Quote:
Originally Posted by jcruse64
Boy, St John's just won't go away, will they? Some pretty impressive Top 25 wins for them, that had better not go unnoticed come Selection Sunday.
UK looked, and played, pretty determined today. I just wish they could sustain this type effort, especially on the road.
Looks like Peay got beat in its Buster game; hope Murray nails theirs. We stayed home for this one, but basic cable doesn't have enough ESPN's for us to catch it.
Notre Dame takes a loss to WVU; Texas gets bounced. Lots of shuffling in the top 15 this week.
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Don't worry. St. John's is in. I'd bet a handful of my crappy cigars on that.
Nobody ever said the UK 'Cats couldn't play, when they feel like it anyway. They proved this, spanking the 'Cocks 90-59 at home. As for their road woes . . . well, if they cut Cal's pay in half, they could afford to put Rupp Arena on wheels and take it with them everywhere.
Yeah, AP goes down in their BB game to Fairfield 76-69, but there's no shame in losing to the Stags, especially on the road. They've had a solid team all season. And your Racers just crushed Evansville 72-47, due mainly to outscoring them 2-to-1 (actually 42-21) in the 2nd half.
And if you think YOU'RE confused by what happened the past week, consider the voters! Earlier, when this "# 1 Rank" discussion began, I stated that 5 teams might be in the mix. Turns out, it was six of them. First-place votes in the AP Poll went to Duke (35), OSU (10), KU (5), Pitt (12), UT (1), and . . . hold the phone! . . . BYU (2). So don't feel rained on. The good news is, unlike the BCS Football rankings, all this garbage don't mean $#!+.
Even with a number of games already mentioned, there were far too many for me to cover today. So I've picked those which best interested me. Saturday:
San Diego State 70 - Air Force 58 = By itself, the game means squat. But the Aztecs keep rolling, making their head-to-head with BYU this weekend HUGE.
Alabama 69 - Arkansas 56 = Pretty much the same lack of importance in itself here too, at least for the Tide. It might cost the Hogs down the road, but that's their problem to solve, if they can. 'Bama has the SEC West all sewn up, yet are still likely the 4th or 5th best team in the conference. Just my
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Arizona 87 - Washington 86 = A great win for the desert 'Cats, and gives them a second leg up in the Pac-10 race. As for the Huskies, they once again disappoint their fans by failing to achieve their expectations. Though maybe not as badly as . . .
Texas Tech 78 - Baylor 69 = Is this a joke? Can you remember when the Bears were nationally ranked, as high as (at least, as I recall) # 11 in the country? What the hell? Sheesh. This is almost as bad as . . .
Brown 75 - Princeton 65 = OK, so maybe the Tigers were tired after back-to-backers. Still, there's no damn excuse for spitting up the Ivy lead like this, to a team like Brown anyway.
Michigan 75 - Iowa 72 (OT) = The young Logans did it again, and continue to do their part to make the mid-pack of the Big Ten one giant clusterfark. At this point we know which teams want to try to win it, and which ones don't have a shot in hell, but all the rest are in one messy lump. Case in point:
Michigan State 61 - Illinois 57 = And what does all this mean? Well, the Big Ten will get its fair share of at-large bids, and maybe even one or two more than that. But it won't get enough to make everybody there happy, and somebody will be left out in the cold. So somebody, anybody, in this mosh pit better step up and make some statement, soon.
Kansas State 77 - Oklahoma 62 = To a lesser degree, the same might be said of the Big 12. I think that, despite their mid-season woes, the prairie 'Cats are pretty safe for an at-large. And though this win was not NEARLY as good as their previous one, it's still a decent one for a team that's not had as many as they maybe should.
North Carolina 48 - Boston College 46 = Ugly, ugly, ugly win. And don't tell me BC did what it wanted to by slowing the game down. The Heels should have taken them out of that gameplan when the built a double-digit lead, had they but kept the pressure on, since you can't slow the game when you keep falling further and further behind. I guess Roy said it as well as anyone: "Not a lot to say. We won. That's the bottom line." True. Pitiful, but true.
George Mason 67 - Northern Iowa 66 = Seem like I said this would be a good 'un.
Rice 67 - Memphis 52 = And I can't recall mentioning this game at all, as there was no way in hell that Rice could win it. And why would they? Rice has never . . . NEVER!! . . . beaten Memphis before. Well, I do recall remarking earlier that the CUSA was a mess.
Utah State 75 - St. Mary's 65 = Yeah, I know. I picked the Gaels to beat the Aggies. So, sue me. I still don't think Utah State has faced any tough games, and I did feel that St. Mary's would not stumble again. Hey, I've been wrong before, and the only way I won't be wrong again is if I just STFU.
Georgetown 61 - South Florida 55 = Here's more proof I'm an idiot. I figured the Hoyas would beat the Bulls like a drum. I still think they should have.
Yet that was not the only Big East shock, aside from the Pitt and ND losses already noted:
Syracuse 84 - Rutgers 80 (OT) = Are you joking? Extra innings, in the Dome, against the Scarlet freakin' Knights? Good golly Miss Molly. Forget the Knicks or Nets getting Carmelo Anthony, it's the Orange needs him back!
Then, on Sunday, we all saw:
Purdue 76 - Ohio State 63 = Or maybe I should just post "E'Twaun Moore beats the Buckeyes". You don't often see a show like that one he put on by getting his career-high 38 (exactly 1/2 of all 'Maker points made) on such a huge stage. Yeah, so it wasn't the NCAA Championship game, but still. Give the Buckeyes credit for not quitting, and cutting a 10-point lead to 4 with plenty of time to go. Give Moore more, for saving that potential backcourt violation, then hitting the 3 to take the air out of OSU's balloon. The game was sloppy at times, but all in all a lot of fun . . . if you're not a Buckeye, anyway.
Duke 79 - Georgia Tech 57 = No surprise, no shock, and not much of a game at Cameron. Dook spanks a team it was expected to spank, and backs into a # 1 ranking due to the fact that they managed to keep from falling on their faces.
Clemson 63 - Miami 59 = Not all that long ago the "experts" were all up in Clemson's business, saying how they were moving up. Well, they won, on the road, against a garbage 'Cane squad, by 4 whole points. So, there's that.
California 76 - UCLA 72 (OT) = And that's more than the Bruins can say. They too were just starting to get a little attention, and were still in the hunt with Arizona for the Pac-10. I guess mathematically they still are, but this bad loss to a team they should have beaten, coupled with 'Zona's good win against the OTHER league competition, does not help one damn bit.
ODU 74 - Cleveland State 63 = Another one of those good Bracket Buster matchups, and a nice win for the Monarchs. It won't help them steal the CAC from Geo. Mason, but it might just have sealed an at-large for them.
Today already we've had one upset, with the UCF Knights beating CUSA-leading UTEP 74 - 68. I don't know how the Miners let this happen, in El Paso no less, but as the Orlando Mickeys haven't had much to cheer about lately, we'll give it to them
In limited action, we also will have:
Syracuse vs. Villanova = At this point there are only 8 Big East teams with either 5 or 6 conference losses, so the picture there is clear . . . compared to tar. Hey, it has gotten to the point that nobody can predict these games, and the home team rarely seems to have much advantage, so I'm hesitant to even say the game's in Philly. I believe that one of these two teams will win the game, and the other shall lose it. Take that to the bank.
Kansas vs. Oklahoma State = In contrast, playing a game in Phog Allen Fieldhouse is almost always an advantage for the Jayhawks, even though they may not need much of one against the so-so Coyboys. But KU will be missing their starting PG Tyshawn Taylor, who's been suspended from the team for violating team rules. So, if their freshman "phenom" Josh Selby doesn't show up pretty big, they might struggle a bit. Stay tuned.
Kent State vs. W. Michigan = And none of you guys may care, but this is a pretty big game in the Mid-American. Both teams are at or near the top of their divisions in the MAC, and neither one will get a sniff at an at-large here in a few weeks.
That's all for me today. See you here tomorrow. Enjoy. Oh, and Screw Drew.