10 Jan11 - Road Worriers

Volume XIV, No. 10 - 10 Jan 11 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Road Worriers

A rough week to go on the road. Six of the Top 10 teams lost last week -- 5 of them on the road. Not that big of a deal in the Big Picture, for the most part. Remember, that winning a road game against a quality team is a tougher task than winning a neutral site NCAA tournament game. So many top teams going down does reinforce the sense that the overall quality of play this season is down from last year. We're down to just two undefeated teams left, Texas and Kentucky. No way does UTx figure to navigate the strong Big 12 without a loss. Kentucky could do it in the SEC, but yet again this past week, they goofed around against a lesser team and had to win in an endplay (@76-68 vs 8-6 Georgia).

Kansas should have lost at home to Cornell. The veteran Big Red led most of the game, including 64-63 with less than a minute to go, but gSherron Collins' 33p;13/14ft effort ultimately saved the day. Later in the week, his 22p5a effort at Tennessee wasn't enough to avoid a 68-@76 upset. UTn was short four players from its roster the previous week. The Volunteers' best player, senior fTyler Smith, has been dismissed from the team entirely, while cBrian Williams, tCameron Tatum and 5-11 pMelvin Goins have been suspsended indefinitely following off-court trouble. Led by gScotty Hopson(17p0a) and pBobby Maze(16p8a), the Vols pulled off the upset. (Whether they can ride this short-term wave of emotion to band together in a time of adversity and keep this vibe going the rest of the season remains to be seen -- but this win and their previous @88-71 rout of Charlotte were their best to efforts all season, frankly.) As for Kansas, for all of their supposed depth, under pressure they revert to a three-man team of pCollins, freshman bXavier Henry and cCole Aldrich -- not a good sign.

Duke fell 67-@71 at Georgia Tech (behind 21p9r from fGani Lawal). Both of the Blue Devils' losses have been endplays on the road, so that's not too much of a worry. More troubling is that, in both cases, superior frontcourt players dominated them in the paint.
    Wisconsin split two big games. First, the Badgers lost on the road at Michigan State, 47-@54, as the Spartans dominated the boards 38-23. Then, they were able to come home and hand Purdue its first defeat of the year, @73-66.
    Elsewhere, West Virginia fell at Notre Dame, 68-@70, as fDevin Ebanks(0p3r) was no factor for WVU. Kansas State couldn't hold onto the lead on the road and succumbed at Missouri, 68-@74. Florida couldn't hang on the road at Vanderbilt, losing 87-@95. Most surprising of all, North Carolina gave back a 10-point lead with four minutes to go and lost in overtime at 9-6 College of Charleston, 79-@82(OT). This year is heading downhill for the Tar Heels (and there's no cozy North Carolina Pod waiting at season's end to give them a free ride into the Sweet 16 this time).
    Connecticut was looking great on the road at Georgetown -- up 18 points early on; but the Hoyas came all the way back and held on in a frantic finish to win @72-69 behind 33p;5/9 on 3s from bAustin Freeman.

A handful of teams did actually beat quality opponents on the road, though.
    After barely losing 73-@77 at BYU, UNLV did travel to New Mexico and complete the deal with a solid 74-@62 victory as gTre'Von Willis had 44p in two games. 25p6a from pDee Bost and 10 three-pointers paved the way for Mississippi State to beat arch-rival Missisippi 80-@75 in Oxford. Surprising Pittsburgh won 74-@71 at upstart Cincinnati and stands tied for the Big East lead at 3-0.
    Of lesser note nationally (but important in conference), Gonzaga escaped with an 81-@78 win at Portland (and faces an even tougher test Thursday on the road at St. Mary's). Butler won 77-@65 at Wright State and 64-@62(OT) at Detroit and already has a two-game gap lead in the Horizon.

Good news: tEvan Turner is back on court playing for Ohio State (although his 17p7a8r performance wasn't enough in their 62-@73 defeat at Minnesota).

The Pac-10 is an ungodly mess. Everyone already has at least one loss. Washington -- supposedly the best team -- has started 1-3; while 8-7 Stanford is tied for first place at 2-1. (Don't be surprised if they are surpassed in NCAA bids by any or all of the Atlantic 10, Mountain West, Conference USA, the West Coast or even the Missouri Valley. They could easily wind up a 1BC league.)

Kentucky's run at perfection gets a test Tuesday at Florida. Texas A&M has a couple of tough road games: Tuesday at Kansas State, and Saturday at Texas. Louisville gets a chance to get back into the national conversation with two games against the early league-leaders in the Big East: (Monday vs Villanova; and Saturday at Pittsburgh).

-- Ron

[P.S. Congratulations to Kevin Cuskley for winning this year's Pigskin Pool Party!]

Key games this week:

Monday:

Villanova-@Louisville, @Oklahoma-OklahomaSt(OK), @Lipscomb-Belmont(NashvilleTN),

Tuesday:

Kentucky-@Florida, @Purdue-OhioSt(BG), @KansasSt-TexasA&M,

Wednesday:

@MichiganSt-Minnesota, Pittsburgh-@Connecticut, Wisconsin-@Northwestern, NCarolina-@Clemson, Missouri-@TexasTech, Temple-@Penn(PhiladelphiaPA)/Palestra/(BIG5), @UNLV-SanDiegoSt, @Xavier-Charlotte, @StJohns-Cincinnati,

Thursday:

@Georgetown-SetonHall, Gonzaga-@StMarys, @WashingtonSt-California, @Washington-Stanford, @Nevada-UtahSt, @LongBeachSt-UCSantaBarbara(CA), @IUPUI-OralRoberts, @CoCarolina-Radford,

Saturday:

@Texas-TexasA&M(TX), Purdue-@Northwestern, @Kansas-TexasTech, Syracuse-@WVirginia, @MichiganSt-Illinois, @Pittsburgh-Louisville, Wisconsin-@OhioSt, @NCarolina-GeorgiaTech, @BYU-ColoradoSt, @Tennessee-Mississippi, NotreDame-@Cincinnati(BG), @Baylor-OklahomaSt, @Xavier-Dayton(OH), @Fairfield-Siena, @Washington-California, @SCarolina-Vanderbilt, @WashingtonSt-Stanford, @StMarys-Portland, @Nevada-Idaho, @SAlabama-Troy(AL), @OralRoberts-WeIllinois(@IndianapolisIN), @SELouisiana-SamHoustonSt, @CoCarolina-HighPoint, @{SDakota}-{NDakota}, @JacksonSt-PrairieViewA&M,

Sunday:

Duke-@WakeForest(NC), @Villanova-Georgetown, Connecticut-@Michigan, @Vermont-Boston U, @Buffalo-Akron.

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Top 25 - 10 Jan 11 - [] Column

1. Texas (15-0)
2. Kentucky (16-0)
3. Duke (13-2)
4. Purdue (13-1)
5. Kansas (14-1)
6. Syracuse (15-1)
7. Michigan State (12-3)
8. Villanova (14-1)
9. Pittsburgh (13-2)
10. Wisconsin (13-3)
11. West Virginia (12-2)
12. Georgetown (12-2)
13. North Carolina (10-4)
14. Brigham Young (15-1)
15. Tennessee (12-2)
16. Georgia Tech (11-3)
17. Notre Dame (14-3)
18. Connecticut (11-4)
19. Missouri (13-3)
20. Kansas State (12-2)
21. Temple (13-3)
22. Gonzaga (11-3)
23. Texas A&M (10-3)
24. UNLV (11-3)
25. Northern Iowa (13-1)

Honorable Mention:

College of Charleston (9-6), Vanderbilt (12-3), Mississippi State (13-3), Butler (12-4).