You want to know how much I love college basketball? I even love being wrong about college basketball. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that the vast potential for misjudging the field is a big part of what makes the sport so fun for me - I like surprises.
I have been touting the Horizon as this year's multi-bid mid all season, but I've been doing so under the banners of the usual suspects: Butler, Wright State, Valpo. But what ho? It appeareth that yet another midwestern program of little repute is nudging those worthies aside in conference play, having taken down all three in a row. Cleveland State now sits at 7-0 in the Horizzy, with a respectable overall mark of 14-5.
The rampaging Vikes do not appear to be a star-driven team: top scorers Cedric Jackson and J'Nathan Bullock average only 29 minutes and 14 points apiece. Oddly, for an unheralded mid-major, Cleveland State seems to have depth. Bullock has been a rock for the Vikings all three seasons he's played, but the rest of the team has been bolstered by transfers: Jackson from St. John's, Chris Moore from UCSB, and George Tandy from Eastern Illinois. They hang their hat on perimeter defense, holding opponents to .26 from behind the arc over the past nine games.
The closest the Vikings come to our TV screens is a Feb. 20th matchup with Wisconsin-Milwaukee, which can be seen on ESPN Full Court. Until then, we'll just have to watch their win totals rise and wonder what the heck they look like.
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Checking Out the Cleveland State Vikings
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1 comments:
Cleveland State used to be a joke but now they've become scary in the Horizon League. I listened to the Butler coach describe them and he said they were "intensely fierce" (not sure what that means) and 'a force'. He went on to describe much of what you did in your post...supposedly they have two good players and they have helped round out the roster with a bunch of transfers who have come in to play a roll and win games. Pretty interesting stuff from a mid major team.
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