11 Jan17 - "Durham, We Have A Problem"

Volume XV, No. 11 - 11 Jan 17 - [] Top 25 Ballot

"Durham, We Have A Problem."

Duke's dream of an undefeated run came to an end at Florida State, 61-@66, thanks to 22p10r from xDerwin Kitchen. Give the Seminoles credit for the win (and their first-place status in the ACC along with the Blue Devils and Boston College). The bigger problem for Duke is that they have lost their inside game. When pKyrie Irving went down, their focus was on "replacing a guard"; bNolan Smith has been just fine scoring as a lead guard in his stead, but feeding the post has been forgotten in the process. They have at least as much talent on the front line as last year, but it's a little unclear whether there is enough talent at getting the ball to the big men. They're still head-and-shoulders better than the rest of their league by comparison to any other lead BCS team; but they've shown that they can be had.
     With No. 1 up for grabs, the obvious contenders didn't exactly set the world on fire. Both Ohio State (@69-66 over Penn State) and Kansas (@63-60 over Nebraska) barely escaped with victories at home. Syracuse (76-@59 at St. John's and @67-52 over Cincinnati) and Pittsburgh (72-@57 at Georgetown) were much more impressive on the week. (If Pitt didn't have a loss already, they'd have been #2 in this week's poll.) Those two only meet once, so Monday's clash between the Orange and the Panthers might be the highest-ranked matchup we see all year.

San Diego State remained unbeaten after surviving at home against UNLV, @55-49, and then handling New Mexico on the road, 87-@77. (The first of their two big regular season showdowns with BYU, is still another week away.)
     Villanova handled Louisville, @88-74, to remain unbeaten in Big East play. (The Wildcats have two big road games coming up: Monday at Connecticut, Saturday at Syracuse). Texas A&M still only has one loss as well after a thrilling @91-89(OT) win over visiting Missouri.

Road blues hit the likes of Notre Dame (lost 57-@79 at Marquette, 54-@72 at St. John's), Purdue (lost 67-@70 at Minnesota, 64-@68 at West Virginia) and Illinois (lost 55-@57 at Penn State, 66-@76 at Wisconsin); but all three get two big games at home this week.
     Surprising Colorado went to 3-0 in the Big 12 after a road win at Kansas State, 74-@66, and a home squeaker over Oklahoma State, @75-71.

Below the rankings, Southern Mississippi got its biggest win of the season, @86-69 over Central Florida. The same goes for Duquesne (3-0 in the Atlantic 10) after a @78-66 win over Temple. Utah State stayed unbeaten in the WAC, brushing back Boise State on the road, 68-@59.
     Belmont continued to pound Atlantic Sun pretenders with two more drubbings, @88-52 over Lipscomb and @90-55 over Campbell -- their closest league game so far (after an 8-0 start) is a 17-point road win at Stetson; if second-place East Tennessee State can't stop them at home on Sunday, the Bruins may well run the table in conference. Morgan State stayed unbeaten in the MEAC with a @78-72 win over Hampton. Texas Southern knocked off Jackson State, @66-62, to take an early lead in the SWAC race.

Syracuse and Villanova have it rough this week with two Top-10 matchups: on Monday 'Cuse travels to Pittsburgh while 'Nova visits Connecticut; then those two clash with each other on Saturday at the Carrier Dome. Texas hosts hot Texas A&M on Wednesday and then travels to Kansas on Saturday.
     Good Grief! It's time for Charlie Brown, Lucy and the football again -- Clemson has one of its best chances to break its oh-for-Chapel Hill streak (0-54 and counting) on Tuesday when it visits struggling North Carolina.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

Syracuse-@Pittsburgh, Kansas-@Baylor, Connecticut-Villanova, @Missouri-KansasSt, @Chattanooga-ColofCharleston, @Hampton-NCA&T, @Rider-Fairfield,

Tuesday:

MichiganSt-@Illinois, @Georgia-Tennessee,
@NCarolina-Clemson (0-for-54 and counting),

Wednesday:

TexasA&M-@Texas(TX), @Louisville-StJohns, @NotreDame-Cincinnati(BG), @UNLV-ColoradoSt, @WichitaSt-NoIowa, @OldDominion-JamesMadison(VA), @SoMississippi-Memphis, @Temple-Penn(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5), @VCU-GeorgiaSt, @Buffalo-KentSt,

Thursday:

@Washington-Arizona, @UtahSt-LouisianaTech, @SDState-Oakland, @Wagner-Quinnipiac,

Friday:

@ETennesseeSt-Lipscomb(TN),

Saturday:

@Syracuse-Villanova, OhioSt-@Illinois, @Kansas-Texas, @Connecticut-Tennessee, BYU-@ColoradoSt, @TexasA&M-KansasSt, @NotreDame-Marquette, MichiganSt-@Purdue, @UNLV-NewMexico, @FloridaSt-BostonCol, @Vanderbilt-StMarys, @StJohns-Cincinnati, @WashingtonSt-Arizona, @UtahSt-NewMexicoSt, @Baylor-OklahomaSt, @Massachusetts-Richmond, @Xavier-Temple, @ClevelandSt-WrightSt(OH), @OldDominion-VCU(VA), @StJosephs-@Penn(PhiladelphiaPA)/Palestra/(BIG5), @{SDakota}-UTValley,

Sunday:

@ETennesseeSt-Belmont(TN),

Monday week:

@Pittsburgh-NotreDame, @KansasSt-Baylor, @Drexel-GeorgiaSt.

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Top 25 - 11 Jan 17 - [] Column

1. Syracuse (18-0)
2. Ohio State (17-0)
3. Kansas (17-0)
4. Pittsburgh (17-1)
5. Connecticut (14-2)
6. Duke (16-1)
7. Villanova (16-1)
8. BYU (16-1)
9. Texas A&M (15-1)
10. Kentucky (14-3)
11. Texas (14-3)
12. San Diego State (17-0)
13. Missouri (14-3)
14. Louisville (14-3)
15. Washington (13-4)
16. Notre Dame (14-4)
17. West Virginia (12-4)
18. Georgetown (13-5)
19. Michigan State (11-5)
20. Purdue (15-3)
21. Wisconsin (11-4)
22. Illinois (13-5)
23. UNLV (14-4)
24. Florida State (13-5)
25. Colorado (12-4)

Honorable Mention:

Southern Mississippi (12-3), Duquesne (9-5), Texas Southern (6-9).