11 Feb21 - Boilers Make The Gap

Volume XV, No. 16 - 11 Feb 21 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Boilers Make The Gap

I've had a major system crash over the weekend -- on top of having to travel out of town !!! So, this week's column is only available over the web for the moment.
     Best case scenario: I'll be restored to full capability sometime on Thursday.
     Worst case: I don't even want to think about right now. Ugh!!!

Need further evidence that this is a down year for College Hoops? How about: Last week's Top 4 teams (and 9 of the Top 12) ALL LOST.
     Texas led by 7 at halftime but stumbled on Desperation Trail, losing 67-@70 at Nebraska -- no big deal in the greater scheme of things. Pittsburgh lost at the buzzer on gDwight Hardy's layup, 59-@60 at surging St. John's (up to a tie for fourth place in the standings now) -- hey, everybody knocks each other off in the rough Big East; it was finally Pitt's turn ... um, where are they holding the Big East tournament? Oh, yeah: MADISON SQUARE GARDEN! If you could have looked into a crystal ball at the start of the season and seen the result of Kansas' trip to Kansas State, you might not have been shocked by an @84-68 Wildcat rout (behind 38p5a from pJacob Pullen); but the way the season has unfolded for those two, it's pretty stunning. Not a surprise that the Wildcats would get up for this, their best chance in years to handle the Jayhawks, but more disturbing that KU couldn't seem to respond to the challenge.
     The unbalanced schedule in the Big 10 isn't as much of a factor this year -- among the elite teams, only Ohio State/Michigan State, Wisconsin/Minnesota and Illinois/Minnesota don't play twice. Purdue's big week of home games finally came ... and they delivered. The Boilermakers handled Wisconsin, @70-62, in a game where both teams had only 10 turnovers combined (and the Badgers struggled 3-for-19 on three-pointers). Then, PU held Ohio State at bay, @76-63, thanks to 38p5a from pE'Twaun Moore (despite 25p6r from fJared Sullinger). For most of the season, 7 teams (Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Duke, Texas, BYU, San Diego State) have performed head-and-shoulders above the rest with a gap in the power ratings between them and the field. With these two wins, the Boilermakers have bridged the gap (and stand alone in second place in the Big 10 to boot).

A huge blocked shot by fDerrick Williams at the buzzer preserved Arizona's @87-86 win over Washington, and pushed them closer to the Pac-10 title (with a Saturday trip to UCLA the final obstacle).
     St. Mary's suffered its own Desperation Trail upset at 6-21 San Diego, 66-@74. Now, they've let Gonzaga back in the WCC race (with a showdown in Moraga set for Thursday) -- GU's streak of 10 straight league titles may yet be extended.

The BRACKETBUSTERS event lived up to its name. Utah State manhandled St. Mary's on the road, 75-@65, in the marquee game. The Utes are still the biggest Anti-Spoiler out there, but the WAC did manage to go 8-1 overall. The Metro Atlantic posted a 9-1 record, headlined by Iona over Liberty (77-@57), Fairfield over Austin Peay (@76-69) and Siena over Maine (@71-60). College of Charleston (@85-70 over Vermont) and Wofford (@66-61 over Ball State) led the Southern Conference [5-0].
     Even though the league was only 7-5 overall, the top of the Colonial went 5-1: including VCU's 68-@67 win at Wichita State (on gJoey Rodriguez' game-winner), George Mason's impressive 77-@71 win at Northern Iowa and Old Dominion's @74-63 win over Cleveland State (despite 35p5a from pNorris Cole). The Horizon [3-5] managed a couple of noteworthy results: Valparaiso over Missouri State (@80-67) and Wright State over Hofstra (@82-56). Individually, Murray State (@72-47 over Evansville) and Long Beach State (@74-56 over Montana) impressed.
     The Missouri Valley compounded its woeful 1-8 debacle head-to-head with the Mountain West in the preseason with a 3-7 performance in BRACKETBUSTERS (including 0-6 at the top). The league is strong enough to deserve two bids, but the teams keep blowing their chances to make to a case for it.

San Diego State has just kept on winning since its only loss of the season (58-@71 at BYU), and the Aztecs finally get their return shot at the Cougars (who lost at New Mexico in the meantime) on Saturday. (Look for SDgoStU to get its payback at home ... but reserve your full judgment until the inevitable MWC final in Las Vegas for the true measure of which team is the conference's best this year.)
     Wichita State and Missouri State stage their MVC showdown (in Springfield) on Saturday.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Kansas-OklahomaSt, @Villanova-Syracuse, @Chattanooga-Furman, @WeMichigan-KentSt, @TexasSo-MSValleySt,

Tuesday:

@OhioSt-Illinois, @Vanderbilt-Tennessee(TN), @Minnesota-MichiganSt, @NoIowa-IndianaSt,

Wednesday:

@Duke-Temple, @BYU-ColoradoSt, @Georgetown-Cincinnati, @Missouri-Baylor, @NewMexico-UNLV, @Maryland-FloridaSt, @Chattanooga-Wofford,

Thursday:

@Pittsburgh-WVirginia, @Connecticut-Marquette, @Florida-Georgia, @StMarys-Gonzaga, @JamesMadison-OldDominion(VA), @KentSt-Buffalo, @MurraySt-MoreheadSt(KY),

Saturday:

Duke-@VirginiaTech, BYU-@SanDiegoSt, Arizona-@UCLA, @Georgetown-Syracuse, @Villanova-StJohns, Florida-@Kentucky, Missouri-@KansasSt, @Baylor-TexasA&M(TX), @UTEP-Memphis, @MissouriSt-WichitaSt, @VCU-JamesMadison(VA), @Yale-Harvard, @NTexas-Denver, @Furman-Wofford(SC), @CalStBakersfield-{Seattle},

Sunday:

Pittsburgh-@Louisville, Purdue-@MichiganSt, Connecticut-@Cincinnati, @NCarolina-Maryland, @Washington-WashingtonSt(WA), @Vermont-BostonU, @Iona-Fairfield,

Monday week:

@Texas-KansasSt, @NotreDame-Villanova.

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Top 25 - 11 Feb 21 - [] Column

1. Duke (25-2)
2. Pittsburgh (24-3)
3. Texas (23-4)
4. Ohio State (24-2)
5. Kansas (25-2)
6. BYU (24-2)
7. San Diego State (25-1)
8. Purdue (22-5)
9. Louisville (20-7)
10. Connecticut (20-6)
11. Notre Dame (21-5)
12. Arizona (23-4)
13. Wisconsin (18-5)
14. Georgetown (21-6)
15. Villanova (21-6)
16. Florida (21-5)
17. Vanderbilt (20-6)
18. Syracuse (22-6)
19. Kentucky (19-7)
20. North Carolina (20-6)
21. Utah State (23-3) @BB
22. George Mason (23-5) @BB
23. Missouri (20-6)
24. Xavier (20-6)
25. St. John's (17-9)

Honorable Mention:

Nebraska (18-8), Kansas State (17-9), Cincinnati (21-6), San Diego (6-21), VCU (21-8) @BB, Old Dominion (21-6) BB, Valparaiso (18-8) BB, College of Charleston (21-7) BB, Long Beach State (15-10) BB.