14 Mar 3 - Va-Voom!

Volume XVIII, No. 18 - 14 Mar 3 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Va-Voom!

Wichita State wrapped up an UNDEFEATED REGULAR SEASON -- (the first since St. Joseph's '04) -- with a couple more easy wins. (The 'Shockers haven't had a close game since early January. With the late-season collapse of Indiana State, the MISSOURI VALLEY has gone from multi-bid Mid-Major to Anti-Spoiler/1BC. Still, this year's WichSt is better than last year's Final Four team ... and the landscape of college basketball overall is worse this year than last year. They don't take games off; they don't take posessions off. Look at the trajectory they're on in the Gregg Marshall Era: '11 NIT crown; '12 MVC title; '13 Final Four; '14 undefeated record (and counting) -- can they really run the table and complete a perfect season? Hey, Why not!?)

While all the hype in the ACC has surrounded the instant rivalry between Old-Dog Duke and New-Dog Syracuse with their Hall-of-Fame coaches, it was actually Lap-Dog Virginia that was quietly having the strongest season. A defense-oriented/ball-control team doesn't make many highlight clips on sports newsshows. Erstwhile star bJoe Harris has scaled back his scoring this year (and, in fact, it's bMalcolm Brogdon who has been the Cavaliers' best player). They played Duke close in Cameron (but close losses don't get a lot of attention, either). The title showdown vs Syracuse was close for a half, but they pulled away in the second half for whopping @75-56 rout to clinch the regular season title, with a two-game gap to boot. (And yet the ACC tournament will likely be billed as "The Rubber Game" between the Blue Devils and the Orange. !Ay!)

    
Oklahoma State passed the "Eye Test" for an NCAA bid with an emotional @72-65 win over Kansas (behind 21p5a6r from pMarcus Smart); but the Cowboys are on the Bubble on paper due to their mid-season slump (even before Smart's suspension); as is, they'll still need to win their last two games just to finish .500 in conference. The Jayhawks' earlier @83-75 win vs Oklahoma wound up being enough on the week for them to clinch the BIG 12 title -- it's -- believe it -- the TENTH-STRAIGHT REGULAR SEASON TITLE for Kansas (and for coach Bill Self); KU was supposed to be vulnerable this year, reloading after major losses in personnel; yes, they have talented SuperFrosh aplenty (but so does Kentucky), but they've played the toughest schedule in the nation -- success isn't automatic. Kansas State's @80-73 win over Iowa State and Oklahoma's @77-65 win over Texas left a four-way tie for second place, three-games back.

    
After struggling at Vanderbilt (57-@54), Florida exploded past LSU, @79-61, to clinch the SEC title (its third in four years); the Gators' only two losses came in the preseason (at Wisconsin without pScottie Wilbekin, and at Connecticut on pShabazz Napier's buzzer-beater when pWilbekin went down late with an injury). Meanwhile, Kentucky showed its youth, dropping two close games: losing in overtime to Arkansas for the second time, @67-71(OT), and falling 67-@72 on the road at lowly South Carolina. At-large bids for the SEC beyond the top two are still in question. Third-place Georgia is nowhere near an NCAA team on paper. The Razorbacks (@87-75 winners over UGa) and Tennessee (which has a 35-point rout of Virginia in the preseason on its resume) are coming on while the likes of Missouri and LSU are fading.

    
Two more solid wins (@87-59 vs California, behind 22p5a7r from pNick Johnson; @79-66 vs Stanford) allowed Arizona to cruise home to the PAC-12 title with a three-game gap of its own. Despite the gloom-and-doom predictions when fBrandon Ashley went down, the Wildcats only have two overtime losses on the road to blemish their record. Second-place UCLA couldn't keep up -- falling @83-87(2OT) to Oregon (as both tKyle Anderson and bJordan Adams sat out due to suspension). Arizona State moved up to third with its own sweep of Stanford (@76-64 behind 26p4a from gJahii Carson) and Cal (@78-60). Game Utah handled Colorado, @75-64.

    
Michigan clinched the BIG 10 title (with a two-game gap) after a @66-56 win over Minnesota. Wisconsin continued its fine form, rallying to beat hot Indiana @69-58 (while committing only three turnovers). Meanwhile, Michigan State dumped a terrible decision, falling @46-53 at home to mediocre Illinois. Ohio State dropped two: losing to Penn State (for the second time, 63-@65) and falling 64-@72 at Indiana (as the Buckeyes were 0-for-12 on three-pointers). Iowa dropped two: 89-@95 at Minnesota (as the Gophers shot 64% from the floor, led by 27p4a from gAustin Hollins) and 86-@93 in another track meet at Indiana (as gWill Sheehey had 30p).

    
Creighton fell out of first place in the BIG EAST, falling 69-@75 at Xavier (as xDoug McDermott's One-Man-Show [27p10r;5/12 3s] wasn't enough), allowing Villanova to take over the top spot after crushing Marquette (@73-56 behind 26p4a from gDarrun Hilliard).

    
(After stumbling earlier at Houston, 68-@77), Memphis rallied to knock off Louisville, @72-66 (despite 25p12r from cMontrezl Harrell as the Cardinals were a woeful 4-for-23 on threes). xShabazz Napier's One-Man-Show 18p11r) was better than bSean Kilpatrick's (16p5r3a7to) in Connecticut's ugly @51-45 win over Cincinnati -- no other player on either team reached double-figures; Ugh.

    
Despite tanking at home vs Duquesne (@64-71) and being handled at VCU (56-@67), St. Louis still leads the ATLANTIC 10 with a week to go. Dayton pulled back Massachusetts, @86-79; but it was surprising St. Joseph's (a @79-53 winner over Dayton) that wound up in second place at week's end.

Gonzaga throttled sinking St. Mary's, 75-@47, to clinch the WEST COAST title (for the THIRTEENTH TIME IN FOURTEEN YEARS, all under coach Mark Few), two games ahead of the pack. It's a rough year for the league as only BYU has a shot at an at-large bid (and the Cougars still need a strong finish) as lowly San Francisco is finished tied for second place overall.

    
Thanks to Princeton's spoiler win over Yale (@57-46), Harvard has clinched the IVY title (for the FOURTH-STRAIGHT year). The (coach Tommy Amaker-Era) dynasty is official!

    
The MID-AMERICAN race is going down to the wire. Toledo tied things back up at the top in the West after edging Western Michigan, @96-85(OT) (as tJustin Drummond[28p8r] matched gDavid Brown[29p] shot-for-shot). Buffalo stayed on top in the East after escaping 69-@64 at Ohio University.

    
There's a four-way tie atop the mess that is CONFERENCE USA with one week left (and only one automatic bid up for grabs). Louisiana Tech shut down Middle Tennessee, @55-39 (allowing no Blue Raiders in double-figures). Southern Mississippi handled its business against non-contenders while Tulsa pushed UTEP back to fifth place (but just one game back) with a 65-@60 road win.

So far, three teams have pulled off Carpetbagger titles (winning right off the bat when joining a new league): Boston University "stepped up" (from AMERICA EAST) and has clinched the PATRIOT (with a two-game gap); Georgia State's only loss in the SUN BELT (after leaving the COLONIAL) was a squeaker at Troy coming out of the week of a disastrous ice storm -- they've already clinched (with a FOUR-GAME GAP); best of all, Utah Valley left (the disbanded/non-qualifying GREAT WEST) to claim the WAC title after surviving the showdown with New Mexico State (@66-61[OT] despite 0-for-12 from three and 19p5a105to from xDaniel Mullings).

    
Delaware finished a game ahead of Towson to win the COLONIAL (but the Tigers host the conference tourney). Stephen F. Austin's undefeated run through the SOUTHLAND has clinched the title (by FOUR GAMES with a week still left to go). Belmont's squeak home win over Murray State wound up being the difference in claiming the overall OHIO VALLEY title (but those two new arch-rivals surely have one more meeting on tap with an NCAA bid on the line). Weber State has clinched the BIG SKY with a week yet to go with a two-game gap on the rest of the field. Vermont put away Stony Brook (@69-53) to clinch the AMERICA EAST title (by two games). Florida Gulf Coast and Mercer wound up sharing the ATLANTIC SUN title (after splitting home wins in the regular season -- winning the tiebreaker for the top-seed for the conference tourney may be FLGC's ticket to the NCAAs). North Carolina Central has rolled through the MEAC (with just one squeak road loss), clinching the title two-games up with two left to play. High Point edged VMI (@70-67 behind 27p10r from cJohn Brown) to claim its second-straight BIG SOUTH title. Southern has had no trouble winning the SWAC, clinching with a FOUR-GAME GAP with one more week to go.

    
UC-Irvine won its showdown with UC-Santa Barbara, @71-60, to take the lead in the BIG WEST race.

- -

Villanova visits Xavier (Thursday) while Creighton hosts Providence (Saturday) with the BIG EAST title up for grabs. The inaugural campaign in the AMERICAN has saved the best for last -- Five teams are within two games of the top and everybody's got it rough the final week: Cincinnati (Thursday vs Memphis) and Connecticut (Saturday at Louisville) have it easiest while Louisville (Wednesday at SMU), Memphis (Saturday vs SMU) and SMU have two big opponents each. St. Louis visits Massachusetts (Sunday) while St. Joseph's visits George Washington (Wednesday) and VCU visits BLACK-&-BLUE city-rival Richmond (Thursday), all with the ATLANTIC 10 title on the line. San Diego State has to visit UNLV (Wednesday) before hosting the showdown for the MOUNTAIN WEST title vs New Mexico (Saturday).

    
Hawaii can play spoiler in the BIG WEST with a road win at UC-Santa Barbara (Thursday).

The first wave of conference tournaments gets under way this week: No reason to expect Wichita State to have any trouble in the Anti-Spoiler MISSOURI VALLEY tourney (Thursday-Sunday). Gonzaga is the huge favorite in the WEST COAST tourney (Thursday-Tuesday week), but can BYU do enough to make this a multi-bid Mid-Major rather than an Anti-Spoiler 1BC? North Dakota State won't have it quite so easy on a neutral floor against the top three in the SUMMIT tourney (Saturday-Tuesday week). Home-court advantage should make the difference for Boston University in the PATRIOT tourney (Monday-Wednesday week). Home-court advantage should make the difference for Green Bay in the HORIZON tourney (Tuesday-Tuesday week). Delaware isn't the favorite since Towson is hosting the COLONIAL tourney (Friday-Monday week). Even with home-court advantage, Belmont will have all it can handle against its new arch-rival Murray State in the OHIO VALLEY tourney (Wednesday-Saturday). Despite its gap title, Robert Morris is no big favorite among the top five teams in the NORTHEAST tourney (Wednesday-Tuesday week). Despite its gap title, Iona is no big favorite among the top four teams in the METRO ATLANTIC tourney (Thursday-Monday week). Florida Gulf Coast gets to host the tiebreaker vs Mercer in the ATLANTIC SUN tourney (Tuesday-Sunday). Davidson should cruise to the SOUTHERN crown (Friday-Monday week). Any one of seven teams (including High Point) could walk away with the BIG SOUTH crown (Wednesday-Sunday).

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

KansasSt-@OklahomaSt,

Monday, Wednesday, Saturday, Wednesday week:

PATRIOT TOURNAMENT on-campus

-(@[1]BostonU, @[2]American, @[3]HolyCross, @[4]Bucknell).

Tuesday:

ArizonaSt-@Oregon, @Providence-Marquette, @Akron-Buffalo,

Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday:

ATLANTIC SUN TOURNAMENT on-campus

-([1a]Florida Gulf Coast, [1b]Mercer),

Tuesday, Friday-Saturday, Tuesday week:

HORIZON TOURNAMENT on-campus, @#1[GreenBay]/GreenBayWI, on-campus

-(@[1]GreenBay, [2]ClevelandSt, [3]WrightSt, @[4]Valparaiso),

Wednesday:

SanDiegoSt-@UNLV, Louisville-@SMU, @Arkansas-Mississippi, @California-Utah, @GeoWashington-StJosephs, @Stanford-Colorado, @Indiana-Nebraska,

Wednesday-Saturday:

OHIO VALLEY TOURNAMENT @NashvilleTN(Belmont/TennesseeSt)

-(@[E1/1]Belmont, [W1/2]MurraySt, [3]EaKentucky, [4]MoreheadSt),

Wednesday, Friday-Sunday:

BIG SOUTH TOURNAMENT @MyrtleBeach SC

-([1N]HighPt, [1S]@CoCarolina, [2N]VMI, [2aS]UNCAsheville, [2bS]GardnerWebb, [2cS]@Winthrop, [3N]Radford),

Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday week:

NORTHEAST TOURNAMENT on-campus

-(@[1]RobertMorris, @[2]Wagner, @[3]Bryant, @[4a]MtStMarys-[4b]StFrancisNY),

Thursday:

Villanova-@Xavier, @Cincinnati-Memphis, @MichiganSt-Iowa, @UCSantaBarbara-Hawaii, @NCCentral-NorfolkSt,

BLACK & BLUE GAME - II on-campus

-(@Richmond-VCU[RichmondVA]),

Thursday-Sunday:

MISSOURI VALLEY TOURNAMENT @StLouisMO

-(Thu 1st/16s: [7]Bradley-[10]LoyolaIL[IL], [8a]Drake-[8b]Evansville;

   Fri 2nd/Qtrs: [1]WichitaSt-[8a]/[8b], [2]IndianaSt-[7]/[10], [3]NoIowa-[4c]SoIllinois, [4a]@MissouriSt-[4b]IllinoisSt),

Thursday, Saturday-Monday week:

METRO ATLANTIC TOURNAMENT @SpringfieldMA

-([1]Iona, [2]Manhattan, [3a]Quinnipiac, [3b]Canisius),

Thursday, Saturday, Monday week-Tuesday week:

WEST COAST TOURNAMENT @LasVegasNV/ORLEANS/

-(Thu 1st/16s: [6b]Portland-[10]LoyolaMarymount, [8a]Pacific-[8b]SantaClara[CA];

   Sat 2nd/Qtrs: [1]Gonzaga-[8a]/[8b], [2a]BYU-[6b]/[10], [2b]SanFrancisco-[6a]SanDiego(CA), [4]StMarys-[5]Pepperdine[CA]),

Friday:

@Yale-Harvard,

Friday-Monday week:

COLONIAL TOURNMANET @BalitmoreMD/Towson

-([1]Delaware, @[2]Towson, [3]William&Mary, [4]Drexel),


SOUTHERN TOURNAMENT @AshevilleNC

-(@[1]Davidson),

Saturday:

@Florida-Kentucky, Arizona-@Oregon, @Michigan-Indiana, @Duke-NCarolina(NC), NewMexico-@SanDiegoSt, @Louisville-Connecticut, @Creighton-Providence, @Memphis-SMU, @IowaSt-OklahomaSt, @Brown-Harvard, @Clemson-Pittsburgh, @Stanford-Utah, @California-Colorado, @Tennessee-Missouri, @LSU-Georgia, @Marquette-StJohns, @Dayton-Richmond, @GeorgiaSt-WeKentucky,

Saturday-Tuesday week:

SUMMIT TOURNAMENT @SiouxFallSD

-([1]NDState, [2a]IPFW, [2b]@SDState),

Sunday:

Wisconsin-@Nebraska, Syracuse-@FloridaSt, MichiganSt-@OhioSt, StLouis-@Massachusetts, @StJosephs-LaSalle(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG_5).

---

Top 25 - 14 Mar 3 - [] Column

1. Florida (27-2) SECu+5
   
2. Wichita State (30-0) MVCu+6
   
3. Arizona (27-2) PAC-12+3
   
4. Kansas (22-7) BIG.12+3
   
5. Wisconsin (24-5)
   
6. Virginia (25-5) ACC+2
   
7. Michigan (20-7) BIG.10+2
   
8. Duke (23-6)
   
9. Syracuse (26-3)
   
10. New Mexico (22-5)
    
11. San Diego State (23-3)
    
12. Villanova (26-3)
    
13. Louisville (24-5)
    
14. Cincinnati (23-5)
    
15. Creighton (23-5)
    
16. Michigan State (22-7)
    
17. St. Louis (24-4)
    
18. Connecticut (23-6)
    
19. Kansas State (20-9)
    
20. Memphis (21-7)
    
21. SMU (23-6)
    
22. Iowa State (22-6)
    
23. UCLA (22-7)
    
24. North Carolina (21-7)
    
25. Arizona State (21-8)
    

Honorable Mention:

Oklahoma State (19-10), Illinois (17-12), Xavier (19-9), VCU (22-7), Duquesne (12-15), Indiana (17-12), Penn State (14-15), Arkansas (20-9), South Carolina (11-18), Oregon (20-8),

Harvard (23-4) IVY+2,

Boston University (21-9) PAT+2,

Delaware (22-9) COLON,

Georgia State (20-7) SUN.B+4,

Utah Valley (14-10) WAC,

Stephen F. Austin (23-2) SLANDu+4,

Belmont (22-8) OVC,

Weber State (14-10) SKY+2,

Vermont (17-9) AMER.E+2,

Florida Gulf Coast (16-11)/Mercer (18-8) coA-SUN+3,

North Carolina Central (21-5) MEAC+2,

High Point (14-13) BIG.S,

Southern (15-11) SWAC+4,

Toledo (23-5), Louisiana Tech (23-6), Tulsa (16-12), Princeton (16-8), UC-Irvine (18-10).