09 Jan19 - A Change Has Come

Volume XIII, No. 11 - 09 Jan 19 - [] Top 25 Ballot

A Change Has Come

... at the top of the rankings. After crushing host Boston College 83-@63, Wake Forest handed host Clemson its first loss of the season, holding the Tigers at bay, 78-@68. gJeff Teague (29p and 24p5a5to) is making a bid for ACC Player of the Year and first team All-America. With Pittsburgh losing at Louisville 63-@69, the Demon Deacons are the only undefeated team left in the nation. That's good enough for a #1 ranking (but are they even the best team in the state of North Carolina?)
     Duke held off solid Georgetown @76-67, behind 23p from bGerald Henderson and 15p16r from cKyle Singler. The Blue Devils are a little more athletic defensively with gNolan Smith starting ahead of gGreg Paulus at the point (but it's always dangerous reading too much into results from Cameron Indoor Stadium).
     Talented Louisville can play with anyone in Freedom Hall. After battling up-and-down Notre Dame into overtime (and winning going away @87-73(OT)), the Cardinals handed Pittsburgh its first loss, @69-63. tTerrence Williams was spectacular against the Irish (24p16r8a) and solid against the Panthers as well (20p7r4a). The Cardinals haven't usually been able to keep it together in the regular season since joining the Big East, but so far so good.

Oklahoma kept it rolling on into conference play and routed Texas, @78-63. The Sooner supporting cast is the key to their long-term success; gAustin Johnson (15p4a and 19p7a in two games on the week) has been a more consistent outside threat of late.
     Michigan State has already opened up a two-game lead in the Big 10 after winning an early showdown with Illinois, @63-57. Purdue, which lost last week at Penn State, barely escaped with a comeback win at Northwestern, 63-@61; but the Wildcats finally came through later in the week, beating Minnesota @74-65.

In the Pac-10, California visited rival Stanford as coach Mike Montgomery faced his former team; the Golden Bears stumbled on the road, 69-@75. Arizona State led early, trailed through the middle of the game, and then rallied late to pull out a big win in overtime at UCLA, 61-@58(OT), as gJames Harden had 24p1a. The Bruins, Bears and improved Washington are in a three-way tie early on in the standings at 4-1.

Player of the Year in the SEC is already down to a two-man race. Florida's pNick Calathes is almost single-handedly keeping the Gators in the realm of the relevant. He did all you can ask with 28p10r7a in an @80-65 win over young Arkansas. It didn't seem likely that anyone could top the 60p8a8r performance of North Dakota State's pBen Woodside earlier this year; but that was against lowly Stephen F. Austin in triple-overtime. How about 54p8r in regulation on the road against Tennessee? That's what Kentucky's bJodie Meeks did (including 10-for-15 on three-pointers) to break the all-time single-game scoring record at UK (previously held by legend fDan Issel). With Tennessee's slump continuing (and Arkansas and South Carolina not able to translate their out-of-conference success into league play), it's only the Gators and the Wildcats who look like much at the moment.

Memphis survived with its Conference USA win streak intact, thanks to a game-winning drive and layup by gAntonio Anderson in a 55-@54 win at Tulsa. They had an easier time at home against UAB, @81-68. The Tigers are trying to convert freshman gTyreke Evans into a point guard. Fortunately, they have enough of a talent cushion inside C-USA to continue to win despite the on-the-job training effort.

Last year's game was #1 vs #2, the biggest game in the history of the state of Tennessee; this year, Tennessee hosts Memphis (Saturday) with a lot less lustre on the matchup. Clemson probably doesn't have much of a chance this year to break its 0-for-53 losing streak in Chapel Hill (Wednesday) against host North Carolina. George Mason has a chance to open up a big lead in the Colonial with two big road games, at Northeastern (Wednesday) and at VCU (Saturday).
     Keep your eye on a couple of overachieving no-name squads: Wisconsin-Green Bay in the Horizon, and Northern Iowa in the MVC: fun to watch, and could be good for a surprising result in the postseason.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Pittsburgh-Syracuse, @Kansas-TexasA&M, @Providence-Cincinnati, @Vermont-MDBaltimoreCo, @ETennesseeSt-Belmont,

Tuesday:

@Illinois-OhioSt, @Vanderbilt-Tennessee(TN), @PennSt-Michigan, @Evansville-Creighton, @OhioU-Akron(OH),

Wednesday:

@WakeForest-VirginiaTech, @Connecticut-Villanova, @Oklahoma-Nebraska, @NCarolina-Clemson, Xavier-@StBonaventure, ArizonaSt-@Arizona(AZ), @OklahomaSt-Missouri, @SCarolina-Florida, @MiamiFL-FloridaSt, @BYU-UNLV, @LSU-MississippiSt, @Northeastern-GeoMason, @StJosephs-Duquesne(PA), @UAB-UTEP, @TXArlington-StephenFAustin(TX), @Buffalo-KentSt,

Thursday:

@Georgetown-WVirginia, @Minnesota-Purdue, @Butler-WIGreenBay, StMarys-@SanDiego(CA), @Washington-USC, @StJohns-Cincinnati, @SanJoseSt-UtahSt, @BostonU-MDBaltimoreCo, @Oakland-IUPUI, @Quinnipiac-SacredHeart(CT),

Friday:

@SantaClara-SanFrancisco(CA), @Fairfield-Rider, @Stetson-Jacksonville(FL),

Saturday:

@Duke-Maryland, Connecticut-@NotreDame, @Oklahoma-Baylor, UCLA-@Washington, @Illinois-Wisconsin, Xavier-@LSU, @Texas-TexasA&M(TX), Memphis-@Tennessee(TN), @Butler-WIMilwaukee, @UNLV-Utah, @IllinoisSt-SoIllinois(IL), @Creighton-Drake, @Siena-Niagara(NY), @Arizona-Houston, @Nebraska-OklahomaSt, @UTEP-Tulsa, @SantaClara-SanFrancisco(CA), @BYU-SanDiegoSt, @VCU-GeoMason(VA), @OldDominion-Northeastern, @SELouisiana-StephenFAustin, @Pacific-UCSantaBarbara(CA), @AustinPeay-JacksonvilleSt, @Wagner-SacredHeart, @MiamiOH-Buffalo, @Akron-KentSt(OH), @{UTValley}-SavannahSt,

Sunday:

Pittsburgh-@WVirginia, MichiganSt-@OhioSt, @Syracuse-Louisville, @Vanderbilt-Florida, @MiamiFL-VirginiaTech,

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Top 25 - 09 Jan 19 - [] Column

1. Wake Forest (14-0)
2. Pittsburgh (15-1)
3. Duke (15-1)
4. Connecticut (15-1)
5. Oklahoma (17-1)
6. North Carolina (15-2)
7. Michigan State (15-2)
8. Georgetown (12-4)
9. Syracuse (16-2)
10. Marquette (14-2)
11. UCLA (14-3)
12. Clemson (14-1)
13. Illinois (15-3)
14. Minnesota (15-2)
15. Xavier (15-2)
16. Louisville (13-3)
17. Texas (13-4)
18. Purdue (14-4)
19. California (15-3)
20. Arizona State (15-3)
21. Kentucky (14-4)
22. Gonzaga (11-4)
23. Memphis (14-3)
24. Butler (14-1)
25. St. Mary's (14-1)

Honorable Mention:

Northwestern (9-6), >Stanford (12-3), Texas A&M (14-3), USC (12-5), LSU (14-3).