11 Feb28 - Bulldogs Bounce Back

Volume XV, No. 17 - 11 Feb 28 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Bulldogs Bounce Back

Still in crisis mode with my system problems. For the past week (and a couple more days) I'm driving 80 miles round trip from Mayberry RFD just to get on the Internet!!! Too many things went wrong at the wrong moment on top of less than perfect execution from vendors I was counting in my emergency recovery plan. [I have to replace my replacement system!!! Unbelievable.]

More stumbling at the top: Virginia Tech upset Duke, @64-60, as cJeff Allen(18p15r) led 5 players in double-figures. Louisville no-names won in OT at home against Pittsburgh, @62-59(OT). Texas stumbled at Colorado, 89-@91, allowing Kansas to tie for first place in the Big 12.
     BYU completed the sweep of San Diego State, 80-@67, as Player of the Year pJimmer Fredette had 25p9a. With the elite teams faltering all around them, the Cougars could win up as a #1-seed for the NCAAs. (If they can make the Final Four, this might go down as one of the great "one-man team"s ever.)
     Arizona stumbled at USC, 57-@63, and then was pounded by UCLA, 49-@71 (behind 27p16r from cReeves Nelson), as the Bruins moved up to tie for the Pac-10 lead.
     Syracuse righted the ship with two road wins over slumping teams: 69-@64 at Villanova and 58-@51 at Georgetown. The Hoyas (who also fell at home @46-58 to Cincinnati) have lost gChris Wright with a hand injury; the Wildcats (who were also beaten at home @68-81 by St. John's) don't have the same excuse.

Utah State(WAC) and George Mason(Colonial) quietly clinched their regular season titles with comfortable wins.
     The Gonzaga Bulldogs won an epic battle, 89-@85(OT), at St. Mary's and wound up sharing their 11TH-STRAIGHT West Coast title (trailing only UCLA's 13 straight AAWU/PAC-8/PAC-10 titles from 1967-79).
     Meanwhile, Cleveland State stumbled at home, @83-87, vs Wisconsin(Milwaukee), allowing the Butler Bulldogs to earn a share of the Horizon League title.
     Missouri State won the showdown with Wichita State, @69-64, to claim the Missouri Valley title (but it's only good for an NIT bid at this point).

Murray State won its showdown with Morehead State, @70-62, to win the Ohio Valley. Bucknell(Patriot) and Florida Atlantic(Sun Belt) also clinched their regular season titles.

It's conference tournament time for half the field as mostly 1BC and a few prime MM leagues (West Coast, Colonial, Horizon, Missouri Valley) get going this week.
    

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Texas-KansasSt, @NotreDame-Villanova,

Tuesday:

@Purdue-Illinois, @Kentucky-Vanderbilt, @Florida-Alabama, @BowlingGreen-KentSt(OH),

Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday:

BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT on-campus, @ #1-seed(Co Carolina/Conway SC), on-campus
- (@CoCarolina, Liberty),

Tuesday, Friday-Saturday:

OVC TOURNAMENT on-campus, @ Nashville TN (Tennessee St)
- (MurraySt, MoreheadSt, AustinPeay, TennesseeTech, @TennesseeSt),

Tuesday, Friday-Saturday, Tuesday week:

HORIZON TOURNAMENT on-campus, @ #1-seed, on-campus
- (WisconsinMilwaukee, Butler, ClevelandSt, Valparaiso),

Wednesday:

@WVirginia-Connecticut, @Kansas-TexasA&M, @BYU-NewMexico, @NewMexicoSt-UtahSt, @FloridaSt-NCarolina, @SoMississippi-UAB, @StephenFAustin-SamHoustonSt(TX),

Wednesday-Saturday:

A-SUN TOURNAMENT @ Macon GA (Mercer)
- (Belmont, ETennesseeSt, Lipscomb, ..., @Mercer),

Wednesday, Sunday, Friday week:

PATRIOT TOURNAMENT on-campus
- (Bucknell, American),

Thursday:

@Washington-UCLA,

Thursday-Sunday:

MVC TOURNAMENT @ St. Louis MO
- (MissouriSt, WichitaSt, IndianaSt, NoIowa, Creighton),

Thursday, Sunday, Wednesday week:

NEC TOURNAMENT on-campus
- (LongIsland, Quinnipiac, RobertMorris, CConnecticutSt),

Thursday, Saturday-Sunday, Saturday week:

AMERICA EAST TOURNAMENT @ Hartford CT (Hartford), Finals on-campus
- (Vermont, BostonU),

Friday-Monday week:

WCC TOURNAMENT @ Las Vegas NV /OHA/
- (StMarys, Gonzaga),
COLONIAL TOURNAMENT @ Richmond VA (VCU)
- (GeorgeMason, OldDominion, Hofstra, @VCU, Drexel, JamesMadison, ..., GeorgiaSt),
SOCON TOURNAMENT @ Chattanooga TN (Chattanooga)
- (ColofCharleston, Wofford, Furman, WeCarolina, @Chattanooga),
MAAC TOURNAMENT at Bridgeport CT (Fairfield)
- (@Fairfield),

Saturday:

@Pittsburgh-Villanova(PA), @Connecticut-NotreDame, @WVirginia-Louisville, @NCarolina-Duke(NC), @Missouri-Kansas, @Baylor-Texas(TX), @Vanderbilt-Florida, @Richmond-Duquesne, @Temple-LaSalle(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5), @WashingtonSt-UCLA, @Harvard-Princeton, @BowlingGreen-Buffalo,

Saturday-Tuesday week:

SUN BELT TOURNAMENT @ Hot Springs AR
- (FLAtlantic, ArkansasSt, LALafayette, MidTennessee),
SUMMIT TOURNAMENT @ Sioux Falls SD
- (Oakland),

Saturday, Tuesday week-Wednesday week:

BIG SKY TOURNAMENT on-campus, @ #1-seed(Northern Colorado/Greeley Co)
- (@NoColorado, Montana, WeberSt),

Sunday:

@OhioSt-Wisconsin, @Tennessee-Kentucky,

Sunday, Thursday week-Saturday week:

MAC TOURNAMENT on-campus, @ Cleveland OH
- (KentSt, MiamiOH, BallSt, WeMichigan, OhioU, Akron).

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Top 25 - 11 Feb 28 - [] Column

1. Ohio State (26-2)
2. BYU (26-2)
3. Pittsburgh (25-4)
4. Texas (24-5)
5. Purdue (24-5)
6. Kansas (27-2)
7. Duke (26-3)
8. Louisville (22-7)
9. San Diego State (25-2)
10. Notre Dame (23-5)
11. Connecticut (21-7)
12. Wisconsin (20-6)
13. Syracuse (24-6)
14. Florida (22-6)
15. Arizona (23-6)
16. St. John's (19-9)
17. Villanova (21-8)
18. Georgetown (21-8)
19. Vanderbilt (21-7)
20. Kentucky (20-8)
21. North Carolina (22-6)
22. Utah State (24-3)
23. George Mason (25-5)
24. Xavier (22-6)
25. UCLA (21-8)

Honorable Mention:

Virginia Tech (18-8), Colorado (18-11), Gonzaga (20-9), Missouri State (22-7), Murray State (19-7).