14 Jan 6 - Road Walkers

Volume XVIII, No. 10 - 14 Jan 6 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Road Walkers

In straggler nonconference games, San Diego State came into Allen Fieldhouse and shut down Kansas, 61-@57 (ending the Jayhawks' 68-nonconference-game home win streak). The Aztecs are a physical team, especially up front; but it's still a tough accomplishment to keep a talented home team from having that killer spurt that turns a struggle into a squeak home win. Kansas State continued its upsurge with a @72-55 throttling of George Washington. Surprising Tennessee spanked Virginia, @87-52. Kansas handed Toledo its first loss, @93-83. Dayton found a way to escape Oxford with a win, 83-@80(OT) at Mississippi.

In conference, Kansas State's big week got even bigger when it knocked off Oklahoma State, @74-71; the Wildcats were supposed to be in a total rebuild this season, but Bruce Weber has them poised to contend for a second straight BIG 12 title, anyway. Cincinnati got a leg up in the AMERICAN with a huge road blowout, shutting down racehorse Memphis, 69-@53. All those close preseason games weren't enough to prepare Connecticut for conference play on the road as the Huskies fell twice (71-@75 at Houston and 65-@74 at SMU) to two expected noncontenders -- Yikes. Less of a surprise, up-and-down North Carolina found playing away tough, falling 67-@73 to lightly regarded Wake Forest. Duke's hype machine got a reality check as the Blue Devils tripped up at undermanned Notre Dame, 77-@79 (as tJabari Parker was held to 7p0a). A raucous home crowd helped Colorado keep pace (and eventually outrun) Oregon, @100-91, handing the Ducks their first loss of the season. Wisconsin and Iowa went down the wire in Madison (after Hawkeye coach Fran McCaffrey was ejected midway through the second half) with the home-standing Badgers holding on for a tough-fought @75-71 win. Yet another visitor shut down an offensively inept home team as Virginia corralled Florida State, 62-@50.

    
Earlier, Oregon had kept its unbeated streak (barely) alive with a 70-@68(OT) win at Utah. Arizona State dropped a disappointing home game to an ordinary Washington team, @65-76. Indiana had a rough week, falling 80-@83(OT) at Illinois and then getting drubbed at home, @56-73, vs Michigan State. Undermanned Michigan found a way on the road, escaping with a 63-@60 win at Minnesota. UNLV's upsurge hit a pothole as the Runnin' Rebels fell @68-75 at home to Air Force. In a couple of fights for relevance, Oklahoma knocked off host Texas, 88-@85, and California did the same to host Stanford, 69-@62. Villanova got its BIG EAST campaign off to a great start against pretenders Butler (76-@73[OT]) and Providence (@91-61).

    
Already well on their way in conference play with significant wins: Creighton thumped BIG EAST preseason favorite Marquette, @67-49; and, thanks to BYU's bust start (0-2) inside the league, Gonzaga's @73-51 thumping of St. Mary's already gives it the inside track in the WEST COAST title race.

    
Way down in 1BC-land, Stephen F. Austin drubbed its top SOUTHLAND contender, Sam Houston State (@73-56); and Boston University took early control in the PATRIOT with two big wins (@70-60 vs Holy Cross, 67-@66 at Lehigh).

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Wisconsin will get another tough home test when Illinois comes to town (Wednesday). When was the last Top 5 matchup inside the BIG 12 that didn't involve Kansas? Well, here it is as Iowa State hosts Baylor (Tuesday). UCLA's biggest league game comes early (Thursday, vs Arizona). Good-shooting Boise State won't have to go inside to score when it visits strong San Diego State (Wednesday). Overhyped brand names Michigan State and (still undefeated) Ohio State clash (Tuesday). Vulnerable Kansas needs to regroup right away with two big games (Saturday, vs Kansas State; Monday week, at Iowa State). Depleted Louisville tries for its first name win of the season vs Memphis (Thursday). Harvard's last chance at making a national splash catches host Connecticut when its reeling (Wednesday). Contenders collide (Saturday) when Dayton hosts St. Louis.

    
LSU hosts Tennessee in an SEC pretender knockout game (Tuesday). Rising Georgia State has a big opportunity to make a statement when it visits Western Kentucky (Thursday).

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Pittsburgh-Maryland, @TexasSo-Southern, @JacksonSt-AlabamaSt,

Tuesday:

@IowaSt-Baylor, @MichiganSt-OhioSt, Cincinnati-@Houston, @LSU-Tennessee, @Hampton-NCCentral,

Wednesday:

@Wisconsin-Illinois, @SanDiegoSt-BoiseSt, @WichitaSt-IllinoisSt, @OklahomaSt-Texas, @Connecticut-Harvard, @NCarolina-MiamiFL,

Thursday:

Arizona-@UCLA, @Louisville-Memphis, @Oregon-California, @UTEP-Charlotte, @IPFW-NDState, @SEMissouriSt-Belmont, @NewMexicoSt-Seattle, @WeKentucky-GeorgiaSt,

Friday:

@Canisius-Rider,

Saturday:

@Syracuse-NCarolina, Florida-@Arkansas, @MichiganSt-Minnesota, @Kansas-KansasSt(KS), WichitaSt-@MissouriSt, @Dayton-StLouis, @NoIowa-Drake(IA)(BIG_4), @Buffalo-EaMichigan, @IPFW-SDState, @MoreheadSt-EaKentucky(KY), @NewMexicoSt-Idaho, @Lafayette-BostonU,

Sunday:

@OhioSt-Iowa, @Oregon-Stanford, @UCLA-ArizonaSt, @Milwaukee-GreenBay(WI), @Hartford-StonyBrook,

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Monday week:

@Duke-Virginia, @IowaSt-Kansas.

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Top 25 - 14 Jan 6 - [] Column

1. Wisconsin (15-0)
   
2. Syracuse (14-0)
   
3. Iowa State (13-0)
   
4. Baylor (10-1)
   
5. Arizona (15-0)
   
6. San Diego State (10-1)
   
7. Villanova (13-1)
   
8. Colorado (13-2)
   
9. Florida (11-2)
   
10. Michigan State (13-1)
    
11. Kentucky (9-3)
    
12. Cincinnati (12-2)
    
13. Kansas (9-4)
    
14. Wichita State (14-0)
    
15. Ohio State (15-0)
    
16. Louisville (13-2)
    
17. Illinois (13-2)
    
18. Kansas State (11-3)
    
19. Missouri (12-1)
    
20. Iowa (10-3)
    
21. Duke (11-3)
    
22. Oregon (13-1)
    
23. Oklahoma State (12-2)
    
24. Gonzaga (13-2)
    
25. Creighton (12-2)
    

Honorable Mention:

Virginia (10-4), SMU (11-3), Houston (10-5), Wake Forest (11-3), Notre Dame (10-4), Stephen F. Austin (11-2), Boston University (8-6).