Monday Madness 1/7: Irish Eyes Are Smiling, Eddie Sutton Shouldn't Be

Monday Madness is STF's weekly recap of the week that was in college basketball. Expect it to appear every Monday around noon.

Super Awesome Team of the Week

Notre Dame

I could have easily gone with Xavier here, but I figured I would end the A10’s reign on the weekly honors and give it to the Irish. Flying completely below the radar despite last season’s 24-8 campaign, the Irish began Big East play with impressive victories over West Virginia and UConn. The Irish are on an 11 game win steak and are riding a 30-game home winning streak. Luke Harangody may the single most underrated player in America. He’s almost like the white version of Michal Beasley, averaging 18.6 ppg and 9.8 rpg. And with the Big East looking more cluttered than ever, the Irish just may be your surprising conference champions at season's end.


Close: Xavier (Wins over BCS schools K-State, UVA and Aubrun) Kansas (Still rolling despite getting little attention) UCLA (Quality road wins to kick off Pac-10 play) Penn State (2-0 start to B10 play) Arizona State (already equaled last year’s conference win total), Illinois State (3-0 in the Valley)


Bad, Bad Week

Illinois

I’ve already asked about Maryland’s grace period with Gary Williams, but how about Bruce Weber at IU? The Illini are 8-7 (with a loss to Tennessee State) and are now 0-2 in the Big Ten with losses to Ohio State and Penn State at home. Yikes. That’s now three consecutive losses at the once intimidating Assembly Hall. How bad has Illini basketball been this season? The highlight the year has been recruiting certifiably insane Alex Legion. Have fun.


Close: Arizona (loss to Oregon, close call to horrible OSU) , USC (Road losses vs Cal and Stanford), George Mason (puzzling loss to Georgia State), Southern Illinois (1-2 in the Valley)


Upset of the Week

Savannah State 61 Southern Miss 56

Here’s guessing that no matter how drunk Larry Eustachy is when Southern Miss is filling out the non-conference schedule for next season, Savannah State will not be on it. For the second consecutive season, the Tigers beat the Golden Eagles. Yes, that’s the same Savannah State that is just three seasons removed from an 0-28 campaign. With an athletics budget that ranks dead last in Division I and no conference tie-in, it’s a major upset when Savannah State beats anyone in DI, let alone someone from Conference USA.


Close: Georgia State 62 George Mason 61, Penn State 68 Illinois 64,


Mid-Major Spotlight Cornell Big Red

For the first time since 1883, it appears as if someone other than Penn or Princeton will win the Ivy league. So who is going to fill that slot in the bracket? It looks like the Big Red of Cornell are as good a bet as any. The Big Red are 6-5 and put a serious scare into Duke at Cameron on Sunday. Scoring in bunches for the Ivy League (77.8 ppg) and led by guard Ryan Wittman, they could be the favorite in one of the most wide-open Ivy races in years.



The "Billy Gillespie Memorial" Coach Who May Be Burned at The Stake By His Fanbase


Eddie Sutton, San Fransisco

This really should be Bruce Weber, but I’m going to use this space to highlight the classless move by Eddie Sutton and San Francisco. As expected, Sutton will only coach the Dons for the remainder of the season, basically using the school like a one-night stand so he can pick his 800th victory (He’s currently at 799). I’m not sure who to dislike more in this situation; Sutton for using the school for the pointless record or USF for forcing the resignation of then-coach Jessie Evans to gain three minutes of national attention. Here’s hoping that Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s put up 120 each on the Dons this season.


Close: Bruce Weber, Billy Gillespie (of course).



Player I'd Like To Party With
Each week, I’ll pick a player that I think it would be fun to party with. As part of the gimmick, I’ll also ask them to be friends on Facebook. And maybe someday, I will actually get to party with them.

ASU cheerleader Lauren Thompson



Seriously, screw everyone who I’ve highlighted in this spot before. Every player I’ve mentioned (five in total) has yet to accept me as a friend. Well they can all go screw themselves, because I’m pretty sure that I’d have a much better time partying with ASU cheerleader Lauren Thompson (Found via SI Campus Clicks) anyway. I’ve been to Tempe before, and Lauren is a prime example of the “talent” at ASU.



Student Section of the Week

Clemson




I’ve always been impressed with the Clemson students at Littlejohn. It just looked like an incredibly uncomfortable place for the the opposition to be playing at a so-called “football school”. They didn’t disappoint against UNC last night, too bad they were kicked in the nuts by their team once again.


Freshmen of the Week

Chris Warren, Ole Miss

We’ll know alot more about Ole Miss after their visit to Tennessee, but freshmen Chris Warren deserves to get some pub. He leads the Rebels in scoring with 15.2 ppg and is a major reason for their jump to the national spotlight. He's also been remarkable consistent for a freshmen, scoring in double figures in every game of his career. Again, we'll know more after Wednesday, but keep your eye on Warren.