Dec. 19-25, 2022
27 games on the schedule this week, with 2 feature games. Let's get to the feature games, which both involve Duke in their season tournament.
12/19/22- Diamond Head Classic First Round -
(7) Tulsa (Will Brown) vs.
(2) Duke (Dean Hoo) -- After playing a subpar first half, the Blue Devils picked it up in the second half, running away with this one. Of course, it helps when you have a 47-33 rebounding advantage.
Final Score: (2) Duke- 80, (7) Tulsa- 58
12/20/22- Diamond Head Classic Semifinal -
(3) Stanford (Benito Sanchez) vs.
(2) Duke (Will Brown) -- A huge shooting advantage lifted the Blue Devils to the Diamond Head Championship, as they shot 44.1% to just 36.2% for Stanford.
Final Score: (2) Duke- 64, (3) Stanford- 52
Now we go to the rest of the weekly recap:
Hartford (David Ginsberg) -- 6-8, 0-1 America East.
12/19/22 at St. Joseph's (L 69-39).
12/21/22 vs. Rutgers (W 80-61).
12/25/22 at UMBC (L 72-57).
An embarrassing loss for the Hawks in their conference opener, losing to a team with an RPI of 344. Not gonna cut it. At least losing to a 2 loss St. Joseph's team is respectable, even if it was by 30. A nice 19 point win over Rutgers though.
UConn (Randolph Childress) -- 4-7, 1-0 American.
12/21/22 vs. Houston (W 75-59).
Just the 1 game for the Huskies this week, but it was an important one as they get conference play started off on the right foot. In what looks to be a wide open American this season, hopefully they can feed off this win and get it going.
Tulsa (Will Brown) -- 4-8, 0-0 American.
12/19/22- Diamond Head Classic First Round vs. (2) Duke- feature game, highlighted above.
12/20/22- Diamond Head Classic Consolation Round vs. (6) Butler (L 73-53).
12/22/22- Diamond Head Classic 7th Place Game vs. (4) Florida (W 59-50).
12/25/22 at Eastern Washington (L 82-49).
Not a good week for the Golden Hurricane at all, losing 3 of 4. The win they got was unexpected for sure, which at least salvaged them 7th place in their season tournament. What was even more unexpected was losing by 33 to Eastern Washington. Jeez!
Duke (Dean Hoo) -- 8-3, 0-0 ACC.
12/19/22- Diamond Head Classic First Round vs. (7) Tulsa- feature game, highlighted above.
12/20/22- Diamond Head Classic Semifinal vs. (3) Stanford- feature game, highlighted above.
12/22/22- Diamond Head Classic Championship vs. (5) Richmond (W 64-53).
Great week for the Blue Devils, as they get their first 8 team season tournament championship under Coach Hoo. Couldn't have come at a more important time as they can take some momentum into next week when conference play begins.
#18 TCU (Bee Mighty) -- 8-2, 0-0 Big 12.
12/21/22 at UTEP (W 73-65).
12/23/22 at #4 LSU (L 80-64).
A road split for the Horned Frogs, and it didn't come easy as they played teams with an RPI of 7 and 1, respectively. It won't get any easier, as it's Big 12 time for Coach Mighty and TCU.
Michigan State (Al Mighty) -- 8-3, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/19/22 vs. Creighton (W 77-64).
12/22/22 vs. Illinois Chicago (W 92-60).
A couple of easy victories for the Spartans this week, who have a tough non-conference feature game next week before opening up Big Ten play against a ranked Iowa team.
#20 Northwestern (Ess Vee) -- 8-1, 0-0 Big Ten.
12/19/22- Las Vegas Holiday Classic Championship vs. (2) Drexel (W 78-69).
The Wildcats just had the 1 game this week, but it was a good one. They win their 2nd 4 team tournament championship since this dynasty started, and are on a roll as they take a trip through California for a couple non-conference games next week.
#16 Hawaii (B.B. Gunn) -- 9-2, 0-0 Big West.
12/20/22 at New Mexico (L 79-71).
Just 1 game this week for the Warriors, who see their 7 game winning streak snapped, and will look to recovery next week against a couple pretty tough opponents.
#19 FIU (Brett Hawkins) -- 8-1, 0-0 Conference USA.
No games this week for Coach Hawkins and the Golden Panthers, as they have 2 more non-conference games next week.
Rice (Charlie Shocker) -- 5-5, 0-0 Conference USA.
12/22/22 vs. Lamar (W 71-54).
12/24/22 at Nebraska Omaha (W 65-61).
The Owls get back to .500 on the season with 2 wins this week, and they get ready to start conference play against a pretty solid lineup.
Colorado (Rob Nielsen) -- 8-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/20/22 vs. Kansas (W 68-55).
1 game for the Buffaloes this week, as they take out a former Big 12 rival. Just wanna say, Kansas has fallen on very hard times in this dynasty, as they are just 3-8 this season. Wow!
Stanford (Benito Sanchez) -- 8-3, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/19/22- Diamond Head Classic First Round vs. (6) Butler (W 71-59).
12/20/22- Diamond Head Classic Semifinal vs. (2) Duke- feature game, highlighted above.
12/22/22- Diamond Head Classic 3rd Place Game vs. (1) Iowa State (W 62-56).
12/25/22 vs. Michigan (W 83-71).
Nice week for the Cardinal who win 3 of 4 and take 3rd place in the Diamond Head Classic. Next week a tough non-conference game before they start Pac 12 play.
UCLA (Tim Shepard) -- 6-4, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/22/22 vs. George Mason (W 81-58).
Easy win for the Bruins in their only game of the week. Next week starts a 5 game road trip in which the first 2 are non-conference games against Big West teams.
Washington State (DeShawn St. John) -- 5-4, 0-0 Pac 12.
12/22/22 at New Mexico (W 78-71).
12/24/22 vs. Portland State (L 90-63).
A split this week for the Cougars, but not the expected split. Many had them pegged to lose to New Mexico and beat Portland State. I'd like to say they have 2 more very winnable non-conference games next week, but if they lose by 27 to a 2 win (at the time) Portland State team, who knows.
#21 Alabama (Roy Rogers) -- 9-2, 0-0 SEC.
12/20/22 vs. Mississippi State (W 95-55).
12/22/22 vs. Memphis (W 81-77).
2 more wins for the Crimson Tide, who absolutely thrashed former SEC foe Mississippi State. A huge non-conference game next week before jumping into SEC play.
Here is a look at the national top 25 heading into the week of Dec. 26-Jan. 1:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Arkansas (38) 10-0 1748 1 Southeastern Conference
2. Syracuse (31) 11-1 1746 2 Atlantic Coast Conference
3. North Carolina (3) 10-1 1684 5 Atlantic Coast Conference
4. Notre Dame 9-1 1532 3 Atlantic Coast Conference
5. LSU 11-1 1525 4 Southeastern Conference
6. Louisville 9-1 1379 8 Atlantic Coast Conference
7. Yale 12-0 1365 7 Ivy League
8. Florida State 10-1 1316 9 Atlantic Coast Conference
9. Wisconsin 9-2 1218 12 Big Ten Conference
10. Old Dominion 10-0 1209 10 Conference USA
11. Iowa 9-2 1003 13 Big Ten Conference
12. Ohio State 8-2 998 6 Big Ten Conference
13. Alabama 9-2 922 21 Southeastern Conference
14. Northwestern 8-1 826 20 Big Ten Conference
15. UC Riverside 10-1 693 NR Big West Conference
16. Arizona 8-2 684 22 Pacific-12 Conference
17. FIU 8-1 662 19 Conference USA
18. North Texas 9-1 542 NR Conference USA
19. Villanova 11-2 496 11 Big East Conference
20. Missouri 7-1 493 NR Southeastern Conference
21. St. John's 10-2 335 NR Big East Conference
22. Middle Tennessee 7-1 322 NR Conference USA
23. Baylor 9-2 235 NR Big 12 Conference
24. Davidson 9-2 119 NR Atlantic 10 Conference
25. Oklahoma State 11-2 108 NR Big 12 Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Georgetown 9-3 70 Big East Conference
Wichita State 9-2 44 Missouri Valley Conference
Tulane 9-2 31 American Athletic Conference
Utah State 8-2 22 Mountain West Conference
Stony Brook 11-2 21 America East Conference
Saint Joseph's 9-2 14 Atlantic 10 Conference
TCU 8-2 14 Big 12 Conference
Hawaii 9-2 10 Big West Conference
Western Michigan 9-2 8 Mid-American Conference
Pacific 8-2 3 West Coast Conference
Northern Iowa 9-2 2 Missouri Valley Conference
Oakland 8-2 1 Horizon League
All 5 FOFC teams that received votes last week are receiving votes this week. Alabama moves up 8 spots in the top 25, while Northwestern moves up 6 spots. FIU, which didn't play, moves up 2 spots. Hawaii and TCU drop out of the national top 25 but are still receiving votes.
Now for the mid-major top 25 for the week of Dec. 26-Jan. 1:
Code:
# Team FPV Record Points Prv Conference test test test test
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1. Yale (61) 12-0 1789 1 Ivy League
2. Old Dominion (11) 10-0 1739 2 Conference USA
3. FIU 8-1 1632 5 Conference USA
4. UC Riverside 10-1 1563 11 Big West Conference
5. North Texas 9-1 1506 12 Conference USA
6. Middle Tennessee 7-1 1409 13 Conference USA
7. Wichita State 9-2 1323 16 Missouri Valley Conference
8. Western Michigan 9-2 1225 15 Mid-American Conference
9. Davidson 9-2 1168 14 Atlantic 10 Conference
10. Oakland 8-2 1132 4 Horizon League
11. Northern Iowa 9-2 991 7 Missouri Valley Conference
12. Saint Joseph's 9-2 988 18 Atlantic 10 Conference
13. Tulane 9-2 974 3 American Athletic Conference
14. Hawaii 9-2 888 6 Big West Conference
15. Utah State 8-2 867 17 Mountain West Conference
16. Stony Brook 11-2 773 22 America East Conference
17. Dayton 8-2 715 8 Atlantic 10 Conference
18. Pacific 8-2 647 10 West Coast Conference
19. San Diego State 9-3 524 NR Mountain West Conference
20. Mercer 10-3 300 NR Southern Conference
21. Fresno State 8-3 288 NR Mountain West Conference
22. UAB 8-3 220 NR Conference USA
23. UTEP 7-3 164 19 Conference USA
24. Portland 8-3 132 NR West Coast Conference
25. Bowling Green 8-3 68 20 Mid-American Conference
Others Receiving Votes:
Long Beach State 8-3 66 Big West Conference
Holy Cross 9-3 59 Patriot League
Richmond 8-3 41 Atlantic 10 Conference
Kent State 8-3 39 Mid-American Conference
Rhode Island 7-3 36 Atlantic 10 Conference
VMI 8-3 30 Southern Conference
Jacksonville State 9-3 27 Ohio Valley Conference
Loyola Chicago 8-3 25 Missouri Valley Conference
Northern Colorado 8-3 10 Big Sky Conference
Western Carolina 8-3 10 Southern Conference
UC Davis 6-3 7 Big West Conference
BYU 9-4 6 West Coast Conference
Cal Poly 6-3 6 Big West Conference
Massachusetts 7-3 6 Atlantic 10 Conference
Illinois State 10-4 5 Missouri Valley Conference
Eastern Michigan 8-3 2 Mid-American Conference
Still just FIU and Hawaii representing us in the mid-major top 25. FIU moves up 2 posts in this poll as well, without playing. Meanwhile, Hawaii has a bad drop of 8 spots after their loss to New Mexico.