A A A R R R G G G H H H ! ! !

Jan 4, 1981:
    The Atlanta Falcons had (by my estimation) the best team in football and only needed a postseason to match the regular season to prove it -- qbSteve Bartkowski, rbWilliam Andrews, wrAlfred Jenkins. As top seed, they hosted the Dallas Cowboys (a year after qbRoger Staubach had retired, mind you) and were cruising to victory, up 27-17 in the 4th quarter ... but, somehow, qbDanny White led the Cowboys back and sealed the upset with a TD pass to wrDrew Pearson. I was numb. I was in college in New Jersey at the time, not home in Atlanta like I wished I'd been. I went so deep into mourning, I wouldn't talk to people for a week. My college friends, many of whom were hardly football fans and certainly had no connection the Falcons, wondered why I wasn't talking. Robbed of the external verification of internal greatness.

We endured Sports Illustrated's running a cover story on the city of Atlanta entitled, "Loserville" with no ability to refute the putdown. It wasn't until the city landed the bid to the 1996 Olympics (which the critics claimed was "bought by Coca-Cola") that the city's psyche began to turn around. The Indigo Girls "made it" with a video on MTV; the Atlanta Hip-Hop scene exploded with Kriss-Kross, TLC, and OutKast along with So-So Def and LaFace record labels; the Braves went from worst-to-first and played in back-to-back World Series before finally winning in 1995. No one could call us "Loserville" any longer. The 1999 trip to the Super Bowl by the Falcons was an unexpected fluke but they were ultimately no match for Hall of Fame qbJohn Elway -- no shame in losing to an all-time great.

Feb 5, 2017:
     But this one ... this one hurts more than anything that came before it. These Falcons were record-setting -- the highest scoring team in the league; the newly crowned MVP (qbMatt Ryan); crushed two future Hall of Fame quarterbacks on the way to the Super Bowl to face the all-time greatest of the great, qbTom Brady. Yet all the putdowns that still came their way seemed like foolish hater talk, but objectively this team was even better than the Patriots if only clear-thinking people could see it (and if only their own self-doubt could believe it about themselves). And here it was, a stunning 28-3 lead early in the second half with everything going their way that was proof of what seemed clear by evaluation. Then, little miscues that couldn't notch that putaway score on the board kept adding up until the defense that had played so well gradually tired out and had no ability to stop the greatest comeback in Super Bowl history. Because of who it was and what it means for his legacy, we'll never stop hearing everyone recount this ignomy for the rest of our lives.
     Worse than ofLonnie Smith's base-running blunder and ofKirby Puckett;s homer off pCharlie Leibrandt in 1991; worse than ofJoe Carter's ending it all in 1992; worse than pMitch Williams' ending the three-year dream run in 1993; worse than cJim Leyritz' homer turning the Series around and thwarting the repeat in 1996. So many "if that one play/call/missed block/dropped pass/caught pass didn't happen" moments ... I can't even process how gutted I am over this snatched-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory moment. It will scar me (and this city) forever. I'm placing myself on suicide watch. Please don't ever bring this up me ... ever.

-- Ron

A A A R R R G G G H H H ! ! !

17 Jan30 - Mind The Gaps (MIDCONFERENCE/Major)

Volume XXI, No. 13 - 17 Jan30: MIDCONFERENCE/Major - [] Top 25 Ballot

Mind The Gaps

The BIG 12/SEC CHALLENGE is the one last big out-of-conference event that doesn't take place in the November-December preseason. Because teams have their acts together by now (or should, anyway), these results are more meaningful than the ones that came early on (when many teams were feeling out new lineups and developing new chemistry). Despite wins by its flagship triumvirate (West Virginia, Baylor and Kansas), the BIG 12 could only manage a 5-5 tie with the SEC (even though one of its flagship teams, South Carolina, didn't participate). Kansas handed Kentucky its second high-profile home loss (79-@73 as gFrank Mason III[21p4a] and GC xJosh Jackson[20p10r] countered 18p6r;5/6 3s by bDerek Willis and 18p by GC Malik Monk) -- (if the Jayhawks can get that kind of rebounding out of xJackson, who needs a true quality big man?) West Virginia couldn't shake Texas A&M, but escaped with an @81-77 win. Baylor came through (barely) on the road at Mississippi (78-@75). Florida had no trouble, road-dumping host Oklahoma (84-@52). Georgia edged Texas (@59-57) and Texas Tech handled LSU (@77-64 led by fZach Smith[25p8r]). More surprising/disappointing were Kansas State's and Iowa State's inability to come through on the road against mediocre hosts -- KansSt fell (58-@70) at Tennessee while IowaSt fell (74-@84) at Vanderbilt (despite 25p from Monte Morris). Host Oklahoma State had a surprisingly easy time, routing Arkansas (@99-71) while young Auburn pulled a big surprising winning on the road at TCU (88-@80
as freshman fAustin Wiley[25p6r] starred).
     Elsewhere out of conference, Villanova and Virginia both looked good in their defensive showdown -- UVa led early on but Nova's rally to win @61-59 came thanks to a huge discrepancy on the free-throw line: 20-for-24 for the Wildcats; 3-for-3 for the Cavaliers).
     The annual CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT between Cincinnati (this year's host) and Xavier was rousing, as usual -- despite unconscious shooting by the Musketeers (15-for-26 on three-pointers led by gTrevon Bluiett[39p;9/11 3s]'s career high), the Bearcats' team effort prevailed, @86-78.
     Other than the remaining straggler BIG 5 games, there haven't been any other results that effected the conference ratings since December. Not much changed: the BIG 12 came down slightly (but is still No. 1 overall) while the SEC dropped below the BIG 12 (for No. 3 and No. 4, behind #2 ACC and ahead of #5 BIG EAST and #6 PACIFIC-12). Cincy's win pushed
the No. 7 AMERICAN ahead of the #8 WEST COAST.

Desperation Trail came early in B-Major-land as several also-rans pulled off Top-25 upsets. Oregon fell off the pace in the PAC-12 race, losing at Colorado. Georgetown routed Creighton (@71-51) and edged Butler on the road (85-@81). Georgia Tech stunned both Florida State (@78-56 on freshman xJosh Okogie[35p5a14r]'s superstar breakout) and edged Notre Dame (@62-60 led by Tadric Jackson[25p]); Florida State also fell at Syracuse (72-@82). Purdue tripped at Nebraska. Miami(Florida) dumped North Carolina (@77-62 on GC pBruce Brown[30p5a]'s breakout performance). North Carolina State surprised Duke on the road (84-@82 led by gDennis Smith Jr.[25p3a]).
     In more high-profile matchups: Marquette pulled off a shocker, upsetting Villanova (@74-72 holding the Wildcats to 6-for-34 on three-pointers); but tripped at Providence (78-@79). Just like it did to Baylor, West Virginia rolled Kansas (@85-69 as fEsa Ahmad[27p5r] starred). USC won the L.A. showdown UCLA (@84-76 despite xLonzo Ball[15p4a10r7to]'s all-around effort). Virginia road-dumped Notre Dame (71-@54 outrebounding the Irish 38-22 as ND shot 3-for-18 on threes).
     Indiana had a bad week, rolling over at Michigan (60-@90 as six double-figure Wolverines shot 63 percent from the floor) and then falling at rising Northwestern (55-@68). Iowa State edged Kansas State (@70-65 led by gMatt Thomas[25p;7/10 3s] despite 15p6r3a from tWesley Iwundu). Minnesota fell at Ohio State and then fell at home against Maryland (@78-85 on Terrapin freshman xJustin Jackson[28p10r;5/5 3s]'s breakout performance). TCU fell in-conference at Oklahoma State (76-@89 as Cowboy pJawun Evans[27p8a] led the way). North Carolina outran host Virginia Tech (@91-72 dominating the boards 39-13). Butler won on the road at Seton Hall (61-@54 holding the Pirates to 29 percent shooting). Baylor edged Texas Tech (@65-61 thanks to 26-for-28 free throw-shooting led by fJohnathan Motley[25p6r;15/16ft]). Michigan State tried to stay relevant, beating Michigan (@70-62 despite 24p5a9r from tDerrick Walton Jr.). Wisconsin edged Rutgers in overtime (@61-@54[OT] as Ethan Happ[32p] scored more than half of their points) in the BIG 10's shameless recruitment showcase SUPER SATURDAY at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN. Utah couldn't come through at home against Oregon (@67-73).
     Richmond beat Rhode Island (@73-62 led by xT.J. Cline[21p13r4a]). VCU edged Dayton (@73-68 controlling the boards 39-22). BYU fell on the road at Santa Clara. St. Mary's stayed in contact in the WCC race , dumping San Francisco (@66-46). SMU edged UCF on the road (65-@60).
     UNC-Wilmington finally blinked in CONFERENCE USA, tanking at William & Mary (73-@96 as 21p18r from cDevontae Cacok battled fOmar Prewitt[28p7r]). Chattanooga tanked at home against VMI (@64-80) and tripped at East Tennessee State (71-@76 led by Moccasin bDesonta Bradford[19p4a5r]). UNC-Greensboro dropped two: tanking at lowly Wofford and then falling at home to Furman (@67-73). Green Bay won on the road at Oakland (80-@72). Valparaiso won two big games: dumping Wright State (@70-55 as xAlec Peters[25p14r4a] starred) and beat Northern Kentucky (@65-58). Georgia Southern fell at South Alabama.
     High Point edged host Winthrop in overtime (83-@80[OT] despite 31p from Keon Johnson) to throw the BIG SOUTH race into a real scramble. Belmont road-routed at city-rival Tennessee State (93-@76 on 61 percent shooting as pAustin Luke[18p9a5r] countered 22p3a5r from bTahjere McCall). Vermont won on the road at Stony Brook. Harvard tripped at Columbia. Florida Gulf Coast edged
on the road North Florida.
     Fairleigh Dickinson tripped in overtime at Bryant. UC-Irvine dropped two: falling at Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and then again at UC-Davis (65-@74). Texas Southern tripped in overtime at Mississippi Valley State (89-@103[OT] as xTa'Jay Henry[30p22r] starred).

UAB and Louisiana Tech played 5 on 4 for the final six minutes of their game after multiple ejections on both sides (mostly for players and coaches leaving the bench after two on-court players fought. UAB won @79-70 [but lost the final segment @16-20 despite a man advantage]).

Everyone (except the IVY LEAGUE) is at the midway point of conference play (or close enough, anyway). With the huge exception of the WEST COAST (where Gonzaga looks a sure bet to go all the way into the NCAA tournament undefeated), nearly all of the B-Major conferences have ties atop their league races.
     In the BIG 12 (with one game to go), Baylor and Kansas were tied for first place with a two-game gap ahead of West Virginia and Iowa State; Kansas State was fifth; (Texas Tech and TCU tied for sixth; Oklahoma State, Oklahoma and Texas all couldn't hang.)
     In the ATLANTIC COAST (with one game to go), North Carolina and Virginia tied for first place; Florida State, Louisville and Notre Dame all tied for third; Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Syracuse as well as Duke and Miami(Florida) all tied for sixth.
     In the BIG 10 (with one game to go), Maryland and Wisconsin tied for first place; Northwestern was third; Purdue fourth; Michigan State fifth; (Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Penn State and Nebraska all tied for sixth; Minnesota, Illinois and Ohio State all couldn't hang; Rutgers was a flop.)
     In the SOUTHEASTERN (with one game to go), Kentucky and South Carolina tied for first place; Florida and Alabama tied for second place; Arkansas was fifth; Missisippi State, Georgia and Tennessee all were sixth; (Auburn, Mississippi, Texas A&M and Vanderbilt all were ninth. LSU was a flop; Missouri was winless.)
     In the BIG EAST (with one game to go), Villanova and Butler were tied for first place; Creighton and Xavier were third; Marquette fifth. (Seton Hall couldn't hang.)
     In the PACIFIC-12, Arizona came through undefeated; Oregon was second with a two-game gap. UCLA, UCLA, California and Utah were third; USC sixth. (Oregon State was winless.)
     In the AMERICAN (with one game to go), Cincinnati was undefeated; SMU was second; Tulsa third; Memphis fourth; Houston, UCF and Connecticut tied for fifth.

The Mid-Majors hope to get multiple bids, but even their top teams are on the dividing line of splashworthy-ness.
     In the ATLANTIC 10 (with one game to go), Richmond, VCU and Dayton all tied for first place; Rhode Island, St. Bonaventure and La Salle were fourth; George Mason, Davidson and George Washington seventh.
     In the MOUNTAIN WEST, Nevada was alone in first place; Boise State, Colorado State and New Mexico all were second; Fresno State fifth. (Wyoming, San Diego State and Air Force sixth.)

On the other hand, many of the splashworthy 1BCs have powerhouse teams already with gap leads at the halfway point. We're either headed for a spectacular first weekend of the NCAAs or a top-quality NIT. (Here's hoping for the former.)
     In the SUN BELT (with one game to go), Georgia Southern was first; Texas-Arlington, Arkansas State and Georgia State second; Texas State fifth; Louisiana and Coastal Carolina sixth; (Little Rock, Troy and South Alabama eighth; Appalachian State was a flop; Louisiana-Monroe was winless.)
     In the SOUTHERN, East Tennessee State, UNC-Greensboro and Furman were first; Chattanooga fourth; Samford fifth; (Mercer and Wofford sixth; Western Carolina, VMI and The Citadel all were flops.)
     In the MID-AMERICAN (with one game to go), Akron was UNDEFEATED WITH A THREE-GAME GAP (in the East and overall). Three games back, Ohio University (in the East) and Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Northern Illinois (atop the West) all second; Central Michigan and Toledo sixth.
     In the HORIZON, Valparaiso was first; Green Bay second with a gap. Oakland, Wright State and Northern Kentucky third.
     In the WAC (with one game to go), New Mexico State was undefeated; Cal State-Bakersfield second; {Grand Canyon} third with a gap. (Missouri-Kansas City fourth; Seattle and Utah Valley fifth.)
     In CONFERENCE USA, Middle Tennessee was undefeated with a gap. UAB second; Louisiana Tech, Old Dominion and Marshall all third; Western Kentucky, Texas-San Antonio and UTEP all sixth. (Rice and Charlotte ninth. North Texas was winless.)
     In AMERICA EAST, Vermont was undefeated with gap. Stony Brook second; Maryland-Baltimore County and New Hampshire third; Albany fifth. ({Massachusetts-Lowell couldn't hang.)

The remaining 1BCs don't appear to have any representatives capable of making a splash come tournament time.
     In the SOUTHLAND, Sam Houston State and New Orleans were first; Stephen F. Austin third; Lamar, Southeastern Louisiana and {Incarnate Word} all fourth; (Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Nicholls and Houston Baptist all seventh; Northwestern State tenth.)
     In the ATLANTIC SUN, Florida Gulf Coast was first; South Carolina Upstate and Lipscomb second; North Florida fourth. (Kennesaw State fifth. Jacksonville couldn't hang. New Jersey Tech was a flop.)
     In the BIG WEST (with one game to go), UC-Davis was first; UC-Irvine second; Cal State-Northridge, Long Beach State and UC-Riverside all third; (Cal State-Fullerton and Hawaii sixth. Cal Poly-San Luis Obispo and UC-Santa Barbara were flops.)
     In the BIG SKY (with one game to go), Weber State was first; North Dakota second; Eastern Washington third; Idaho, Montana State, Montana, Portland State and Sacramento State all fourth.
     In the SWAC (with one game to go), Texas Southern was first with a gap. Alcorn State second; Southern, Grambling State, Jackson State, Prairie View A&M and Arkansas-Pine Bluff all third; (Alabama State and Mississippi Valley State eighth.)
     In the MEAC (with one game to go), Morgan State and North Carolina Central were first; Savannah State, Norfolk State and Eastern Shore all third; Coppin State and Hampton sixth; (South Carolina State, Florida A&M and Howard all eighth; Delaware State and Bethune-Cookman were flops; North Carolina A&T was winless.)

In an effort to "match the excitement" of the College Football Playoff Committee's release of its standings midway through the football schedule, the NCAA Selection Committee now plans to release a "Preview" of the top 16 seeds for the NCAA in a couple of weeks. Unlike whatever the CFP uses, the basketball RPI ratings are publicly available throughout the basketball season. Seeding along the 4-5 lines have more to do with conference restrictions and geographic preferences than actually being among the official top 16 teams, anyway; so it's not clear what the "Pre-16" will tell us.
     At most, we'll see who's favored to get the cushy Pods/Regional assignments -- can't see anything preventing Gonzaga getting what it wants (Sacramento->San Jose); Kansas has work left to do to secure (Tulsa->Kansas City); Kentucky has a better shot at (Indianapolis->Memphis); (Buffalo->New York City) is about the best Villanova can hope for; North Carolina and Duke won't have their traditional NC Pod to help them (and they might not even get first dibs on the "ACC" SC Pod at that); two of three among Arizona-Oregon-UCLA will be shipped out of the WEST(San Jose); same for two of three among West Virginia-Baylor-Kansas leaving the MIDWEST(Kansas City); getting the Indianapolis Pod will be a big prize with the likes of Kentucky-Butler-Louisville-Cincinnati-Purdue-Notre Dame all keen for that assignment; Wisconsin(Miwaukee) and Florida State-Florida(Orlando), St. Mary's(Sacramento) and South Carolina(Greenville) all may have work to do to stay high enough to get first dibs as well. We'll see.

- - - - - -

Gonzaga looks to keep perfect when it visits BYU (Thursday). It's the one-and-only PAC-12 showdown when Arizona visits Oregon (Saturday). West Virginia visits Iowa State (Tuesday). Kansas hosts Baylor in the showdown for first place in the BIG 12 (with the heavy subtext of the Jayhawks' title-streak record pursuit) and hosts Iowa State to boot (Saturday). Kentucky has to visit Florida in the first of two showdowns for this year's SEC title (Saturday). Virginia hosts Virginia Tech (Wednesday). Butler hosts Creighton (Tuesday). North Carolina hosts Notre Dame (Saturday) in another battle in this year's ACC Wars. Maryland gets a true test of its worth when it hosts Purdue (Saturday). Purdue hosts upstart Northwestern (Wednesday). Notre Dame hosts Duke (Monday).
     Wichita State looks for revenge in the second MVC showdown when it hosts Illinois State (Saturday). Kansas State hosts TCU (Wednesday) and visits Baylor (Saturday). UNC-Wilmington can put away the COLONIAL title if it can complete the sweep of College of Charleston at home (Thursday). Xavier hosts Seton Hall (Wednesday) and visits Creighton (Saturday). First place in the ATLANTIC 10 is on the line in the first battle of the BLACK & BLUE CLASSIC when VCU hosts arch-/city-rival Richmond (Wednesday).
     First place in the SOUTHLAND will be on the line when Sam Houston State hosts Stephen F. Austin (Thursday). Harvard looks to get back into the IVY race when it hosts Princeton (Saturday). It's the one-and-only MEAC showdown when Morgan State hosts North Carolina Central (Saturday).

-- Ron

P.S. Go Falcons!

Key games this week:

Monday:

@NotreDame-Duke, @Lehigh-BostonU, @FLGulfCoast-NFlorida(FL), @SCUpstate-Lipscomb,

Tuesday:

WVirginia-@IowaSt, @Butler-Creighton, @NoIllinois-Akron, @ColoradoSt-BoiseSt,

Wednesday:

@Kansas-Baylor, Cincinnati-@Tulsa, @Virginia-VirginiaTech(VA), @Purdue-Northwestern, @KansasSt-TCU, @Xavier-SetonHall, @StonyBrook-NewHampshire,
BLACK & BLUE CLASSIC HomeAway on-campus
-(Wed: @VCU-Richmond[RichmondVA];
   Fri 17 Feb: @Richmond-@VCU[RichmondVA]),

Thursday:

Gonzaga-@BYU, @UNCWilmington-ColofCharleston, @California-Utah, @MurraySt-Belmont, @Chattanooga-UNCGreensboro, @SamHoustonSt-StephenFAustin(TX), @WeberSt-SoUtah(UT),

Friday:

@Monmouth-StPeters(NJ), @Rider-Iona,

Saturday:

Arizona-@Oregon, @Kansas-IowaSt, @Baylor-KansasSt, Kentucky-@Florida, Virginia-@Syracuse, @Creighton-Xavier, @NCarolina-NotreDame, @Maryland-Purdue, SMU-@Tulsa, @WichitaSt-IllinoisSt, @GreenBay-Valparaiso, @StBonaventure-VCU, @NDState-SDakota, @Samford-UNCGreensboro, @{GrandCanyon}-CalStBakersfield, @LouisianaTech-Marshall, @Harvard-Princeton, @MorganSt-NCCentral,

Sunday (SUPER BOWL LI):

@Wisconsin-Indiana,

- - - - - -

Monday week:

@Virginia-Louisville, @Rider-Monmouth(NJ), @Fairfield-Quinnipiac(CT)(CT6), @Bucknell-HolyCross, @SavannahSt-NorfolkSt.

---

Top 25 - 17 Jan30: MIDCONFERENCE/Major - [] Column

1. Gonzaga (22-0)
   
2. Arizona (20-2)
   
3. Villanova (20-2) [BIG5]
   
4. West Virginia (17-4) (vSEC)
   
5. Kansas (19-2) (@SEC)
   
6. Baylor (19-1) (@SEC)
   
7. Oregon (18-3)
   
8. UCLA (19-3)
   
9. Kentucky (17-4)
   
10. Cincinnati (19-2) (vXTOWN)
    
11. Wisconsin (18-3)
    
12. Virginia (16-4)
    
13. Butler (18-4)
    
14. Creighton (18-3)
    
15. North Carolina (18-4)
    
16. Louisville (18-4)
    
17. Maryland (18-2)
    
18. Purdue (17-5)
    
19. Notre Dame (17-5)
    
20. Florida State (18-4)
    
21. St. Mary's (19-2)
    
22. SMU (18-4)
    
23. South Carolina (16-4)
    
24. Marquette (14-7)
    
25. Florida (16-5) (@BIG12)
    

Honorable Mention:

Colorado (12-10), Tennessee (12-9), Georgetown (12-10), USC (18-4), Georgia Tech (13-8), Syracuse (13-9), Nebraska (10-11), Miami(Florida) (14-6), North Carolina State (14-8), Providence (14-9).