NCAA Week Rewind

It’s Christmas time, which means two things for college basketball:

1. It’s the last chance to score a big non-conference win for most teams.

2. Conference season begins very soon!

This Week’s Winners

Florida – Despite the announcement of losing Harris, Florida is looking stronger and stronger, this week defeating Memphis. They also are about ready to add Chris Walker, one of their big recruits.

Florida State – Smoked a decent Charlotte team (one that had beat Michigan) to start the week, and then handed Massachusetts their first loss. This will be a team to be reckoned with in the ACC.

Duke and Kansas – This week they finally played to expectations. Struggling role players stepped up, the stars shone bright, and they landed big wins against UCLA and Georgetown.

Kansas State – Now winners of six straight games, including Saturday’s win over Gonzaga. Bruce Weber is finally getting the most out of his players.

This Week’s Losers

Undefeated Teams – First losses came to Pittsburgh, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Missouri, and St. Mary’s. Most of those were unexpected.

Notre Dame – Blew an 8-point lead to Ohio State in the last minute, and then lost Jerian Grant for the year due to academic issues.

North Carolina – The inconsistency continued this week with a loss to Texas at home. Then, news broke that PJ Hairston will not be returning to the team after all. Then, they barely beat Davidson at home. Not good.

Marquette – Sustained their fifth loss of the season on Saturday (New Mexico). There isn’t a team that has failed to live up to expectations more than them.

My Impressive Starting Five

Tracy Abrams, Illinois – Illinois has proven to be a good team this year, but taking out Missouri in the Border War was a big statement. Abrams scored 22 big points in that game, including knocking down the game winning free throws at the end.

TJ Warren, NC State – NC State has been one of the best surprise teams this year. Warren has led the way, and this week he averaged 26.5 points and 9.5 boards in two victories.

Markel Brown, Oklahoma State – Smart may get the headlines, but Brown is silently having a great season. He was instrumental in their big road win at Colorado scoring 23 and grabbing 11 boards.

Julius Randle, Kentucky – Got back to his double-double ways with a line of 29 and 10 in a win over Belmont.

Adreian Payne, Michigan State – 19 and 7 in their first win, then 33 and 9 in their big win over Texas. He’s now scored at least 16 points in his last four games.

What to Watch this Week

Villanova at Syracuse – Two unbeaten teams go at it here, this one being a rivalry game from the now “old Big East.” Both teams are currently ranked in the Top Ten.

Louisville vs. Kentucky – Many polls had these teams 1, 2 in the preseason. Both are starting to play their best ball now. This is also a major in-state rivalry.

Missouri at NC State – This is a nice under-the-radar game, featuring two teams that have been surprises so far.

Massachusetts vs. Providence – UMASS has another sneaky good test, and Providence needs to prove themselves legit without a key scorer.

Enjoy this week in college basketball!

By: Andrew Miller

NCAA Week Rewind

For those of you who are like me, waiting for this weekend was tough but totally worth it. The excitement of college basketball is here and boy was there some things to cheer about (and boo actually). Here is my recap of the opening weekend:

Opening Weekend Winners

Game in German Aircraft Carrier: This exciting game featured MSU and UCONN and was played in Germany in an aircraft carrier full of present day vets. Very cool!

Kevin Ollie – Connecticut: In that game, Kevin Ollie made his debut and inspired his “down” team to a big upset over MSU. The school needs to hire him officially.

The “Orange Hush” – Illinois: New coach John Groce is a proud alum of Taylor University (yes, Greg and my alma mater). Taylor boasts one of the best traditions in college b-ball: “Silent Night” (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbnZiPI6W2I). The Illinois fans followed suit and chose to do the “Orange Hush” to start the season. Here is their video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrQblfY8vbU.

Trevor Lacey – Alabama: Alabama played host to pesky South Dakota State and came back from a big first half deficit. Trevor Lacey was the hero at the end as he hit a game winning 3 at the buzzer. Alabama also won on Sunday.

Bucknell: Bucknell went into Mackey Arena (Purdue) and came away with a season opening win. That win will be a nice boost to their resume in case they don’t win their conference tourney this spring.

Creighton: In a matchup with another dangerous mid-major (North Texas), McDermott and company dominated. The Bluejays showed though that they are much more than just Dougie.

St. Louis, Colorado State, and Kent State: These schools all won in mid-major showdowns. Quality wins were earned over USC Upstate, Montana, and Drexel respectively.

Mike Bruesewitz – Wisconsin: Mike is a vital piece to a team trying to cope with the loss of Jordan Taylor (graduation) and Josh Gasser (injury). He was supposed to be out himself for quite a while but made an appearance this weekend in their first game. It’s an encouraging sign to see him out there for the Badgers (10 points).

Opening Weekend Losers

Aircraft Carrier Games: Out of three scheduled marquee games on aircraft carriers, only one was played and that was after it was pushed back two days. The other two were cancelled on Friday due to compensation on the court. It worked last year but these games may now need to be scrapped.

Florida State: The Seminoles looked ugly losing to South Alabama to open their year. The normally good defense was nowhere as they allowed 76 points.

Shabazz Muhammad – UCLA: The highly touted freshman was ruled ineligible for an unknown amount of time on Friday. He missed their first contest and will continue to miss until told otherwise. This is a big blow for the program and for him personally.

South Florida: For a team that had thoughts of finishing in the top few teams in the Big East, they didn’t look the part as they got pounded by Central Florida over the weekend.

Kentucky’s Rebounding: The Wildcats survived a scare from Maryland to open the year, but they let the Terrapins in it by not giving an effort on the glass. For having all the size a team could ask for (talking about you Noel, Cauley-Stein, Wiltjer, etc.), they gave up 23 offensive rebounds. That needs to change.

Injuries: Otto Porter and Vincent Council, two of the best Big East players, both fell victim to opening weekend injuries. Let’s hope they don’t turn out to be serious and they can get back on the court soon.

My Impressive Starting Five

F          Ryan Anderson – Boston College: 29 points and 17 rebounds in an opening win against FIU.

F          James Michael McAdoo – UNC: Averaged 22.5 points and 12.5 rebounds in two weekend wins.

C          Alex Len – Maryland: Almost single handedly beat the mighty Kentucky Wildcats and manhandled them inside. He ended with 23 points and 12 rebounds.

G          CJ McCollum – Lehigh, Nate Wolters – South Dakota State: Both scored over 30 points against quality teams Baylor and Alabama. Both lost though.

G          Ahmad Starks – Oregon State: 25.5 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 steals in two wins in the 2K Sports Classic.

My Disappointing Starting Five

           

F          Josh Smith – UCLA: Still wanting more from this talent wasting big man. Only five points and five boards despite his team getting an easy win.

F          Kaleb Tarczewski and Grant Jerrett – Arizona: These “stud” freshmen combined for only 7 points and 7 rebounds in a closer than expected win

C          Adreian Payne – Michigan State: Only put up 6 points and 2 rebounds against an undersized UCONN team in a losing effort.

G          Michael Snaer – Florida State: 2-11 from the field and 0-6 from deep in their opening loss to South Alabama

G          Ryan Harrow – Kentucky: Supposedly the next great Kentucky point guard, the transfer scored 0 points and only 2 assists (1 turnover) in their opening game win. He was replaced by walk-on Polson for most of the game. To his defense he was a little sick, but I would expect better production from him.

What to Watch this Week

Tonight kicks off the 24-hour college basketball marathon (midnight). Tons of great matchups include West Virginia vs. Gonzaga, Davidson vs. New Mexico, Harvard vs. Massachusetts, Temple vs. Kent State, Butler vs. Xavier, Wichita State vs. VCU, and Detroit vs. St. Johns.

Apart of this is also the State Farm Champions Classic in Atlanta: Michigan State vs. Kansas and Duke vs. Kentucky. Those are some big time teams and those contests will tell us a lot early about which teams are legit contenders.

Wednesday features a nice matchup between Wisconsin and Florida. Equally good but not as highly touted is Oregon State vs. Alabama.

Upsets could be in store with Friday games of UNC vs. Long Beach State, Notre Dame vs. St. Joe’s, and Florida State vs. BYU.

Enjoy this week in college basketball!

By: Andrew Miller