Super Awesome Team of the Week
Purdue Boilermakers
Alot of people were talking about the Boilermakers winning the Big Ten…..in 2009. Matt Painter should get some serious Coach of the Year press for taking this squad of youngsters to the top of the Big Ten. This weekend’s win at Wisconsin, where the Badgers had won 16-straight Big Ten home games, will pretty much eliminate any “fluke” discussion when discussing the Boilermakers. It doesn’t get any easier as they host Michigan State on Tuesday, but the Baby Boilers have finally earned some national respect.
Close: Big East Trio of UConn, Notre Dame, and Louisville (finally a clear-cut second tier of the Big East) Maryland (wins over BC and NC State have the Terps looking at #3 spot in the ACC) Saint Mary’s (held home court vs. Zags) Duke (Agree with Winn, better than Heels with Lawson), Kentucky (quietly 6-2 in the SEC), Indiana (tough wins over Illinois, Ohio State).
Bad, Bad Week
Ole Miss Rebels
The Rebels are now the leaders in the race for Free-Fall of the Year after losing to NIT World Champion South Carolina and Arkansas this past week. That 13-0 start seems like decades ago at this point. At 3-5 in the SEC, they are going to at least finish slightly above .500 to even make the dance at this point
Close: Dayton (don’t care what injuries you have, losing to GW will cost you a bid), Clemson (call the shrink, still can’t win the big one), Illinois (gave it everything, still lost to IU), MAC Teams (bad conference losses for Ohio and Kent State), Saint Joseph’s (two tough A10 losses).
Game of the Week
Indiana 83 Illinois 79 (OT)
Plenty of candidates this week, but the passion/hatred on display and double overtime finish in the Indiana/Illinois make it one of those games you’ll remember for weeks to come.
Close: Saint Mary’s 89 Gonzaga 85 (OT), Butler 71 Valpo 68, North Carolina 103 Clemson 93 (2OT),
Mid-Major Spotlight
Sacred Heart Pioneers
The Pioneers fell just short of the NCAA Tournament last season, falling at CCSU in a hard-fought NEC title game. This season’ s dance prospects look even better for the Pioneers, as they have won eight straight in NEC sit atop the standings at 11-2. Interestingly, their leading scorer (Brice Brooks) only averages 11.9 ppg. Also interesting, their head coach is a dead-ringer for Peter Griffin.
Bubble Watch
Davidson Wildcats RPI 58 17-6, 15-0
The big debate at the recent mock tournament selection was about what to do with a Davidson team that went undefeated in the SoCon and then lost in the conference tournament. I’m throwing this out there now: if Davidson is left home in this exact scenario, it’s a bigger injustice than Syracuse getting left home last season. Davidson did exactly what mid-majority is supposed to do if they want at-large consideration and scheduled the big boys. They lost to UCLA, Duke and North Carolina by a combined 18 points. That’s something 95% of college basketball teams would be perfect fine with.
Player I’d Like To Party With
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame
One of easier players to root for in college basketball because of his hard-nosed, old-school style, Hanangody’s 20 ppg and 10 rpg average have the Irish in Big East contention. He also has an outstanding buzzcut that needs its own name. I’m open for suggestions
Student Section of the Week
Saint Mary’s Gael Force
The SMC crowd made their presence felt against Gonzaga, as this group didn’t sit for one second in the thriller. The crowd plus the dimly-lit old school gym brought back fond memories of high school playoff games for this guy. Major credit for the student section for not storming the floor after beating the Zags. No reason in storming if you have the higher ranking.
Freshman Spotlight
Robbie Hummel, Purdue
Just one of the talented freshmen on Boilermakers, Hummel scored a career-high 21 points in the huge road upset at Wisconsin, which now leaves the Boilermakers thinking more about seeding than bid security.
Monday, February 11, 2008
Monday Madness 2/11: Big Ten Surprise
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8 comments:
Gody hair?
I like it
I feel the opposite way about Davidson. I commend them for going out and scheduling people, but they also lost to NCST and Western Michigan. If you are going to schedule those teams to get an at large bid you have to beat one of them to show you are capable of doing that.
So what if Davidson loses one game in their conference tourney, if they show they can't beat mid level ACC teams or an upper tier MAC team, then they don't deserve to be in.
Unless they win the rest of their conference games by about 40 and lose in their conference final, i wouldn't let them in as an at large.
I actually agree, Jameson. Losing to UNC is no crime, but if Davidson wants to claim they scheduled strong, I think it behooved them to at least beat, say Charlotte, or W. Mich. Those are winnable games.
Wow, the Davidson debate even stretches into STF! I'm in the Wildcat camp....it's not like those Ls were to bad Charlotte and WMU squads either...and an undefeated regular season plus the close loses should merit something
No way does Davidson deserve a bit if that happens.
Johnny Jungle student section of the week in my book(I'm so biased) Huge part in a near sellout(200 seats left) crowd on campus against Providence. The crowd making a lot of noise helping a 7-0 run with 4 minutes left to help the Johnnies come back for the win 64-62.
3 straight @ Cincy on Wednesday
Davidson fan here -- just wanted to point out a few things. 1. All bubble teams struggle to win away from home. The UNC game was in Charlotte and 2/3 of the crowd was for the Tar Heels. Duke was too and more than half the crowd was in blue. NCAA says they were home games, reality says neutral courts. UCLA was in Anaheim. NCAA says neutral court. Yeah, right. West Mich and Charlotte were also road games.
We'd love to play people in our gym. No one will agree to do so. This is the ultimate catch-22 BS from the big conferences, especially their bubble teams. They refuse to come to Belk Arena because they'll likely get beat. Then, come March, they say Davidson shouldn't get an at-large because they didn't beat anyone.
Pure chicken s**t. Using their own fear as a trump card.
We played Duke better than anyone that's played them but Pitt. With Curry on the floor, we were about 16 or 18 pts better. But Duke's floppers racked up 4 charging calls on him (a couple just horrendous) and they beat us by 6.
UNC went down to the wire despite our center's shoulder injury, Curry's torn ligament in his wrist, and another starter puking his guts out from flu.
No one in the Pac 10 has gotten up on UCLA by 18 pts, much less in LA. And no one in the country is going to beat the Bruins when the zebras give them a 30 to 4 FT margin.
Name any bubble team in the country who would have a better record than we do against our schedule. Tenn squeaked by Chatt. Ark lost to App St. We blew out both of them. Fla had to get a phantom foul to beat Ga So. We won in a rout.
stan
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