Hoop, Line And Sinker

A weekly column on men's college basketball.

Monday, July 08, 2019

18 Dec31 - Spread The Wealth (PRECONFERENCE)

Volume XXIII, No. 9 - 18 Dec31: PRECONFERENCE - [] Top 25 Ballot

Spread The Wealth

Western Kentucky salvaged something from a disappointing preseason, stunning Wisconsin (@82-76). Kentucky continued to improve, handling arch-/state-rival Louisville on the road (71-@58). Arizona State fell asleep at the wheel, tripping at home against lowly Princeton (@66-67 as tDevin Cannady[21p4a9r] led the Tigers).
     UCLA lost its fourth-straight game (falling to 7-6 overall) with a humiliating home rout loss to unheralded Liberty (@58-73 committing 24 turnovers) ... and coach Steve Alford was fired to boot.
     Purdue handled Belmont (@73-62). Underappreciated Toledo dumped Penn (@77-45). Oregon completed the season sweep of Boise State (62-@50 [but has lost GC 7-2 cBol Bol indefinitely]).
     Maryland handled Radford (@78-64 as xBruno Fernando[19p12r3a] starred). Clemson thumped Lipscomb (@84-67 on pMarcquise Reed[26p5a6r5s]'s star turn). Buffalo road-thumped arch-/city-rival Canisius (87-@72).

In the last preseason tournament, TCU completed the job, handling Indiana State in the final of the DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC (83-69 led by tAlex Robinson[15p4a8r]).

In early league play, Seton Hall handed St. John's its first loss of the season, edging at home (@76-74).
     It was back to Pumpkinhood for Furman, who tanked at East Tennessee State (56-@79 as the Buccaneers shot 60 percent from the floor).
     Northeastern tripped in double-overtime against Delaware (@80-82[2OT] despite 18p6a10r from xBolden Brace). Likewise, Wright State tripped in overtime against Illinois-Chicago (@72-75[OT] led by xTarkus Ferguson[18p6a10r]).

- - - - - -

Taken as a whole, it's Duke who has had the strongest preseason with multiple elite wins and only the endplay loss to Gonzaga in the MAUI final to blemish its perfection. The Eye Test (and rating) proclaims the Blue Devils to be far and away above the rest of the field (as their uber rout of Kentucky at CHAMPIONS attests) with most talented player (GC fZion Williamson) leading the way. But other elite teams have been (less spectacularly) impressive as well. Kansas also has several elite wins and only an endplay (road) loss at Arizona State to mar its record. Tennessee (which beat Gonz in an endplay at COLANGELO) only lost in overtime to Kans in the NIT TIP-OFF final while Gonz did lose solidly at North Carolina (in a rematch of the 2017 NCAA final).
     Meanwhile, the best wins of unbeaten teams Virginia (over Wisconsin at ATLANTIS), Michigan (over UNC in a [home] rout in ACC/BIG 10), Houston (over LSU at home) and Nevada (over AzSt at HALL OF FAME-LA) all are only slightly below top elite status.

The top three conferences have separated themselves in their performance (even above the other B-Major leagues). Take your pick among the BIG 10 (76-29 in top match-ups [including 6 elite wins], 4 tournament crowns, 9-of-14 teams with elite [at least 4-to-1] won-loss records [including undefeated Michigan and undefeated-out-of-conference Iowa]), the ACC (81-33 [10 elite wins], 4.3 crowns, 6-of-15 elite teams [including undefeated Virginia]) and the BIG 12 (57-23 [7 elite wins], 4 crowns, 6-of-10 elite teams) as to which is the absolute top.
     The SEC (71-34 [8 elite], no crowns, 5-of-14 elite), BIG EAST (48-24 [6 elite], 4 crowns, 2-of-10 elite [undefeated Marquette]) and the surprising MID-AMERICAN (43-24 [no elite], 3.2 crowns, 4-of-12 elite) all graded out as B-Majors overall.
     The WEST COAST (38-21 [1 elite], 2 crowns, 3-of-10 elite) and AMERICAN (50-27 [1 elite], 3 crowns, 5-of-12 elite [including undefeated Houston]) all skirted B-Major status as well. While the PAC-12 (36-40 [4 elite], 1 crown, no elite), surprising SOUTHERN (18-20 [no elite], 2 crowns, 2 elite[Furman,UNC-Greensboro]) and MISSOURI VALLEY (37-22 [1 elite], 2 crowns, 1 elite[Drake]) all rated out as Mid-Majors.
     The 1BC teams in the Red Swirl only feature a handful of squads that might be splashworthy. The OHIO VALLEY (, 1.8 crowns, 2 elite[Murray State,Belmont]), SUN BELT (, 2.3 crowns, 1 elite[Texas State]), CONFERENCE USA (1 elite, 1.5 crowns, 1 elite[North Texas]), MOUNTAIN WEST (, 1 crown, 1 elite[undefeated Nevada]), ATLANTIC-10 (, 1.3 crowns), HORIZON (3 elite, 2 crowns), WAC (, 1.3 crowns, 1 elite[New Mexico State]), COLONIAL (, 0.5 crowns, 1 elite[College of Charleston]) all have shown something that broke through while the IVY (, 0.3 crowns), PATRIOT (, 0.3 crowns) and SUMMIT all have lacked a standout moment.
     Bringing up the rear, the Flop-level 1BC teams haven't shown much of a fight (with only a few exceptions). The ATLANTIC SUN (1 elite, 1 crown), BIG WEST (1 elite, 1 crown), SOUTHLAND (, 1 crown, 1 elite[Abilene Christian]), BIG SOUTH (, 0.8 crowns), AMERICA EAST (, 0.5 crowns, 1 elite[Stony Brook]), BIG SKY (, 0.3 crowns) as well as bottom-feeders the NEC, METRO ATLANTIC (,, [winless Monmouth]), SWAC and MEAC (,, [winless Coppin State]) all can't expect much postseason success.

Player Of The Year-calibre performances have been few and far between. fZion Williamson(Duke) has been spectacular and appears to be a runaway favorite for both POtY as well as Golden Child Of The Year. cEthan Happ(Wisconsin), xAdmiral Schofield(Tennessee), pShamorie Ponds(St. John's) and pMarkus Howard(Marquette) all have had multiple star turns in high-profile games (while xMike Daum[South Dakota State] continued to post big numbers against 1BC competition). Meanwhile, second-best among the nation's SuperFrosh might well be fZion's teammate, tR.J. Barrett(Duke).

- - - - - -

Here's a detailed look at the conferences after the preseason:
    B-MAJOR
  1. ATLANTIC COAST - Virginia [v3:ATLANTIS] (elite win) was undefeated; Duke, North Carolina State and Boston College [2v2:FT.MYERS] (all elite wins) as well as Florida State (good wins) plus Virginia Tech [3:CHARLESTON] (made noise) all were excellent; Louisville, North Carolina and Syracuse (all elite wins) as well as Clemson and Pittsburgh [:2rrvBRK-C-THANX] (both good wins) plus Notre Dame .3[4rrGOTHAM] and Miami(Florida) (both noisy) all starred.
  2. BIG 10 - Iowa [2v2:2K.E] (elite win) and Michigan [2v2:HOF-F-CT TO] (good wins) both were undefeated (out-of-conference only for the Hawkeyes); Indiana and Ohio State (both elite) as well as Nebraska, Maryland, Minnesota [3:nVANCOUVER] and Michigan State [2v2:LVI-THANX] plus Northwestern all were excellent; Wisconsin (elite) and Rutgers both starred; Purdue and Penn State both were winners.
  3. BIG 12 - Kansas [2v2:NIT.TO], Texas Tech [2v2:CBE], Oklahoma and Iowa State (all elite wins) as well as Kansas State [v3:PARADISE] (good wins) plus TCU [v3:DIAMOND] all were excellent; Texas, West Virginia and Baylor (all good) all starred. Oklahoma state (good) skirted .500.
  4. SOUTHEASTERN - Mississippi State, Tennessee and B>Kentucky (all elite wins), Auburn (good wins) and Mississippi all were excellent; LSU, Arkansas and Missouri (all elite wins), Vanderbilt and Florida (both good wins), Alabama (made noise) and Georgia all starred.
  5. BIG EAST - St. John's [2v2vLEGENDS] (good win) was undefeated; Marquette (elite wins) was excellent; Seton Hall [3:WOODEN/ANAHEIM], Villanova [v3:A/ORLANDO] and Providence (all elite wins) as well as Creighton [v3:CAYMAN] and Butler (both good wins) plus Xavier, DePaul and Georgetown all starred.
  6. AMERICAN - Houston [4rr@BY/COUGAR] (good wins) was undefeated; Cincinnati [2v2:EMERALD], UCF [3:PRMYRTLE.BCH] and Temple (all good wins) as well as South Florida all were excellent; Tulsa (elite win), Connecticut (good) and SMU all starred; Memphis (good) was a winner.
  7. MID-AMERICAN - Buffalo [2v2:HOF-B-BELFAST] and Kent State .3[4rr@V/COMMODORE] (both good wins) in the East as well as Toledo [3:GULF.CST] (good wins) and Central Michigan .3[3rr:nJUNKANOO] all were excellent; Ball State and Ohio University both starred; Miami-Ohio, Bowling Green and Akron all were winners; Northern Illinois .5[3rr@O/GRIZZLY] et al. all skirted .500.
    MID-MAJOR
  8. WEST COAST - Gonzaga [v3:MAUI] (elite win), Loyola Marymount [2v2:JAMAICA] and San Francisco all were excellent; Pacific (good win) and San Diego both starred; St. Mary's was a winner. (BYU et al. all skirted .500.)
  9. MISSOURI VALLEY - Drake [2v2:LVC-XMAS] (elite win) was excellent; Indiana State starred; Bradley [2v2:CANCUN] (made noise) was a winner; Southern Illinois (good win), Loyola-Illinois, Illinois State et al. all skirted .500; (Northern Iowa [good win] was a loser.)
  10. SOUTHERN - Furman (good win) and UNC-Greensboro [2rr@BLUE.HEN] both were excellent; East Tennessee State [2@DH/SUN], Samford, The Citadel and Wofford all starred. VMI and Mercer both skirted .500; (Chattanooga [made noise] was a loser.)
  11. PACIFIC-12 - Arizona State [2v2:LV-MAIN] and Colorado (both elite wins) as well as Oregon State, Oregon and Washington (all good wins) plus Arizona (made noise) all starred. UCLA [elite], et al. all skirted .500.
    1BC
    (SPLASH) - - - - -
  12. OHIO VALLEY - Belmont (good wins) and Murray State both were excellent. Austin Peay [2:nSTPETE] and Jacksonville State both were winners; Eastern Illinois .5[3rr:BLUE.RIDGE] (made noise), Eastern Kentucky and Tennessee-Martin all skirted .500; (Southeast Missouri .3[3rr:SA/J:UNGAR] was a loser.)
  13. SUN BELT - Texas State [3rr@P/PILOT] was excellent; Georgia State (good wins) and Louisiana both starred; Georgia Southern [3:BAHAMAS] (made noise) was a winner; South Alabama .3[3rrvSA/J:UNGAR] et al. all skirted .500.
  14. CONFERENCE USA - North Texas [3rr@H/RAINBOW] .5[3rrvWOLFPACK] was excellent; Florida Atlantic (elite win), Old Dominion (good wins), Louisiana Tech, Florida International and Southern Mississippi all starred; UAB was a winner; Western Kentucky (good wins), Marshall, Texas-San Antonio and UTEP all skirted .500.
  15. MOUNTAIN WEST - Nevada [2v2:LVI-HOLDAY] (good wins) was undefeated; Utah State (good win) and Fresno State both starred. San Diego State (good win), New Mexico (made noise), UNLV and Air Force all skirted .500; Boise State and Colorado both were losers.
    (SWIRL) - - - - - -
  16. ATLANTIC 10 - VCU and St. Louis (both good wins) and Duquesne .3[4rrGOTHAM] as well as Davidson and Fordham all starred; Dayton was a winner; St. Joseph's and Rhode Island (both good wins) as well as George Mason, Massachusetts and Richmond all skirted .500. (La Salle [2vnBOARDWK] et al. all were a flop.)
  17. HORIZON - Northern Kentucky starred. IUPUI [2@FT.MYERScons], Green Bay [2@2K.Econs]
    and Wright State (all elite wins) and Illinois-Chicago (made noise) all skirted .500.
  18. WESTERN ATHLETIC - Seattle was excellent; Utah Valley [2:LV-MAINcons], Cal State-Bakersfield .3[3rr:nJUNKANOO] and New Mexico State all starred; Grand Canyon and Texas-Rio Grande Valley both skirted .500.
  19. COLONIAL - College of Charleston (good win) was excellent; Hofstra starred; Delaware was a winner; Northeastern (good win), James Madison and Drexel all skirted .500. (UNC-Wilmington .5[3rrvBLUE.RIDGE] et al. all were a flop.)
  20. IVY - Penn (good win), Yale (made noise) and Brown all starred; Dartmouth was a winner; Princeton (good win), Cornell .3[3rrC.NY] and Harvard all skirted .500. Columbia was a flop.
  21. ATLANTIC SUN - Lipscomb (elite win), Liberty -.3[4rr@V/COMMODORE] (good win) and New Jersey Tech .3[3rrC.NY] all starred. Jacksonville .3[3rr@SA/J:UNGAR] skirted .500; North Florida was a loser; (Florida Gulf Coast [good win], et al. all were a flop.)
  22. BIG WEST - UC-Santa Barbara [2rr@I/VANDAL] and UC-Irvine (made noise) both starred; Hawaii was a winner; Cal State-Northridge skirted .500. (UC-Riverside [elite win], Cal State-Fullerton, UC-Davis et al. all were a flop.)
    (FLOP) - - - - - -
  23. SOUTHLAND - Abilene Christian [3rr@P/TIGER] was excellent. Stephen F. Austin, Lamar, Nicholls and New Orleans all skirted .500. (Southeast Louisiana was a flop.)
  24. BIG SOUTH - Gardner-Webb, Longwood and Winthrop all starred; Radford .3[4rrGOTHAM] (good win), High Point .5[3rr:nBIMINI], Presbyterian, Campbell and Charleston Southern all skirted .500; Hampton and South Carolina Upstate both were losers; UNC-Asheville was a flop.
  25. AMERICA EAST - Stony Brook was excellent; Vermont starred. Maryland-Baltimore County .5[3rr:nBIMINI], Massachusetts-Lowell and Hartford all skirted .500. (Everyone else was a flop.)
  26. SUMMIT - South Dakota State was a winner; Omaha (good win), Purdue-Fort Wayne, North Dakota and South Dakota all skirted .500; North Dakota State (good win), Western Illinois and Denver all were losers; Oral Roberts was a flop.
  27. PATRIOT - Holy Cross starred; Colgate .3[3rrC.NY] and Lehigh both were winners; American, Boston University and Bucknell all skirted .500; Army was a loser; everyone else was a flop.
  28. BIG SKY - Sacramento State starred; Montana (good wins) was a winner; Weber State .3[3rr:nJUNKANOO], Northern Coloraro, Idaho State, Montana State and Southern Utah all skirted .500. Everyone else was a flop.
  29. NORTHEAST - St. Francis(New York) was a winner; Long Island, Central Connecticut State, Wagner and Fairleigh Dickinson all skirted .500; Robert Morris and St. Francis(Pennsylvania) both were losers.
  30. METRO ATLANTIC - Niagara (good win), Quinnipiac, Marist and Rider all skirted .500; Siena was a loser; everyone else was a flop. (Monmouth was winless.)
  31. SOUTHWESTERN ATHLETIC - Only Grambling State was able to skirt .500; Texas Southern (good win) was a loser; everyone else was a flop.
  32. MID-EASTERN ATHLETIC - Howard and Morgan State both skirted .500; Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina Central both were losers; everyone else was a flop.
    (Coppin State was winless.)
- - - - - -
Kansas has a tough start with two road games: at Oklahoma (Wednesday) and at Iowa State (Saturday). Virginia hosts Florida State (Saturday). Ohio State hosts Michigan State (Saturday). Texas Tech hosts Kansas State (Saturday). Michigan hosts Indiana (Sunday). Nevada can get an early lead in the MOUNTAIN WEST race with a home win over Utah State (Wednesday). Wisconsin hosts Minnesota (Thursday).
     In the BIG 10 Wars, Nebraska visits Maryland (Wednesday) while Iowa visits Purdue (Thursday); then, the Hawkeyes host the Cornhuskers (Sunday). St. John's has its hands full when Marquette visits (Tuesday).
     Texas State can get a jump on the rest of the SUN BELT with a home sweep of Georgia Southern (Thursday) and Georgia State (Saturday). Old Dominion can get a jump on the rest of C-USA with a home sweep of Marshall (Thursday) and Western Kentucky (Saturday). Drake hosts Loyola-Illinois in the MVC (Saturday).
     Upstart Longwood hosts Radford in the BIG SOUTH (Saturday).
-- Ron
> P.S. Happy New Year, everyone!
Key games this week:
Monday:
(None),
Tuesday (NEW YEAR'S):
Marquette-@StJohns,
Wednesday:
@Kansas-Oklahoma, @NCarolina-Harvard, @Nevada-UtahSt, @Maryland-Nebraska,
Thursday:
@Wisconsin-Minnesota, @Purdue-Iowa, @OldDominion-Marshall, @TexasSt-GeorgiaSo, Montana-SacramentoSt,
Friday:
@Toledo-BallSt(BG),
Saturday:
@Duke-Clemson, Kansas-@IowaSt, @Virginia-FloridaSt, @OhioSt-MichiganSt, @TexasTech-KansasSt, NCarolina-@Pittsburgh, @OldDominion-WeKentucky, @Drake-LoyolaIL, @TexasSt-GeorgiaSt,
@Hofstra-Northeastern, @Radford-Longwood(VA), @SacredHeart-CConnecticutSt(CT)(CT6), @WeberSt-SoUtah(UT), @NCCentral-BethuneCookman,
Sunday:
Indiana-@Michigan, @Iowa-Nebraska, @SDakota-SDState(SD),
- - - - - -
Monday week (CFP CHAMPIONSHIP):
(None).
Top 25 - 18 Dec31: PRECONFERENCE - [] Column
The preseason tourney count:
By league: (4.3)ACC;; (4)BIG12,BIG10,BIGE;; (3.2)MAC;; (3);AMER; (2.3);;SUNB (2);WCC,MVC,SOCON;HORIZ (1.8);;OVC (1.5);;CUSA (1.3);;A10,WAC (1);PAC12;ASUN,MWC,SLAND,BIGW (0.8);;BIGS (0.5);;AMERE,COLON (0.3);;SKY,PAT,IVY.
By group: (19.5)B-Major[6]; (10)Mid-Major[5]; (17)1BC[21].
     In conference CHALLENGES: ACC @nd BIG10 split 7-7; BIG10 beat BIG.E 5-3; MAC beat HORIZ 2-0. MVC and MWC split 5-5; MVC split SUMMIT 1-1. WAC beat SUMMIT 6-3; SUMMIT split SKY 4-4.
     fZion Williamson(Duke) is the frontrunner for both GC Of The Year and Player Of The Year.
     Out-of-conf: DIAMOND/*TCU won :IndySt.
     In-conf: ...... HORIZ/-WRIGHT tripped in OT vUic.
  1. Duke (11-1) (@@CHAMPS) (vBIG10) (vAI)
  2. Kansas (11-1) (@@CHAMPS) [2v2:NIT.T-O]
  3. Tennessee (10-1) (:COLANGELO)
  4. Gonzaga (11-2) [v3:MAUI] (@JESUIT)
  5. Virginia (11-0) [v3:ATLANTIS] (@BIG10)
  6. Marquette (11-2) (vWI)
  7. Ohio State (12-1) [4rrvOS/BUCKEYE] (@@CB/SPORTS)
  8. Mississippi State (12-1) (:NVR.FGT)
  9. Indiana (11-2) (vBIG.E) (vCOUNTDN) (@@XROADS)
  10. Texas Tech (11-1) [2v2:CBE] (:HOF-MIAMI)
  11. Michigan (13-0) (@BIG.E) [2v2:HOF-CT TO] (vACC)
  12. North Carolina State (12-1) .5[4rrvNCS/WOLFPACK] (:HOF-MIAMI) (@HOF-BOARD)
  13. Kentucky (10-2) [4rrvOHIO.VAL] (@@CB/SPORTS)
  14. Florida State (11-1) (vFL) (vBIG10) (:NVR.FGT) (vORANGE)
  15. Houston (13-0) [4rr@BY/COUGAR]
  16. Cincinnati (11-2) [2v2:EMERALD] (vCROSSTWN)
  17. North Carolina (9-3)
  18. Nevada (12-0) [2v2:LV-HOLDAY] (@MVC) (:HOF-LA) (@COLANGELO)
  19. Arizona State (9-3) [2v2:LV-MAIN]
  20. Buffalo (11-1) [2v2:HOF-BELFAST]
  21. Michigan State (11-2) [2v2:LVI-THANX]
  22. Wisconsin (10-3) (@BIG.E) (vACC)
  23. Seton Hall (10-3) [3:WOODEN] (@@C/HOOPS) (vGARDEN)
  24. Auburn (10-2) (@SLIVE)
  25. Louisiana State (10-3) (:LV-NEON)
Honorable Mention:
Western Kentucky (7-6),
Princeton (6-5) (vHOF-BOARD),

Iowa (11-2) [2v2:2K.EMPIRE] (vACC) (vCY-HAWK) (@@IOWA4),
Villanova (9-4) [v3:A/ORLANDO],
Creighton (8-4) [v3:CAYMAN],

Toledo (10-1) [3:GULF.CST]
Minnesota (11-2) [3:nVANCOUVER],
Boston College (9-2) [2v2:FT.MYERS] (vBIG10),
Bradley (7-5) [2v2:CANCUN],
Georgia Southern (6-5) [3:BAHAMAS],
Virginia Tech (11-1) [3:CHARLESTON] (:HOF-BOARD),
UCF (10-2) [3:PRMYRTLE.BCH],
Pittsburgh (9-3) [:2rrvBRK-THX] (@@CITY),

Radford (5-6)/Notre Dame (10-3)/Duquesne (9-3) [4rrGOTHAM],
Kansas State (10-2) [v3:PARADISE] (vWILDCAT),
Vanderbilt (8-3)/Liberty (8-4)/Kent State (10-2) [4rrCOMMODORE],
St. John's (12-1) [2v2vLEGENDS] (@BIG10) (:HOF-MIAMI) (vNYC-HOLDAY),
TCU (11-1) [v3:DIAMOND] (@DFW) (@HOF-LA),
Loyola Marymount (10-2) [2v2:JAMAICA],
La Salle (2-10) [2vnBOARDWK],
Drake (9-2) [2v2:LVC-XMAS] (vMWC) (:nUSB/SUMMIT),
Texas State (9-2) [3rr@P/PILOT],
Abilene Christian (7-2) [3rr@P/TIGER],
North Texas (10-1) [3rr@RAINBOW] .5[3rrvWOLFPACK],
Weber State (7-5)/Cal State-Bakersfield (8-4)/Central Michigan (11-2) [3rr:nJUNKANOO],

UNC-Greensboro (10-2) [2rr@BLUE.HEN],
Maryland-Baltimore County (7-7)/High Point (6-7) [3rr:nBIMINI],

East Tennessee State (11-4) [2@DH/SUN],
Austin Peay (8-5) [2:nSTPETE],
Colgate (7-5)/Cornell (6-7)/New Jersey Tech (11-3) [3rrC.NY],
UC-Santa Barbara (9-3) [2rr@I/VANDAL],
Green Bay (7-7) [2@2K.EMPIREcons],
Northern Illinois (7-6) [3rr@O/GRIZZLY],
Jacksonville (7-8)/South Alabama (7-6)/Southeast Missouri (5-8) [3rr@vSA/J:UNGAR],
Utah Valley (11-4) [2:LV-MAINcons],
UNC-Wilmington (4-10)/Eastern Illinois (7-6) [3rrv:BLUE.RIDGE],
IUPUI (6-7) [2@FT.MYERScons].

posted by Ron @ Monday, July 08, 2019