20 Nov30 - "Scheduled To Appear"

Volume XXV, No. 2 - 20 Nov30 - [] Top 25 Ballot "Scheduled To Appear"

We may as well get used to schools pausing their activities, postponing/cancelling games, and opponents being swapped in to replace them. It happened right away in Week One and likely will continue throughout the entire season. The GULF COAST SHOWCASE (already moved from Estero,FL to Ft. Myers,FL to form the "BEACH BUBBLE" along with the FT. MYERS TIP-OFF) had several teams cancel over COVID-19 issues and switched on the fly from an 8-team bracket to a 5-team round-robin event.

Villanova looked fine (if not dominant) in winning the 2K EMPIRE CLASSIC inside "BUBBLEVILLE" at the MOHEGAN SUN in Uncasville,CT (including beating Arizona State in the final [83-74 as fJeremiah Robinson-Earl{28p8r} starred]). The V-Wildcats' next opponent was supposed to be Philadelphia/City Series-rival Temple; but the T-Owls had to pause. (The BIG 5 is already down to four with IVY/Penn opting out of the season entirely; schools will be lucky to get in two games each against the "City 6" [including Drexel] and now this.) So 'Nova hastily arranged a matchup with Virginia Tech (which also lost a game with Temp). The Hokies took advantage of the opportunity, pulling off the upset in overtime (81-73[OT] despite 25p4a from gCollin Gillespie).
     Meanwhile, Gonzaga was scary-good in running past Kansas in the feature matchup of the FT. MYERS TIP-OFF (102-90 shooting 65 percent as fDrew Timme[25p6r] starred). The G-Bulldogs already featured perhaps the best frontcourt duo in the land (fTimme and fCorey Kispert) and now have added GC gJalen Suggs (dare I say, a LeBron-esque power/point player) out top (not to mention Florida hardship-transfer pAndrew Nembhard). The ease with which they handled the Jayhawks and their demonstrated depth puts them on a path already to be one of the great teams (with real potential for an undefeated season with so little opposition within the WEST COAST).
     Virginia tripped against WCC/San Francisco (60-61) in what was called the HOMELIGHT CLASSIC inside "BUBBLEVILLE"-CT. Veteran Richmond took advantage of a "no-crowd" Rupp Arena to upset young Kentucky (76-@64 as the K-Wildcats were 0-for-10 on three-pointers) to claim the Unwelcome Guest crown at the K-W/BLUEGRASS SHOWCASE. Fellow ATLANTIC 10 conferencemate St. Louis edged LSU at home (@85-81 as pJavonte Perkins[32p5a] starred) to win their own SL/BILLIKEN CLASSIC. Houston handled Texas Tech (@64-@53) in the feature matchup of the SOUTHWEST SHOWCASE in Ft. Worth,TX.      The best field of the first weekend belonged to the CROSSOVER CLASSIC at the SANFORD PENTAGON in Sioux Falls,SD. Most disappointing was young Memphis, which dropped two: losing to Western Kentucky (69-75 despite 25p4a from pLanders Nolley II) and also VCU (59-70). "Not ready for Prime Time" were both Mid-Major Northern Iowa (0-3; losing to WeKy, tanking against St. Mary's, losing to Utah State) and 1BC South Dakota State (1-2; losing to WVa and StMary, routing UtahSt). In the final, favorite West Virginia held off impressive Western Kentucky (70-64).

In B-Major events, Clemson won the new SPACE COAST CHALLENGE in Melbourne,FL (past Mississippi State and Purdue). ASUN/Liberty routed South Carolina (78-62) to make the final of the CBE CLASSIC at T-MOBILE ARENA in Kansas City,MO; but it was TCU that took the crown (56-52). OVC/Belmont won the PARADISE JAM (relocated to Washington,DC; past the likes of A10/George Mason). SLAND/Abilene Christian claimed first place in the GULF COAST CLASSIC (relocated to the Ft. Myers.FL "BEACH BUBBLE"; past the likes of CUSA/Middle Tennessee).
     With no real home crowds to speak of, being an Unwelcome Guest winner of a hosted tournament doesn't carry the same weight this year. Still, both Colorado and MVC/Drake beat host Kansas State to share first place in the KS-W/LITTLE APPLE CLASSIC. MWC/Nevada edged host Nebraska to win the N-C/GOLDEN WINDOW CLASSIC. WAC/Seattle beat host Portland in the P/PILOT INVITATIONAL. Both SOCON/Western Carolina and COLON/UNC-Wilmington beat host BIGS/UNC-Asheville to share first place in the NCA/BULLDOG CLASSIC. CUSA/Rice routed host SLAND/Incarnate Word to win the IW/CARDINAL CLASSIC.

Elsewhere, San Diego State dumped UCLA (@73-58) in their game for West Coast bragging rights (um, well behind Gonzaga, that is).
     In a spectacular edition of their crosstown grudge match, Georgia State outdueled host Georgia Tech (123-@120[3OT] as tJustin Roberts[26p6a9r] dueled 31p20r from cMoses Wright and 29p10r from xJose Alvarado).

fLuka Garza may have salted away Player Of The Year in Week One: he dropped 41p9r (on 14-for-15 shooting) in Iowa's @103-76 romp over Southern. (Who else is going to put numbers like that?)

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The CHAMPIONS CLASSIC (originally slated for the UNITED CENTER in Chicago) has been split across two locations this year (Kansas and Kentucky will play in Indianapolis,IN while Duke will host Michigan State in Durham,NC).

After already handling Kansas, Gonzaga can fairly claim it's the rightful BIG 12 champ if it sweeps West Virginia (Wednesday at the JIMMY V CLASSIC) and Baylor (Saturday) both in the Indy "BUBBLE". Cameron without "The Crazies" won't intimidate Michigan State against host Duke and the same goes for Kansas against young Kentucky without the "Big Blue Nation" in the split-venue CHAMPIONS CLASSIC (Tuesday).
     Louisville will have its hands full more than usual this year against "Little Brother" Western Kentucky (Tuesday).
     Reloaded North Carolina can put last year's nightmare behind it with a win at the MAUI INVITATIONAL (Monday thru Wednesday; relocated to Asheville,NC), which is theirs for the taking. New-look USC won't have it easy against veteran Connecticut should those two meet in the final of LEGENDS (Thursday; relocated to the CT "BUBBLE").

-- Ron

Key games this week:

Monday:

@Mercer-GeorgiaSt(GA), "BUBBLEVILLE"-A-NV" Various @ LasVegasNV/T-MOBILE/ -(Baylor, AirForce, Louisiana, CalStNorthridge, Seattle), (new)NEW JERSEY HOOP GROUP CLASSIC RndRob2 on-campus -(Rider, @Rutgers, Hofstra, FairleighDickinson), [SA]JAGUAR INVITATIONAL RndRob3 @MobileAL/S_Alabama/ -(JacksonvilleSt, FLInternational, @SAlabama, @{UMobile}),

Monday-Wednesday:

MAUI INVITATIONAL Qtrs @ LahainaHI/{Chaminade}/ @ AshevilleNC -(@NCarolina-UNLV, Stanford-Alabama; Indiana-Providence, Texas-Davidson).

Monday-Friday:

"BUBBLEVILLE"-D-KY Various @LouisvilleKY/Louisville/ -(@Louisville, @WeKentucky, LittleRock, SetonHall, Duquesne, UNCGreensboro, PrairieViewA&M, Winthrop),

Monday-Saturday:

"BUBBLEVILLE"-C-CT Various @ UncasvilleCT/MOHEGAN_SUN/ -(Virginia, Buffalo, ArmyWP, SanFrancisco, @Connecticut, StJohns, BostonCol, NCState, MALowell, Towson, @CConnecticutSt),

Tuesday:

@Creighton-Omaha(OmahaNE), INDY-B CHAMPIONS CLASSIC DblHdr @ChicagoIL/UNITED/ @IndianapolisIN, @DurhamNC) -(MichiganSt-@Duke, Kansas-Kentucky),

Tuesday, Thursday:

CT-C LEGENDS CLASSIC Semis @BrooklynNY/BARCLAYS/ @UncasvilleCT/MOHEGAN_SUN/ -(USC-BYU, Connecticut-Vanderbilt),

Tuesday-Friday week:

BIG 12[?-?]/BIG EAST[?-?] BATTLE on-campus [; Connecticut does not play.] (@SetonHall-Baylor;    Tue: @Marquette-OklahomaSt;    Thu: @TexasTech-StJohns;    Sun: @Texas-Villanova, @Georgetown-WVirginia, @IowaSt-DePaul;    Tue week: @Kansas-Creighton;    Wed week: @Xavier-Oklahoma, @TCU-Providence;    Fri week: @Butler-KansasSt),

Wednesday:

@NorfolkSt-OldDominion(NorfolkVA), @Fairfield-Hartford(CT)(CT6), INDY-A JIMMY V CLASSIC DblHdr @IndianapolisIN -(Gonzaga-WVirginia, Baylor-Illinois),

Wednesday, Friday:

(new)[L/CARDINAL]WADE HOUSTON CLASSIC Various @ LouisvilleKY/Louisville/ -(@Louisville, LittleRock, SetonHall, Duquesne, Evansville, UNCGreensboro, PrairieViewA&M, Winthrop),

Wednesday-Friday:

CT-A2 HALL OF FAME TIP-OFF Various @ UncasvilleCT/MOHEGAN_SUN/ -(Villanova, @Quinnipiac, SanFrancisco, VirginiaTech, Temple, Albany, Drexel, Bryant),

Thursday:

@Towson-CoppinSt(BaltimoreMD),

Friday:

Wisconsin-@Marquette(WI),

Saturday:

@Richmond-Furman, @Houston-SCarolina, @UtahSt-BYU(UT), @Portland-PortlandSt(PortlandOR), @MDBaltimoreCo-Towson(BaltimoreMD), "BUBBLEVILLE"-A-INDY Various @ IndianapolisIN -(Gonzaga-Baylor),

Sunday:

@BowlingGreen-Buffalo, @Temple-LaSalle(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5), GOVERNOR'S I-40 SHOWDOWN 1Off on-campus -(@LittleRock-CArkansas[AR]), CROSSTOWN SHOOTOUT 1Off on-campus -(@Cincinnati-Xavier(CincinnatiOH]),

Sunday, Saturday week:

(new)HOLIDAY HOOPSGIVING DblHdr2 @AtlantaGA/STATE_FARM/ -(Sun: Kentucky-@GeorgiaTech;    Sat week: LSU-SFlorida, Memphis-Auburn, MississippiSt-Dayton),

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Monday week:

BATTLE OF THE BAY 1Off on-campus -(@NorfolkSt-Hampton[VA]).

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Top 25 - 20 Nov30 - [] Column

1. Gonzaga (2-0) [rr2:FT.MYERS]
2. Baylor (2-0)
3. Michigan State (2-0)
4. Iowa (2-0)
5. Duke (1-0)
6. Illinois (3-0)
7. Kansas (1-1)
8. Villanova (2-1) [2:2K.E]
9. Virginia (1-1)
10. North Carolina (1-0)
11. Wisconsin (2-0)
12. Creighton (1-0)
13. Richmond (2-0) [rr2@K-W/BLUEGRASS]
14. Virginia Tech (3-0)
15. St. Louis (2-0) [rr2vSL/BILLKEN]
16. West Virginia (3-0) [3:nXOVER]
17. Houston (3-0) [rr2:SOUTHWEST]
18. Kentucky (1-1)
19. Tennessee
20. Louisville (3-0)
21. Oregon
22. Florida State
23. Arizona State (2-1)
24. LSU (1-1)
25. Texas Tech (2-1)

Honorable Mention:

San Francisco (2-2), Western Kentucky (2-1), VCU (2-1), St. Mary's (2-1)/Utah State (1-2), San Diego State (2-0), Georgia State (1-0), Clemson (2-0) [2:nSPACE], TCU (3-0) [2:CBE], Drake (2-0)/Colorado (2-0) [rr2@KS-W/L.APPLE], Nevada (2-0) [rr2@N-C/GOLD.WNDO], Seattle (3-0) [rr2@P/PILOT], Belmont (3-0) [rr2@PARADISE], Abilene Christian (3-0) [rr3:GULF.CST], Western Carolina (2-1)/UNC-Wilmington (2-1) [rr3@NCA/BULLDOG], Rice (2-0) [rr2@IW/CARDINAL].