18 Dec10 - Front Admiral

Volume XXIII, No. 6 - 18 Dec10 - [] Top 25 Ballot

Front Admiral

Specialty events gave us some high-quality match-ups which included some surprising results.
     Last year's VALLEY OF THE SUN SHOOTOUT at TALKING STICK Casino in Phoenix,AZ has been renamed the JERRY COLANGELO CLASSIC. The marquee game, pitting top-ranked Gonzaga against Tennessee, didn't disappoint. bAdmiral Schofield[30p6r] stepped out of the shadow of last year's SEC Player of the Year, xGrant Williams[16p12r7a], to lead the Volunteers past the GU/Bulldogs, 76-73. In the undercard, unbeaten Nevada held off host Grand Canyon (74-@66).
     Earlier in the week, Nevada headlined the HALL OF FAME-LA CLASSIC, handing Arizona State its first loss (72-66). Also, TCU road-routed host USC (96-@61 posting six double-figure scorers) and St. Mary's thumped New Mexico (85-60 on 60 percent shooting as pJordan Ford[28p5a5to] starred).
     At the C/HOOPS CLASSIC at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, Seton Hall surprised mighty (young) Kentucky in overtime (@84-83[OT] on Myles Cale's game-winner despite 29p12r4a from xP.J. Washington).
     At the NEVER FORGET TRIBUTE CLASSIC in Newark,NJ, Mississippi State beat Clemson (82-71 as pLamar Peters[28p5a] starred) and Florida beat Connecticut (79-71).
     The JIMMY V CLASSIC at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, Florida beat West Virginia (66-56) and Oklahoma edged Notre Dame (85-80 shooting 15-for-29 on three-pointers as xChristian James [26p10r] starred).
     In the new CHARM CITY CLASSIC at ROYAL FARMS Arena in Baltimore, Maryland beat disappointing Loyola(Illinois) (@55-41) while Morgan State edged city-rival Towson (@74-@69).
     At the BEEHIVE CLASSIC in Salt Lake City, BYU dumped host Utah (@74-@59 as cYoeli Childs[31p11r] dominated) and Utah State beat Weber State (@76-@67).
     At the ALL-COLLEGE CLASSIC in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma dumped Wichita State (80-48).
     At the HOLIDAY FESTIVAL at MADISON SQUARE GARDEN, host St. John's thumped Princeton (@89-74 as pShamorie Ponds[26p5a5r] starred) and host Columbia edged upstate Iona (@74-@71).

Grudge matches generally gave underdogs the chance to score a quality win that had eluded them so far this season.
     In State Title games: gMarkus Howard[27p4a] led Marquette past cEthan Happ[34p11r] and Wisconsin in overtime (@74-69[OT]) in their State Title showdown in one of the best individual duels so far this season. Nebraska thumped Creighton (@94-75 on gJames Palmer Jr.[30p]'s star turn). Gonzaga edged Washington (@81-79 on fRui Hachimura[26p7r]'s game-winner). Iowa beat Iowa State (@98-84 dominating the boards 44-24 on cTyler Cook[26p11r]'s star turn) in the latest edition of the CY-HAWK series.
     In Border Wars: Indiana edged Bluegrass/arch-rival Louisville (@68-67) in the latest edition of the COUNTDOWN CLASSIC. Fading Western Kentucky resurfaced to edge Arkansas on the road (78-@77 as GC cCharles Bassey[21p9r5b] starred). Fading West Virginia beat Pittsburgh (@69-59 as both teams combined for 50 turnovers) to win this year's BACKYARD BRAWL.
     In all-city clashes: Belmont edged Lipscomb (@76-74 on Caleb Hollander's game-winner despite 26p8r4a from tRob Marberry) to sweep one of the highest profile editions of the BATTLE OF THE BOULEVARD series. Cincinnati dumped fading Xavier (@62-47) in this year's CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT. TCU won on the road at SMU to win the Dallas/Ft.Worth Metroplex crown.
     In in-state grudges: Oklahoma State tripped at Tulsa (71-@74). Central Arkansas edged on the road at Little Rock (85-@82 as 5-11 pDeAndre Jones[26p7a] starred) to sweep this year's home-and-home series.

Elsewhere, Radford's stay in the national rankings wasn't long. The RU/Highlanders fell twice on the road: at James Madison (66-@73 as bStuckey Mosley[29p5r] starred) and at Ohio University (69-@78).
     Slumping Kansas State tripped at Tulsa (46-@47). Fading Texas tripped at home against VCU (@53-54) but bounced back to edge Purdue (@72-68 despite 40p3a from gCarsen Edwards). St. Louis tripped at Southern Illinois (56-@61). Michigan State edged on the road at disappointing Florida (63-@59). Slumping Loyola(Illinois) fell at home to Ball State (@69-75). Georgia State came back from down 22 at halftime to edge Alabama on the road (83-@80 on tMalik Benlevi's game-winning-three).
     Rising Toledo edged disappointing Marshall in overtime on the road (75-@74[OT] on Marreon Jackson's game-winner). UC-Irvine beat Montana (@60-51). Disappointing Memphis beat disappoinging South Dakota State (@88-80 despite 35p8to from gDavid Jenkins).

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In early conference play, the BIG 10 Wars are still in the early stages. Michigan State handed Iowa its second loss already, thumping the Hawkeyes (@90-68 as fNick Ward[26p9r;10/10fg] was perfect). Minnesota held serve at home against Nebraska (@85-78 on pAmir Coffey[32p6a6r]'s star turn). So too did Purdue, edging Maryland at home (@62-60). Indiana handed Penn State its second loss already as well, edging the Nittany Lions on the road (64-@62).

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Things are winding down this week, in particular. Top-ranked Kansas hosts rebounding Villanova (Saturday). Louisville hosts Splashworthy Lipscomb (Wednesday). Houston has a big week ahead, hosting LSU (Wednesday) and St. Louis (Sunday). At the new HALL OF FAME/BOARDWALK CLASSIC, Virginia Tech meets Washington and North Carolina State meets "host" Penn State.
     Unproven North Carolina hosts juggernaut Gonzaga (Saturday). Mississippi State hopes to keep its roll going when soaring Cincinnati comes to town (Saturday). Disappointing Memphis hosts soaring arch-rival Tennessee (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, 15-DECEMBER (12Net).

Key games this week:

Monday:

(None).

Tuesday:

Villanova-@Penn(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5)(/PALESTRA/), @UCF-GeorgiaSo, @MDBaltimoreCo-Towson(BaltimoreMD),

Wednesday:

@Louisville-Lipscomb, @Houston-LSU, @Mississippi-SELouisiana(@JacksonMS),

Thursday:

@McNeese-NCCentral,

Friday:

(None).

Saturday:

@Kansas-Villanova, Tennessee-@Memphis(TN), Gonzaga-@NCarolina, @Nevada-SDState, @Arkansas-TXSanAntonio(@LittleRockAR), @TexasTech-AbileneChristian(TX), @Buffalo-SoIllinois, @MississippiSt-Cincinnati, @UCLA-Belmont, @KansasSt-GeorgiaSt, @Oregon-BoiseSt, @Texas-GrandCanyon, @Clemson-Radford, @Oklahoma-USC(@TulsaOK), @WeberSt-UTValley(UT),
INDIANAPOLIS-B CROSSROADS CLASSIC DblHdr @ IndianapolisIN/BANKERS/
-(@Indiana-@Butler[IN], @Purdue-@NotreDame[IN]),
GARDEN STATE HARDWOOD CLASSIC 1Off on-campus
-(@SetonHall-Rutgers[NJ]),
(new)HALL OF FAME-C/BOARDWALK-A CLASSIC QuadHdr @ AtlanticCityNJ/BOARDWALK/
-(VirginiaTech-Washington, NCState-@PennSt, @Temple-Davidson, @Princeton-Iona),
MIKE SLIVE INVITATIONAL 1Off on-campus
-(@UAB-Auburn[AL])
(new)LAS VEGAS-D NEON HOOPS SHOWCASE DblHdr @ LasVegasNV/T-MOBILE/
-(LSU-StMarys, @UNLV-BYU),
IOWA-BIG FOUR HV CLASSIC DblHdr @ DesMoinesIA/Drake/
-(@Iowa-@NoIowa[IA][BIG4], @Drake-@IowaSt[IA][BIG4]),
DAM CITY CLASSIC 1Off @ PortlandOR
-(@OregonSt-TexasA&M),
SHREVEPORT-BOSSIER HOLIDAY CLASSIC @ ShreveportLA
-(@NorthwesternSt-@Southern[LA]),

Saturday-Saturday week:

(new)BIG SKY[0-0]/SUMMIT[0-0] CHALLENGE on-campus - - tied 2-2
[Idaho State, Northern Arizona, Northern Colorado, Portland State, Sacramento State, Southern Utah and Weber State all do not play;
  Denver, Oral Roberts, Purdue-Ft. Wayne, South Dakota and Western Illinois all do not play.]
-(@Omaha-MontanaSt;
   @MontanaSt-NDakota;
   @NDakota-Idaho;
   @NDState-EaWashington;
   Sat: @Idaho-Omaha;
   Mon week: @Montana-NDState;
   Tue week: @EaWashington-SDState;
   Sat week: @SDState-Montana),

Saturday-Sunday week:

LAS VEGAS-E-CHRISTMAS CLASSIC 2x4 3rd/Semis @ LasVegasNV/ORLEANS/; RndRob2 on-campus
-(A: SanDiego, WashingtonSt; SIUEdwardsville, CalStNorthrige;
   B: Drake, NewMexicoSt; NoColorado, Rider),

Sunday:

@Houston-StLouis,
SANFORD SHOWCASE 1Off @ SiouxFallsSD/PENTAGON/
-(Nebraska-OklahomaSt),
HALL OF FAME-E-CT HOLIDAY SHOWCASE TrplHdr @ UncasvilleCT/MOHEGAN/
-(WVirginia-RhodeIsland, Tulsa-Dayton, Drexel-@Quinnipiac),

Sunday-Tue 25 Dec:

HAWAII-B DIAMOND HEAD CLASSIC 8Bracket 2nd/Qtrs @ HonoluluHI/Hawaii/; WarmUp1 on-campus
-(TCU-Charlotte, RhodeIsland-Bucknell; Colorado-IndianaSt, UNLV-@Hawaii),

- - - - - -

Monday week:

(None).

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Top 25 - 18 Dec10 - [] Column

1. Kansas (8-0) (@@CHAMPS) [2v2:NIT.T-O]
   
2. Tennessee (6-1) (:COLANGELO)
   
3. Gonzaga (9-1) [v3:MAUI] (@JESUIT)
   
4. Duke (9-1) (@@CHAMPS) (vBIG10)
   
5. Virginia (9-0) [v3:ATLANTIS] (@BIG10)
   
6. Michigan (10-0) (@BIG.E) [2v2:HOF-CT TO] (vACC)
   
7. Nevada (9-0) [2v2:LV-HOLDAY] (@MVC) (:HOF-LA) (@COLANGELO)
   
8. Syracuse (7-2) (@BIG10)
   
9. Ohio State (8-1) [4rrvOS/BUCKEYE]
   
10. Furman (7-0)
    
11. Villanova (8-2) [v3:A/ORLANDO]
    
12. Marquette (8-2) (vWI)
    
13. Wisconsin (8-2) (@BIG.E) (vACC)
    
14. Arkansas (6-2) [4rrvROUND/HARD]
    
15. Indiana (8-2) (vBIG.E) (vCOUNTDOWN)
    
16. Louisville (6-3) (vBIG10)
    
17. Michigan State (8-2) [2v2:LVI-THANX]
    
18. Seton Hall (6-3) [3:WOODEN] (@@C/HOOPS)
    
19. Texas Tech (8-0) [2v2:CBE] (:HOF-MIAMI)
    
20. Arizona State (7-1) [2v2:LV-MAIN]
    
21. Florida State (8-1) (vFL) (vBIG10)
    
22. Buffalo (8-0) [2v2:HOF-BELFAST]
    
23. Houston (8-0)
    
24. St. John's (9-0) (@BIG10) [2v2vLEGENDS] (:HOF-MIAMI) (vNYC-HOLDAY)
    
25. Virginia Tech (8-1) [3:CHARLESTON]
    

Honorable Mention:

James Madison (5-5)/Ohio University (5-3), Minnesota (8-2) [v3rr:VANCOUVER].