Semi-official 2013-14 College Basketball Thread

[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]

Originally Posted by 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.

Hopefully that's just because they miss Jabari Hinds so much

[panerd]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

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]

Originally Posted by MrBug708

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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]

Originally Posted by Chief Rum

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]

Originally Posted by BishopMVP

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]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

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]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

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

[mauchow]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Sagarin has Iowa #1

USA Today | Sports | NCAAB

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]

Originally Posted by britrock88

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.

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by sterlingice

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]

Originally Posted by tarcone

#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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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

[Kodos]

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

[dawgfan]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

This slayed me:

Southern Illinois basketball coach goes on epic rant about team | Rumors and Rants

That was fantastic.

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Kodos

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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]

Originally Posted by MJ4H

This slayed me:

Southern Illinois basketball coach goes on epic rant about team | Rumors and Rants

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]

Originally Posted by 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.

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.