College Hoops Thread '09-'10

[The Poet]

Georgetown 89 - Duke 77 = Hope you enjoyed the game, Mr. President, as I'm sure Coach K didn't. Oh, and Georgia Tech did not double-up on Kentucky State, only winning 98-50. N.C. State up double-digits in their "November" matchup with N.C. Central, and Miss. State in control over LSU. Plus, the 'Cuse falls back asleep, letting DePaul jump ahead again.

[The Poet]

The Orange finally tie it, with 4+ minutes left.

[The Poet]

Syracuse narrowly escapes one embarassing defeat, coming on late to take a crappy DePaul team 59-57. The W goes to the Orange, but the credit should go to the Blue.

[The Poet]

Hoosiers/Illini a total war, tied at 66 with 2 1/2 left, and tight all game long.

[The Poet]

BC/Fla. St. a one-point game with just under 17 to play. The weather may be cold outside, but there's plenty of hot action indoors!

[The Poet]

Illinois takes Indiana 72-70. Kentucky up 5 points early on Vandy, which doesn't mean much . . . yet. There's about a dozen 1-point games in action at the moment, but I've had enough for today. Talk to you Monday evening, and we'll catch up then. Until then then . . . enjoy.

[The Poet]

Brother, brothers, there were a few that snuck up on us this weekend, as well as a few that followed form. Tossing out those expected blowouts, here's the ones that caught my eye:

Baylor 80 - Texas 77 (OT) = Aside from one hell of a game, the collapse of the 'Horns is notable. After going 17-0 and grabbing their first #1 ranking, they have lost 3 of 4. But give the Bears credit . . . they are not typically the class in this conference.

Kansas 81 - Kansas State 79 (OT) = What, does the Big 12 suddenly think that 40 minutes of basketball isn't enough? Give the Jayhawks some credit for pulling out the W in Manhattan against K-State. Yet I may have to do some reassessment here . . . maybe KU's not at good as I thought, or K-State is better.

Kentucky 85 - Vanderbilt 72 = I pretty much expected UK to bounce back, but I thought Vandy might keed it a little closer. Shows what I know.

San Francisco 81 - Gonzaga 78 (OT) = Everybody has a bad loss every now and then, and this is not the worst in living memory . . . hey, to this day citing Chaminade in Charlottesville's like bringing up Bucky in Beantown. But this one's pretty damn bad. The 'Zags are not just better than SF, they should have so totally outclassed them as to chase them into the Bay. Don't blame me for this one . . . blame them.

UTEP 74 - UAB 65 (2OT) = Well, here was your battle to remain in the CUSA hunt . . . now that Memphis doesn't get the automatic.

Arizona State 88 - Stanford 70 = And here was one to remain in the Pac-10 chase . . . along with everybody else. Like:

UCLA 62 - Oregon State 52 = Ain't this a kicker? The Bruins are 10-11 overall, yet tied for 3rd in conference play at 5-4, along with the aforementioned Sun Devils. Meanwhile, OSU was kicked into the basement alone, at 3-6, with 5 teams now tied for 5th at 4-5.

Auburn 58 - Alabama 57 = Here's just what I expected from two "meh" teams fighting for some self-respect . . . and bragging rights. Hope my man Jeff Lebo enjoyed this one, as he hasn't had much to cheer about this season, and isn't likely to have much more either.

Florida State 61 - Boston College 57 = Again, this ran pretty much to form.

BYU 82 - Utah 69 = And this one too.

Cincinnati 92 - Providence 88 = Ditto. Two decent teams fighting for their lives.

Michigan State 79 - Northwestern 70 = Dit-three. The Spartans are about 10 points better than N'western, and proved it.

South Carolina 78 - Georgia 77 = Dit-four. Neither team is really consistent, but either can be good on any given night.

Cornell 86 - Harvard 50 = And why toss this one into the mix? Well, you may recall that Harvard got a bit of national buzz earlier this season for making their first run at an NCAA bid in a looooooong time. And Cornell's the other class of the Ivy this year, so their W's no big shock. But Big Red beating the vaunted Crimson by such a huge margin? Who'd a thunk. Hell, who'd a thunk they could even score that many points!

As for the games on Sunday, we had:

Arizona 76 - California 72 = And I put this first as this Wildcat win put them tied in first with the Cal Bears . . . at an eminently "mountable" 6-3. Thus ends our Pac-10 summary.

Clemson 62 - Maryland 53 = And this Terp loss helped Duke grab a 1/2 game lead in the ACC.

Miami 82 - Virginia Tech 75 = OK, so this Hokie loss isn't as bad as the 'Zags one, but it should never have happened either.

Arkansas 80 - Mississippi 73 = And this one's a pretty nasty slip by Ole Miss. Ain't no way the Razorbacks should have taken this. Maybe they should postpone ALL their games due to snow.

South Florida 70 - Pittsburgh 61 = And here's even more of the same old crap. "Pitt" is right, since they played that way.

Virginia 75 - UNC 60 = Speaking of playing like the pits, my Heels did it again, letting the Cavs score 18 unanswered as they disappeared once more. It's too damn bad that The Eleven don't allow stronger cusswords here.

Tennessee 61 - Florida 60 = Now this was the best game on Sunday, though I doubt the Gators feel that way. They had the win, then gave it up, then got it back, then gave it up again. But give the Vols some props here, as they never gave up.

There are only two games tonight of any true note:

U. Conn vs. Louisville = It's getting so these two are like too many others this year, in that you never know whether or not they will show up to play. If both do, the Huskies will prevail.

Texas vs. Oklahoma State = In Stillwater, no less, so don't be too shocked if the Cowboys bulldog the Longhorns.

Enjoy.

Originally Posted by The Poet

Syracuse narrowly escapes one embarassing defeat, coming on late to take a crappy DePaul team 59-57. The W goes to the Orange, but the credit should go to the Blue.

The truth he speaks. But sometimes, just sometimes, chance smiles on a team.

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by Resipsa

The truth he speaks. But sometimes, just sometimes, chance smiles on a team.

Yes indeed, my brother. Everybody get one for free.

In the two big games last night, we had two surprises that weren't, really:

Texas 72 - Oklahoma State 60 = OK, you can't say the win is a shock, and not even the margin, as the Longhorns have better talent than they have shown of late. The surprise is that their hero, the freshman who pulled their bacon out of the Cowboys' campfire, was the same Jordan Hamilton who played only 2 minutes against Baylor in that 'Horn loss. Last night he scored 27 of those points, or nearly 40% of them.

Louisville 82 - U. Conn 69 = And you can't really say the Cardinals win is a shock either, since they have played well at times while the Huskies had lost 5 of their last 7 going into this one, with only their stunner against the aforementioned Longhorns plus a spanking of St. John's easing their collapse. What is the surprise is the margin, which was due to U. Conn's 38% shooting woes and their 18 TOs.


There are not a lot of games this evening, yet there are a handful worth noting:

Miami vs. Wake Forest = The 'Canes have started to play a little better, and the Deacs are all over the map. Give WF the nod, as they have both an edge in talent and the home court.

Syracuse vs. Providence = The Friars aren't terrible, but they have only one quality win (if one against the sinking U. Conn squad qualifies). Don't expect them to get their second one tonight. The Orange is turning into a really decent team, the game is in their Dome, and Boeheim likely ran their butts off to purge them of that DePaul scare.

Villanova vs. Seton Hall = And this one is at 'Nova, but it could be up the Turnpike or on Mars for all the diff it will make. Wildcats by a bunch.

Michigan vs. Northwestern = And as for these Wildcats . . . well, they may beat the Wolverines, but it's getting to the point where it's pointless either way this one goes. The Logans are a .500 team, and though N'western is 14-7 overall they are 3-6 in Big Ten play.

Kentucky vs. Mississippi = And as for THESE Wildcats, I'd guess it's possible that Ole Miss may give them some trouble in Rupp, at least for a half or so, but I don't count on the upset.

Kansas State vs. Nebraska = And as for THESE Wildcats . . . holy crud, you'd think college kids would have a bit more imagination, or at least a bigger vocabulary . . . they should totally shuck the Huskers. Honestly, Nebraska stinks. They lost 5 inna row before their big win over Oklahoma on Saturday, and this will start their next string of Ls . . . after this game, they are @ Kansas, Baylor, @ Texas, @ K-State, and then Missou.

BYU vs. TCU = NC.

Michigan State vs. Wisconsin = The Spartans seem to be the class of the Big Ten, but the Badgers ain't half-bad either. Plus, the game's in Madison (no, not MY Madison, theirs), so I'd expect this to be a good one.

Enjoy.

[The Poet]

Well, the two "no contest" contests last night were exactly that, what with big wins by BYU and K-State. As for other action, where there actually was some:

Kentucky 85 - Mississippi 75 = But it wasn't really even that close, though Ole Miss did pull to within 3 with 14 minutes left. However, UK was pretty much in control all night, what with John Wall trying to play his way out of Cal's doghouse and into the NBA in front of 20 pro scouts.

Northwestern 67 - Michigan 52 = And these Wildcats . . . oh, yeah, I already did that . . . played themselves to a 4-6 Big 10 standing.

Syracuse 85 - Providence 68 = I told you the Friars didn't have a prayer, didn't I?

Villanova 81 - Seton Hall 71 = Yet it seems these piratical preachers did, until they ran out of gas anyway. Their 50% shooting helped them to a 58-56 lead over the . . . what else? Wildcats . . . but then they hit the wall and went 6-21 the rest of the way.

Wake Forest 62 - Miami 53 = Yeah, OK . . . the Deacs use their better squad and home court to get the 9-point victory. No big shock here.

Wisconsin 67 - Michigan State 47 = One big shock here. No, not that the Badgers won, as the Spartans haven't won in Madison since 2001. Yet for them to score only 47 points? That's pretty par for Wisconsin's plodding play (in fact, they themselves scored 47 in their loss to MSU back on Jan. 6th), but it's pretty poor for a running Spartan team.

In tonight's action we have the following:

Ohio State vs. Penn State = The Nuttin'ly Lions attempt to keep their perfect conference record by going 0-10. I expect that will be no problem.

William & Mary vs. Old Dominion = Yeah, another of my good mid-major contest picks, to go along with:

George Washington vs. Charlotte = GW's fairly decent, and the 49ers are even better, with wins over Louisville, Richmond, and Temple.

Maine vs. Vermont = And although this one sounds more like a good hockey game, take note that they are fighting with Stony Brook for the lead in the American East conference. OK, so I don't care either, but no doubt somebody does.

N.C. State vs. Virginia = The Wolfpack's trying to get back on track and stay relevant in the ACC, and the Cavs are trying to build on their win in Chapel Hill and challenge for the top of it. Could be a real battle.

Pittsburgh vs. West Virginia = Here too, though it's the Big East instead.

Temple vs. Duquesne = Here, not so much. The Owls are pissed, and Duquesne pretty much reeks.

Georgetown vs. South Florida = On the surface you may not think this one worth noting, especially after the Hoyas dismantled Dook Saturday. However, they will not shoot 71% from the field . . . maybe ever again . . . and the Bulls were fairly good even before their victory over Pitt. G'town should win, but it may be closer than you'd believe.

Baylor vs. Iowa State = Hey, this could be that very same deal too. The Bears may be ranked in the top 20, but they are only 7th in the Big 12. Plus, there may be a hangover from their W over the Longhorns.

Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi State = And here we have two SEC squads trying to stay in the hunt, so it's another potential war.

UAB vs. Memphis = And the hits just keep on coming. UAB's in a 3-way tie at 6-1 for 1st in the CUSA, while perennial master Memphis is on their heels at 5-2. You think they both want the win?

Northern Iowa vs. Wichita State = And here's another of those great games nobody will watch. These two teams match up well, and will fight to the finish.

Texas A&M vs. Missouri = And these two . . . well, just because the national ranking hype has long gone does not mean we don't have a pair of good teams going head-to-head, just trying to keep their own above water in the Big 12.

Kansas vs. Colorado = And these two teams . . . well, not so much. If the Jayhawks win by less than 20, Self should pluck them all.

Enjoy.

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by The Poet

Kansas vs. Colorado = And these two teams . . . well, not so much. If the Jayhawks win by less than 20, Self should pluck them all.

I hate to quote myself here, but what the pluck? It takes the Jayhawks overtime to beat Colorado 72-66? Bill Self said after the game that he did not want to say his boys played badly because that would not give the Buffaloes enough credit. Well, I respectfully disagree. I give Colorado all the credit in the world, and KU played like crap in regulation, and barely enough better in OT to survive against the team with the worst record in the Big 12. There's no damn excuse for this.

In other action we had a few other interesting things happen, such as:

South Florida 72 - Georgetown 64 = OK, the Bulls are not nearly as bad as the Buffs, and I knew the Hoyas had shot their shooting wad against Dook, so this isn't like the above. Just chalk it up as a great win for South Florida, and a pretty bad loss for G'town in their hometown.

West Virginia 70 - Pittsburgh 51 = And OK, I expected the Mountaineers would win this one anyway, but I figured Pitt would keep it fairly respectable. Yet even though this was in Morgantown, a losing margin just shy of 20 is 10 points too many.

Charlotte 72 - George Washington 68 = And OK, I'm just showing my @$$ here, since I told you this would be a good game.

Texas A&M 77 - Missouri 74 = And more of the same mooning here.

Northern Iowa 59 - Wichita State 56 = This would go quicker if we had a "moon" smiley icon here.

Vanderbilt 75 - Mississippi State 72 =

Virginia 59 - N.C. State 47 = And this one was one hell of a fight too . . . for the first half. In fact, the Wolfpack went into the lockerroom at the half with a 3-point lead . . . then only scored 19 more in the second.

Memphis 85 - UAB 75 = And here the Tigers creep closer back to their traditional spot atop the CUSA by tying UAB at 6-2, just one behind Tulsa's and UTEP's 7-1.

There are a lot of games tonight between also-rans and never-weres, but scattered amongst them we do have:

Butler vs. Detroit = Should be a real good one.

Purdue vs. Indiana = Should be a slaughter.

Florida vs. Alabama = Should be a Gator win, but they are not consistent enough for one to bet on that.

Duke vs. Georgia Tech = The Blue Devils want some revenge for their earlier loss in Atlanta, not to mention that they want to get the nasty taste of the Hoya whuppin' out of their mouths, and I'd expect that to happen in Cameron tonight.

Cincinnati vs. Notre Dame = Seems like we have three or four of these "fighting for respect" games each night now, and most of them are real battles. This should be another.

Maryland vs. Florida State = And here's another.

Tennessee vs. LSU = And here . . . not so much, in that the Vols already have some respect and the Tigers don't warrant any.

UNC vs Virginia Tech = And speaking of not warranting any respect, take my Heels . . . please. If they do not start finding their baby blue @$$e$ soon, they'll have none left to find.

Gonzaga vs. Portland = And here's your mid-major battle of the Great Northwest. And while we're out on the Left Coast, take note of these:

Arizona State vs. Washington State
Arizona vs. Washington
California vs. USC
Stanford vs. UCLA

I've lumped all these together because that's exactly the way the Pac-10 is . . . all lumped together. Of these 8 of the 10 in action tonight, they are all squeezed between 6-3 and 4-5 in conference play. You can throw idle Oregon into that pot as well, since they're in that moshpit at 4-5 themselves. Only Oregon State is completely out of it . . . at 3-6.

Well, as always, enjoy.

[The Poet]

Sorry, I can't deal with this today . . . and no, not because my Heels spit the bit again. I walked into work and into the middle of a total clusterfark, with yelling and screaming and all that $#!+, and I'm just too damn stressed. Sorry again, and I'll catch up tomorrow.

I'm gonna go outside and have a cigar now, before the blizzard starts, and before I shoot somebody.

[The Poet]

OK, time to play a little catch-up. By the time I finish this I might even have some finals to report on the early games, and I can get to the BIG Arizona story that just developed. Until then, then.

On Thursday 2/4:

Florida 66 - Alabama 65 = One hell of a fight here. I said it should go to the Gators, but don't bet the farm, boys. Yep.

Butler 63 - Detroit 58 = And I said this should be a good one, and it was.

Duke 86 - Georgia Tech 67 = And Dook got their revenge, and then some.

Maryland 71 - Florida State 67 = And here they both fought for respect.

Purdue 78 - Indiana 75 = And here . . . what the hell? Purdue should have beaten the Hoosiers into the hardwood like carpet tacks, but instead it was more like coated 10-penny nails. The Boilermakers got the win, but Indiana deserves some props.

Tennessee 59 - LSU 54 = And it's pretty much the same story here. LSU got the L, but earned a bit of respect for keeping it this close.

Notre Dame 83 - Cincinnati 65 = And I expected the Bearcats to make a real game of this one. They didn't, and the Irish had all the fight.

Virginia Tech 74 - UNC 70 = And I really don't know what to say anymore. Good win for the Hokies, and another bad loss for the Heels.

USC 66 - California 63
UCLA 77 - Stanford 73
Arizona State 81 - Washington State 70
Washington 81 - Arizona 75

And these, aside from being some competitive games, just further added to the logjam in the Pac-10. As things stand now, before the games scheduled today (Saturday), there are 4 teams tied for first place with 6-4 records, with 2 more just behind at 5-5. Whoa.


I only saw one game of any interest on Friday, the lightest day of the roundball week:

Princeton 56 - Harvard 53 = And what's so interesting about this? Well, early on there was a bunch of hype about Tommy Amaker getting the Crimson into the NCAA field for the first time in . . . nearly forever. With the Tiger win last night it puts them at 3-0 in Ivy play, behind Cornell at 5-0, whereas Hahvaad is now 3-2. And the Ivy ain't gettin' no at-large bids, my brothers.

In today's action, quickly, we have:

Georgetown vs. Villanova
Xavier vs. Dayton
West Virginia vs. St. John's
Wake Forest vs. Virginia
Marquette vs. Providence
Mississippi State vs. Florida
Oklahoma State vs. Texas Tech
Auburn vs. Alabama
Temple vs Richmond
Kansas State vs. Iowa State
Duke vs. Boston College
Baylor vs. Texas A&M
Clemson vs. Virginia Tech
ODU vs. VCU
Gonzaga vs. Memphis
Wisconsin vs. Michigan
N.C. State vs. Georgia Tech
Texas vs. Oklahoma
Kentucky vs. LSU
BYU vs. UNLV
California vs. UCLA
New Mexico vs. San Diego State
Mississippi vs. Alabama
Kansas vs. Nebraska
Pittsburgh vs. Seton Hall
Tennessee vs. South Carolina
Miami vs. Florida State
Butler vs. Wright State
Vanderbilt vs. Georgia
Arizona vs. Washington State
Michigan State vs. Illinois
Tulsa vs. UTEP
Arizona State vs. Washington

And those are just the games of note, for one reason or another. As for Sunday, we have:

Ohio State vs. Iowa
Notre Dame vs. South Florida
Syracuse vs. Cincinnati
UNC vs Maryland

I'll be right back with some updates. Enjoy.

[The Poet]

While I'm waiting for a few of the early games to go final, let's deal with the news out of the desert.

Arizona has announced it has placed itself on probation for the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons due to violations by former coach Lute Olson involving an offseason AAU tournament, as well as involvement of a boosters club in this activity. They will give up one scholarship next season, and limit recruiting and campus visits for the next two seasons, and they have disbanded that said boosters club. The NCAA has announced that it will withhold the right to revisit and modify these self-imposed sanctions.

Hey, do you think they may reduce them?

[The Poet]

Finals:

West Virginia 79 - St. John's 60 - About what you'd expect, except that the Johnnies held an 11-point lead at the break. WVA scored 57 of their 79 points in the 2nd half.

Marquette 82 - Providence 79 = Again, what you'd expect from two well-matched teams.

Wake and UVA have gone into OT, and Dayton is kicking Xavier's butt late. The others are still too close to call.

[The Poet]

Dayton 90 - Xavier 65.

Villanova's been trying to dig itself out of it's 19-point halftime hole against the Hoyas, but it doesn't look like it gonna happen. Deacs/Cavs still a battle.

[The Poet]

Wake Forest 64 - Virginia 61. Georgetown a minute from beating 'Nova.

[The Poet]

Georgetown 103 - Villanova 90 = A real defensive struggle here.

[The Poet]

The Temple must be infested - Spiders are all over the Owls at the half, 44-26.

[The Poet]

Florida 69 - Mississippi State 62. Auburn/Arkansas going into OT. Some others holding tough against better competition, like BC/Dook and PSU/Minn, while Fordham - Fordham, by gawd, still leads Charlotte late in the 2nd.