06Nov13 - Too Early For Tea

Volume XI, No. 2 - 06 Nov 13 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Too Early For Tea

It's much too early in the season to do a lot of reading of the tea leaves from these first few games. Most elite teams purposely schedule easy opponents so they can make lots of substitutions and give new players plenty of non-pressure playing time. The two elite veteran teams, Florida and Kansas, each rolled comfortably at home over teams that, believe it or not, are likely to make the NCAA tournament in March. Granted, Samford(OVC) and Northern Arizona(Big Sky) are "Lower 33"/non-splash teams, but at least those are real wins -- not like Wichita State over {Rockhurst}, Nevada over {Alaska-Anchorage}, and Southern Illinois over {Washington-Missouri}. Ohio State won the 8-team BCA CLASSIC, including an 87-75 win over Loyola-Illinois(Horizon). Syracuse cruised in its three-day showcase BCA INVITATIONAL, besting Pennsylvania(Ivy) in the process. Washington State was an Unwelcome Guest, going 3-0 to sweep the Milwaukee bracket of the JOHN THOMPSON CHALLENGE past both UAB and host Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Texas, Maryland, Michigan State and St. John's all easily advanced from their showcase regionals to this week's finals of the COLLEGE HOOPS (COACHES VS. CANCER) CLASSIC.

Only one ranked team lost on the week: Arizona's house warming gift to Virginia in its new arena was a @93-90 Cavalier victory. This Wildcat squad has lots of smooth offensive players -- led by fIvan Radenovic(24p8r5a) and freshman tChase Budlinger(17p5r4a) -- but it didn't display any clampdown defensive ability to take control when it counted. Much as he did two years ago as a freshman, UVa's pSean Singletary engineered the upset with 25p6a(13/14ft) along with tMamadi Diane(25p;5/6 3s). Charlotte won an @88-82 shootout over Hofstra (with all four starting guards with 20+ points), but gave it all back with a terrible home loss, @72-90, to North Texas (as tDe'Angelo Alexander shot 5-for-22). Ohio University whipped "L33"-bound Marist(Metro Atlantic), @83-66, despite 21p7a5r from MU's pJared Jordan; while Texas Tech beat likely "L33" Sam Houston State(Southland), @79-64, thanks to bJarrius Jackson's 27p6r5s and tMartin Zeno's 19p6r4a. Loyola Marymount edged L33 Oral Roberts(Mid-Continent), @68-65. What's left of Albany(America East)[L33] beat what's left of Bucknell, @55-49.

Ohio State's cGreg Oden likely won't see action until January as he continues to recover from off-season wrist surgery, but OSU's tDaequan Cook (22p9r and 18p9r, already) has plenty of wares to show himself. The biggest freshman spotlight so far falls squarely on Texas' tKevin Durant. The Longhorns are already his team -- he posted 20p6r and 21p13r5b in his first two outings. fQuincy Pondexter(21p7r) and tSpencer Hawes(12p7a5r) made fine debuts for Washington in its @99-91 win over Pepperdine (not to mention 25p12r from sophomore cJohn Brockman). bPaul Harris is blending in as a role player in support of the veteran upperclassmen at Syracuse so far. cBrian Zoubek(18p6r;10/13ft) made a solid debut for Duke. Boston College's fShamari Spears wasn't supposed to be up with this bunch, but his 23p6r debut says otherwise. Connecticut's new-look lineup struggled in its opener, only winning @53-46 over Quinnipiac (with 16p6r from bJerome Dyson). That leaves the SuperFrosh at North Carolina as the only big new names we've yet to see in a game that counts.

Georgetown struggled out of the gates with only a @69-59 win over Hartford. San Diego State actually claimed an Unwelcome Guest victory at St. Mary's SHAMROCK INVITATIONAL; but three wins by a total of 7 points don't make for ranking material (despite bBrandon Heath's individual heroics: a game-winning three-pointer one night, and game-winning free throws the next night). George Mason's 79-@74 win at Cleveland State (together with Hofstra's loss to Charlotte) may signal that the fairy tale won't continue for the Colonial this year. It may well go back to being a one-bid league. Bradley was supposed to be in rebuilding mode, but a @78-58 rout of DePaul could have major repercussions later on for conference power ratings. Oregon won its three-day showcase BCA CLASSIC even without tMalik Hairston (groin injury) in large part thanks to 5-6 pTajuan Porter (93 points in three games).

Duke, Texas Tech and Marquette won't have trouble advancing to next week's finals of the COLLEGE BASKETBALL EXPERIENCE (GUARDIANS) CLASSIC; but Stanford might not survive at home against the winner of Air Force/Long Beach State. Massachusetts might make things interesting for Pittsburgh in its COLONIAL CLASSIC round robin group before it hosts Florida State in a week. Connecticut's HISPANIC COLLEGE FUND-NORTH group should be no problem. Roy Williams has an excellent record in the NIT SEASON TIP-OFF going back to his days at Kansas; expect nothing different as North Carolina should handle Gonzaga and Tennessee/Indiana without much trouble. Illinois should handle Bradley in front of the home folk in the final pairing of the CHICAGO CHALLENGE. It will be interesting whether young Texas can get past depleted Michigan State and up-and-down Maryland in the COLLEGE HOOPS final rounds. Wisconsin, Oklahoma State, Missouri State and Auburn should have some good matchups in the final rounds of the SOUTH PADRE ISLAND INVITATIONAL. Oral Roberts (at Kansas) and Norther Arizona (at Arizona) don't get it any easier this week. George Mason needs a home win over Wichita State to stay relevant this season. Creighton-Nebraska is a B-list "State Title" game.

The preliminary round robin games are just teasers. Mark down the date of the biggest game of the preseason.

The pre-set final of the LAS VEGAS [THANKSGIVING] INVITATIONAL:

Sat 24 Nov @ Las Vegas NV /Orleans Hotel Arena/: Florida vs Kansas

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday-Wednesday, Monday week-Tuesday week:

COLLEGE BASKETBALL EXPERIENCE (GUARDIANS) CLASSIC 1st/16s on-campus, @ Kansas City MO
(Mon @ Durham NC: Qtr:@Duke-GeorgiaSo, Cons:Columbia-{UCDavis},
 Mon-Tue @ Lubbock TX: @TexasTech-GardnerWebb, Akron-ARLittleRock,
 Mon-Tue @ Milwaukee WI: @Marquette-IdahoSt, Detroit-Maine,
 Tue-Wed @ Palo Alto CA: AirForce-LongBeachSt, @Stanford-SanJoseSt),

Monday-Tuesday (SOUTH), Friday-Sunday (NORTH), Friday week (Final):

COLONIAL CLASSIC RndRob on-campus
(SOUTH-@ Tallahassee FL: @FloridaSt, SMU, IllinoisSt, McNeeseSt,
 NORTH-@ Pittsburgh PA: @Pittsburgh, Massachusetts, Northeastern, Oakland),

Monday, Wednesday (WEST), Friday-Sunday (NORTH), Wed-Fri 27-29 Dec (SOUTH):

HISPANIC COLLEGE FUND CLASSIC RndRob on-campus
(WEST-@ Tempe AZ: Mon:@ArizonaSt-NoArizona, Wed:@ArizonaSt-{CalStSanBernardino},
 NORTH-@ Hartford CT: @Connecticut, Mississippi, Fairfield, CArkansas,
 SOUTH-@ Baton Rouge LA: @LSU, Samford, WrightSt, MSValleySt,
 Sat 6 Jan NORTH/SOUTH "Final": Connecticut@LSU).

Monday-Wednesday, Wednesday week, Friday week:

NIT SEASON TIP-OFF 1st/16s on-campus, @ New York NY
(Mon-Tue @ Nashville TN: @Tennessee-Fordham, UNCWilmington-Belmont,
 Mon-Tue @ Indianapolis IN: @Indiana-Lafayette, @NotreDame-@Butler,
 Tue-Wed @ Charlotte NC: @NCarolina-SacredHeart, Winthrop-Iona,
 Tue-Wed @ Spokane WA: @Gonzaga-Rice, ColoradoSt-Baylor),

Wednesday:

@Kansas-OralRoberts, @Arizona-NoArizona,
JOHN THOMPSON CHALLENGE-A/B Final on-campus
(WIMilwaukee@Michigan),

Wednesday-Tuesday week, Friday week, Saturday week:

CHICAGO CHALLENGE INVITATIONAL 2x4 RndRob on-campus, @ Chicago IL
(A: @Illinois, @Rutgers, JacksonSt, SavannahSt, [{StThomasAquinas}],
 B: @Bradley, @MiamiOH, @ILChicago, FloridaA&M),

Thursday-Friday:

COLLEGE HOOPS (COACHES VS CANCER) CLASSIC @ New York NY
(Texas-MichiganSt, Maryland@StJohns),

Thursday-Sunday:

TOP OF THE WORLD CLASSIC 1st/Qtrs @ Fairbanks AK
(Thu: RhodeIsland-Troy, WeberSt@{AKFairbanks},
 Fri: UtahSt-Centenary, Drake-SEMissouriSt),

Friday-Monday week:

PARADISE JAM 1st/Qtrs @ St. Thomas VI
(Alabama-MidTennessee, Xavier-VCU, Villanova-ColofCharleston, Iowa-Toledo),

Saturday:

WichitaSt@GeoMason, Creighton@Nebraska,

Saturday-Tuesday week, Friday week-Saturday week:

LAS VEGAS [THANKSGIVING] INVITATIONAL 2x4 RndRob on-campus, @ Las Vegas NV /OHA/
(A: @Florida, @BallSt, Chattanooga, PrairieView,
 B: @Kansas, @WeKentucky, TennesseeSt, Towson,

Sat 25 Nov @ Las Vegas NV /OHA/ : Florida-Kansas),

Sunday:

@Arizona-NewMexicoSt,

Sunday, Tuesday week, Friday week-Saturday-week:

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND INVITATIONAL 2x4 RndRob on-campus, @ South Padre Island TX
(A: @Wisconsin, @MissouriSt, Southern, DelawareSt, [{LincolnU}],
 B: @OklahomaSt, @Auburn, SamHoustonSt, ETennesseeSt, [MoreheadSt], [{LouisianaCol}], [{MilesCol}]).

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Top 25 - 06 Nov 13 - [] Column

1. Florida (1-0)
2. Kansas (1-0)
3. Louisiana State
4. UCLA
5. North Carolina
6. Ohio State (3-0)
7. Wisconsin (1-0)
8. Pittsburgh (1-0)
9. Tennessee (1-0)
10. Duke (1-0)
11. Alabama (1-0)
12. Boston College (1-0)
13. Texas A&M (1-0)
14. Georgetown (1-0)
15. Syracuse (3-0)
16. Memphis
17. Texas (2-0)
18. Gonzaga (1-0)
19. Washington (1-0)
20. Connecticut (1-0)
21. Wichita State
22. Xavier (1-0)
23. Creighton
24. Nevada
25. Southern Illinois

Honorable Mention:
- Virginia (1-0), Washington State (3-0), North Texas (2-0), Bradley (1-0),
- Charlotte (1-1), Oregon (3-0), Ohio U (1-0), Texas Tech (1-0), Albany (1-0).