The '00-01 Arizona Wildcats could be one of the great teams in
college basketball. This season will be a test whether a classic starting 5 can still hold off
the win-by-attrition "starting 10" teams (Maryland,
Kansas, Illinois and
Florida). At the start of the season, there's no one player
who can single-handedly take his team to the national championship.
Kansas is off to its usual early season success. (Don't
read too much into it.) Matt Doherty's debut at
North Carolina was shaky, as you might expect. In
Utah, out Kentucky.
Most high praise to Austin Peay for their OT win over
Utah State in the final of the TOP OF THE WORLD CLASSIC.
Shout-outs to UNC-Charlotte (at NC State), Southern Mississippi (at
Arkansas) and St. Bonaventure (at Fresno State) for ruining
the showcase invitational tournaments of their hosts. At least
Wake Forest and Oklahoma
took care of their business in front of the home folk.
Arizona was mighty impressive in winning the MAUI INVITATIONAL
(over Illinois), but tainted it by losing at Purdue.
Duke came through in the clutch against
Temple in the final of the PRESEASON NIT.
Stanford's huge front line was its ticket to victory in the
PUERTO RICO THANKSGIVING SHOOTOUT. Dayton looked good
knocking off two ranked teams in MAUI. Syracuse took the
GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT by storm. Oklahoma looked solid in
winning the BIG ISLAND INVITATIONAL. Toledo knocked off
Auburn on the way to the MOUNTAIN ENERGY title.
Duke was even more impressive the second time around against
Temple. Dick Bennett resigned at
Wisconsin assured that his five-year plan has succeeded in
making them a national-calibre program. Iowa State's
claim to fame is being the first team to edge surprising
Southern Mississippi. Four years in, Lefty Driesell
finally has a team entirely of his own creation at
Georgia State.
Michigan State's star freshmen turned a solid win over
Florida into a rout in the rematch of last year's national
championship game. Wake Forest whipped up on
Kansas at home.
Seton Hall was more impressive in their first loss (in OT at
Illinois) than in any of their other wins. Welcome aboard to
the Hawkeyes and the Hoyas.
Illinois got payback against
Arizona the second time around in front of a home crowd.
Iowa outlasted
Missouri in double-OT.
Michigan State and
Seton Hall barely escaped at home over otherwise struggling
opponents Kentucky and Penn, respectively.
Stanford stole a victory from
Duke thanks to its baseline that fouled out the Blue Devil
starters. Virginia wiped out
Tennessee just like they've done to every other opponent.
Iowa State beat
Mississippi in the final of the PEARL HARBOR CLASSIC.
Cincinnati edged
Alabama to take the PUERTO RICO CHRISTMAS SHOOTOUT title.
Texas beat a tired Illinois
team on Saturday. Nebraska won 3 games at the SAN JUAN SHOOTOUT by a total of 4 points.
Georgia State "won" the round-robin format HAWAII HOLIDAY
CLASSIC.
Arizona and Maryland are
headed back to the form that was expected from them in the preseason. The minefield of
conference play has most everyone else playing hit-and-miss ball.
North Carolina won at
Duke in the first meeting this year in their annual feud to
vault to the top of the rankings. Stanford became the
final team to lose its first game of the year (at home, to
UCLA). Virginia turned
in two solid home wins (over Maryland and
Wake Forest). Teddy Dupay is back early for
Florida, but Luke Recker is now out for
Iowa. Pesky Butler
pulled off one of the biggest surprises this year with a double-digit win on the road at
Wisconsin.
Illinois took the lead in the
Big 10 with a solid home win over
Michigan State.
Iowa State's great backcourt was enough to edge
Kansas on the road to move to the top of the
Big 12. UCLA seems to
be playing more focused ball now.
Stanford avenged its only loss by winning at
UCLA. Maryland didn't
lose its late lead against Duke the second time around and
then blew away Virginia to reverse the previous result
between those two as well. Duke whomped North Carolina on
the road (after losing to them at home the first time). Lefty Driesell's
Georgia State squad was mighty impressive becoming the
first team to qualify for the NCAA tournament.