07 Dec10 - Down, But Not Out

Volume XII, No. 6 - 07 Dec 10 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Down, But Not Out

A missed free throw. Will we look back on that come March and say that's what preserved Memphis' undefeated season? USCal's pDaniel Hackett(10p5a6r;4/5ft) made 1-of-2 free throws with :06 left at the JIMMY V CLASSIC in New York and the game went into overtime, with Memphis prevailing 62-58(OT). The Trojans' played an outstanding strategic game, controlling tempo on offense and holding in check both fChris Douglas-Roberts(10p7r) and GC tDerrick Rose(9p10r4a5to) with a triangle-and-two defense. USCal went up 14-7 at the start and milked a small lead through to 46-41 with eight minutes left. Then, a couple of sloppy possessions (including some bad shots by GC gO.J. Mayo(16p;6/20fg) led to a quick 8-0 run that gave Memphis control of the endplay; yet the Trojans had that final chance to hang an L on the Tigers. In the other game, Notre Dame's cLuke Harangody(19p14r) held his own against Kansas State's GC cMichael Beasley(19p13r5to), but it was the spark from of bKyle McAlarney(18p5r) (back after last year's drug suspension) that was the difference as the Irish won 68-59.

The BIG EAST/SEC INVITATIONAL has been set up only as a pair of double-headers each year through 2011 with a rotating selection of teams. It's hard to claim much legitimate bragging rights with only a third (and a fourth) of each league participating. Being home-state hosts in Birmingham didn't help Alabama or Auburn. The Crimson Tide did hold the lead for half the game until Georgetown came back to win 70-@60. Meanwhile, the Tigers couldn't keep pace as West Virginia ran past them 88-@59 behind gAlex Ruoff's 28p. In Philadelphia, South Carolina gave the SEC its only win as pDevan Downey(21p5a) staked the Gamecocks to a 12-point lead only to see Providence almost come all the way back, as USCar held on 68-@67. Young LSU had 15-point lead with three minutes left, but Villanova completed its comeback in front of a hometown crowd to steal a @68-67 win, giving the BIG EAST a 3-1 win.

At the JOHN WOODEN CLASSIC in Anaheim, Davidson (the best team in the country with five losses already) had host UCLA down 32-14 with six minutes left in the first half before a 15-0 run brought the Bruins right back into the game. fLuc-Richard Mbah a Moute(21p8r) led the way, and gDarren Collison(10p1a) is back on court, but it was the two-way game of pRussell Westbrook(14p6a5to) stopping the Wildcats' gStephen Curry(15p;6/19fg) that was the key. In the other game, St. Mary's got a solid win away from home, beating Mountain West-contender San Diego State 69-@64.

Washington State held host Gonzaga to 26% shooting from the floor winning their "State Title" clash 51-@47. BYU had Michigan State down 22-10 midway through the first half, but the Spartans came back to win 68-@61 in Salt Lake City. Arizona confirmed that Lute Olson's leave of absence will extend to the entire season (as he filed for divorce last week), but interim coach Kevin O'Neill guided the Wildcats to yet another down-but-not-out comeback win: this time UofA trailed host Illinois 12-0 at the start but rallied to tie it at 16-16 midway through the first half, and they went on to win 78-@72(OT). Dayton already has four quality road wins: East Tennessee State, Miami(Ohio), Holy Cross and now Louisville as the Flyers came into Freedom Hall and left with a solid 70-@65 win behind bBrian Roberts' 28p3a5r. 10-1 Rhode Island won at Syracuse 91-@89 behind coach's son (and namesake) gJimmy Baron's 21p despite 21p10a from the Orange's GC pJonny Flynn. Even with GC bEric Gordon sitting out with a sore back, Indiana blitzed woeful Kentucky @70-51. (It's not a good week to be Wildcat coach Billy Gillispie: UK is 3-4, Texas A&M [his old school] is 7-1, and even Minnesota [UK's old coach] is 6-1. Yikes.) Clemson got 6 three-pointers from freshman gTerrence Oglesby(22p) as they pounded East Carolina 82-@67 (outrebounding them 50-26 to boot); easy jumpers are the perfect complement to the Tigers' lodero ("mudder") defensive style of play. ECU may only be 4-5, but they've beaten George Mason and North Carolina State the past two weeks.

Butler managed to lose to 3-2 Wright State for the third straight time, 42-@43. Last year, the Bulldogs couldn't be trusted to keep the Horizon a one-bid conference (1BC) as WSU won the automatic bid, and they're doing it again this year (although, in the long run, it may be new league member in-state rival Valparaiso that eventually becomes their main foil). Kent State drubbed suddenly shaky George Mason, @73-55; Charlotte knocked off both Davidson (@75-68) and reeling Southern Illinois (@71-56) to add its name to the conversation in the surging Atlantic 10. Holy Cross added to a list of quality wins by beating St. Joseph's on the road 71-@66.

There's a lot of jockeying for position among the leagues in between the BCS power conferences and the permanent 1BCs. The Atlantic 10 is way up (Xavier, Dayton, Rhode Island, Charlotte); the WCC (Gonzaga, St. Mary's) is better; the MAC (Miami(Ohio), Kent State, Ohio University) has beefed up its nonconference preseason schedule; and the lowly Southland (Sam Houston State [with home wins over Texas Tech and Fresno State], and Stephen F. Austin [with a 66-@62 road win at young Oklahoma]) may well make a splash come March. Meanwhile, the WAC (Fresno State, Utah State, New Mexico State) has been awful; and the MVC (Creighton, Bradley, Southern Illinois) and the Colonial (George Mason, VCU) are slipping back to 1BC territory.

People claim that UNC-Duke is "the greatest rivalry in all of sports" because it's such a grudge match between national powers who are such close neighbors. But because there are so many other quality teams in North Carolina, though, it doesn't quite qualify as a definitive "State Title" game. (Years ago, UNC, Duke, N.C. State and Wake Forest used to play a preseason tournament called "The Big Four" just for their own bragging rights with those games having no bearing on ACC standings. That's closer to what you want.) It actually detracts from the specialness when both teams are in the same conference. The best pairings are public state school vs private city school, rich relation/poor stepchild, big city/college town where no other school in the state is a real contender. The ultimate in that respect is Kentucky-Louisville (who wouldn't even play each other for years until they were forced to meet in the NCAA tournament). The purest matchups in that respect are Nebraska-Creighton, Rhode Island-Providence, West Virginia-Marshall, Massachusetts-Boston College, South Carolina-Clemson, Nevada-UNLV, Georgia-Georgia Tech and Wisconsin-Marquette (who played an ugly game this week with the Golden Eagles prevailing 81-@76). (If only Ohio State and Cincinnati had a rivalry series!)

The city rivalries have their own charm. Nothing can touch the specialness of Philadelphia's BIG FIVE (Villanova, St. Joseph's, Temple, La Salle, Penn) "conference schedule" and the used-to-be BATTLE OF BALTIMORE tournament (Coppin State, Loyola(Maryland), Morgan State, Maryland(Baltimore County)). Cincinnati's CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT (Cincinnati-Xavier), Georgia-Georgia Tech have long-running success. Illinois-Missouri's BRAGGIN' RIGHTS and the UConn-UMass "U-GAME" are some of the best "border wars". (If only Georgetown-Maryland were one!) Arkansas and Missouri are about to play each other in the Cotton Bowl in a football border war after having already faced off in basketball. (Ark won earlier @94-91.) Indiana, Kentucky, Louisville and Notre Dame used to have a bluegrass quartet rivalry where they all faced off every year, but Notre Dame and Louisville are now both in the Big East and ND hardly plays the other two any more.

Memphis and Tennessee with have a close-up look at one another as they share billing as Unwelcome Guests in the SUN BELT CLASSIC double-header in Nashville on Saturday. (Remember, this season could be pointing towards Tennessee at Memphis on Feb 23 as the final obstacle in the Tigers' run for an undefeated season.) The three-pointers will rain down when Butler hosts Florida State as part of the JOHN WOODEN TRADITION in Indianapolis. (The Bulldogs have already dropped 17 three-pointers in a game this year, while the Seminoles just posted 20 three-pointers this past week.)

I've been trying to avoid being an advertising arm for these event sponsors; this week I'm referring to it as the C CLASSIC rather than mention the beer company. (No such luck getting around calling BB&T anything else, though.) Don't confuse last week's 1-off P JAM (Oregon over Utah) with the PARADISE ("P-JAM") JAM tournament (won by Baylor over Winthrop back in November).

-- Ron

P.S. If you're interested, try your luck in the Pigskin Pool Party ( http://www.ronmcbay.us/Pigskin/index.html ), Ron's College Football Bowl Season Pool).

Key games this week:

Tuesday:

StMarys-@SoIllinois, Bradley-@WrightSt, @Valparaiso-Evansville(IN), @Yale-BostonU,

Wednesday:

Vanderbilt-@DePaul,
CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT on-campus
- (@Xavier-Cincinnati(OH),

Thursday:

@MississippiSt-MiamiFL, @Mississippi-Winthrop,

Saturday:

@Kansas-OhioU, @Pittsburgh-OklahomaSt, Xavier-@ArizonaSt, Oregon-@Nebraska, @WVirginia-MDBaltimoreCo, @Florida-GeorgiaSo(@JacksonvilleFL), Arkansas-@Oklahoma, MiamiOH-@WrightSt(OH), TexasTech-@NewMexico, @Syracuse-ETennesseeSt, @Kentucky-UAB(@LouisvilleKY), SoIllinois-@StLouis, @Utah-MissouriSt, @IUPUI-WeMichigan, @AustinPeay-Akron, ColoradoSt-@{NDState},
SUN BELT CLASSIC Dblhdr @ Nashville TN
- (@Memphis-@MidTennessee, @Tennessee-@WeKentucky),
JOHN WOODEN TRADITION DblHdr @ Indianapolis IN
- (@Butler-FloridaSt, Louisville-@Purdue(BG)),
C CLASSIC DblHdr @ Mobile AL
- (MississippiSt-@SAlabama, @Auburn-Southern),

Sunday:

@Arizona-FresnoSt.

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Top 25 - 07 Dec 10 - [] Column

1. Texas (8-0)
2. North Carolina (8-0)
3. Kansas (8-0)
4. Memphis (7-0)
5. Duke (8-0)
6. UCLA (7-1)
7. Washington State (9-0)
8. Georgetown (7-0)
9. Pittsburgh (8-0)
10. Michigan State (8-1)
11. Xavier (7-1)
12. BYU (7-2)
13. Texas A&M (7-1)
14. Oregon (7-1)
15. Butler (8-1)
16. St. Mary's (5-0)
17. Tennessee (7-1)
18. Indiana (7-1)
19. Arizona (5-2)
20. Dayton (7-1)
21. Rhode Island (10-1)
22. Marquette (4-1)
23. Clemson (7-0)
24. Vanderbilt (9-0)
25. West Virginia (6-1)

Honorable Mention:

- - Wright State (3-2), Notre Dame (7-2), Kent State (7-2), Charlotte (6-2), Holy Cross (7-1), East Carolina (4-5).