11 Nov28 - Fair To Middlin'

Volume XVI, No. 4 - 11 Nov28 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Fair To Middlin'

Except for a couple of Christmas events -- DIAMOND HEAD (Xavier's to lose) and LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS (Baylor's to lose) -- we're done with the major preseason tournaments. As expected, the BCS leagues grabbed the lion's share of the titles, but the Mid-Majors and 1BCs were able to claim a healthy third or so of the crowns as their own.
     The biggest result of all was UNLV's stunning home-away-from-home win over No.1 North Carolina, @90-80, in the final of the LAS VEGAS-THANKSGIVING INVITATIONAL at Orleans Arena. Yes, when he left for Oklahoma, Lon Kruger left a solid, veteran Runnin' Rebels team for first-year coach Dave Rice to work with; but the experienced Tar Heels should have been able to handle this game. Instead, they couldn't stop the threes from falling (13) and couldn't match them with their own (4); worse, UNC looked helpless and down right panicky as it was unable to turn the game around in the second half. xChace Stanback(28p10r) and xMike Moser(16p18r6a) did anything they wanted.
     If Roy Williams expects to make it to the Final Four with this squad, he's going to have to make dramatic changes this year just like he did last year. cJohn Henson and cTyler Zeller on the court together are too stiff and it's not worth it if they aren't going to dominate the boards (which ain't happening so far). Better to platoon those two at center and put both freshmen fJames Michael McAdoo and gP.J. Hairston on the floor to improve the overall athleticism ... and even then, everybody has to play a lot better individual defense than they've shown so far.
     So one shot at an undefeated season never really got rolling. That leaves two more juggernaut clubs who still have a reasonable chance at making an extended run at it. For Ohio State, hosting Duke (BIG 10/ACC) on Tuesday is the big hurdle; a road game at Kansas next week isn't as scary as it might have been in years past; the Big 10 has been strong in the preseason, so the conference schedule is more dangerous after all than it looked at first glance. After UNC at home this week, Kentucky has the one tricky grudge game at Indiana next week; but after that, the big road games in the SEC don't come until the second week of February -- they could easily still be undefeated by then.

The BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS in the Bahamas was supposed to finish with a showdown between last year's national champ, Connecticut, and a Sweet 16 Florida State. Well, they did meet, but they were playing for third place. (UConn won, 78-74(OT), behind 26p5a6to from pShabazz Napier.) The championship game wound up as Central Florida vs Harvard. It was UCF that handed the Huskies their first loss since last February, 68-63, as pMarcus Jordan had 20p7a7r and bKeith Clanton had 20p6r while UConn couldn't hit from outside (2-for-18 on three-pointers). Meanwhile, the Crimson's physical defense and deliberate offense barely allowed the Seminoles to score at all. (It was 7-0 after the first nine minutes and 14-14 at halftime as FSU had shot 27% and had no players in double-figures in the 46-41 Harvard win. More stifling D from the Ivy Leaguers in the final as they won, 59-49, holding CFla to 33% overall, 1-for-11 on threes.

Duke scrapped its way to the MAUI crown, knocking off Tennessee (77-67), Michigan (82-75; limiting the Wolverines to just 6/9 on free throws) and Kansas (68-61; harassing gTyshawn Taylor into 1 assist/11 turnovers while Blue Devil reserve gTyler Thornton hit two big 3s late in the game). This isn't the prettiest or smoothest Duke team, but they had just enough streak shooting from the outside and just enough banging big men inside to claim the victories. A juggernaut they're not.

On neutral ground, Marquette had a much tougher go of it the second time around against Norfolk State in the PARADISE JAM final. The Golden Eagles had won @99-68 a week earlier at home on the mainland, but it took bJae Crowder's game-winner to survive 59-57 in St. Thomas. Wisconsin had no trouble winning CHICAGO, trouncing Bradley 66-@43 in the semis and BYU 73-56 (behind 7 threes from gBen Brust). Vanderbilt needed a game-winner from gBrad Tinsley to beat Oregon State 64-62 in the LEGENDS final in East Rutherford. The Atlantic 10 pulled off a couple of shockers -- St. Louis won 76/ANAHEIM (hitting 14 threes to knock off Villanova 80-68 in the semis, and shooting 60% overall to beat Oklahoma 83-63 in the final); Dayton was the surprise winner of OS/ORLANDO (beating Fairfield 56-49 in the semis, and Minnesota 86-70 in the final [behind 12 threes and 15 steals]). Iowa State and Northern Iowa both went 4-0, thanks to SOUTH PADRE's pre-set final pairings (as both handled Providence and Rice) -- those two will settle the score between them on Wednesday at ISU in their annual state-title grudge match. Illinois won in CANCUN (70-61 over Richmond and then 63-59 over Illinois State). Murray State made a mark for 1BC-land with three thrillers at GREAT ALASKA (64-@62 over host {{Alaska-Anchorage}}, 70-67 over San Francisco, and then 90-81(2OT) over Southern Mississippi as MSU's iIsaiah Canaan[36p8r] out-dueled SMU's gAngelo Johnson[29p3a]).
     At home-away-from-home, Missouri was mighty impressive at CBE in Kansas City (routing Notre Dame @87-58 in the semis and California @92-53 in the final) -- the Tigers were stronger and quicker to the ball on defense and offense against their overmatched opponents. Less spectacular was Syracuse, once again taking advantage of home-state support in New York City at the NIT TIP-OFF (beating Virginia Tech @69-58 and then athletic Stanford @69-63).
     The round-robin showcases were mostly foregone conclusions -- Louisville (GS-B) didn't exactly blow out Ohio University (@59-54); Indiana (HOOSIER) did blow out struggling Butler (@75-59); Michigan State (SPARTAN) wasn't bothered by Milwuakee (@68-55); Pittsburgh (PHILLY) edged La Salle (@73-69), pounded Penn (78-@58) and handled Robert Morris (@81-71). Mid-Major Creighton (GS-E/DALE HOWARD) had no trouble at Iowa (82-@59) or at home over Campbell (@104-81; shooting 70%, getting 31p11r from xDoug McDermott; despite 29p14r from xEric Griffin); likewise, Marshall (GS-D) won 73-@69(OT) at Cincinnati. Houston, Oakland and Arkansas each went 3-1 overall and split 1-1 with each other to share billing as SOUTHWEST champs. Toledo was the road winner of UTPA (including 64-@54 over host Texas-Pan American).
     The consolation round-robins are only of note when Unwelcome Guests were able to spoil the party for the hosts -- Cleveland State (LEGENDS Cons A) won at Rhode Island (67-@45); George Washington (CBE Cons A) drubbed Bowling Green (77-@56); South Dakota State (CBE Cons B) won at Mercer (74-@61).

The final tally is 6 crowns for the BIG 10, 4 1/3 for the SEC, 4 for the BIG EAST and 3 for the A-10. The BIG 12 and MVC (1.5) as well as C-USA and SUMMIT (1 1/3) managed multiple showings. Beyond that, it's the MWC, IVY, ACC, A-SUN, OVC, HORIZON, PAT and MAC all with one each. Shut out were the PAC-10, WCC and COLONIAL.
     You might expect the conference CHALLENGES to follow the same show of strength. The ACC is in decline (but don't worry -- Pittsburgh and Syracuse come next year, with Connecticut and Rutgers possibly to follow). It might be as bad as 10-2 in favor of the BIG 10 this year. The MVC may edge the MOUNTAIN WEST 5-3. With some strong teams not playing, the BIG EAST looks to go to wire 6-6 against the SEC in the newly expanded format.

Duke has its work cut out for it on Tuesday trying to hand No.1 Ohio State its first (only?) loss, in Columbus to boot. It's good that North Carolina has something prove when it travels to Kentucky (Saturday) -- it'll need a huge effort to derail the UK U-train. Go with the home team in a tightly refereed game when physical Marquette visits physical Wisconsin on Saturday in a Top-10 clash with state supremacy on the line as well. Xavier (Monday at Vanderbilt, Saturday vs Purdue) and Gonzaga (Wednesday vs depleted Notre Dame, Saturday at Illinois) both have a big week coming up.

(Notre Dame's season appears to be a lost cause after tTim Abromaitis injured his knee in practice and is out for the season.)

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Louisville-LongBeachSt, Xavier-@Vanderbilt, @Iona-LongIsland(NY),

Tuesday-Wednesday:

ACC/BIG 10 CHALLENGE on-campus; ACC leads 10-2 all-time
-(Tue: @OhioSt-Duke, Michigan-@Virginia, @Purdue-MiamiFL, @Maryland-Illinois, @Iowa-Clemson,
       (7:15P):@GeorgiaTech-Northwestern(/PHILIPS/);
  Wed: Wisconsin-@NCarolina, Indiana-@NCState, @MichiganSt-FloridaSt, @Minnesota-VirginiaTech, @BostonCol-PennSt, @Nebraska-WakeForest),

Wednesday:

@Gonzaga-NotreDame, @Marshall-OhioU, @Pittsburgh-@Duquesne(PittsburghPA), @Kansas-FLAtlantic, @GeoMason-Bucknell, @Arkansas-MSValleySt, @IowaSt-NoIowa(IA),

Wednesday,Saturday-Sunday:

MVC/MWC CHALLENGE on-campus; tied 1-1 all-time
(Illinois State and Southern Illinois do not play.)
-(Wed: Creighton-@SanDiegoSt;
  Sat: @BoiseSt-IndianaSt, @NewMexico-MissouriSt, @NoIowa-ColoradoSt, @Evansville-TCU, @Wyoming-Bradley, @Drake-AirForce;
  Sun: UNLV-@WichitaSt),

Thursday-Saturday:

BIG EAST/SEC CHALLENGE on-campus; tied 1-1;2 all-time
(Marquette, Notre Dame, South Florida and Villanova don't play.)
-(Thu: @Kentucky-StJohns, @Alabama-Georgetown, @DePaul-Mississippi, @SCarolina-Providence;
  Fri: @Syracuse-Florida, @Louisville-Vanderbilt, @SetonHall-Auburn,
       (7P):@Georgia-Cincinnati;
  Sat: @MississippiSt-WVirginia, @Connecticut-Arkansas, @Tennessee-Pittsburgh, @Rutgers-LSU),

Friday:

@Nevada-Washington, @Northwestern-MSValleySt,

Saturday:

@Kentucky-NCarolina, Marquette-@Wisconsin(WI), @Xavier-Purdue(BG), Gonzaga-@Illinois, @UCLA-Texas, @Detroit-ClevelandSt, @Villanova-Penn(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5), @Memphis-AustinPeay(TN),

Sunday:

Baylor-@Northwestern, Dayton-@MurraySt, @OregonSt-Montana, @SanDiegoSt-California(CA),
BB&T CLASSIC DblHdr @ Washington DC
-(@GeoWashington-VCU(DC/VA), @Maryland-NotreDame),
BIG APPLE CLASSIC ?1Off? @ New York NY
-(Hampton-Howard(VA/DC)).

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Top 25 - 11 Nov28 - [] Column

1. Ohio State (6-0) [rr5vGS-A]
2. Kentucky (6-0) [2v2:HALL.FAME]
3. UNLV (6-0) [2v2vLVI-THANX]
4. Duke (6-0) [3:MAUI]
5. Marquette (5-0) [3:PARADISE]
6. Wisconsin (6-0) [2v2:CHICAGO]
7. Alabama (7-0) [3:P.RICO]
8. Harvard (5-0) [3:ATLANTIS]
9. Mississippi State (7-1) [2v2:2KS/CVC]
10. Missouri (6-0) [2v2vCBE]
11. Syracuse (6-0) [2v2vNIT.T-O]
12. North Carolina (5-1)
13. Connecticut (6-1)
14. Florida (4-1)
15. Louisville (5-0) [rr4vGS-B]
16. Xavier (4-0)
17. Gonzaga (4-0)
18. Vanderbilt (5-1) [2v2:LEGENDS]
19. St. Louis (6-0) [3:76/ANAHEIM]
20. Michigan (4-1)
21. Baylor (5-0)
22. Indiana (6-0) [rr4vHOOSIER]
23. Creighton (5-0) [rr4:GS-E/D.HOWARD]
24. Marshall (5-0) [rr4@GS-D]
25. Dayton (5-1) [3:OS/ORLANDO]

Honorable Mention:

Central Florida (3-2),

Belmont [rr2@MAUIcons],
Northwestern (5-0) [3:CHARLESTON],
Houston(3-2)/Oakland(3-2)/Arkansas(4-1) [rr4@SOUTHWEST],
Iowa State(5-1)/Northern Iowa(5-1) [2v2:S.PADRE],
Illinois (5-0) [2v2:CANCUN-THANX],
Murray State (4-0) [3:GREAT.AK],
Michigan State (4-2) [rr4@SPARTAN],
Cleveland State (5-1) [rr3@LEGENDSconsA],
Pittsburgh (5-1) [rr4@PHILLY],
George Washington (4-1) [rr3@CBEconsA],
Lehigh (4-2) [rr3@2KS/CVCconsB],
South Dakota State (4-3) [rr3@CBEconsB],
Toledo (4-1) [rr4@UTPA].