19 Feb25 - The Michelin Man Blows A Tire

Volume XXIII, No. 17 - 19 Feb25 - [] Top 25 Ballot The Michelin Man Blows A Tire Not one minute into the highly anticipated grudge match between Duke and North Carolina, runaway Player Of The Year fZion Williamson skidded and blew out the sole of his left shoe (and, in the process, injured his right knee in the fall) - - AAARRRGGGHHH!!! The most dynamic player in a generation is now out indefinitely (and likely won't return until the postseason). The D-Blue Devils didn't handle the instant hardship well: xR.J. Barrett[33p13r] did his best, but it was the Tar Heels' cLuke Maye[30p15r] and bCameron Johnson[26p4a7r] who took full advantage of the void on the way to a road-rout, 88-@72. UNC proved its form was no fluke, dumping Florida State (@77-59 controlling the boards 47-32). Virginia kept the pace with two road wins: first, beating Virginia Tech (64-@58 only allowing 3-for-28 three-point shooting); then, beating Louisville (64-@52). Duke was able to keep it a three-way tie for the lead in the ACC with a road win at Syracuse (75-@65 as pR.J. Barrett[30p7a5r] starred). (It was an emotional week for the Syracuse program. After dumping Louisville (@69-49), coach Jim Boeheim was involved in a fatal car accident - - [as he swerved to avoid a wrecked car, he ran over one of the passengers from the crash who was trying to cross to "safety".)      The BIG 10's Game Of The Year (Part I) grudge match resulted in Michigan State claiming the road win at Michigan (77-@70 as pCassius Winston[27p8a] starred). Maryland had two solid wins: first, edging Iowa on the road (66-@65 on Bruno Fernando's game-winning free throw); then, handling Ohio State at home (@72-62). Meanwhile, Minnesota dropped two: first, falling at home to Mich (@60-69); then, tripping on the road at mediocre Rutgers (64-@68). MichSt and Purdue were tied for first place (both a game ahead of Mich).      In the SEC, forgotten Florida surprised LSU in overtime on the road (82-@77[OT]). But the LS-Tigers won The Big One, edging Tennessee in overtime (@82-80[OT] as pJa'vonte Smart[29p5a5r;GWFTs] dueled 27p9r from tAdmiral Schofield). Kentucky kept pace with a rout of Auburn (@80-53). Elsewhere, Mississippi tanked at South Carolina (64-@79). (Georgia is having a terrible season and found a new way to lose at home to Mississippi State: the MS-Bulldogs' Quinndary Weatherspoon[31p] was awarded an extra free throw at the end of the game after a fan threw a stuffed G-Bulldog toy on the court [resulting in a technical foul] ... Ugh.) UK, Tenn and LSU all shared the lead.      In the BIG 12, Iowa State lost twice: first, tripping at home to Baylor (@69-73 as the B-Bears controlled the boards 44-28); then, tripping at TCU (72-@75). Texas Tech may well have put an exclamation point on the end of Kansas' record-setting streak of regular season titles with an emphatic @91-62 rout, shooting 61 percent (including 16-for-26 on three-pointers). Elsewhere, TCU fell at forgotten Oklahoma State (61-@68). Kansas State led TxTech (with Kans and Bayl tied for third).      In the MOUNTAIN WEST, Nevada fell at San Diego State (57-@65). Nev still held onto first place.      Villanova lost twice on the road: first, at Georgetown (73-@85 despite 26p5r from bPhil Booth); then, at forgotten Xavier (54-@66). St. John's tanked at Providence (59-@78). Elsewhere, Seton Hall also dropped two: tripping at home against forgotten Xavier (@69-70 as pNaji Marshall[28p5a6r] starred); then, falling at StJohn (70-@78 as pShamorie Ponds[27p5a] dueled 26p3a from gMyles Powell). Marq led Nova by two games. Both Lipscomb and Liberty dropped games in the ATLANTIC SUN: the L-Bisons fell at lowly Florida Gulf Coast (61-@67) while L-Flames tripped at lowly North Florida (70-@75). Both Lips and Libty remained tied for first place with one week to go.      In the MID-AMERICAN, both Toledo (falling at Eastern Michigan, 69-@76) and Bowling Green (tripping at medicore Ohio University, 87-@92), fell off the pace. Buffalo led the East (and overall) while third-place Toledo led the West.      In the AMERICAN, Cincinnati edged UCF (@60-55). Houston led Cincy overall.      In the ATLANTIC 10, Davidson fell off the pace, tripping at home to Dayton (@73-74 on Josh Cunningham's game-winner despite 26p5a8r from tJon Axel Gudmundsson). VCU led alone.      In the MISSOURI VALLEY, both Drake (falling at Illinois State, 60-@67) and Loyola(Illinois) (falling at home to Southern Illinois, @53-63) lost. Drake, LoyIL and Missouri State all were tied for the lead with one week to go.      In the IVY LEAGUE, Harvard stayed in the race with a road win at Yale (88-@86 as gBryce Aiken[28p4a] starred). Yale still led both Harv and Princeton by a game. SUNB/Texas State tripped at Louisiana-Monroe (60-@63) while Georgia State fell at mediocre Coastal Carolina (82-@95 as the Chanticleers controlled the boards 53-34 despite 31p from D'Marcus Simonds) - - TxSt still led GaSt. HORIZ/Northern Kentucky fell at home against lowly Cleveland State (@77-83 as cJaalam Hill[26p12r] starred) - - Wright led NoKy with a week left. C-USA/[1]Old Dominion edged [2]Western Kentucky (@67-63) in the Re-Group Game Of The Year - - ODU led with a gap.      PAT/Bucknell fell at Colgate (64-@75) - - Buck still held onto the lead. SUMMIT/South Dakota State outran Purdue-Ft. Wayne (@92-83 as xMike Daum[38p20r] dueled 27p6a9r from tJohn Konchar) - - SDakSt led Omaha with one week left. BIGS/Radford split on the week: first, beating Winthrop (@87-81); then, tripping at home against lowly Hampton (@71-74 as gJermaine Marrow[26p4a]'s starred) - - Radfd still led with a week to go. AMERE/Vermont fell at Maryland-Baltimore County (57-@65) - - Vmt leads Stony Brook with one left. NEC/St. Francis(Pennsylvania) split: beating forgotten St. Francis(New York) (@81-71) but tripping at home against lowly Long Island (@66-69) - - SfPa leads a pack with one week to go. MEAC/Norfolk State won on the road at North Carolina A&T (76-@58 as pSteve Whitley[15p11a8r] starred) - - Norfk has a gap. - - - - - - Ho hum. Unbeaten Gonzaga clinched the WEST COAST title a week early. Dominating the WCC is nothing new - - it's the G-Bulldogs' SEVENTH-STRAIGHT REGULAR SEASON TITLE (and EIGHTEENTH IN NINETEEN YEARS). There are no superlatives left. (In fact, all that's left for coach Mark Few and this program is to win the National Championship. The 'Zags are as good as anybody out there; so maybe this will be their year.)      Washington clinched the disappointing PACIFIC-12 two weeks early with a FOUR-GAME GAP. Better on defense than offense, the W-Huskies aren't built to go beyond the Sweet 16.      Unbeaten Wofford rolled through the SOUTHERN CONFERENCE while its having one of its strongest seasons. gFletcher Magee is the head of this three-happy squad that can shoot anyone out of the building on the right day. They should be an Anti-Spoiler coming from such a strong league.      Hofstra clinched the COLONIAL title with a two-game gap. Led by star bJustin Wright-Foreman, the Pride will be a dangerous Splashworthy team if they make the NCAAs (but the league is too weak [and they don't have any nameworth preseason wins] for them to be a can't-miss Anti-Spoiler). - - - - - - Several conference races end this week with nothing settled yet.      The MISSOURI VALLEY has had mediocre-at-best season: Mid-Major by rating but no breakthrough preseason wins with three teams at only 10-6 leading the pack. Look for Loyola(Illinois) to coast home while Missouri State hosts Drake in a knockout game (Saturday).      The OHIO VALLEY has no less than four teams dominating the rest of the league. Despite a Mid-Major rating, there were no breakthrough preseason wins - - regardless, both Belmont(xDylan Windler) and Murray State(pJa Morant) deserve Anti-Spoiler status as true Splashworthy squads (and Jacksonville State[fJason Burnell] and Austin Peay[xTerry Taylor] are no slouches, either). Murray hosts APeay(Saturday). The Red Swirl HORIZON has seen Northern Kentucky give away a gap lead at the break only to trail Wright State heading into the final week. In the Flop PATRIOT, Bucknell leads both forgotten Lehigh and surging Colgate by a game.      In the Flop SUMMIT, South Dakota State(superstar xMike Daum) can't shake pesky Omaha headed into the final week.      In the Flop BIG SOUTH, first-place Radford visits second-place Campbell(gChris Clemons) on Saturday with the regular season title on the line.      On top of its Flop status, the METRO ATLANTIC has been a total disaster (with no less than FIVE TEAMS TIED FOR THE LEAD WITH SIX LOSSES EACH with a week to go: Quinnipiac, Rider, Siena, Iona and Canisius) - - Ugh, what a mess!      In the Flop AMERICA EAST, first-place Vermont(fAnthony Lamb) hosts second-place Stony Brook (Saturday) with the title on the line.      In the Flop NORTHEAST, resurgent St. Francis(Pennsylvania) leads both Fairleigh Dickinson and discarded Robert Morris by just a game with one week left. It's Tennessee's last chance for a win against the conference elite when it hosts Kentucky (Saturday). It's Kansas' last chance to get back in the BIG 12 race when it hosts first-place Kansas State (Monday). Nevada can put away the MOUNTAIN WEST race with a road win at second-place Utah State (Saturday).      Villanova needs a win over first-place Marquette (Wednesday) to get back in the BIG EAST race.      Second-place teams clash when Harvard hosts Princeton (Saturday) in a knockout game in the IVY race.      Montana can wrap up the BIG SKY title with a home win over Northern Colorado (Monday). -- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

KansasSt-@Kansas(KS), @Montana-NoColorado,

Tuesday:

@NCarolina-Syracuse, Duke-@VirginiaTech, Iowa-@OhioSt, @Lipscomb-NJIT,

Wednesday:

Tennessee-@Mississippi, Marquette-@Villanova, @NewOrleans-SamHoustonSt, @Canisius-Niagara(NY)(BIG4), @StonyBrook-MDBaltimoreCo,

Thursday:

(None),

Friday:

@BowlingGreen-KentSt(OH), @Harvard-Penn, @Yale-Cornell, @NJIT-Liberty,

Saturday:

Kentucky-@Tennessee, @Purdue-OhioSt(BG), @KansasSt-Baylor, @Houston-UCF, TexasTech-@TCU(TX), Nevada-@UtahSt, @FloridaSt-NCState, @Auburn-MississippiSt, @MurraySt-AustinPeay, @MissouriSt-Drake, @VMI-TheCitadel(MIL), @GrandCanyon-CalStBakersfield, @Harvard-Princeton, @StJosephs-LaSalle(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5), @YoungstownSt-ClevelandSt(OH)(NEO), @Bucknell-ArmyWP, @Campbell-Radford, @Vermont-StonyBrook, CAPITAL CITY/BLACK & BLUE CLASSIC HomeAway on-campus -(@VCU-Richmond[RichmondVA];    @Richmond-VCU[RichmondVA]),

Sunday:

Michigan-@Maryland, @Louisville-NotreDame(BG), @[2]WeKentucky-[3]SoMississippi,

- - - - - -

Monday week:

@Syracuse-Virginia, @TCU-KansasSt, @AlabamaSt-PrairieViewA&M,

Monday week, Thursday week, Sunday week:

ATLANTIC SUN TOURNAMENT on-campus
-(Lipscomb, Liberty, NJIT).

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Top 25 - 19 Feb25 - [] Column

1. Gonzaga (26-2) 7-PEAT;18TH/19 WCCu+4
2. Michigan State (23-5)
3. Virginia (24-2)
4. North Carolina (22-5)
5. Duke (24-3)
6. Louisiana State (22-5)
7. Kentucky (23-4)
8. Michigan (24-4)
9. Tennessee (23-3)
10. Purdue (20-7)
11. Maryland (21-7)
12. Kansas State (21-6)
13. Houston (26-1)
14. Marquette (23-4)
15. Texas Tech (22-5)
16. Cincinnati (23-4)
17. Kansas (20-7)
18. Nevada (24-2)
19. Washington (22-5) PAC12+4
20. Buffalo (23-3)
21. Wofford (21-4) SOCONu+3
22. Wisconsin (19-8)
23. Florida State (21-6)
24. Iowa (21-6)
25. Hofstra (23-5) COLON+2

Honorable Mention:

Florida (16-11), Baylor (18-9)/TCU (18-9), San Diego State (18-9), Georgetown (16-11)/Xavier (15-13), Indiana (13-14), Harvard (13-9), - - - - - - Old Dominion (22-6), - - - - - - Norfolk State (14-11).