11 Dec12 - Twits

Volume XVI, No. 6 - 11 Dec12 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Twits

The lead story should have been the toppling of the last two juggernauts with a shot at going unbeaten. Instead, it's the ugly brawl that broke out at the end of the CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT between Xavier and Cincinnati.
     Preseason rivalry games -- (BORDER WARS, like the Missouri/Illinois BRAGGIN' RIGHTS game in two weeks; STATE TITLE games, like the Top-10 matchup Marquette-@Missouri already played; and CITY SHOWDOWNS, like the well behaved @VCU-Richmond BLACK & BLUE game last Friday) -- can be great because of the increased intensity level. But only if the players (and fans) are mature enough to handle it. The Musketeers paid back last year's blowout loss to the Bearcats with a @76-53 home rout this year; but that wasn't enough. Fueled by interviews ("Tu Holloway wouldn't even start if he played for Cincinnati.") and Twitter wars before the game ever took place inflamed the emotions, out-of-control trash talk during the game, and a final hard foul at the end exploded into a melee with players being punched and stomped -- ridiculously immature behavior if this were high school boys, inexcusable from college men. (These children are a long way from the adult realization that beating up the other guy isn't the definition of manhood.) Numerous player suspensions from each school, the ATLANTIC-10 and BIG EAST, and the NCAA as well will no doubt follow. (XU thinks it's a Final Four-calibre squad; but this performance will only undermine its prospects.)

Once again, the Basketball Gods have been appeased -- both Kentucky and Ohio State went down, leaving no more unbeaten teams with a credible shot at running the table. (Neither a collection of GC All-Stars nor a quality team [that isn't as good as last year's squad] belongs on that short list of Undefeated National Champions.) It's probably good news for the Wildcats in the long run, but it's a heartbreaker in the short run as unbeaten Bluegrass rival Indiana sank UK, @73-72, on a buzzer-beater three-pointer from bChris Watford(20p5r). Kentucky still needs a lot of work on team offense -- maybe this will make the players wake up to realize they have some things to work on.
     Kansas' @78-67 win over Ohio State was mostly due to the fact that the Buckeyes' cJared Sullinger sat out with back spasms. (It's one thing to skip the Texas-Pan American game, but missing the game against the JayHawks is a major worry -- who knows when it might happen again down the line?) Without the big man in the paint, KU shot 58 percent from the field while OhSU only shot 39 percent. For a no-name squad, Bill Self's squad is doing just fine, thank you.

They missed each other in ATLANTIS, but Connecticut handled Harvard pretty comfortably at home, @67-53.
     The BIG 10 got a couple of great one-man-show performances: Michigan State's gDraymond Green had 34p (on 11-for-13 shooting) to lead a 74-@67 road win at splashless Gonzaga; meanwhile, Wisconsin's gBen Brust had 27p; 7-for-7 on threes) to lead a @62-51 win over giant-killer UNLV.
     The ATLANTIC-10 had a strong week: Dayton beat Alabama, @62-54, (on 61 percent shooting); St. Joseph's upset Creighton, @80-71, behind 29p5a from 5-11 pCarl Jones (despite 26p10r from xDoug McDermott); and Temple took control of the BIG 5 race with a @78-67 win over Villanova, thanks to 32p6r from bRamon Moore (as the Wildcats shot 3-for-20 on threes).
     The PAC-10 was down: Arizona lost at Florida, 72-@78(OT); and Washington lost twice in New York City, 77-79 to Marquette in the JIMMY V CLASSIC (on bJae Crowder's game-winning three-pointer), and 80-86 to Duke in the CQAP CLASSIC.
     Murray State struck a blow for 1BC-land, controlling Memphis on the road, 76-@72 (despite 27p from fWill Barton); and Marshall furthered CONFERENCE USA's woes with a road loss at Syracuse, 56-@62.

Things are thinning out for the next two weeks. Illinois and UNLV fight it out to stay in the rankings on Saturday; Texas A&M (with fKhris Middleton back) hopes to make its mark on the season against Florida in the ORANGE BOWL CLASSIC (Saturday); Gonzaga and Arizona try to avoid another blemish in the BATTLE IN SEATTLE (Saturday); Belmont tries to win at Middle Tennessee for the second time this season on Tuesday.

-- Ron

P.S. Don't forget: the deadline for this year's Pigskin Pool Party [http://www.RonNcBay.US/Pigskin/] (Ron's free College Football Bowl Season Pool) is THIS SATURDAY, 17-DECEMBER (2PMet).

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Iowa-Drake(IA_BIG_4),

Tuesday:

@MidTennessee-Belmont(TN),

Wednesday:

@CoppinSt-Towson(BaltimoreMD), @NorfolkSt-LongIsland, @MDBaltimoreCo-MorganSt(BaltimoreMD),

Wednesday-Saturday week; Thursday week-Friday week;

LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS CLASSIC RndRob on-campus; Semis @ Las Vegas NV /ORLEANS/
-(A: Baylor, StMarys, BethuneCookman, TexasA&MCC, {PaulQuinn};
  B: WVirginia, MissouriSt, TennesseeTech, KennesawSt),

Saturday:

(PIGSKIN POOL PARTY ENTRY DEADLINE [2PMet]),
Alabama-@KansasSt(@KansasCityMO), @Illinois-UNLV, @Texas-Temple, @Vanderbilt-IndianaSt,
CROSSROADS CLASSIC DblHdr @ Indianapolis IN /CONSECO/
-(@Indiana-@NotreDame(IN), @Purdue-@Butler(IN)),
HALL OF FAME SHOOTOUT on-campus -(@Louisville-Memphis),
ORANGE BOWL CLASSIC DblHdr @ Sunrise FL
-(@Florida-TexasA&M, @MiamiFL-@FLAtlantic(FL)),
BATTLE IN SEATTLE @ Seattle WA -(@Gonzaga-Arizona),
ALL-COLLEGE CLASSIC DblHdr @ Oklahoma City OK
-(@OklahomaSt-NewMexico, @Oklahoma-Houston),
THE HOLY WAR on-campus -(@StJosephs-Villanova(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG_5)),
MSG HOLIDAY FESTIVAL DblHdr @ New York NY /MSG/
-(@StJohns-@Fordham(NewYorkNY), @StonyBrook-Rutgers),

Sunday:

Virginia-@Oregon,

Monday week:

@Kansas-Davidson(@KansasCityMO), @Florida-MSValleySt, @Marshall-Belmont, @Vanderbilt-Longwood,

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Top 25 - 11 Dec12 - [] Column

1. Indiana (9-0)
2. Kentucky (8-1)
3. Marquette (9-0)
4. North Carolina (8-2)
5. Duke (8-1)
6. Kansas (7-2)
7. Ohio State (8-1)
8. Georgetown (7-1)
9. Wisconsin (8-2)
10. Syracuse (10-0)
11. Xavier (8-0)
12. Connecticut (8-1)
13. Baylor (7-0)
14. Missouri (9-0)
15. Michigan State (7-2)
16. Alabama (8-2)
17. Mississippi State (9-1)
18. Murray State (7-0)
19. Harvard (8-1)
20. Louisville (9-0)
21. Illinois (9-0)
22. Florida (7-2)
23. Wichita State (7-2)
24. Virginia (8-1)
25. UNLV (7-2)

Honorable Mention:

Dayton (7-3), St. Joseph's (7-3), Temple (6-2).