14 Dec 8 - BIG CHALLENGERS

Volume XIX, No. 5 - 14 Dec 8 - [] Top 25 Ballot

BIG CHALLENGERS

In overall ratings, the BIG 12 is miles ahead of the SEC while the ACC is just ahead of the BIG 10. In their head-to-head CHALLENGES, however, the BIG 12 only won 6-4 over the SEC and, while the BIG 10 did win 8-6 overall, it was actually 4-0 for the ACC in the Top-25 matchups at the very top. (Meanwhile, the BIG EAST [42-13 against all comers in major clashes] continued to top the overall ratings while the PAC-12 trailed the others as this year's sixth [and final] B-Major conference.)

    
Most impressively, Duke went into Madison and handled Wisconsin (80-@70; as the Blue Devils shot 65 percent from the floor against the Badgers' vaunted defense); DU was more talented individually (both athletically and in scoring ability) and UW did well just to keep in contact -- freshman gTyus Jones' 22p6r4a was matched by gTraevon Jackson's 25p. Kentucky wasn't completely dominant in its @63-51 win over Texas (which played without pIsaiah Taylor) -- the Wildcats only shot 1-for-12 on three-pointers and were outrebounded 31-42 by the Longhorns (one of the few teams around who can match their size inside); fortunately, UK's constant is its stifling defense (here, holding UTx to 30 percent shooting) but it was the all-around play of cWillie Cauley Stein(21p12r5s) who saved the day; coach John Calipari's "Platoon System" isn't allowing for much chemistry on the offensive end -- they can get by on great defense against most everyone, though (but they'll need both O and D when they meet arch-rival Louisville just after Christmas if they want to keep their U-Word dreams alive). Neither Louisville nor Ohio State could get much going offensively, but the Cardinals did hit 10 threes on the way to a @64-55 home win (as bWayne Blackshear's 22p6r trumped freshman pD'Angelo Russell's 17p7a6r). Miami(Florida)'s controlled performance (only 5 turnovers) beat Illinois (@70-61; despite 22p12r from xRayvonte Rice). Virginia handled host Maryland (76-@65; as the Terrapins played without injured bDez Wells). Unheralded TCU kept on rolling, shutting down host Mississippi (66-@54).

    
West Virginia was tripped up at home (@73-74) by LSU (thanks to pJosh Gray's game-winner). Always formidable at home, Iowa State routed Arkansas (@95-77; on 64 percent shooting, behind 27p6r from UNLV-transfer bBryce Dejean-Jones). Neither Iowa nor North Carolina was sharp offensively, but the Hawkeyes emerged with a 60-@55 road win.

    
Oklahoma State couldn't handle its first true road game, getting blown out (49-@75; despite 20p12r from xLe'Bryan Nash) at mediocre South Carolina. Michigan had its best win of the season, edging visiting Syracuse (@68-65). Florida looked on its way to stunning road rout (leading host Kansas 45-@27 early in the second half), but the Jayhawks methodically turned the game around and rallied for a @71-65 victory (as gWayne Selden Jr. had 21p1a). Host Tennessee edged struggling Kansas State (@65-64). pJerian Grant's 27p6a were just enough to carry Notre Dame past Michigan State (@79-78[OT]).

Wichita State's 35-game regular season win streak came to an end, but the Wheatshockers didn't go quietly as it took a rousing performance by both teams before a strong Utah team prevailed (@69-68[OT]); this year's WichSt doesn't have the same gritty frontcourt to match its holdover backcourt and the Utes (who can put twin 7-footers on the court when they need to) exploited them inside. Arizona and Gonzaga played out another chapter in their on-going war for West Coast supremacy; the Bulldogs were in control for much of the game (on the road, mind you) before late mistakes by pKevin Pangos (or late great defending from pT.J. McConnell, if you like) saved the day for the Wildcats, who won @66-63(OT); the 'Zags displayed lots of versatility on offense (best embodied by 6-10 tKyle Wiltjer[15p7r]) but they just couldn't get over the hump of the Little Brother/Big Brother dynamic in play when they face AZ. Washington continued to impress, shutting down San Diego State (@49-36; as the Aztecs only shot 20 percent from the floor and had no players in double-figures).

    
After Georgia State routed Green Bay (@72-48; behind 26p5r from tR.J. Hunter) earlier in the week, Miami(Florida) probably overlooked the Phoenix, who came to town and stunned the Hurricanes (68-@55). Arkansas' tough week continued when it tripped at Clemson (65-@68[OT]).

    
SMU began to turn things in the right direction with a solid win over a quality Wyoming team (@66-53; thanks to 25p4a from gNic Moore). St. John's joined the BIG EAST preseason party with a 69-@57 road win at tumbling Syracuse; but Providence fell at Boston College (60-@69). Georgia knocked off Colorado (@64-57). Creighton split road games: falling at Tulsa (64-@77) but winning the State Title game at Nebraska (65-@55) as pAustin Chatman posted 19p6a7r in both games. Virginia shot 68 percent on the road while shutting down VCU (74-@57). Memphis continued to struggle (along with most of its AMERICAN leaguemates), falling @52-64 at home to Stephen F. Austin.

    
New Jersey Tech earned its first road win against a nationally ranked (elsewhere, that is) B-Major (72-@70) at Michigan. It was deja vu for Connecticut as the Huskies lost for the second straight game on a game-winner three-pointer from the baseline; this time it was @44-45 to state-rival Yale as gJack Montague's 3 gave the Bulldogs their first win in the series in nearly 30 years (i.e., since 1986); while that result isn't enough by itself to put the Eli in at-large bid territory come March, it does officially give them a better preseason than IVY-favorite Harvard.

It's a huge week for Utah with a road game at state-rival BYU (Wednesday) and then a date in Kansas City against Kansas (Saturday). Seton Hall's great start gets put to the test with a road game at Wichita State (Tuesday). The state-rival showdown between host Colorado and Colorado State (Wednesday) has more national import than usual this year, but the annual CY-HAWK series matchup when Iowa State visits Iowa (Friday) should be the best of all. North Carolina is heading in the wrong direction to be facing a road game at Kentucky (Saturday). At the JIMMY V CLASSIC (Tuesday), Illinois doesn't have enough O or D to worry Villanova; meanwhile, Louisville is way too strong this year for Bluegrass rival Indiana to handle. Little Brother Gonzaga should have no trouble this time with its road game at West Coast Middle Brother UCLA (Saturday). VCU (vs Northern Iowa), Tulsa (vs Oklahoma) and Memphis (vs Oklahoma State) all look to salvage disappointing preseasons with big home wins (all Saturday). Louisiana Tech (at Syracuse, Sunday) hopes to join the national conversation while host Arkansas and visiting Dayton (Saturday) want to get back in it. Neither host Nebraska nor visiting Cincinnati (Saturday) has had much to crow about so far this season. Hard to believe, but it's Florida that needs to beat Yale at home (Monday) moreso than the other way around.

-- Ron

P.S. Don't forget: the deadline for this year's Pigskin Pool Party (Ron's free College Football Bowl Season Pool) is

      SATURDAY, 20-DECEMBER (11Aet).

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Florida-Yale, @Harvard-BostonU(BostonMA), @Providence-@Brown(ProvidenceRI), @Hampton-MorganSt,

Tuesday:

@WichitaSt-SetonHall, @Navy-VMI(MIL), @NJIT-StFrancisNY,

JIMMY V CLASSIC DblHdr @ NewYorkNY/MSG/

-(Louisville-Indiana(BG), Villanova-Illinois),

Wednesday:

Wisconsin-@Milwaukee(WI), Utah-@BYU(UT), @OhioSt-HighPt, NoIowa-@Denver, @Colorado-ColoradoSt(CO), @Louisiana-LouisianaTech(LA), @Providence-RhodeIsland(RI),

Thursday, Mon-Thu 22-25 Dec:

DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC WarmUp1 on-campus; Qtrs @ HonoluluHI/Hawaii/

-(Qtrs: WichitaSt-LoyolaMarymount, @Hawaii-Nebraska, GeoWashington-OhioU, Colorado-DePaul),

Friday:

CY-HAWK SERIES on-campus

-(@Iowa-IowaSt[IA][BIG4]),

Saturday:

@Kentucky-NCarolina, @Arizona-Michigan, Gonzaga-@UCLA, @Kansas-Utah(@KansasCityMO), Oklahoma-@Tulsa(OK), NoIowa-@VCU, @Memphis-OklahomaSt, @Arkansas-Dayton, @Stanford-Denver, @Colorado-NoColorado(CO), @WeberSt-BYU(UT), @Nebraska-Cincinnati, @LSU-SamHoustonSt, @Drexel-LaSalle(PhiladelphiaPA), @SDakota-UNLV, @UTValley-UtahSt(UT), @Siena-Albany(AlbanyNY),

Saturday-Sat 27 Dec:

GOTHAM CLASSIC RndRob4 on-campus; Feature DblHdr @ NewYorkNY/MSG/

-(Feature: WVirginia-NCState;

   RndRob: Richmond, Pepperdine, SAlabama, IUPUI, Howard),

Sunday:

@Villanova-Temple(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5), @Syracuse-LouisianaTech,

BILLY MINARDI CLASSIC-(@Louisville-UNCWilmington),

CAPITAL CLASSIC 1Off @ CharlestonWV

-(@WVirginia-@Marshall[WV]),

NEW YORK-HOLIDAY FESTIVAL DblHdr @ NewYorkNY/MSG/

-(@Manhattan-Rutgers, @StJohns-@Fordham[NewYorkNY]),

Sunday-Tue 23 Dec:

LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS CLASSIC 2x4 RndRob2 on-campus; 3rd/Semis @ LasVegasNV/ORLEANS/

-(A: TexasTech, LoyolaIL, SoUtah, ARPineBluff;

   B: BoiseSt, Houston, {AbileneChristian}, SCState),

- - - - - -

Monday week:

None.

---

Top 25 - 14 Dec 8 - [] Column

1. Kentucky (8-0) (@@CHAMPS) [rr4vLEDFORD] (vBIG12)
   
2. Duke (8-0) (@@CHAMPS) [2v2:CVC] (@BIG10)
   
3. Arizona (8-0) [v3:MAUI]
   
4. Virginia (9-0) [2v2:BROOK-THANX] (@BIG10)
   
5. Louisville (7-0) (:ARMED) [rr4vGS-A] (vBIG10)
   
6. Villanova (8-0) [2v2:LEGENDS]
   
7. Texas (7-1) [2v2:2KS]
   
8. Wisconsin (7-1) [v3:ATLANTIS]
   
9. Gonzaga (6-1) [2v2:NIT.T-O]
   
10. Kansas (5-1) [3:ORLANDO] (vSEC)
    
11. Utah (6-1)
    
12. Wichita State (4-1) (:SANFORD)
    
13. Butler (7-1)
    
14. TCU (8-0) [2v2:CORPUS.X] (@SEC)
    
15. Washington (7-0) [3:WL/ANAHEIM]
    
16. Seton Hall (7-0) [3:PARADISE] (vGARDEN)
    
17. West Virginia (7-1) [3:P.RICO]
    
18. Miami(Florida) (8-1) [3:CHARLESTON] (vBIG10)
    
19. San Diego State (6-2)
    
20. Oklahoma (5-2) (vSEC)
    
21. Maryland (8-1) [2v2:CBE]
    
22. Iowa (7-2) (@ACC)
    
23. Iowa State (5-1) (vSEC)
    
24. Ohio State (5-1) [rr4vBUCKEYE]
    
25. Northern Iowa (8-0) [2v2:CANCUN]
    

Honorable Mention:

Green Bay (4-2) [3:GULF.COAST], LSU (6-2), Clemson (5-3), New Jersey Tech (3-5), Yale (7-2) [rr3@MABC].