14 Dec15 - Vacation Days

Volume XIX, No. 6 - 14 Dec15 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Vacation Days

Not many high profile matchups as the Holiday Season continued. The annual CY-HAWK SERIES showdown between Iowa and Iowa State has rarely been this strong. Even with suspended bBryce Dejean-Jones sitting out, the ISU Cyclones delivered a road rout of the arch-/state-rival UI Hawkeyes, 90-@75, as pNaz Long's performance (21p5a6r;5/9 3s) led five players in double-figures. IowaSt's perimeter game is potent and deep (but the CBE CLASSIC loss to Maryland exposed a vulnerability in the paint).
    At the JIMMY V CLASSIC in New York, Illinois played Villanova to a standstill (tied at 50-50 with eight minutes to go) before the Wildcats closed 23-9 to win 73-59. VU was tough down the stretch outside (bDylan Ennis) and inside (cDaniel Ochefu). Meanwhile, Louisville had no trouble with Bluegrass rival Indiana, 94-74 (behind 26p from gTerry Rozier).
    In the annual CAPITAL CLASSIC on neutral ground at Charlestown, West Virginia won its State Title showdown with Marshall, @69-@66.

Kansas turned in yet another streaky performance at home; this time, instead of coming back from a huge deficit (against Florida), the Jayhawks forged a huge lead (@42-21 early in the second half) and then gave it all back against Utah (falling behind @53-55 with five minutes to go) before winning an endplay, @65-61. The Utes did well to rally on the road while playing without fJordan Loveridge (as bDelon Wright's 23p4a5r was almost enough; UofU's only other loss was another endplay on the road at San Diego State).
    Freshman gIsaiah Whitehead had 18 points in the first half at Wichita State, but couldn't sustain it (finishing with just 23p) as the Wheatshockers prevailed (@77-68; most importantly, getting 16p12r inside from cDarius Carter).
    Northern Iowa failed to match the best start in school history as host VCU battled to earn its best win of the season (@93-87[2OT]; as 21p11r from xTreveon Graham cancelled 27p5r from bWes Washpun). Butler couldn't keep the magic going, falling at mediocre Tennessee, 55-@67.

Although outrebounded 24-31 by another elite opponent, Kentucky was much better offensively in its @84-70 win over North Carolina. Illinois made it 0-2 on the week after losing @70-77 to Oregon in Chicago (as 29p from gRayvonte Rice wasn't enough). Unheralded Penn State went to 10-1 after knocking off George Washington (@64-51). Gonzaga had no trouble at West Coast Middle Brother UCLA, winning 87-@74 (as newcomers tKyle Wiltjer[24p] and tByron Wesley[20p9r] led the way). Surprising California ran its record to 8-1 with a @45-42 grinding win over solid Wyoming. Florida poured it on, humbling upstart Yale (@85-47; on 64 percent shooting). Arkansas handled Dayton (@69-55). Nebraska ground out an ugly @56-55(2OT) win over Cincinnati, but not before falling at home to still reclassifying {Incarnate Word} (@73-74). 6-1 St. Mary's escaped on the road at Creighton, 71-@67(OT) (led by Stanford-transfer gAaron Bright's 22p).
    In more rivalry games, Providence split its two grudge matches: falling at home to city-rival Brown (@67-77) but beating state-rival Rhode Island (@68-60; despite 27p0a from gE.C. Matthews). GREAT ALASKA champ Colorado State kept the ball rolling with its best win yet, 62-@60, at state-rival Colorado. xDelon Wright was a one-man show (18p11r3a) in Utah's 65-@61 win at state-rival Utah (as tTyler Haws had 23p8r). Louisiana Tech fell at state-rival Louisiana (96-@94; as xShawn Long starred [24p15r]) and was edged by up-and-down Syracuse (69-@71; thanks to 25p from gTrevor Cooney and 14p17r from cTyler Roberson). Tulsa followed up a home loss to Division II {Southeastern Oklahoma State} (@66-69) with a home rout loss to state-rival Oklahoma (@68-87; as 21p5a5r from pShaquille Harrison wasn't nearly enough as fTaShawn Thomas[25p5r] led the Sooners).
    Mississippi fell at home to mediocre Western Kentucky (@74-81; as 25p from gStefan Moody was no match for xT.J. Price's monster performance [26p10r5a]). Michigan had a rough week, falling at home (again), this time to 8-1 Eastern Michigan (@42-45) and then being humbled on the road at mighty Arizona (53-@80). Memphis' sorry season continued with a home rout loss to Oklahoma State (@55-73; as the Cowboys sank 28-of-36 free throws).

Wofford earned its first win in 80 years against N.C. State, 55-@54, with a wild finish -- after fJustin Gordon hit the go-ahead basket on a dunk, NCSt's gTrevor Lacey appeared to have hit his own game-winning three at the buzzer; but the slow-motion replay showed the shot beat one clock but not the other and was disallowed.

--

At the SPORTS CLASSIC double-header in Chicago (Saturday), Kentucky should have no trouble with young UCLA; but it's Ohio State that doesn't have a win the calibre of opponent North Carolina. Duke should roll in its home-away-from home matchup with Connecticut at the CQAP CLASSIC in East Rutherford (Thursday). Harvard's chance at earning an at-large bid in March comes Saturday, at Virginia. Expect Villanova to keep Syracuse down (Saturday). Washington's and Oklahoma's matchup (Saturday, in the LAS VEGAS-SHOWCASE at MGM) is much higher profile now that it's here than it might have looked on paper at the start of the season. Maryland's chances at maintaining its ranking into conference play likely hinge on a road win at Oklahoma State (Saturday). Pulling off a second road upset will be tougher without the element of surprise for both St. Mary's (Friday, at St. John's) and Eastern Michigan (Wednesday, at Michigan State). Iowa tries its luck against the other in-state power, Northern Iowa, (Saturday, in the HV/BIG FOUR CLASSIC). Cincinnati has a chance to make some big noise at home this week when both San Diego State (Wednesday) and VCU (Saturday) come to town. Both BYU and Stanford need the boost when the Cougars host the Cardinal
(Saturday).

-- Ron

P.S. Don't forget: the deadline for this year's Pigskin Pool Party (Ron's free College Football Bowl Season Pool) is
      THIS SATURDAY, 20-DECEMBER (11Aet).

Key games this week:

Monday-Saturday week:

GOTHAM CLASSIC RndRob4 on-campus; Feature DblHdr @ NewYorkNY/MSG/
-(Sat: WVirginia-NCState;
   RndRob: Pepperdine, Richmond, SAlabama, IUPUI, Howard),

Tuesday:

@Oklahoma-OralRoberts(OK), @StMarys-NoArizona, @SamHoustonSt-EaWashington,

Wednesday:

SanDiegoSt-@Cincinnati, @MichiganSt-EaMichigan(MI), @Illinois-Hampton, @Memphis-SCUpstate, @Baylor-NewMexicoSt, @OldDominion-GeorgiaSt,

Wednesday-Tuesday week:

LAS VEGAS-CHRISTMAS CLASSIC 2x4 RndRob2 on-campus; 3rd/Semis @ LasVegasNV/ORLEANS/
-(A: TexasTech, LoyolaIL, SoUtah, ARPineBluff;
   B: BoiseSt, Houston, {AbileneChristian}, SCState),

Wednesday, Saturday, Tuesday week:

CABLE CAR CLASSIC RndRob2 @ SantaClaraCA/Santa Clara/
-(@SantaClara, Northeastern, CalPolySLO),

Thursday:

@LouisianaTech-NichollsSt(LA), @LongIsland-FLInternational(@BrooklynNY/BARCLAYS/),
NJ-DEC/CQAP CLASSIC 1Off @ EastRutherfordNJ
-(@Duke-Connecticut),

Thursday-Saturday:

GF/WV CLASSIC RndRob2 @ LoganUT/Utah St/
-(@UtahSt, SDState, CalStBakersfield, IdahoSt),

Friday:

Arizona-@UTEP, @StJohns-StMarys, ColoradoSt-@Denver(CO), @California-EaWashington, @Buffalo-Niagara(NY)(BIG4),

Saturday:

@Villanova-Syracuse, @BYU-Stanford, @Cincinnati-VCU, @Michigan-SMU, @MurraySt-IllinoisSt, @NewMexicoSt-NewMexico(NM), @WeberSt-UTValley(UT),
(new)SPORTS CLASSIC DblHdr @ ChicagoIL
-(@Kentucky-UCLA, OhioSt-NCarolina),
BATTLE IN SEATTLE 1Off @ SeattleWA
-(@Gonzaga-CalPolySLO),
LAS VEGAS-SHOWCASE DblHdr @ LasVegasNV/MGM/
-(Utah-@UNLV, Washington-Oklahoma),
HV/IOWA-BIG FOUR CLASSIC DblHdr @ DesMoinesIA/Drake/
-(IowaSt-@Drake[IA][BIG4], @Iowa-@NoIowa[IA][BIG4]),
CROSSROADS CLASSIC DblHdr @ IndianapolisIN
-(@NotreDame-@Purdue[IN], @Butler-@Indiana[IN]),
BRAGGIN' RIGHTS 1Off @ St.LouisMO
-(@Illinois-@Missouri),
ORANGE BOWL CLASSIC DblHdr @ SunriseFL
-(@Florida-WakeForest, @FloridaSt-@SFlorida[FL]),
WILDCAT CLASSIC 1Off @ KansasCityMO
-(@KansasSt-TexasA&M),

(PIGSKIN POOL PARTY ENTRY DEADLINE [11Aet]),

Sunday:

@Virginia-Harvard, Maryland-@OklahomaSt, @Hampton-NoArizona,

Sunday-Monday week:

LAS VEGAS-HOLIDAY CLASSIC Semis @ LasVegasNV/S POINT/
-(Bradley-UCIrvine, GreenBay-ARLittleRock),
DON HASKINS/SUN BOWL INVITATIONAL Semis @ ElPasoTX/UTEP/
-(KentSt-NDState, @UTEP-AlcornSt),

- - - - - -

Monday week:

@California-Wisconsin, @WVirginia-Wofford, @Tulsa-{IncarnateWord}, @StMarys-Northeastern,
BROOKLYN-HOLIDAY CLASSIC DblHdr @ BrooklynNY/BARCLAYS/
-(MiamiFL-Providence, @Fordham-@Manhattan[NewYorkNY]),
(new)JACK JONES CLASSIC 1Off @ SouthavenMS
-(@Mississippi-SEMissouriSt),

Monday week-Thursday week:

DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC Qtrs @ HonoluluHI/Hawaii/
-(WichitaSt-LoyolaMarymount, @Hawaii-Nebraska, GeoWashington-OhioU, Colorado-DePaul).

---

Top 25 - 14 Dec15 - [] Column

1. Kentucky (10-0) (@@CHAMPS) [rr4vLEDFORD] (vBIG12)
   
2. Duke (8-0) (@@CHAMPS) [2v2:CVC] (@BIG10)
   
3. Arizona (10-0) [v3:MAUI]
   
4. Virginia (9-0) [2v2:BROOK-THANX] (@BIG10)
   
5. Louisville (9-0) (:ARMED) [rr4vGS-A] (vBIG10) (:JIMMY.V)
   
6. Villanova (10-0) [2v2:LEGENDS] (:JIMMY.V)
   
7. Texas (8-1) [2v2:2KS]
   
8. Wisconsin (9-1) [v3:ATLANTIS]
   
9. Gonzaga (8-1) [2v2:NIT.T-O]
   
10. Kansas (8-1) [3:ORLANDO] (vSEC)
    
11. Utah (7-2)
    
12. Wichita State (6-1) (:SANFORD)
    
13. TCU (10-0) [2v2:CORPUS.X] (@SEC)
    
14. Washington (8-0) [3:WL/ANAHEIM]
    
15. West Virginia (8-1) [3:P.RICO] (@@CAPITAL)
    
16. Miami(Florida) (9-1) [3:CHARLESTON] (vBIG10)
    
17. Oklahoma (6-2) (vSEC)
    
18. Maryland (10-1) [2v2:CBE]
    
19. Iowa State (8-1) (vSEC) (@CY-HAWK)
    
20. Seton Hall (8-1) [3:PARADISE] (vGARDEN)
    
21. San Diego State (7-2)
    
22. Ohio State (7-1) [rr4vBUCKEYE]
    
23. Notre Dame (10-1) (vBIG10)
    
24. St. John's (7-1)
    
25. Colorado State (9-0) [v3:GREAT.AK]
    

Honorable Mention:

Tennessee (4-3) (vBIG12), VCU (6-3) (:VETERANS), {Southeastern Oklahoma State}.