Semi-official 2013-14 College Basketball Thread

[Kodos]

Is it time to start a new thread with the new season approaching? :)

Syracuse's Boeheim against paying student-athletes - Yahoo Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/news/syracuses-boeheim-not-paying-student-205710720--ncaab.html)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Ranking the 15 transfers who will make the biggest impact next season | The Dagger: College Basketball Blog - Yahoo Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/ranking-15-transfers-biggest-impact-next-season-130010660--ncaab.html)

[Izulde]

I think UNLV is a legit Top 25 team right now, like 23-25 range. I expect us to finally break the first round curse this season, but probably short of title contention this season.

Starting next year (2014-15) though, we'll be back to genuine national prominence IMO.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Impressive stuff from this guy. Quits his job of 20+ years and calls out Huckleberry Hound in the school newspaper while doing it.

Longtime UNC tutor quits, calls out coach for Hairston treatment - CBSSports.com (http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24045575/longtime-unc-tutor-quits-calls-out-coach-for-hairston-treatment)

[tarcone]

Iowa is a legit top 25 team. A year of experience after a 25 win season. The team has already been to Europe this season. A transfer who could start. A legit 3 point shooting freshman. This team can go 11 deep. I Cant wait.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Pretty funny tweet from Mike Decourcy:

Norm Stewart humor on early start to practice: "There's no change, it's just legal now."

And a few minutes later:

NCAA now investigating Mizzou for improper practices that occurred 15 years ago.

[sterlingice]

Kodos, why is this the "semi-official" thread?

SI

[Kodos]

My poor self-esteem doesn't allow me to label it the official thread. What if I created an official thread and nobody posted in it? I'd be mortified!

[sterlingice]

Aliens have shame as a weakness. Check.

What was that? Oh, nothing. Just taking some notes.

SI

[Passacaglia]

I think it's not official until Dr. Sak posts in here.

[Kodos]

That's probably a good guideline.

[Marmel]

My poor self-esteem doesn't allow me to label it the official thread. What if I created an official thread and nobody posted in it? I'd be mortified!

You were worried that nobody would post in it? Just having the words college basketball in the thread title guarantees 100s of Missouri spam posts and another few dozen Kansas sucks posts.

[sterlingice]

You were worried that nobody would post in it? Just having the words college basketball in the thread title guarantees 100s of Missouri spam posts and another few dozen Kansas sucks posts.

(Aren't these the same thing?)

SI

[tarcone]

I dont think it becomes official until after Iowa beats Indiana this season.

Oh, yes I did.

[Kodos]

I dont think it becomes official until after Iowa beats Indiana this season.

Oh, yes I did.

So then it shall remain semi-official forever?

Honestly, Iowa probably has a good chance of beating us this year. We lost 4 starters. Gonna take a step or two backward.

[tarcone]

Iowa can go 10-11 deep this season. We return 90% of our scoring and like 95% of our rebounding.
Im very excited about basketball starting. Especially after the football team loses the next 5 out of 6.

[BishopMVP]

Ranking the 15 transfers who will make the biggest impact next season | The Dagger: College Basketball Blog - Yahoo Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-the-dagger/ranking-15-transfers-biggest-impact-next-season-130010660--ncaab.html)Nice to see DG getting a mention there. Between him, Chaz at the point and Cady Lalanne down low that's 3 potential 1st team all-A10 players. I fully expect us to be on the bubble again with 2 weeks to go - hopefully this time on the right side of the line and not clawing our way up from "Next 4 Out" status.

[Izulde]

UNLV/Kansas confirm home and home series starting 2014/15.

Should make for amazing basketball, especially if we're as good as I think we'll be by then.

[sterlingice]

Sounds like fun. I wonder who Self is recruiting out of Vegas that he's wanting to do this series.

Not diminishing UNLV. It's just that we don't have a lot of home-and-home series out there.

SI

[BishopMVP]

Sounds like fun. I wonder who Self is recruiting out of Vegas that he's wanting to do this series.

Not diminishing UNLV. It's just that we don't have a lot of home-and-home series out there.

SIFindlay Prep seems to be cementing itself as one of the top 3-4 pipelines for 5 star prospects.

Edit - Haha. I was gonna mention 5* wings Kelly Oubre and Rashad Vaughn are still uncommitted, but Oubre committed 2 days ago... to Kansas.

[Marmel]

Got my Cuse/Duke tickets for the Carrier Dome game on Feb 1. Its gonna be quite the event. 35-40K people!

[Kodos]

Heh. That's one of the rare matchups where I would be rooting for Syracuse. ;)

[Marmel]

I'm not sure where your Syracuse hate originates, but I know it goes way back. Sorry about last year's tournament. ;)

[Alf]

I'm sure Kodos's Syracuse hate is not Basketball related ;)

[Chief Rum]

Apparently UCLA 2012 recruit/2013 transfer PF Wannah Bail (Baylor) has been cleared by the NCAA, or at least that is what I gather from the reaction from my fellow Bruins fans (can't view Twitter here at work).

If so, that is huge for the Bruins to add an athletic and active PF to the big man mix at a position group with questionable depth and athleticism.

Although 2014 recruiting has been disappointing, the returning UCLA squad has a chance to be very good and to challenge Arizona for the conference championship again.

Key additions Bail, Alford's shooter kid Bryce and 5-star SG Zach Lavine join a team already featuring SG Jordan Adams, point forward Kyle Anderson, the Wear twins and C Tony Parker. That's a good bit of talent (and that is not counting SG Isaac Hamilton, who will almost certainly not be allowed to play this year).

If Alford has a strong 2013-14 season, it will help tons with recruiting the 2015 class out west, which is just loaded with talent.

A lot of Bruins fans are extremely upset at some of the decisions Alford has made in recruiting the past few months, but I'm excited to see what this team can do once the ball goes up in November.

[Kodos]

I'm not sure where your Syracuse hate originates, but I know it goes way back. Sorry about last year's tournament. ;)

I grew up in Rochester. I usually end up hating local teams because of their fans.

I'm sure you'll beat us again this year.

[Kodos]

I'm sure Kodos's Syracuse hate is not Basketball related ;)

I sure do miss the Mohawks!

[Kodos]

Apparently UCLA 2012 recruit/2013 transfer PF Wannah Bail (Baylor) has been cleared by the NCAA, or at least that is what I gather from the reaction from my fellow Bruins fans (can't view Twitter here at work).

If so, that is huge for the Bruins to add an athletic and active PF to the big man mix at a position group with questionable depth and athleticism.

Although 2014 recruiting has been disappointing, the returning UCLA squad has a chance to be very good and to challenge Arizona for the conference championship again.

Key additions Bail, Alford's shooter kid Bryce and 5-star SG Zach Lavine join a team already featuring SG Jordan Adams, point forward Kyle Anderson, the Wear twins and C Tony Parker. That's a good bit of talent (and that is not counting SG Isaac Hamilton, who will almost certainly not be allowed to play this year).

If Alford has a strong 2013-14 season, it will help tons with recruiting the 2015 class out west, which is just loaded with talent.

A lot of Bruins fans are extremely upset at some of the decisions Alford has made in recruiting the past few months, but I'm excited to see what this team can do once the ball goes up in November.

Wanna Bail? Seriously, that's his name?

[Chief Rum]

Wanna Bail? Seriously, that's his name?

Lol... yeah. I know, right? That's a cinch to make all of those "Best Names In The Tournament" lists that come out before March Madness. Well, "best" from a name enjoyment perspective. It is of course an awful name.

[nol]

A rare good Bleacher Report article about all the sneaker companies jockeying to sign Andrew Wiggins: Inside the Epic Race to Get Andrew Wiggins' Sneaker Endorsement | Bleacher Report (http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1808832-inside-the-epic-race-to-get-andrew-wiggins-sneaker-endorsement)

Cliffsnotes version: playing on Nike-sponsored teams his entire life before electing to play for one of the few Adidas schools in college basketball is probably the shrewdest move Wiggins could have made at this stage in his career.

[sterlingice]

Wait- a BR article that's not just one picture per page to get clicks? I don't understand.

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Good read. Think Cal has a warped sense of the college world, but there are some good ideas mixed in.

ANDRESS | Cal Compares NCAA Dysfunction to Government Shutdown - WDRB 41 Louisville News (http://www.wdrb.com/story/23582245/a)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Coaches poll is out. Some were wondering how the hell Georgia got a vote. It was confirmed that Mark Fox voted his own team #25.

USA Today | Sports | NCAAB (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaab/polls/)

[sterlingice]

Six is probably overly generous for Kansas. Young team and lots of talent coming in but, of those, only 3 have really played a rotation role on a college team (Tharpe, Ellis, and Black- but that was on Memphis; Traylor- maybe?)

SI

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Pretty excited about the exhibition opener for Mizzou. They're going to be honoring the 1993-1994 Big 8 Championship team which went 14-0 in conference play. In addition to all team members being in attendance, they will play the exhibition opener in the Hearnes Center where the '93-'94 team played their games. Free admission on Homecoming weekend will likely mean a full house.

Also a big surprise in the starting lineups. Johnathan Williams III beat out Tony Criswell for the PF spot and will start. Williams was a big recruit who suffered an injury during his HS career that knocked him back to the lower half of the top 50. Great to see the freshman get the starting nod right off the bat.

[JeeberD]

Looks like UTEP and Kentucky are working together to schedule a "rematch" of the 1966 National Championship "Glory Road" game in 2016, the 50th anniversary of the original game. They apparently want to hold it at Maryland's Cole Field House, where the original game was played, on MLK Day.

I'm all for it, it could hopefully be a recruiting draw. I just hope we have a good team and play a good game, don't want to get embarrassed on national tv...

Report: Kentucky, UTEP to meet in 2016 for 1966 rematch (http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/sec/2013/10/24/kentucky-wildcats-utep-miners-texas-western-adolph-rupp-don-haskins-1966-glory-road/3176293/)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Fair warning for college basketball fans after Mizzou's first exhibition game last night. Be prepared for some ugly basketball in the exhibition games. There were 25 fouls in the first half of the game last night. A good chunk of them were followed by bewildered looks from players as to what they did. The foul calls have changed quite a bit thanks to the new rules. I think they're good rules, but the players are obviously still getting used to them in game situations.

[Kodos]

Devin Booker to Kentucky | ZagsBlog.com (http://zagsblog.com/articles/devin-booker-to-kentucky/)

5-star SG Devin Booker chooses Kentucky over Missouri. Fellow 5-star SG James Blackmon Jr. to announce tonight between Kentucky, Indiana, and Michigan.

[kcchief19]

Big disappointment Booker going to Kentucky. He was in Columbia each of the last two weekends, one for an official visit and the second with his dad for the 1993-94 undefeated Big 8 champions reunion. All seemed to go very well.

Word is dad is not happy, so maybe he'll keep working on the kid. :)

[Chief Rum]

Abit of a shocker.

2014 5 Star PF Kevon Looney commits to UCLA. Huge get for Alford's program.

[Kodos]

Blackmon commits to IU! :)

[tarcone]

Iowa is going to go 11 deep. Of the 11, 9 have scored in double figures in a game. 6 have scored over 20. The only 2 that havent scored in double figures are Wiscy transfer, Uthoff and Freshman, Jok.

I cannot wait for the season to start.

[MrBug708]

Abit of a shocker.

2014 5 Star PF Kevon Looney commits to UCLA. Huge get for Alford's program.

Boom!

[mauchow]

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BYgmF6TCAAAXHfG.jpg

St Johns and Wisconsin tomorrow night. Should be a good opening game. The game is being played at Sanford Pentagon (in South Dakota). A new building. Retro style.

[sterlingice]

It's going to be some ugly basketball until teams adjust to the new rules/refs start backing off

SI

[larrymcg421]

After the best season in Miami basketball history, it's not going to be pretty this year. The Canes lost their top 6 players from last season's team. Rion Brown is the only returnee that played any kind of significant time last season.

[MrBug708]

After talking so much crap about UCLA's "pace", Enfield goes out and loses while managing 65 points...

[Vegas Vic]

After the best season in Miami basketball history, it's not going to be pretty this year. The Canes lost their top 6 players from last season's team. Rion Brown is the only returnee that played any kind of significant time last season.

I hope the Miami Hurricanes enjoyed their "15 seconds of fame" from last season.

Opening game 2013: Saint Francis (Brooklyn) 66 Miami 62.

[larrymcg421]

I hope the Miami Hurricanes enjoyed their "15 seconds of fame" from last season.

Opening game 2013: Saint Francis (Brooklyn) 66 Miami 62.

I'm confident Larranaga can rebuild.

[mauchow]

Wisconsin picks up a good win against St Johns. SJ has talent but the Badgers TEAM basketball too much for them.

The fouls were pretty bad last night going both ways. I hope the rule can be tamed down a little bit but the general premise of the rule I agree with. The clutching and grabbing need to go. Hands on offensive player should be okay as long as it isn't slowing the dribbler down.

[MJ4H]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/rrSdpi85fKk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[digamma]

Pretty sluggish opener for Harvard yesterday. They beat Holy Cross 81-71. At times, they looked really good and you could see the potential this team has. It will be a process to figure out the best rotation and get everyone minutes and shots.

[Butter]

So, interesting situation in the Dayton Flyers' home opener.

Some of you may have seen it on SportsCenter, but for those of you who didn't, here's what happened:

UD was down 80-78. They steal the in-bounds pass with 6 seconds left, bring it upcourt, and hit a 3 to take the lead. Clock stops at 0.5 seconds. IPFW inbounds the ball, heaves it 80 feet and miss. UD celebrates the apparent win, coaches shake hands.

Refs go to the monitor, and determine that there actually should've been 1 second left. IPFW gets to re-run a play with 1 second left, they throw it 50 feet, actually get a half-decent look from 35 feet, but still miss.

My question: doesn't the fact that they ran the play at 0.5 negate them getting another crack at it with 1 second left? If they had hit the 80 footer with 0.5 remaining, surely they would not have made IPFW run the play again. They essentially got 2 cracks at winning the game, which seemed unfair.

Even more worrisome: why does Dayton need a buzzer-beater to beat IPFW from the Summit League.

[Butter]

Other scores of interest for me:

USC Upstate 64, Va Tech 63
Manhattan 99, LaSalle 90 in 2OT
Coppin St. 78, Oregon St. 73

I also see the St. Francis (NY) win over Miami (FL) was already discussed.

Still trying to figure out if Craig Robinson still has a job at Oregon State just because he is Obama's brother-in-law or what. They were 21-15 in his 3rd season, but other than that have been fairly non-descript.

[jbergey22]

Other scores of interest for me:

USC Upstate 64, Va Tech 63
Manhattan 99, LaSalle 90 in 2OT
Coppin St. 78, Oregon St. 73

I also see the St. Francis (NY) win over Miami (FL) was already discussed.

Still trying to figure out if Craig Robinson still has a job at Oregon State just because he is Obama's brother-in-law or what. They were 21-15 in his 3rd season, but other than that have been fairly non-descript.

I believe Oregon State had numerous transfers and they have a couple of their returnees suspended. I know Moreland is. Could be a very long season for them. With what has gone on this past off season I would be very surprised if Robinson was back next year. He doesnt have Cunningham to fall back on this year and somehow he lost Starks back to Illinois.

[jbergey22]

Impressive stuff from this guy. Quits his job of 20+ years and calls out Huckleberry Hound in the school newspaper while doing it.

Longtime UNC tutor quits, calls out coach for Hairston treatment - CBSSports.com (http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/eye-on-college-basketball/24045575/longtime-unc-tutor-quits-calls-out-coach-for-hairston-treatment)

Until Hairston actually plays a game why is this such a big issue? Maybe Williams feels this will help the kid more long term than kicking him off the team. Didnt the Ducks just kick their tight end off the team a month ago and 2 weeks later gets busted with all sorts of drugs?

[gstelmack]

Until Hairston actually plays a game why is this such a big issue? Maybe Williams feels this will help the kid more long term than kicking him off the team. Didnt the Ducks just kick their tight end off the team a month ago and 2 weeks later gets busted with all sorts of drugs?

Part of the reason the UNC thing is such a big deal, especially around here, is because of the "UNC Way". Basically, UNC spent a lot of time talking about how they do things "right", and now it turns out their athletic department was actually doing what everyone else is doing. They are getting more heat because of their attitude.

[SirFozzie]

Tonight and tomorrow is the ESPN 24 hour college basketball marathon

[mauchow]

Weeee Badgers a ten point favorite tomorrow night at the Kohl Center..I'm pumped to be in attendance. I only wish Florida was fully healthy/not suspended.

[dawgfan]

I believe Oregon State had numerous transfers and they have a couple of their returnees suspended. I know Moreland is. Could be a very long season for them. With what has gone on this past off season I would be very surprised if Robinson was back next year. He doesnt have Cunningham to fall back on this year and somehow he lost Starks back to Illinois.
Yeah, I have a feeling this is his make or break year, and I'm guessing he'll be out by the end of the season. They just haven't made much progress, and there's too much money floating around the conference now for Oregon State to stick with him if they don't show some significant progress.

[sterlingice]

Kansas is a 5 point dog to Duke which feels about right. The team looks really, really green- talented but entitled and not at all a team yet. They could all decide to show up tomorrow and roll or, more likely, a good loss to Duke to get the team focused and remind them they are not invincible.

SI

[Vegas Vic]

I'm confident Larranaga can rebuild.

It looks like there about 500 people at the Georgia Southern - Miami game tonight. What happened to all of the Miami bandwagon fans? Also, the Heat have a bye tonight, but there's no sign of LeBron and Dwyane Wade in the stands.

[larrymcg421]

It looks like there about 500 people at the Georgia Southern - Miami game tonight. What happened to all of the Miami bandwagon fans? Also, the Heat have a bye tonight, but there's no sign of LeBron and Dwyane Wade in the stands.

Not sure what that has to do with what I said. I'm certainly not a bandwagon fan. It's no secret that the Canes don't have a big basketball tradition. They actually completely dropped their team for several years until bringing it back in the late 80s. They've had a few good years here and there and last year was their best season ever, but they're not going to get consistently high attendance numbers for OOC games until they build more of a tradition. I'm hoping Larranaga can do that, but I'm sticking by them either way and lack of large attendance isn't going to change my support.

[BishopMVP]

Pretty sluggish opener for Harvard yesterday. They beat Holy Cross 81-71. At times, they looked really good and you could see the potential this team has. It will be a process to figure out the best rotation and get everyone minutes and shots.Yeah, it's a bit weird to have 2 starting point guards back. Should work out fine in the end, but it'll take some adjusting for Chambers and Curry. If that Jonah Travis shows up every game though their frontcourt looks a lot better.

Saw a nice 15 point UMass win over BC in the 2nd game of that doubleheader. DG had an off day shooting, but looked the part, Chaz came alive in the 2nd half and Cady Lalanne was a monster down low (27/12, 3 blocks). Offense still looks disjointed in the half-court - there was a lot of effort spent trying to feed Lalanne for post-ups down low, but that seemed to throw off the rhythm of our other perimeter players. Our 21 offensive rebounds (vs. 18 BC defensive ones) were really the difference. LSU tomorrow at 11am in part of the marathon.

[Lathum]

Tonight and tomorrow is the ESPN 24 hour college basketball marathon

a degenerate gamblers wet dream

[tarcone]

Iowa wins their 2 1st games. Demolished UNC-Wilmington, then struggled with Nebraska-Omaha. But got 2 wins.
We are still struggling shooting. That is left over from last season. Need to get that fixed.

[Lathum]

Gonzaga looks really good early on. They are going to be able to spread the floor and if they knock down jumpers look like they will be hard to beat.

[Lathum]

Wow. 2 great games tomorrow.

[BishopMVP]

Wow. 2 great games tomorrow.Let's hope they're less sloppy than this UMass game. 22 fouls called in the first 12 minutes and teams a combined 4-25 inside the 3-point line does not make for the most enjoyable viewing experience. I also didn't realize grey was a school color, but at least we're winning.

[MacroGuru]

BYU took Stanford into the triple digits last night and pulled out the win. Don't know what it says about this young team of ours other than, they can score.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Let's hope they're less sloppy than this UMass game. 22 fouls called in the first 12 minutes and teams a combined 4-25 inside the 3-point line does not make for the most enjoyable viewing experience. I also didn't realize grey was a school color, but at least we're winning.

Welcome to the first part of this season. Fouls are abundant. Players are going to have to adjust because they aren't going to change how they're calling the game. Officials have been told that if they don't call the game as specified, they will get regular season games taken away. Also, any official who loses some regular season assignments automatically loses the opportunity to officiate any post-season games. That's thousands of dollars for these officials and you can be sure they don't want to lose that.

[digamma]

Yeah, it's a bit weird to have 2 starting point guards back. Should work out fine in the end, but it'll take some adjusting for Chambers and Curry. If that Jonah Travis shows up every game though their frontcourt looks a lot better.



The knock on Travis has always been his defense. He looked better on that end on Sunday, and if he can play at both ends, he should get significant playing time. Casey has always had foul issues and Kenyatta Smith may be out for a while. I have to think Zena's minutes will increase as the season progresses--he just looks different on the floor than Harvard's other players.

[Butter]

UMass hangs on to win.

I wish Dayton had gotten Anthony Hickey, one of LSU's guards... he is a good one. I know UD was on his final list but he chose LSU instead back in 2011.

[Chief Rum]

Yeah, it's a bit weird to have 2 starting point guards back. Should work out fine in the end, but it'll take some adjusting for Chambers and Curry. If that Jonah Travis shows up every game though their frontcourt looks a lot better.

Saw a nice 15 point UMass win over BC in the 2nd game of that doubleheader. DG had an off day shooting, but looked the part, Chaz came alive in the 2nd half and Cady Lalanne was a monster down low (27/12, 3 blocks). Offense still looks disjointed in the half-court - there was a lot of effort spent trying to feed Lalanne for post-ups down low, but that seemed to throw off the rhythm of our other perimeter players. Our 21 offensive rebounds (vs. 18 BC defensive ones) were really the difference. LSU tomorrow at 11am in part of the marathon.

Bishop, digamma, what's the word on Zena Edosomwan and his role with the team?

Nice, athletic talent who is raw, and probably should have been recruited harder by Howland when he was out here.

[BishopMVP]

Welcome to the first part of this season. Fouls are abundant. Players are going to have to adjust because they aren't going to change how they're calling the game. Officials have been told that if they don't call the game as specified, they will get regular season games taken away. Also, any official who loses some regular season assignments automatically loses the opportunity to officiate any post-season games. That's thousands of dollars for these officials and you can be sure they don't want to lose that.Oh, I know all about the early-season crackdowns, but that was also really poor shooting from both sides in the opening 10 minutes. Picked up quite a bit after that as both teams shot 50%+ the rest of the game. For all the talk about hand-checking it was really the post players getting the brunt of the brutal calls - both Lalanne and Johnny O'Bryant were in foul trouble all game due to some real ticky-tack calls.UMass hangs on to win.Even when we were up 8 with less than a minute to go I knew we'd make it interesting! But that's two wins over teams that could/should be on the bubble in March, and some really encouraging signs - Cady's an absolute beast down low when on the court, Sampson Carter looks much quicker after struggling with an ankle injury last year, and Derrick Gordon is still out of sync on offense but looks like a beast athletically and hustles his ass off (as evidenced by him taking out multiple members of press row late in the game). Charleston Classic (Nebraska, New Mexico/UAB, tba) in 10 days should be fun, and looks like another potential shootout with BYU in less than a month.

[tarcone]

I was wondering how MSU would adjust to the new rules. Pretty good I guess.

[sterlingice]

I am /shocked/ that Izzo is being a good tactical game coach ;)

SI

[sterlingice]

I'm not going to make it through our game tonight at this rate

SI

[Matthean]

A four point loss to MSU this early in the season likely isn't that bad of a thing for UK considering the number of freshman they have. It seems like MSU has a terrible record during these early games against fellow top tier teams so this is still huge for them.

[sterlingice]

Been a fun first half. Going to have to head to sleep, tho :(

SI

[JonInMiddleGA]

Tennessee loses to Xavier by 4 on the road. Not a bad game really, some mental stuff (like having the hot hand McRae not get his touches in the 2nd half) and some physical stuff (like Stokes being in foul trouble all night) but all in all not a bad loss IF they take it & learn from it.

[jbergey22]

Good stuff tonight. You wont even see such good matchups at the final four most years. From watching these 4 play Id have to say Louisville is going to have to find another scorer to repeat.

And if possible I think I came aware more impressed by Michigan State and Kentucky. Michigan State for their typical toughness and seem more talented than usual and for Kentucky for fighting back like they did in their first huge challenge.

As for game #2 I can not believe how many good scorers these 2 teams are throwing out there.

[jbergey22]

Tennessee loses to Xavier by 4 on the road. Not a bad game really, some mental stuff (like having the hot hand McRae not get his touches in the 2nd half) and some physical stuff (like Stokes being in foul trouble all night) but all in all not a bad loss IF they take it & learn from it.

How did Maymon look in his return?

[MrBug708]

Went to the sad UCLA game tonight. 2K fans and I was able to score tickets for $2 a piece.

Terrible job by our AD

[JonInMiddleGA]

How did Maymon look in his return?

Beasted the offensive glass (7 OR, 10 total rebounds) but only 7 pts on 3/8 shooting and just 1/4 from the line, with 5 turnovers. With McRae lighting things up the offense really didn't look to Maymon much, going with either Jordan or the rotating cast of guards.

As an aside, you won't see many games feature uglier FT shooting. Vols were 7/19 (37%) while Xavier was just 13/24 (54%) and aside from Myles Davis (5/6) the rest of their team went 8/18. UT actually shot better from behind the arc than from the line, it was grotesque.

[Izulde]

The terrible preseason form for UNLV is carrying over to the regular season. Utterly embarrassing 86-65 loss at home to UC-Santa Barbara. There's quite a few fans who have already been upset with Dave Rice for looking like one of those guys who can recruit but not get the team any further than the first round exits we got under Kruger's plateau.

This bad start isn't making things any better.

[Warhammer]

Other scores of interest for me:

USC Upstate 64, Va Tech 63
Manhattan 99, LaSalle 90 in 2OT
Coppin St. 78, Oregon St. 73

I also see the St. Francis (NY) win over Miami (FL) was already discussed.

Still trying to figure out if Craig Robinson still has a job at Oregon State just because he is Obama's brother-in-law or what. They were 21-15 in his 3rd season, but other than that have been fairly non-descript.

I sent a customer to the game and got an earful about it yesterday, which was a good thing.

[Vince, Pt. II]

The terrible preseason form for UNLV is carrying over to the regular season. Utterly embarrassing 86-65 loss at home to UC-Santa Barbara. There's quite a few fans who have already been upset with Dave Rice for looking like one of those guys who can recruit but not get the team any further than the first round exits we got under Kruger's plateau.

This bad start isn't making things any better.

Hey, my Gauchos are feisty. Don't be that embarrassed :)

[sterlingice]

Good stuff tonight. You wont even see such good matchups at the final four most years. From watching these 4 play Id have to say Louisville is going to have to find another scorer to repeat.

And if possible I think I came aware more impressed by Michigan State and Kentucky. Michigan State for their typical toughness and seem more talented than usual and for Kentucky for fighting back like they did in their first huge challenge.

As for game #2 I can not believe how many good scorers these 2 teams are throwing out there.

I'm not sure where to gauge Michigan State after this. That's an old team up against a lot of younger players so they should be more ready and win. However, they were in control a lot of the game until Randle went nuts and then salted it away late, like a veteran team should. It tells me Izzo has a talented and mature enough team to win in November. Will that be enough in March with all the young teams probably getting better faster than they will?

As for Duke-Kansas, I missed 15 minutes of game time as I only saw the first half before falling asleep last night and then fast forwarded to the last 5 minutes before I needed to leave this morning. I was really impressed with Parker (duh) but it looked like he didn't do much in the time I missed as most of his points were in the first half. Considering Duke was the older team, I expected Kansas to lose by 5-7 and a win is nice. Also, going against some of the freshman hype, I have some inflated expectations for Perry Ellis as either the 1 or 1A option at Kansas this year. He looked really good in the second half of last season. This year, I expect a lot of 20/8 type games like he got last night (24/9 was the final tally, I believe). He doesn't quite get enough boards to get a lot of double doubles like Collison, Simien, or Robinson and he's only a sophomore but he could really do some damage this year.

SI

[mauchow]

Wisconsin benefits nicely from Florida missing some key players last night. This win is going to look great at the end of the year when deciding between a 2 seed and 3 seed for Badgers. Thats right..I said it :)

Badgers get both MSU and Ohio State just once this year and its in Madison for both so if we can finally end this bad run against MSU and beat OSU it will give us a nice leg up on the B1G. The schedule definitely favors Wisconsin this year. Put in your bets now! :)

[Izulde]

Dwayne Morgan officially signs his Letter of Intent with UNLV. Consistently ranked in the Top 10 of SFs.

[MrBug708]

PAC-12 is looking mostly bad in OOC. Arizona exempted

[JonInMiddleGA]

Kinda randomly ... got hooked up with tickets by an old sales rep of mine, so tonight me & the kid will be at GT vs UGA.

I believe this will make the 5th time I've seen these two play men's hoops, almost certainly the most I've seen any matchup (above the HS level) in person. There's kind of a weird synergy to taking my teenager, since the first time I saw them play each other in person I was the teen & my dad was taking me to The Omni.

[Chief Rum]

Jon, you're a hard one for me to picture as a teen. I am sure, theoretically, that it happened, but it's not something I can visualize lol.

Have fun at the game with your son!

[Lathum]

Going to be a long season for the Huskies. Lost to UC Irvine last night after they blew us out of the water to start the second half. More great game coaching by Romar. I am a big fan of his, but I am sure the haters are out en masse today.

Our starting front court is out, including Jarreau for the year after getting hurt on basically the first play of the season. We have a young backcourt, no size or depth, and onr only scorer is CJ Wilcox, who can dissapear at times.

If we manage 4 wins in the PAC 12 this year I'll be surprised.

[Lathum]

So Mau or Lungs, is Wisconsin playing a more up tempo game this year or was tonight just an aberration?

[tarcone]

Iowa cracks the top 25 in the coaches poll. Im so happy. :D

[Izulde]

Man, this year is sucking.

[Lathum]

looking forward to playing indiana tonight, of course, we'll probably get killed, but will still be fun to see us play at MSG.

This UAB- New Mexico game has been great

[lungs]

So Mau or Lungs, is Wisconsin playing a more up tempo game this year or was tonight just an aberration?

I missed all but the last few minutes of the 100 point game but my impression so far is that they will actually take an open shot if it is there and more than 10 seconds left on the shot clock. I haven't watched enough to say how much running they will do.

[mauchow]

So Mau or Lungs, is Wisconsin playing a more up tempo game this year or was tonight just an aberration?

Bahaha. The Badgers actually have five players that can shoot the ball this year and aren't afraid to drive and shoot. In the past, the Badgers always had guys that were hesitant to shoot the ball or just slowed/stopped the flow of the offense with their lack of offensive skill. This year nobody is afraid to shoot and don't really lack in skill. Add in the new defense rules, it's definitely easier to score.. and North Dakota had a guy go nuts in Huff early in possesions, thus speeding up the game, but that was countered with Kaminski for WI going nuts for 43 points (WI record).

There was minimal defense played in this game...I'm sure the same will happen tonight.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well fuck :(

Travis Jorgenson of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets lost for season to knee injury - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10012157/travis-jorgenson-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets-lost-season-knee-injury)

Easily the biggest surprise to me in watching them play, really enjoyed him ... I probably jinxed him :(

[MrBug708]

Justise Winslow picks Duke. I wonder if this means UCLA can flip Daniel Hamilton

[Lathum]

This game is going as I thought. We have zero inside presence.

[Kodos]

Pleased with how a very young Indiana team looks tonight.

[dawgfan]

This game is going as I thought. We have zero inside presence.
Blackwell is pretty good. Not sure what the hell has happened with Kemp, but he was garbage tonight. Dierickx is just a body.

Losing Jarreau for the season really hurt, and not having Simmons until sometime next month sucks for post depth.

So, yeah. Not many options for inside players on this team right now.

[Butter]

Well fuck :(

Travis Jorgenson of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets lost for season to knee injury - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10012157/travis-jorgenson-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets-lost-season-knee-injury)

Easily the biggest surprise to me in watching them play, really enjoyed him ... I probably jinxed him :(

I was definitely sorry to see him go down in the Dayton game Wednesday night. I figured since he went down holding his knee that had the brace on it, that it was probably not going to be good.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Well fuck :(

Travis Jorgenson of Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets lost for season to knee injury - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10012157/travis-jorgenson-georgia-tech-yellow-jackets-lost-season-knee-injury)

Easily the biggest surprise to me in watching them play, really enjoyed him ... I probably jinxed him :(

Sad to see that. He obviously became the odd man out at Mizzou in recruiting, but he's an awfully good kid. Hope he comes back strong again.

[BishopMVP]

Big chance for UMass to get a big win today vs. New Mexico. 2:30 EST game on ESPN2 if you like watching up-tempo basketball - both teams are averaging 90+. As with every early-season game, the key will be Lalanne and Chaz Williams staying out of foul trouble (and maybe getting Kendall Williams and Alex Kirk into it.)

[BishopMVP]

By the way, this might be the most inappropriate taunting of all time - Bruins 73, Humber 72 on Vimeo (http://vimeo.com/79890786)

(Canadian colleges, game-winning shot.)

[Logan]

I saw that posted elsewhere. All I could think was, damn I wish that camera didn't pan away so soon.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Big chance for UMass to get a big win today vs. New Mexico. 2:30 EST game on ESPN2 if you like watching up-tempo basketball - both teams are averaging 90+. As with every early-season game, the key will be Lalanne and Chaz Williams staying out of foul trouble (and maybe getting Kendall Williams and Alex Kirk into it.)

Good first half for UMass.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Helluva run that UMass has put on New Mexico. Good win for them if they can hold that big lead over the last few minutes.

[tarcone]

Honestly, what kid wouldnt want to play here?

Jack Taylor and Grinnell basketball - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10009589/jack-taylor-grinnell-basketball)

[BishopMVP]

Helluva run that UMass has put on New Mexico. Good win for them if they can hold that big lead over the last few minutes.Woohoo. Shockingly low number of fouls that let each team play its real roster for the whole game, and we took advantage (it helped that they went to double-OT yesterday too). If you told me UNM's big man would go off for 32/15/5 blocks I would not have bet on a double-digit UMass win, but we did a great job shutting down Kendall Williams and their roster really falls off after the top 3.

Let's get a win Sunday night vs. Clemson and try to get ranked for the first time I believe since Calipari and Marcus Camby. Pretty brutal timing going up against the Pats/Broncos game, but we'll set up picture in picture a.k.a. drag that 2nd TV and a cable splitter into the living room.

[nol]

Honestly, what kid wouldnt want to play here?

Jack Taylor and Grinnell basketball - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10009589/jack-taylor-grinnell-basketball)

Apart from kids that haven't seen the pricetag yet, not too many.

[sterlingice]

Honestly, what kid wouldnt want to play here?

Jack Taylor and Grinnell basketball - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10009589/jack-taylor-grinnell-basketball)

Sounds like fun- I love the idea

SI

[digamma]

RIP to longtime ACC referee and Carolina fan* Lenny Wirtz.



*just checking to see if radii is reading

[Wolfpack]

RIP to longtime ACC referee and Carolina fan* Lenny Wirtz.



*just checking to see if radii is reading


Oh, no! Not Lenny! Oh, no! Not Lenny!


:D

[BishopMVP]

Let's get a win Sunday night vs. Clemson and try to get ranked for the first time since I believe Calipari and Marcus Camby. Pretty brutal timing going up against the Pats/Broncos game, but we'll set up picture in picture a.k.a. drag that 2nd TV and a cable splitter into the living room.Up tempo, slow tempo, who cares we'll still win.

FWIW, I was shocked at how few fouls calls there were tonight (and against New Mexico.) I didn't expect the new emphasis to last the whole season, but I figured there would be a weaning off period at least.

[Butter]

If Clemson had anything resembling shooters, they could've won that game. But that lack of offense will come back to hurt them more than once this year.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Up tempo, slow tempo, who cares we'll still win.

FWIW, I was shocked at how few fouls calls there were tonight (and against New Mexico.) I didn't expect the new emphasis to last the whole season, but I figured there would be a weaning off period at least.

Tell Georgetown that. 61 fouls in a game. Ouch.

The games I've seen with less fouls usually have more jump shots. That's how it should be.

[BishopMVP]

Tell Georgetown that. 61 fouls in a game. Ouch.

The games I've seen with less fouls usually have more jump shots. That's how it should be.Georgetown is basically the slower version of the team they beat - VCU, in that both try to foul on every single possession and assume the refs will get tired of calling it, so good for the officials.

UMass has had 44, 54, 40 (blowout), 61, 31 and 27 fouls called in their 6 games, and I can promise you they've been playing the same outside of that blowout. I'm actually on board with cracking down on the perimeter, and I never assumed it would continue through the whole season, but I at least assumed it would be a gradual drawdown. I'm a pretty big homer when it comes to college basketball, but you could tell both Clemson and UMass players were surprised they weren't being called for fouls.

btw, Len Elmore was terrible as an announcer. He. Took. so.... long. To finish. Sentences.... it was. Absurd. He sounded like someone who was forced to talk when they were driving a car.

[Marmel]

I don't know when this was from, but it is creepy and needs to be shared.

http://www.midwestsportsfans.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/tom-crean-gif.gif

[Kodos]

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t446/KodosForPrez/k-bigpic_zps45d0334b.jpg (http://s1060.photobucket.com/user/KodosForPrez/media/k-bigpic_zps45d0334b.jpg.html)

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t446/KodosForPrez/GoldDigger_zps87ae13ea.jpeg (http://s1060.photobucket.com/user/KodosForPrez/media/GoldDigger_zps87ae13ea.jpeg.html)

[Kodos]

http://i1060.photobucket.com/albums/t446/KodosForPrez/KeithSmart_zps970e578a.jpg (http://s1060.photobucket.com/user/KodosForPrez/media/KeithSmart_zps970e578a.jpg.html)

[digamma]

Honestly, what kid wouldnt want to play here?

Jack Taylor and Grinnell basketball - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/10009589/jack-taylor-grinnell-basketball)

The kids who have to play defense 5 on 3 while Taylor waits at the other end for outlet passes?

[Marmel]

lol@Kodos. The nose picking is classic Boeheim! But seriously, what was Crean doing in that gif???

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The kids who have to play defense 5 on 3 while Taylor waits at the other end for outlet passes?

My grandmother played six on six basketball where three players from each team stayed on one end and three players stayed on the other. Basically, you had offensive and defensive specialists on each end. Watching those videos reminds me of something like that.

[Kodos]

lol@Kodos. The nose picking is classic Boeheim! But seriously, what was Crean doing in that gif???

It looks like he was unbuttoning his sport coat with an odd expression on his face.

Edit: Actually, on closer examination, maybe adjusting his belt buckle.

[Butter]

I thought maybe tucking in his shirt. But the swivel in combo with that is admittedly creepy.

[Kodos]

I think it being shown in reverse helps increase the creepiness.

[nol]

I think it being shown in reverse helps increase the creepiness.

But the clock in the gif goes from 5:27 to 5:26! Has Tom Crean discovered a wormhole?

[tarcone]

My grandmother played six on six basketball where three players from each team stayed on one end and three players stayed on the other. Basically, you had offensive and defensive specialists on each end. Watching those videos reminds me of something like that.

6 on 6 was HUGE in Iowa. Up until the early 80s.Most attended state championship tourney.
Some of those girls would average close to 100 points a game.

Iowa hits #23 in the AP. WE ARE BACK!

[Butter]

Dayton Flyers with a big win over Gonzaga LATE last night in Maui.

Was up past 2 AM, and had to get up for work at 5:45 this morning. Was it worth it? Absolutely.

Plus, we get to avoid the pointless game against Chaminade in the loser's bracket.

[JonInMiddleGA]

6 on 6 was HUGE in Iowa.

I'm just old enough to remember 6-on-6 girls play in Georgia as well. Our version was (apparently) a little different than what was described here though.

Until somewhere in the early/mid 70's it was 2 forwards (that played offense), 2 guards (that played defense) and 2 rovers that could cross half court & played both offense and defense.

[MacroGuru]

The boys in Austin HAVE to hate BYU this year...we thump them in Football and turn around and beat them in basketball.

With what is probably our youngest team we have ever played with. A couple of return missionaries and all young kids (Except for Carlino) we are now 5-1 with a last second loss to Iowa State (Which we had and gave away when Mika took a tiger claw to the eye)

Texas Coach Barnes rattles off this...

Texas coach Rick Barnes on BYU being an "older" team:

"Our guys fought hard, we have a good basketball team and [BYU] is a good team. They’re an older group of guys — I don’t think there is a senior on either group, but we know they are older."


He also had several other gems in his post game presser that basically was sour grapes.

[BYU 14]

The boys in Austin HAVE to hate BYU this year...we thump them in Football and turn around and beat them in basketball.

With what is probably our youngest team we have ever played with. A couple of return missionaries and all young kids (Except for Carlino) we are now 5-1 with a last second loss to Iowa State (Which we had and gave away when Mika took a tiger claw to the eye)

Texas Coach Barnes rattles off this...

Texas coach Rick Barnes on BYU being an "older" team:

"Our guys fought hard, we have a good basketball team and [BYU] is a good team. They’re an older group of guys — I don’t think there is a senior on either group, but we know they are older."


He also had several other gems in his post game presser that basically was sour grapes.

I get so sick of this bullshit, like taking 2 years off from your sport and doing no training is a real benefit.

Wonder why nobody has anything to say about our 18 year old sophomore running back shredding them?

[sterlingice]

To be fair, is it really anything more than a convenient, built-in excuse for an opposing team's bad game? Is there really a negative to him saying this?

SI

[BishopMVP]

Rooting for both BYU and Dayton... would love to see BYU ranked when they play UMass next Saturday. And any A10 win is good, especially with VCU stumbling a bit early in the year. (Fwiw, aren't Haws and Nate Austin Juniors too?)

[MacroGuru]

To be fair, is it really anything more than a convenient, built-in excuse for an opposing team's bad game? Is there really a negative to him saying this?

SI

Not really, but when it's used it pisses a lot of us off. It's like we are the only school that can send people out for two years and have them come back older and supposedly brilliant at playing a game.

To me, if it works so well, why don't other schools do it...they don't because you are taking a young man away from his sport for 2 years and he can't focus on it. And chances are he is going to come back either overweight and rusty as hell or underweight and sickly as hell.

Yes it's a built in excuse, but it's annoying as hell...

[MacroGuru]

Rooting for both BYU and Dayton... would love to see BYU ranked when they play UMass next Saturday. And any A10 win is good, especially with VCU stumbling a bit early in the year. (Fwiw, aren't Haws and Nate Austin Juniors too?)

They are with Haws having served a mission. Right now, there are only 2 returned missionaries on the team, Hayes and Collinsworth.

We have a couple of JUCO transfers and the rest are young talent we have. Now the new issue you will see is with the new missionary rules of the LDS church and boys able to leave at 18 now. You will be seeing 20 yr old Freshmen with a maturity level that is unusual for most Freshmen. I do think this will benefit in the long run, but right now it's slaughtering both our football and basketball.

Prime example, in football next season we have 31 returning missionaries. Because of this and the scholarship issues we only have I think 6 schollies for next season to hand out on football.

Basketball we will not see the younger Haws or Dastrup for 2 years, Mika leaves at the end of this season. The amazing thing if they can come back healthy and help, we could have Haws, Dastrup and Mika all playing 3-4 years together and hopefully tearing it up.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Not really, but when it's used it pisses a lot of us off. It's like we are the only school that can send people out for two years and have them come back older and supposedly brilliant at playing a game.

To me, if it works so well, why don't other schools do it...they don't because you are taking a young man away from his sport for 2 years and he can't focus on it. And chances are he is going to come back either overweight and rusty as hell or underweight and sickly as hell.

Yes it's a built in excuse, but it's annoying as hell...

It's a comment from a coach who's likely gone after this year. I wouldn't read too much more into it than that.

[cartman]

Well, pretty much every Div. 1 team is going to be older than the Longhorns this season. Only one upperclassman on scholarship.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

The Haith suspension is over and Mizzou is 5-0 against the softer portion of their non-conference schedule. That's about all you can ask for.

Really surprised at how well the players are developing. The buzz in the off-season was that we could have two early-entries into the NBA draft on this team and it's hard to argue otherwise thus far. Jabari Brown is the player he was expected to be coming out of high school. Shooting around 47% from 3-pt range and nearly 50% from the floor, averaging 19.2 PPG. Jordan Clarkson is also proving everyone right. He's been a great addition to the club, both running the point and scoring at nearly 19 points a game

The real surprise thus far has been Johnathan Williams III. He's a four star freshman who has been unbelievable thus far and exactly what this team needs. He's averaging 7.5 points and 9+ boards a game on a team that has most of its talent on the perimeter. Reminds me a lot of Kelly Thames when he was a freshman.

Schedule gets a LOT tougher now. Two games in Las Vegas against Nevada and Northwestern, followed by West Virginia, UCLA, cupcake against Western Michigan, and then Illinois and at North Carolina State. Looking forward to see how this team fares against better competition.

[nol]

Not really, but when it's used it pisses a lot of us off. It's like we are the only school that can send people out for two years and have them come back older and supposedly brilliant at playing a game.

To me, if it works so well, why don't other schools do it...they don't because you are taking a young man away from his sport for 2 years and he can't focus on it. And chances are he is going to come back either overweight and rusty as hell or underweight and sickly as hell.

Yes it's a built in excuse, but it's annoying as hell...

All things considered, I think I'd rather coach 20-24 year olds than 18-22 year olds even if the 20 year olds had some rust to work off. As I went from 18 to 20, I physically matured enough to not be significantly less athletic even after going from playing basketball/lifting weights/running for 2-3 hours every day to doing a lot of things that would violate BYU's honor code and playing basketball once or twice a week at most.

Now, the obvious downside is that you don't have a shot with the players who are going to be stars at 18 and 19 and have early NBA ambitions, but for most other players I think the pros outweigh the cons.

[jbergey22]

I get so sick of this bullshit, like taking 2 years off from your sport and doing no training is a real benefit.

Wonder why nobody has anything to say about our 18 year old sophomore running back shredding them?

The tempo BYU is playing at this year is off the charts fast. They had some fast paced teams over the past few years but wow this year is something else. The last few years they have been around 71 possessions per 40 minutes. This year believe it or not they are sitting at over 80 possessions per 40 minutes. Will be a fun team to watch.

[jbergey22]

It's a comment from a coach who's likely gone after this year. I wouldn't read too much more into it than that.

You can turn any comment into a reason to troll cant you? And people wonder why people like to troll you in return.

So since you are projecting a poor year from Texas, a comment from their coach isnt worth a discussion? Is that what I am reading from your comment?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

You can turn any comment into a reason to troll cant you? And people wonder why people like to troll you in return.

So since you are projecting a poor year from Texas, a comment from their coach isnt worth a discussion? Is that what I am reading from your comment?

Is a widely circulated rumor suddenly trolling? The talk on multiple sites is that he will step down and that Buzz Williams is one of the main targets for the Texas AD office. It's already been mentioned more than once on this board.

I didn't say anything about it not being a good discussion. I just think the comment is yet another sign that the end of his tenure is near. He's running out of excuses and he appears to be shutting down already IMO. Barnes has done a world of good for that program, but it's pretty clear that a new direction is needed at this point.

[jbergey22]

Is a widely circulated rumor suddenly trolling? The talk on multiple sites is that he will step down and that Buzz Williams is one of the main targets for the Texas AD office. It's already been mentioned more than once on this board.

I didn't say anything about it not being a good discussion. I just think the comment is yet another sign that the end of his tenure is near. He's running out of excuses and he appears to be shutting down already IMO. Barnes has done a world of good for that program, but it's pretty clear that a new direction is needed at this point.

Alright, sorry.

[Marmel]

Missouri continues to win, this time they get the classiest fans in the nation award:


Antlers ejected from arena again - Columbia Daily Tribune | Columbia Missouri: MU Basketball (http://www.columbiatribune.com/sports/mu_basketball/the-antlers-ejected-for-second-straight-game/article_a4123f80-5662-11e3-9d86-001a4bcf6878.html)

[JonInMiddleGA]

Missouri continues to win, this time they get the classiest fans in the nation award:


Antlers ejected from arena again - Columbia Daily Tribune | Columbia Missouri: MU Basketball (http://www.columbiatribune.com/sports/mu_basketball/the-antlers-ejected-for-second-straight-game/article_a4123f80-5662-11e3-9d86-001a4bcf6878.html)

Having read the article, I'm just shocked that students might actually try to have fun at a sporting event. Is Alden auditioning for Goodell's job or something?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Missouri continues to win, this time they get the classiest fans in the nation award:

Antlers ejected from arena again - Columbia Daily Tribune | Columbia Missouri: MU Basketball (http://www.columbiatribune.com/sports/mu_basketball/the-antlers-ejected-for-second-straight-game/article_a4123f80-5662-11e3-9d86-001a4bcf6878.html)

I'm assuming you don't know the history behind this whole situation. The Antlers are an organization that has been around forever and was often noted by other teams as one of the best parts of traveling to Mizzou. Since then, they've been in a war with Mike Alden and it appears Alden is making sure he wins. They've been pushing the envelope way too far of late. They lost their reserve seating when Mizzou moved to the new arena. Alden actually organized the 'Zou Crew' organization to try to replace the Antlers, but it has had mixed results.

FWIW, Mizzou fans have received rave reviews from the other SEC fans both at home and on the road. The Antlers used to be great, but they're pretty embarrassing at this point and likely won't last much longer.

[mauchow]

Wisconsin with a nice win over St Louis tonight. West Virginia tomorrow night in lovely Cancun.

Wisconsin is now 7-0 and have stellar wins against Florida, St Louis, @ Green Bay, and St Johns. Even Oral Roberts might be a decent win as they will contend in their conference.

The Big Ten is very tough again this year.

[Izulde]

Unfuckingbelievable. UNLV gets outscored 32-20 at home to Illinois in the second half and loses by 2 damned points.

You want to know how we're in Bizzaro World? UNLV football has a winning record this late in the season for the first time since 2000, and UNLV basketball has a losing record for the first time since 2005.

[Lathum]

"Raise your hand if you thought Hurricane Katrina was a good thing," during a free throw in the season opener against Southeastern Louisiana.

"At this point, I don't think we're trying to push the line. I think we're trying to find out where it is."

He pretty much lost all credibility with his last statement. If you don't realize chanting KAtrina was a good thing crosses a line then you are pretty fuckin clueless

[BYU 14]

The tempo BYU is playing at this year is off the charts fast. They had some fast paced teams over the past few years but wow this year is something else. The last few years they have been around 71 possessions per 40 minutes. This year believe it or not they are sitting at over 80 possessions per 40 minutes. Will be a fun team to watch.

Agreed, and they are all underclassmen too, hopefully they can keep up the pace and develop some depth to assist in that area as Carlino is going 33-35 minutes a game right now.

[Buccaneer]

Having read the article, I'm just shocked that students might actually try to have fun at a sporting event. Is Alden auditioning for Goodell's job or something?

You apparently have a very low bar in determining appropriate behavior in public.

[hoopsguy]

Unfuckingbelievable. UNLV gets outscored 32-20 at home to Illinois in the second half and loses by 2 damned points.

You want to know how we're in Bizzaro World? UNLV football has a winning record this late in the season for the first time since 2000, and UNLV basketball has a losing record for the first time since 2005.

From Illini perspective, I would suggest part of the turnaround was having our center playing in the second half. Two quick fouls in first five minutes = 15 minutes of freshmen trying to hold off Birch/Smith on the glass and getting their shots swatted on the other end.

[JonInMiddleGA]

You apparently have a very low bar in determining appropriate behavior in public.

{shrug} On the whole their schtick seems relatively mild to me (based on the ones I've read). No laws being broken, no profanity that I recall being mentioned, I haven't seen the "churn butter" routine so I'll leave that one aside for now I guess.

I just look to the Cameron Crazies antics over the years -- the Lorenzo Charles pizza boxes, the Dennis Scott Twinkies, the Chris Washburn record albums -- those are some of the greatest fan moments in history afaic ... and they're a lot more personal than the descriptions I saw about this bunch.

It's a butt hurt society these days & if somebody tweaks that, well, God bless 'em.

[Izulde]

Rebels part of stacked field for 2015 Maui Invitational - Las Vegas Sun News (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/nov/25/rebels-part-tremendous-field-2015-maui-invitationa/)

Man, that is a stacked as hell looking 2015 Maui Invitational field.

Funny part was, I just posted the SI article about the Maui Invitational on Facebook the other day, and then this comes across my newsfeed.

[Atocep]

Wisconsin with a nice win over St Louis tonight. West Virginia tomorrow night in lovely Cancun.

Wisconsin is now 7-0 and have stellar wins against Florida, St Louis, @ Green Bay, and St Johns. Even Oral Roberts might be a decent win as they will contend in their conference.

The Big Ten is very tough again this year.

Excited to see how we match up tonight. With the youth I fully expect Bo Ryan's system to give this group fits, but Huggins has been able to get things headed back in the right direction in a hurry. This team is considerably better than last year's but still probably a year away considering there are zero seniors on the roster.

[sterlingice]

Rebels part of stacked field for 2015 Maui Invitational - Las Vegas Sun News (http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2013/nov/25/rebels-part-tremendous-field-2015-maui-invitationa/)

Man, that is a stacked as hell looking 2015 Maui Invitational field.

Funny part was, I just posted the SI article about the Maui Invitational on Facebook the other day, and then this comes across my newsfeed.

I guess our teams are going to be seeing a lot of each other the next few years

SI

[Wolfpack]

{shrug} On the whole their schtick seems relatively mild to me (based on the ones I've read). No laws being broken, no profanity that I recall being mentioned, I haven't seen the "churn butter" routine so I'll leave that one aside for now I guess.

I just look to the Cameron Crazies antics over the years -- the Lorenzo Charles pizza boxes, the Dennis Scott Twinkies, the Chris Washburn record albums -- those are some of the greatest fan moments in history afaic ... and they're a lot more personal than the descriptions I saw about this bunch.

It's a butt hurt society these days & if somebody tweaks that, well, God bless 'em.

Don't forget what they did to Herman Veal once. They might have crossed several lines with that one. For those who don't know/remember, Veal got accused of a sexual assault of some kind, though never convicted. The Crazies ended up showering the floor with panties and condoms the next time he played there.

[tarcone]

Hey! Did you hear!? Iowa is rated.

First time since 2006.

[Lathum]

Hey! Did you hear!? Iowa is rated.

First time since 2006.

Been so long I thing you forgot its called ranked!

[JonInMiddleGA]

Don't forget what they did to Herman Veal once. They might have crossed several lines with that one. For those who don't know/remember, Veal got accused of a sexual assault of some kind, though never convicted. The Crazies ended up showering the floor with panties and condoms the next time he played there.

Or did they (cross any lines)? The incident is among those considered one of their best moments

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/cameron/hits.html

[mauchow]

Excited to see how we match up tonight. With the youth I fully expect Bo Ryan's system to give this group fits, but Huggins has been able to get things headed back in the right direction in a hurry. This team is considerably better than last year's but still probably a year away considering there are zero seniors on the roster.

Some ugly stretches for both teams..the Badgers with fewer of them down the stretch. Dekker POG for us and Harris went pretty nuts. The Badgers were in on him for recruiting.

Badgers now 8-0 as they head into B1G/ACC Challenge against Virginia. Virginia beat WI last year at Wisconsin..so lets see if they can revenge that loss.

[MrBug708]

Andy Enfield is mentally unstable

[JonInMiddleGA]

Andy Enfield is mentally unstable

Not sure either participant in that drama is exactly the picture of stability tbh.

[MrBug708]

He might be the first coach to ever actively trash talk another coach for no particular reason.

[Arles]

Nice win for the Cats against the Dukies.

[tarcone]

Been so long I thing you forgot its called ranked!

True that. Or Dat. Whatever you hip hop kids are saying today.

Knasas is next. We stomped UTEP.

[hoopsguy]

I'll be very interested to see what Iowa does against Kansas.

Looks like Arizona D was effective against Dukies. Parker had his first non-20 game, as he was held to 19 (on 21 shots).

[tarcone]

I'll be very interested to see what Iowa does against Kansas.

Looks like Arizona D was effective against Dukies. Parker had his first non-20 game, as he was held to 19 (on 21 shots).

Yes. I am very curious what Iowa does against Kansas. So much so, Im thinking I will upgrade my Directv package so I get NBCSHD.

[sterlingice]

I'll be very interested to see what Iowa does against Kansas.

Looks like Arizona D was effective against Dukies. Parker had his first non-20 game, as he was held to 19 (on 21 shots).

Uh, yeah, about that. Jayhawks looking like crap tonight. Still time to go but it's not pretty

SI

[sterlingice]

Kansas didn't deserve to win and that was one hell of a shot to win the game. Tip o' the cap to Nova. They controlled the pace all game and were better for a lot more of the game

SI

[sterlingice]

Sorry, tarcone- looks like it will be Jeebs who will be seeing Kansas tomorrow.

SI

[tarcone]

Shoot. I was loking forward to playing Kansas. Congrats to Villanova. The did what I was hoping Iowa would do.
Well, Lets win the tourney.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Really happy to see Mizzou move to 7-0 on the season. Dispatched a feisty Nevada team. Next up is WVU and UCLA next weekend.

Didn't hurt that the beakers went down as well.

[RedKingGold]

Thrilled about the 'Nova win. I thought this team was woefully underrated this year.

[JeeberD]

Hopefully the Miners play like they did against Tennessee against KU and not like they did against Iowa. I'm kind of excited to see how our defensive stud, Julian Washburn, does against Wiggins. Of course, Washburn's effectiveness has been limited this year by the new BS defensive rules...

[MrBug708]

Jeebs, what is the UTEP talk about this Enfield-Floyd nonsense?

[JeeberD]

Jeebs, what is the UTEP talk about this Enfield-Floyd nonsense?

That Enfield is a tampering douche and that Floyd is a hero for defending El Paso.

[britrock88]

The UNC roller coaster continues...

[Kodos]

Not really looking forward to IU-Syracuse. At least our guys are bigger and more athletic on average than last year's squad.

[Johnny93g]

Not really looking forward to IU-Syracuse. At least our guys are bigger and more athletic on average than last year's squad.

I am, not because I'm looking for revenge or anything, but because this is a young team, and I want to see them against top competition.

I want to see how this length and athleticism does against a team like Syracuse.

I believe some of these kids have sky high potentials. Vonleh obviously, but Williams, Davis, Fischer, Hollowell. I want to see them in a tough environment.

[digamma]

Harvard put together a pretty good run to win the Great Alaska Shoot-out. While clearly not the tournament it used to be, it is still pretty cool to see a list of champions that includes UNC, Duke, Louisville, Kentucky, Michigan State and....Harvard.

The semi-final versus Green Bay was a lot of fun to watch. Green Bay could be a really bad draw for someone in March if they win the Horizon.

[mauchow]

After Illinois blew a pretty big lead against GT last night things weren't looking good for the B1G to win the ACC/B1G challenge..But despite being the underdogs, the Badgers have a 10 point lead at Virginia, which is the must win game since Nortwestern will not upset NC St it seems.

B1G is favored in the 3 late games and all @ B1G homes.

[tarcone]

Iowa did its part, beating Notre Dame. Lots of versatility in Iowas line up. Scored 51 in the 1st half and our best player had 2.

[mauchow]

Iowa did its part, beating Notre Dame. Lots of versatility in Iowas line up. Scored 51 in the 1st half and our best player had 2.

YEp, offensively Iowa looks great... defensively... not so much. They'll be a tough out for most teams in the NCAA Tourney this year. Yeah, yeah, Iowa FINALLY makes the Big Dance again :)

I'm hopeful the Badgers can remain undefeated til the Iowa game to make it a monster game @ the Kohl Center, given the recent history of Iowa beating them 3 of last 4 games.

[mauchow]

Why is Northwestern who was 4-14 in B1G last year playing @ NC St who was 11-7 last year in ACC? Some of these matchups are really odd this year. I guess with the new additions it might make things a little difficult to match things up.

[tarcone]

YEp, offensively Iowa looks great... defensively... not so much. They'll be a tough out for most teams in the NCAA Tourney this year. Yeah, yeah, Iowa FINALLY makes the Big Dance again :)

I'm hopeful the Badgers can remain undefeated til the Iowa game to make it a monster game @ the Kohl Center, given the recent history of Iowa beating them 3 of last 4 games.

Last year it was the opposite. A VG defensive team that struggled scoring. Go figure.
That game at the Kohl Center will be crazy with the recent bad blood between the programs. I imagine Uthoff will get a lot of business.

[mauchow]

Last year it was the opposite. A VG defensive team that struggled scoring. Go figure.
That game at the Kohl Center will be crazy with the recent bad blood between the programs. I imagine Uthoff will get a lot of business.

Uthoff will get heckled BIG time. Lol but yes big time game.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

That Wisconsin game was painful to watch. I'm not sure I could watch that brand of basketball all year long if it were my team.

[Butter]

Dayton wins its first game as a top-25 team in 4 years, beating a horrible Delaware State team 56-46.

Delaware State... it was almost like they were running a glorified scrimmage out there. Their regular offense consisted of running a weave 35 feet from the basket for the first 15 seconds of the shot clock, seemingly just to run the clock down. Then they would get into their set and oftentimes put up a prayer because they had to.

What was weird about the game was that Delaware State had cut the lead from 50-30 down to 52-43 with about 2 minutes left, and rather than try to pick up the tempo to, you know, WIN THE GAME, they continued to run the weave on their last 3 possessions, and didn't even try to foul Dayton to attempt to win. Just a really odd game.

Coming off UD's strong 3rd place showing in Maui, all of us fans were expecting a bit of a down game and we got one... but it could've been worse if Delaware State had tried at all in the final couple of minutes.

[HerRealName]

Whoever was responsible for the match ups should be publically depantsed. Just switching Syracuse to play OSU and Maryland to play Indiana would have helped a lot. They reduced an early season highlight into a bore.

[mauchow]

That Wisconsin game was painful to watch. I'm not sure I could watch that brand of basketball all year long if it were my team.

That's just what happens when it's two good defensive teams going at it. But yes, it was rough at times but nothing what the Badgers have shown all year so far. It was a big win for the Badgers, regardless. :)

[lungs]

Even with Wisconsin showing the ability to score more than 60 points in a game this year it only makes sense that things will slow to a turtle's pace when a Bennett is on the opposite sideline coaching.

[tarcone]

Iowa tried basketball the Wisconsin way for about 3 seasons. But we didnt have many kids that could play. It was flat out brutal to watch. The hire of Lickliter just about killed Iowa basketball. Wisconsin has kids that can play basketball. They get after it defensively and can shoot a 3. Makes it much better then then when you can do neither.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Fun spin on tonight's WVU/Mizzou game. With one more win, Coach Huggins can pass Norm Stewart on the all-time wins list. Hopefully the Tigers can stay undefeated and make sure he doesn't pass that benchmark on Norm Stewart Court.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Surprised how badly WVU played against Mizzou. While the final was only around 10 points difference, Mizzou held a 15-20 point lead for most of the game. Huggins had a WTF look on his face most of the game.

I'm sure that UCLA will give Mizzou a much better test on Saturday.

[BishopMVP]

Surprised how badly WVU played against Mizzou. While the final was only around 10 points difference, Mizzou held a 15-20 point lead for most of the game. Huggins had a WTF look on his face most of the game.Hopefully that's just because they miss Jabari Hinds so much ;)

[panerd]

Surprised how badly WVU played against Mizzou. While the final was only around 10 points difference, Mizzou held a 15-20 point lead for most of the game. Huggins had a WTF look on his face most of the game.

I'm sure that UCLA will give Mizzou a much better test on Saturday.

WV looked really bad but Mizzou didn't look that much better. Hard game to watch no real flow to it at all and the place was empty and dead (weather/football probably played a big part in that). Like you said the UCLA game will be a good test to see where we are at. Wonder if UCLA tickets can be had on the cheap with a lot of people off in Atlanta? Would be fun to head to Columbia and take in a good game and then go somewhere local to watch the football.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, this might have been fun to see. Kentucky women have just beaten Baylor women 133-130 in 4 OT's. 198 field goal attempts (over 40% shooting for both), 112 free throw attempts, 80 fouls.

[Kodos]

Watching 112 free throws? I'm in!

[MrBug708]

UCLA v. Missouri today, 930!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

UCLA v. Missouri today, 930!

Way too many turnovers by the Tigers in the first half. They're honestly lucky they're still in the game at this point. Just stop shooting quick 3's and they'll be fine.

[MrBug708]

Apparently there was some pushing in the tunnels that was the result of UCLA using Mizzouri basketballs for warmups

[MrBug708]

Disappointing loss for UCLA

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Disappointing loss for UCLA

Total 180. Mizzou's veterans started acting like veterans. UCLA's young players started acting like young players. Mizzou's freshman, especially Wes Clark, were huge. Great defensive adjustments by Haith in that second half. UCLA couldn't find an open look after the break.

Obviously two very good teams. Love that you can have these kinds of matchups early on in the season and still not worry about the long-term ramifications. It always bears repeating, but almost no one wins in Columbia.

[cartman]

Great OT win on the road for a young Texas team over Temple. They didn't get discouraged after giving up a big halftime lead, and nearly won the game at the buzzer in regulation. A 3 with about 7 seconds left got them the 1 point win. The next couple of week are probably going to be brutal, with a trip to the Tar Heels, then hosting Michigan State at home before Christmas. But based on how last season went, they are not looking bad at all.

[panerd]

In the UCLA/Mizzouu game Levine looked like both a stud and a freshman throughout that game. Don't know if he is a one and done but he looks like he is going to be a star.

Hoping the pre-season forecasts on Mizzou basketball were just as wrong as they were on the footbll team.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

In the UCLA/Mizzouu game Levine looked like both a stud and a freshman throughout that game. Don't know if he is a one and done but he looks like he is going to be a star.

Hoping the pre-season forecasts on Mizzou basketball were just as wrong as they were on the footbll team.

I thought before the season that Mizzou was at worst top 3 in the conference. I've seen nothing to show otherwise. This team is built very much like the team two years ago that won 30 games. I think 26-27 is more realistic for this squad, but they'll be in the conference title chase with UK and UF.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

dola

Haven't seen any talk of the second loss by the Beakers, this time at the hands of Colorado. That team is WAY overrated at this point. They've got some talent, but they've got a ton of growing up to do before they reach a consistent level of play.

[Chief Rum]

Fwiw, Colorado is not a bad squad.

[BishopMVP]

Rooting for both BYU and Dayton... would love to see BYU ranked when they play UMass next Saturday.Who else bet the over today? :)

I understand why we aren't a top 10 team, and we'll never get a marquee win this season with VCU stumbling, but no one in the country has a better resume right now. (I know I could be jinxing it right now, and we could still collapse in conference,) but after so many years where we were on the outside of the bubble, I can't wait until March.

Especially with Cady only playing 20 minutes and scoring 5 points, Chaz might have painted his masterpiece today... 32/15 with only 1 turnover.

[RedKingGold]

Villanova destroys it's closest rival, St. Joe's, 98-68. On its way to the Big 5 title!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Fwiw, Colorado is not a bad squad.

Understood. But a top team would have easily dispatched them even on the road. This KU team should be around 20-25 in the rankings. They're not even remotely close to a top 10 team.

[MacroGuru]

Who else bet the over today? :)

I understand why we aren't a top 10 team, and we'll never get a marquee win this season with VCU stumbling, but no one in the country has a better resume right now. (I know I could be jinxing it right now, and we could still collapse in conference,) but after so many years where we were on the outside of the bubble, I can't wait until March.

Especially with Cady only playing 20 minutes and scoring 5 points, Chaz might have painted his masterpiece today... 32/15 with only 1 turnover.

Chaz played out of his head and we had no answer for him. We shut down your big center and then Chaz tore us up.

It was a testy game from what I saw but called quite well.

BYU has me excited for this team and the future. We are supposed to be in a rebuilding year..

[mauchow]

Understood. But a top team would have easily dispatched them even on the road. This KU team should be around 20-25 in the rankings. They're not even remotely close to a top 10 team.

Colorado was actually favored in the game, too.. but your point remains the same, they shouldn't be in the top 15 for certain. Not yet.

[britrock88]

Understood. But a top team would have easily dispatched them even on the road. This KU team should be around 20-25 in the rankings. They're not even remotely close to a top 10 team.

Calm down. Colorado's an NCAA-quality team. KU went into this game ranked 9th by KenPom and came out of it ranked... 9th. Good teams lose on the road.

[tarcone]

Sagarin has Iowa #1

USA Today | Sports | NCAAB (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaab/sagarin/)

[mauchow]

Sagarin has Iowa #1

USA Today | Sports | NCAAB (http://www.usatoday.com/sports/ncaab/sagarin/)

I'll take this time to outbetter Iowa's early okay resume.

Iowa has beaten two decent teams in Xavier (nearly lost) and Notre Dame (took care of business). They lost their only game against a legit top 25 team in Nova.

The Badgers on the other hand have beaten 7 (2 for Iowa) top 76 teams in KenPom (3 neutral and 2 away games, 2 home).

I'll take Wisconsin right now over Iowa. Maybe that's my rose colored glasses.

I definitely look forward to a 14-0 Wisconsin matchup against 12-2 (loss vs ISU? :) ) Iowa.

[sterlingice]

Calm down. Colorado's an NCAA-quality team. KU went into this game ranked 9th by KenPom and came out of it ranked... 9th. Good teams lose on the road.

Sagarin has them at 9, too, after the loss. Losses to Villanova (5 KP/4 SG) at a neutral site and Colorado (34/32) on the road are both respectable, both on last second shots. Still have wins over Duke (20/21) at neutral site and home wins over top 100 teams Iona (both), Wake Forest (both), UTEP (KP), and Louisiana-Monroe (SG, tho like 200+ in KP- not sure why the discrepancy but they have only played 3 games). So far Towson is the only team Kansas has played that is not top 100 in either KenPom or Sagarin (as opposed to 200 or lower teams SE Louisiana, Southern Illinois, Gardner-Webb, IUPU, Western Michigan, and Long Beach State to the schedule).

Before conference play starts, they still have 5 games:
@ #15 Florida
New Mexico (24 KP/30 SG)
Georgetown (26/33)
Toledo (82/105)
vs #24 San Diego State

So that's 4 likely tourney teams, 5 if Toledo wins that MAC. We'll see how good this team is in the next few days.

dola

Haven't seen any talk of the second loss by the Beakers, this time at the hands of Colorado. That team is WAY overrated at this point. They've got some talent, but they've got a ton of growing up to do before they reach a consistent level of play.

I think this is partially right. I think bitrock's comments above speak to the "way overrated". They'll drop into the 10-15 range and that's about where they should be with 2 losses at this point in the season, considering the schedule (again, see above). I think ranking them in the top 5 early was silly but the win against fellow Top 5 (at the time) Duke to start the season seemed to back it up.

Either way- the rankings are still squishy and it's still early. And if you think #6 down to, say, #12 is the difference between "WAY OVERRATED" and "about right" then so be it. Kansas has played and will continue to play one of the toughest non-con schedules in the country and then will go play in what Sagarin has the #3 hoops conference in the country. I think we'll be just fine and properly rated at the end of the season, whatever that rating may be. Either the freshmen will grow up incredibly fast, we'll win Big XII title number 10 (tho Okie State and possibly Baylor or Iowa State may have something to say about that, even if Kansas is very good), and we'll be a Final Four caliber of team. Or the inconsistency will overwhelm the talent and we'll lose games we shouldn't and still get into our 25th consecutive tournament and try to play spoiler and some fans are disappointed with the sky high expectations going into a season when our oldest major contributors is a singe junior who will likely be the backup PG by the time the season ends (Tharpe).

Don't you have Kentucky to go start talking crap about now?

SI

[Arles]

Very excited to see Arizona ranked #1 next week. Not sure how long it will last, but it's a nice milestone for Miller and the Cats.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Don't you have Kentucky to go start talking crap about now?

Interesting that you mention them. They're in a very similar boat. They've been inconsistent thus far, mostly due to their youth. Much like KU, they're talented but have a lot of maturing to do before that point.

[mauchow]

Weeeeee! Badgers #4 in AP poll! I know it means little now before the Conference games begin but its nice to see the only 10 win team in the country all the way up there!

[tarcone]

#2, #4, #5, #22, #25. Its going to be a brutal B1G season.

[mauchow]

#2, #4, #5, #22, #25. Its going to be a brutal B1G season.

Yep.. And I mentioned it once already but the Badgers have a huge leg up because of their schedule. They get OSU and MSU just once this year... at the Kohl Center. I'd like to see what we can do with a 1/2 seed! I know we got a 2 seed many years ago but we lost our best player just before the tourney and lose to UNLV in the second round, I believe.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

I've changed my opinion of KU. After watching that first half, I'm not even sure they warrant a top 25 spot right now.

[mauchow]

Because they're struggling on the road against quite possibly an elite team? Wait til Missouri plays on the road for the first time. :)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Because they're struggling on the road against quite possibly an elite team? Wait til Missouri plays on the road for the first time. :)

Florida is an elite team? Not sure I'd say that quite yet. They're just about right as far as their rankings go.

I'm excited to see Mizzou play on the road. They're a veteran team with a PG that's honestly better suited to lead them in a road environment than our previous PG. That's saying something given what we had before. The next road game is at NC State. I feel pretty confident they can win that one.

In conference, we only have to go on the road to face one of the two other big dogs (@Florida). No roadie at UK this year. The SEC is looking pretty soft after those two.

[mauchow]

Florida is an elite team? Not sure I'd say that quite yet. They're just about right as far as their rankings go.

I'm excited to see Mizzou play on the road. They're a veteran team with a PG that's honestly better suited to lead them in a road environment than our previous PG. That's saying something given what we had before. The next road game is at NC State. I feel pretty confident they can win that one.

In conference, we only have to go on the road to face one of the two other big dogs (@Florida). No roadie at UK this year. The SEC is looking pretty soft after those two.
Florida is definitely elite. They've been missing players all season and I believe they're all back now. Wisconsin's win over them is going to pay huge dividends.

[PilotMan]

Oh just in case anyone missed it. North Dakota State handed Notre Dame it's 3rd loss of the season, playing in South Bend.

We were ranked as one of the top mid-majors, but totally dropped the ball at the start of the season. Things look like they may have turned a bit, with 5 wins in a row.

Ohio State is next.

No illusions about that one, but had I not been working, I would have seriously given thought about driving up to check that one out.

[Arles]

Big win by Arizona today in Michigan. That puts the Wildcats at 11-0 with two nice road wins and the neutral win over Duke. Pac-12 season is around the corner and it should be a good test for Arizona.

[tarcone]

Iowa choked down the stretch again. Played 38 minutes of great basketball. Then nothing.
Missed 4 straight FTs late and ended up losing by 3 to the hated Cyclowns.

Gotta figure out how to close teams out.

[Sublime 2]

Big win by Arizona today in Michigan. That puts the Wildcats at 11-0 with two nice road wins and the neutral win over Duke. Pac-12 season is around the corner and it should be a good test for Arizona.

Curious on your thoughts of K. Tarczewski? He's from my town, really the only notable athlete ever. He's typically only seen through some homer tinted glasses around here. Does he have pro potential?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Hate this time of the basketball season. Finals and break really slow down the schedule. Mizzou plays four games in four weeks. Can't wait for January.

[jbergey22]

Because they're struggling on the road against quite possibly an elite team? Wait til Missouri plays on the road for the first time. :)

Agree, Florida is a talented team and I always enjoy Mizzou on the road as well. One of them teams just like the Oregon Ducks. Dominate at home and mediocre on the road.

[cartman]

Alright Radii. Texas has given the Tar Heels fits in the past. But tonight I don't think is going to be one of those times. :)

Brutal next two games for the young Longhorns. Play at Chapel Hill tonight, then host Michigan State on Saturday.

[MJ4H]

This slayed me:

Southern Illinois basketball coach goes on epic rant about team | Rumors and Rants (http://rumorsandrants.com/2013/12/southern-illinois-basketball-coach-goes-on-epic-rant-about-team.html)

[Kodos]

Man, the Indiana boards just go into meltdown mode every time we lose. Which will be often this season. Oh well.

[dawgfan]

This slayed me:

Southern Illinois basketball coach goes on epic rant about team | Rumors and Rants (http://rumorsandrants.com/2013/12/southern-illinois-basketball-coach-goes-on-epic-rant-about-team.html)
That was fantastic.

[panerd]

Man, the Indiana boards just go into meltdown mode every time we lose. Which will be often this season. Oh well.

I like to read other team's boards before and after they play my teams just to get a vibe of how others view our team. I never sign up to troll or anything but often find myself amused. I can remember the Indiana football board was in full meltdown mode after losing to Mizzou. It was actually funny because Indiana, Vandy, and Tennessee fans were in more disbelief after their losses (with many 2 TD+ win predictions before) than Florida, A&M, Ole Miss, Georgia...

(On the flip side don't even get me started on the levels of stupidity on the Mizzou board after the Auburn loss)

[cartman]

Wow, wasn't expecting that! Aside from the horrible free throw shooting by both teams, that was a hell of a game between Texas and North Carolina. Texas escapes Chapel Hill with the 86-83 win.

[Vegas Vic]

Good road win for the NC State Wolfpack at Tennessee tonight.

Also, I don't recall seeing a team more schizophrenic than the UNC Tarheels. They can't beat unranked teams and they don't lose to Top 10 teams.

[Wolfpack]

Good road win for the NC State Wolfpack at Tennessee tonight.

Also, I don't recall seeing a team more schizophrenic than the UNC Tarheels. They can't beat unranked teams and they don't lose to Top 10 teams.

Yeah. A less talented, but harder working team than last year's bunch of all-stars. They'll be a bubble team, but at least they look like they care about it.

And yeah, Carolina is one screwy bunch to say the least.

[Young Drachma]

This slayed me:

Southern Illinois basketball coach goes on epic rant about team | Rumors and Rants (http://rumorsandrants.com/2013/12/southern-illinois-basketball-coach-goes-on-epic-rant-about-team.html)

Comparing his players to dogs was below the belt. He gets a paycheck -- a substantial one -- so if they suck, it's a reflection of him not being a very good coach. I just think that those rants can be funny or whatever, but...there's a way to do that to motivate and someday be able to come back and laugh at it when things get better; without making shit personal.

But he'll get an endorsement deal out of it and those kids will get their releases. Seems fair.

And by fair, I mean bullshit. But par for the course.

[BishopMVP]

Wow, wasn't expecting that! Aside from the horrible free throw shooting by both teams, that was a hell of a game between Texas and North Carolina. Texas escapes Chapel Hill with the 86-83 win.That's Carolina's huge achilles heel. Shooting 61% from the line for the year, 50-106 in their 3 losses (by a combined 10 points). McAdoo and Tokoto just under 50% on the year and a combined 23-59 in those games. Team shot 71-110 in the 3 wins over ranked teams, with McAdoo/Tokoto still only 19-37 but at least not getting to the line and hurting them as much.

UMass with another solid road win over a decent Ohio team 83-71. Great ball movement - Cady/Chaz only combined for 18 points on 17 shots, but the other 5 guys were 24-34 (and 7-10 from deep). Tough road/(technically Neutral for RPI purposes) game vs. FSU down in Florida, then @ home vs. Providence in what looks like it'll be the first home sellout in a decade+. Voters will probably never come around, and I'm sure we'll drop a couple games either this week or once A10 play starts, but this team is legit and is setting up a good resume for a decent (6/7) seed.