View Full Version : This Week in the Top 25
Bob Green
01-28-2011, 08:13 PM
As a complement to the "This Week in the ACC" thread, the Mods decided it would be good to add a "This Week in the Top 25" thread to discuss key non-ACC match-ups as we head into the stretch run of the regular season. It is hard to believe that during this coming week we will be at the halfway mark of conference regular season schedules. Basketball season is flying by. We desire for those who are interested in discussing games outside the ACC to join in and discuss the games listed below and to add games which impact the Top 25 and/or potential NCAA bids. This thread will serve as a precursor to and more probable expand into a Bubble Watch/Bracketology discussion.
This first installment will actually cover nine days with the following big games are listed:
Saturday:
(13) Missouri @ (8) Texas - two 17-3 teams face off in the Big 12.
(18) Minnesota @ (12) Purdue - will Purdue rebound from the thrasing they received at the hands of Ohio State?
Sunday:
(17) Washington @ Washington State - Washington State cannot afford to lose at home if they desire to keep their NCAA at large berth aspirations intact.
Monday:
(8) Texas @ (11) Texas A&M - Rick Barnes' Longhorns face another Top 25 opponent.
(19) Louisville @ (20) Georgetown - lots of Big East teams are ranked but are they really that good?
Tuesday:
(12) Purdue @ (15) Wisconsin - The Kohl Center is a tough place to play. We experienced it last season in the ACC-Big10 Challenge.
(22) Vanderbilt @ (23) Florida - can one f these teams challenge Kentucky in the SEC?
Wednesday:
(10) Syracuse @ (5) Connecticut - The Orange are reeling from three straight losses and will not be #10 win the polls are released on Monday. They desperately need a win.
Thursday:
Gonzaga @ Portland - two 3-3 WCC face off in a battle to stay alive in the chase to catch 6-0 (24) St. Mary's.
Friday:
Harvard @ Princeton - both teams are undefeated in the Ivy League and chasing the automatic bid to the NCAAT.
Saturday:
(16) Kentucky @ (23) Florida - this game following the Vandy/Florida showdown should provide a glimpse of who is the power in the SEC.
Sunday:
(1) Ohio St @ (18) Minnesota - will the Buckeyes still be undefeated heading into the second week of February? The Golden Gophers hope to shut them down.
There are 12 games with Top 25 and NCAAT implications to discuss. This list is by no means comprehensive so feel free to add additional games and the thread need not be limited to Top 25 action as any game with NCAAT bid implications should be fair game. Please join into the discussion and let's talk some basketball!
weezie
01-28-2011, 09:03 PM
Oh Bob! You are so right! Can it be halfway through the regular season?
And here just today I had an email about extra tix available for the ACC tourney. I'm sad thinking about only five more games in Cameron for Kyle and Nolan. It's a wonderful blessing to be a Blue Devil.
elvis14
01-28-2011, 09:10 PM
Oh Bob! You are so right! Can it be halfway through the regular season?
And here just today I had an email about extra tix available for the ACC tourney. I'm sad thinking about only five more games in Cameron for Kyle and Nolan. It's a wonderful blessing to be a Blue Devil.
Wow this season is flying by. Can't wait to see how much momentum we can build in Feb.
Three upsets (assuming the Syracuse result holds). UConn lost at home to Louisville in 2OT. Georgetown beat Villanova at Villanova. And Syracuse is continuing its nosedive with a loss to Marquette. That's four straight conference losses for Syracuse after starting undefeated. Rough stretch for them.
And Wisconsin is going to lose to Penn State. And BYU is down 10 with under 2 to go at New Mexico. And Texas A&M lost at Nebraska. And UF lost at Miss State.
Not a strong day for the Top-25, including the FSU debacle at Clemson (FSU was ranked in the AP but not in the coaches' poll).
sagegrouse
01-29-2011, 07:40 PM
Northwestern just took the lead against #1 Ohio State with under 3 to go, but it lasted only a few seconds, as Diebler nailed a 3 to put the Buckeyes up by two.
sagegrouse
billyj
01-29-2011, 08:00 PM
Northwestern seems to be well coached. Had the had more experience, they could have won the game. They blew a couple of possessions at the very end. A good game overall.
diveonthefloor
01-29-2011, 08:01 PM
Going through my mind right now.....
Could FSU beat Northwestern on a neutral floor? Would it even be close?
1 24 90
01-29-2011, 08:04 PM
Going through my mind right now.....
Could FSU beat Northwestern on a neutral floor? Would it even be close?
Not sure but Northwestern just lost at home last Sunday by 32 points to Wisconsin and tonight they were playing without their best player and still took the "clearly best team" to the bitter end as have Penn State & Minnesota on the Buckeyes home court.
Bob Green
01-30-2011, 09:35 AM
In West Coast games last night, Stanford defeated Oregon State 70-56. I watched the game and Johnny Dawkins has his team playing good basketball. The Cardinal had some trouble with Oregon State's half court trap defense, but overall they controlled the game from start to finish.
Prior to the Stanford game, I watched Gonzaga destroy the University of San Diego 86-53. It wasn't much of a game. Gonzaga is down this season and probably NIT bound. The big news out of the West Coast Conference is Portland knocking off St. Mary's 85-70 to hand the Gaels their first conference loss.
Bob Green
01-30-2011, 11:08 PM
Halftime score: Washington State 45, Washington 43. State's Klay Thompson is a versatile player with inside-out capabilities similar to Kyle Singler. At, 6'-6", Thompson is smaller and not as effective as a rebounder, but he is a tough player. Washington is a team that desires to play at full throttle but, based on the 1st half of this specific game, they seem to be more effective when they back off the pedal a notch or two. The second half is set up to be a real barn burner.
Just to finish the story - Washington came out of the half cold and Wash St got the upset, 87-80. This moves Washington into a tie with U of A in the Pac-whatever.
-jk
1 24 90
01-31-2011, 12:48 PM
Duke at #5 in both new polls.
Carolina in a tie for #23 in the AP but at #26 in the coaches poll. Maybe they will have the same fate as Florida St. after they jumped into the AP Poll last week. I bet Seth Davis is all happy now that his Tarheels are getting some respect from the pollsters.
gumbomoop
01-31-2011, 01:29 PM
I bet Seth Davis is all happy now that his Tarheels are getting some respect from the pollsters.
Sarcasm here? Didn't Seth graduate from Duke around '92-ish? Does he bend over backwards to criticize the Devils and/or praise the Heels? I'm lost. Help.
Duvall
01-31-2011, 01:33 PM
Sarcasm here? Didn't Seth graduate from Duke around '92-ish?
Yes.
Does he bend over backwards to criticize the Devils and/or praise the Heels? I'm lost. Help.
Not really. For a long stretch this year Davis was more bullish on the Heels than most voters, but that just meant putting them in the poll at #24 or #25.
DukeWarhead
01-31-2011, 02:34 PM
Duke at #5 in both new polls.
Carolina in a tie for #23 in the AP but at #26 in the coaches poll. Maybe they will have the same fate as Florida St. after they jumped into the AP Poll last week. I bet Seth Davis is all happy now that his Tarheels are getting some respect from the pollsters.
Not that it matters, but I think Duke at #5 with those teams in front is exactly right. After that performance against a middle of the road Big East team, I think Duke should be happy to still be a top 5. I know rankings don't matter that much, but its a mental thing. If Duke played the other teams in the top five right now, I'd like their chances against Kansas and Ohio State, but not against Pitt or Texas - strong interior play and some quick guards.
tommy
01-31-2011, 04:22 PM
Not that it matters, but I think Duke at #5 with those teams in front is exactly right. After that performance against a middle of the road Big East team, I think Duke should be happy to still be a top 5. I know rankings don't matter that much, but its a mental thing. If Duke played the other teams in the top five right now, I'd like their chances against Kansas and Ohio State, but not against Pitt or Texas - strong interior play and some quick guards.
I wouldn't worry too much about Texas. Their coaching is substandard, and when it gets tight in important games, I wouldn't want Barnes coaching my team. If Duke were to play Texas, the analysis of Coach K's position in that coaching matchup would be the type of matchup immortalized by Bum Phillips: "He can his'n and beat your'n, or he can take your'n and beat his'n."
Not that it matters, but I think Duke at #5 with those teams in front is exactly right. After that performance against a middle of the road Big East team, I think Duke should be happy to still be a top 5. I know rankings don't matter that much, but its a mental thing. If Duke played the other teams in the top five right now, I'd like their chances against Kansas and Ohio State, but not against Pitt or Texas - strong interior play and some quick guards.
Kansas and Ohio State also have strong interior play and some quick guards. I might even say that the interior play for Kansas and OSU is stronger than that of Pitt or Texas and their guard play is pretty good too. Not saying we can't beat any of those teams, just that I don't think I'd use that as the argument why we could beat Kansas and OSU but not Pitt or Texas.
It's 22-18 at the half. This is just awful stuff. I realize that the Big East has very good teams this year, and is certainly better than the ACC this year. But man, it is unpleasant to watch.
gumbomoop
01-31-2011, 09:56 PM
Halftime score: Texas 45 Texas A&M 20.
At A&M.
I was at the Greensboro Coliseum for the UT-UNC game. Texas is playing real good. Both O and D, esp D.
gumbomoop
02-01-2011, 01:38 PM
FYI -
For basketball junkies, every Tuesday aft, 1-4 [actually 1-3:30 today] on ESPNU, a program called "The Experts." Adrian Banch has been a regular, Dino Gaudio sort of, Bilas, Raftery, Hubert, Len E. last week, today includes Dicky Simpkins [yep], Eamonn Brennan, Bob Valvano, Andy Katz.
Basketball junkies stuff for sure. Every Tuesday, 1-4, ESPNU.
Duke: A Dynasty
02-01-2011, 08:22 PM
Ok wow maybe this is just me but Doug Gootlieb gives his top five teams in college basketball and I was fine with how he had his teams but as soon as he gave his 5th best team I immediatly said WTF and left the page. He chose Kentucky over Duke, Pitt, SDSU, Purdue, BYU, Lousiville, Notre Dame, and everyone else in the top 25. I mean seriously really?
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6079385&categoryid=2459792
pfrduke
02-01-2011, 08:25 PM
Ok wow maybe this is just me but Doug Gootlieb gives his top five teams in college basketball and I was fine with how he had his teams but as soon as he gave his 5th best team I immediatly said WTF and left the page. He chose Kentucky over Duke, Pitt, SDSU, Purdue, BYU, Lousiville, Notre Dame, and everyone else in the top 25. I mean seriously really?
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=6079385&categoryid=2459792
Not that single game results disprove anything, but Kentucky is losing to Mississippi (1-5 in the SEC) by 11 with under 12 to play as we speak.
Duvall
02-01-2011, 09:05 PM
Not that single game results disprove anything, but Kentucky is losing to Mississippi (1-5 in the SEC) by 11 with under 12 to play as we speak.
I dunno about single game results, but Kentucky's third road loss against a decidedly mediocre SEC opponent* raises questions about the ability of this year's Kiddie Kats to win away from the friendly confines of the Shops at Lexington Center.
*But then, I repeat myself.
tbyers11
02-03-2011, 11:36 AM
so I will put this here.
Check out what the Utah State student section does to distract a Nevada player (http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Utah-State-s-Wild-Bill-reaches-new-YouTube-fam?urn=ncaab-316258#remaining-content) (no it wasn't Olek) into missing a FT last night.
It involves a classic children's song and a heavyset guy dressed as a character from a Disney movie. Awesome.
Syracuse ended their 4 game skid, wining at UConn - and starting a losing streak for the Huskies!
-jk
Bob Green
02-05-2011, 11:13 PM
Saturday:
(16) Kentucky @ (23) Florida - this game following the Vandy/Florida showdown should provide a glimpse of who is the power in the SEC.
Brandon Knight scored 24 points but missed a 3-pointer as time expired and Florida defeated Kentucky. The Wildcats continue to struggle on the road.
nocilla
02-06-2011, 02:31 PM
Wisconsin is beating MSU like they did NCSU. 62-33 with 12 minutes remaining.
Does this say more about how good Wisc is at home or how bad MSU has gotten?
Chicago 1995
02-06-2011, 02:44 PM
Wisconsin is beating MSU like they did NCSU. 62-33 with 12 minutes remaining.
Does this say more about how good Wisc is at home or how bad MSU has gotten?
MSU lost by 20 at Iowa earlier this week, and was never in the game. Down 15-2 and 30-10 in the first half. Iowa's improving and better than they were last year, but they aren;t good. And they waxed MSU.
MSU's quit on Izzo. They were ridiculously overrated going into the season, but they have regressed and now they aren't even showing up.
Jderf
02-06-2011, 02:54 PM
MSU's quit on Izzo. They were ridiculously overrated going into the season, but they have regressed and now they aren't even showing up.
They are broken -- no longer the confident, gritty team that showed up in Cameron. MSU may have been overrated, but even then, they are still playing far below where they should be. If they played Duke again right now, I suspect the game would play out very differently than last time (even without Kyrie).
Chicago 1995
02-06-2011, 03:11 PM
They are broken -- no longer the confident, gritty team that showed up in Cameron. MSU may have been overrated, but even then, they are still playing far below where they should be. If they played Duke again right now, I suspect the game would play out very differently than last time (even without Kyrie).
The only limitation to how much we won by would be how soon K pulled the team into the spread delay.
They've regressed incredibly. Losing Lucious, as bad as he was playing, has hamstrung the team. Green's really inefficient, and Durrell Summers has returned to disappearing like he has his whole career.
Izzo losing this team is amazing really. That they'd not be as good as people expected isn't surprising, but that they'd regress and quit is just shocking. There aren't many teams I would be more suprised to see this happen to.
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