08 Feb 4 - Resistible Force (MIDCONFERENCE)

Volume XII, No. 14 - 08 Feb 4: MIDCONFERENCE - [] Top 25 Ballot

Resistible Force

The midpoint of conference play is split across three separate weeks this season. Eight leagues were already to the halfway point by the start of last week; another six reached it midweek; and six more were done by week's end. We still have some major first-half matchups coming this week in the ten leagues that have yet to finish. (The Ivy League, which has no conference tournament, has one more week to go still before everyone has played once.)

Kansas State came of age, stopping the irresistible force, beating undefeated Kansas at home for the first time in 25 years, @84-75, behind 25p6r from legit Player of the Year candidate fMichael Beasley, 22p1a5r from bBill Walker and 20p from gJacob Pullen. With the win, the Wildcats had the inside track to the Big 12 regular season title: Both KSU and KU have the easier "North Division" schedule (only playing the tough TX teams once each); KansSt has already beaten TXAM and they get TX at home whereas Kans must still travel to both TX and TXAM. Alas, cBeasley and Co. gave back their advantage right away, squandering a 15-point lead on the road at depleted Missouri, losing 74-@77. The Jayhawks can pay back the loss when the Wildcats come to Lawrence and regain control of the conference race. Still, message received: The Players are Ready For Prime Time.

Memphis remained irresistible, however, hardly fazed by what was supposed to be its toughest road game in conference play, whipping Houston 89-@77 behind 30p6to from its own PotY candidate, gChris Douglas-Roberts. Only Tennessee stands in the way of an undefeated regular season for the Tigers. (But as we just saw over the weekend, that's still no guarantee of the crowning postseason championship.)

One-Man-Show cBrook Lopez posted 31p13p5to as Stanford won at Washington, 65-@51, and 18p7r5b as the Cardinal won 67-@65(OT) at Washington State. SU is 7-2 at the break in the Pac-10; second place outright (with a two-game lead) in the nation's best conference must be given its proper respect. (But the hard lesson from last year's NCAA tournament still applies: a team that doesn't need to go inside to get its points can just run past the Cardinal and have no trouble, as Louisville did in a first-round rout.) California was able to pull off the same road double as Stanford, beating WashSt 69-@64 and Wash 79-@75 behind 27p1a9r and 33p17r from do-everything tRyan Anderson.

Michigan State fell at depleted Penn State, 76-@85, as gDrew Neitzel only managed 6 points. If the Spartans could somehow get their act together, there's a Detroit Regional just waiting for them in the NCAA tournament; but with their current form, they're most likely to be shipped elsewhere to allow the Big 10 champion to stay "home" (i.e., if the Big 10 champ can even manage a #2 seed). Texas A&M's combination of size and quickness gave Texas all kinds of trouble as the Aggies rolled @80-63 over the Longhorns. Wisconsin and Indiana combined to shoot 6-for-41 on three-pointers as the Badgers' balanced attack overcame 22p17r from the Hoosiers' cD.J. White in UW's @62-49 win. West Virginia shot 20% from the floor (including 1-for-22 on three-pointers) in the Mountaineer's ugly @39-62 home loss to Cincinnati.

Arizona looked great winning 82-@69 on the road at USC in a high-quality game, but was humbled to realize that UCLA is operating on another level beyond that, as the Bruins rolled @82-60 over the Wildcats behind 26p11r from PotY candidate cKevin Love. Much like UofA's Kevin O'Neill, Arkansas coach John Pelphrey may have turned a corner with his squad as the Razorbacks blew out Mississippi State (@78-58) and Florida (@80-61).

At the halfway point, 8-1 is good for the outright lead in the Pac-10 (UCLA), the Big East (Georgetown), and a share of the Big 10 lead (surprising young Purdue and Wisconsin). Kent State, Akron, Ohio University and Western Michigan all share the MAC lead at 6-2. Utah State (which had one game postponed) is 6-1 in the WAC, ahead of 6-2 Boise State. At the break, 6-2 Cal State-Fullerton trailed 7-1 Cal St-Northridge in the Big West (but CSF just won at CSN, 80-@72). 7-0 UNC-Asheville remained unbeaten with a @71-56 thrashing of 5-2 Winthrop in the Big South. Maryland(Baltimore County), Vermont and SUNY-Binghamtom were all 6-2 at the turn in the America East. 5-2 Lafayette leads 4-3 American in the Patriot League. Portland State, Northern Arizona and Weber State were bunched at 6-2 in the Big Sky. 7-1 Jacksonville led Belmont and East Tennessee State (both 6-2) in the Atlantic Sun. 8-1 Wagner and Robert Morris, Sacred Heart and Quinnipiac (all 7-2 at the break) haven't sorted anything out in the Northeast.

Into the second half, second place George Mason beat first place VCU @63-51 (thanks to 21p15r from cWill Thomas) in their only regular season meeting; GMASON may trail in the standings but they're the better team on form. Butler didn't play last week yet gained ground and now leads the Horizon by two games, thanks to a four-game skid from Cleveland State. (This is good news for everyone -- in order for the Horizon to remain 1BC, as it should on form, Butler needs to dominate it and win both the regular season and conference tournament.) Rider broke out of the logjam in the Metro Atlantic with two road wins, 79-@65 at Marist and 89-@75 at Siena, behind 20p9r4a and 23p21r5a from NBA-bound cJason Thompson.

It's the ACC "Game of the Year (Part 1 of 3)" on Wednesday when Duke travels to North Carolina on Wednesday. Forget the "greatest rivalry in all of sports" business -- this year's series has more on the line than usual. Both teams have locked up berths in the first-/second-round showcase Pod in Raleigh, but only one of them will get to stay home for the Regional in Charlotte. The ultimate winner will likely get to meet Georgetown in front a home crowd while the loser has the option of traveling to face Memphis, Kansas or UCLA -- pick your poison. Monday's WCC "Game of the Year (Part 1/3)", St. Mary's vs Gonzaga, has more advance buzz to it than ever. Unless St. Mary's screws up in BRACKETBUSTERS, both teams will likely get NCAA bids no matter who comes out on top between them. Who figured Wisconsin hosting Purdue (on Saturday) would be a battle for first place, but there it is. UCLA vs Washington State (Thursday) and Georgetown at Louisville (Saturday) were supposed to be for first place, but they aren't anymore. Xavier vs St. Joseph's (Sunday) is, though. Both teams were in better form the first time around, but Sunday brings us yet another Charlie-Brown-and-the-football moment as Clemson tries once again to break its 0-for-Chapel-Hill streak, visiting North Carolina.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Kansas-Missouri, @Marquette-Louisville, @StMarys-Gonzaga, @StJosephs-@Villanova(@PhiladelphiaPA/ThePalestra/)(BIG5)(PA), @Siena-Marist(NY), @MorganSt-DelawareSt,
(BRACKETBUSTERS PAIRING SELECTION) [102 teams/51 games],

Tuesday (VOTE!):

@Tennessee-Florida, Drake-@IllinoisSt, @SoIllinois-IndianaSt, @Niagara-LoyolaMD,

Wednesday:

Duke-@NCarolina(NC), Texas-@Oklahoma, NotreDame-@SetonHall, Connecticut-@Syracuse, @Baylor-TexasTech, @Utah-UNLV, @Dayton-Charlotte, Akron-@WeMichigan,

Thursday:

UCLA-@WashingtonSt, @Stanford-Oregon, Xavier-@StLouis, USC-@Washington, @Pittsburgh-WVirginia, @Massachusetts-RhodeIsland, @SAlabama-ArkansasSt, @UCSantaBarbara-CalStFullerton(CA), @Pacific-CalStNorthridge(CA), @NoArizona-PortlandSt, @Belmont-Jacksonville,

Friday:

@Rider-Niagara, @Marist-Siena(NY), @Cornell-Princeton,

Saturday:

Georgetown-@Louisville, @Kansas-Baylor, @Wisconsin-Purdue, @WashingtonSt-USC, @NotreDame-Marquette, TexasA&M-@Missouri, @Arkansas-Mississippi, @California-Oregon, @Kentucky-Alabama, @VirginiaTech-MiamiFL, @Villanova-SetonHall, @NewMexicoSt-BoiseSt, @OhioU-WeMichigan, @Winthrop-HighPoint, @MDBaltimoreCo-SUNYB, @GeorgiaSo-Chattanooga, @DelawareSt-Hampton, @Cornell-Penn,

Sunday:

UCLA-@Washington, @NCarolina-Clemson(THE STREAK!!!), @Xavier-StJosephs, @Arizona-ArizonaSt(AZ), @OhioSt-Indiana, @Creighton-SoIllinois, @Rider-Siena, @LoyolaMD-Niagara.

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Top 25 - 08 Feb 4: MIDCONFERENCE - [] Column

1. Memphis (21-0)
2. Duke (18-1)
3. UCLA (19-2)
4. Georgetown (18-2)
5. Kansas (20-1)
6. North Carolina (21-1)
7. Stanford (18-3)
8. Tennessee (18-2)
9. Xavier (18-4)
10. Wisconsin (18-3)
11. Washington State (17-4)
12. Kansas State (13-5)
13. Arizona (14-7)
14. Michigan State (19-3)
15. Texas (16-4)
16. USC (14-7)
17. Notre Dame (15-4)
18. Connecticut (16-5)
19. Pittsburgh (16-5)
20. Texas A&M (17-4)
21. Butler (18-2)
22. Drake (17-1)
23. Purdue (17-5)
24. Marquette (14-4)
25. Arkansas (16-5)

Honorable Mention:

California (12-7), Penn State (11-10), Missouri (13-9), Cincinnati (10-12), San Diego (12-11), George Mason (16-6), California State(Fullerton) (14-6), Rider (16-6), UNC-Asheville (14-4), Maryland(Baltimore County) (14-7), Morgan State (10-8), American (12-10), Alabama State (8-7), Cornell (10-5).