07 Nov12 - Atlantic (Moment In The) Sun

Volume XII, No. 2 - 07 Nov 12 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Atlantic (Moment In The) Sun

The Billy Gillispie era got off to, shall we say, a less than auspicious start. Kentucky somehow managed to lose to Gardner-Webb 84-@68 at Rupp Arena in the second round of the COLLEGE HOOPS/CVC CLASSIC. So it's the Bulldogs from Boiling Springs, NC (who were 9-21 a year ago) who get to make the trip to New York to face Connecticut. Yikes. Not to be out-done, GC tO.J. Mayo made a wonderful stat sheet debut for USC (32p4a7r8to;12/27fg); the only problem is the Trojans lost 96-@81 to Mercer. Even a third team from the perennial 1BC (One-Bid Conference) Atlantic Sun, Belmont, went on the road and beat lowly Cincinnati, 86-@75.

These aren't world-beater teams, either. Gardner-Webb did its damage behind 6-1 gGrayson Flittner(22p5a) and 6-3 fThomas Sanders(21p10r). G-W bolted to 14-0 lead right out of the blocks and UK played catch-up the entire game. GC fPatrick Patterson had a modest debut, 12p12r. For its part, Mercer was led by 6-1 gJames Florence, who matched Mayo with 30p4a;12/23fg of his own. These kind of shocking results don't necessarily mean much. (Remember, last year, Oral Roberts won at Kansas early in the season, but the Jayhawks still went on to win the Big 12 title and tournament and reach the Elite Eight while that veteran Oral Roberts team did go on to make the NCAAs as the Mid-Continent champs, losing in the first round to Washington State).

fMichael Beasley had a monstrous debut for Kansas State, 32p24r4b8to;12/20fg, as the Wildcats routed Sacramento State @94-63. For the most part, the other GCs were fine. cKevin Love led UCLA with 22p13r in an easy @69-48 win over Portland State. pDerrick Rose averaged 19p3a6r in routs of Tennessee-Martin (@102-71) and Richmond (@80-63) as Memphis advanced to play Maryland in the COLLEGE HOOPS/CVC semis in New York. tKyle Singler (15p8r) was one of seven players in double-figures in Duke's @121-56 laugher over Provisional D-I {UNC-Central}. fAndrew Ogilvy had 18p9r in Vanderbilt's @81-67 win over Austin Peay. Indiana (bEric Gordon) and Syracuse (fDonte Green, gJonny Flynn) get going officially tonight (Monday); Arizona State (tJames Harden) begins next week in MAUI.

San Diego State earned the first Unwelcome Guest win, taking the WV CLASSIC over host Fresno State, 89-@72. The Aztecs figure to be in the mix of a grab bag for the Mountain West title this season. Stanford, which is without cBrook Lopez for the fall semester, had no trouble winning its own BTI-WEST CLASSIC, @69-48 over UC-Santa Barbara in the final. Even at full strength, the Cardinal will have its hands full every night in the loaded Pac-10. UCSB should find its way to the top of the Big West and earn an NCAA bid come March. Pittsburgh's win in the HISPANIC FUND-EAST CLASSIC didn't mean much, even with a @69-58 win over St. Louis (and coach Rick Majerus) in the final.

Illinois-Chicago struck a blow for the Horizon, upending MVC-contender Bradley, @84-75. Weber State knocked off in-state rival Utah State, @78-71. WSU should be in the mix with Montana for the Big Sky title; the WAC is off to a poor start with USU, Fresno State and New Mexico State (which lost to Ohio U out of the MAC) all figuring to be league favorites, but each already with a loss on the season. UNC-Greensboro figures to play second fiddle to Davidson inside the Southern Conference, but their 84-@73 win at Georgia Tech could be the first step in making the SoCon more than 1BC.

The preseason tournaments don't offer any potential any Top-5 matchups -- Top-10 is about the best we can hope for -- but a few have strong fields to make for several entertaining clashes. The BCS conferences are flexing their muscles. In addition to the ACC-BIG 10 CHALLENGE, we now have a BIG 12/PAC-10 HARDWOOD SERIES featuring all of the schools (at least once!) and a pair of double-headers in the BIG EAST/SEC INVITATIONAL.

• COLLEGE HOOPS/CVC CLASSIC (Nov 15-16 at New York NY): Gardner-Webb has already made news; Memphis doesn't figure to have any trouble with Connecticut or Oklahoma.
• CBE/GUARDIANS CLASSIC (Nov 10-14 on-campus, Nov 19-20 at Kansas City MO): UCLA might have expected a strong test from Michigan State (but they look terrible in exhibition games so far); Maryland and Missouri are decent, but not Top 25.
• SOUTH PADRE ISLAND INVITATIONAL (Nov 18,20 on-campus, Nov 23-24 at South Padre Island TX): Bradley, Utah State, Vanderbilt, Iowa and Austin Peay are a mediocre group.
• NIT SEASON TIP-OFF (Nov 12-14 on-campus, Nov 21-23 at New York NY): Texas A&M, Syracuse, Ohio State and Washington/Utah will make for very watchable semifinal final pairings.
• LEGENDS CLASSIC (Nov 14-18 on-campus, Nov 23-24 at Newark NJ): Tennessee and Texas would make for a nice final; New Mexico State has already disappointed; don't know what to expect from Bob Huggins' West Virginia squad. (Worst part of this one: the also-ran preliminary round schools [UC-Davis, Prairie View A&M, {AR-Monticello} and {LeMoyne-Owen}] don't even get to go to finals.)
• PUERTO RICO CLASSIC (Nov 15-18 at San Juan PR): A nice field of Arkansas, VCU, Houston and Providence.
• TOP OF THE WORLD CLASSIC (Nov 15-18 at Fairbanks AK): It's been a while since this one had a decent field. This year, Akron and IUPUI is about as good as it gets.
• PARADISE JAM (Nov 16-19 at St. Thomas, VI): A nice opportunity for Notre Dame, Charlotte, IL-Chicago, Baylor, Georgia Tech, Wichita State, Winthrop to make a name for themselves.
• MAUI INVITATIONAL (Nov 19-21 at Lahaina HI): Marquette and Duke are looking for a rematch of last year's CBE/GUARDIANS final (plus Oklahoma State, Illinois, Arizona State, LSU, Michigan and Princeton).
• GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT (Nov 20-24 at Anchorage AK): Butler and Gonzaga are looking for a rematch of last year's NIT TIP-OFF final (plus also Western Kentucky, Texas Tech, Michigan , Virginia Tech).
• ESPNU/OLD SPICE CLASSIC (Nov 22-25 at Orlando FL): N.C. State, Kansas State, George Mason, Villanova head a solid 8-team bracket.
• ANAHEIM CLASSIC (Nov 22-25 at Anaheim CA): A chance for USC to regroup against Southern Illinois, Miami(Ohio), Mississippi State and South Alabama.
• CHICAGO INVITATIONAL CHALLENGE (on-campus, Nov 23-24 at Chicago IL): Indiana and Xavier should make a decent final.
• LAS VEGAS [THANKSGIVING] INVITATIONAL (on-campus, Nov 23-24 at Las Vegas NV): A North Carolina-Louisville final should be worth the wait; BYU could spoil the party, though.
• ACC-BIG 10 CHALLENGE (Nov 26-28 on-campus): One-off matchups: NCarolina-@OhioSt, @MichiganSt-NCState, @Indiana-GeorgiaTech, @Duke-Wisconsin, @Clemson-Purdue, @Maryland-Illinois are pretty good pairings.
• BIG 12/PAC-10 HARDWOOD SERIES (Nov 29-Dec 2 on-campus): Even better matchups: @UCLA-Texas, Oregon@KansasSt, TexasA&M-@Arizona, Washington-@OklahomaSt, @California-Missouri; (plus Kansas@USC to boot).
• BIG EAST/SEC INVITATIONAL (Dec 5-6 @ Philadelphia,PA and @ Birmingham,AL): Georgetown-@Alabama is the best of only four games.
• LAS VEGAS [CHRISTMAS] CLASSIC (Dec 17,19 on-campus, Dec 22-23 at Las Vegas NV): Alabama, Purdue, Missouri State, Iowa State form two 4-team round robin groups in on-campus meetings before determining the final pairings.
• SAN JUAN SHOOTOUT (Dec 20-22 at Carolina, PUERTO RICO): Clemson, DePaul, Mississipi head this 8-team bracket.
• RAINBOW CLASSIC (Dec 19-22 at Honolulu HI): Georgia, Ohio U, East Tennessee State and host Hawaii head this weak 8-team bracket.

Mostly this week, we're still being teased with warmup rounds of the preseason tournaments, but there are a few nuggets here and there. Duke hosts already struggling New Mexico State on Monday. Miami(Ohio) hosts Xavier on Tuesday. North Carolina faces Davidson (in a battle of superstar sophomore guards) in Charlotte on Wednesday. USC (Southern California) travels to play The Other USC (South Carolina), and St. Joseph's visits BU, both on Saturday.

It's still early yet to get a bead on the season.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Duke-NewMexicoSt,
WV INVITATIONAL RndRob3/3 @ Eugene,OR
(@Oregon-WeMichigan, Pacific-Pepperdine),

Monday-Wednesday, Monday week-Tuesday week:

COLLEGE BASKETBALL EXPERIENCE/(GUARDIANS) CLASSIC 1st/16s on-campus, @ Kansas City,MO
(Mon @ College Park,MD: @Maryland-Hampton, Cons:Tulsa-{NFlorida},
 Mon-Tue @ Los Angeles,CA: @UCLA-YoungstownSt, WeberSt-@{CalStBernardino},
 Mon-Tue @ Columbia,MO: @Missouri-CMichigan, Fordham-{CMissouri},
 Tue-Wed @ East Lansing,MI: @MichiganSt-ChicagoSt, LAMonroe-@{NoMichigan}),

Monday-Wednesday, Wednesday week,Friday week:

NIT SEASON TIP-OFF 1st/16s on-campus, @ New York,NY
(Mon-Tue @ Syracuse,NY: @Syracuse-Siena, StJosephs-FairleighDickinson,
 Mon-Tue @ Columbus,OH: @OhioSt-WIGreenBay, Columbia-DelawareSt,
 Tue-Wed @ CollegeStation,TX: @TexasA&M-OralRoberts, UTEP-TexasA&MCC,
 Tue-Wed @ Seattle,WA: @Washington-{NJIT}, Utah-HighPoint),

Monday-Tuesday week, Friday week-Saturday week:

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND INVITATIONAL RndRob on-campus, Finals @ South Padre Island,TX
(Bradley, UtahSt, Vanderbilt, Iowa, Valparaiso, AustinPeay, MDEaShore, {FLGulfCoast}),

Tuesday:

@MiamiOH-Xavier,

Wednesday:

@NCarolina-@Davidson(@Charlotte,NC),

Wednesday-Tuesday week, Friday week-Saturday week:

CHICAGO INVITATIONAL CHALLEGE RndRob on-campus, Finals @ Hoffman Estates,IL
(Indiana, Xavier, KentSt, IllinoisSt, UNCWilmington, CoppinSt, SEMissouriSt, {Longwood}),
PHILLY CLASSIC RndRob on-campus, Finals @ Philadelphia,PA
(Virginia, SetonHall, @Drexel, LoyolaMD, @Penn, Navy, RobertMorris, Howard).

Wednesday-Sunday, Friday week-Saturday week:

LEGENDS CLASSIC RndRob on-campus, Finals @ Newark,NJ
(Tennessee, Texas, NewMexicoSt, WVirginia, UCDavis, PrairieViewA&M, {ARMonticello}, {LeMoyneOwen}),

Thursday-Friday:

COLLEGE HOOPS/(COACHES VS CANCER) CLASSIC Semis @ New York,NY
(Memphis-Oklahoma, Connecticut-GardnerWebb),

Thursday-Sunday:

PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF 1st/Qtrs @ San Juan, PR
(Arkansas-ColofCharleston, VCU-Houston, Providence-Temple, MiamiFL-Marist),
TOP OF THE WORLD CLASSIC 1st/Qtrs @ Fairbanks,AK
(Akron-{USCUpstate}, IUPUI-PortlandSt, OregonSt-ColoradoSt, TennesseeSt-@{AKFairbanks}),

Friday-Sunday:

GLENN WILKES CLASSIC RndRob @ Daytona Beach,FL
(UAB, @FloridaSt, RhodeIsland, GeorgiaSo),

Friday-Tuesday week, Friday week-Saturday week:

LAS VEGAS-THANKSGIVING INVITATIONAL RndRob on-campus, Finals @ Las Vegas,NV
(NCarolina, Louisville, BYU, OldDominion, Hardford, JacksonSt, SCState, Iona),

Friday-Monday week:

PARADISE JAM 1st/Qtrs @ St. Thomas,VI
(NotreDame-Monmouth, Charlotte-GeorgiaTech, Baylor-WichitaSt, ILChicago-Winthrop),

Saturday:

USC@SCarolina, StJosephs-@BostonU, @WeKentucky-MurraySt, @SAlabama-GramblingSt, HolyCross-@Hampton.

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Top 25 - 07 Nov 12 - [] Column

1. UCLA (1-0)
2. Kansas (2-0)
3. Memphis (2-0)
4. Tennessee (1-0)
5. Georgetown (1-0)
6. North Carolina
7. Oregon (2-0)
8. Washington State (1-0)
9. Indiana
10. Marquette (1-0)
11. Louisville
12. Pittsburgh (2-0) HISP-E
13. Texas
14. Texas A&M (1-0)
15. Duke
16. Syracuse
17. Ohio State
18. Michigan State
19. Butler (1-0)
20. Gonzaga (1-0)
21. North Carolina State
22. Clemson
23. Davidson
24. Gardner-Webb (2-0)
25. Mercer (1-0)

Honorable Mention:

San Diego State (3-0) WV-C, Stanford (3-0) BTI-W, IL-Chicago (1-0), Weber State (1-0), Ohio University (1-0), UNC-Greensboro (1-0).