08 Dec8 - Indecisions

Volume XIII, No. 5 - 08 Dec 8 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Indecisions

The two big conference showdowns really didn't decide very much. Mostly, they were indecisions, leaving the Top 25 more muddy than last week, rather than less. With so many down-to-the-wire finishes, not much can be taken away about the relative strengths of any of the four leagues in full head-to-head competition.
     The ACC made it 10-0 over the BIG 10 in their yearly CHALLENGE, but only just barely, winning 6-5 this time out. Each league took 3 road wins as well, so the final margin still rested as much on one extra home game for the ACC as anything else. North Carolina routed undermanned Michigan State (with cGoran Suton out til January now), 98-@63, behind 25p11r from cTyler Hansbrough. More impressively, Duke completely manhandled Purdue on the road, 76-@60, thanks to a 49-29 rebound advantage and 20p12r from tKyle Singler. Clemson knocked off previously unbeaten Illinois, 76-@74, despite 28p8r from UI's bMike Davis. Florida State fell 59-@73 at Northwestern, but rebounded to edge state-rival Florida @57-55 at home.
     Michigan fell 70-@75 at Maryland (as UM's tGreivis Vasquez had 23p6a13r), but regrouped to pay back Duke with an @81-73 home win (behind 28p12r from fDeShawn Sims). Remember, the Wolverines lost 56-71 to the Blue Devils on a neutral floor in NYC just two weeks ago in the final of COACHES VS CANCER. (Can the homecourt advantage really make a 23 point difference? For an elite team, maybe; but especially for a team getting more and more comfortable with coach John Beilein's system.) Miami(Florida)'s gJack McClinton got off to a hot start (4-for-4 on three-pointers) in the first ten minutes of what looked like a blowout of visiting Ohio State; but he lost his cool and slapped at a Buckeye player and was ejected for the game. OSU turned it around and won 73-@68, and then kept the mojo going with an even more impressive 67-@62 win over Notre Dame in the HALL OF FAME CHALLENGE (behind 28p10r5a6to from tEvan Turner). Wisconsin came back to edge Virginia Tech on the road 74-@72, but couldn't hold a road lead against state-rival Marquette before falling 58-@61.

In the BIG 12 / PAC-10 HARDWOOD SERIES, the BIG 12 (which lost last year) is out to a 6-4 lead with two more road games left to go. (Only Baylor has been able to break through on the road so far.) Oklahoma added one more close win over a tough opponent with a @73-72 victory over USC (thanks to 25p6r from fBlake Griffin). Texas was paced by gA.J. Abrams 31p0a performance as it edged UCLA @68-64 at home. Texas A&M survived @67-66 over Arizona. Missouri won big (@93-66) over California and Baylor won small (58-@52) at Washington State.
     Arizona State routed Nebraska, @64-44, behind 20p6a9r from bJames Harden. Washington rolled @83-65 past Oklahoma State. Oregon held off Kansas State, @75-70 at home.

In early conference play, Butler's gZach Hahn hit the game-winning three-pointer on the road to sink host Cleveland State 50-@48, giving the 7-0 Bulldogs an early 2-0 lead in the HORIZON race. 6-2 VMI is out to a 2-0 start in the BIG SOUTH after a 114-@105 win over last year's titleist UNC-Asheville (thanks to 29p5a from pChavis Holmes and 26p7a6s from twin-brother pTravis Holmes).

Things are pretty slow this week. (The BIG EAST / SEC INVITATIONAL pair of double-headers are still one more week off.) Davidson should be able to handle West Virginia (JIMMY V CLASSIC) on Tuesday, but Saturday's home game against Chattanooga is an early test in conference. Villanova could use a win over a ranked opponent to justify its own lofty ranking -- the Wildcats will face a tough test against Texas in the other JIMMY V clash. On Wednesday, Creighton hosts Dayton in a clash that may later on prove to be important to the winner's garnering an at-large bid to the NCAAs. On Saturday, Georgetown hosts a Memphis team that could use a marquee win to establish its own credibility for this season. Gonzaga should have no trouble against host Arizona on Sunday in its half of the USA double-header.

-- Ron

P.S. If you're interested, the 2nd Annual Pigskin Pool Party [ www.ronmcbay.us/Pigskin/ ] (Ron's College Football Bowl Season Pool) is now open for entry (through Saturday, 20 December 11AMet).

Key games this week:

Tuesday:

@Siena-Marist(NY),
JIMMY V CLASSIC DblHdr @ New York,NY
(Davidson-WVirginia, Villanova-Texas),

Wednesday:

Gonzaga-@WashingtonSt(WA), Dayton-@Creighton, @Illinois-ChicagoSt(IL), @Utah-California,

Thursday:

@Villanova-StJosephs(BIG5)(Philadelphia,PA),

Friday-Saturday:

DRAKE HV CLASSIC 1st/Semis @ Des MoinesIA
(@Drake-GeorgiaSo, StephenFAustin-NDState),

Saturday:

@Oklahoma-Utah, Tennessee-@Temple, @Davidson-Chattanooga, @OhioSt-Butler(BG), @Georgetown-Memphis, @Kansas-Massachusetts(@KansasCityMO), @Kentucky-Indiana(BG),
CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT 1Off - (Xavier-@Cincinnati(CincinnatiOH)),
BLACK & BLUE CLASSIC 1Off @ Richmond,VA - (@VCU-@Richmond(RichmondVA)),
P' JAM 1Off @ Portland,OR - (@Oregon-SanDiego),
JOHN WOODEN CLASSIC DblHdr @ Anaheim,CA
(@UCLA-DePaul, @SanDiegoSt-StMarys(CA)),

Saturday-Saturday week; Mon-Tue 22-23 Dec:

LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS CLASSIC on-campus; @ Las Vegas,NV /OHA/
(A: @Creighton, @FresnoSt, NoColorado, Southern;
 B: @DePaul, @StLouis, Liberty, {SCUpstate}),

Sunday:

@Washington-PortlandSt, @KansasSt-GardnerWebb,
USA DblHdr @ Phoenix,AZ
(Gonzaga-@Arizona, @ArizonaSt-UAB).

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Top 25 - 08 Dec 8 - [] Column

1. North Carolina (7-0)
2. Connecticut (7-0)
3. Oklahoma (8-0)
4. Gonzaga (5-0)
5. Tennessee (6-1)
6. Davidson (5-1)
7. Pittsburgh (8-0)
8. Villanova (7-0)
9. Ohio State (5-0)
10. Notre Dame (4-2)
11. Texas (6-1)
12. Georgetown (5-1)
13. Duke (7-1)
14. Michigan (5-2)
15. Maryland (5-2)
16. Purdue (6-2)
17. Dayton (8-0)
18. Wake Forest (6-0)
19. Xavier (7-0)
20. Syracuse (7-0)
21. Baylor (6-1)
22. Marquette (6-1)
23. UCLA (5-2)
24. Memphis (5-1)
25. Louisville (4-1)

Honorable Mention:

Clemson (8-0), Florida State (8-1), Texas A&M (6-1), Butler (7-0), VMI (6-2).