Half-Court Buzzer-Beaters Are Fun, Even When The DVR Skips Them

Unless you were one of the 13 people nationally who have ESPNU and stayed home on Friday night, here is the clip of the mid-court shot that AJ Graves sunk to lead Butler to the last second win at below .500 SIU (Clip's from ESPN, so you have to sit through some announcer drivel for a bit). I thought I would be clever and DVR this game since my parents get actually get ESPNU and watch this one at 2am when I got home. Let me tell you how excited I was at around 3:45am to find out that the DVR stopped recording with :35 remaining and SIU up 3, only to find out about the amazingly awesome buzzer-beater victory by Butler on ESPN.com. Of course.

Hoop Holiday: Christmas 2007 - New Year 2008

We'll be taking some time off, and there will be some good games during that time, so we'll go ahead and list them all - check back and leave comments and we'll discuss them over roasted chestnuts and fruitcake when we get back. There will be a few updates here and there between the holidays, but we won't be on regular schedule until January 2nd. All rankings are as of today, so they'll be all screwed up by January.

So from everyone at STF, have Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. Enjoy this week family and friends. And just think, the major holiday (at least in my mind) after New Year's......March Madness. Good times.


Thursday, Dec 27:

Nevada at #1 North Carolina - 7pm, ESPN2
NC State at Seton Hall - 7:30pm, ESPNU

Friday, Dec 28:

UConn at UCF - 8pm, College Sports Television
#18 Butler at Southern Illinois - 9pm, ESPNU

Saturday, Dec 29:

Wisconsin at #5 Texas - noon, ESPN2
San Diego at Kentucky - 2pm, ESPN2
#12 Tennessee at #20 Gonzaga - 4pm, ESPN2
Oklahoma at West Virginia - 6pm, ESPN2
La Salle at #16 Villanova - 7pm, ESPNU
#9 Pitt at Dayton - 8pm, ESPN2
#19 Arizona at #2 Memphis - 10pm, ESPN2

Sunday, Dec 30:

Florida State at Georgia Tech - 5:30pm, FSN
Valpo at #1 North Carolina - 7:30pm, FSN

Monday, Dec 31:

Kansas State at #24 Xavier - 7pm, ESPNU

Tuesday, January 1:

Cincinnati at Louisville - 2:30pm, ESPN

Top 25 + 10 Week Six

Each week, we'll give you the STF Top 25 (submitted weekly to the College Basketball Blogpoll) as well as another Top 10 from around the world of college basketball.
(Poll was submitted on Tuesday, 12/25).


STF Top 25

1. Memphis (3)
2. North Carolina (1)
3. Kansas (3)
4. Pitt (17)
5. Washington State (6)
6. Michigan State (12)
7. Texas (2)
8. UCLA (8)
9. Duke (5)
10. Georgetown (7)
11. Butler (13)
12. Miami (FL) (12)
13. Tennessee (17)
14. Marquette (9)
15. Texas A&M (11)
16. Indiana (15)
17. Vanderbilt (18)
18. Ole Miss (24)
19. Rhode Island (19)
20. Villanova (20)
21. Arizona (22)
22. Clemson (10)
23. Stanford (NR)
24. Dayton (25)
25. West Virginia (NR)

The + 10: Memorable Games That I've Seen Live

1. George Mason vs Connecticut (March 26, 2006 Elite 8, Washington DC)
If you are reading this site and not sure why this is #1, go away.

2. North Carolina vs Villanova (March 25, 2005, Syracuse, NY Sweet 16)
The infamous travel call cost Nova a trip to the Final Four.

3. North Carolina vs Georgetown (March 25, 2007 East Rutherford, NJ Elite 8)
Terrific comeback by Gtown to end the game, but this was honestly a soozefest up until that point.

4. Bucknell vs Holy Cross (February 9, 2007 Lewisburg, PA)
With home court in Patriot Tournament on the line, remains the most physically competitive game that I've ever witnessed.

5. American vs Maryland (December 22, 2007 College Park, MD)
The stunned look of Maryland fans was worth the price of admission alone.

6. Washington vs Connecticut (March 24, 2006 Washington DC Sweet 16)
Fantastic game overshadowed by the Mason-UConn classic.

7. Pittsburgh vs Syracuse (March 11, 2006, Big East Championship)
GMac's magical leads the Cuse to the Big East championship (Sorry for the earlier slip-up). Bonus points for free tickets in MSG luxury box. Don't ask.

8. Philly Classic (November 24-25, Philadelphia)
The first ever STF Summit will always have a special place in my heart, even if the games sucked.

9. George Mason vs Wichita State (March 24, 2006 Washington DC Sweet 16)
Had to keep reminding yourself that you were watching the Sweet 16 and not Bracketbusters.

10. North Carolina vs Wisconsin (March 27, 2005 Syracuse, NY Elite 8)
Lost in the crowd of great Elite 8 games in 2005, the Badgers had the lead in this one with under 3:00 minutes to play.

In With the New - The Early Season Winners

As we near the day when we all must throw out our old calendars and spend a couple of weeks scratching out 2007 on our checks and writing in '08. It also means conference play starts in earnest in the NCAA, so we'll take a look at some of the surprising teams that have successfully weathered November and December and have themselves in good position to earn a March invite.

Dayton Flyers, 10-1

Signature Win: at then-#11 Louisville.

Remaining Tests: at #6 Pitt, Dec. 29, double-dips with #25 Rhode Island and Xavier in-conference.

Prediction: The A-10 is tough this year, but Dayton seems poised to win the regular season or at least pick up an at-large nomination.


Drake Bulldogs, 9-1

Signature Win: at Iowa

Remaining Tests: Conference foes Creighton and Southern Illinois will look to put the upstart back in its place.

Prediction: If Southern Illinois continues to struggle, Drake will take the second NCAA bid in the slumping MVC.


Miami Hurricanes, 12-0

Signature Wins: at Mississippi State, Puerto Rico Tip-off championship

Remaining Tests: The ACC. The good news is, they only face #1 UNC once, at home, on January 23rd. Otherwise #10 Duke and #20 Clemson home-and-aways are the big danger.

Prediction: The Hurricanes probably aren't good enough to dominate in the ACC, but a .500 or better conference record, and the attendant overseeding that entails, are in their reach.


Ole Miss Rebels, 11-0

Signature Win: neutral-court over then-#15 Clemson

Remaining Tests: at #12 Tennessee January 9th, #15 Vanderbilt at home January 30th. No super-dangerous teams in the SEC West this year.

Prediction: Barring a conference-tournament flame-out, the Rebels seem poised to venture into the NCAA tournament for the first time since a 2002 first-round loss to UCLA.


Sam Houston State Bearkats, 10-0

Signature Wins: Texas Tech at home, at St. Louis

Remaining Tests: stay tough in the Southland West, and for god's sake win the conference tournament.

Prediction: SHSU could run the table and still fall short by one game. If they don't win the Southland tournament, this will all be for naught. Which sucks.


Houston Cougars, 10-1

Signature Win: Kentucky at home.

Remaining Tests: at #18 Arizona January 18th, two scoops of #2 Memphis in conference.

Prediction: Houston can and probably will lose to Memphis twice and still make an excellent case for an at-large bid. Just handle the UTEPs and Rices of the world and things will be dandy.


New Orleans Privateers, 10-2

Signature Wins: at then-#22 NC State, at Colorado

Remaining Tests: Much like Sam Houston State, the Privateers could not lose another game until the conference tournament and they would still miss the dance. However, for a team in such dire straits as this one, even an NIT bid would be sweet, sweet victory.

Prediction: South Alabama could be a thorn in UNO's side. I doubt the undermanned Privateers, playing in a tiny student gym in post-apocalyptic New Orleans, can pull it off. But oh how sweet it would be to have to admit I was wrong come March.


Saint Mary's Gaels, 10-1

Signature Wins: Have beat Drake, then-#11 Oregon, and Seton Hall, all visitors.

Remaining Tests: at #9 Texas January 5, Gonzaga x2 in conference, and the wily Eddie Sutton at USF.

Prediction: Assuming they don't stumble in the WCC, I think the Gaels are worthy of an at-large bid, and could finally mount a challenge to the dominant Zags.


Clearly, the road to the field of 65 is a three-part process. Winning early is rarely enough to get a team in, but these eight contenders have taken the first step. For a few, a winning conference record will ensure a bid, but for the rest, step three - the conference tournament - is where all hope lies. Still - a big win in November against a power program at least makes the committee's deliberations difficult.

God, Alex Legion, Erin Andrews, Eddie Sutton and More Holiday Housekeeping

It was nice to see that despite being preoccupied with his son's 2007th birthday, God managed to find the time to inform Alex Legion's mother that her son should attend the University of Illinois.

Not surprising, the mother who said that God informed her that her son would someday lead Kentucky to a Final Four, initially wanted her son to transfer to Notre Dame.

My word to UK fans: No matter how god-awful your team may be and how good Legion may someday become, you have saved yourself a massive headache down-the-road by ditching Legion and his overbearing mother.

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Hope that everyone has so for enjoyed the holidays up to this point. My apologies to anyone who is already back at work. I'm sure that you'll be interested to know that I woke up somewhere around 1pm yesterday following my family's Christmas party the previous evening. As you may assume, I'm enjoying my week off. Some college basketball news over the holidays........

- Eddie Sutton is heading back to bench, agreeing to coach the 1950s power San Francisco of the WCC. Nice move by the Dons and increasing national WCC, as long as Sutton isn't just using the school for three months to reach his 800th victory, which is very possible.

- Memphis showed how a stifling defense can make up for iffy shooting in an impressive rout of Georgetown, Carolina is still cruising but lost a key player for the season, Maryland is free-falling to the basement of the ACC, Oregon is living up to my preseason "overrated" prediction, Michigan State is proving better than advertised and Ole Miss finally posted a victory of significance.

- Finally, everyone's favorite college basketball sideline reporter Erin Andrews revealed to the AJC the five things she can't live without. Can't live without her Macbook or Ipod? That's just like me! It's like we were made for one another Ms Andrews. With that much in common, I'm betting she'll drop the restraining order by late summer.

Remember My Name: Charron Fisher

Charron Fisher has been hanging around the top of the scoring leader board for some time now. The 6'4" Senior Guard from Niagara is a scoring machine, but that's not all. He also brings down nearly ten rebounds per game to go with his scoring average of 27.3ppg, good for first in the nation.

His season high in points is 36 in a win over MAAC foe Rider, outscoring the Broncs' phenom Jason Thompson by 11. In a victory at St. John's, he pulled down 14 rebounds for a season-high, and Fisher had three blocks in a neutral-court win over conference rival Marist, getting the Purple Eagles to 6-3 overall, and 2-0 in conference play. He's another one of those guys who's doing anything he can think of to gut out the wins his team needs to advance to the NCAA Tournament.

And Niagara does expect to be in the tournament. A 22-11 (13-5) mark got them into the dreaded play-in game last season, where they knocked off the Rattlers of Florida A&M; (Fisher had 13 and 8) and moved on to get blown out by Kansas (Fisher had a respectable 17 and 6).

Best of all? Charron is a writer (we've been told 'blogger' is a dirty word). He pens his thoughts for the Niagara Gazette on an occasional basis [Bloggin' in the Paint]. In his first entry, Charron refers to himself as a Forward, despite being only 6'4". I guess if you weigh 230, and grab that many rebounds per game, you can be a forward in the MAAC.

Charron and his mates stand a good chance to win the auto-bid in the MAAC, and they'll have to, because there is no at-large bid for this conference. Heck, 22 wins gets you the play-in game.

Note: An extremely knowledgeable reader (yet another who toils for ESPN.com) tells me that Fisher, Jason Thompson, and UNCG's Kyle Hines are all buddies from their AAU days. Small, orange, pebbled world, eh?

Christmas Story Bully Resurfaces as Bulldog

I had very little basketball to watch during most of my four days off surrounding the Christmas holiday, but I did have some televised holiday movies to watch. What does it say about me that I started to see college basketball coaches in my head?

Here's school bully Scut Farcus from A Christmas Story, all grown up into Gonzaga coach Mark Few.