12 Jan23 - Burned

Volume XVI, No. 12 - 12 Jan23 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Burned

Notre Dame used its ball-control "Burn" offense to slow down Syracuse and hand the Orange its first loss, @67-58; 'Cuse played the game without cFab Melo (ineligible for the moment) and had trouble in a halfcourt game without its usual fill of transition points-off-turnovers.
     Baylor's come-uppance was even worse. Kansas throttled the Bears, @92-74, behind 27p14r from cThomas Robinson and 28p6a5to from pTyshawn Taylor. It didn't get any better when Missouri came to town -- BU had to scramble back to make it close, @88-89, as Quincy Miller(29p) and pPierre Jackson(20p15a6to) almost cancelled fRicardo Ratliffe(27p8r) and pPhil Pressey(18p7a5r6s). BU is tall but thin and its finesse big men had trouble stopping power players inside and quality guards outside.
     So who had Murray State pegged as The Last Team Standing for 2011-12? The Racers had to scrap back on the road to win 66-@60 at Morehead State. They're very much for real, having beaten A-10 leader Dayton as well as C-USA's Memphis and Southern Mississippi. Like Harvard, the worry for them is that they'll go soft inside their weak league schedule; but unlike Harvard, they'll have the reality check of a BRACKETBUSTERS home game in February against a nationally ranked opponent (either Creighton or St. Mary's).

Florida State proved it was no One-Hit Wonder with a stunning 76-@73 win at Duke on bMichael Snaer's game-winning three. Don't forget this squad has three starters back from last year's Sweet 16 run -- it's the home loss to Princeton that's the anomaly, not these big time wins over the ACC elite. Give 'em full credit this week for one of the top wins of the season (but be on the lookout for any signs of turning back into a pumpkin against the also-rans). tRodney McGruder had 33p8r for Kansas State in its @84-80 win over Texas.
     Mississippi State beat Vanderbilt, 78-@77(OT), on bDee Bost(24p5r4a)'s game-winner, but that was after the Bulldogs lost on the road at Ole Miss, 68-@75. Alabama dropped a pair: @59-69 vs Vandy, and 71-@77 at Kentucky.
     New Mexico couldn't handle either San Diego State at home (@70-75) or UNLV on the road (63-@80). Surprisingly, it was 3-4 Washington State (not 5-2 Washington) who swept Stanford (@81-69) and California (@77-75); but Cal beat Washington, 69-@66, in what was supposed to be the PAC-12 first-half showdown. Dayton crushed Xavier, @87-72, to take the lead in the A-10. The top teams in Conference USA can't seem to sort things out -- all they've done so far is trade squeak home wins: Central Florida beat Memphis, @68-67, on tKeith Clanton(23p8r)'s game-winner and Southern Mississippi beat Marshall, @67-63.
     Davidson trounced College of Charleston, @87-69, behind 29p14r from cJake Cohen. Bucknell won at Lehigh, 68-@61, to take control of the PATRIOT race. Long Island won at Wagner, 73-@66, to take over the lead in the NEC.

The SEC pulled off two midseason interconference wins: 9-10 Tennessee upset Connecticut, @60-57, and young Arkansas held off Michigan's comeback, @66-64.

It's already midway through conference play for a some of the MM and 1BC leagues. Creighton and Wichita State have opened a THREE-GAME GAP on the rest of the MVC. Valparaiso and Cleveland State lead Butler, Youngstown State and Milwaukee in the HORIZON. Iona leads the METRO ATLANTIC. Murray State is unbeaten inside-and-outside the OVC with a two-game gap.
     Oral Roberts is undefeated in the SUMMIT with South Dakota State hanging on for second. George Mason leads the COLONIAL, but Drexel, VCU and Old Dominion are right behind tied for second (and Georgia State is still in contact in fifth). Despite losing at home, @88-93, vs Charleston Southern, UNC-Asheville leads the BIG SOUTH ahead of Campbell and Coastal Carolina. Long Beach State is undefeated in the BIG WEST with a gap. So too is Weber State undefeated in the BIG SKY.
     Boston University and Stony Brook lead Vermont in the low-down AMERICA EAST.

Two teams heading in opposite directions clash Thursday when rising Wisconsin hosts falling Indiana. Harvard's toughest game for the rest of the season is Friday (at Yale). Middle Tennessee's gaudy record (18-2) will be put to the test when it visits Vanderbilt (Saturday). Iowa State's terrific point-forward pfRoyce White has it all on his shoulders (Saturday) when Kansas comes to town. Under-the-radar N.C. State can join the conversation with a couple of wins: at North Carolina (Thursday) and vs Virginia (Saturday). It's more fun on the C-USA merry-go-round on Saturday: Memphis hosts Marshall; Central Florida hosts Southern Mississippi.
     Ball State can seize control of the MID-AMERICAN if it can conquer its toughest week: vs Akron (Tuesday) and at Ohio University (Saturday). Bucknell can open a gap in the PATRIOT with a home win over American (Wednesday). It's the WAC Game of the Year on Thursday when Nevada travels to New Mexico State. Stony Brook hosts Boston University (Friday) in a fight for first place in AMERICA EAST. Mississippi Valley State's toughest SWAC game is Monday at Texas Southern.

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Kansas-TexasA&M, Syracuse-@Cincinnati, @ETennesseeSt-Belmont(TN), @TexasSo-MSValleySt,

Tuesday:

SanDiegoSt-@Wyoming, @Marquette-SFlorida, @Purdue-Michigan, @Texas-IowaSt, @BallSt-Akron(BG),

Wednesday:

@MississippiSt-LSU, @Xavier-StLouis, @NewMexico-ColoradoSt, @Drexel-GeorgiaSt, @Bucknell-American, @NorthwesternSt-Lamar,

Thursday:

@NCarolina-NCState(NC), Indiana-@Wisconsin, @UCRiverside-LongBeachSt(CA), @Milwaukee-Butler, @NewMexicoSt-Nevada, @RobertMorris-LongIsland,

Friday:

@Yale-Harvard, @Fairfield-Iona, @StonyBrook-BostonU,

Saturday:

Kentucky-@LSU, Kansas-@IowaSt, @Syracuse-WVirginia, @Duke-StJohns, @Baylor-Texas(TX), SanDiegoSt-@ColoradoSt, StMarys-@BYU, MississippiSt-@Florida, @Vanderbilt-MidTennessee(TN), @Pittsburgh-Georgetown, @NCState-Virginia, @Alabama-Arkansas, @OhioU-BallSt(BG), @Memphis-Marshall, @LongBeachSt-CalStFullerton(CA), @Northwestern-Purdue, @CFlorida-SoMississippi, @YoungstownSt-ClevelandSt(OH), @Arizona-Washington, @ARLittleRock-Denver, @GeorgiaSt-VCU, @UNCAsheville-Campbell(NC), @UTValley-NJIT,

Sunday:

@OhioSt-Michigan, @California-Stanford(CA), @Oregon-OregonSt(OR),

Monday week:

Missouri-@Texas, @WVirginia-Pittsburgh, @NorfolkSt-CoppinSt,
(BRACKETBUSTERS PAIRING SELECTION) [142 teams/71 games].

---

Top 25 - 12 Jan23 - [] Column

1. Kentucky (19-1)
2. Ohio State (17-3)
3. Kansas (15-3)
4. Missouri (18-1)
5. Michigan State (15-4)
6. Syracuse (20-1)
7. Florida State (13-6)
8. Duke (15-3)
9. Baylor (16-2)
10. North Carolina (16-3)
11. Indiana (16-4)
12. Creighton (17-2)
13. Wichita State (16-3)
14. Kansas State (14-4)
15. San Diego State (15-2)
16. UNLV (16-3)
17. Murray State (16-0)
18. St. Mary's (17-2)
19. Mississippi State (16-4)
20. Vanderbilt (14-5)
21. Florida (15-4)
22. Marquette (16-4)
23. California (16-5)
24. Wisconsin (16-5)
25. West Virginia (15-5)

Honorable Mention:

Notre Dame (12-8), Michigan (14-5), Virginia Tech (12-7), Cincinnati (15-5), Dayton (14-5), Washington State (11-8), Davidson (12-4), Bucknell (14-6), UNC-Asheville (10-7), Long Island (14-6).