Hey all,Sorry for the lateness in getting this out -- the 2010-11 college basketball season officially started last Monday -- but it's been a rough summer personally. I seriously debated whether or not to scrap keeping the website and Hoops Column going this season, but it's too much a part of me for me to abandon it totally. Still, I'm not likely to be able to keep it up-to-date as diligently as I have in past years, and the columns will probably be even less timely than was already the case. But I figure a scaled-down version is better than nothing.
Hope you're all doing well. -- Ron
End Of An Era
Despite the End of the GC Era, freshmen are likely to have a disproportionately huge impact this season.
But it has more to do with a massive departure of talent from last year than a long-term trend in the sport.
From last year's entire Sweet 16, only one team -- Michigan State -- can be said of it that it didn't lose
an important lead player from a year ago. (fRaymar Morgan was a solid contributor, but his 11p6r can be easily replaced.)
You'd think that would be enough to rate them No. 1 in the preseason -- and some have -- but it says here
that Duke can handle the loss of pJon Scheyer better than you'd expect thanks to the addition
of proven-star transfer gSeth Curry (younger brother of Davidson's great Stephen Curry, and the top-scoring freshman
in the nation at Liberty two years ago) and superstar frosh point guard Kyrie Irving.
(The U-word is too much to expect when you're replacing the point,
but this Blue Devil squad has a great chance to follow Florida 2006-07 and repeat as national champs thanks to the return
of last year's Final Four Most Oustanding Player, tKyle Singler.)
Two major stars are out, at least at the start of the season. Purdue would have been Top 5 for sure
if not for tRobbie Hummel's season-ending ACL injury. Same for Baylor, but bLaceDarius Dunn is "only"
suspended indefinitely to start the season due to off-court legal problems over the summer.
pJimmer Fredette(Brigham Young), cJaJuan Johnson(Purdue), pJacob Pullen(Kansas State), pIsaiah Thomas(Washington)
and fElias Harris(Gonzaga) were break-out stars by the end of last season and should be headliners from the start this year.
Ohio State's bumper crop of freshmen (led by fJared Sullinger) should ease the loss of Player of the Year Evan Turner;
gJosh Selby should make an immediate impact at Kansas; Kentucky has replaced its entire lineup with more superfrosh
(led by pBrandon Knight); Tennessee expects a lot from fTobias Harris, as does Texas from gCory Joseph;
Florida and Illlnois have everybody back from last year, and added tons of new talent on top of that; Syracuse, Missouri,
Arizona State, North Carolina (led by fHarrison Barnes) and Memphis added a lot, but they're all replacing big losses
from a year ago.
The SEC appears to be beefed up with lots of new talent while the Big East seems to be down compared to previous years.
The Big 10, Big 12 and ACC should be fine at the top but a little weaker underneath, and the jury is out on whether
the Pac-10's last go-around in this incarnation will be a bang or a bust.
Butler may get a strong challenge from Detroit in the Horizon; the Atlantic 10 (Dayton, Richmond, Xavier)
and Mountain West (Brigham Young, San Diego State, New Mexico) still look good at the top from last season;
Murray State(Ohio Valley) appears to be the only 1BC powerhouse capable of repeating last year's success.
The big change for this season is the expansion of the NCAA tournament. Thankfully, they backed away from the ludicrous talk of 96 teams and only moved up to 68. That means the Tuesday before Round One will now be dubbed "The First Four" as four games will start out the Opening Round, featuring two 17-seed 1BC matchups and two Bubble team matchups. (I could've done without it -- in fact, I could have done without the one-off Play-In game we've had the past 10 years -- but I can live with it, I suppose.)
The football-inspired conference changes out West don't go into effect until next year.
No earth-shattering changes among the coaching ranks, either: Al Skinner(Boston College), Ernie Kent(Oregon),
Oliver Purnell(Clemson to DePaul) and Todd Lickliter(Iowa) are out; Steve Donahue(Cornell to Boston College),
Dana Altman(Creighton to Oregon) and Fran McCaffrey(Siena to Iowa) moved up; Tim Floyd(UTEP), Steve Lavin(St. John's)
and James Dickey(Houston) returned to the sidelines after being out; and former star players Fred Hoiberg(Iowa State)
and Jerome Allen(Penn) take the reins at their alma maters while ex-Razorback Corliss Williamson(Central Arkansas)
and ex-Tar Heel Jason Capel(Appalachian State) start smaller. (Former Blue Devil great Bobby Hurley will be
an assistant to brother Dan Hurley at Wagner).
ESPN's 24-hour College Hoops Kickoff Marathon starts Monday night and runs all day Tuesday.
We're on the road to Houston this year, folks.
-- Ron
Old Blood
ESPN's Larry Conley pointed out that, out of 10,000 college basketball games last year, only 12 involved a matchup of Top-10 teams. Hard to believe, but it highlighted the significance of Ohio State's visit to Florida as part of the TIP-OFF MARATHON. Can you lose the Player of the Year and be better? The answer might be "yes". The Buckeyes (with everybody back except tEvan Turner) throttled the Gators (with all five starters back), 93-@75. The replacement starter is freshman 6-9 cJared Sullinger, who may not be better overall than tTurner, but by giving them a real post presence in the paint, it makes the OSU a more balanced team than last year. (Still, winning the Big 10 TiTo with a Sweet 16 finish is no automatic feat for any team.)
Illinois figured to hit the ground running (also with all five starters returning plus some talented additions),
but last year's trouble finding easy offense is still a problem at the start of this year. Texas edged them 90-84(OT)
in the semis of COACHES VS CANCER in New York and they couldn't put away Maryland (80-76) in the third-place game, either.
Meanwhile, Pittsburgh's veteran blue-collar squad ground its way to the title, clipping the Longhorns 68-66 in the final
(thanks to the inside presence of redshirt freshman 6-9 cTalib Zanna).
Gonzaga missed the leadership of last year's lead guard bMatt Bouldin, as tSteven Gray has had to do too much in the early
going. Veteran San Diego State handled the Bulldogs in Spokane, 79-@76, in a Warmup game for the CBE CLASSIC.
Unfortunately, CBE isn't set up as a pure elimination bracket, so Gonzaga gets to play in the pre-set semifinals
in Kansas City despite the loss (while the Aztecs are relegated to the consolation round-robin hosted by Miami(Ohio)).
(Makes it a lot tougher to keep straight which is the stronger team when the loser advances [and gets to augment
its strength of schedule to boot].)
The issue for Kansas State is how will pJacob Pullen fare without his backcourtmate tDenis Clemente from last year.
So far so good (despite the bashing Bob Knight gave him on TV). The Wildcats thrashed veteran Virginia Tech @73-57
in their TIP-OFF MARATHON feature game. KSU is plenty physical inside, but outside shooting may be a problem if pPullen
struggles.
Butler couldn't handle a revamped Louisville squad, falling 73-@88. Veteran Murray State couldn't keep last year's magic going, falling badly at Mississippi, 61-@77.
North Carolina is vastly improved at one spot, small forward, with the addition of freshman 6-7 fHarrison Barnes;
but Minnesota punished them inside (winning 72-67) and Vanderbilt handled them outside (in a 72-65 win) as they dropped
two games in PUERTO RICO. The veteran Golden Gophers went on to win the crown, outlasting West Virginia, 74-70,
in the final.
Georgetown cruised to the CHARLESTON crown, with runaway wins past Coastal Carolina, Wofford and N.C. State. (Their best
win, though, was a 62-@59 dogfight on the road at tough Old Dominion.)
VCU pounded host Wake Forest 90-@69 to earn a spot in New York in the semifinals of the NIT SEASON TIP-OFF.
tLaceDarius Dunn will be back on court for Baylor this week, returning from his suspension for legal problems. Coach Bruce Pearl's problems have only just begun at Tennessee, as the SEC suspended him for the first 8 conference games (after the school barely reprimanded him at all for recruiting violations and covering them up on top of that). (The NCAA's punishment is yet to come, however.)
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!
-- Ron
Kemba Lives!
[A+ to anyone who gets that reference. -- Ron]
Kemba Walker had a tremendous week, averaging 30+ in three games at the MAUI INVITATIONAL, as Connecticut surprised
veteran Michigan State 70-67 and then ran away from young Kentucky 84-67. On paper, it seems like the Big East has lost
a lot of talent from last year, but the league has dominated the preseason so far, taking 7 tournament crowns.
(That'll be it, alas, as they don't have any teams entered in either DIAMOND HEAD
or the new CANCUN-CHRISTMAS GOVERNOR'S CUP.)
Richmond pulled off a shocker, knocking off Purdue 65-54 in the final of the CHICAGO INVITATIONAL CHALLENGE.
Notre Dame held off Wisconsin in the final to win the ORLANDO CLASSIC. St. John's made some noise,
taking the GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT over disappointing Arizona State in the final. Old Dominion was the surprise winner
of the PARADISE JAM past the likes of Clemson, Alabama, Seton Hall, and Xavier in the final.
As if pre-set semifinals wasn't annoying enough -- San Diego State went 5-0 at the CBE CLASSIC, but can claim no better
than fifth place -- now the 2x4 tournaments are proclaiming the actual fifth place finisher as the "champion
of the consolation bracket". The HALL OF FAME TIP-OFF round-robin didn't even bother to make sure all the teams played
the same number of games.
I counted five separate groups of teams all claiming to be playing in some kind of GS CHALLENGE, INVITATIONAL
or SHOOTOUT. Four groups of five teams played a four-game round-robin among themselves, and the fifth group of four
teams played three round-robin games each. (Not confusing at all!)
Only four years in, this is the final go around for the BIG 12/PAC-10 HARDWOOD SERIES. (Probably no love lost between
those two leagues after all of the membership swapping coming next year driven by football. They didn't even
seem to bother matching up placement in the standings to make the pairings like is done for the ACC/BIG 10 CHALLENGE;
all they seem to have done is repeat the same matchups from last year but swap the home team.)
The ACC has more home games in its head-to-head challenge, but the BIG 10 teams have looked better so far
this early season. Not having Missouri State makes a second straight win for the MVC over the MWC unlikely.
Kentucky vs Notre Dame in Louisville is an attractive game all on its own, but it's carrying the banner
of the SEC/BIG EAST INVITATIONAL to boot this year.
-- Ron
Challenging Days
The BIG 10 won its head-to-head CHALLENGE against the ACC 6-5 for the second straight year
(after 10 straight losses). Worse for the ACC, it was 5-2 at the top (with only Duke beating Michigan State, @84-79,
and Virginia upsetting Minnesota, 87-@79).
With its biggest preseason game behind it in the win column (and no other league team even ranked in the Top 25),
it's time for Duke to start seriously thinking about the "U"-word. (Florida '07 lost its preseason showdown
and goofed around in conference before regrouping for a TiTo repeat national title; the Blue Devils are already ahead
of that pace.)
Freshman pKyrie Irving is actually leading the way for DU. It's no coincidence
that the two most impressive first-year players so far (pIrving and Ohio State's cJared Sullinger) are also the ones
who have stepped into the situations with the most talent around them among all the newcomers.
The BIG 12 got off to a commanding 5-0 lead on the PAC-10 in its head-to-head HARDWOOD SERIES, but with Washington getting to play twice, things might actually wind up tied by the end if Stanford could pull off a road upset at Oklahoma State in the final game Dec 21st.
The MWC reversed its 5-4 loss last year with a dominant 8-1 rout of the MVC (with only Northern Iowa's road win at TCU avoiding a complete sweep).
This week's BIG EAST/SEC INVITATIONAL double-headers are highlighted/marred by virtual home games in the marquee matchups: Pittsburgh hosting Tennessee, and Kentucky hosting Notre Dame in Louisville.
-- Ron
P.S. I'll get the 4th Annual Pigskin Pool Party (Ron's College Football Bowl Season Pool) ready to accept entries next (before I get back to hoops).
Don't Look Back
At the JIMMY V CLASSIC in New York, Syracuse kept Michigan State in a funk with a @72-58 "home" win. Kansas handled Memphis 81-68 in the other double-header game.
Louisville doesn't have the star power from other years, but a solid @77-69 win over tough UNLV in the BILLY MINARDI CLASSIC
is worth taking notice. (The early season win over Butler has lost its lustre, but UofL hasn't looked back.)
Missouri pulled out an OT win at home this time, over Vanderbilt @85-82(OT). Meanwhile, Temple knocked off Georgetown
at home, @68-65. BYU pounded a talented Arizona squad, @87-65.
It's mostly showcase double-headers on tap for the week coming up.
-- 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, 18 DECEMBER 2010 (2PMet).
Holiday Hiccups
Generally speaking, these preseason hiccups don't mean a lot. Teams are looking forward to the holidays
and the upcoming conference schedule and can look past a pesky squad playing the biggest game on its schedule.
Don't read too much into those results.
More troubling, though, are the losses where you can clearly see the quality of the opponent coming. Baylor (which has
Final Four talent) couldn't handle struggling Gonzaga in front of a Dallas crowd at THE SHOWCASE, falling @64-68.
Kansas State got worse and worse as the game went on in its 44-@57 loss to Florida in the ORANGE BOWL CLASSIC;
pJacob Pullen is having a tough time being a scoring point guard and the Wildcats are absolutely horrible
on the free throw line.
Kansas barely squeaked by USC, @70-68, but the game-winning three-pointer came from freshman gJosh Selby (21p), who was making his debut after sitting out a preseason suspension.
The last four major preseason tournaments are on tap this week. No major fields, but a win is worth taking notice.
The 8-bracket DIAMOND HEAD (Washington State, Baylor, Butler, Mississippi State with newly eligible fRenardo Sidney) is
the best of the bunch. The new 8-bracket CANCUN GOVERNOR'S CUP (Southern Mississippi, Mississippi) could wind up
with an in-state final.
There are actually two tournaments going on in Las Vegas this week. The 10th annual 2x4 LAS VEGAS[-CHRISTMAS] CLASSIC
(New Mexico, Northern Iowa, Indiana) concludes at Orleans Arena on Wednesday and Thursday.
Meanwhile, the new LAS VEGAS "HOLIDAY HOOPS" CLASSIC (Miami(Florida), Rice) -- a 6-choose-4 round-robin -- features
three triple-headers at South Point Arena on Tuesday through Thursday. [Too bad my trip's still another week away!]
(Geno Auriema is far from my favorite personality, but hats off to the Connecticut women's program for tying UCLA's all-time win streak at 88 games. It's probably a better accomplishment by comparison, too. They've done it in the face of well established rival powerhouse programs [Tennessee, Stanford]. The '71-74 Bruin men didn't have rivals with national championships to their name and Hall of Fame coaches on their benches.)
Happy Holidays, everybody!
-- Ron
Big E, Mids
Oklahoma State's @79-68 win over Stanford completed an 8-4 win for the Big 12 in its final HARDWOOD SERIES with the Pac-10.
Texas snapped slumping Michigan State's home non-conference win streak with a 67-@55 road win. Tennessee continued its struggles with two more home squeakers: a @64-65 loss to USC, and a @66-65 win over a Belmont team they had beaten by 9 back in November. 7-3 Jacksonville made noise for the Atlantic Sun with a 71-@68(OT) road win at up-and-down Florida. gJacob Pullen and fCurtis Kelly sat out suspensions as Kansas State lost @59-63 to UNLV in Kansas City. Missouri won its annual split-crowd BRAGGIN' RIGHTS showdown with Illinois, @75-@64. Georgetown won going away at Memphis, 86-@69. Syracuse drubbed upstart Drexel @93-65 while Ohio State handled giant-killer Oakland @92-63.
Looking back on the preseason as a whole, gKemba Walker(Connecticut) stands head-and-shoulders above anyone else in Player of the Year consideration so far; cJuJuan Johnson(Purdue) is one of the few other veteran stars who has turned in any kind of POY-calibre performance. It's tough to classify cJared Sullinger(Ohio State), pKyrie Irving(Duke) and bJosh Selby(Kansas) as total GC players since they're all three on teams that are Top-10 even without them.
Here's how the conferences look after the preseason:
-- Ron
P.S. Have a safe and Happy New Year!
Positively Charged
As it turns out, I've seen more live college hoops games out of town than in town. I've seen Georgia Tech play, but haven't caught my usual share of Georgia State and Kennesaw State games.After a preseason of neutral-site matchups, it's on to the positively charged environments of conference play. Results that you might expect in November and December can be quite different in January and February. Pittsburgh handled Connecticut with relative easy in front of a home crowd, @78-63. Notre Dame let Georgetown shoot itself out of the game from deep in its surprising @69-55 win; but the Fighting Irish had just as much trouble on the road themselves, falling at Syracuse 58-@70. Minnesota lost two road games: 62-@71 at Michigan State, and 60-@68 at Wisconsin; but Wisconsin lost 61-@69 on the road at Illinois.
Last month, I caught Baylor-Arizona State (@68-54) in Waco -- huge front line, bLaceDarius Dunn can shoot them into or out of a game, how quickly freshman cPerry Jones III asserts his stardom will determine whether they can break through to the Sweet 16 or beyond. This past week, I was able to see UNLV at home against Central Michigan (@73-47), and St. Mary's play a home-away-from-home game in Las Vegas against Mississippi State (@94-72). [They were getting used to Orleans Arena which will host this year's WCC tournament.] The Rebels had a bad day shooting from outside, but their defense is solid -- Sweet 16, but no further. The Gaels' strength is their backcourt -- slow, but good shooters and scorers; they'll give struggling Gonzaga a run inside the WCC, but a first-round splash would be an overachievement.
Some few rivalry games are still going on. Kentucky completed the sweep of its Bluegrass Quartet rivals with an impressive road blowout of Louisville, 78-@63. The youngsters (pBrandon Knight, gDoron Lamb and fTerrence Jones) as well as senior cJosh Harrellson are coming into their own nicely.
Villanova has already wrapped up this year's Big 5 title, completing the sweep of the other D-I Phildadelphia schools with a @78-74 win over Temple. They don't play the sixth [non-BIG 5] Philly school, Drexel, though (which is a pretty good squad this year, actually.)
College of Charleston was the latest team to post a not-so-shocking-anymore upset of Tennessee, winning 91-@78 in Knoxville; but their celebration didn't last as they fell to Morehead State next time out, 49-@69.
Colorado State was the best among three 2-1 teams in the HILLTOP CHALLENGE at San Francisco (USF, Hampton); it's the Rams'
second tourney win after taking the CANCUN GOVERNOR'S CUP in December.
Didn't see it coming, but Georgia State registered an Unwelcome Guest victory, taking the DP CLASSIC crown
over host Chattanooga, 81-@76 in the final.
In some of the few remaining out-of-conference clashes, Connecticut travels to Texas on Saturday; unbeaten Cincinnati hosts
arch-rival Xavier on Thursday in the latest edition of the CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT; and Memphis gets to pile on to
careening Tennessee on Wednesday.
In conference play, UNLV hosts BYU on Wednesday in the first of this season's MWC Wars. (San Diego State and New Mexico are
also tourney-worth, and more). Cleveland State gets its chance to challenge Butler's supremacy in the Horizon League
when the Vikings travel to Indianapolis on Friday. St. John's (Monday vs Georgetown, Saturday at Notre Dame),
Notre Dame (Tuesday vs Connecticut, Saturday vs St. John's) and Georgetown (Monday at St. John's, Saturday vs West Virginia)
get double-duty this week in the rough-and-tumble Big East.
-- Ron
[P.S. Couldn't be happier that it was Stanford who stopped UConn's (admittedly great) 90-game win streak.]
Roadsick
Cincinnati posted an impressive @66-46 throttling of rival Xavier in its annual CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT before losing
for the first time at Villanova, 61-@72; cYancy Gates had been a dominating presence against a weak preseason schedule,
but he was no factor against the guard-oriented Wildcats.
9-6 Houston handed Central Florida its first loss, @76-71; but UCF (led by Michael Jordan's son,
6-3 sophomore gMarcus Jordan) is still the team most likely to knock Memphis out of the top spot in Conference USA.
Notre Dame had a good week with two home wins (@73-70 vs Connecticut, @76-61 over St. John's), but both opponents were just as impressive in other contests: UConn won a thrilling 82-@81(OT) at Texas on Player of the Year-leader gKemba Walker's game-winner; StJnU earlier knocked off suddenly shaky Georgetown @61-58. Gtown also lost at home to West Virginia @59-65.
BYU won a big early road game at UNLV 89-@77 (behind 39p5a from pJimmer Fredette, who enters the conversation
for Player of the Year with that performance); the Mountain West is too strong and deep for one win to give them "control"
of the race, but they've made the first move.
Butler was pounded at Wisconsin-Milwaukee 52-@76 but turned around and pasted Cleveland State @79-56 before finishing
the week by escaping 6-9 Youngstown State @84-79. Five teams (Butler, Cleveland State, Valparaiso, Wright State
and Detroit) are off to strong starts in league play -- the Bulldogs have their hands full trying to maintain their hold
on things in their own backyard.
Missouri State won the two toughest games on its conference schedule, 67-@55 at Creighton and 59-@56 at Wichita State,
to take an early stranglehold on the Missouri Valley race.
Austin Peay is already 5-0 with a two-game gap on the field in the Ohio Valley conference, thanks to an @86-80(OT)
win back in December over Morehead State and a 66-@64 win this week at Murray State.
Wagner struck an early blow of its own with a 63-@58 win at Quinnipiac, to get a jump in the Northeast (but Long Island
is off to a strong start as well).
American's @81-75 win over Lehigh gives the Eagles an early edge in the Patriot.
The Colonial looks deeper this year so far; Old Dominion and surprising Georgia State have continued good form
from the preseason into conference play while Hofstra and VCU have made their mark (both at the expense of Drexel).
The Atlantic Sun looks headed for another multi-team Battle Royale as Jacksonville, East Tennessee State and Belmont
have continued to look strong in league play (at the expense of Lipscomb).
It's way early, but three #1-seeds are already glaringly obvious: Duke, Ohio State and Kansas (each with cushy "2nd-" and "3rd-"round Pods awaiting them come tourney time [Charlotte, Cleveland and Tulsa]). Whoever comes out of the Big East will be the automatic fourth #1-seed, but that league is so jammed with solid teams this year that the unbalanced schedule and a favorable draw will have more to do with who emerges as regular season and tournament champ this year than any clear-cut determination of the best squad -- a non-bye Big East team could easily still be strong enough to reach the Final Four.
San Diego State's undefeated record gets a strong test this week with a home game Wednesday vs UNLV and a road game Saturday at New Mexico. St. John's has two big home games (Wednesday vs Syracuse, Sunday vs Notre Dame) that might finally get a national bandwagon going for them -- (remember coach Steve Lavin is legitimately good and he has his so-so personnel overachieving big time). Tennessee's 8-game stretch without coach Bruce Pearl got off to a rocky start at Arkansas (65-@68), but at least the Volunteers get two games at home this week (Tuesday vs Florida, Saturday vs Vanderbilt).
-- Ron
[P.S. In this year's Pigskin Pool Party, the POINT SPREADS
from USA Today wound up doing a better job picking the bowl games
than any of the actual contestants -- first time an "expert" entry has outdone everyone in either the PPP
or Hoops Contest.
Yours Truly finished an agonizing second by just one tiebreaker point in the highest scoring Pool
of its young 4-year history.]
"Durham, We Have A Problem."
San Diego State remained unbeaten after surviving at home against UNLV, @55-49, and then handling New Mexico on the road,
87-@77. (The first of their two big regular season showdowns with BYU, is still another week away.)
Villanova handled Louisville, @88-74, to remain unbeaten in Big East play. (The Wildcats have two big road games coming up:
Monday at Connecticut, Saturday at Syracuse). Texas A&M still only has one loss as well after a thrilling @91-89(OT) win
over visiting Missouri.
Road blues hit the likes of Notre Dame (lost 57-@79 at Marquette, 54-@72 at St. John's), Purdue (lost 67-@70 at Minnesota,
64-@68 at West Virginia) and Illinois (lost 55-@57 at Penn State, 66-@76 at Wisconsin); but all three get two big games
at home this week.
Surprising Colorado went to 3-0 in the Big 12 after a road win at Kansas State, 74-@66, and a home squeaker
over Oklahoma State, @75-71.
Below the rankings, Southern Mississippi got its biggest win of the season, @86-69 over Central Florida. The same goes
for Duquesne (3-0 in the Atlantic 10) after a @78-66 win over Temple. Utah State stayed unbeaten in the WAC, brushing back
Boise State on the road, 68-@59.
Belmont continued to pound Atlantic Sun pretenders with two more drubbings, @88-52 over Lipscomb and @90-55 over Campbell --
their closest league game so far (after an 8-0 start) is a 17-point road win at Stetson;
if second-place East Tennessee State can't stop them at home on Sunday, the Bruins may well run the table in conference.
Morgan State stayed unbeaten in the MEAC with a @78-72 win over Hampton. Texas Southern knocked off Jackson State, @66-62,
to take an early lead in the SWAC race.
Syracuse and Villanova have it rough this week with two Top-10 matchups: on Monday 'Cuse travels to Pittsburgh
while 'Nova visits Connecticut; then those two clash with each other on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Texas hosts
hot Texas A&M on Wednesday and then travels to Kansas on Saturday.
Good Grief! It's time for Charlie Brown, Lucy and the football again -- Clemson has one of its best chances to break
its oh-for-Chapel Hill streak (0-54 and counting) on Tuesday when it visits struggling North Carolina.
-- Ron
Self-Spoilage
Having twin power forwards (fMarcus and fMarkieff Morris) is the ultimate redundancy and very definition of depth, which is Kansas' best asset. The Jayhawks crushed Baylor, 85-@65, on the road while manhandling the tallest front line in the nation; and it looked like business as usual when the Jayhawks bolted to an 18-3 lead five minutes into the game against visiting Texas. But the Longhorns' individual stars took over as gJ'Covan Brown (23p) led the way to a stunning 74-@63 upset in Lawrence, snapping KU's 69-game home win streak. UTx's earlier @81-60 drubbing of Texas A&M set it up for sole possession of first place in the Big 12 at 4-0.
27p16r from freshman cJared Sullinger kept Ohio State's undefeated season intact in its 73-@68 road win
at Illinois. Meanwhile, Michigan State fell twice on the road: 62-@71 at Illinois, and 76-@86 at Purdue.
Washington pulled away from Arizona, @85-68, to stay in control of the Pac-10 race.
Stumbling against unheralded opponents: Kentucky (66-@68 at Alabama), Louisville (67-@72 at Providence), West Virginia
(@71-@75 in its annual State Title game with Marshall in Charleston, WV). UNLV was drubbed at home
by Colorado State, @63-78. Colorado's week in the sun faded with two road losses: 67-@79 at Nebraska
and 60-@67 at Oklahoma.
At this point, Player of the Year is a two-man race. Do you like gKemba Walker's game-winning tear drop field goal to cap his 24p5a6r performance as Connecticut beat Villanova (@61-59) or gJimmer Fredette's 42p burst in BYU's 94-@85 win at Colorado State? gWalker is arguably doing it against better competition night-in/night-out in the Big East, but the top of the Mountain West is as good as any league (and gFredette tore up the NCAAs last year just the same).
UConn's @72-61 win over Tennessee (with coach Bruce Pearl back on the bench against a non-conference opponent) helps
cement the Big East's reputation as the nation's best conference. Meanwhile, Vanderbilt's surprisingly easy @89-70
drubbing of St. Mary's saved face for the SEC and dealt a blow to West Coast teams looking for respect.
High-profile inter-league matchups are few and far between the rest of the way. The NCAA picked a bad year to expand
the tournament. Coincident with the strong year the Big East is having, the Mid-Majors are struggling, in general.
Two flagship Anti-Spoiler programs, Butler and Gonzaga, are fighting for their lives in conference play.
The BU-Bulldogs are tied for third in the Horizon -- they may need to rely on their win at DIAMOND HEAD (Florida State,
Washington State) to get an at-large NCAA bid. The GU-Bulldogs (aka 'Zags) are tied for third in the West Coast,
two games back of unbeaten St. Mary's (who comes to Spokane on Thursday) -- a win over Baylor is all they have
to recommend an at-large bid.
Memphis escaped with two big road wins, 76-@75 at Southern Mississippi and 76-@73(OT) at UAB, to move into a tie with UTEP
for the first place in Conference USA. The Tigers' season could be a whole lot different, though,
if not for their 8-0 record in endplay games.
It's the midpoint in conference play already for nearly half of the leagues out there. The Mid-Majors haven't resolved much
as whole. A handful of 1BC teams are playing first-round splashworthy ball (even if they don't quite have
the resume to make them can't-miss Anti-Spoilers).
Missouri State battled its way to first place in the Missouri Valley at the halfway point with its big road games all done;
Wichita State's @93-83(3OT) win over Indiana State earned the Shockers a tie for second place with the Sycamores;
Northern Iowa and Creighton may still a lot to say in the second half, though.
Belmont won at second-place East Tennessee State, 72-@62, to complete a dominant first half of its Atlantic Sun campaign
(10-0 with a two-game gap). In the Western Athletic, Utah State was undefeated at the break
(with a two-game gap). Oakland (which made noise in the preseason) has run away with the Summit League race
-- undefeated with a three-game gap at the break. In the Big South, Coastal Carolina was undefeated at the break
(with a road win over second-place Liberty in hand).
The Colonial is having a tight race. VCU and Hofstra lead George Mason by a game; but James Madison, Old Dominion
and Delaware are all only two games back, tied for fourth. (But as competitive as they are in conference, this is
a 1BC league this year.)
In the Southern Conference, College of Charleston and Wofford led Furman in the South; and Chattanooga led the field by two games
in the North. In the Metro Atlantic, Fairfield is in first place at the break (but still has two games to play
against second-place Iona). In the Northeast, Long Island is barely ahead of a pack of teams right behind.
In the America East, Maine has won at Vermont (which hosts third-place Hartford on Tuesday to close the first half).
In the Big Sky, unbeaten Northern Colorado has handled second-place Montana and third-place Montana State easily
in two home games. In the Sun Belt, Florida Atlantic is undefeated (with a three-game gap) in the East;
Denver leads North Texas by a game in the West. Tennessee State and Austin Peay lead the competitive Ohio Valley
with Murray State a game back; Morehead State heads another group one more game back in fourth.
Ohio State's unbeaten record will be tested again Tuesday vs Purdue. It's the Game of the Year (Part I) in the Mountain West on Wednesday when undefeated San Diego State visits once-beaten BYU. It doesn't get any easier for reeling Kansas State (Monday vs Baylor, Saturday at Kansas). Gonzaga gets a chance to get back in the WCC race when it hosts St. Mary's on Thursday -- and the same goes for Butler, who visits Valparaiso on Saturday. Hofstra has a big week in the Colonial (Monday vs James Madison, Thursday at VCU, Saturday vs Drexel).
-- Ron
The Fine Print
On the flip side, some teams on their way out of relevance saved their seasons with big wins:
St. John's -- that's right, eleventh place St. John's -- thrashed Duke @93-78
in Madison Square Garden behind gDwight Hardy(26p) and fJustin Brownlee(20p8r6a).
bNolan Smith(32p7r4a) and tKyle Singler(20p) are scoring and it's still not enough.
Steve Lavin's combination of smarts and charisma has the Redmen way overacheiving -- it's the same personnel
that went 17-16/6-12 last year. Not only is it yet another blow in favor of the Mighty Big East (which has every right
to all top 11 teams' receiving bids); but it knocks the Blue Devils out of #1 seed for the NCAAs (for the moment, at least),
and it's a blow against the ACC in terms of getting at-large bids. Yikes. (At least, their cushy Charlotte Pod isn't
in any danger.)
The Pac-10 race was slipping away but Washington State's @87-80 win over first-place Washington (paced by 25p
from gKlay Thompson) keeps them in the conversation in fourth place (and drops UWa into a first-place tie with Arizona).
New Mexico's win over BYU brought the Lobos back from the brink of elimination in the Mountain West race.
It's a multi-bid league, to be sure, but they've struggled all season and the likes of Colorado State look better
for the fourth spot at this point.
Notre Dame doesn't have Top-10 talent, but thanks to the brutal Big East schedule, they've had ample opportunity to pull off
major brand-name wins, most notably their 56-@51 road win at Pittsburgh (thanks to 19p7a from pBen Hansbrough) --
one of the best results of the entire season. Coach Mike Brey is pulling the right strings with this squad that's having
somewhat of a Year After effect with the departure of all-everything cLuke Harangody.
Syracuse's early season overachieving may have come to an end. The Orange were crushed, @68-90, by lowly Seton Hall
(thanks to 28p9r from tJeremy Hazell) and also fell 70-@76 at scrappy Marquette. The 2-3 zone is great
for establishing a lead, but once they get behind and need to switch to man-to-man or a press to catch up,
they're in trouble.
Xavier blew open a close game and went on to rout host Richmond, 85-@62, behind an impressive performancy
by bTu Holloway: 33p7r5a (including 17-for-17 free throws). (Still, the Musketeers only share the Atlantic 10
lead at 7-0 with surprising Duquesne. It's still another week away before those two meet.)
Lipscomb came back from down 18 at home to hand Belmont its first Atlantic Sun loss, @73-64, thanks to 26p
from nimble bear cAdnan Hodzic, earning a split in their annual BATTLE OF THE BOULEVARD [Nashville] city series.
It's still the BU-Bruins' race (and they can make a first-round splash if they can get to the NCAAs);
but the likes of East Tennessee State(tMike Smith), Jacksonville and the LU-Bison are all good enough for the NIT
if they don't spoil the party in the A-Sun tournament.
More conferences hit the midpoint of the regular season schedule:
In the Big East, Pittsburgh lead the way at the break; Louisville was second; Notre Dame was third; Connecticut, Villanova and West Virginia
were all tied for fourth; Marquette, Syracuse, Cincinnati and Georgetown were tied for seventh. St. John's struggled
to stay in contact in eleventh.
Ohio State is the last undefeated team (with a two-game gap). Purdue and Wisconsin follow second and third.
Scrappy Penn State, Michigan State and Minnesota were all tied for fourth; Illinois hung on in seventh.
BYU and San Diego State are tied for the MWC lead, with Colorado State and UNLV third and fourth; Air Force,
Utah and New Mexico are hanging on, tied for fifth.
In the Pac-10, Washington and Arizona were tied for first; UCLA was alone in third; California
and Washington State were tied for fourth.
In the West Coast:
St. Mary's leads the WCC at the break; San Francisco and Santa Clara are tied for second;
Gonzaga (in trouble in its bid for an eleventh straight conference title) and Portland are tied for fourth.
Utah State is undefeated in the WAC (with a three-game gap).
In the Atlantic 10, surprising Duquesne and Xavier are tied for first,
undefeated (with a two-game gap); Temple, Richmond and Massachusetts are all tied for third.
In Conference-USA, Memphis, UAB and UTEP were all tied for first place; Southern Mississippi was
fourth; Marshall has made noise but is only ninth. Central Florida (which started 14-0 and has since gone 0-6)
has been a complete bust in conference play.
The MAC is a muddy mess with four teams tied for first place at the break: Buffalo, Ball State, Kent State
and Bowling Green. Surprising Bethune-Cookman led Hampton and Morgan State by one game each in the MEAC.
Bucknell led American by a game in the Patriot. Long Beach State lead the way in the Big West.
Texas Southern and Jackson State were tied for lead in the SWAC.
Cleveland State can take control of the Horizon race with two big home wins this week: Valparaiso (Thursday),
Butler (Saturday) -- only a road game at Wright State looms after that.
It's the Game of the Year (Part I) in the Ivies when Princeton hosts Harvard (Friday).
Coastal Carolina can seal the deal in the Big South (and host the conference tournament) with a home win
vs Liberty (Thursday).
College of Charleston's 64-@75 loss at Davidson dropped them back into a three-way tie for the Southern Conference lead;
a couple of wins this week at home against Wofford (Thursday) and Furman (Saturday) could set them up to roll
the rest of the way to the league title. (No Anti-Spoilers -- they'll still have to win the SoCon tourney [at Chattanooga] --
but senior bAndrew Goudelock could lead them to a NCAA first-round splash win.)
Gonzaga needs every win it can get at this point, but even a win Saturday vs Memphis (RMHC CLASSIC) may not be enough
to warrant at-large consideration. (A loss could squeeze either team out of the picture in The Year of the Big East.)
North Carolina is filling the void in the ACC and could actually be relevant by week's end if it can sweep
at Boston College (Tuesday) and vs Florida State (Sunday).
-- Ron
The Curd Sinks
Princeton's front line wore down Harvard -- [that doesn't even sound right!] -- as the Tigers came back
from an early deficit to hold on for @65-61 win, taking the lead in the Ivies (5-0). They've still got a big game
hosting 3-1 Penn on Tuesday before they can truly claim the midconference lead.
The Southland is a muddy mess at the break. No fewer than 9 teams are within one game of first place
between 5-3 and 4-4.
In the Great West, Utah Valley is halfway done at 5-1, but {North Dakota} and New Jersey Tech also only have one loss
but haven't reached the midpoint of their schedules yet.
Michigan State, which started the season with five returning starters from a Final Four team, has sunk so far now
(after road drubbings at lowly Iowa, 52-@72, and Wisconsin, 59-@82) that the NCAAs are out of the picture all together.
(Maybe Georgia Tech '05 was a similar disappointment, recently -- but even that team made the NCAA second round.)
Washington sank 56-@68 at Oregon State and 76-@81 at Oregon -- its third straight road loss -- and fell to third
in the Pac-10 as Arizona and UCLA surged ahead.
Missouri State sank at Evansville (65-@77) out of first place in the MVC, leaving Wichita State to take over
the lead.
Maine sank 78-@88 at Boston University and @79-84 vs Maryland(Baltimore Count), allowing Vermont to resume the lead
in the America East.
Tim Floyd (who left USC after the O.J. Mayo scandal) has landed on his feet at UTEP, now in first place in Conference USA
at 6-2. That league may be headed for 1BC territory, though, as it has perennially chosen to skip BRACKETBUSTERS,
which may really work against it this season.
Murray State actually earned back the lead in the OVC with a 67-@58 road win at Austin Peay.
Cleveland State could only manage a split of its two big home games, a @76-65 win over Valparaiso and a disappointing @61-73 loss to Butler. The Vikings are the best overall team in the league, but they still have work to do to sew up the regular season title and an NCAA bid. Things could still go a lot of different ways for the Horizon League teams with the Missouri Valley (smarting from its wipeout loss in its CHALLENGE with the Mountain West) and the powerful Colonial (with its top teams all playing well at the right time) all needing a big showing in BRACKETBUSTERS.
If anyone can stop Ohio State's run at an undefeated season, it'll be Wisconsin at home on Saturday -- (the Buckeyes only have two road games left after that: at Purdue, at Penn State). Pittsburgh has two road games (at West Virginia, Monday; at Villanova, Saturday) threatening its gap lead in the Big East standings. It's a lot to expect for North Carolina's surge to continue with a road game at Duke (but the Tar Heels are actually better in the paint than the Blue Devils). Bruce Pearl hits the ground running on his return (at Tennessee, Tuesday; at Florida, Saturday). Xavier visits Duquesne on Sunday in a showdown for first place in the Atlantic 10.
-- Ron
Thanks From The Gods
I got to be a "guest expert" by phone on a talk radio sports show out of Tampa, Florida co-hosted by Mark Schreiber. Great fun -- [Thanks, Mark!] -- and it may be a regular gig for the rest of the season. If I'm on again, it would be a little after 10AM on Sundays. You should be able to listen online at tampa.cbslocal.com/station/1010-sports/.The Basketball Gods owe a debt of thanks to Wisconsin for its comeback home win to beat Ohio State, @71-67, handing the Buckeyes their first loss. OhSU is still the most talented team in the country, but its undefeated run owed more to this being a down year for College Basketball than all-time greatness from this squad. They may well still win it all, but no way was this team special enough to have belonged on a short list of Undefeated National Champions. (There are only seven, and it's been 35 years since the last one.) Ohio State led 47-32 in the second half, but a 15-0 run keyed by pJordan Taylor(27p7a) tied things up in the knick of time and the home crowd carried on the surge from there.
Vanderbilt posted duplicate @81-77 squeak home wins over SEC West-leading Alabama and Kentucky (thanks to 52p
from gJohn Jenkins in two games); Bruce Pearl's return to the Tennessee bench bore witness to two road losses:
61-@73 at Kentucky and 60-@61 at SEC East-leading Florida.
St. John's routed Connecticut @89-72 behind 33p from gDwight Hardy and 20p11r5a from cD.J. Kennedy;
(pKemba Walker(15p7a)'s shooting slump continued with a 4-for-16 performance). After edging Cincinnati 57-@55,
the Red Storm is now tied for fifth place in the Big East [single-bye territory for the upcoming conference tournament].
Meanwhile, Syracuse lost at home to Georgetown (@56-64) and on the road at Louisville (69-@73) to drop to ninth place
in the standings [five-day terrority].
In a game with Bubble implications, Colorado State earned a split with New Mexico, @68-62, and opened a gap on fourth-place
UNLV in the Mountain West.
Xavier's 71-@63 win (on 20p7r from bTu Holloway) at Duquesne gave the Musketeers the outright lead in the Atlantic 10,
(but the Dukes, along with Richmond and Temple, are all still only a game back with a gap on the rest of the field).
Cleveland State fell out of first place in the Horizon in a 78-@81 loss at Detroit -- but that's not the big news
of the week for this team. In its @86-76 win over Youngstown State, 6-2 xNorris Cole turned in
a 41 point, 20 rebound, 9 assist performance. (Only Oklahoma's cBlake Griffin had posted 40p20r
in the past 15 years.) The Vikings' loss was Valparaiso's gain -- they're the new league leaders.
Squeak wins continued to shape the Ivy standings: 7-0 Princeton led at the midconference break after edging Penn @62-59(OT)
and Cornell 57-@55; meanwhile, Harvard opened a gap on third-place Yale by winning @78-75. (But PU has it tougher
in the second half, having to go on the road against its top two rivals.)
Vermont is loaming over second-place Boston University in America East with a two-game gap
with two games left. Fairfield is in the same position in the Metro Atlantic, up three with three to play
on a group in second place. (But both teams are only NIT-bound if they don't win their conference tourneys.)
Montana (behind 22p13r from cBrian Qvale) returned the favor, beating Northern Colorado @55-42
(despite 22p from gDevon Beitzel), to tie things up in the Big Sky with three games to go.
Bucknell opened a gap in the Patriot standings by completing the sweep of second-place American, @66-60,
behind 21p10r from cMike Muscala. Same story in the SWAC for Texas Southern over Jackson State, 70-@67,
thanks to 22p13r from cTravele Jones.
Purdue has a big week ahead, hosting Wisconsin (Wednesday) and Ohio State (Sunday). Arizona's push for the Pac-10 title is on the line with home games against Washington State (Thursday) and Washington (Saturday). Louisville hosts Connecticut in an oddly scheduled Friday night clash.
With three extra at-large bids up for grabs this year, BRACKETBUSTERS gains more importance than ever. St. Mary's,
Utah State and George Mason have probably done enough to be Anti-Spoilers who could survive both a BB loss and a loss
in their conference tourney and still get into the expanded NCAAs. For everybody else, this figures to be a knockout game
-- especially for the upper eschelon in the Colonial (VCU, Old Dominion, Hofstra), Horizon (Valparaiso, Cleveland State,
Butler) and Missouri Valley (Wichita State, Missouri State, Northern Iowa). [We're probably down to 20 or so teams vying
for 10 soft bids at this point.]
Half of those teams will rise in esteem while the likes of Gonzaga and the top of the Atlantic 10 (Xavier, Richmond, Temple,
Duquesne) and Conference USA (UTEP, UAB, Memphis, Southern Mississippi) all stand still. [In particular, C-USA could wind up
being squeezed down to 1BC while the BB-participating leagues expand to muliple bids.]
Belmont, Coastal Carolina, Princeton/Harvard, Oakland and East Tennessee State all could have used the exposure
(if not to earn an NCAA bid, to at least build the reputation of their leagues -- don't forget, there are
4 postseason tournaments now!)
-- Ron
@Fairfield-AustinPeay(TV)
@Valparaiso-MissouriSt(TV),
@LongBeachSt-Montana(TV),
@ColofCharleston-Vermont(TV),
@Liberty-Iona(TV), @WrightSt-Hofstra(TV), @MurraySt-Evansville(BG),
@Buffalo-WIMilwaukee, @Rider-Delaware, @JamesMadison-MiamiOH, @Akron-Creighton,
@UCSantaBarbara-BoiseSt, @LoyolaIL-StPeters,
@Wofford-BallSt,
@NewMexicoSt-NoColorado,
@IndianaSt-MoreheadSt(BG), @MorganSt-VMI, @TennesseeSt-DelawareSt,
@TennesseeTech-GardnerWebb, @MontanaSt-Idaho, @CalPolySLO-NoArizona,
@Winthrop-OhioU, @WeMichigan-IllinoisSt,
@{Presbyterian}-Davidson, @PortlandSt-LoyolaMarymount,
@UNCAsheville-Northeastern, @UNCWilmington-CharlestonSo, @SanJoseSt-WeberSt, @SoIllinois-WIGreenBay,
@LouisianaTech-GeorgiaSt,
@Siena-Maine,
@OralRoberts-Pacific, @UCDavis-Hawaii, @Nevada-UCIrvine,
@BostonU-Canisius, @WeCarolina-EaKentucky, @EaWashington-CalStNorthridge,
@NoIllinois-{Seattle},
@StonyBrook-Manhattan(NY), @HighPt-AppalachianSt(NC),
@FresnoSt-UCRiverside(CA), @Drake-Detroit, @TNMartin-Bradley,
@SEMissouriSt-SacramentoSt, @YoungstownSt-BowlingGreen(OH), @IdahoSt-CalStFullerton, @Toledo-EaIllinois,
@Marist-NewHampshire, @William&Mary-Radford(VA), @EaMichigan-JacksonvilleSt, @Niagara-CMichigan, @Towson-LoyolaMD(MD);
Boilers Make The Gap
I've had a major system crash over the weekend -- on top of having to travel out of town !!! So, this week's column is only available over the web for the moment.Need further evidence that this is a down year for College Hoops? How about: Last week's Top 4 teams (and 9 of the Top 12) ALL LOST.
Best case scenario: I'll be restored to full capability sometime on Thursday.
Worst case: I don't even want to think about right now. Ugh!!!
A huge blocked shot by fDerrick Williams at the buzzer preserved Arizona's @87-86 win over Washington, and pushed them
closer to the Pac-10 title (with a Saturday trip to UCLA the final obstacle).
St. Mary's suffered its own Desperation Trail upset at 6-21 San Diego, 66-@74. Now, they've let Gonzaga
back in the WCC race (with a showdown in Moraga set for Thursday) -- GU's streak of 10 straight league titles may yet
be extended.
The BRACKETBUSTERS event lived up to its name. Utah State manhandled St. Mary's on the road, 75-@65, in the marquee game.
The Utes are still the biggest Anti-Spoiler out there, but the WAC did manage to go 8-1 overall. The Metro Atlantic posted
a 9-1 record, headlined by Iona over Liberty (77-@57), Fairfield over Austin Peay (@76-69) and Siena over Maine (@71-60).
College of Charleston (@85-70 over Vermont) and Wofford (@66-61 over Ball State) led the Southern Conference [5-0].
Even though the league was only 7-5 overall, the top of the Colonial went 5-1: including VCU's 68-@67 win at Wichita State
(on gJoey Rodriguez' game-winner), George Mason's impressive 77-@71 win at Northern Iowa and Old Dominion's @74-63 win
over Cleveland State (despite 35p5a from pNorris Cole). The Horizon [3-5] managed a couple of noteworthy results:
Valparaiso over Missouri State (@80-67) and Wright State over Hofstra (@82-56). Individually, Murray State (@72-47
over Evansville) and Long Beach State (@74-56 over Montana) impressed.
The Missouri Valley compounded its woeful 1-8 debacle head-to-head with the Mountain West in the preseason
with a 3-7 performance in BRACKETBUSTERS (including 0-6 at the top). The league is strong enough
to deserve two bids, but the teams keep blowing their chances to make to a case for it.
San Diego State has just kept on winning since its only loss of the season (58-@71 at BYU), and the Aztecs finally get
their return shot at the Cougars (who lost at New Mexico in the meantime) on Saturday. (Look for SDgoStU to get
its payback at home ... but reserve your full judgment until the inevitable MWC final in Las Vegas for the true measure
of which team is the conference's best this year.)
Wichita State and Missouri State stage their MVC showdown (in Springfield) on Saturday.
-- Ron
Bulldogs Bounce Back
Still in crisis mode with my system problems. For the past week (and a couple more days) I'm driving 80 miles round trip from Mayberry RFD just to get on the Internet!!! Too many things went wrong at the wrong moment on top of less than perfect execution from vendors I was counting in my emergency recovery plan. [I have to replace my replacement system!!! Unbelievable.]More stumbling at the top: Virginia Tech upset Duke, @64-60, as cJeff Allen(18p15r) led 5 players in double-figures. Louisville no-names won in OT at home against Pittsburgh, @62-59(OT). Texas stumbled at Colorado, 89-@91, allowing Kansas to tie for first place in the Big 12.
Utah State(WAC) and George Mason(Colonial) quietly clinched their regular season titles with comfortable wins.
The Gonzaga Bulldogs won an epic battle, 89-@85(OT), at St. Mary's and wound up sharing
their 11TH-STRAIGHT West Coast title (trailing only UCLA's 13 straight AAWU/PAC-8/PAC-10 titles from 1967-79).
Meanwhile, Cleveland State stumbled at home, @83-87, vs Wisconsin(Milwaukee),
allowing the Butler Bulldogs to earn a share of the Horizon League title (and top seed
in the conference tournament by virtue of their regular season sweep of CSU).
Missouri State won the showdown with Wichita State, @69-64, to claim the Missouri Valley title (but it's only good
for an NIT bid at this point).
Murray State won its showdown with Morehead State, @70-62, to win the Ohio Valley. Long Beach State(Big West), Bucknell(Patriot) and Florida Atlantic(Sun Belt) also clinched their regular season titles.
It's conference tournament time for half the field as mostly 1BC and a few prime MM leagues (Horizon, West Coast, Colonial)
get going this week.
-- Ron
Along with Kansas State, Gonzaga and Butler, Florida has regrouped the last few weeks to look like the powerhouse they were expected to be before the season started. The Gators blitzed second-place Alabama, @78-51, and then won at Vanderbilt, 86-@76, to take the SEC regular season title.
COLONIAL regular season gap champ [1]George Mason was blitzed, 63-@79, by [4]VCU (playing in front of a home crowd,
and reversing a @51-71 regular season home rout loss); but this multi-bid league has several splashworthy contenders
so it's no harm done in the big picture.
Harvard's @79-67 win over Princeton earned the Crimson at least a share of the IVY LEAGUE title; the Tigers can still earn
their share with a road win at Penn on Tuesday night (and force a one-game playoff [Saturday 4PM at Yale]
for the automatic NCAA bid).
In the movie Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio's character, "Jack Dawson", wins his ticket in a card game
and makes his passage under the name of the original ticketholder. As usual this year, we've got our fair share
of Jack Dawsons who've won their tickets and will go to the NCAAs
under the guise of the "proper" owners who "should have" represented their leagues.
[1]Missouri State won the regular season MISSOURI VALLEY title in its last game, a win over second-place Wichita State;
but the Bears fell in the MVC tournament final, @56-60. Meet "Missouri State" (aka [3]Indiana State),
who will represent the league in the NCAAs (while the real MoSt could very well miss the Dance).
METRO ATLANTIC regular season gap champ [1]Fairfield was blown out at home in the semis, @48-62,
by [3]St. Peter's; meet "Fairfield" (aka the SPU Peacocks).
Instead of regular season 3-game gap champ, [1]Coastal Carolina, the BIG SOUTH champ is
[3]North Carolina-Asheville, who knocked off the top seeds in their own gym, 60-@47,
in the conference tournament final.
In AMERICA EAST, regular season champ [1]Vermont was blitzed 47-69 in the semis by [5]Stony Brook; meet "Vermont".
SUN BELT regular season gap champ [1/1E]Florida Atlantic never got going, losing 64-78 right away
in the conference tournament to [4aW]North Texas. Meet "Florida Atlantic".
The final standings for the BCS and MM conferences give an idea of which teams are locks for at-large NCAA bids:
There's plenty to prove in the BCS conference tournaments. The BIG EAST is its own show again this year -- who cares if it wears out teams for the NCAAs? Kansas' BIG 12 title won't quite be legit without a win over Texas. Don't expect anyone to challenge Ohio State in the BIG 10 on a neutral floor. Has BYU's margin over San Diego State shrunk to nothing in the MOUNTAIN WEST? Can Duke respond to the new North Carolina's stunning roll in the ACC? How strong will young Kentucky be in the SEC (and beyond) with no more road crowds to face? Can Washington rebound in the PAC-10? Will anybody step up in CONFERENCE USA?
-- Ron
P.S. Look for the official Hoops Contest invite Sunday overnight!!!
Frenzy
Hardly any teams looked good all the way through their conference tournaments.
Duke [in Greensboro] rolled to the ACC crown past Maryland (@87-71), Virginia Tech (@77-63)
and North Carolina (@75-@58) ... and they get two more free passes with a cushy NCAA POD in Charlotte.
[Insert Perennial Rant #87 here.] Kentucky, freed from having to play in hostile environments now that
the Wildcat Nation can turn every venue into a UK "home game" -- [The SEC tournament crowd was 85% pro-Kentucky
by text message vote.] --
handled "M-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-crooked letter-crooked letter-I-hump back-hump back-I" (@75-66),
overrated Alabama (@72-58) and overseeded Florida (@70-54) to take the SEC crown in Atlanta ... and Tampa will be
a "home crowd" as well. [Not the same situation as Duke. Kentucky's "home crowd advantage" is due to the loyalty
and willingness to travel by its fan base; for Duke and North Carolina, it's preferential close-to-home Pod placement
by the NCAA year after year.] But even those two stand-out performances had help from supportive crowds.
Pittsburgh lost right away in the Big East (albeit on the last play to Connecticut and the splendid bKemba Walker);
Ohio State needed overtime to beat [8]Northwestern (67-61(OT)) in the Big 10; Kansas did handle
[2]Texas @85-73 in the Big 12 final, but it had to escape @63-62 over [9]Oklahoma State earlier; Arizona lost
the Pac-10 final 75-77(OT) on a buzzer-beater by Washington's pIsaiah Thomas. Yes, San Diego State paid back
BYU 72-54 in the Mountain West final, but not before gD.J. Gay's layup saved the day 74-@72 against host [3]UNLV.
Utah State squeaked by [8]San Jose State 58-54 in the WAC; George Mason was routed by host [4]VCU 63-@79
in the Colonial; Gonzaga did win the rubber match with St. Mary's (75-63) in the West Coast final
(but not before escaping 71-67 against [3]San Francisco).
Only Butler (an impressive 59-@44 winner over host [1a]Wisconsin(Milwaukee) in the Horizon final),
Belmont (handy winners in the dominated Atlantic Sun) and Oakland (even easier winners in the Summit tourney)
took on all comers without showing vulnerability.
Particular no-shows: Purdue, Wisconsin, Kansas State, UCLA, UAB (and Utah Valley) all lost right away in their tournaments.
So we've got the proverbial "WIDE OPEN TOURNAMENT FIELD" this year moreso than ever.
Star of Stars from last week's play is a no-brainer. bKemba Walker's phenomenal run through the Big East tournament -- 26p6b4a for 5 games in 5 days as Connecticut took the crown -- re-elevated him to Player of the Year status. You can't fault gJimmer Fredette individually for teammates' injury and suspension that have demoted the quality of Brigham Young in the last two weeks -- he still had 52p against New Mexico and 30p against San Diego State. So proclaim them Co-Players Of The Year.
Weird "might have been" endings: Florida State's would-be game-winner over Virginia Tech in the ACC quarterfinal was late by 0.1 second. Georgia's would-be game-winner against Alabama in the SEC quarterfinal was disallowed because the Dogs' coach Mark Fox called for a timeout before the shot was released (and then they lost in OT). (But the losers won and the winners lost: FlaSt and UGa got NCAA bids; VaTech and Bama didn't.) It's time to retire when you miss a blatant travel and :01.7 seconds left on the clock and declare the game over, as the refs did in St. John's 65-63 win over Rutgers in the Big East 16s. (Upon further review, they didn't work the rest of the tournament.)
The Ivy League got the game it deserved after all the hype that had built up surrounding "Harvard-vs-Princeton-at-Yale" -- (you can't imagine how all those in tweed were a-twitter over that scenario) -- as the Tigers' gDouglas Davis sank the game-winner for PU in a 63-62 nail-biter. Rivals Akron and Kent State nearly had a rumble after their Mid-American title game finished 66-65(OT) for the Zips. Boston University sank Stony Brook @56-52 on two free throws by John Holland in the America East final. Solomon Bozeman's three-pointer sank North Texas 64-63 for the Sun Belt's automatic bid.
One way to measure the strength of the field is to count up the Tito champions vs. the bid-stealing spoilers and Jack Dawsons who are attending the Dance under false pretenses. Here we go:
| TiTo | Spoiler | Jack Dawson |
|
BIG 10: [1]+2 Ohio State MWC: [1b]+3 San Diego State BIG 12: [1] @Kansas WAC: [1]+5 Utah State A-SUN: [1]+3 Belmont WCC: [1b] Gonzaga HORIZ: [1b] Butler@ SUMMIT: [1]+4 Oakland NEC: @[1]+3 Long Island IVY: [1a]+4 Princeton PAT: @[1]+2 Bucknell SKY: @[1] Northern Colorado SOCON: [1b]+2 Wofford |
C-USA: [4]Memphis |
OVC: "[1] Murray State" ([2a] Morehead State) MEAC: "[1]+2 Bethune-Cookman" (2-[2a] Hampton) AMER E: "[1] Vermont" ([2]Boston University) MAC: "[1/1E] @Kent State" ([5b] @Akron) BIG W: "[1]+4 @Long Beach State" ([4b]UC-Santa Barbara@) MAAC: "@[1]+2 Fairfield" ([4]St. Peter's@) MVC: "[1] @Missouri State" ([3]Indiana State@) BIG S: "@[1]+3 Coastal Carolina" ([3]UNC-Asheville@) SLAND: "[1]McNeese State" ([5c] @TX-San Antonio) [GREAT W: "@[1]+2 UT Valley" ({North Dakota})] SWAC: "[1]+4 Texas Southern" (Alabama State) SUN B: "[1/1E]+2 Florida Atlantic" ([4bW]@AR-Little Rock) |
Duke(ACC/North Carolina), Kentucky(SEC/Florida), Connecticut(Big East/Pittsburgh), Washington(Pac-10/Arizona), Old Dominion(Colonial/George Mason) and Richmond(Atlantic 10/Xavier) didn't steal any bids by winning their conference tournaments instead of the regular season titleholder -- all of those teams were safely in regardless of those results. Only one team, Memphis, could rightfully be called a "bid-stealing spoiler" in that it wouldn't have received a bid had it not won the Conference USA tournament (and the league likely wouldn't have received two bids had regular season champ UAB gone TiTo). But giving that league two bids isn't Memphis' fault -- blame the NCAA Selection Committee because an at-large bid to UAB was a shock to most everyone. All I can chalk that up to is a political pick not wanting to upset 12 Mid-Major schools versus one overlooked one (e.g., St. Mary's, whom I'd have taken instead). 11 out of 21 1BC bids went to Jack Dawson teams (and 7 of those were at the expense of gap regular season champs, mostly disappointingly: Coastal Carolina(Big South) and Fairfield(Metro Atlantic)).
The NCAA picked a bad year to expand the field by three more at-large bids ... and then, the Selection Committee made
bizarre, unexplainable choices with the last few "bubble" spots. Can't make an argument for UAB to have gotten a bid
and St. Mary's not to have. VCU-yes/Virginia Tech-no and Georgia-yes/Alabama-no probably sting but they're
less problematic for me. The nice wins don't outweigh the terrible losses in USC's case in my book; same for Penn State.
I'd rather have seen Missouri State or Colorado instead of those two.
As far as seeding, I don't get Florida as a #2 and Texas as a #4; don't get Richmond and Utah State as #12
or Belmont as #13. Those are all way off in my book.
-- Ron
The Big Bubble
The top MM/1BC "upset special" teams (that everybody could see coming) -- [12]Utah State, [13]Belmont, [13]Oakland --
weren't able to break through: [5]Kansas State handled USU 73-68; [4]Wisconsin didn't let BU speed them up, 72-58;
[4]Texas held off a late close by OU, 85-81.
Instead, it was Jack Dawson [13]Morehead State who provided the one major "second-round" surprise, stunning [4]Louisville
62-61 on a late three-pointer and a final defensive stand. (It's the second straight year for the 1BC Ohio Valley making
a splash -- last year, it was Murray State shocking Vanderbilt.)
[1]Ohio State looked very much like the best team in the tournament, having no problem with [16b]Texas-San Antonio (75-46)
and not much more of a worry against [8]George Mason (98-66). (Thank goodness all four sites are nationally broadcast now
so we had the option of switching away from that 30-point blowout!) [1]Kansas was solid in two games: 72-53
over [16]Boston University, and 73-59 past [9]Illinois. [2]Florida cruised past [16]UC-Santa Barbara, and held off
[7]UCLA 73-65.
[1]Pittsburgh had no problem with [16]UNC-Asheville, but had to stage a second-half comeback only to lose at the end
to [8]Butler, 71-70, in a horrendous Comedy Of Errors ending where both teams committed bonehead fouls
that gave away control of the game. [1]Duke (@73-71 vs [8]Michigan) and [2]North Carolina (@86-83 vs [7]Washington) can
once again thank their cushy [Charlotte],NC Pod placement for helping them avoid "third-round" upsets. (Both NC teams go down
on a neutral floor, or even in a Pod that wasn't right in their backyard.)
The depth of the Big East was validated by having 7 teams move through to the Round of 32 (an even higher percentage than 11/68 to at the start) and having its 9th- and 11th-place teams ([3]Connecticut and [11]Marquette) advance to the Sweet 16. But the bubble burst, however, as the quality of the performance of its top teams left a lot to be desired. Pitt had to battle back just to make the Butler game a close loss; same for Louisville against Morehead State; [2]Notre Dame was soundly whipped, 57-71, by [10]Florida State. For [3]Syracuse, it may just be a bad matchup as they fell 62-66 to [11]Marquette (who also beat them in conference play). Overachieving [6]St. John's couldn't handle tournament veteran [11]Gonzaga (71-86); [6]Georgetown couldn't compete with FIRST FOUR VCU; [9]Villanova let the game slip away against George Mason. No shame in [5]West Virginia's 63-71 loss to [4]Kentucky, or [6]Cincinnati's 58-69 loss to conferencemate [3]Connecticut. Depth, yes; greatness, no.
The Player of the Year debate continued on into the tournament as both pJimmer Fredette(34p6a in [3]BYU's 89-67 "third-round" win against [11]Gonzaga) and pKemba Walker(33p5a5r in [3]Connecticut's 69-68 win over [6]Cincinnati) led their teams through to the Sweet 16. They're both putting on a spectacular show. (It's still quite a long way off; but if they both make it to the national final game, it would be this generation's "Bird vs Magic".)
[5]Arizona's 70-69 win over [4]Texas was determined by a questionable referee decision. With the ball and a 2-point lead, the Longhorns were trying to throw the ball in bounds but couldn't; the ref wouldn't grant a timeout (even though his hand signal had only counted "4") and he whistled a turnover on a 5-second violation. Arizona got the ball, and fDerrick Williams made a fluke basket and converted the free throw on a traditional three-point play to claim a 1-point win.
As befits their core talent pools, the second rounds of the NIT (BCS: 10, MM: 4, 1BC 2), CBI (BCS: 1, MM: 6, 1BC: 1) and CIT ([BCS]: 1, MM: 5, 1BC: 6) all served their purposes of giving teams who had some semblance of a good season some kind of "postseason" experience.
Maybe Ohio State would be a different team if someone could get cJared Sullinger in foul trouble and then there'd be pressure
to make shots on the wing players. Don't see Kentucky or Marquette able to do that -- maybe North Carolina if everything
is flowing.
Kansas has a cakewalk to the Final Four in the Southwest with all of the heavyweights having been upset in that region.
The return of pKyrie Irving for Duke may be not just a game-changer, but a tournament-changer. Arizona's frontcourt
should hurt the Blue Devils inside, but no way can the Wildcat perimeter players handle Duke's guards. San Diego State
already has experience facing BYU's one-man-gang, so it won't be quite as much of a shock to deal with UConn
and pKemba Walker (but if KW doesn't get in foul trouble, it's goodbye Aztecs).
Florida is the most solid team in the Southeast (but if BYU could handle Gonzaga's physical team, it might just be able
to sneak by the Gators as well). Wisconsin should welcome Butler's style of play and the Badgers' height should be
the difference.
It says here: Ohio State, Kansas, Duke, Florida (but I'm fervently hoping for UConn and BYU to break through behind their spectacular stars).
-- Ron
[P.S. In a bizarre twist, the leader at the Sweet 16 break of my Hoops Contest is the bracket of President Barack Obama!]
Muscle And Hustle
Things seemed to be going OK in West Regional in Anaheim at the half when [W1]Duke led [W5]Arizona 44-38
with the Wildcats' fDerrick Williams sitting on the bench with foul trouble. But when he returned, he keyed
a 55-33 second half domination that let the Blue Devils know they weren't in their cushy Charlotte Pod anymore.
xWilliams finished with 32p13r in UofA's 93-77 win. The return of pKyrie Irving(28p) probably threw off
Duke's chemistry as ACC Player of the Year bNolan Smith only had 8p5r;3/14fg.
The presence of fBrandon Davies wouldn't have made the difference for [SE3]BYU against [SE2]Florida. The physical Gators
knocked around pJimmer Fredette -- (bruised his calf, bloodied his chin) -- he finished with 32p5a, but he only shot
11-for-29 (including 3-for-15 on three-pointers). The Cougars had no answer for cAlex Tyus(19p17r)
in the lane as UoF prevailed 83-74(OT).
[SE8]Butler's hard play hounded [SE4]Wisconsin into 17 straight missed field goals during one stretch
as fJon Leuer finished with 3p6r;1/12fg as the Bulldogs advanced 61-54. The Regional Final with [SE2]Florida was
rough all around. The Gators' fVernon Macklin(25p5r) had his way in the paint, but Florida's perimeter game was
non-existent (3-for-15 on threes). Meanwhile, BU's gShelvin Mack(27p) did what he wanted. The Gators
extended to a 10-point lead in the first half and again to an 11-point lead in the second half by pounding it inside,
but the Bulldogs fought back. UoF had the last possession in regulation and in overtime, but couldn't hit desperation
three-pointers in either case as Butler came through 74-71(OT) in a slugfest to advance
to an even-more-improbable-than-last-year second-straight Final Four.
[SW11+b]VCU hustled its way to a 72-71(OT) win over [SW10]Florida State in a competitive (if not pretty) struggle.
gBradford Burgess(26p;6/7 3s) scored on a layup on an out-of-bounds play for the game-winner.
In the Regional Final, [SW1]Kansas led 6-0 right away scoring point-blank in the post, but that was about all
that went right for the Jayhawks. Yes, cMarcus Morris got his (20p16r), but the KU guards were completely outplayed
as tJamie Skeen had 26p9r for VCU and Kansas shot 2-for-22 on threes trying to play catchup
in VCU's stunning 71-61 victory.
[W2]San Diego State shot itself in the foot with a couple of game-changing technical fouls that keyed runs by superstar
gKemba Walker(36p; 14-straight points down the stretch in the second half) as [W3]Connecticut pulled away
and then hung on for a 74-67 win.
[W5]Arizona's muscle inside saw it jump to a quick 9-1 out of the blocks against UConn, but foul trouble
on fDerrick Williams turned the tide to give the Huskies control at the half, 32-25. Another quick Wildcat burst
after the break tied things up at 34-34 and, in a game that was tight down the stretch, it was actually
freshman gJeremy Lamb(19p) who made the biggest plays to key Connecticut's 65-63 win.
[E4]Kentucky-[E1]Ohio State and [E4]Kentucky-[E2]North Carolina were a couple of elite matchups that were the exception
rather than the rule for this year's tournament. Against the Buckeyes, it was cJosh Harrellson(17p10r) who counterbalanced
cJared Sullinger's 21p16r inside and the two-way play of fDeAndre Liggins(15p6r) who made the biggest difference.
For the second time in three games, though; pBrandon Knight stole the show with the game-winning jumper as UK upset OSU
@62-60 (in front of a strong Wildcat Nation crowd in Newark, NJ).
In the Regional Final against the Tar Heels, the Wildcats were able to keep UNC from pushing the pace and forced them
into a halfcourt game. bHarrison Barnes(18p6r) put on a late flurry to tie the game at 67-67 with 3 minutes to go,
but pBrandon Knight(22p7r) and then DeAndre Liggins hit big three-pointers to seal UK's @76-69 win.
The four losing teams in the Regional Finals -- Arizona (4/21), Florida (3/15), North Carolina (3/16), Kansas (2/22) --
were a combined 12-for-74 [16%!!!] shooting threes. (Yes, a lot of that is playing catch-up
and late desperation, but it still isn't anywhere close to acceptable.)
Kentucky's freshman trio was able to make the Final Four when last year's SuperFrosh were not; but that's more a statement
on the relative weakness of the competition this year as compared to last year. Butler lost its best player
from a year ago and still found a way to make it back to the Final Four. VCU didn't deserve an invitation
based on its credentials (and would have been the first team out with last year's 65-team field), but found a way
to parlay the negative press into a trip to the Promised Land. Only one of the "One-Man-Gang" teams made it through
to Houston, but even that's a measure of the (lack of) quality of this year's competition.
Two Mid-Major teams have made the Final Four. Wow.
In the consolation prize tournaments, the story is mixed on depth from below. A MM near-miss team did crash the NIT semis against the BCS also-rans -- that's a good sign. You'd like to see the CBI feature an all-MM final series (but, instead, it's a squatter BCS filler team against an MM opponent). Likewise, you want the CIT final to be all-1BC (but a MM squatter is facing a 1BC opponent):
The NIT completed its second-round and quarterfinal games at campus sites. [s1]Alabama(SEC) advanced to the semis
with a @79-64 win over [s2]Miami(Florida). [w1]Colorado(Big 12) stopped [w7]Kent State's run of road upsets with an @81-74 win.
[e2]Washington State(Pac-10) won twice at home: @74-64 over [e3]Oklahoma State and then @69-66(OT)
over road warrior [e4]Northwestern. Road-tested [m4]Wichita State(Horizon) beat likewise [m6]College of Charleston @82-75.
For the semifinals at Madison Square Garden in New York, it's [s1]Alabama vs. [w1]Colorado
and [e2]Washington State vs. [m4]Wichita State.
In the CBI, the home team has won all but one first-round game. In the quarters and semis, Oregon(Pac-10) held off Duquesne
(@77-75) and then Boise State (@79-71). Creighton(MVC) beat Davidson (@102-92) and then Central Florida (@82-64).
For the best-of-3 championship series, Creighton hosts Oregon in the first game on Monday; Oregon hosts the second game
on Wednesday, and will also host the rubber-game (if necessary) on Friday.
In the CIT, Santa Clara(WCC) won twice on the road: 95-@91 at conferencemate San Francisco and then 72-@55 at SMU.
Meanwhile, Iona(MAAC) handled Buffalo (@78-63) and then came back to win at East Tennessee State (83-@80).
Iona hosts Santa Clara (Wednesday) in the final.
My heart says "Kemba", but my head says "Kentucky" . . . (but, then again, the SEC is the only BCS scalp that VCU is missing after running through the Pac-10, Big East, Big 10, ACC and Big 12 so far.)
-- Ron
The Black Lion
The quality of play aside, what Connecticut and Butler achieved this year are both noteworthy more than a normal year. bKemba Walker's final month of play -- winning five games in five days to win the Big East tournament followed up by a run to the NCAA title -- is as good as any "One-Man Team" runs anyone has had: Larry Bird, Danny Manning -- it's easily as impressive as that considering how young and untested his supporting cast was. And Butler's back-to-back runs to the national final by a Mid-Major team only trail the championship runs of Cincinnati(MVC) '61-63 and San Francisco(CBA) '55-56.
What a special treat the ride has been this past month watching Kemba and The Kids keep finding ways to win. How many ways did we see gWalker make game-winning plays? Clutch three-pointers, drives to the basket for three-point plays, that Jordanesque step-back jumper to bury Pittsburgh in the Big East tournament, cutting backdoor for layups as the #2 guard, running the baseline coming off low picks for jumpers on the wing, clutch steals, clutch blocked shots, all-out hustle diving to save balls from going out of bounds -- what a month-long highlight reel. He's not the greatest of all time, but no one has ever had that kind of a showcase of his skills: 11 games in the month of March with the national spotlight on him and he came up with something special and beautiful in every one of them.
I haven't been much of a Jim Calhoun fan at all over the years -- an abrasive personality, hints of minor violations, teams that relied on brute force as much as talent and finesse -- but here, with this young team that wasn't especially physical or talented (with one major exception), his coaching intellect was really on fine display moreso than ever before. The halftime adjustments he made to turn games around, great set plays after timeouts -- pulling off this ride to the national championship with a team completely different than any other he's ever had. My respect for his coaching ability has jumped immensely in just this past month. He's now the oldest coach (68) to ever win the national championship and joins the elite company of coaches with 3 titles: John Wooden(10), Mike Krzyzewski(4), Adolph Rupp(4), Bob Knight(3), Jim Calhoun(3). Hats off.
In the semifinals, neither [E4]Kentucky (4/12) nor Connecticut (1/12) could hit very well
from three-point land. tBrandon Knight(17p5a8r;6/23fg) battled through a tough night. The Huskies maintained
a narrow lead in the second half and seemed to have things locked away up 54-48 with two minutes to go, but UConn miscues
and a late flurry from UK made it a nervous escape for a 56-55 win.
bJamie Skeen(27p6r) did his best to extend [SW11+b]VCU's run from the First Four to the Final Four,
but bShelvin Mack(24p6r;5/6 3s) outside and fMatt Howard(17p8r;11/12ft) inside proved too much as Butler
battled its way to a 70-62 win.
Overall, for the NCAA tournament, last year's blip became this year's trend as Mid-Major teams again made their mark with a national runner-up and a Final Four team to go along with 3 Sweet 16s and 3 first-round splashes. 1BCs coudn't match last year's Sweet 16 result, but the OVC managed to make a splash for the second straight year. The new First Four format didn't produce compelling bubble games the first two days, but it did provide the ultimate Cinderella story as VCU (which would have been the first team out under last year's 65-team draw) made an unexpected run all the way to the Final Four. The expanded television coverage (from CBS to TBS, TNT and Tru-TV) gave us all the ability to tune into any game we wanted and watch it in its entirety -- what a bonus! -- and it gave us the added commentary/analysis from TNT's Charles Barkley. His perspective as a Hall of Fame NBA player was a valuable edition. (But it was President Barack Obama's bracket who edged him out as the "Top Celebrity/Expert" in this year's Hoops Contest.)
In the NIT, the (m4)Wichita State claimed the title for the MM MVC with a 66-57 win over (s1)Alabama in the final
(after blowing out (e2)Washington State 75-44 while 'Bama escaped 62-61 past (w1)Colorado in the semis).
In the CBI, coach Dana Altman had the bittersweet joy of leading his new team, Oregon, to a 2-1 series win
over his old team (of 16 years) Creighton. In the final game, a @71-69 win, fE.J. Singler -- (Kyle's younger brother) --
scored the game-winning basket on a late drive to the hoop. Creighton had just committed a controversial over-and-back
violation at halfcourt where the player couldn't see the halfcourt line because of Oregon's designer floor (a silhouette
of trees that covers the entire length of the court). So a BCS filler squad -- (7-11 in conference) -- prevented
the MM MVC from claiming a second postseason crown.
In the CIT, Santa Clara claimed a 76-@69 road win at Iona to hand the Mid-Majors their second postseason crown
(and shutting out the 1BCs for the year).
With Ohio State's cJared Sullinger making first team All-America, Kentucky's youth-led squad making Final Four (and even Connecticut starting three freshmen), perhaps we can't completely close the book on the Golden Child Era -- but experienced Mid-Major teams have shown they can still more than compete with green blue chip stars. (And I don't see anybody, not even cSullinger, going one-and-done as a "can't miss" prospect for the next level.) Moreover, the departure of talent from last year was evident this year, especially with so many top-seeded teams going down early in the tournament.
What seemed like a down year on paper for the Big East at the start of the season turned out to be anything but.
The conference dominated the preseason with (?an unprecedented?) 7 preseason tournament crowns; it had
as many as 10 teams ranked simultaneously in the Top 25 throughout the regular season; it received a record 11 bids
into the NCAA tournament and backed that up with 7 teams through to the Round of 32; a couple of knockout games led
to just two teams advancing to the Sweet 16; but its conference champion -- the 9th seed from the regular season --
came away with the national title. The only thing the league could have done to make it better was place more teams
in the Final Four.
Since the last GCS II (Great Conference Shuffle) prior to the '06 season, this megaconference has only gotten stronger.
Next year's Western Conference Shuffle (spurred by football motivations) may eventually counterbalance this trend.
(But, for sure, the days of the ACC's claim to be the best basketball conference bar none are fading
into a distant memory.)
The drop in talent that was apparent on paper at the start of the season did, in fact, prove itself in the lack of quality play that was seen at the end of the season in the NCAA tournament. The mega-Big East was able to fill much of that void by its sheer depth and associated level of competition. But the official stamp on this season belongs to one player and his majestic display of his many talents throughout the final month of play -- when it mattered most and when the national spotlight was shining the brightest. The Player of the Year -- not even co-Player at this point; (Sorry, Jimmer.) -- and Most Outstanding Player for his national champion Connecticut Huskies is gKemba "The Black Lion" Walker. What a show he put on.
- -
This was a tough season to get through for me, emotionally and logistically. I always feel like I'm playing catch-up, but things were in crisis mode the entire last month of the season (all the way through the final day). Hopefully, I put out something that was worth reading. Thanks, as always, for all the feedback and support.
See y'all next year!
-- Ron
(c) 2010-11 Ron McBay
www.ronmcbay.us/HLS
ron@ronmcbay.us