07 Dec24 - Spores

Volume XII, No. 8 - 07 Dec 24 - [] Top 25 Ballot Spores Some big Top-10 matchups this past week have launched spores that will have a major effect who eventually gets #1 seeds come March. Michigan State handled Texas' quickness, winning @78-72 in the SPARTAN CLASH in Auburn Hills (behind 18p from freshman gKalin Lucas). MSU's only blemish is the neutral-site endplay loss to UCLA in the CBE/GUARDIANS final; MichSt, UTx and UCLA have all split 1-1 now with each other (with the Longhorns' road win at UCLA still standing out as the best single result of the preseason). There's a Detroit Regional awaiting the Spartans (and a Houston Regional awaiting Texas) if they can continue to make a case for a top seed in conference play.

Pittsburgh edged Duke 65-64 in overtime on gLevance Fields(21p4a5to) game-winning three-pointer (but the hard-fought victory also came with a cost, as the Panthers' bMike Cook blew out his knee late in the game). Freshmen cDeJuan Blair(15p20r) of Pitt [a new star in the mold of former LSU great cGlen "Big Baby" Davis] and fKyle Singler(17p5r) had their own mini-war going on. Both teams combined for 7-for-38 shooting on three-pointers in the defensive struggle. Pitt put its name in the hat for #1-seed, but even if they maintain this level in conference play, they'll be viewed as overachievers most of the season. Duke (along with North Carolina) has probably already done enough to secure placement in the Raleigh Pod for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament. (Davidson has played itself out of the conversation with close-but-no-cigar losses to UNC, Duke and N.C. State [who edged the Wildcats @66-65 on gGavin Grant(15p)'s game-winning free throws]; N.C. State still has the ACC regular season to possibly nudged its way in, but that doesn't seem likely based on their disappointing season so far.) Beyond the Pod, though, only one of UNC/Duke could wind up as top seed in the Charlotte Regional. [That's right: There's a Raleigh-Charlotte path to the Final Four available to one of those two teams. Ugh!]

Memphis looked like a top seed in breaking open the game with points-off-turnovers from their press as they beat Georgetown @85-71 behind 24p8r from fChris Douglas-Roberts (while cRoy Hibbert only had 6p). The Hoyas are the toughest team (on paper) on the Tigers' schedule so, yes, an undefeated season is definitely a realistic possibility for them. It's no done-deal, to be sure: Arizona comes to town on Saturday to offer another stiff challenge (and a Conference USA road game at Houston might be tougher than expected -- the environment intimated Kentucky in UH's @83-69 win over UK on Tuesday). At this point, Memphis, North Carolina and Kansas already appear to have #1-seeds that are theirs to lose. Michigan State, Texas, UCLA, Pittsburgh, Duke, Washington State, Georgetown, and even Marquette and West Virginia have only lost to each other (if at all) and could conceivably wind up with the fourth top seed.

Stanford edged Texas Tech 62-@61 in Dallas in the final game of the BIG 12/PAC-10 HARDWOOD SERIES (which the PAC-10 won 7-5 as the Cardinal contributed two wins for the cause). cBrook Lopez(19p) is now eligible and his impact is immediate and immense.

gChris Lofton(9p4r) got Tennessee going right off the bat 9-0 as the Volunteers won at Xavier 82-@75. In a "rematch" of last year's national championship game, Ohio State defeated Florida @62-49. (Only gJamar Butler remains as a starter from either side from a year ago.)

Mississippi stayed undefeated after edging Clemson 85-82 in the final to win the SAN JUAN SHOOTOUT. Coach Andy Kennedy hasn't skipped a beat since Cincinnati didn't want to convert him from interim to head coach after holding that program together following the ouster of Bob Huggins. Ole Miss was the SEC West division leader last year, and they legitimized their 11-0 start this year with a preseason crown. St. Mary's added the RAINBOW CLASSIC crown (70-63 over Ohio University) to establish it's no one-hit wonder. Alabama won going away in the LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS CLASSIC (including 83-68 in the final over Iowa State).

6-6 Oakland, which did provide a stiff challenge at Michigan State earlier in the season, completed the job with a @68-62 upset of visiting Oregon. Likewise, 9-3 Oklahoma knocked of Gonzaga @72-68 in the ALL-COLLEGE CLASSIC in Oklahoma City. Utah went on the road to knock off Cal 67-@65. Cardinal-killer Siena cut down visiting Holy Cross @84-77. Bradley [losing 64-@83 at Butler and @64-79 at home against VCU] and Hampton [losing 65-@79 at Virginia and 65-@83 at Maryland(Baltimore County)] had rough weeks.

One more week before most teams begin conference play in earnest. On Saturday, besides Memphis hosting Arizona, Pittsburgh has a tough assignment visiting solid Dayton; and the other two teams who will eventually stand in Memphis' way, Tennesee and Gonzaga, face each other first in the BATTLE IN SEATTLE. Before that, Butler can seal the 1BC status of the MVC with a road win on Friday at slumping Southern Illinois.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Thursday:

NCState-@SetonHall,

Friday:

Butler-@SoIllinois, @Oregon-MtStMarys, @SanDiegoSt-SamHoustonSt, StJosephs-@Siena,

Friday-Sunday:

DUEL IN THE DESERT RndRob @ Las Vegas NV
- (@UNLV, Minnesota, NichollsSt, {KennesawSt}),

Saturday:

@Kansas-Yale, @Memphis-Arizona, Pittsburgh-@Dayton, @WVirginia-Oklahoma(@CharlestonWV), @Stanford-FresnoSt(CA), @OhioSt-MDBaltimoreCo, @KansasSt-Wagner, @StLouis-IUPUI,
BATTLE IN SEATTLE 1Off @ Seattle WA
- (Tennessee-@Gonzaga),
ORANGE BOWL-BASKETBALL CLASSIC DblHdr @ Sunrise FL
- (@MiamiFL-Winthrop, @Florida-Temple),

Sunday:

@NCarolina-Valparaiso, @HolyCross-SacredHeart, @SoIllinois-MissouriSt.

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Top 25 - 07 Dec 24 - [] Column

1. North Carolina (11-0)
2. Kansas (11-0)
3. Memphis (10-0)
4. Michigan State (11-1)
5. Texas (10-1)
6. UCLA (10-1)
7. Pittsburgh (10-0)
8. Duke (9-1)
9. Washington State (11-0)
10. Georgetown (8-1)
11. BYU (10-2)
12. Texas A&M (10-1)
13. Butler (10-1)
14. Tennessee (10-1)
15. Indiana (9-1)
16. Arizona (8-2)
17. Marquette (7-1)
18. West Virginia (9-1)
19. Mississippi (11-0) [3:SAN JUAN]
20. Dayton (10-1)
21. Stanford (10-1)
22. Baylor (8-1)
23. Miami(Florida) (10-0)
24. Vanderbilt (11-0)
25. Rhode Island (11-1)

Honorable Mention:

- - Oakland (6-6), Oklahoma (9-3), St. Mary's (8-1) [3:RAINBOW], Alabama (9-3) [2v2:LAS VEGAS-XMAS].