08 Dec1 - Holiday Bloat

Volume XIII, No. 4 - 08 Dec 1 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Holiday Bloat

Thanksgiving weekend is always the one with the most (and best) holiday tournaments. We were treated to several key matchups, some very good games, and a few surprise winners here and there.
     Gonzaga captured the most prestigious crown, winning the OS CLASSIC over a field that included Tennessee, Michigan State, Georgetown and Siena. The Bulldogs beat the Volunteers 83-74 in a game that wasn't that close -- their balanced attack built an 18-point lead with 5 minutes left. Tennessee had a great tournament, otherwise -- they even outrebounded Gonzaga badly (50-26R) and their pressure defense hounded Georgetown 90-78 in the semis and routed Siena 78-64 in the first round. Michigan State, playing all week without injured cGoran Suton, was blown out by Maryland 80-62. No team appears to be affected by the new three-point line more than Siena (who lived by the 3 last year and is dying by it so far this year) as they went 0-3 losing to UTn, Oklahoma State 68-77 and even Wichita State 70-72. Georgetown and Maryland (who should be playing a yearly grudge match but don't) were forced to play, with the Hoyas winning easily, 75-48. (Apparently, the reason they don't play is that the Maryland fan base is so much bigger that Georgetown feels no "neutral site" will ever have a 50-50 crowd.)
     The best final belonged to the NIT SEASON TIP-OFF in which Oklahoma battled back from a 9-point deficit to force overtime and win 87-82(OT) over Purdue. OU's cBlake Griffin was "held" to 18p22r, but gWillie Warren led the way with 22p of his own. The Boilermakers are physical defenders, but cBGriffin gave as much as he got. He plays hoops with a football mentality -- he's fTyler Hansbrough (Version 2.0) -- but you worry that he throws himself around so much whether he'll make it through the entire season without injury.
     Notre Dame narrowly beat out Texas 81-80 (behind 29p13r from cLuke Harangody) in the semis of the MAUI INVITATIONAL to set up the anticipated All-America face-off in the final. North Carolina prevailed easily, 102-87, as fTyler Hansbrough posted 34p5r to fHarangody's 13p7r, while the guards had their own shootout: take your pick between UNC's pTy Lawson(22p11a6r) and ND's gKyle McAlarney (39p6a). (Bad news, though: fHansbrough's shin bothered him on the plane ride back and he sat out UNC's next game (a @116-48 rout of UNC-Asheville), and fHarangody is sidelined as well with pneumonia.)
     Connecticut completed the job, winning the PARADISE JAM with an easy 76-57 win over Wisconsin in the final. Syracuse held off Florida 89-83 in the semis and then came back to win 89-@81(OT) over Kansas (in front of a home crowd in Kansas City) in the final of the CBE CLASSIC. Wake Forest emerged on top in the loaded field of the ANAHEIM CLASSIC with an 87-74 win over tough Baylor (including a 62-48 rebounding advantage); but the Bears still had a good tournament, beating Providence 72-56 and Arizona State 87-78 (despite 32p9r from ASU's bJames Harden); St. Mary's had a disappointing first-round loss to UTEP, 62-75, that knocked them out of contention.
     Dayton pulled off a surprise, knocking off Marquette 89-75 in the CHICAGO INVITATIONAL final. "Let's start our own tournament and we'll be the host school" -- sounds like a great idea, but it didn't work out as planned for UNLV, who lost twice in front of the home folks, @55-73 to California and @65-67 to Cincinnati, in the inaugural GS CLASSIC at the Thomas & Mack Center. Instead, it was Florida State who slipped through past Cincy 58-47 and Cal 80-77 to take the crown.
     Illinois edged out Kent State 69-63(OT) and Tulsa 48-44 to take the SOUTH PADRE ISLAND crown. Villanova played in front of home crowds all four games to win the PHILLY CLASSIC (including @78-65 over Rhode Island in the final). Every "neutral site" is a home game for Kentucky the way their fans travel, which helped them come back to win the LAS VEGAS (THANKSGIVING) INVITATIONAL over Kansas State (@74-72) and West Virginia (@54-43). Pittsburgh didn't face much of a challenge winning the LEGENDS CLASSIC over Texas Tech (80-67) and Washington State (57-43). San Diego State only had to beat Hampton (76-47) in the final to win the GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT. Vanderbilt beat VCU 71-66 to win the inaugural CANCUN CHALLENGE.
     LSU (LSU INVITATIONAL) and Illinois State (WV INVITATIONAL) won round-robin events on their home floors.
     We know the Big East is the Big Dog, and it won 4 major tournaments [PARADISE(UConn), CBE('Cuse), PHILLY('Nova) and LEGENDS(Pitt)]. A supposedly down year for the ACC isn't shaping up too badly at all -- it won 5 [MAUI(UNC), CVC(Duke), ANAHEIM(Wake), GS(FlaSt) and CHARLESTON(Clem)]. The Atlantic 10 took 3 [PUERTO RICO(Xav), CHICAGO(Dayt) and GARDEN STATE(StBon)]. The SEC took 2 [CANCUN(Vandy) and LVI-THANX(UK)]. The Mountain West took 2 [GLENN WILKES(Utah) and GREAT ALASKA(SDgoSt)]. Only taking 1 each were the WCC [OS(Gonz)], the Big 12 [NIT TIP-OFF(Ok)] and the Big 10 [SOUTH PADRE(Ill)]. The Pac-10 was shut out.

Every year it seems, Louisville manages to have some massive flop loss in the preseason that defies explanation; but by season's end, they are the juggernaut everyone expects them to be. Maybe it's something about the way Rick Pitino coaches that causes a complete breakdown before things can be rebuilt. Whatever it is, it's happened again: 3-2 Western Kentucky managed to win 68-54 in Nashville. (If this kind of thing had never happened before, it would be a cause for concern. As it is, just file it away and forget it.)

The December tournaments don't offer much as far as high-profile matchups. So, we're down to specialty events (double-headers and the BCS showdowns) to offer any quality games in bunches. The pairings and placements look good for the Big 10 this year, but still look for the ACC to squeak out a 6-5 win in the ACC/BIG 10 CHALLENGE. The PAC-10 is already up 1-0 on the BIG 12 (thanks to Stanford's win over Colorado), but the BIG 12 may have enough to edge them out 7-5 in the BIG 12/PAC-10 HARDWOOD SERIES. (The BIG EAST/SEC INVITATIONAL pair of double-headers are still two weeks away.)

Some conferences actually get started with regular season play this week. It's essentially only the 1BCs (which, this year, most likely will include the Colonial and the Horizon).

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Kansas-KentSt, @USC-SanFrancisco(CA), @American-MtStMary's(DC/MD),

Monday-Wednesday:

ACC/BIG 10 CHALLENGE on-campus (NC State doesn't play)
- (Mon: @VirginiaTech-Wisconsin;
   Tue: @Purdue-Duke, @Illinois-Clemson, @MiamiFL-OhioSt, @BostonCol-Iowa, @Minnesota-Virginia;
   Wed: NCarolina-@MichiganSt(@DetroitMI/FORD/), Michigan-@Maryland, @WakeForest-Indiana, @Northwestern-FloridaSt, @GeorgiaTech-PennSt,

Tuesday:

Villanova-@Penn(/ThePalestra/)(BIG 5)(PhiladelphiaPA),

Wednesday:

@Syracuse-Cornell(NY), @Northeastern-RhodeIsland,
P' SLAM/JAM 1Off on-campus
- (@FresnoSt-UNLV, @Oregon-SanDiego(@PortlandOR)),

Thursday:

@KentSt-StMarys, @NDState-OralRoberts, @Jacksonville-Belmont, @Radford-GardnerWebb, @MoreheadSt-TNMartin, @SacredHeart-MtStMarys,

Thursday-Sunday; Tue 23 Dec; Sun 28 Dec:

BIG 12/PAC-10 HARDWOOD SERIES on-campus (Arizona and Stanford play twice; PAC-10 leads 1-0)
- (Thu: @Oklahoma-USC, @Texas-UCLA, @Washington-OklahomaSt;
   Fri: @TexasA&M-Arizona;
   Sat: Baylor-@WashingtonSt, @IowaSt-OregonSt;
   Sun: @ArizonaSt-Nebraska, @Oregon-KansasSt, @Missouri-California;
   Tue 23Dec: @Arizona-Kansas(FIESTA_BOWL_CLASSIC);
   Sun 28Dec: @Stanford-TexasTech),

Saturday:

@Davidson-NCState(NC)(@CharlotteNC), Duke-@Michigan, @Pittsburgh-Vermont, @Georgetown-American(DC), @Illinois-Georgia(@ChicagoIL), @Marquette-Wisconsin(WI), @Nevada-UNLV(NV), @Kentucky-MiamiFL, @StJosephs-Creighton(@/ThePalestra/), @Providence-RhodeIsland(RI), @MississippiSt-AlabamaSt, @William&Mary-VCU(VA), @OldDominion-Delaware, @Radford-Winthrop, @MoreheadSt-MurraySt(KY), @MorganSt-CoppinSt(MD),
HALL OF FAME CHALLENGE DblHdr @ Indianapolis,IN
- (Gonzaga-@Indiana, @NotreDame-OhioSt(BG)),

Sunday:

Oklahoma-@Tulsa(OK), @UCLA-CalStNorthridge(CA),
BB&T CLASSIC DbHdr @ Washington,DC
- (@Maryland-@GeoWashington, @Navy-FloridaSt).

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Top 25 - 08 Dec 1 - [] Column

1. North Carolina (6-0) [3:MAUI]
2. Connecticut (5-0) [3:PARADISE JAM]
3. Oklahoma (6-0) [2v2:NIT TIP-OFF]
4. Gonzaga (4-0) [3:OS]
5. Tennessee (5-1)
6. Davidson (4-1)
7. Purdue (5-1)
8. Notre Dame (4-1)
9. Texas (5-1)
10. Duke (6-0)
11. Villanova (6-0) [2v2vPHILLY]
12. Pittsburgh (6-0) [2v2:LEGENDS]
13. Georgetown (4-1)
14. Michigan (4-1)
15. Xavier (6-0)
16. Dayton (6-0) [2v2:CHICAGO]
17. Syracuse (5-0) [2v2@CBE]
18. Wake Forest (4-0) [3:ANAHEIM]
19. Baylor (5-1)
20. Illinois (6-0) [2v2:SOUTH PADRE]
21. UCLA (4-1)
22. Marquette (4-1)
23. Michigan State (4-1)
24. Memphis (4-1)
25. Louisville (2-1)

Honorable Mention:

Western Kentucky (3-2), UTEP (3-3), California (5-1), Cincinnati (5-1), Oklahoma State (5-2), Wichita State (3-3), Vanderbilt (4-1) [2v2:CANCUN], Florida State (7-0) [2v2@GS], Kentucky (4-2) [2v2vLVI-THANX], San Diego State (5-1) [3:GREAT AK], LSU (5-0) [RR4vLSU], Illinois State (5-0) [RR3vWVI].