21 Jan11 - The Churn

Volume XXV, No. 8 - 21 Jan11 - [] Top 25 Ballot

The Churn

As the BIG 10 Wars rage on, the churn of relentless competition spit out some of last week's darlings.
     Minnesota tanked twice: first, getting dumped by still unbeaten Michigan (57-@83 on freshman 7-1 fHunter Dicksinson[28p8r]'s star turn); then, getting thumped by Iowa (71-@86 as fLuka Garza[33p5r] and pJordan Bohannon[19p14a7r] both starred). Rutgers dropped two as well: first, tanking at Michigan State (45-@68 as the MS-Spartans dominated the boards 45-25); then, getting handled at home against rising Ohio State (@68-79). Illinois only managed to split on the week, starting with an impressive road rout at Northwestern (81-@56); but losing focus at home, tripping against mediocre Maryland (@63-66). Similarly, Michigan State couldn't follow up its big win, tripping at home against Purdue (@54-55 as tTrevion Williams[26p9r] starred).
     The PAC-12 is quietly having a strong season. Oregon fell at Colorado (72-@79 as xMcKinley Wright IV[21p10r5a] dueled 27p5r from bChris Duarte). (Remember, the Buffaloes were the only team to claim two crowns in the pared-down preseason, sharing both the LITTLE APPLE CLASSIC crown [with still undefeated Drake] and the FAR WEST CLASSIC [with giant-killer San Francisco]).
     In the BIG EAST, Creighton dumped Seton Hall (@83-59 shooting 60 percent from the floor). Meanwhile, Connecticut handled tumbling host Marquette (65-@54).
     In the disappointing ACC, Louisville edged Virginia Tech (@73-71).
     Former darling Missouri had rough week: first, tanking at Mississippi State (63-@78); then, getting handled at home by LSU (@61-75). Meanwhile, pretender Georgia's week went from bad to worse: the UG-Bulldogs lost a heart-breaker in overtime at LSU (92-@94[OT] despite 25p6r from bJustin Kier and 21p10a from 5-10 pSahvir Wheeler) and had nothing left for the next road game, getting thumped at Arkansas (66-@99 on pDavonta Davis[20p6a7r]'s star turn).
     In the BIG 12, upstart Oklahoma had a tough week on the road: tanking at Baylor (61-@76) and tripping at Kansas (59-@63). Texas edged host West Virginia on the road (72-@70 on Andrew Jones' game-winning three).

San Diego State salvaged a home split with a win over Colorado State second time out (@78-65 on tJordan Shakel[28p9r]'s star turn) to stay in contact early in the MOUNTAIN WEST race.
     Loyola(Illinois) fell off the pace in the MISSOURI VALLEY (behind Drake) when it tripped at home against lowly Indiana State (71-@76 as xTyreke Key[31p10r] dominated).
     What passed as Gonzaga's "biggest test" so far in WCC play was yet another rout as the GU-Bulldogs thrashed BYU (@86-69).
     Western Kentucky could only manage a home split with Louisiana Tech (@66-64 as cCharles Bassey[24p17r] dominated ; @58-63) to fall off the pace early on in CONFERENCE USA.
     Little Rock managed to split on the road at Louisiana (64-@66 ; 78-@76[OT]) to get an early leg up in the SUN BELT West.

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Most of the PATRIOT LEAGUE teams (all except Army-West Point and Navy, that is) didn't play any preseason games. (In fact, their combined 3-1 record in high-profile interconference games gave the league an inflated rating [based on the tiniest sample of all].)
     Boston University is requiring its own players to wear masks on the court during play [and requiring its opponents to do so as well in its home games].

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PAT/Colgate pulled off a road sweep of BosU (86-@79 as pJordan Burns[26p6a7r] starred ; 89-@45) to take full command of the North Division. COLON/Drexel got off to a bad start, getting swept in two squeakers at College of Charleston (60-@61 on Zep Jasper's game-winning free throws ; 68-@73 on gBrendon Tucker[35p]'s star turn).
     HORIZ/Wright State only managed a home split with Youngstown State (@72-74 as fNaz Bohannon[28p8r] starred ; @93-55 as xTanner Holden[24p10r4a] led six double-figure scorers) to fall off the pace (behind Cleveland State). MEAC/Morgan State earned a split on the road at Norfolk State (78-@74 ; 85-@89 despite 30p10r from xDe'Torrion Ware).

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Baylor hosts West Virginia (Tuesday) and visits Texas Tech (Saturday). Iowa hosts Michigan State (Thursday) and visits Northwestern (Sunday). Wisconsin goes on the road twice: first, in a showdown with still undeeated Michigan (Tuesday); then at reeling Rutgers (Friday). Michigan must also visit Minnesota (Saturday). Villanova is on the road twice as well: first, at Xavier (Wednesday); then, at Connecticut (Friday). Texas hosts Texas Tech (Wednesday). Ohio State has two tough road games: at Northwestern (Wednesday) and at Illinois (Saturday). Seton Hall hosts Xavier (Saturday). Virginia Tech hosts Duke (Tuesday). San Diego State has a tough road series on tap at Utah State (Thursday, Saturday).
     Drake's undefeated season gets tested with a big road series at Missouri State (Sunday, Monday week). Western Kentucky has a big home/away series on tap: vs Marshall (Friday), at Marshall (Sunday). Florida State hosts North Carolina (Saturday). Buffalo needs a home sweep to stay in contact with Bowling Green (Friday, Saturday).
     SOCON/Furman has a big week: visiting still undefeated Citadel (Wednesday) and hosting East Tennessee State (Saturday).
     In the SUN BELT, Little Rock (vs Texas State) and Georgia State (vs Coastal Carolina) can set themselves up well in the West and East Divisions if they can each pull off home series sweeps (Friday, Saturday).
     HORIZ/Wright State risks losing contact in the regular season race unless it can pull off the home series sweep of Cleveland State (Friday, Saturday). There's more on the line than just the usual crosstown rivalry when MEAC/Morgan State hosts Coppin State (Saturday, Sunday).

- - Ron

Key games this week:

Monday (CFP CHAMPIONSHIP):

@Drake-LoyolaIL-postponed(COVID-19[d]),

Tuesday:

@Baylor-WVirginia, Wisconsin-@Michigan, @VirginiaTech-Duke, @Kentucky-Alabama,

Wednesday:

Villanova-@Xavier, @Texas-TexasTech(TX), OhioSt-@Northwestern, @TheCitadel-Furman(SC), @WichitaSt-Tulsa,

Thursday:

@Iowa-MichiganSt, SanDiegoSt-@UtahSt, @StMarys-BYU, @EaWashington-SoUtah, @SacredHeart-CConnecticutSt(CT)(CT6),

Friday:

Wisconsin-@Rutgers, Villanova-@Connecticut, @WeKentucky-Marshall, @Buffalo-BowlingGreen, @LittleRock-TexasSt, @GeorgiaSt-CoCarolina, @WrightSt-ClevelandSt(OH), @Jacksonville-NFlorida(JacksonvilleFL),

Saturday:

Gonzaga-@StMarys, Baylor-@TexasTech(TX), Michigan-@Minnesota, OhioSt-@Illinois, @SetonHall-Xavier, Virginia-@Clemson, SanDiegoSt-@UtahSt, @FloridaSt-NCarolina, @Buffalo-BowlingGreen, @LittleRock-TexasSt, @Navy-American(MD/DC), @Furman-ETennesseeSt, @VMI-TheCitadel(MIL), @GeorgiaSt-CoCarolina, @EaWashington-SoUtah, @WrightSt-ClevelandSt(OH), @Jacksonville-NFlorida(JacksonvilleFL), @PrairieViewA&M-JacksonSt, @MorganSt-CoppinSt(BaltimoreMD), @NCA&T-FloridaA&M,
CAPITAL CITY/BLACK & BLUE CLASSIC HomeAway on-campus
-(Sat: @Richmond-VCU[RichmondVA];
   Fri 12 Feb: @VCU-Richmond[RichmondVA]),

Sunday:

Iowa-@Northwestern, @MissouriSt-Drake, @Marshall-WeKentucky, @MorganSt-CoppinSt(BaltimoreMD), @NCA&T-FloridaA&M,

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Monday week:

@Baylor-Kansas, @MissouriSt-Drake, @Louisville-FloridaSt, @LaSalle-StJosephs(PhiladelphiaPA)(BIG5), @TexasSo-JacksonSt.

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Top 25 - 21 Jan11 - [] Column

1. Gonzaga (11-0)
2. Baylor (11-0)
3. Iowa (11-2)
4. Wisconsin (10-2)
5. Michigan (10-0)
6. Villanova (8-1)
7. Texas (10-1)
8. Kansas (9-2)
9. Creighton (10-2)
10. Houston (10-1)
11. Louisville (8-1)
12. Ohio State (9-3)
13. Minnesota (10-4)
14. Illinois (9-4)
15. Alabama (9-3)
16. Tennessee (9-1)
17. Oregon (9-2)
18. Seton Hall (9-5)
19. Virginia Tech (9-2)
20. Boise State (9-1)
21. LSU (8-2)
22. Connecticut (6-1)
23. Virginia (7-2)
24. San Diego State (8-2)
25. Colorado (8-3)

Honorable Mention:

Maryland (7-6), Michigan State (8-4), Mississippi State (8-4),

Connecticut (6-1),

Colgate (3-1), Siena (4-0).