up with the Tar Heels behind just the young backcourt of gSeth Curry and GC gAustin Rivers (16p each vs the BU Bruins) and all those fM.Plumlees up front.
Renovations to Pauley Pavilion have UCLA playing all of its home games this year either at the L.A. Sports Arena
or the Honda Center in Anaheim. So far so bad. Despite a frontcourt most would envy (fReeves Nelson and twin transfers
[ex-UNC] fDavid Wear and fTravis Wear), the UCLA Bruins were humbled "at home" by Loyola Marymount, @58-69.
(And the LMU Lions are no world-beaters, mind you -- they lost next time out at home to Middle Tennessee, @51-58.)
Vanderbilt looked pretty good holding off a solid Oregon team [last year's CBI champ], @78-64, behind its dynamic duo,
gJohn Jenkins(24p) and xJeffery Taylor(21p11r4a). But then, Cleveland State came to Nashville and led wire-to-wire
on the road, handling the Commodores, 71-@58. The Vikings are a prime example of the "Year After" Rule,
having lost only 40p20r-man xNorris Cole from last year's conference tri-champ. But it's really even more than that,
though, because they've welcomed back former star bD'Aundray Brown(18p8r), who missed last year with a medical redshirt.
(Coupled with Butler's 77-@80(OT) stumble at state-rival Evansville, a shift of power in the Horizon may be well on the way
this season.)
CSU's win over Vandy was technically just a "WarmUp" game in the LEGENDS CLASSIC. The pre-set semifinals still slate
Vanderbilt vs N.C. State on Saturday in East Rutherford (opposite Texas-Oregon State) while Cleveland State is relegated
to the pre-set consolation round-robin Friday week at Rhode Island (along with Hofstra and Boston University).
And it's the same for Akron, which won at Mississippi State, 68-@58, in the "WarmUp" round of COACHES VS CANCER.
MissSt still gets to face Texas A&M on Thursday in New York (opposite St. John's and Arizona) while the UofA Zips go
to Valparaiso (along with Duquesne).
(The "Rich Stay Rich" while the "Poor Stay Poor" with this kind of guaranteed strength-of-schedule arrangement
[and guaranteed RPI advantage come tournament selection time] that makes you want to ... Occupy something!)
Pittsburgh has found a new star in 5-11 pTravis Woodall -- (25p10a6r and 17p10a7r in two games, @89-56 over Albany and @86-78 over Rider). Likewise, pMark Lyons(22p6a7r stepped it up for Xavier (@74-63 over Morgan State) while pTu Holloway sits out an NCAA suspension. Transfer (ex-Rutgers) gMike Rosario(19p) is already fitting in nicely at Florida (@99-59 over Jackson State). pEric Atkins(27p6a) starred for Notre Dame (@80-67 over Mississippi Valley State) in the absence of tTim Abromaitis (NCAA suspension). bDominic Cheek(27p6r) and cMouphtaou Yarou(24p10r) were both much improved in Villanova's @106-70 win over Monmouth.
It's one of the busiest weeks of the season with many Thanksgiving tournaments getting into the thick of things --
(not to mention ESPN's 24-hour TIP-OFF MARATHON [overnight Monday and all day Tuesday]).
Ohio State and Florida meet once again in the GS-A SHOOTOUT feature game on Tuesday (but both teams start the year
less intimading than last year). The new CHAMPIONS CLASSIC (Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, Michigan State) will feature
the same four teams in a double-header format for the next 3 years (New York City this year, Chicago next year,
Atlanta the year after) -- Tuesday's edition features the expected coronation of coach Mike Krzyzewski
as the new all-time leader in career wins. Louisville's visit to Butler (Saturday) has lost some of its luster
(but, then again, last year's UofL rout of BU wasn't much of a predictor of their postseason fortunes.)
The PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF semis and finals on Friday and Sunday (hopefully Temple-Purdue, and then -Alabama) should be
top notch. The COACHES VS CANCER semis and finals on Thursday and Friday aren't bad (Texas A&M-Mississippi State,
@St. John's-Arizona). CHARLESTON's semis and finals, also Friday and Sunday, don't hold as much hype
(at best VCU-Georgia Tech vs LSU/Tulsa). Belmont gets another shot at an upset, visiting Memphis (Tuesday)
in another MAUI WarmUp. Marquette doesn't figure to have any trouble in PARADISE (against Mississippi, Virginia,
Drexel) from Friday through Monday week.
The rest of the schedule is either early round WarmUp or round-robin mismatches
(LAS VEGAS-THANKSGIVING INVITATIONAL [North Carolina, UNLV], HALL OF FAME [Kentucky], NIT TIP-OFF [Syracuse],
PHILLY [Pittsburgh], GS-B INVITATIONAL [Louisville], CHICAGO [Wisconsin], MAUI [Duke, Michigan, Memphis, UCLA],
CBE [Notre Dame, Missouri, California], LEGENDS [Vanderbilt, Texas], SOUTHWEST [Arkansas], HOOSIER [Butler, Indiana],
SPARTAN [Michigan State], SOUTHWEST [Arkansas], CANCUN-THANKSGIVING [Illinois], GS-D CLASSIC [Cincinnati, Marshall],
GS-E/DALE HOWARD [Iowa, Creighton] and SOUTH PADRE [Providence, Northern Iowa]
or consolation round makework games MAUI (Belmont, at Middle Tennessee) and COACHES VS CANCER (Duequesne, at Valparaiso).
Lots to pick from. Choose your viewing time wisely.
-- Ron
* - ["-- Same as the Old Boss." -- The Who]
WxSE
Sorry for the delay. Email problems. (If I was in the middle of a conversation with you, I'll pick up where we left off once I've recovered my Inbox and Address Book.)
What a week for the SEC -- make that "what a week for the SEC West"! Not only did two teams
from the same conference's "division" win holiday tournaments -- Alabama(PUERTO RICO)
and Mississippi State(2KS-COACHES VS CANCER) -- but three teams claimed the top three spots
in the BCS Football Standings -- (LSU, Alabama and Arkansas)!
The Crimson Tide used a physical defense to rout Maryland(62-42) and hold off Wichita State(70-60) and Purdue(65-56) --
smooth halfcourt offense is still to come, though. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs took full advantage
of their pre-set semifinal berth in New York, handling undermanned Texas A&M[playing without injured fKhris Middleton](69-60)
and Arizona(67-57) -- [Akron flopped in its consolation games, anyway, falling 59-@62 at Valparaiso and 76-81 to Duquesne.]
The SEC is off to a great start in the preseason. Kentucky took care of Kansas, 75-65, in its CHAMPIONS CLASSIC pairing,
and beat Penn State(85-47) and Old Dominion(62-52) in the feature matches of the HALL OF FAME TIP-OFF in Uncasville, CT
(with one more round-robin game to go) -- gDoron Lamb(26p vs the Nittany Lions) is doing the heavy lifting early
as the young freshmen haven't quite been instant superstars just yet. Vanderbilt gets a surprise opponent
in the LEGENDS final in Oregon State [which knocked off Texas, 100-95(OT), in a superstar shootout
between the Ducks' tJared Cunningham(37p9r;20/23ft) and the closest thing to gKemba Walker so far this year,
the Longhorns' bJ'Covan Brown(25p9a6r6to)].
Duke's 74-69 win over Michigan State in the CHAMPIONS CLASSIC gave coach MIKE KRZYZEWSKI the record for MOST CAREER WINS ALL-TIME (903 and counting), surpassing his former mentor, Bob Knight. Among the coaching giants at the top of the list, Adolph Rupp(Kentucky) and John Wooden(UCLA) dominated their eras with the best players around and no real comparable rival in their way. Dean Smith(North Carolina) and Bob Knight(Indiana) came in at the tail end and were contemporaries throughout. Mike Krzyzewski had those two at the start and the likes of Jim Calhoun(Connecticut) and Roy Williams(North Carolina) at the end ot contend with. Smith, Calhoun, Williams and most certainly Krzyzewski all had top-flight blue chip players to work with. Knight -- [as much as I don't like his personal style] -- stands apart from all of the others in my mind as having done more with far less talent. How many of his players became NBA stars compared to all of the others?]
Ohio State beat Florida State in the feature game of the GS-A SHOOTOUT for the second year running, @81-74 this time,
behind 21p6r from bWilliam Buford; the Buckeyes were outrebounded 25-34 but made their way at the free throw line
(27/34 to the Gators' 13/21).
Long Beach State pulled off a shocker, knocking off Pittsburgh on the road, 86-@76, behind 28p6a
from pCasper Ware -- [but the 49ers couldn't keep it going, falling 73-@77(OT) at San Diego State later in the week].
Kent State was a surprise road winner at West Virginia, 70-@60. Still reclassifying {Presbyterian} won
at Cincinnati, 56-@54.
Louisville kept struggling Butler struggling, with a road rout: 69-@52 (even playing without pPeyton Siva[ankle]).
Memphis crushed the upset hopes of visiting Belmont, @97-81, as the Bruins couldn't keep pace with the three-guard attack
of bWill Barton(23p5r), bWesley Witherspoon(22p5r) and pJoe Jackson(20p7a).
xShabazz Napier had a triple-double (22p13a12r) for Connecticut against Coppin State (but its still gJeremy Lamb[25p1a] who's the No.1 scoring threat). pJ'Covan Brown is trying to do it all for young Texas, (and nearly did against Rhode Island: 35p6a6r). Freshman pKevin Pangos hit 9 three-pointers for Gonzaga against Washington State, finishing with 33p6a in his first start. bJohn Shurna had 37p7r for Northwestern in the CHARLESTON semi vs LSU [and the Wildcats went on to take the crown, 80-73 over Seton Hall (despite 32p8r from fHerb Pope)].
Marquette, paced by bJae Crowder on offense, has routed the field in PARADISE so far. They've already whipped their surprise final opponent, Norfolk State, once on the mainland. MAUI has the deepest field of all of the preseason tournaments (Duke, Memphis, Michigan and Kansas plus UCLA, Georgetown and Tennessee) -- it's no automatic win for the Blue Devils. A supportive crowd should push Syracuse past Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech [and Stanford] in the NIT TIP-OFF; the same should go for Missouri past Notre Dame and California [and Georgia] at CBE in Kansas City. Not even a home crowd will help UNLV upset North Caroilna at LAS VEGAS-THANKSGIVING (and woeful South Carolina has already lost at home to Tennessee State). No one in CHICAGO should trouble Wisconsin. Illinois (CANCUN-THANKSGIVING) and Providence (SOUTH PADRE) shouldn't have any trouble, either. Villanova should have its way in 76/ANAHEIM, but ATLANTIS (Connecticut, Florida State) and OS/ORLANDO (Indiana State, Minnesota, Fairfield) aren't quite so certain.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
-- Ron
Fair To Middlin'
Except for a couple of Christmas events -- DIAMOND HEAD (Xavier's to lose) and LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS (Baylor's to lose) --
we're done with the major preseason tournaments. As expected, the BCS leagues grabbed the lion's share of the titles,
but the Mid-Majors and 1BCs were able to claim a healthy third or so of the crowns as their own.
The biggest result of all was UNLV's stunning home-away-from-home win over No.1 North Carolina, @90-80, in the final
of the LAS VEGAS-THANKSGIVING INVITATIONAL at Orleans Arena. Yes, when he left for Oklahoma, Lon Kruger left
a solid, veteran Runnin' Rebels team for first-year coach Dave Rice to work with; but the experienced Tar Heels
should have been able to handle this game. Instead, they couldn't stop the threes from falling (13)
and couldn't match them with their own (4); worse, UNC looked helpless and down right panicky as it was
unable to turn the game around in the second half. xChace Stanback(28p10r) and xMike Moser(16p18r6a) did
anything they wanted.
If Roy Williams expects to make it to the Final Four with this squad, he's going to have to make dramatic changes this year
just like he did last year. cJohn Henson and cTyler Zeller on the court together are too stiff and it's not worth it
if they aren't going to dominate the boards (which ain't happening so far). Better to platoon those two at center
and put both freshmen fJames Michael McAdoo and gP.J. Hairston on the floor to improve the overall athleticism ...
and even then, everybody has to play a lot better individual defense than they've shown so far.
So one shot at an undefeated season never really got rolling. That leaves two more juggernaut clubs who still have
a reasonable chance at making an extended run at it. For Ohio State, hosting Duke (BIG 10/ACC) on Tuesday
is the big hurdle; a road game at Kansas next week isn't as scary as it might have been in years past; the Big 10 has been
strong in the preseason, so the conference schedule is more dangerous after all than it looked at first glance.
After UNC at home this week, Kentucky has the one tricky grudge game at Indiana next week; but after that,
the big road games in the SEC don't come until the second week of February -- they could easily still be
undefeated by then.
The BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS in the Bahamas was supposed to finish with a showdown between last year's national champ, Connecticut, and a Sweet 16 Florida State. Well, they did meet, but they were playing for third place. (UConn won, 78-74(OT), behind 26p5a6to from pShabazz Napier.) The championship game wound up as Central Florida vs Harvard. It was UCF that handed the Huskies their first loss since last February, 68-63, as pMarcus Jordan had 20p7a7r and bKeith Clanton had 20p6r while UConn couldn't hit from outside (2-for-18 on three-pointers). Meanwhile, the Crimson's physical defense and deliberate offense barely allowed the Seminoles to score at all. (It was 7-0 after the first nine minutes and 14-14 at halftime as FSU had shot 27% and had no players in double-figures in the 46-41 Harvard win. More stifling D from the Ivy Leaguers in the final as they won, 59-49, holding CFla to 33% overall, 1-for-11 on threes.
Duke scrapped its way to the MAUI crown, knocking off Tennessee (77-67), Michigan (82-75; limiting the Wolverines to just 6/9 on free throws) and Kansas (68-61; harassing gTyshawn Taylor into 1 assist/11 turnovers while Blue Devil reserve gTyler Thornton hit two big 3s late in the game). This isn't the prettiest or smoothest Duke team, but they had just enough streak shooting from the outside and just enough banging big men inside to claim the victories. A juggernaut they're not.
On neutral ground, Marquette had a much tougher go of it the second time around against Norfolk State in the PARADISE JAM
final. The Golden Eagles had won @99-68 a week earlier at home on the mainland, but it took bJae Crowder's game-winner
to survive 59-57 in St. Thomas. Wisconsin had no trouble winning CHICAGO, trouncing Bradley 66-@43 in the semis
and BYU 73-56 (behind 7 threes from gBen Brust). Vanderbilt needed a game-winner from gBrad Tinsley to beat
Oregon State 64-62 in the LEGENDS final in East Rutherford. The Atlantic 10 pulled off a couple of shockers --
St. Louis won 76/ANAHEIM (hitting 14 threes to knock off Villanova 80-68 in the semis,
and shooting 60% overall to beat Oklahoma 83-63 in the final); Dayton was the surprise winner of OS/ORLANDO
(beating Fairfield 56-49 in the semis, and Minnesota 86-70 in the final [behind 12 threes and 15 steals]). Iowa State
and Northern Iowa both went 4-0, thanks to SOUTH PADRE's pre-set final pairings (as both handled Providence
and Rice) -- those two will settle the score between them on Wednesday at ISU in their annual state-title grudge match.
Illinois won in CANCUN (70-61 over Richmond and then 63-59 over Illinois State). Murray State made a mark for 1BC-land
with three thrillers at GREAT ALASKA (64-@62 over host {{Alaska-Anchorage}}, 70-67 over San Francisco, and then 90-81(2OT)
over Southern Mississippi as MSU's iIsaiah Canaan[36p8r] out-dueled SMU's gAngelo Johnson[29p3a]).
At home-away-from-home, Missouri was mighty impressive at CBE in Kansas City (routing Notre Dame @87-58 in the semis
and California @92-53 in the final) -- the Tigers were stronger and quicker to the ball on defense and offense
against their overmatched opponents. Less spectacular was Syracuse, once again taking advantage of home-state support
in New York City at the NIT TIP-OFF (beating Virginia Tech @69-58 and then athletic Stanford @69-63).
The round-robin showcases were mostly foregone conclusions -- Louisville (GS-B) didn't exactly blow out Ohio University
(@59-54); Indiana (HOOSIER) did blow out struggling Butler (@75-59); Michigan State (SPARTAN) wasn't bothered
by Milwuakee (@68-55); Pittsburgh (PHILLY) edged La Salle (@73-69), pounded Penn (78-@58) and handled Robert Morris (@81-71).
Mid-Major Creighton (GS-E/DALE HOWARD) had no trouble at Iowa (82-@59) or at home over Campbell (@104-81;
shooting 70%, getting 31p11r from xDoug McDermott; despite 29p14r from xEric Griffin); likewise,
Marshall (GS-D) won 73-@69(OT) at Cincinnati. Houston, Oakland and Arkansas each went 3-1 overall and split 1-1 with each
other to share billing as SOUTHWEST champs. Toledo was the road winner of UTPA (including 64-@54
over host Texas-Pan American).
The consolation round-robins are only of note when Unwelcome Guests were able to spoil the party for the hosts --
Cleveland State (LEGENDS Cons A) won at Rhode Island (67-@45); George Washington (CBE Cons A) drubbed Bowling Green (77-@56);
South Dakota State (CBE Cons B) won at Mercer (74-@61).
The final tally is 6 crowns for the BIG 10, 4 1/3 for the SEC, 4 for the BIG EAST and 3 for the A-10. The BIG 12
and MVC (1.5) as well as C-USA and SUMMIT (1 1/3) managed multiple showings. Beyond that, it's the MWC, IVY, ACC, A-SUN,
OVC, HORIZON, PAT and MAC all with one each. Shut out were the PAC-12, WCC and COLONIAL.
You might expect the conference CHALLENGES to follow the same show of strength. The ACC is in decline --
8 out of 12 coaches have been there less than 3 years; everybody's rebuilding their program (but don't worry --
Pittsburgh and Syracuse come next year, with Connecticut and Rutgers possibly to follow). It might be as bad as 10-2
in favor of the BIG 10 this year. The MVC may edge the MOUNTAIN WEST 5-3. With some strong teams not playing,
the BIG EAST looks to go to wire 6-6 against the SEC in the newly expanded format.
Duke has its work cut out for it on Tuesday trying to hand No.1 Ohio State its first (only?) loss, in Columbus to boot. It's good that North Carolina has something prove when it travels to Kentucky (Saturday) -- it'll need a huge effort to derail the UK U-train. Go with the home team in a tightly refereed game when physical Marquette visits physical Wisconsin on Saturday in a Top-10 clash with state supremacy on the line as well. Xavier (Monday at Vanderbilt, Saturday vs Purdue) and Gonzaga (Wednesday vs depleted Notre Dame, Saturday at Illinois) both have a big week coming up.
(Notre Dame's season appears to be a lost cause after tTim Abromaitis injured his knee in practice and is out for the season.)
-- Ron
Meeting At The Summit
If the national championship game in March is anywhere near as good as Saturday's showdown between Kentucky
and North Carolina at Rupp Arena, we'll be oh so lucky. The Tar Heels didn't hold up their part to make this officially
#1 vs #2, but they sure played like it on the court. The flaws they'd shown before this (even in their ACC/BIG 10 struggle
to beat Wisconsin at home, @60-57, earlier in the week) were gone -- they hit from outside (11-for-18 on threes),
they guarded individually, and they held their own on the boards. UNC led by nine, 34-@25, in the first half; but young UK
hung in and gradually took control down the stretch. Even then, it took a blocked shot in the closing seconds
by Wildcat freshman 6-10 cAnthony Davis on 6-10 cJohn Henson to preserve the 73-72 UK win. Beyond the 34-14 difference
on points in the paint, Kentucky's edge was having more players who could take their man off the dribble. North Carolina
probably can't play much better than this -- (you can't expect that kind of outside shooting from them every night);
but Kentucky can still get a lot better offensively with more team-oriented offense. Here's hoping we get a rematch
in New Orleans. (With this game behind them, the "U"-word is a real possibility for this Kentucky squad.)
That game was so impressive from both squads that it pushed Ohio State's @85-63 massacre of Duke to second billing.
The Buckeyes led 11-0 at the start, were up 47-28 at halftime, and cruised home to victory.
21p8r from fJared Sullinger and 20p5r from bWilliam Buford paced OhSU; 22p from gAustin Rivers led the Blue Devils
(who were only 3-for-15 on threes).
The BIG 10, in fact, dominated the ACC head-to-head, 8-4, as Michigan State routed Florida State,
@65-49 (behind 16p5a10r from xBrandon Wood); Purdue handled Miami(Florida), @76-65; and Northwestern throttled
host Georgia Tech, 76-@60 (behind 25p8r from tJohn Shurna). A bright spot for the ACC was Virginia's upset
of Michigan, @70-58.
Even without the likes of Marquette and Villanova participating, the BIG EAST crushed the SEC head-to-head, 8-4 as well.
tHollis Thompson's game-winning-three-pointer shocked host Alabama as Georgetown stole a 57-@55 victory on the road;
Syracuse held off Florida at home, @72-68; and Louisville got the game-winner from pPeyton Siva
in its thrilling @62-60(OT) win over Vanderbilt.
The marquee games went the way of the MVC over the MWC, but things wound up tied 4-4 after all was said and done.
Wichita State pounded giant-killer UNLV, @89-70, (behind 31p5r;8-for-9 on threes from bJoe Ragland);
Creighton came back from 17 down on the road to win 85-@83 at San Diego State (thanks to 25p12r
from xDoug McDermott).
Elsewhere, Marquette outlasted host Wisconsin, 61-@54, in a brutal defensive struggle for state supremacy (and Top-5 status
to boot). The nation's best backcourt belongs to Xavier as pTu Holloway and pMark Lyons staged come-from-behind wins
at Vanderbilt, 82-@70(OT), and vs Purdue, @66-63 (after trailing by 19). Like Kentucky, low assist totals
(8 and 9) mean the guards did all the work themselves with individual scoring ability -- that's a great quality to have
in the short run, but it'll get you in trouble relying on it over the long run. Baylor and its huge front line man-handled
finesse Northwestern, 69-@41, (shooting 60% while holding the Wildcats to 24% shooting);
new-look Illinois handled same-old-same-old Gonzaga, @82-75.
You knew it wouldn't last (but you at least thought it could last longer than a week!): St. Louis fell to Loyola Marymount,
68-@75; Marshall lost at home to Ohio University, @68-70; and Dayton lost to Buffalo at home, @55-84,
and then again on the road at splash-worthy Murray State, 58-@75. (Let's hear it for the Ivy League, as Columbia claimed
an Unwelcome Guest crown over host Loyola Marymount in the 3-day round-robin CENTENNIAL CLASSIC in Los Angeles.)
Kentucky (Saturday at Indiana) and Ohio State (Saturday at Kansas) have trap road games that could possibly derail the "U"-train (but won't); Harvard and Connecticut get the meeting they missed at ATLANTIS in Storrs (Wednesday); it's the BIG 5 Game of the Year on Saturday as Temple hosts Villanova. Beware Greeks bearing gifts -- dangerous visitors come to town: Long Beach State at Kansas (Tuesday) and at North Carolina (Saturday), Marshall at Syracuse (Tuesday), Oakland vs Michigan (at Auburn Hills, Saturday), Iona at Marshall (Sunday) and Murray State at Memphis (Sunday). Unfortunately, the events at Madison Square Garden all look to be mismatches: JIMMY V (Marquette over Washington, Missouri over Villanova) and CQAP (Duke over Washington, Pittsburgh over Oklahoma State).
-- Ron
P.S. Look for the official invitation for the 5th Annual Pigskin Pool Party (Ron's College Football Bowl Season Pool) shortly.
Twits
Once again, the Basketball Gods have been appeased -- both Kentucky and Ohio State went down, leaving no more unbeaten teams
with a credible shot at running the table. (Neither a collection of GC All-Stars nor a quality team [that isn't as good
as last year's squad] belongs on that short list of Undefeated National Champions.) It's probably good news for the Wildcats
in the long run, but it's a heartbreaker in the short run as unbeaten Bluegrass rival Indiana sank UK, @73-72,
on a buzzer-beater three-pointer from bChris Watford(20p5r). Kentucky still needs a lot of work on team offense --
maybe this will make the players wake up to realize they have some things to work on.
Kansas' @78-67 win over Ohio State was mostly due to the fact that the Buckeyes' cJared Sullinger sat out with back spasms.
(It's one thing to skip the Texas-Pan American game, but missing the game against the JayHawks is a major worry -- who knows
when it might happen again down the line?) Without the big man in the paint, KU shot 58 percent from the field
while OhSU only shot 39 percent. For a no-name squad, Bill Self's squad is doing just fine, thank you.
They missed each other in ATLANTIS, but Connecticut handled Harvard pretty comfortably at home, @67-53.
The BIG 10 got a couple of great one-man-show performances: Michigan State's gDraymond Green had 34p
(on 11-for-13 shooting) to lead a 74-@67 road win at splashless Gonzaga; meanwhile, Wisconsin's gBen Brust
had 27p; 7-for-7 on threes) to lead a @62-51 win over giant-killer UNLV.
The ATLANTIC-10 had a strong week: Dayton beat Alabama, @62-54, (on 61 percent shooting); St. Joseph's upset
Creighton, @80-71, behind 29p5a from 5-11 pCarl Jones (despite 26p10r from xDoug McDermott); and Temple
took control of the BIG 5 race with a @78-67 win over Villanova, thanks to 32p6r from bRamon Moore (as the Wildcats
shot 3-for-20 on threes).
The PAC-12 was down: Arizona lost at Florida, 72-@78(OT); and Washington lost twice in New York City, 77-79 to Marquette
in the JIMMY V CLASSIC (on bJae Crowder's game-winning three-pointer), and 80-86 to Duke in the CQAP CLASSIC.
Murray State struck a blow for 1BC-land, controlling Memphis on the road, 76-@72 (despite 27p
from fWill Barton); and Marshall furthered CONFERENCE USA's woes with a road loss at Syracuse, 56-@62.
Things are thinning out for the next two weeks. Illinois and UNLV fight it out to stay in the rankings on Saturday; Texas A&M (with fKhris Middleton back) hopes to make its mark on the season against Florida in the ORANGE BOWL CLASSIC (Saturday); Gonzaga and Arizona try to avoid another blemish in the BATTLE IN SEATTLE (Saturday); Belmont tries to win at Middle Tennessee for the second time this season on Tuesday.
-- Ron
P.S. Don't forget: the deadline for this year's Pigskin Pool Party (Ron's free College Football Bowl Season Pool) is THIS SATURDAY, 17-DECEMBER (2PMet).
Not So Wonderful
UNLV proved it wasn't just a one-hit/hometown wonder by beating Illinois in Chicago, 64-@48, holding the Illini
to 25 percent shooting. 7-1 Kansas State added to slumping Alabama's troubles with a @71-58 win
in Kansas City.
So far, there's enough ball to go around (in the backcourt, at least) for Florida -- the Gators routed Texas A&M
in the ORANGE BOWL CLASSSIC behind the triumvirate of gKenny Boynton(22p1a), pErving Walker(16p6a)
and freshman gBradley Beal(16p). (If UofF can consistently involve its frontcourt players, we're talking Final Four.)
Texas handled Temple, @77-65 -- gJ'Covan Brown (23p6to;10/21fg) is doing his best to have
a bKemba Walker-type season to lead his young teammates to a higher level of play. (It's been mixed results so far, though;
and the Longhorns have a huge test on the road at North Carolina [Wednesday].) Louisville placed seven players
in double-figures in its @95-87 HALL OF FAME SHOWCASE win over Memphis (despite 28p16r from cWill Barton) --
both teams combined for 83 free throws.
Gonzaga finally beat somebody of note -- a @71-60 win over Arizona behind 25p8r from fElias Harris --
(only five turnovers is great, but the Bulldogs won't get far on 3-for-20 three-point shooting.)
The woes continued for the PAC-12 as Oregon lost at home to solid Virginia, @54-67, while Washington managed
to get blown out at home, @73-92, at the hands of 7-4 South Dakota State. (Ugh! At least, Oregon State,
Stanford and California have come through the preseason with impressive records.)
Indiana State finally made a splash this season with a road win
over underachieving Vanderbilt, 61-@55. (The Commodores have fFestus Ezeli back, but he hasn't made the instand difference
they were expecting. They already have three home losses this season.)
5-6 Butler took the first step towards salvaging a bust preseason with a @67-@65 win over Purdue
in the CROSSROADS double-header in Indianapolis. (The Bulldogs have it even tougher this week with road games
at Gonzaga [Tuesday] and Stanford [Thursday].) Middle Tennessee paid back its earlier double-OT home loss with a @65-62
home win over stumbling Belmont.
Baylor can only damage its reputation if it fails to dominate the LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS CLASSIC (West Virginia, St. Mary's, Missouri State) [Monday, Thursday-Friday]; likewise for Xavier at the DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC (Long Beach State, Kansas State) [Thursday-Friday, Sunday]. Illinois probably isn't ready to deal with Missouri in Thursday's BRAGGIN' RIGHTS game. Georgetown hosting Memphis (Thursday), Creighton hosting Northwestern (Thursday) and UNLV hosting California (Friday) are the kind of games that will have you on the outside looking in come bubble time for the loser.
Happy Holidays, everybody!
-- Ron
"Items May Have Shifted During The Flight"
LSU put it together after trailing 0-13 at the start to stun Marquette @67-59. Davidson pulled off a shocker, knocking off
Kansas 80-@74 in Kansas City (despite 21p18r from cThomas Robinson). North Carolina had no trouble with young Texas,
winning @82-63 behind 26p from tHarrison Barnes.
Missouri won BRAGGIN' RIGHTS over Illinois, @78-@74, in St. Louis. Creighton handled Northwestern, @87-79,
behind 27p from xDoug McDermott (despite 34p from bDrew Crawford). UNLV spanked California, @85-68.
Florida routed Florida State, @82-64. Georgetown handled Memphis for the second time, @70-59.
The headline from the preseason as a whole has to be Kentucky's classic @73-72 win over North Carolina -- as good a game
as you could want. Technically, Indiana's own @73-72 win over Kentucky tops that (on paper). UNLV's @90-80 win over UNC
in the final of LAS VEGAS-THANKSGIVING, Ohio State's @85-63 blowout of Duke (BIG 10/ACC CHALLENGE), and Marquette's 61-@54
road win and UNC's @60-57 home win over Wisconsin round out the elite results. (Kansas' @78-67 win over Ohio State gets
an asterisk since cJared Sullinger didn't play.)
The biggest disappoints so far are the complete flop of UCLA (and the failure of the PAC-12, in general, to make any kind
of mark), the struggling preseason of veteran Vanderbilt and the inability of veteran Belmont to break through
from 1BC-Land (only to be outshown by the likes of Harvard). Butler and VCU figured to have a letdown
after last year's whirlwind NCAA tournament runs (but both have started to play better of late). The ugly brawl
between Xavier and Cincinnati (CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT) was the low point of the season.
The ATLANTIC-10's tournament performances by St. Louis (76/ANAHEIM) and Dayton (OS/ORLANDO) head the list of surprises,
along with Murray State (GREAT ALASKA). Marquette (PARADISE), Mississippi State (2KS/COACHES VS CANCER), Georgetown,
Kansas State and Virginia have all been better than expected. Oregon State, Ohio University, Iona (and even Georgia State)
are all having unforeseen success.
Shocking splashes came from Davidson (80-@74 over Kansas), Central Florida (over Connecticut in ATLANTIS),
LSU (@67-59 over Marquette) and Wagner (59-@54 over Pittsburgh).
We haven't seen any particular individual emerge as the frontrunner for Player of the Year. The elite teams are sharing
the load more than usual so far. No one GC player has been far and above all the rest, either.
There may have been some shifting among the main contenders from the start of the season; but, mostly, we're still where
we were at the beginning: North Carolina, Kentucky and Ohio State still remain the teams to beat on the road
to the Final Four.
Here's how the conferences look after the preseason:
Indiana's stay at No.1 will likely come to an end this week. You can't expect the Hoosiers to win both at Michigan State
(Wednesday) and at home against Ohio State (Saturday) as well (and they might not win either one). Louisville also has
a rough week: at home vs Georgetown (Wednesday) and at Kentucky (Saturday). Wednesday's SHOWCASE in Dallas
(Baylor vs Mississippi State) should be a great matchup of athletes in the paint (but MSU's pDee Bost may be
the best player on the floor). Don't expect Vanderbilt to cure what ails it at Marquette (Thursday); same for Gonzaga
at Xavier (Saturday) -- both home teams are coming off losses with lots to prove. Wichita State hosts Creighton
(Saturday) in a big early showdown in the MVC.
South Dakota State can get the early jump on the SUMMIT race with home wins over IPFW (Wednesday) and Oakland (Friday).
-- Ron
P.S. Have a safe and Happy New Year!
(Second) Season's Greetings
In leftover preseason matchups, Kentucky handled Louisville, @69-62, behind 24p19r
from freshman xMichael Kidd-Gilchrist -- and the Wildcats still aren't anywhere close to being an efficient offensive team.
Before things got started, Vanderbilt's road blowout of Marquette, 74-@57, wouldn't have looked out of place; but the way
those teams performed the first two months makes it a surprising result now. Maybe the Commodores have finally put things
together now that they're at full strength; the Golden Eagles' lack of a true post player didn't hurt them earlier,
but they may no longer be able to hide that vulnerability. Baylor escaped @54-52 over Mississippi State at THE SHOWCASE
in Dallas in a hideous game from both teams. Once again, gPierre Jackson saved the day at crunch time, making
the game-winner on a drive to the basket. Gonzaga kept Xavier in the doghouse, winning 72-@65 on the road, thanks to
20p10r from cSam Dower. Solid New Mexico held off St. Louis, @64-60.
In the inexplicable category: Florida couldn't put away Rutgers on the road, losing 83-@85(2OT)
as pElijah Carter(31p7a) outshone gKenny Boynton(26p). 7-7 Princeton managed to win at Florida State,
75-@73(3OT), behind 25p15r6to from cIan Hummer and 25p0a from gDoug Davis.
The last round of showcase tournament produced three non-BCS Unwelcome Guest winners: Wagner[NEC] beat Air Force and then
host Santa Clara, 64-@62 to take the CABLE CAR crown; Colorado State[MWC] beat host UTEP, 56-@53, en route to winning
the SUN BOWL; and San Jose State[WAC] beat host Seattle in the ELGIN BAYLOR final.
Wisconsin tries to get back on track at home against streaking Michigan State (Tuesday). Marquette needs to regroup
in a hurry: it visits Georgetown (Wednesday) and Syracuse (Saturday). Kansas State has a big week ahead: visiting Kansas
(Wednesday) and hosting Missouri (Saturday). Michigan visits Indiana (Thursday) and hosts Wisconsin (Sunday). Dayton hosts
St. Louis (Wednesday) and visits Temple (Saturday). Indiana State gets its turn to make a mark at Northern Iowa
(Wednesday) and vs Missouri State (Saturday).
A big shakeup is in store one way or another in the PAC-12 as California and Stanford each visit Oregon State and Oregon
(Thursday, Saturday and Sunday).
(Georgia State gets to prove whether its 9-3 start is for real on the road at George Mason [Saturday].)
-- Ron
Marq'ed Down
Duke fell on the road at Temple, 73-@78 (as the Owls' gKhalif Wyatt had 22p5s)
and needed 14-for-14 free-throw shooting from tRyan Kelly(21p5r) to escape with a 81-@74 win in Atlanta
against lowly Georgia Tech. The Blue Devils' backcourt is supposed to be their strength, but they are far from dominant
on the perimeter.
Missouri finally tasted defeat for the first time, and did so in a big way. Kansas State (fresh off its own 49-@67 loss
at Kansas) turned the tide on the Tigers with a @75-59 home win. Louisville stumbled at home, @65-67(2OT)
against feisty Notre Dame.
Mississippi State dropped its conference opener, 88-@98, at Arkansas. Florida turned in an even more puzzling performance,
losing 56-@67 at reconstructed Tennessee. Purdue couldn't keep a good thing going, falling 45-@65 at Penn State.
Harvard lost 54-@60 at lowly Fordham. (The Crimson won't see the rankings again this year, but don't forget
about their first-round splash potential come tourney time.)
Towson set a new Division I record for consecutive losses (35 and counting) when it fell 38-@75
at Old Dominion.
On the up side, West Virginia's tough preseason schedule finally paid dividends with a @74-62 win over Georgetown
(as gTruck Bryant[25p1a] and cKevin Jones[22p16r] both played well in the same game for once).
12-3 Iowa State got off to a 2-0 start in the BIG 12 with a @77-71 win over Texas and a 74-@50 drubbing
of slumping Texas A&M (behind tRoyce White's triple-double: 10p18r10a).
Northern Iowa sewed up this year's IOWA BIG 4 title with a 83-@68 win at Drake. Oral Roberts is already 6-0 in the SUMMIT
with wins over Oakland (89-@80) and second-place South Dakota State (@97-75).
California, Stanford, Oregon State and Oregon all split 1-1 with each other, including Stanford's wild 103-@101(4OT) win
at Oregon State. Surprising Colorado leads the PAC-12 at 3-0 thanks to a @87-69 routh of Washington. (The Buffaloes run
the gauntlet on the road in northern California this week, though.)
The closest thing to a Player of the Year performer so far this year has been xDoug McDermott of Creighton -- he put up
44p8r on 18-for-23 shooting in a 92-@85 win at Bradley. (But no one team has taken early control
of the tough MVC race.)
George Mason won 63-@54 at Old Dominion and @61-58 vs Georgia State in what qualifies as The Game of the Year
in the declining COLONIAL.
Baylor's unbeaten record will be in jeopardy with two huge road games: at Kansas State (Tuesday)
[and at Kansas (Monday week)]. Count on Extreme Payback when Ohio State gets to host Indiana on Sunday. Duke could be
ripe for the picking if Virginia can hold its nerve in Cameron (Thursday).
It's The Game of the Year upcoming on Thursday for St. Mary's when it hosts Gonzaga. If the Gaels can't win at home,
it'll be an uphill climb needing to win at Gonzaga, or likely at Creighton in BRACKETBUSTERS, or in the WCC tourney
in order to make it to the NCAAs -- but cRob Jones is outperforming cRobert Sacre and gMatthew Dellavedova is having
a better season than any of the young 'Zag guards. (GU has more on its resume and can survive a loss.)
Alabama gets to rub it in the face of visiting LSU (Wednesday) -- expect a celebration of the football national championship
during the game.
-- Ron
[P.S. In this year's Pigskin Pool Party, Ronald Days tied with the expert picks by ESPN College Bowl Mania's (Robert Smith) to take this year's title. The second straight year an "expert pick" got at least a share of the win -- it's never happened in the Hoops Contest.]
Gael Force
North Carolina managed to out-flop itself, topping its previous disastrous road loss against UNLV
with an even more pitiful performance at Florida State, getting blown out, 57-@90, as gDelvidas Dulkys had 32p
on 8-for-10 three-point shooting (while the Tar Heel team shot 4-for-21). UNC's toughness isn't
just in question -- it's non-existent (and no amount of blowouts over scrub teams will fix the problem).
Less humiliating, but also surprising were Michigan State's 74-@81 loss at Northwestern, Indiana's @74-77 loss at home
to Minnesota, and Ohio State's 74-@79 loss at Illinois as the Illini shot 60% from the floor and tBrandon Paul had
43p8r7to on another 8-for-10 on three-pointers performance. Slumping Georgetown fell @64-68 at home
to Cincinnati; Louisville was pounded 59-@90 at Providence; Michigan was routed 59-@75 at Iowa; Dayton lost 73-@81
at St. Bonaventure as cAndrew Nicholson had 30p13r; and Seton Hall slipped up 55-@56 at South Florida.
Ohio State paid back its earlier road upset by hammering Indiana, @80-63, behind hot shooting from gLenzelle Smith Jr. (28p7r;10/12fg). Baylor stayed unbeaten with a tough 75-@73 road win at Kansas State (despite 30p6r from bRodney McGruder). Duke held off Virginia at home, @61-58. Connecticut regrouped at home to handle West Virginia, @64-57 as tJeremy Lamb had 25p8r (and, more importantly, cAndre Drummond added 20p11r inside).
Syracuse has a better shot at staying undefeated longer than Baylor. The Bears visit Kansas (Monday) and host Missouri
(Saturday) [and thanks to the new balanced scheduled in the BIG 12 this year, they'll have to face both of them back-to-back
again next month]. The Orange face Pittsburgh at home (Monday) and Notre Dame on the road (Saturday) [and the top BIG EAST
teams are all spinning their wheels at the moment]. It'll be a disappointment if Murray State doesn't make it all the way
through its OVC schedule until its home BRACKETBUSTERS game in February game (where either Wichita State, St. Mary's
or Long Beach State will come calling).
Vanderbilt finds out if its resurgence is for real at Alabama (Thursday) and vs Mississippi State (Saturday).
New Mexico gets both San Diego State (at home, Wednesday) and UNLV (away, Saturday). Washington can take control
of the PAC-12 race if it can sweep California (Thursday) and Stanford (Saturday). Kent State has a tough road double:
at Ohio University (Wednesday) and at Akron (Saturday). The Battle of West Virginia, WVU vs Marshall at Charleston
(Wednesday), has more juice than usual this year.
In 1BC showdowns, SOUTHERN: Davidson hosts College of Charleston (Thursday); PATRIOT: Lehigh hosts Bucknell (Wednesday);
BIG SOUTH: UNC-Asheville hosts Coastal Carolina (Tuesday); NORTHEAST: Wagner hosts Long Island (Saturday);
and SWAC: Texas Southern hosts Mississippi Valley State (Saturday).
-- Ron
Burned
Florida State proved it was no One-Hit Wonder with a stunning 76-@73 win at Duke on bMichael Snaer's game-winning three.
Don't forget this squad has three starters back from last year's Sweet 16 run -- it's the home loss to Princeton
that's the anomaly, not these big time wins over the ACC elite. Give 'em full credit this week for one of the top wins
of the season (but be on the lookout for any signs of turning back into a pumpkin against the also-rans).
tRodney McGruder had 33p8r for Kansas State in its @84-80 win over Texas.
Mississippi State beat Vanderbilt, 78-@77(OT), on bDee Bost(24p5r4a)'s game-winner, but that was
after the Bulldogs lost on the road at Ole Miss, 68-@75. Alabama dropped a pair: @59-69 vs Vandy, and 71-@77 at Kentucky.
New Mexico couldn't handle either San Diego State at home (@70-75) or UNLV on the road (63-@80). Surprisingly, it was
3-4 Washington State (not 5-2 Washington) who swept Stanford (@81-69) and California (@77-75); but Cal beat Washington,
69-@66, in what was supposed to be the PAC-12 first-half showdown. Dayton crushed Xavier, @87-72, to take the lead
in the A-10. The top teams in Conference USA can't seem to sort things out -- all they've done so far is trade
squeak home wins: Central Florida beat Memphis, @68-67, on tKeith Clanton(23p8r)'s game-winner
and Southern Mississippi beat Marshall, @67-63.
Davidson trounced College of Charleston, @87-69, behind 29p14r from cJake Cohen.
Bucknell won at Lehigh, 68-@61, to take control of the PATRIOT race. Long Island won at Wagner, 73-@66, to take over
the lead in the NEC.
The SEC pulled off two midseason interconference wins: 9-10 Tennessee upset Connecticut, @60-57, and young Arkansas held off Michigan's comeback, @66-64.
It's already midway through conference play for a some of the MM and 1BC leagues. Creighton and Wichita State have opened
a THREE-GAME GAP on the rest of the MVC. Valparaiso and Cleveland State lead Butler, Youngstown State
and Milwaukee in the HORIZON. Iona leads the METRO ATLANTIC. Murray State is unbeaten inside-and-outside the OVC
with a two-game gap.
Oral Roberts is undefeated in the SUMMIT with South Dakota State hanging on for second. George Mason leads
the COLONIAL, but Drexel, VCU and Old Dominion are right behind tied for second (and Georgia State is still in contact
in fifth). Despite losing at home, @88-93, vs Charleston Southern, UNC-Asheville leads the BIG SOUTH ahead of Campbell
and Coastal Carolina. Long Beach State is undefeated in the BIG WEST with a gap. So too is Weber State
undefeated in the BIG SKY.
Boston University and Stony Brook lead Vermont in the low-down AMERICA EAST.
Two teams heading in opposite directions clash Thursday when rising Wisconsin hosts falling Indiana.
Harvard's toughest game for the rest of the season is Friday (at Yale). Middle Tennessee's gaudy record (18-2) will be put
to the test when it visits Vanderbilt (Saturday). Iowa State's terrific point-forward pfRoyce White has it all
on his shoulders (Saturday) when Kansas comes to town. Under-the-radar N.C. State can join the conversation
with a couple of wins: at North Carolina (Thursday) and vs Virginia (Saturday). It's more fun on the C-USA merry-go-round
on Saturday: Memphis hosts Marshall; Central Florida hosts Southern Mississippi.
Ball State can seize control of the MID-AMERICAN if it can conquer its toughest week: vs Akron (Tuesday)
and at Ohio University (Saturday). Bucknell can open a gap in the PATRIOT with a home win over American (Wednesday).
It's the WAC Game of the Year on Thursday when Nevada travels to New Mexico State. Stony Brook hosts Boston University
(Friday) in a fight for first place in AMERICA EAST. Mississippi Valley State's toughest SWAC game is Monday
at Texas Southern.
-- Ron
Guard-Happy
Point-forward pfRoyce White(18p9r5a) controlled things well enough for Iowa State to hand Kansas a @72-64 defeat -- it may not come together completely this year, but the Cyclones could be something quite special with him as the focus. 25p12r from cRicardo Ratliffe wasn't enough as Missouri stumbled on the road at Oklahoma State, 72-@79, thanks to 27p from freshman tLeBryan Nash. Kansas State was tripped up at home by Oklahoma, @60-63, thanks to 30p from gSteven Pledger. Wichita State fell out of first place in the MVC, losing 86-@93(3OT) at Drake. San Diego State fell back into a tie for first place in the MWC after getting blown out at Colorado State, 60-@77.
Massachusetts claimed a share of the A-10 lead with a @72-59 win over St. Louis. Likewise, Southern Mississippi co-leads
C-USA after handling Central Florida, @78-65.
And pause to give a hand to Towson, which ended its D-I record 41-game losing streak with a @66-61 win
over UNC-Wilmington.
More conferences made it the midpoint of the regular season. Ohio State and Michigan State led the BIG 10
(with two head-to-head clashes yet to come); Michigan and Wisconsin were tied for third; Purdue was fifth.
Syracuse led the BIG EAST with Marquette alone in second; Notre Dame, Georgetown and South Florida were all tied for third;
West Virginia, Louisville and Cincinnati tied for sixth place. California and Washington shared the PAC-12 lead; Oregon
and upstart Colorado tied for third; UCLA, Stanford and Arizona hung in, all tied for fifth.
In the SUN BELT, Middle Tennessee made it through undefeated with a two-game gap. In the WCC, St. Mary's
was unbeaten ahead of Gonzaga. Davidson had been undefeated with a THREE-GAME GAP in the SOUTHERN,
(but gave one back with a 74-@77 loss at Samford).
Bucknell's @67-61 win over American made it undefeated with a two-game gap in the PATRIOT.
Likewise, unbeaten Nevada had a two-game gap lead in the WAC. In the ATLANTIC SUN, Belmont and Mercer
shared first place. Norfolk State led the MEAC, undefeated with a gap.
Ohio State has a tough trip on the road at Wisconsin (Saturday). Kansas visits Missouri (Saturday) with first place in the BIG 12 on the line. Florida State gets another chance to prove it's really the best ACC team when Virginia comes to visit (Saturday). Florida hosts Vanderbilt (Saturday) in a battle to hang on to second place in the SEC. Memphis hosting Xavier (Saturday) looked a lot better on paper when the season started than it does now that the game is upon us. Southern Mississippi looks for payback against visiting Memphis (Wednesday) in a showdown for first place in C-USA. Only the winner remains in first place in the METRO ATLANTIC when Manhattan hosts Iona (Saturday). Texas-Arlington hosts Texas-San Antonio (Wednesday) in the first of two meetings with first place in the SOUTHLAND at stake.
-- Ron
Phrases
It's been smooth sailing for undefeated Kentucky through the SEC schedule so far. UNLV's 66-@68 loss at Wyoming
left San Diego State alone in first place halfway through the MWC race. In the A-10, Temple and La Salle led at the break,
ahead of a four-way tie for third place.
At midconference, Akron led the MAC East (and overall); Texas-Arlington(SOUTHLAND), Utah Valley(GREAT WEST)
and Mississippi Valley State(SWAC) were all undefeated with a two-game gap over the rest of the field.
Kentucky hosts Florida (Tuesday) in a classic battle of bigs vs smalls. Ohio State has the first of two showdowns with Michigan State (at home, Saturday). Syracuse hosts Georgetown (Wednesday). Baylor couldn't handle the Kansas-Missouri double the first time around -- let's see if they've learned anything for the return gigs this week (Wednesday and Saturday). UNC hosts Duke (Wednesday) and Virginia (Saturday). UNLV gets its shot at redemption (and first place) when San Diego State comes to town (Saturday). Creighton gets to open a lead on Wichita State head-to-head (Saturday). Even a win over St. Mary's (Thursday) won't be enough to get Gonzaga back in the WCC race -- the 'Zags need help. Central Florida's best shot to get back in the C-USA race is this week: vs Marshall (Wednesday), at Southern Mississippi (Saturday).
-- Ron
One Moment In Time
Baylor did even worse the second time around against the BIG 12 co-leaders: 7-0 fJeff Withey had 25p5r6to
as Kansas won going away 68-@54; then Missouri shot 14-for-28 on threes in its @72-57 blowout win. Murray State
finally gave into the pressure of staying undefeated, falling @68-72 at home to Tennessee State (despite 31p
from gIsaiah Canaan). Florida State gave back its edge in the ACC with a sorry 60-@64 loss to 8-17 Boston College.
Florida was still hung over from its loss to Kentucky when it fell for the second time to Tennessee, @70-75.
Creighton's slump had already started with a loss at Evansville, 57-@65. Southern Mississippi gave back its lead in C-USA
with a road loss at UAB, 61-@71 -- (while Memphis beat the same Blazers, @79-45, to pull into a tie for first place).
Temple's @85-72 win over Xavier (thanks to 30p from gRamone Moore) didn't have the national implications
that were anticipated at the start of the season (but it did set up the Owls alone in first place in the competitive A-10).
tIan Hummer(20p9r6a) keyed Princeton's @70-62 upset of Harvard -- the first home win for the Tigers over a nationally ranked team since 1977 [#2 Notre Dame -- an awesome game; I was a freshman.] (The Crimson still has a one-game lead over Yale just past midconference, but one more slip-up and it'll be in a playoff scenario for the second straight season.)
Valparaiso's 59-@41 win completed the sweep of Cleveland State and suddenly it's the Crusaders in the driver's seat
of the HORIZON race. Loyola(Maryland) pulled into a tie for the MAAC lead with an @87-81 win over Iona (despite
22p16r5to from cMike Glover). Vermont is in a virtual tie for the AMERICA EAST lead after its @68-49 drubbing
of Stony Brook.
Hats off to UNC-Asheville -- the Bulldogs (thanks to their fine backcourt of pMatt Dickey and pJ.P. Primm) are
the first team to clinch their conference regular season title, opening a FOUR-GAME GAP in the BIG SOUTH
with only three games left to play.
Louisville's 6-game BIG EAST win streak is on the line (Monday) when it hosts Syracuse. Michigan State (Thursday
vs Wisconsin) and Ohio State (Saturday at Michigan) try to beat back the suitors and keep the BIG 10 race all to themselves.
Baylor tries to re-establish some cred with two home games (Monday vs Iowa State, Saturday vs Kansas State). New Mexico gets
its shot to take control of the MWC when it visits San Diego State (Wednesday) and hosts UNLV (Saturday). George Mason
and VCU try to sort things out atop the COLONIAL (Tuesday).
In BRACKETBUSTERS, the shine has come off its matchup with St. Mary's now that Murray State is no longer undefeated;
Wichita State at Davidson may be an even better game. (A win probably secures an NCAA bid for either team;
for everyone else, a win isn't a bid but a loss means the Bubble or worse.) Plunging Creighton (vs Long Beach State
and [pCasper Ware]) and Cleveland State (vs Drexel) can't afford to lose at home. Don't miss Iona's pScott Machado
or Weber State's pDamian Lillard.
It's Charlie Brown and the football once again on Saturday -- don't expect Clemson to break its 0-55 streak
in Chapel Hill at North Carolina.
-- Ron
(c) 2011-12 Ron McBay
www.ronmcbay.us/HLS
ron@ronmcbay.us