13 Feb 4 - "Hello Indianapolis!" (MIDCONFERENCE/Major)

Volume XVII, No. 14 - 13 Feb 4 : MIDCONFERENCE/Major - [] Top 25 Ballot

"Hello Indianapolis!"

Indiana vs Michigan lived up to its billing as the Game of the Year in the BIG 10 (and for the season). "Team" beat "Star" as the Hoosiers won @81-73 -- the Wolverine's pTrey Burke(25p8a5r;9/24fg) did well to keep UM from being blown out. (If he could have pulled off the road win, he'd have taken the lead in the Player of the Year race.) The win gives IU the BIG 10 lead outright at the halfway point. It also likely sews up a #1-seed (and, more importantly, the MIDWEST Regional) -- it'll take a monumental effort to beat this team in a Lexington, KY Pod or an Indianapolis, IN Regional. The rematch in Ann Arbor is the last game of the regular season -- and these two teams could easily meet again in the conference tournament (and maybe even at the Final Four).

    
Oklahoma State shocked Kansas, 85-@80 -- ending the Jayhawks' 33-game home win streak -- behind 28p4a from gMarkel Brown and 25p9r5s5to from bMarcus Smart (odds-on favorite for Freshman of the Year). Pittsburgh got a big win, handling Syracuse @65-55. St. Louis attacked gRotnei Clarke's point guard skills and shut down Butler's offense, @75-58, and then followed that with an @81-52 rout of Dayton. Miami(Florida) delivered two come-from-behind road wins: 73-@64 at Virginia Tech (behind 25p from 5-11 gShane Larkin), and 79-@78 at N.C. State (on fReggie Johnson's buzzer-beater putback). Louisville edged Pitt (@64-61) and pounded Marquette (@70-51). Ohio State handled Wisconsin, @38-49 (behind 28p4a from DeShaun Thomas, as the Badgers didn't attempt a free throw the entire game). There are no real surprises in the MOUNTAIN WEST WARS, but Boise State upended UNLV, @77-72 (despite 25p6r5to from freshman fAnthony Bennett) and Air Force edged San Diego State, @70-67 (despite 25p10r from xJamaal Franklin).

    
Colorado State thumped Boise State, @77-57 -- the Rams are a dominant rebounding club with a balanced offensive attack. St. Joseph's edged Temple, @70-69, to make them each 2-1 in the BIG 5 -- (but 2-0 La Salle awaits them both). Akron knocked off Ohio University, @86-72, in the MAC showdown (thanks to a commanding 39-21 edge on the glass). Georgia State's rookie 6-6 tR.J. Hunter (the coach's son) had 27p as the Panthers beat COLONIAL-leader Northeastern, 78-@73, and then poured in 38p for good measure in an @83-63 rout of Old Dominion. (The sky's the limit for him if he can add some muscle to his Michael Jackson body.)

Oregon was home free in the PAC-12, undefeated with a two-game gap lead and no more games against Arizona, UCLA or Arizona State; so, of course, the Ducks dropped two road games -- 52-@76 at Stanford and 54-@58 at California to fall back into a tie for first with the Wildcats. Wichita State played two loose games and fell @55-68 vs Indiana State and 52-@57 at Northern Iowa, handing the MISSOURI VALLEY lead back to Creighton. N.C. State's second loss of the week was at Virginia, 55-@58. Mississippi got a Reality Check, losing @74-87 vs Kentucky and 64-@78 at Florida. Wyoming (@59-63 vs New Mexico, 46-@65 at Colorado State), Illinois (76-@80 at Michigan State, @68-74 vs Wisconsin) and Baylor (@71-74 vs Oklahoma, 71-@79 at Iowa State) all double-dipped as well.

Miami(Florida) is the first team in over 30 years other than Duke/North Carolina to open 8-0 in the ACC -- (not since Virginia '81 featuring cRalph Sampson).

    
In the Mega-ATLANTIC 10, with 16 teams and only a 16-game schedule, it'll be difficult for anyone to get any separation; so whom you get on the road and which team is your double-up partner will be a huge factor in the standings: (VCU-Richmond, Butler-St.Louis, Charlotte-Temple, Dayton-Xavier, La Salle-George Washington). All of the BCS leagues have 18-game schedules -- even the 10-team MISSOURI VALLEY plays 18 games; the 11-team SUN BELT plays 20; in the 13-team MEAC, they play 16 games but everyone skips one opponent -- ugh!

Everyone except the IVY LEAGUE is now at MidConference.

- BIG 10: Indiana came through in first place; Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State were all tied for second; Wisconsin was fifth; Minnesota hung in for sixth. (Illinois was a bust. Penn State was winless.)

- BIG EAST: Syracuse and Marquette were tied for first; Notre Dame, Cincinnati, Louisville, Georgetown and St. John's were all tied for third, with Connecticut another half-game back; Pittsburgh hung in for ninth.

- ACC (with one game to go): Miami(Florida) came through in first place, undefeated with a two-game gap. Duke was second; Virginia and North Carolina were tied for third; N.C. State was fifth; Florida State hung in at .500, for sixth. (Maryland couldn't hang.)

- PACIFIC-12: Oregon came through in first place; Arizona and Arizona State were tied for second; UCLA was fourth.

- MOUNTAIN WEST (with one game to go): New Mexico came through in first place; Colorado State and Air Force were tied for second; UNLV and San Diego State were tied for fourth, with Boise State another half-game back in sixth. (Wyoming couldn't hang.)

- ATLANTIC 10 (with one game to go): Newcomer VCU came through in first place; newcomer Butler, Charlotte and St. Louis are tied for second; La Salle and Xavier are tied for fifth; Massachusetts, St. Joseph's and George Washington are all tied from seventh; Richmond hung in at .500, for tenth, with Temple and St. Bonaventure another half-game back. (Dayton couldn't hang. Duquesne was winless.)

- BIG 12 (with one game to go): Kansas came through in first place; Kansas State was second; Oklahoma State, Iowa State, Oklahoma and Baylor were all tied for third. (TCU was winless.)

- SEC (with one game to go): Florida came through undefeated with a two-game gap. Mississippi, Kentucky and Alabama were tied for second; Missouri was fifth.

- WEST COAST: Gonzaga came through in first place, undefeated; St. Mary's was second; BYU was third.

- CONFERENCE USA (with one game to go): Memphis and Southern Mississippi were tied for first place -- both undefeated.

- - PATRIOT: Lehigh and Bucknell came through tied for first.

- - MID-AMERICAN: Akron came through in first place in the East (and overall), undefeated; Ohio U was second.

- - - MEAC: Norfolk State led North Carolina Central by a half-game -- both undefeated; Savannah State was third. (South Carolina State was winless.)

- - - GREAT WEST: New Jersey Tech and Texas-Pan American were tied for first. (Utah Valley couldn't hang.)

- -

Ohio State has a big week (at Michigan, Tuesday; vs Indiana, Sunday). Duke vs N.C. State (Thursday) isn't for first place this time around -- it's the last chance to stay in contact in the regular season race. Southern Mississippi finally finds out if it's legit this week (at UCF, Wednesday; vs Memphis, Saturday). A road win by newcomer Belmont at Murray State (Thursday) would complete the Bruins' domination of the OHIO VALLEY. It's "make or break" for newcomer Oral Roberts in the SOUTHLAND with road games at Northwestern State (Thursday) and Stephen F. Austin (Saturday).

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Syracuse-NotreDame. @IowaSt-Oklahoma,


(BRACKETBUSTERS PAIRING SELECTION) [122 teams/61 games],

Tuesday:

@Michigan-OhioSt,

Wednesday:

@NewMexico-AirForce, @MichiganSt-Minnesota, Creighton-@IndianaSt, @OklahomaSt-Baylor, @SanDiegoSt-BoiseSt, @CalStBakersfield-Wyoming, @Temple-Charlotte, @UCF-SoMississippi,

Thursday:

Indiana-@Illinois, @Duke-NCState(NC), @MurraySt-Belmont, @MidTennessee-ArkansasSt, @Rider-Niagara, @Mercer-Jacksonville, @NorthwesternSt-OralRoberts,

Friday:

Saturday:

Kansas-@Oklahoma, Michigan-@Wisconsin, @MiamiFL-NCarolina, NewMexico-@UNLV, Louisville-@NotreDame(BG), Pittsburgh-@Cincinnati, @Missouri-Mississippi, @Charlotte-VCU, @SoMississippi-Memphis, @KansasSt-IowaSt, @BoiseSt-Wyoming, @Dayton-Temple, @MurraySt-TennesseeSt, @GreenBay-Detroit, @Iona-Rider, @Bryant-SacredHeart, @RobertMorris-Wagner, @CConnecticutSt-Quinnipiac(CT)(CT_6), @FLGulfCoast-SCUpstate, @StephenFAustin-OralRoberts, @NorfolkSt-DelawareSt, @CoppinSt-MorganSt(BaltimoreMD), @ARPineBluff-Southern,

LOU HENSON CLASSIC -(@NewMexicoSt-Seattle),

Sunday:

Indiana-@OhioSt(BG), @Minnesota-Illinois, @Niagara-Canisius(NY),

Monday week:

@Kansas-KansasSt(KS), @Georgetown-Marquette.

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Top 25 - 13 Feb 4 : MIDCONFERENCE/Major - [] Column

1. Indiana (20-2)
   
2. Florida (18-2)
   
3. Kansas (18-2)
   
4. Michigan (19-2)
   
5. Syracuse (18-3)
   
6. Miami(Florida) (17-3)
   
7. Duke (19-2)
   
8. Ohio State (16-4)
   
9. New Mexico (19-3)
   
10. Gonzaga (20-2)
    
11. Arizona (19-2)
    
12. Louisville (18-4)
    
13. Michigan State (17-4)
    
14. Butler (17-4)
    
15. Creighton (20-3)
    
16. Pittsburgh (18-3)
    
17. Colorado State (16-4)
    
18. Georgetown (16-4)
    
19. Wisconsin(14-7)
    
20. Oregon (18-4)
    
21. Oklahoma State (15-5)
    
22. Kentucky (15-6)
    
23. St. Louis (16-5)
    
24. Minnesota (17-5)
    
25. Cincinnati (18-4)
    

Honorable Mention:

Stanford (14-8), California (13-8), Indiana State (14-8), Northern Iowa (12-11), Boise State (12-6), Air Force (12-6), Virginia (15-6), Akron (16-4), Georgia State (11-12).