College Hoops Thread '09-'10

The 'Cuse dismantled Georgetown, and are looking mighty strong.

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by Resipsa

The 'Cuse dismantled Georgetown, and are looking mighty strong.

Yes they did, to the tune of 73-56, and yes they are. In fact, at this point I'd have to predict them as one of the # 1 seeds. Yet to be fair, if history is any judge, I'd also have to predict they'd be one of the two # 1s to get knocked off by the second weekend.

In the other big game last night, Kansas took Missouri 84-63, which shouldn't shock anyone. It also shouldn't shock anyone that they are another of my early # 1s, and one of the OTHER two who I'd say are more likely to survive.

There is not a ton of action tonight, but there are a fair number of important games, for one reason or another:

Kentucky vs. South Carolina = Even at home, I can't give the Gamecocks much of a chance here. But one can never tell . . . the 'Cats have to have a bad night, sooner or later.

Michigan State vs. Michigan = And I can't give the Logans much of a shot either, though in-state rivals often seem to step up, or step down.

Boston College vs. Clemson = The ACC may not be quite as wide open as the Pac-10 race, but it ain't far off. I give the Tigers the edge here, although they are not nearly as good on the road as in Littlejohn.

Miami vs. Maryland = If the Terps TCOB like they did against NCSU, this one's NC.

Kansas State vs. Baylor = I hate to keep dissing these two programs, but I gotta be honest . . . I have no faith in either one to win this game. Toss a coin.

UAB vs. Tulsa = And here we might very well have the best contest nobody much cares about. Expect a war.

West Virginia vs. DePaul = Expect a slaughter. Although losing their coach has seemed to focus the Blue Demons a bit, it will take more than focus for them to win this one . . . like maybe the Mountaineers missing their bus.

UNC vs. N. C. State = The Tar Heels are in desperate need of a little redemption, and the Wolfpack needs to rebound from their embarassment by the Terps. Can the 'Pack do to the Heels what they did to Dook on that same court in Raleigh last week? Yes, they can. Will they? I'll let you know tomorrow.

Enjoy.

Originally Posted by The Poet

Kentucky vs. South Carolina = Even at home, I can't give the Gamecocks much of a chance here. But one can never tell . . . the 'Cats have to have a bad night, sooner or later.

Oooopppsssieees.....

And this is why we play the game. The little ***** cats go down.

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by Resipsa

Oooopppsssieees.....

And this is why we play the game. The little ***** cats go down.

Yessirree, Bob . . . uh, Vic. That is indeed why they toss that orange up before they post the final score. And in case some of you missed it:

South Carolina 68 - Kentucky 62 = And in some ways the game wasn't even that close, as the 'Cats needed a 14-3 run midway thru the 2nd to grab a short-lived lead back from those game 'Cocks. S.C. wins their 3rd straight matchup against UK, which might cost them their # 1 ranking. It will certainly cost the Gamecocks $25,000 for rushing the court afterwards.

Hey, despite some vehement protests to the contrary, I've been saying it for weeks now: The Wildcats have had the tendency all too often this season to either let an opponent hang around or let them get right back into it after having them on the mat. It had to bite them in the butts eventually . . . and may again and again, if they keep planning on pulling it out of the fire at the end.

There were also a few other games last night, believe it or not, such as:

Michigan State 57 - Michigan 56 = And this one too was damn close to being an upset, as it not only took a jumper from Lucas with 3.5 ticks left to get the lead, it also took an alley-oop rolling of the iron with 0.9 to preserve the victory for the Spartans. I keep telling you these in-state conference games can be rough.

Kansas State 76 - Baylor 74 - Even the out-of-state ones, too. Seems like I advised you to flip a coin on this one, and seems like these two almost did just that.

Boston College 75 - Clemson 69 = OK, this was in Chestnut Hill, yet I really didn't think the Tigers would spit the bit here. They are better than the Eagles, but not last night.

UNC 77 - N. C. State 63 = The Tar Heels end their 3-game skid, while the Wolfpack have followed their defeat of Dook with 2 Ls of their own. Biggest item of note to me is that Carolina did this as much on the defensive end as on the other side of the court, which is more like UNC ball than their prior efforts. The 'Pack was held scoreless for 8+ minutes in the 2nd half as the Heels went on a 22-4 run, and State shot only 29% from the field that half. Maybe this will give the Heels a bit of much-needed confidence . . . as for me, it will take 3 or 10 more like this to do the trick.

UAB 65 - Tulsa 55 = I expected this to be closer . . . and again, it actually way. Tulsa had a 46-44 lead late due to the icy shooting of UAB, so since they could not hit from the field the Blazers hit 13 straight FTs to grab the W.

Washington 123 - Seattle 76 = OK, this is the kind of blowout I usually ignore, but hey . . . 123 points? Talk about your balanced scoring, that was 61 in the first half and 62 in the second. Holy crud.


There are a good number of nice games on tap this evening, such as:

Temple vs. Charlotte = The Owls are having a good season, and the '49ers are always dangerous.

Penn State vs. Illinois = OK, this may not be a great game. However, if PSU wants to get off the snide and win their first conference game, this might be a good time for it.

Villanova vs. Notre Dame = This may be a better game, but 'Nova should take it rather safely.

Tennessee vs. Vanderbilt = The Vols have had some better good wins, and both have had a few bad losses. This one's in Knoxville, which is the only thing that moves me to give UT the slight edge.

U. Conn vs. Providence = Can the Huskies build on their big win last weekend? I'd guess probably so, although Providence is better than you may think.

Georgia vs. Florida = Neither of these teams can seem to figure out who the hell they are, so what chance do I have? Again, I'll give the Gators that homecourt edge, if pushed.

Texas A&M vs. Oklahoma State = These two are both 3-2 in conference play, and both want to stay in contention . . . just in case the Jayhawks and the Longhorns get into a huge rumble and both get suspended from play. Should be a war.

Memphis vs. Marshall = Here are two decent teams to whom nobody seems to pay much attention. Both seem likely at this point to make the tourney, so maybe you should scout them out. This one ought to be fun as well.

Ohio State vs. Iowa = This one, not so much. Buckeyes by a bunch.

Iowa State vs. Oklahoma = And these two don't wanna let Colorado and Nebraska out of the basement, so this may be a battle too.

Texas vs. Texas Tech = The 'Horns need to find themselves again. Expect them to do so, though the Red Raiders won't roll over and die on them.

Duke vs. Florida State = For the first time in a while the Blue Devils want to prove they are the top of the ACC, and the Seminoles have pretensions themselves. This game is in Cameron, so give Dook and the Crazies the nod.

BYU vs. New Mexico = The Lobos and the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV seem to be the only conference threats facing BYU. As these are two more of those teams in which I have little long-term faith, I don't know who to pick . . . nor do I much care.

Enjoy.