17 Feb20 - Re-Re-Re-(Re-)Spect
Volume XXI, No. 16 - 17 Feb20 - [] Top 25 Ballot
Re-Re-Re-(Re-)Spect
Repeat regular season titles at the B-Major level are nothing to sneeze at; but repeats (and even "three-peats") don't make a "dynasty". One superstar player (or a special cohort) can rule a league during its tenure in college -- that specialness belongs to the player(s) in question. A true dynastic hold on a conference spans longer than any one star or group of stars. In the Golden Child Era, it can take as little as three years to constitute a dynasty as long as there are three distinct sets of lead players. (Kentucky is about to complete such a run as the '17 Wildcats [led by GCs gMalik Monk and pDe'Aaron Fox] look to join '16 UK [pTyler Ulis, bJamal Murray] and the '15 'Cats [cKarl-Anthony Towns, gAndrew and gAaron Harrison] as SEC title champs.)
More traditionally, four years qualifies as a dynastic run. Thanks to a 92-@70 road-rout at Seton Hall, Villanova claimed its FOURTH-STRAIGHT BIG EAST TITLE stretching from '14 (led by bJames Bell and fJayVaughn Pinkston), '15 (fPinkston, tDarrun Hilliard, pRyan Arcidiacono) and '16 (pArcidiacono, cDaniel Ochefu, fJosh Hart and bKris Jenkins) through to this year's squad (led by fHart, bJenkins and pJalen Brunson) -- Wildcat coach Jay Wright has built a powerhouse that is now a perennial Final Four contender.
Gonzaga's in-conference dominance has been well documented. The Bulldogs clinched their FIFTH-STRAIGHT WEST COAST TITLE (AND SIXTEENTH IN SEVENTEEN YEARS) -- the consecutive run goes back to '13 (led by fElias Harris, cKelly Olynyk, pKevin Pangos), '14 (pPangos, fSam Dower, gGary Bell Jr.), '15 (pPangos, gBell, tKyle Wiltjer) and '16 (tWiltjer, cDomantas Sabonis, gJosh Perkins) through to this year's team (led by cPrzemek Karnowski, tNigel Williams-Goss, cZach Collins). Like Wright, coach Mark Few will end up in the Hall of Fame; but this year his 'Zags may finally end up in the Final Four at last (not to mention the U-Word that is still very much on the table).
- -
Kansas all but wrapped up the BIG 12 regular season race with a couple of squeak wins in showdowns against its two top rivals. First, the Jayhawks escaped in overtime against West Virginia (@84-80[OT] sinking 33 free throws led by pFrank Mason[24p5a;16/18ft] and fJosh Jackson[14p11r5s6to]); then, KU edged Baylor on the road (67-@65). Texas Tech split against the same two teams: beating Bayl (@84-78 sinking 30 free throws of its own) but tripping in double-overtime at WVU (74-@83[2OT] despite 28p4a from gKeenan Evans). Iowa State swept two: beating Kansas State on the road (87-@79) and handling TCU (@84-71 led by bNaz Mitrou-Long[25p7r] and pMonte Morris[18p11a]). TCU tripped at home versus Oklahoma State (@68-71). By week's end, Kansas had opened up a three-game gap (over WVU, Bayl and IowaSt) with just two weeks left.
Elsewhere in the BIG EAST, Seton Hall beat Creighton (@87-81 as pKhadeen Carrington[41p7a5r;18/22ft] starred and 23p6a6r from pMarcus Foster wasn't nearly enough). Xavier dropped two: losing at Providence (63-@75) and tanking at Marquette (61-@83 on freshman 5-11 gMarkus Howard[34p]'s star turn).
In the ACC, Virginia dropped two to fall out of contention: first, the Cavaliers lost at home to Duke (@55-65 on tJayson Tatum[28p8r]'s star turn) and then tanked on the road at North Carolina (41-@65 controlled on the boards 23-40 and shooting 28 percent shooting [including 2-for-20 on three-pointers]). Florida State fell at Pittsburgh (66-@80 led by fSheldon Jeter[29p8r]). Louisville edged in overtime on the road at Syracuse. UNC led
both Louisville and Duke by a game.
In the SEC, South Carolina dropped two: falling at home against Arkansas (@76-83 despite 27p from Sindarius Thornwell) and then falling at Vanderbilt to boot. Florida and Kentucky remained tied, both two games ahead of SCar.
In the BIG 10, Maryland won on the road at Northwestern (74-@64 on Melo Trimble[32p]'s star turn) but fell at Wisconsin (60-@71 as the Badgers controlled the boards 44-25 led by tEthan Happ[20p7r5s] despite 27p5r from bTrimble); Wisc fell at Michigan (58-@64). Purdue and Wisc both led MD.
In the PACIFIC-12, UCLA pounded USC (@102-70 controlling the boards 46-28 led by pBryce Alford[26p6a], cThomas Welsh[16p16r] and GC tLonzo Ball[15p8a5r]). California tripped at arch-rival Stanford (68-@73). Oregon thumped Utah. Arizona led Oregon with UCLA in third.
In the AMERICAN, SMU handled Houston on the road (76-@66). Connecticut edged Memphis (@65-62). SMU and Cincinnati shared the lead, four games up on the rest of the field.
Elsewhere in the WEST COAST, St. Mary's handled BYU on the road (70-@57).
In the ATLANTIC 10, Rhode Island fell at home to lowly Fordham. VCU won on the road at Richmond (84-@73 behind pJeQuan Lewis[16p5a7r]) to complete the sweep of the BLACK & BLUE series. Dayton edged St. Bonaventure (@76-72 despite 35p6a from pJaylen Adams). VCU and Dayton led the rest of the field by three games.
In the MOUNTAIN WEST, New Mexico edged Boise State (@78-73 as bElijah Brown[27p6r] dueled 31p from Chandler Hutchison). Nevada, Boise and Colorado State all were tied at the top of the standings.
In the SUN BELT, Texas State edged Arkansas State (@62-58). Georgia Southern tripped at Appalachian State (78-@83 as fGriffin Kinney[25p9r] countered 32p5a9r from tTookie Brown). Georgia State tripped twice: first at Coastal Carolina, then at home as Texas-Arlington edged on the road (68-@67 on xKevin Hervey[17p10r5a]'s versatility and Erick Neal's game-winning three-pointer). TxArl was a game ahead of both ArkSt and GaSo.
- -
Monmouth clinched its second-straight METRO ATLANTIC title (with a FOUR-GAME GAP) on the field.
Still unbeaten Vermont clinched the AMERICA EAST title (with a two-game gap).
Belmont routed Morehead State to clinch the OHIO VALLEY title for the second-straight year (and the FOURTH TIME SINCE JOINING FIVE YEARS AGO) with a FOUR-GAME GAP this time.
Bucknell tripped at Loyola(Maryland) but road-routed Boston University (86-@66) to win the PATRIOT title for the third-straight season (and SIXTH TITLE IN SEVEN YEARS) with a gap to boot.
Florida Gulf Coast clinched the ATLANTIC SUN title thanks to edging in overtime on the road at South Carolina Upstate (97-@89[OT] as Brandon Goodwin[29p] countered 29p13r from 7-0 cMichael Buchanan) while Lipscomb fell at home to North Florida.
Despite tripping at Wagner (65-@69), Mount St. Mary's clinched the NORTHEAST title (with a two-game gap).
In the HORIZON, Oakland beat Valparaiso (@82-71) to complete the season sweep and pull to within a game of the first-place Crusaders.
East Tennessee State handled Chattanooga on the road (65-@51) while UNC-Greensboro road-dumped Furman (73-@52). With a week to go, Furman and ETSU both lead UNCG by a game with Chatt back in fourth.
In the MID-AMERICAN, Akron tripped at home to arch-rival Kent State (@67-70 led by bDeon Edwin[21p2a7r]) but still leads the league race by three games.
In the SOUTHLAND, Sam Houston State fell twice on the road: first at Houston Baptist and then tanking at still reclassifying {Incarnate Word} (53-@69). With two weeks to go, it's New Orleans in first place ahead of Stephen F. Austin.
The BIG SOUTH race is going down the wire. Winthrop thumped Liberty (@84-67); but that left both teams tied for second place a game behind first-place UNC-Asheville with a week to go.
Still unbeaten Princeton kept its gap lead over second-place Harvard in the IVY LEAGUE race with a road-rout of third-place Yale (71-@52).
In the BIG WEST, UC-Davis tripped at Long Beach State and fell at Cal State-Fullerton to boot, leaving UC-Irvine alone in first place with two weeks to go.
In the BIG SKY, North Dakota won on the road at Weber State (77-@68) to tie up the league race with just one week to go between those two, both a game ahead of Eastern Washington in third.
In the SWAC, Texas Southern fell at Jackson State (62-@71) but still held onto first place, a game ahead of Alcorn State.
- -
Gonzaga's last hurdle for an undefeated regular season comes Saturday at home against BYU. Villanova hosts Butler (Wednesday) and Creighton (Saturday). TCU has a rough week visiting Kansas (Wednesday) and hosting West Virginia (Saturday). Arizona hosts USC (Thursday) and UCLA (Saturday). North Carolina hosts Louisville (Wednesday) with first place in the ACC on the line. Iowa State has it rough, visiting Texas Tech (Monday) and hosting Baylor (Saturday). Florida's showdown week is here, hosting South Carolina (Tuesday) and visiting Kentucky (Saturday). Cincinnati hosts Memphis (Thursday). Wisconsin visits Michigan State (Sunday).
VCU visits Rhode Island (Saturday). Maryland hosts Minnesota (Wednesday). Georgia Southern has it rough, hosting Texas-Arlington (Monday) and visiting Arkansas State (Saturday). Nevada hosts Boise State (Wednesday) in a first-place showdown in the MWC. It doesn't get any easier for slumping Xavier, visiting Seton Hall (Wednesday) and hosting Butler (Sunday). East Tennessee State hosts Furman (Wednesday) in a first-place showdown in the SOCON.
In the HORIZON Wars, Valparaiso visits Wright State and Oakland visits Green Bay (both Friday) all with first place on the line. UNC-Asheville hosts Liberty (Saturday) with first place on the line in the BIG S. New Orleans hosts Stephen F. Austin (Thrusday) with first place on the line in the SLAND. Weber State visits Eastern Washington (Thursday) with first place on the line in the SKY.
-- Ron
Top 25 - 17 Feb20 - [] Column
Re-Re-Re-(Re-)Spect
Repeat regular season titles at the B-Major level are nothing to sneeze at; but repeats (and even "three-peats") don't make a "dynasty". One superstar player (or a special cohort) can rule a league during its tenure in college -- that specialness belongs to the player(s) in question. A true dynastic hold on a conference spans longer than any one star or group of stars. In the Golden Child Era, it can take as little as three years to constitute a dynasty as long as there are three distinct sets of lead players. (Kentucky is about to complete such a run as the '17 Wildcats [led by GCs gMalik Monk and pDe'Aaron Fox] look to join '16 UK [pTyler Ulis, bJamal Murray] and the '15 'Cats [cKarl-Anthony Towns, gAndrew and gAaron Harrison] as SEC title champs.)
More traditionally, four years qualifies as a dynastic run. Thanks to a 92-@70 road-rout at Seton Hall, Villanova claimed its FOURTH-STRAIGHT BIG EAST TITLE stretching from '14 (led by bJames Bell and fJayVaughn Pinkston), '15 (fPinkston, tDarrun Hilliard, pRyan Arcidiacono) and '16 (pArcidiacono, cDaniel Ochefu, fJosh Hart and bKris Jenkins) through to this year's squad (led by fHart, bJenkins and pJalen Brunson) -- Wildcat coach Jay Wright has built a powerhouse that is now a perennial Final Four contender.
Gonzaga's in-conference dominance has been well documented. The Bulldogs clinched their FIFTH-STRAIGHT WEST COAST TITLE (AND SIXTEENTH IN SEVENTEEN YEARS) -- the consecutive run goes back to '13 (led by fElias Harris, cKelly Olynyk, pKevin Pangos), '14 (pPangos, fSam Dower, gGary Bell Jr.), '15 (pPangos, gBell, tKyle Wiltjer) and '16 (tWiltjer, cDomantas Sabonis, gJosh Perkins) through to this year's team (led by cPrzemek Karnowski, tNigel Williams-Goss, cZach Collins). Like Wright, coach Mark Few will end up in the Hall of Fame; but this year his 'Zags may finally end up in the Final Four at last (not to mention the U-Word that is still very much on the table).
- -
Kansas all but wrapped up the BIG 12 regular season race with a couple of squeak wins in showdowns against its two top rivals. First, the Jayhawks escaped in overtime against West Virginia (@84-80[OT] sinking 33 free throws led by pFrank Mason[24p5a;16/18ft] and fJosh Jackson[14p11r5s6to]); then, KU edged Baylor on the road (67-@65). Texas Tech split against the same two teams: beating Bayl (@84-78 sinking 30 free throws of its own) but tripping in double-overtime at WVU (74-@83[2OT] despite 28p4a from gKeenan Evans). Iowa State swept two: beating Kansas State on the road (87-@79) and handling TCU (@84-71 led by bNaz Mitrou-Long[25p7r] and pMonte Morris[18p11a]). TCU tripped at home versus Oklahoma State (@68-71). By week's end, Kansas had opened up a three-game gap (over WVU, Bayl and IowaSt) with just two weeks left.
Elsewhere in the BIG EAST, Seton Hall beat Creighton (@87-81 as pKhadeen Carrington[41p7a5r;18/22ft] starred and 23p6a6r from pMarcus Foster wasn't nearly enough). Xavier dropped two: losing at Providence (63-@75) and tanking at Marquette (61-@83 on freshman 5-11 gMarkus Howard[34p]'s star turn).
In the ACC, Virginia dropped two to fall out of contention: first, the Cavaliers lost at home to Duke (@55-65 on tJayson Tatum[28p8r]'s star turn) and then tanked on the road at North Carolina (41-@65 controlled on the boards 23-40 and shooting 28 percent shooting [including 2-for-20 on three-pointers]). Florida State fell at Pittsburgh (66-@80 led by fSheldon Jeter[29p8r]). Louisville edged in overtime on the road at Syracuse. UNC led
both Louisville and Duke by a game.
In the SEC, South Carolina dropped two: falling at home against Arkansas (@76-83 despite 27p from Sindarius Thornwell) and then falling at Vanderbilt to boot. Florida and Kentucky remained tied, both two games ahead of SCar.
In the BIG 10, Maryland won on the road at Northwestern (74-@64 on Melo Trimble[32p]'s star turn) but fell at Wisconsin (60-@71 as the Badgers controlled the boards 44-25 led by tEthan Happ[20p7r5s] despite 27p5r from bTrimble); Wisc fell at Michigan (58-@64). Purdue and Wisc both led MD.
In the PACIFIC-12, UCLA pounded USC (@102-70 controlling the boards 46-28 led by pBryce Alford[26p6a], cThomas Welsh[16p16r] and GC tLonzo Ball[15p8a5r]). California tripped at arch-rival Stanford (68-@73). Oregon thumped Utah. Arizona led Oregon with UCLA in third.
In the AMERICAN, SMU handled Houston on the road (76-@66). Connecticut edged Memphis (@65-62). SMU and Cincinnati shared the lead, four games up on the rest of the field.
Elsewhere in the WEST COAST, St. Mary's handled BYU on the road (70-@57).
In the ATLANTIC 10, Rhode Island fell at home to lowly Fordham. VCU won on the road at Richmond (84-@73 behind pJeQuan Lewis[16p5a7r]) to complete the sweep of the BLACK & BLUE series. Dayton edged St. Bonaventure (@76-72 despite 35p6a from pJaylen Adams). VCU and Dayton led the rest of the field by three games.
In the MOUNTAIN WEST, New Mexico edged Boise State (@78-73 as bElijah Brown[27p6r] dueled 31p from Chandler Hutchison). Nevada, Boise and Colorado State all were tied at the top of the standings.
In the SUN BELT, Texas State edged Arkansas State (@62-58). Georgia Southern tripped at Appalachian State (78-@83 as fGriffin Kinney[25p9r] countered 32p5a9r from tTookie Brown). Georgia State tripped twice: first at Coastal Carolina, then at home as Texas-Arlington edged on the road (68-@67 on xKevin Hervey[17p10r5a]'s versatility and Erick Neal's game-winning three-pointer). TxArl was a game ahead of both ArkSt and GaSo.
- -
Monmouth clinched its second-straight METRO ATLANTIC title (with a FOUR-GAME GAP) on the field.
Still unbeaten Vermont clinched the AMERICA EAST title (with a two-game gap).
Belmont routed Morehead State to clinch the OHIO VALLEY title for the second-straight year (and the FOURTH TIME SINCE JOINING FIVE YEARS AGO) with a FOUR-GAME GAP this time.
Bucknell tripped at Loyola(Maryland) but road-routed Boston University (86-@66) to win the PATRIOT title for the third-straight season (and SIXTH TITLE IN SEVEN YEARS) with a gap to boot.
Florida Gulf Coast clinched the ATLANTIC SUN title thanks to edging in overtime on the road at South Carolina Upstate (97-@89[OT] as Brandon Goodwin[29p] countered 29p13r from 7-0 cMichael Buchanan) while Lipscomb fell at home to North Florida.
Despite tripping at Wagner (65-@69), Mount St. Mary's clinched the NORTHEAST title (with a two-game gap).
In the HORIZON, Oakland beat Valparaiso (@82-71) to complete the season sweep and pull to within a game of the first-place Crusaders.
East Tennessee State handled Chattanooga on the road (65-@51) while UNC-Greensboro road-dumped Furman (73-@52). With a week to go, Furman and ETSU both lead UNCG by a game with Chatt back in fourth.
In the MID-AMERICAN, Akron tripped at home to arch-rival Kent State (@67-70 led by bDeon Edwin[21p2a7r]) but still leads the league race by three games.
In the SOUTHLAND, Sam Houston State fell twice on the road: first at Houston Baptist and then tanking at still reclassifying {Incarnate Word} (53-@69). With two weeks to go, it's New Orleans in first place ahead of Stephen F. Austin.
The BIG SOUTH race is going down the wire. Winthrop thumped Liberty (@84-67); but that left both teams tied for second place a game behind first-place UNC-Asheville with a week to go.
Still unbeaten Princeton kept its gap lead over second-place Harvard in the IVY LEAGUE race with a road-rout of third-place Yale (71-@52).
In the BIG WEST, UC-Davis tripped at Long Beach State and fell at Cal State-Fullerton to boot, leaving UC-Irvine alone in first place with two weeks to go.
In the BIG SKY, North Dakota won on the road at Weber State (77-@68) to tie up the league race with just one week to go between those two, both a game ahead of Eastern Washington in third.
In the SWAC, Texas Southern fell at Jackson State (62-@71) but still held onto first place, a game ahead of Alcorn State.
- -
Gonzaga's last hurdle for an undefeated regular season comes Saturday at home against BYU. Villanova hosts Butler (Wednesday) and Creighton (Saturday). TCU has a rough week visiting Kansas (Wednesday) and hosting West Virginia (Saturday). Arizona hosts USC (Thursday) and UCLA (Saturday). North Carolina hosts Louisville (Wednesday) with first place in the ACC on the line. Iowa State has it rough, visiting Texas Tech (Monday) and hosting Baylor (Saturday). Florida's showdown week is here, hosting South Carolina (Tuesday) and visiting Kentucky (Saturday). Cincinnati hosts Memphis (Thursday). Wisconsin visits Michigan State (Sunday).
VCU visits Rhode Island (Saturday). Maryland hosts Minnesota (Wednesday). Georgia Southern has it rough, hosting Texas-Arlington (Monday) and visiting Arkansas State (Saturday). Nevada hosts Boise State (Wednesday) in a first-place showdown in the MWC. It doesn't get any easier for slumping Xavier, visiting Seton Hall (Wednesday) and hosting Butler (Sunday). East Tennessee State hosts Furman (Wednesday) in a first-place showdown in the SOCON.
In the HORIZON Wars, Valparaiso visits Wright State and Oakland visits Green Bay (both Friday) all with first place on the line. UNC-Asheville hosts Liberty (Saturday) with first place on the line in the BIG S. New Orleans hosts Stephen F. Austin (Thrusday) with first place on the line in the SLAND. Weber State visits Eastern Washington (Thursday) with first place on the line in the SKY.
-- Ron
- Key games this week:
- Monday:
- IowaSt-@TexasTech, @
GeorgiaSo-TXArlington,
- Tuesday:
- @Florida-SCarolina, @NewMexico-
ColoradoSt,
- Wednesday:
- @Villanova-Butler, @Kansas-TCU, @NCarolina-Louisville, @Maryland-Minnesota, @Nevada-
BoiseSt, @SetonHall-Xavier, @ETennesseeSt-Furman, @MDBaltimoreCo-StonyBrook,
- Thursday:
- @Arizona-USC, @Cincinnati-Memphis, @
NewOrleans-StephenFAustin, @NFlorida-Jacksonville(JacksonvilleFL), @MtStMarys-LongIsland, @EaWashington-WeberSt, @Idaho-IdahoSt(ID),
- Friday:
- @WrightSt-Valparaiso(BG), @GreenBay-
Oakland,
- Saturday:
- @Gonzaga-BYU, @Villanova-Creighton, WVirginia-@TCU, Baylor-@IowaSt, @Arizona-UCLA, Florida-@Kentucky, @RhodeIsland-VCU, @UNLV-Nevada(NV), @Belmont-TennesseeSt(NashvilleTN), @ArkansasSt-
GeorgiaSo, @ClevelandSt-YoungstownSt(OH)(NEO), @UNCAsheville-Liberty, @Vermont-StonyBrook,
- Sunday:
- Butler-@Xavier(BG), Wisconsin-@MichiganSt, @
UAB-MidTennessee, @Iona-Monmouth, @NoKentucky-Valparaiso(BG), @Memphis-Houston,
- - - - - - -
- Monday week:
- Monday week:
- @Baylor-WVirginia, @Virginia-NCarolina, @
UNCGreensboro-ETennesseeSt, @ArkansasSt-GeorgiaSt, @NCCentral-SavannahSt, @MorganSt-CoppinSt(BaltimoreMD),
- Monday week, Thursday week, Sunday week:
- A-SUN TOURNAMENT on-campus
-(FLGulfCoast,Lipscomb, NFlorida),
Top 25 - 17 Feb20 - [] Column
- Gonzaga (28-0) WCCu+2
- Villanova (26-2) BIG5 BIGE+3
- Kansas (24-3) (@SEC)
- West Virginia (21-6) (vSEC)
- Oregon (23-4)
- Arizona (25-3)
- UCLA (24-3)
- Duke (22-5)
- North Carolina (22-5)
- Baylor (21-5) (@SEC)
- Purdue (22-5)
- SMU (24-4)
- Florida (22-5) (@BIG12)
- Louisville (22-5)
- Kentucky (22-5)
- Notre Dame (21-7)
- Cincinnati (24-3) (vXTOWN)
- Butler (21-6)
- Creighton (21-5)
- Wisconsin (22-5)
- Florida State (21-6)
- Virginia (18-8)
- Iowa State (17-9)
- St. Mary's (24-3)
- Arkansas (20-7)
- Honorable Mention:
- Texas Tech (16-10) (vSEC), Seton Hall (16-10), Pittsburgh (15-12), Vanderbilt (14-13) (vBIG12), Maryland (21-5), Michigan (17-10).
Monmouth (23-5) MAAC+4,
Vermont (21-5) AMEREu+2,
Belmont(20-5) OVC+4,
Bucknell(21-8) PAT+2,
Florida Gulf Coast(19-7) A-SUN,
Mount St. Mary's(15-14) NEC+2.
posted by Ron @ Friday, April 21, 2017
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