[The Poet]

I tried to get an earlier start on this today, but $#!+ happens. So I'm finally going to jump into last night's games:

# 1 Duke 82 - # 4 Kansas State 68 = The Dook win does not surprise me, but the margin does a little. But on the other hand, I have already confessed that I haven't much faith in K-State (or Pitt or Texas or a few others) until they actually do something. Last night, they didn't do nearly enough.

U. Conn 70 - # 2 Michigan State 67 = OK, now this one does surprise me. The Huskies weren't much last year, and are supposed to be in shambles on and off the court this one, while the Spartans are already pencilled into the Final Four by many. Well, not if they play like this.

# 3 Ohio State 64 - Morehead State 45 = And although the margin is at least OK here, the fact that the Buckeyes only scored 64 against a weaker team hit by sanctions does not please Thad Matta, and should not please the OSU fans.

# 8 Kentucky 74 - # 13 Washington 67 = This is about the tight contest you'd expect, although the scoring seems a bit low. Still, a fairly well-played competitive game all around.

# 11 Missouri 72 - Wyoming 62 = Not very impressive for the Missou Tigers, especially when you note that Wyoming only scored 20 in the first half. But a win is a win, I guess.

# 14 Memphis 102 - Tenn-Martin 80 = Well, we now know that these Tigers can score a little. And we also know that they can defend a damn little. Giving up 80 to Tennessee-Martin? When the Skyhawks only scored 59 against their only other "name" opponent so far this year, LSU? And in Memphis no less? Yes, I know the team and the coach are young, as I've said before. But crap like this will age them fast, if it does not kill them first.

# 16 Florida 79 - Florida Atlantic 66 = It's pretty much the same story here. If the Gators (who got stomped by the Buckeyes) can only manage this, what will they do when the SEC wars start?

# 22 Gonzaga 66 - Marquette 63 = To me, this one's not so much about the winner, but rather about the loser. After winning their first 4 games, Marquette gave both Dook and the Zags all they could handle. Keep you eye on the Golden Eagles. Maybe they are back.

# 25 North Carolina 80 - N.C. Asheville 69 = And maybe Carolina is back to the same garbage they pulled last year. After building up a 20+ point lead in the second half, they p!$$ed most of it away, then had to turn up the engine a few notches in the last five minutes to earn the "meh" victory. Roy's not happy, I'm not happy, but it is what it is, and better than a loss.

North Texas 68 - Rice 65 = And I thought this one interesting, for "WTF?" reasons. Alright, I realize Rice ain't no powerhouse in college hoops, but still . . . .

Ohio 78 - Valparaiso 75 = One of those nice mid-majors matchups I like. We all remember Valpo's run back in '98, what with Bryce Drew's buzzer-beater, and some of you (especially you Hoyas) may remember OU knocking Georgetown out last year. And I'd betcha 20 bucks coulda got you seats to this game too.

St. Mary's 121 - Chicago State 52 = What? One-twenty-one to fitty-too? Are you freakin' kiddin' me? By St. Mary's, and not a vintage UNLV or Loyola-Marymount team? And in case you think they were just running up the score, take note: This is the fourth loss by Chi. State of over 100 points, out of the 5 games they have played. This, THIS is the reason I'm not so much in favor of expanding the NCAA Tournament as I am of shrinking the number of Division 1 teams . . . maybe by as much as half.

Appalachian State 0 - Tennessee Tech 0 = That's because the game was "postponed", and will not be rescheduled. And THAT'S because App. State forgot to provide any officials to call the game, and these two teams don't have an open date to make it up later. And speaking of "making it up" . . . well, you really can't sometimes.


Action has already begun today, with Chaminade getting another good upset by beating the Sooners out in Maui 68-64, while # 2 Michigan State has an early (and meaningless) lead over # 13 Washington. Games to follow include:


# 7 Villanova vs. UCLA = The Bruins are not what they once were, but then again 'Nova ain't exactly been blowing the doors off their competition either. It could be pretty tight, at least for a while.

# 8 Kentucky vs. U. Conn = And if the Huskies can follow up on what they did to the Spartans, this WILL be a tight one.

# 11 Missouri vs LaSalle = Missou's been playing decent, for their rating. LaSalle's been playing well, for their lack of one. Could be a decent game here.

# 15 Minnesota vs. North Dakota State = And this one could be over by the break.

# 24 Tennessee vs. VCU = Like the Missou/LaSalle game, we might have some nice action here.

Rhode Island vs. Drexel = Don't know what Drexel has this year, but they normally show up to play. As for the Rams, they ain't half bad. Might be fun.

Virginia vs. Wichita State = Same here. Neither of these teams suck, so the game probably won't.


And then, for those of you who get gorged on all the football on Turkey Day, you can ease your pants open a bit with these games:


# 21 Temple vs. California = The Owls are supposed to be pretty good, and the Golden Bears weren't half-bad last year, so this may be worth watching.

Boston College vs. Texas A&M = This may give us a clue as to whether or not either of these two can actually ball a little.

DePaul vs. Okla. State = Same here.

Georgia vs. Notre Dame = Yep'per.

Stanford vs. Murray State = And the song remains the same.

UNLV vs Tulsa = Starting to see a theme here?


Don't know if I'll be back before Friday, so if not, have a Happy Thanksgiving, and enjoy.