Weekend of Jan. 2nd - Preview

Hope everyone had a great beginning to 2010! I know I did. When I thought of how the Purdue-West Virginia game could go down, I really never considered the scenario that actually happened. The first 10 minutes were fairly even, and there was a short stretch at the end of the 1st half where West Virginia pulled closer, but the rest of the game was dominated by Purdue. The Mountaineers could do nothing offensively for most of the game, as Purdue's pressure man-to-man controlled the tempo. On the other side, JaJuan Johnson was outstanding, with 25 points and 10 rebounds, and WVU had no answer for him. Once the outside shots started falling for Purdue, they put away the #6 team in the nation in convincing fashion.

So where does that put my Boilers? Well, for one, I think we can beat anyone in the country, especially in Mackey. Their weaknesses are lack of depth at the 5 and lack of elite quickness on the perimeter, both things a tired WVU team was unable to exploit. Could Kansas, Texas, and Kentucky exploit those? Certainly. What about Syracuse? Probably. But they also have not faced the kind of defense we bring to the table. I'm convinced we're one of the three best defensive teams in the country. Either way, we've got the fast track to a #1 seed, which is the ultimate goal. Things are looking very good for my Boilers.

The other major game was New Mexico holding off a furious late charge by Dayton to pick up another solid non-conference win. The battle between the Lobos and a very underrated BYU team should highlight Mountain West conference play. Here's what's up for this weekend:

Saturday, Jan. 2nd:

Game of the Night:

Kansas @ Temple: Those who have been complaining Kansas has been playing an easy schedule get their wish. They pay a visit to the Owls, who have already taken down Villanova and have been outstanding defensively this year. After the Nova upset, this game moved from trap game to marquee matchup. Kansas has played decent opponents, such as Memphis, Michigan, and Cal, but they haven't played anyone quite as good as this. However, their offense has improved every game since the disastrous performance vs. Memphis. Plus, this is the #1 team in the country, and they need to win games like this. I think Kansas will surprise some people with how well they'll play.

Pick: Kansas 72, Temple 60

Others:

Louisville @ Kentucky: Other major upset possibility of the day, although I don't see UK going down at home to a team that lost to Western Carolina.

Pitt @ Syracuse: Probably not an upset in the Carrier Dome, but the Orange cannot take the Panthers lightly.

Villanova @ Marquette: Marquette missed a big opportunity when they let it slip away at WVU. Here's another chance to get that marquee win.

Notre Dame @ UConn: The Huskies looking to recover after falling @ Cincinnati.

Michigan St. @ Northwestern: I always hate playing Northwestern. I imagine after last year, Michigan St would probably agree.

Oregon @ Washington: The Ducks got a good win at Washington state in OT, and now they get the other Washington school.

Gonzaga @ Illinois: Illinois has been a mixed bag this year. If they can win this one, they'll jump back into my "underrated" pool of teams (by the way, this still includes Kansas State. Why is nobody talking about the Wildcats?)

Baylor @ South Carolina: The Bears just overwhelmed Arkansas with their height inside. But they didn't have to deal with a guy like Devan Downey.

Oklahoma St. @ Rhode Island: The A-10 is as good as it's ever been. Dayton, Temple, Xavier, and a bunch of good mid-level teams... Like the Rams. Oklahoma St. needs to be wary.

Seton Hall @ Virginia Tech: The Governor's Cup. Whatever that means.

Arizona St. @ USC: The nightcap should be competitive, if slightly slow and boring.

Thursday, Dec. 31st in College Basketball

Cincinnati made a big statement on their home court Wednesday, beating a very good UConn team 71-69. The Bearcats took over the lead in the middle of the 1st half and held that lead for the rest of the game, resisting a late run by the Huskies to pick up an important conference win. Deonta Vaughn and Lance Stephenson combined for 38 of Cincy's 71 points and ran the break very well. If Cincy's offense can play like this more often, they have a good chance at making a run out of the middle of the Big East and into a tournament spot. For UConn, Kemba Walker struggled, going only 3-11 from the floor with 4 turnovers (although he did hit a big three to tie the game at the end).

Illinois trailed for most of the game vs. Northwestern, but a second half charge led to a tie game and a very exciting final 10 minutes of regulation. In overtime, Illinois took the early lead and held on for the win 89-83. Mike Tisdale had 31 and Mike Davis had 20, but it was D. J. Richardson's play in the 2nd half that sparked the Illini and helped them break the pesky NW 1-3-1 zone. Illinois lives and dies by the play of their freshman.

Great games to close out the new year. Here's what's coming up tonight:

Game of the Night:

Tennessee @ Memphis: I was tempted to go with the Ohio St/Wisconsin game, but I decided to go with the rivalry game instead. While it may not have as much draw as a Calipari-Pearl matchup, this game definitely has some interesting storylines. Memphis hasn't had many big games yet this year outside of almost taking down the number 1 team in the country in November, but has Syracuse and Gonzaga later in the season besides this game. Elliot Williams has been outstanding since transferring to Duke. Meanwhile, Tennessee only has two losses, one to undefeated Purdue, but has played a fairly easy schedule otherwise. This will be a good measuring stick for both teams. While Memphis is at home, Tennessee is the more complete team and should have the advantage in this one.

Pick: Tennessee 83, Memphis 76

Others:

Michigan @ Indiana: Big win for IU. On a related note, how far has Michigan plummeted? I mean, I guess there are worse losses than a close loss at Indiana, but they're at .500 now. They're not even on the bubble, and it's a pretty big bubble right now.

Ohio St. @ Wisconsin: Not as exciting now that Evan Turner is still out, but should still be a good matchup.

Oklahoma @ Gonzaga: More competitive than it appeared to be a month ago.

Green Bay @ Butler: Watch out for Green Bay. They beat Wisconsin earlier in the year and will give Butler all they can handle today.

Oregon @ Washington St.: The Ducks haven't done much of anything this year. I swear I'll stop talking about them if they don't win this one.

Richmond @ Wake Forest: Two under the radar teams. Should be entertaining.

Wednesday, Dec. 30th in College Basketball

Several good games on Tuesday night. Purdue trailed to Iowa at the end of the 1st half but the tide was turning even before that point and the Boilers shut them down in the 2nd. Syracuse fell behind early to Seton Hall, tied it up at halftime, fell behind again, then took the lead and never looked back, winning 80-73. Jeremy Hazell can only do so much by himself. West Virginia, meanwhile, trailed almost the entire game vs. Marquette and needed a Desean Butler fadeaway 18-footer with 2 seconds left to beat the Golden Eagles. The lesson? It's never easy to win on the road in conference, even if you're a top 5 team. The other three undefeated teams, Kansas, Texas, and Kentucky, all won with relative ease. In other games, New Mexico took down Texas Tech at home to rebound from their first loss of the year. More good conference games on tap tonight:

Game of the Night:

UConn at Cincinnati: I have a feeling there's going to be a lot of Big East games featured in this blog. Anyway, Cincinnati is one of those teams that appears to be squarely on the bubble at the moment, and you know they're going to be on the bubble at the end of the year. Cincy will have plenty of chances to get statement wins, but starting off on the right foot is always important. I believe the Bearcats are stout enough defensively that they can slow down UConn. What I worry about is Cincy's offensive abilities. Deonta Vaughn was supposed to get better with the addition of Lance Stephenson, but that hasn't happened. Yancy Gates is solid but not spectacular. The wild card is Stephenson. He has the tools to become a great player, but he needs better shot selection. Those factors mean UConn will probably win a slow-paced game.

Pick: UConn 65, Cincinnati 56

Others:

Baylor @ Arkansas: Baylor is a bubble team at this point, but probably needs this game to really be serious about making a tournament run.

South Carolina @ Boston College: Both teams need a signature win... and, well, this one will have to settle for now.

Northwestern @ Illinois: Guess which team is ranked? No cheating... Okay, it's the Wildcats. After 40 years. Congratulations, NW.

Tuesday, Dec. 29th in College Basketball

Game of the Night:

Syracuse @ Seton Hall: The Pirates are an interesting team. They haven't beaten anybody (best win is Cornell) but their two losses are to two very good teams in Temple and West Virginia in OT. The Seton Hall offense seems to revolve around Jeremy Hazell and the 15 plus shots he puts up every game, yet three other guys average in double digits and they shoot fairly well from three (if Hazell didn't throw up so many threes at a 30% rate, maybe they'd be even better). This is an intriguing matchup, and I haven't been particularly high on Syracuse this year, so this may be a spot to go with an upset pick. However, I can't see how a team whose offense revolves around one guy taking over a third of his team's shots is going to take down a team as stout defensively as Syracuse has been this year. We'll see, though.

Pick: Syracuse 78, Seton Hall 71

Others:

Marquette @ West Virginia: The tests coming early and often for the Mountaineers. Welcome to conference play.

Texas Tech @ New Mexico: Two surprising squads go at it in a good late non-conference game.

Purdue @ Iowa, Penn St @ Minnesota: Big Ten conference play kicks off tonight as well.

Weekend of Dec. 26th - Review

Hope everyone had a great holiday! Here's what happened in college basketball this week if you missed it:

Tuesday:

Michigan State hung with Texas for a while until they wilted in the final 5 minutes and the Longhorns came away with a victory. James was excellent, as usual. Pittman was in foul trouble for most of the game and that forced Rick Barnes to go small to match up with Izzo's Spartans. The depth of the Longhorns was in full display, as 5th best scorer Jordan Hamilton lit it up from three (4-6) and had 14 points overall. I think we know where Texas stands: they're probably the best team in the country along with Kansas. But what about the Spartans? So far they have losses to UNC (Top 15-ish), Texas (Top 2), and Florida (not a Top 25, but probably a tournament team), with wins over Gonzaga (borderline Top 25) and that's about it. The polls on Monday will probably have Sparty around 15, but you could make the argument they should be somewhere in the 20's. Will they get better? I would like to think so. Their most glaring weaknesses to me are turnovers (technically should get better over time, but there's a lot of good defenses in the Big Ten), size at the 5 (shouldn't be a huge issue, since they still rebound very well and are big at other positions), and free throw % (somewhat overrated, since a lot of teams struggle from the line). This team's still 2nd best in their conference, but what does that really mean? I'd put them at around 20 right now, just off the top of my head.

Wednesday:

West Virginia took care of business at home vs. a very good Mississippi team to remain undefeated. More on them later. Also, Long Beach State hung with Kentucky and even led at one point in the 2nd half, USC picked up a good non-conference win (this will be a trend), New Mexico was handed their first loss of the season by a scrappy Oral Roberts team, Missouri won for the first time in a decade over Illinois, and Arizona beat NC State on a last second lay-up by Nic Wise.

Friday:

USC continued to stay hot, beating UNLV 67-56 to give the Pac-10 some rare good news this winter. The Trojans are an interesting team. Left for dead at 2-4 earlier this season, USC now has three good non-conference wins to their slate and are rolling heading into conference play. Plus, 3 of those 4 losses (Nebraska, Texas, Georgia Tech) really are not all that bad. Still, they have a paper-thin bench and they have turnover problems, which is a problem when you play at a snail's pace. Maybe their grinding style of play and tough defense will lead to an abundance of wins in the weak Pac-10. They're available.

Saturday:

West Virginia coughed up a 10 point lead in the final minute vs. Seton Hall but pulled it out in OT to stay perfect heading into their New Year's Day showdown with Purdue. I've been saying for a while now that this is the best team in the Big East, and they haven't proven me wrong yet. They're strong defensively, they rebound better than almost anyone despite not having anyone taller than 6-9, and Ebanks isn't even playing that well. If he gets to where he can be offensively, this gives them three legitmately good weapons on the wing along with Desean Butler and Kevin Jones. If there's a team that can match Syracuse's length, it's the Mountaineers. I'm really scared for Friday. And the close call with Seton Hall? As long as they don't give up 41 points to one guy, I think they'll be okay.

Sunday:

Some ranked teams won and stuff.

I'm going to try and get out an initial bracketology/bubble watch for teams heading into conference play. Stay tuned!