14 Jan13 - Stumbling Out Of The Blocks

Volume XVIII, No. 11 - 14 Jan13 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Stumbling Out Of The Blocks

Only two weeks into conference play, some expected contenders have started so poorly that they've reduced themselves to spoilers (at least and unless the top teams come back to them).

    
North Carolina's plummet continued with two more losses (@57-63 vs Miami[Florida] and 45-@57 at Syracuse) -- the way they're headed (0-3 and counting in ACC play), the Tar Heels won't even make the NCAA tournament. Oregon dropped two home games (@83-96 vs California and @80-82 vs Stanford) to fall to 1-3 in the PAC-12 -- it doesn't help when your best big man, xMike Moser, loves to shoot three-pointers.

    
Louisville still doesn't have a quality win after falling at home to Memphis, @67-73 -- Final Four MOP tLuke Hancock is coming on (after off-season injury), but there's no muscle in the paint to complement the perimeter attack. Duke's slide continued with a disappointing road loss at mediocre Clemson, 59-@72 -- tJabari Parker has dipped (while tRodney Hood has stepped it up), but lack of inside muscle is the Blue Devils' problem as well. Missouri tripped, falling @64-70(OT) at home to mediocre Georgia (in an emotional win for Bulldog coach Mark Fox, who lost his father earlier in the week). Gonzaga's 73-@82 loss at Portland didn't give up control of the WEST COAST race.

    
pDeAndre Kane turned in a Player of the Year-calibre performance (30p8a9r5s6to) as the Cyclones pulled away in the second half from Baylor, @87-72; but their habit of getting down early got them in permanent trouble as Oklahoma handed them their first loss, 82-@87. Ohio State came back from down 17 with 7 minutes to go to tie the game, but host Michigan State hit some big three-pointers in overtime and survived, @72-68(OT), to hand the Buckeyes their first loss of the season; (and they got their second at home as Iowa put on a late run to win, 84-@74, in Columbus).

    
Colorado dropped a 54-@71 road loss at Washington, but way worse was losing gSpencer Dinwiddie (out for the season) with a knee injury. Oklahoma State was able to beat Texas, @87-74 (thanks to 35-for-51 on free throws), despite the loss of one of its few inside players, fMichael Cobbins, for the season as well (heel).

Wisconsin continues to roll, committing only 4 turnovers and holding its opponent to only 4 assists, in a @95-70 rout of Illinois (and the Illini fell again, 43-@49 at Northwestern). Kansas looked the best it has all season on both ends of the court with an @86-60 drubbing of state-rival Kansas State. Florida escaped in overtime at Arkansas, 84-@82(OT). Arizona earned another fine road win, surviving UCLA's comeback efforts to hold on for a 79-@75 victory. La Salle returned to relevance with a @76-72 win over George Washington. UCLA rebounded from its tough loss with a solid @87-72 whipping of Arizona State. Michigan State survived in OT for the second time on the week, @87-75(OT), vs Minnesota.

    
St. Louis struck the first blow inside the ATLANTIC 10 with a solid 67-@59 win at Dayton. Boise State dropped two close games in the MOUNTAIN WEST: 66-@69 at San Diego State and @50-52 at home to Wyoming; on the plus side, surprising Nevada is 4-0 early on (including 74-@71 at arch-/state-rival UNLV).

    
Toledo tripped first time out in MID-AMERICAN play, 76-@87, at Western Michigan. Green Bay took early control in the HORIZON with a big road win, 93-@86(OT) at state-rival Milwaukee. Hawaii dropped its first two BIG WEST games (including 65-@77 at 2-0 Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo). Meanwhile, Georgia State scored a huge road blowout win, 77-@54 (including 22-for-22 on free throws), at Western Kentucky -- (the 16p10r the Panthers got from cCurtis Washington may not sound like much, but it can be the key to their season if they can get that kind of inside production consistently to complement their explosive perimeter attack from tR.J. Hunter, gRyan Harrow and tManny Atkins). Long Island has started NORTHEAST play 0-2 (including 70-@84 at early front-runner Wagner).

Out of conference, Connecticut stopped the bleeding from its recent slide, holding on for a @61-56 win over Harvard. (The Crimson may not lose again inside IVY LEAGUE play, so expect a gaudy won-loss record come March; yes, they are definitely just as splashworthy as last year, and with all the name brand teams' being so flawed, who knows what more they can pull off; they will no doubt hit the tournament on a roll.)

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Pittsburgh's gaudy record is still mostly unproven, but a road win at Syracuse (Saturday) would silence all doubters. The big showdown in the (Mini-)BIG EAST comes Monday week: Villanova vs Creighton. Kansas has a tough three-game stretch to remind everyone its still the top dog in the BIG 12: (Monday at Iowa State, Saturday vs Oklahoma State, and Monday week vs Baylor). Wichita State's toughest conference foe, Indiana State, comes to town (Saturday). It's Duke who needs the win when Virginia comes to Cameron (Monday). It's Connecticut who needs the wins when it visits Memphis (Thursday) and hosts Louisville (Saturday).

-- Ron

P.S. Congratulations to this year's PIGSKIN POOL PARTY champion:   Kevin Gillis

Key games this week:

Monday:

@IowaSt-Kansas, Virginia-@Duke,

Tuesday:

Wisconsin-@Indiana, Kentucky-@Arkansas, @KansasSt-Oklahoma, @GeoWashington-VCU(DC/VA),

Wednesday:

@NewMexico-UNLV, @IndianaSt-MissouriSt, @Mississippi-LSU, @Toledo-Buffalo, @BostonU-Colgate, @Drexel-Towson, @Radford-VMI(VA),

Thursday:

@Arizona-ArizonaSt(AZ), @Colorado-UCLA, @Memphis-Connecticut, @Minnesota-OhioSt, @Denver-IPFW, @EaKentucky-Belmont, @MoreheadSt-SEMissouriSt, @NorthwesternSt-StephenFAustin, @SAlabama-Louisiana, @Davidson-Elon(NC),

Friday:

@WrightSt-GreenBay, @Iona-Canisius(NY),

Saturday:

@Wisconsin-Michigan, MichiganSt-@Illinois, @Syracuse-Pittsburgh, @SanDiegoSt-UNLV, IowaSt-@Texas, @Kansas-OklahomaSt, @Baylor-Oklahoma,
@Kentucky-Tennessee, @WichitaSt-IndianaSt, @Virginia-FloridaSt, Creighton-@Providence, @Connecticut-Louisville, @Utah-UCLA, @Elon-Massachusetts, @UAB-UTEP, @Buffalo-KentSt, @WeberSt-SoUtah(UT), @NorfolkSt-MorganSt,

BIG FIVE CLASSIC DblHdr @ PhiladelphiaPA /PALESTRA/

-(@Temple-@LaSalle[PhiladelphiaPA][BIG_5], @StJosephs-@Penn[PhiladelphiaPA][BIG_5]),

Sunday:

@Iowa-Minnesota, @SoMississippi-LouisianaTech, @ColofCharleston-Towson,

- - - - - -

Monday week:

@Villanova-Creighton, @Kansas-Baylor, @Virginia-NCarolina, @Hampton-MorganSt, @JacksonSt-TexasSo.

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Top 25 - 14 Jan13 - [] Column

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

Honorable Mention:

Oklahoma (13-3), Washington (11-6), Northwestern (8-9), Georgia (8-6), Clemson (11-4), Stanford (10-5), Portland (10-7), Connecticut (13-3), La Salle (9-6), Western Michigan (9-5), California Polytechnic-San Luis Obispo (6-9), Green Bay (10-3), Georgia State (8-6).