I DVR'ed a lot of Tuesday's games since I didn't get a chance to see much of them. I'll blog about Tuesday's games in much more detail when I watch them this weekend. It's always tough to tell in these early games just how good these teams are, since we don't have much of a barometer to measure them by. It will likely take a month or so (or longer) to really get a feel for many of these teams, and like I mentioned on Sunday night, there's a big difference between the way college basketball teams play in November and the way they play in March. This is especially true in today's college basketball when there is so much turnover in programs and so many new pieces entering each year. With that said, here's Thursday's top games, and it consists of one tournament: The 2K Sports Coaches v. Cancer semifinals.
Game of the Night:
Illinois v. Texas (Coaches v. Cancer semis)
The Illini have been a trendy underdog to pick in the Big Ten this year. Almost all the key pieces return, including Big 10 POY candidate Demetri McCamey, Mike Davis, Mike Tisdale, and a couple of talented sophs in D. J. Richardson and Brandon Paul. Add in another good recruiting class and there's reason to get excited for basketball again in Champaign. Texas, meanwhile, seems to be one of those programs that recruits well but can't seem to get the chemistry or continuity to breed any sort of long-term success. Three NBA draft picks (Avery Bradley, Damion James, Dexter Pittman) left the program after last year, leaving the team in the hands of a group of talented, yet inexperienced freshman and sophomores and a bunch of role players. From the bit of Texas that I saw, they are definitely talented but still very raw on the offensive end. It will be interesting to see how the Longhorns perform against a team that matches up better with them athletically.
Other games:
Pitt v. Maryland (CvC semis): Both teams had early season scares. Pitt will be the favorite in this game, but do they have anyone to match up Jordan Williams in the post?
Puerto Rico Tip-Off 1st Round: Hofstra v. UNC, Davidson v. West Virginia, Nebraska v. Vanderbilt, W. Kentucky v. Minnesota
There should be some good semifinal matchups, but the first rounders appear to have 4 heavy favorites. Doesn't mean there can't be some good games, though.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Daily Preview: November 16th, 2010
The first daily preview of the college basketball season features ESPN's 24 hour marathon of college basketball, starting at midnight on Tuesday and continuing until midnight on Wednesday. Obviously, not every game can be a premier matchup, but the majority of the games feature major college programs and a few match up a couple of ranked teams. In addition, the NIT Preseason Tip-Off begins tonight, with the first two rounds taking place from Monday through Wednesday night and the finals on Wednesday and Friday night of next week.
Similar to last year, I'll list a Game of the Night and then a couple of other games I'm looking forward to.
Tuesday, Nov. 16th, 2010
Game of the Night: Virginia Tech Hokies @ Kansas St. Wildcats
There is a top 10 matchup on the slate for Friday, But I personally think this is the more intriguing matchup. Surprised to see VT playing a ranked team out of conference? Same here. Seth Greenberg's Hokies finally figured out it might be a good idea to schedule some challenging OOC games since 8-8 in the ACC with a cupcake non-conference isn't good enough to go dancing. Thing is, the Hokies should be good enough to make it this year regardless of schedule. They return their top 11 scorers, including ACC POY contender Malcolm Delaney. If Tech can find a consistent third scorer to supplement Delaney and Dorenzo Hudson, this Hokies team is very capable of knocking off a highly ranked Kansas St. team.
The Wildcats certainly lived up to expectations last year, reaching the Elite Eight and falling to eventual runners up Butler. Despite losing Denis Clemente and Dominique Sutton, the Wildcats should be better than last year, as they return Jacob Pullen, Curtis Kelly, Jamar Samuels, and a host of sophomores and freshman who should make great strides this year. Kansas St. should be tough defensively again and have enough offensive weapons to make a long run into the tournament. The big question... how will Pullen fare running the point? Will others be able to provide consistent scoring? If they can get consistent scoring from sources and not rely on Pullen to create the entire offense, this could be a NC contender.
Other Games:
Ohio St. Buckeyes @ Florida Gators
Two preseason top 10 teams that both return large portions of last year's squads. Florida returns all five starters, and Ohio State returns all but Evan Turner and brings in an excellent recruiting class to supplement. Both teams have questions, though. Florida relies too much on the three, especially from star guards Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker. Can they find Alex Tyus consistent looks inside? Ohio State struggled without Turner in the lineup last year. Will someone step up and take over as the go-to guy offensively? There's reason to believe true frosh Jared Sullinger could be that man.
San Diego St @ Gonzaga: This is the best Zags team in recent memory, but the Aztecs return four double-digit scorers from last year's NCAA Tournament team. Definitely a trap game for the Zags.
Butler @ Louisville: Good road test for the Bulldogs. The Cardinals have a lot of holes but will pressure and attack defensively.
South Carolina @ Michigan St.: Not the most difficult of matchups for the Spartans, but should be fun to watch anyway.
Similar to last year, I'll list a Game of the Night and then a couple of other games I'm looking forward to.
Tuesday, Nov. 16th, 2010
Game of the Night: Virginia Tech Hokies @ Kansas St. Wildcats
There is a top 10 matchup on the slate for Friday, But I personally think this is the more intriguing matchup. Surprised to see VT playing a ranked team out of conference? Same here. Seth Greenberg's Hokies finally figured out it might be a good idea to schedule some challenging OOC games since 8-8 in the ACC with a cupcake non-conference isn't good enough to go dancing. Thing is, the Hokies should be good enough to make it this year regardless of schedule. They return their top 11 scorers, including ACC POY contender Malcolm Delaney. If Tech can find a consistent third scorer to supplement Delaney and Dorenzo Hudson, this Hokies team is very capable of knocking off a highly ranked Kansas St. team.
The Wildcats certainly lived up to expectations last year, reaching the Elite Eight and falling to eventual runners up Butler. Despite losing Denis Clemente and Dominique Sutton, the Wildcats should be better than last year, as they return Jacob Pullen, Curtis Kelly, Jamar Samuels, and a host of sophomores and freshman who should make great strides this year. Kansas St. should be tough defensively again and have enough offensive weapons to make a long run into the tournament. The big question... how will Pullen fare running the point? Will others be able to provide consistent scoring? If they can get consistent scoring from sources and not rely on Pullen to create the entire offense, this could be a NC contender.
Other Games:
Ohio St. Buckeyes @ Florida Gators
Two preseason top 10 teams that both return large portions of last year's squads. Florida returns all five starters, and Ohio State returns all but Evan Turner and brings in an excellent recruiting class to supplement. Both teams have questions, though. Florida relies too much on the three, especially from star guards Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker. Can they find Alex Tyus consistent looks inside? Ohio State struggled without Turner in the lineup last year. Will someone step up and take over as the go-to guy offensively? There's reason to believe true frosh Jared Sullinger could be that man.
San Diego St @ Gonzaga: This is the best Zags team in recent memory, but the Aztecs return four double-digit scorers from last year's NCAA Tournament team. Definitely a trap game for the Zags.
Butler @ Louisville: Good road test for the Bulldogs. The Cardinals have a lot of holes but will pressure and attack defensively.
South Carolina @ Michigan St.: Not the most difficult of matchups for the Spartans, but should be fun to watch anyway.
2010-11 College Basketball: No Expectations
In preparation for this college basketball season, I planned it all out. I was going to do full fledged conference previews, with analysis for each team. I was going to include sections on preseason games to watch for, rank the conferences, teams, create a pre-season bubble watch and bracket. I was going all out this year.
Then life happened. I am not prepared for this season.
But in realizing this, I think this is a better mindset to enter the season with than I have in previous years. We tend to over-analyze everything in sports nowadays. Every win and loss is magnified to the point where we lose perspective. We immediately assume one win or loss means the difference between a championship and last place. We forget that teams change over the course of the season. Some teams mature and grow; others fall apart. Some teams are figured out and begin to stumble as a result; others catch fire at opportune times and ride it through the tournament. The way a team looks in mid-November is usually different from the way a team looks in March.
That last sentence was never more true than last year. Duke and Butler certainly were not the two best teams in the country last fall. But they both ended up in the championship game because they came together at just the right time (and had a few breaks go their way). That's how most seasons end up. Rarely is there a year where a great team or teams run wire-to-wire and win it all, especially now with the abundance of quality basketball programs and TV coverage. The talent is much more spread out and as a result, there is significantly more parity. That makes it difficult to predict who will be the best team in November, much less come March.
As a result, I will not be making preseason predictions this year. No conference rankings. No brackets. No Final Four or National Champion predictions. I'm going to go into this season with an open mind. I'm going to watch as many games as I can, starting with this week and the college basketball marathon coming up on Tuesday. I'll hype up games, post impressions, discuss teams I like and teams I don't like, do everything I used to. Only this time, there will be no expectations.
Then life happened. I am not prepared for this season.
But in realizing this, I think this is a better mindset to enter the season with than I have in previous years. We tend to over-analyze everything in sports nowadays. Every win and loss is magnified to the point where we lose perspective. We immediately assume one win or loss means the difference between a championship and last place. We forget that teams change over the course of the season. Some teams mature and grow; others fall apart. Some teams are figured out and begin to stumble as a result; others catch fire at opportune times and ride it through the tournament. The way a team looks in mid-November is usually different from the way a team looks in March.
That last sentence was never more true than last year. Duke and Butler certainly were not the two best teams in the country last fall. But they both ended up in the championship game because they came together at just the right time (and had a few breaks go their way). That's how most seasons end up. Rarely is there a year where a great team or teams run wire-to-wire and win it all, especially now with the abundance of quality basketball programs and TV coverage. The talent is much more spread out and as a result, there is significantly more parity. That makes it difficult to predict who will be the best team in November, much less come March.
As a result, I will not be making preseason predictions this year. No conference rankings. No brackets. No Final Four or National Champion predictions. I'm going to go into this season with an open mind. I'm going to watch as many games as I can, starting with this week and the college basketball marathon coming up on Tuesday. I'll hype up games, post impressions, discuss teams I like and teams I don't like, do everything I used to. Only this time, there will be no expectations.
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