Jan. 11-17, 2016
2 feature games this week, and we'll start in the Big 10.
1/13/16-
#15 Michigan State (Al Mighty) @
Michigan (Cillian Tribble)-- A 46.3% to 34.3% shooting edge was the difference in this one, as the Wolverines used home court advantage to get a big, big win.
Final Score: Michigan- 79, #15 Michigan State- 69
And now to the Pac 12:
1/16/16-
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) @
#5 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- The final score of this game was not at all indicative of how this game was. The Cougars only trailed by 2 points at halftime, but UCLA turned it on in the second half, stepping up the defense and getting a 44-30 edge on the boards. The result was a 26 point victory.
Final Score: #5 UCLA- 86, Washington State- 60
And now for the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 5-13, 4-2 America East.
1/15/16 at Binghamton (W 68-57).
Good win for the Hawks in their only game of the week.
ECU (Al Hutt) -- 5-12, 2-4 American.
1/11/16 at Butler (L 67-66).
1/16/16 at Memphis (L 94-59).
The Pirates blew a tough one at Butler, then completely blew at Memphis, where they were completely ran out of the building.
Davidson (Randolph Childress) -- 8-8, 2-2 Atlantic 10.
1/13/16 at St. Joseph's (W 91-79).
1/16/16 at St. Bonaventure (L 87-77).
A road split for the Wildcats, but the schedule gets much tougher the rest of January.
TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 5-12, 0-5 Big 12.
1/11/16 vs. #16 Baylor (L 80-61).
1/16/16 vs. #13 Oklahoma (L 79-58).
The week went as expect for the Horned Frogs. The good news was they hosted 2 top 20 opponents. The bad news is they were hammered by both.
Michigan (Cillian Tribble) -- 9-7, 2-2 Big 10.
1/13/16 vs. #15 Michigan State- feature game, highlighted above.
1/16/16 at #23 Nebraska (L 86-60).
Getting hammered by Nebraska definitely took some of the glory away from the upset win over their in-state rivals, but the Wolverines are happy with a split this week.
#15 Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 13-3, 2-2 big 10.
1/13/16 at Michigan- feature game, highlighted above.
1/16/16 vs. Maryland (W 67-66).
Not a good week at all for the Spartans. First the upset loss at Michigan, then, they had to rely on a buzzer beater to beat a 5 win Maryland team. Coach Mighty needs to get these guys back on track!
Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 12-6, 3-1 Big West.
1/12/16 vs. Cal Poly (W 82-73).
1/16/16 vs. Long Beach State (L 82-74).
The Long Beach loss snapped an 8 game winning streak, and sadly, probably eliminated any votes the Warriors would have gotten. We'll see.
Charlotte (Timmy Tribble) -- 6-9, 2-2 Conference USA.
1/14/16 at Middle Tennessee (L 63-53).
1/16/16 vs. UAB (L 70-61).
2 losses this week for the 49ers, but those 2 losses came to a couple of the top teams in the conference, so no need to worry yet.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 7-8, 1-3 Conference USA.
1/14/16 at Old Dominion (L 71-65).
1/16/16 vs. UTSA (L 74-67).
2 tough losses for the Owls, who had a chance to win both. They need to get those wins against teams with around the same record as them though.
Monmouth (Thomas Carrano) -- 6-12, 4-6 MAAC.
1/11/16 at Bryant (L 64-52).
1/13/16 vs. Lehigh (W 64-61).
1/17/16 at Quinnipiac (L 76-55).
So the Hawks go out of conference to split, then get blasted by a good Quinnipiac team. Considering the combined record of those 2 teams is 30-8, coach Carrano will probably be happy with the split.
Norfolk State (Payten Carrano) -- 6-11, 2-2 MEAC.
1/11/16 vs. Florida A&M (W 60-51).
1/16/16 at Hampton (W 41-35).
2 nice wins for Miss Carrano and her Spartans this week, but geez, scoring 41 points won't beat most teams.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 11-5, 3-1 Pac 12.
1/14/16 vs. Utah (W 75-65).
1/16/16 vs. USC (L 62-57).
A tough loss to USC is the first loss of the early conference season for the Buffaloes. Next week, a trip through Arizona.
#20 Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 15-2, 4-0 Pac 12.
1/14/16 at USC (W 88-57).
1/16/16 vs. #22 Washington (W 115-93).
Wow, the Cardinal showed no mercy this week. Apparently Coach Sanchez ripped them after a couple too close for comfort wins last week.
#5 UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 15-1, 3-1 Pac 12.
1/14/16 vs. California (W 96-66).
1/16/16 vs. Washington State- feature game, highlighted above.
The Bruins are back to their winning ways after that tough loss to Arizona.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 6-8, 0-4 Pac 12.
1/14/16 vs. Oregon (L 83-62).
1/16/16 at #5 UCLA- feature game, highlighted above.
Remember when the Cougars were 6-3 going into the new year? Well they've lost 5 straight and it doesn't get any easier.
Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 7-8, 3-1 SEC.
1/13/16 vs. Missouri (L 73-56).
1/16/16 vs. Texas A&M (W 96-72).
The Crimson Tide split this week, suffering their first SEC loss, but rebounding nicely.
Florida (Noah Oppenheimer) -- 11-5, 1-3 SEC.
1/13/16 at Tennessee (L 71-68).
1/16/16 vs. LSU (W 76-64).
The Gators finally get on the winning side in the SEC, breaking a 4 game losing streak in the win over LSU.
#14 Kentucky (Patrick Hutt) -- 14-2, 4-0 SEC.
1/13/16 vs. Auburn (W 80-49).
1/16/16 vs. Ole Miss (W 77-70).
A little too close for comfort against Ole Miss, but the Wildcats are back on track.
Troy (Brett Hawkins) -- 8-9, 6-2 Sun Belt.
1/14/16 vs. South Alabama (W 68-57).
1/16/16 vs. Appalachian State (W 62-50).
The Trojans are off to a great start in conference play, and have really played pretty solid ball all season, or at least since the 30 pound pounding at Valpo in which they scored 28 points. Yuck!
Let's take a look at the media top 25 this week:
Code:
Top 25
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Syracuse (51) 16-1 1762 1 Atlantic Coast Conference
2. Iowa (16) 16-0 1741 2 Big Ten Conference
3. Kansas 16-1 1653 3 Big 12 Conference
4. Gonzaga (5) 19-1 1612 4 West Coast Conference
5. UCLA 15-1 1506 5 Pacific-12 Conference
6. Cincinnati 16-1 1404 6 American Athletic Conference
7. Villanova 15-2 1360 7 Big East Conference
8. VCU 15-1 1333 8 Atlantic 10 Conference
9. Kentucky 14-2 1212 9 Southeastern Conference
10. Arizona 13-3 1129 10 Pacific-12 Conference
11. Baylor 15-2 1099 11 Big 12 Conference
12. Ohio State 14-2 1007 12 Big Ten Conference
13. Iowa State 14-3 894 13 Big 12 Conference
14. Wisconsin 14-2 894 14 Big Ten Conference
15. Duke 14-2 804 15 Atlantic Coast Conference
16. Oklahoma 14-2 695 16 Big 12 Conference
17. Michigan State 13-3 672 17 Big Ten Conference
18. North Carolina 14-3 555 18 Atlantic Coast Conference
19. Stanford 15-2 493 19 Pacific-12 Conference
20. Miami 15-2 404 20 Atlantic Coast Conference
21. Connecticut 15-3 312 21 American Athletic Conference
22. Notre Dame 13-3 272 22 Atlantic Coast Conference
23. Nebraska 14-2 254 23 Big Ten Conference
24. Valparaiso 17-1 109 24 Horizon League
25. Louisville 13-4 103 25 Atlantic Coast Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Stephen F. Austin 15-2 79 Southland Conference
North Florida 16-1 12 Atlantic Sun Conference
Virginia 12-4 11 Atlantic Coast Conference
UNLV 13-2 9 Mountain West Conference
Harvard 13-3 4 Ivy League
Washington 13-3 3 Pacific-12 Conference
Stony Brook 16-2 2 America East Conference
Louisiana Tech 14-2 1 Conference USA
First thing I've noticed is that something screwed up, as for some reason, the previous week rankings are exactly the same as the current week rankings, and we know that is wrong. UCLA stayed the same, Michigan State only dropped 2 spots with their loss, Stanford up a spot, and Kentucky up 5 spots.
Code:
Mid Major Top 25
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. Gonzaga (72) 19-1 1800 1 West Coast Conference
2. Cincinnati 16-1 1716 2 American Athletic Conference
3. VCU 15-1 1668 3 Atlantic 10 Conference
4. Connecticut 15-3 1565 4 American Athletic Conference
5. Stephen F. Austin 15-2 1497 5 Southland Conference
6. Harvard 13-3 1398 6 Ivy League
7. Valparaiso 17-1 1318 7 Horizon League
8. UNLV 13-2 1286 8 Mountain West Conference
9. Louisiana Tech 14-2 1185 9 Conference USA
10. San Diego State 13-5 1131 10 Mountain West Conference
11. North Florida 16-1 1069 11 Atlantic Sun Conference
12. Illinois State 16-3 825 12 Missouri Valley Conference
13. Richmond 13-3 822 13 Atlantic 10 Conference
14. Stony Brook 16-2 819 14 America East Conference
15. South Dakota State 12-3 816 15 Summit League
16. Massachusetts 12-4 796 16 Atlantic 10 Conference
17. Northern Iowa 13-4 733 17 Missouri Valley Conference
18. Georgia State 12-3 529 18 Sun Belt Conference
19. George Washington 12-5 505 19 Atlantic 10 Conference
20. Winthrop 16-2 473 20 Big South Conference
21. Eastern Kentucky 15-3 388 21 Ohio Valley Conference
22. Murray State 15-3 170 22 Ohio Valley Conference
23. Quinnipiac 15-3 158 23 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
24. Toledo 13-3 137 24 Mid-American Conference
25. Vermont 14-3 111 25 America East Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Wichita State 10-7 87 Missouri Valley Conference
New Mexico 12-4 82 Mountain West Conference
Tulsa 14-4 82 American Athletic Conference
UTEP 12-3 62 Conference USA
Weber State 12-2 59 Big Sky Conference
Old Dominion 12-3 52 Conference USA
Princeton 12-3 27 Ivy League
BYU 13-6 13 West Coast Conference
Robert Morris 15-3 11 Northeast Conference
Denver 13-3 9 Summit League
North Dakota State 14-4 1 Summit League
Still no representation in this poll. Had Hawaii won both games this week, I think they'd have been in there.