07 Dec31 - V-Taper (PRECONFERENCE)

Volume XII, No. 9 - 07 Dec 31: PRECONFERENCE - [] Top 25 Ballot

V-Taper

gMichael Flowers(7p1a) hit the game-winning three-pointer to earn a 67-@66 road win for Wisconsin over Texas. The Badgers finally have a name win to legitimize their power rating (made from beating up on nobodies). The Longhorns had been able to use their superior quickness to compensate for their lack of height in their previous upset win at UCLA; but in the last two games, it hasn't worked. Michigan State's big men had enough agility (and MSU also had a freshman point guard with his own quickness) to deal with Texas. Here, the sheer size of UW was able to keep it in contention on the road as UTx was never able to take complete control of the contest.

Memphis caught a break when Arizona's pJerryd Bayless sat out with a knee injury. Even so, the Tigers didn't completely blow away the Wildcats, winning @76-63. Memphis has come through the preseason without a loss and should have a very good go at undefeated regular season. (Home games against Gonzaga and Tennessee still lay ahead, as well as potentially tricky road games in league play at Houston and UAB; but the games they've already won are at least as tough as those yet to come.)

Just one game after one of the best wins in the history of the program, Pittsburgh's entire season is suddenly in jeopardy. After bMike Cook(ACL) was lost for the season in its overtime win over Duke; pLevance Fields is out at least 8 weeks after fracturing his foot against Dayton. Without two of its starters, and with freshman cDeJuan Blair saddled with fouls, the Panthers were humiliated 55-@80 on the road against the Flyers as pBrian Roberts poured in 31p5a. Dayton, along with Xavier and Rhode Island, plus Massachusetts and even Charlotte, have made a major statement in the preseason for the Atlantic 10. The "Seventh Major" this year is the A-10.

Elsewhere, Boise State emerged as the standard-bearer for the flailing WAC with a @73-70 win over BYU. Oklahoma keeps improving, as shown by their gutty 88-@82(2OT) win in Charleston on the road against West Virginia. Winthrop ended the undefeated run of Miami(Florida), 76-@70, as part of the ORANGE BOWL-BASKETBALL CLASSIC in Miami. Tennessee's intensity was too much for loose Gonzaga to deal with, even in front of a supportive crowd, as the Vols won 82-@72 at the BATTLE IN SEATTLE. bA.J. Graves(10p1a5r) hit the game-winning shot from deep as Butler escaped with a 57-@55 win over host Southern Illinois. The Salukis have stumbled through the preseason at 6-6 and, except for SIU's rout of new power St. Mary's, the entire Missouri Valley Conference went through the preseason without any big wins over name opponents. They may very well wind up with only one NCAA bid come March.

The out-of-conference preseason is essentially over now, as most everyone gets going with regular season conference play this week. The strong showing of the major conferences, taking fourteen of the neutral-site tournament crowns, against only five from the mid-majors (including known-quantity Butler and two from the Atlantic 10) shows how top-heavy the distribution of quality teams is this year. Only newcomer St. Mary's (RAINBOW) and Colorado State (TOP OF THE WORLD) from the is-it-or-isn't-it Mountain West were major tournament winners from non-major conferences. The "waistline" of college hoops' figure this season is quite slim. A few 1BCs broke through: the Atlantic Sun had its moment early on with Mercer winning at undermanned USC, Gardner-Webb being first of what turned out to be many teams that upset woeful Kentucky, and Belmont going on the road to upend host Alabama. Beyond that, Siena surprised Stanford, Oakland beat Oregon, and Appalachian State won at Arkansas.

Here's a rundown of the conferences based on their preseason showing:

1. PAC-10 - The most talented league top-to-bottom is headed by national championship contender UCLA [CBE/GUARDIANS] (with GC cKevin Love its central figure), impeccable Washington State (intense and poised), Stanford (led by the twin 7-foot Lopez brothers), Oregon (with its free-flowing guards/'tweeners, but not quite enough muscle or defensive presence), Arizona (with ex-GC tChase Budinger teaming well with current GCJerryd Bayless), USC [ANAHEIM] (led by ultimate GC pO.J. Mayo and his supremely talented cohorts), plus California, Washington and even Arizona State all demonstrative they can do damage.
2. BIG 12 - The surprisingly strong showing in the preseason should make for a competitive conference race . . . for second place. Loaded Kansas is at full strength now, with both muscle and flow to allow it take all comers. Texas [LEGENDS] has overachieved behind the "The Year After" Rule, led by pD.J. Augustin (the Player of the Year for the preseason). Young, athletic, physical Texas A&M [NIT TIP-OFF]'s every win makes Kentucky's every loss even more bitter for former Aggie coach Billy Gillispie; defense abounds but how far they go depends on whether they can smoothe out their offense. Baylor [PARADISE JAM] is finally a force on the national scene. Oklahoma (with freshman fBlake Griffin), Nebraska and Texas Tech all had quality wins. Kansas State, led by ultimate GC cMichael Beasley, has shown its youth in big games so far.
3. ACC - North Carolina [LAS VEGAS-THANKSGIVING] keeps pounding opponents (but may be vulnerable without the overwhelming backcourt depth it's been used to). Duke [MAUI] (bolstered by GC tKyle Singler) has better depth and shooting range this year, but still lacks physicality and defensive quickness. Miami(Florida) [PUERTO RICO] has overachieved behind the play of gJack McClinton. Clemson, Florida State, Virginia (led by pSean Singletary) and Boston College have all come through the preseason in solid form. N.C. State [OS] and Georgia Tech have talent but have also struggled mightily.
4. BIG EAST - Pittsburgh (now led by freshman cDeJuan Blair) had risen to elite form, but key injuries figure to jeopardize its entire season. Georgetown (led by too-passive cRoy Hibbert) came up empty in its biggest preseason game. Veteran Marquette has played solidly every time out. West Virginia, Notre Dame and Syracuse have been solid; Louisville has been shaky. Villanova and Seton Hall [PHILLY] as well as South Florida, Providence and even Cincinnati have made some noise.
5. BIG 10 - Veteran Michigan State (led by gDrew Neitzel) came through the preseason as an elite contender. Indiana has a nice Tag Team combo in veteran star fD.J. White and GC bEric Gordon. Wisconsin has retooled and is always solid behind the guidance of coach Bo Ryan. Revamped Ohio State played solidly. Young Purdue made noise. Illinois and Minnesota don't have the star power of their other conferencemates.
6. SEC - Vanderbilt [SOUTH PADRE] excelled with the influx of GC cAndrew Ogilvy into a veteran group. Mississippi [SAN JUAN] overachieved under the direction of coach Andy Kennedy. Tennessee's intensity and depth are its biggest assets -- height/muscle inside are not. Alabama [LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS] had some bad games, but came through solidly by the end. Arkansas has talent but couldn't hold onto the ball. Revamped Florida showed its youth.
7. ATLANTIC-10 - Dayton (led by pBrian Roberts) and Xavier [CHICAGO] delivered some high-quality wins. Rhode Island [GLENN WILKES], [@ISLANDER] has overachieved without much star power. Massachusetts was solid. Charlotte and St. Louis made noise. St. Joseph's looks good but has no name win to show for itself. -------
8. C-USA - Memphis (with GC Derrick Rose added to a veteran squad) may well go undefeated. Houston and UAB made noise (both at the expense of Kentucky) and may yet turn this into a multi-bid league (especially if they can end Memphis' winning streak). Lowly East Carolina came up with a couple big wins from nowhere.
9. MOUNTAIN WEST - BYU (led by cTrent Plaisted) was imposing and impressive. San Diego State [@WV-CLASSIC], UNLV, New Mexico and Utah played solidly. Colorado State [TOP OF THE WORLD] outlasted a weak field for its only moment of the preseason.
10. WCC - St. Mary's [RAINBOW] (behind GC pPatrick Mills) emerged with a big win. Gonzaga was up and down in its tough preconference schedule. -------
11. HORIZON - Butler [GREAT ALASKA] still his its great backcourt of gA.J. Graves and pMike Green to run its perimeter weave. Wright State [@DP CLASSIC] and Cleveland State made some noise. Valparaiso was solid.
12. COLONIAL - VCU (led by pEric Maynor) and veteran George Mason still have enough to left to make some noise (but this conference may well fall back to 1BC status this season).
13. MVC - Southern Illinois and Bradley were up and down. Creighton was solid. (It's probably back to 1BC here as well.)
14. MID-AMERICAN - Miami(Ohio) was up and down in a tough schedule. Kent State made some noise. Ohio University was solid.
15. WAC - Boise State's late-in-the-preseason win salvaged what was otherwise a total washout for a league headed for 1BC with a bullet. Utah State, Fresno State and especially New Mexico State have all been disappointments.
16. BIG WEST - UC-Santa Barbara made some noise. Cal State-Northridge, Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and lowly UC-Irvine came up with at least one splash win.
17. SUN BELT - Western Kentucky (led by bCourtney Lee) and New Orleans made some noise. South Alabama and even North Texas [@LOU HENSON] were solid.
18. ATLANTIC SUN - Early on, Mercer and Gardner-Webb came up with huge road wins, but the rest of their preseasons were terrible. Belmont made a splash and kept winning. East Tennessee State was solid.
19. SOUTHLAND - Both Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin [@SMU-NEW YEAR'S] had big wins out of conference.
20. SOUTHERN - Veteran Davidson (led by ex-GC Stephen Curry) had huge expectations, but fell short time and again. Georgia Southern, Appalachian State and UNC-Greensboro were more solid.
21. BIG SOUTH - Though not as strong as last year, Winthrop still had enough left to make some preseason noise.
22. SUMMIT (was MID-CONTINENT) - IUPUI had a solid preseason. Lowly Oakland had a big win.
23. METRO ATLANTIC - Siena made big noise out of conference. Rider (led by cJason Thompson) was solid. Niagara [2@CABLE CAR] played well on the road.
24. MEAC - Hampton picked up its game and made some out-of-conference noise. Morgan State was quietly solid. -------
25. BIG SKY - Northern Arizona and Montana were solid.
26. PATRIOT - After Holy Cross, there's not much there. Colgate [2@100-C] managed a big road win.
27. AMERICA EAST - Maryland(Baltimore County) was about all there was for this league in the preseason.
28. OHIO VALLEY - Austin Peay struggled against tough opponents, but is still the best of this lowly bunch.
29. NORTHEAST - Robert Morris was solid, but Mt. St. Mary's and Sacred Heart made more noise in up-and-down performances.
30. IVY - Cornell managed the best record, but no one made any noise.
31. SWAC - Alabama State is the best of a very weak group.
32. INDEPENDENTS - Texas Pan American couldn't stay above .500.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Xavier-KansasSt(@ CincinnatiOH), @Gonzaga-Utah,

Tuesday (NEW YEAR'S DAY):

@Alabama-Clemson,

Wednesday:

@NCarolina-KentSt, Houston-@Massachusetts, @UAB-AlabamaSt(AL), @HolyCross-BostonU(MA), @Drake-SoIllinois,

Thursday:

@Memphis-Siena, UCLA-@Stanford(CA), @Marquette-Providence, @Xavier-Virginia, USC-@California, @NotreDame-WVirginia, OhioSt-@Illinois, @SetonHall-Connecticut, @Davidson-GeorgiaSo, Belmont-@GardnerWebb,

Friday:

@Rider-Marist,

Saturday:

Kansas-@BostonCol, UCLA-@California(CA), WashingtonSt-@Washington(WA), @Butler-Valparaiso(IN), @Baylor-Arkansas(@DallasTX), USC-@Stanford(CA), @Arizona-Oregon, Louisville-@Kentucky(BG), @SAlabama-WeKentucky, HolyCross-@SanFrancisco, MiamiOH-@Akron(OH), @UNCGreensboro-GeorgiaSo, @NewMexicoSt-FresnoSt, @SacredHeart-Wagner,

Sunday:

N Carolina-@Clemson, @Duke-Cornell, Pittsburgh-@Villanova, Marquette-@WVirginia.

---

Top 25 - 07 Dec 31: PRECONFERENCE - [] Column

1. North Carolina (13-0) [2v2:LAS VEGAS-THANKS]
2. Kansas (12-0)
3. Memphis (11-0) [2v2:COLLEGE HOOPS/CVC]
4. UCLA (11-1) [2v2:CBE/GUARDIANS]
5. Michigan State (12-1)
6. Duke (9-1) [3:MAUI]
7. Washington State (12-0)
8. Texas (10-2) [2v2:LEGENDS]
9. Pittsburgh (10-1)
10. Marquette (8-1)
11. Wisconsin (10-2)
12. Texas A&M (11-1) [2v2:NIT TIP-OFF]
13. Tennessee (11-1)
14. Butler (11-1) [3:GREAT ALASKA]
15. Dayton (11-1)
16. Georgetown (9-1)
17. Indiana (10-1)
18. St. Mary's (10-1) [3:RAINBOW]
19. Mississippi (12-0) [3:SAN JUAN]
20. Vanderbilt (12-0) [2v2:SOUTH PADRE]
21. Xavier (9-3) [2v2:CHICAGO]
22. Rhode Island (12-1) [2v2:GLENN WILKES], [2@ISLANDER]
23. Baylor (9-1) [3:PARADISE JAM]
24. Miami(Florida) (10-1) [3:PUERTO RICO]
25. USC (9-3) [3vANAHEIM]

Honorable Mention:

Seton Hall (8-3) [2v2:PHILLY],
N.C. State (9-3) [3:OS],
Alabama (9-3) [2v2:LAS VEGAS-XMAS],
Colorado State (5-7) [3:TOP-WORLD],
Niagara (8-3) [2@CABLE CAR],
San Diego State (9-3) [3@WV-C],
Wright State (8-3) [2@DP],
North Texas (9-3) [2@LOU HENSON],
Stephen F. Austin (8-1) [2@SMU-NEW YRS],
Alabama State (1-5) [2@SMU TIP-OFF],
Colgate (7-5) [2@100-C].