11 Jan 2 - (Second) Season's Greetings

Volume XVI, No. 9 - 11 Jan 2 - [] Top 25 Ballot

(Second) Season's Greetings

Conference play got under way for most everyone last week. Some teams were able to greet the new season with a change in play from disappointing form; others continued the same level (for the good and for the bad).
     Michigan State's only two losses are to North Carolina and Duke at the very start of the season, so it's been hard to judge what the Spartans have going for them. tDraymond Green has had some individual brilliance, but lately the emergence of pKeith Appling has started to define their personality. pAppling had 25p7a6r as they handed Indiana its first loss, @80-65. The Hoosiers bounced back with another stunner, though: a @74-70 win over a full-strength Ohio State. (Ordinarily, a week with a blowout loss at MSU and a home win over OSU might be a net plus and cause for moving IU up in the rankings -- instead, they'll fall from No.1 [but stay inside the elite group at the top].)
     Georgetown heads the group of no-name overachievers -- added to their two wins over Memphis and road buzzer-beater at Alabama, the Hoyas snatched an early road win in conference at Louisville, 71-@68. Wisconsin found a way to lose at home to Iowa, @65-72, no-thanks to awful 3-for-28 shooting on three-pointers. Purdue handled Iowa, 79-@76, and beat Illinois, @75-60.
     A strong preseason for the Missouri Valley overall led to a scramble start inside the league. Missouri State, which has had mixed results while retooling with four new starters, broke out of the gate 2-0, keyed by a 77-@65 win at Creighton behind 31p7r from star fKyle Weems and 26p5a from pAnthony Downing. The Bluejays responded with a road win of their own at Wichita State, 68-@61. Indiana State was blown out at Drake, 64-@79. Meanwhile, Northern Iowa (which had settled it SOUTH PADRE tie with Iowa State) dropped its first two league games (but gets the chance to sweep this year's IOWA BIG 4 on Saturday at Drake).
     The PAC-12 seemed to have established a pecking order in the first season: California, Stanford and Oregon State were good; Arizona hung in there; Washingtona and Oregon floundered. So, of course, the start of conference play meant that UW trounced both Oregon schools right away: @95-80 over Oregon State behind 26p9r from freshman tTony Wroten Jr., and @76-60 over Oregon on 24p from C.J. Wilcox.

In leftover preseason matchups, Kentucky handled Louisville, @69-62, behind 24p19r from freshman xMichael Kidd-Gilchrist -- and the Wildcats still aren't anywhere close to being an efficient offensive team. Before things got started, Vanderbilt's road blowout of Marquette, 74-@57, wouldn't have looked out of place; but the way those teams performed the first two months makes it a surprising result now. Maybe the Commodores have finally put things together now that they're at full strength; the Golden Eagles' lack of a true post player didn't hurt them earlier, but they may no longer be able to hide that vulnerability. Baylor escaped @54-52 over Mississippi State at THE SHOWCASE in Dallas in a hideous game from both teams. Once again, gPierre Jackson saved the day at crunch time, making the game-winner on a drive to the basket. Gonzaga kept Xavier in the doghouse, winning 72-@65 on the road, thanks to 20p10r from cSam Dower. Solid New Mexico held off St. Louis, @64-60.
     In the inexplicable category: Florida couldn't put away Rutgers on the road, losing 83-@85(2OT) as pElijah Carter(31p7a) outshone gKenny Boynton(26p). 7-7 Princeton managed to win at Florida State, 75-@73(3OT), behind 25p15r6to from cIan Hummer and 25p0a from gDoug Davis.
     The last round of showcase tournament produced three non-BCS Unwelcome Guest winners: Wagner[NEC] beat Air Force and then host Santa Clara, 64-@62 to take the CABLE CAR crown; Colorado State[MWC] beat host UTEP, 56-@53, en route to winning the SUN BOWL; and San Jose State[WAC] beat host Seattle in the ELGIN BAYLOR final.

Wisconsin tries to get back on track at home against streaking Michigan State (Tuesday). Marquette needs to regroup in a hurry: it visits Georgetown (Wednesday) and Syracuse (Saturday). Kansas State has a big week ahead: visiting Kansas (Wednesday) and hosting Missouri (Saturday). Michigan visits Indiana (Thursday) and hosts Wisconsin (Sunday). Dayton hosts St. Louis (Wednesday) and visits Temple (Saturday). Indiana State gets its turn to make a mark at Northern Iowa (Wednesday) and vs Missouri State (Saturday).
     A big shakeup is in store one way or another in the PAC-12 as California and Stanford each visit Oregon State and Oregon (Thursday, Saturday and Sunday).

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Baylor-TexasA&M(TX), Virginia-@LSU, @OhioU-RobertMorris, @Campbell-CoCarolina,

Tuesday:

MichiganSt-@Wisconsin, Louisville-@StJohns, Connecticut-@SetonHall, @UTValley-Wyoming, @Oakland-OralRoberts,

Wednesday:

Duke-@Temple(/WELLS_FARGO/), @Kansas-KansasSt(KS), @Georgetown-Marquette, @Dayton-StLouis, @Northwestern-Illinois, @CFlorida-Tulane, @OldDominion-GeoMason(VA), @NoIowa-IndianaSt, @VCU-GeorgiaSt,

Thursday:

@Indiana-Michigan, @OregonSt-California, @Oregon-Stanford, @LongBeachSt-CalPolySLO(CA), @CharlestonSo-Campbell,
JOHN WOODEN CLASSIC @ Anaheim CA /HONDA/
-(@UCLA-Arizona),

Friday:

BATTLE OF THE BOULEVARD - I
-(@Belmont-Lipscomb(NashvilleTN)),

Saturday:

(12N):Duke-@GeorgiaTech(/PHILIPS/),
@Syracuse-Marquette, Georgetown-@WVirginia, Missouri-@KansasSt, @Louisville-NotreDame(BG), @Virginia-MiamiFL, @Texas-OklahomaSt, @OregonSt-Stanford, @Temple-Dayton, @Buffalo-KentSt, @GeoMason-GeorgiaSt, @IndianaSt-MissouriSt, @Drake-NoIowa(IA_BIG_4), @SAlabama-Denver, @SDState-OralRoberts, @CoCarolina-CharlestonSo(SC), @UtahSt-Nevada, @AlabamaSt-MSValleySt,

Sunday:

Wisconsin-@Michigan, Purdue-@Minnesota, @Oregon-California,

Monday week:

@Georgetown-Cincinnati, @Connecticut-WVirginia, @AlabamaA&M-MSValleySt.

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Top 25 - 12 Jan 2 - [] Column

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

Honorable Mention:

Iowa (9-6), Rutgers (8-6), Missouri State (8-5), New Mexico (11-2), Washington (7-5), Princeton (7-7),
Wagner (10-3) [2@CABLE],
Colorado State (9-4) [2@SUN BOWL],
San Jose State (6-8) [2@E.BAYLOR].