13 Nov 25 - Smart-en Up

Volume XVIII, No. 4 - 13 Nov25 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Smarten Up

Several of the biggest preseason tournaments offered surprise winners, even Mid-Major winners at that, as many of the marquis B-Major teams don't have their acts completely together.

    
Without arguably its best player (suspended bP.J. Hairston) and despite its earlier home loss to Belmont (thanks to pre-set semifinals), North Carolina dumped defending champion Louisville, 93-84, in the HALL OF FAME TIP-OFF final at Uncasville, CT; both the Tar Heels' gMarcus Paige(32p;11/11ft) and the Cardinals' gRuss Smith(36p;11/24fg,6/16 3s) had career-highs, but it was UNC's inside game (especially, cKennedy Meeks[13p12r7a] with some key outlet passes for easy layups) that made the difference.

    
Veteran Florida State (with its huge front line) was the most impressive team at the PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF, blowing out VCU 85-67 in the quarterfinals and having Michigan down by 16 to start the second half in the semis before the Wolverines fought their way back to escape 82-80(OT); but in the final, UofM couldn't overcome a 12-point deficit and fell short as unheralded Charlotte (which earlier took out Kansas State, 68-61) emerged with the crown, 63-61; meanwhile, Georgetown handed VCU a second loss, 84-80 (but only after Northeastern had dumped the Hoyas, 63-56).

    
In CHARLESTON, New Mexico escaped in double-OT past UAB, 97-94(2OT) in the quarters, and looked tired in the semis as Massachusetts ran away with an 81-65 win in the semis; Temple dumped UAB, 87-66, in Consolation; but it was UMass who took the crown, 62-@56 over Clemson in the final.

    
Two squeak wins in New York City earned Connecticut the 2KS CLASSIC crown, 72-70 past Boston College in the semis and 59-58 past Indiana in the final (on bShabazz Napier's one-man show[27p5r;10/14fg]).

    
Drexel was an upset winner in the NIT SEASON TIP-OFF quarters, 70-@59 over host Rutgers, earning a trip to New York for this week's semis.

    
Elsewhere, order ruled the way: Michigan State cruised past Virginia Tech (96-77) and Oklahoma (87-76) to win COACHES VS CANCER in Brooklyn. Cincinnati (GS-E SHOOTOUT, past N.C. State), Colorado (GS-B MAIN EVENT, past Wyoming) and Florida (GS-A CHALLENGE, past Middle Tennessee) all wrapped up their Round-Robin(4) showcase events.

    
Southern Mississippi (CBE Consolation at South Alabama) and Louisiana(-Lafayette) (MAUI Consolation at Coastal Carolina) claimed Unwelcome Guest wins.

In the warmup for OS/ORLANDO, Oklahoma State pounded Memphis, @101-80 (as gMarcus Smart[39p -- 26p in the first half] turned in the top Player of the Year performance so far in the early season); those two teams could meet again in the main-draw final on Sunday).

Iowa State added another quality win to its strong resume, hanging on to win 90-@88 in a shootout at BYU.

    
Harvard had a chance to establish itself as a legitimate national power with a win at Colorado, but a 14-0 run by the Buffaloes earned a @70-62 win for the home team; (the Crimson can still claim a nice consolation prize if it can win GREAT ALASKA this week).

    
Arizona State handled host UNLV, 86-@80 (as pJahii Carson had 40p7a;16/25fg). Providence kept La Salle in a funk, 71-63, in the semis of PARADISE JAM. Duke needed a game-winning free throw by fRodney Hood to escape at home against 1-5 Vermont -- Go Figure!

So far so good for the new AMERICAN, which is performing at full B-Major-level (thanks to Louisville, Connecticut, Memphis, Cincinnati and Temple) while the "Basketball First" BIG EAST is lumbering at Mid-Major level early on. The MOUNTAIN WEST has been terrible in the preseason to this point (after being so outstanding last year). The PAC-12 and WEST COAST have been high-quality; even the MISSOURI VALLEY is delivering well (thanks to Wichita State and Indiana State).

Arizona State's opponent quality goes way up this week: first a WOODEN LEGACY[ANAHEIM] warmup home game vs Marquette (Monday) and then the main draw (vs Creighton, Thursday). MAUI offers the strongest field overall this year (Syracuse, Gonzaga, Baylor, California; beginning Monday); Arizona and Duke hope to meet in the NIT SEASON TIP-OFF final (Friday); Wisconsin and St. Louis meet in the semis of the CANCUN CHALLENGE (Tuesday); Wichita State and BYU figure to battle for tempo in the CBE CLASSIC final (Tuesday); winning GREAT ALASKA (past Indiana State) could secure a permanent elevation of Harvard's status (Saturday); hopefully a neutral court will make a difference in a rematch for Memphis vs Oklahoma State in the OS/ORLANDO final (Sunday)

    
Only a handful of individual games are noteworthy: North Carolina at UAB (Sunday), St. Louis hosting Wichita State (Sunday), and Connecticut hosting Florida (Monday week).

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@DelawareSt-Delaware(DE),

PARADISE JAM Finals @ StThomasUSVI

-(Maryland-Providence, 3rd:LaSalle-NoIowa, 5th:Vanderbilt-LoyolaMarymount, 7th:Marist-MorganSt),

Monday-Tuesday:

CBE CLASSIC Semis @ KansasCityMO

-(WichitaSt-DePaul, BYU-Texas),

Monday, Wednesday:

(new)KEIGHTLY CLASSIC RndRob(4) on-campus

-(Kentucky, TXArlington, ClevelandSt, RobertMorris, EaMichigan),

Monday-Wednesday:

MAUI INVITATIONAL 2nd/Qtrs @ LahainaHI /{Chaminade}/

-(Syracuse-Minnesota, California-Arkansas, Gonzaga-Dayton, Baylor-@{Chaminade}),

(new)GULF COAST SHOWCASE Qtrs @ EsteroFL /GERMAIN/

-(SanDiego-ILChicago, LouisianaTech-UNCGreensboro, SoIllinois-StBonaventure, Wagner-@Stetson),

Monday-Tuesday, Wednesday,Friday:

NIT SEASON TIP-OFF 3rdConsRndRob(2) @ PiscatawayNJ;KingstonRI;ElonNC, 3rd/Semis @ NewYorkNY /MSG/

-(Main: Arizona-Drexel, Duke-Alabama;

   ConsA: @Rutgers, FairleighDicksinson, NorfolkSt, {Stillman};

   ConsB: @RhodeIsland, ECarolina, UNCAsheville, McNeeseSt;

   ConsC: GeorgiaSt, @Elon, Canisius, {MetroSt}),

Monday, Thursday-Friday:

LAS VEGAS-THANKSGIVING INVITATIONAL 2x4 RndRob on-campus, Semis @ LasVegasNV /ORLEANS/

-(A: UCLA, @Nevada, MoreheadSt, Chattanooga;

   B: Northwestern, Missouri, Gardner-Webb, IUPUI),

Monday, Thursday-Saturday:

BATTLE 4 ATLANTIS WarmUp(1) on-campus, 3rd/ConsSemis @ BaltimoreMD, 2nd/Qtrs @ ParadiseIslandBAHAMAS

-(Main: Kansas-WakeForest, USC-Villanova, Iowa-Xavier, Tennessee-UTEP;

   Cons: @Towson-TheCitadel, {AbileneChristian}-{WAlabama}),

Monday, Thursday-Friday,Sunday:

(new)WOODEN LEGACY[ANAHEIM] WarmUp(1) on-campus, Qtrs @ FullertonCA;AnaheimCA

-(Warm: @ArizonaSt-Marquette;

   Main: Creighton-ArizonaSt, SanDiegoSt-ColofCharleston, Marquette-@CalStFullerton, Miami[Florida]-GeoWashington),

Monday-Tuesday, Sunday:

LEGENDS CLASSIC 2x4 RndRob on-campus, 3rd/ConsSemis @ SiouxFallsSD, 3rd/Semis @ BrooklynNY /BARCLAYS/

-(Main: TexasTech-Pittsburgh, Houston-Stanford;

   Cons: Lehigh-TexasSo, @SDState-Howard),

Monday-Sunday:

(new)RAM CHALLENGE RndRob(4) on-campus;@ GreeleyCO

-(ColoradoSt, NewMexicoSt, @NoColorado, BethuneCookman, PrairieViewA&M),

Tuesday:

@WeberSt-UtahSt(UT), @Towson-MDBaltimoreCo(BaltimoreMD),

Tuesday-Wednesday:

CANCUN CHALLENGE 2x4 Semis @ PlayadelCarmenMEXICO

-(Wisconsin-StLouis, Wyoming-OldDominion;

   Cons: GeorgiaSo-Presbyterian, OralRoberts-BowlingGreen),

Tuesday, Friday-Saturday:

(new)CORPUS CHRISTI CHALLENGE 2x4 RndRob on-campus, 3rd/Semis @ CorpusChristiTX

-(A: Virginia, @SMU, Liberty, Hampton;

   B: @TexasA&MCC, MissouriSt, SamHoustonSt, ARPineBluff),

BROOKLYN-THANKSGIVING CLASSIC 2x4 RndRob on-campus, 3rd/Semis @ BrooklynNY /BARCLAYS/

-(A: PennSt, @StJohns, Monmouth, Longwood;

   B: Mississippi, GeorgiaTech, NCA&T, MSValley),

Tuesday-Saturday:

(new)ROUNDBALL SHOWCASE RndRob(4) on-campus

-(Marshall, WeKentucky, UNCWilmington, Samford, ETennesseeSt, StephenFAustin, {Campbellsville}),

Wednesday-Saturday:

GREAT ALASKA SHOOTOUT Qtrs @ AnchorageAK

-(Harvard-Denver, Pepperdine-GreenBay, IndianaSt-Tulsa, TCU-@{AKAnchorage}),

Thursday-Friday, Sunday:

OS/ORLANDO CLASSIC Qtrs @ KissimmeeFL

-(OklahomaSt-Purdue, WashingtonSt-Butler, Memphis-Siena, LSU-StJosephs),

Friday:

PUERTO RICO TIP-OFF CoolDown on-campus

-(@VCU-Northeastern),

Friday-Saturday:

CABLE CAR CLASSIC 1st/Semis @ SantaClaraCA

-(@SantaClara-NDState, Rice-Rider),

Friday-Sunday:

GS-C HARDWOOD CHALLENGE RndRob(3) @ EugeneOR

-(@Oregon, Pacific, CalPolySLO, NDakota),

Friday-Wednesday week:

(new)CURE UCD CLASSIC WarmUp(1) on-campus, RndRob(3) @ PuertaVallartaMEXICO

-(Tulane, TexasSt, SEMissouriSt, {NoKentucky}; {Cedarville}),

Saturday:

Colorado-@AirForce(CO), @BYU-@UtahSt(UT)(@SaltLakeCityUT), @Pittsburgh-@Duquesne(PittsburghPA), @Hartford-Yale(CT)(CT6),

Sunday:

NCarolina-@UAB, @StLouis-WichitaSt, @BostonU-Harvard(BostonMA), @FLGulfCoast-Iona, @LongIsland-NorfolkSt,

BROOKLYN-DEC 1Off @ BrooklynNY /BARCLAYS/

-(@Kentucky-Providence),

- - - - - -

Monday week:

@Connecticut-Florida,

Monday week-Sat 21 Dec:

(new)SEC/BIG 12 CHALLENGE on-campus -- SEC leads 1-0

[Arkansas, Georgia, LSU and Tennessee do not play.]

Mon week: @IowaSt-Auburn, @Texas-Vanderbilt;

Thu week: @KansasSt-Mississippi, @Missouri-WVirginia, @MississippiSt-TCU;

Fri week: @Baylor-@Kentucky(@ArlingtonTX/COWBOYS/), @OklahomaSt-SCarolina;

Tue 10 Dec: @Florida-Kansas;

Sat 21 Dec: @TexasA&M-Oklahoma(LONE_STAR_SHOWCASE_@HoustonTX).

---

Top 25 - 13 Nov25 - [] Column

1. Michigan State (6-0) (@@CHAMPS) [2v2:CVC]
   
2. Kansas (4-0) (@@CHAMPS)
   
3. Kentucky (3-1)
   
4. Ohio State (4-0)
   
5. Iowa State (4-0)
   
6. Oklahoma State (4-0)
   
7. Connecticut (6-0) [2v2:2KS]
   
8. North Carolina (4-1) [2v2:HOF.T-O]
   
9. Wisconsin (6-0)
   
10. Arizona (5-0)
    
11. Syracuse (4-0)
    
12. Duke (5-1)
    
13. Charlotte (5-1) [3:P.RICO]
    
14. Michigan (3-2)
    
15. Florida State (5-1)
    
16. Massachusetts (6-0) [3:CHARLESTON]
    
17. Gonzaga (4-0)
    
18. Creighton (4-0)
    
19. St. Louis (5-0)
    
20. Louisville (5-1)
    
21. Boise State (3-0)
    
22. Baylor (4-0)
    
23. Colorado (6-1) [rr4vGS-B ME]
    
24. Arizona State (5-0)
    
25. Wichita State (4-0)
    

Honorable Mention:

Georgetown (3-2), Drexel (3-1), Cincinnati (4-0) [rr4GS-E SH], Illinois (5-0) [rr4vGS-D I], Florida (4-1) [rr4GS-A CH], Toledo (5-0) [rr3@2KSconsA], Southern Mississippi (6-0) [rr3@CBEcons], Louisiana (4-2) [2@MAUIcons].