Slow week in college hoops, and no changes made in the top ten. Shuffling occurred from there.
1. Duke – Open ACC against Miami next Sunday.
2. Kansas – Returned to form in victory over Cal.
3. Ohio State – Will ring in the New Year and Big Ten season playing Indiana in Bloomington.
4. UConn – Will they be undefeated after playing the Pitt Panthers tonight?
5. Syracuse – Providence comes to “The Hill” to open their Big East ledger on Tuesday.
6. San Diego St. – A second game against IUPUI almost proved fatal.
7. Missouri – The Tigers made Illinois look average.
8. Kentucky – The Wildcats play at Louisville on New Year’s Eve.
9. Pittsburgh – The Panthers have a chance to climb the ladder with a win over UConn.
10. Georgetown – The Hoyas play at Notre Dame on Wednesday.
11. Villanova – Have won five in a row since their only loss. Host Temple on Thursday.
12. BYU – Pay a visit to Buffalo on Thursday.
13. Notre Dame – Tilt with Georgetown offers an opportunity for validation.
14. Wisconsin – Have won six straight since last defeat. Host Minnesota on Tuesday.
15. UCF – Victory at UMass solidifies their ranking.
16. Minnesota – Al Nolen returns from injury. The Gopher could start making a move.
17. Temple – Big 5 match-up with Villanova. Can the Owls tame the Wildcats for the second in a row?
18. Illinois – Looking to recover from loss to Missouri.
19. Northwestern – Is loss to St. John’s a harbinger of things to come?
20. Florida – Hangover from victory over K-State led to loss to Jacksonville. Play at Xavier on New Year’s Eve.
21. Butler – Have won five consecutive, including taking Diamond Head Classic, since losing to Xavier 51-49.
22. Kansas State – Pending decision regarding Curtis Kelly’s eligibility will weigh heavily on the Wildcats’ season.
23. Boston College – The Eagles haven’t lost in a month.
24. Texas – Victory at East Lansing was impressive.
25. Gonzaga – Gathering momentum.
Who is in your top 25?
Casey —
No love yet for 11-1 Texas A&M?? Aggies have beaten Temple, Washington and Arkansas. Just sayin’ ….
Anyone know BYU’s schedule for the week?
Boston College is winning games again? What are their chances in a very weak ACC this year???
“very weak?”
“very?”
Very weak. We are fooled every year by teams that start out well but fizzle out. Who after Duke can legitimately win a tournament game this season (let alone make the tourney)? Look at the opponents of Fla. State and Miami, whose records seem pretty good. The Seminoles just beat a highly overrated Baylor team that has lost 3 of its last 4.
So after Duke, who can you honestly hang your hat on to compete at a high level late in the ACC? Nobody. VERY weak this year.
Rey —
I suspect North Carolina might have a pretty decent team by March. What about NC State, Virginia, Va Tech?
But Texas A&M would probably finish 2nd in the ACC this year. 🙂
Oh … A&M’s only loss this year was around T-Giving to Boston College.
UCF ???? Seriously???? Since when does a victory over UMass “solidify” ANYTHING???
There is a lot of room between “very weak” and “competing at a high level late,” and somewhere in between you will find this year’s ACC. Don’t get me wrong. The conference is down this year. FSU’s victory over Baylor is actually a good example. The Bears are overrated, and the Seminoles beat them. Butler has won five in a row (when it is all said and done the Bulldogs will prove last year was not a fluke), and the Seminoles are the only team hold them under 74 (67). FSU’s three losses are to Ohio State, Florida and Butler. Chris Singleton is the type of player that can get a team over the hump. He will need consistency out of Dulkys.
Virginia is a team that could win a game or two in March. Tony Bennett’s team plays stingy defense. They don’t beat themselves.
Malcolm Delaney and Virginia Tech also don’t beat themselves.
And Wake Forest with their three-point shooting has the potential to sneak up on teams.
Virginia is terrible. Currently 8-4. Lost to Seattle and to Washington by over 40 points. They do have a win against Minn.
Va Tech. lost to Virginia already.
NC State is ready to fire Sidney Lowe once the season ends. He has a good recruiting class but can’t seem to get any production out of them consistently. They were down something like 22-3 to Youngstown State at home (eventually won, but come on). NC State in my opinion has the best chance to steal the second or third spot.
I do not foresee UNC finishing behind Duke at 2nd. They could possibly finish third on talent alone, but even that has been a hinderance to them. Harrison Barnes is shooting 37% from the field. He’s attempted more 3s (49) than FTs (44) and currently shoots 26% from beyond the arc. And as their 6’8″ PF averages 6 boards. Roy isn’t one to challenge a highly touted recruit, so don’t look for Barnes to sit or change his style anytime soon. They still have no PG either. Dexter Strickland and Larry Drew just don’t look court savvy at all.
Casey – There is no way you just mentioned Wake Forest. I guess they could sneak up on someone because everyone has written them off. They’ve lost to STETSON (a cologne), PRESBYTERIAN (whose mascot is/are “The Blue Hose”), UNC-WILMINGTON, and VCU by 20+, and a 5-7 Winthrop team. They are a complete trainwreck.
UCF is 11-0 with wins over a Big East squad (South Florida), SEC (Florida), and ACC (Miami). Going on the road (UMass) four days after taking an important game (intra-state rival, Miami) shows substance – just ask Tennessee and Louisville and Oakland and Florida. UCF could have easily overlooked UMass. They didn’t. They won. Others have lost. UCF moves past those who have lost.
Yes, Wake Forest is a train wreck. That can shoot 50% from behind the line because they have no other recourse.
The second place team in the ACC this year will have 4 conference losses. First place will be Duke with 0.
Rey – your question was who can compete at a high level LATE in the ACC. Yes, Virginia is wildly inconsistent. They have also beaten Oregon and Oklahoma (yes, weak teams but playing in conferences with teams that will pad top 25 resumes by beating them). Virginia is a team that can improve over the course of the season.
Maryland will also improve as the season goes on. If the Terrapins shot better at the line, they would have wins over Pitt and Illinois.
Okay – my guess is the second place team in the Big East will have four losses as will probably the same in the Big Ten.
West Virginia, Pitt and Villanova tied for second in the Big East with 5 losses last year. The Wildcats barely got out of the first round of the NCAA tournament and Pitt lost in the second round.
And the Big East was supposed to be the strongest conference “by far” last year.
Ok – the second place team in the ACC will have 6 losses
There is a problem (in my eyes) in comparing the Big East to anyone. The Big East beat up on each other because they were all good. The ACC will beat up on each other this year because they are all so average. Let’s look at it like this. You get to pick your 32 teams that will be playing after the first Thursday and Friday of the tourney. How many ACC teams do you have? I have at least 4-5 Big East teams. The Big 12 has some viable competitiveness this year. Take your surprises, maybe 1 or 2 of them. Memphis. Gonzaga? Butler? A couple SEC teams. We both agree the A10 will/should have 2 reps this year after round one. How many left for average teams in the ACC, which is every team after Duke in my opinion?
Okay – the Big East “beat up” on each other. They had TWO teams (Syracuse and West Virginia) that made it out of the first weekend of play in last year’s NCAA Tournament. Two. The Big East was supposed to be the best conference “by far.” Yet, if Duke advances to the third round and say Maryland and BC get wins, the ACC is “very weak?”
Don’t get me wrong. The Big East is OBVIOUSLY a good conference, but you have to keep in mind that about 65% (wild estimate)of the media graduated from Big East schools, and that creates a bias in the eye of the general public.
Don’t forget South Florida, Seton Hall, DePaul, St. John’s and Providence all play in the Big East.
By the way – Syracuse is undefeated. Two of those wins were Georgia Tech and North Carolina St – two teams I am not mentioning as being decent late in the season. Both of those were one possession games in the last minute of play.
Don’t play your word games with me. I said 32 teams! Not how many teams made it out of the first weekend. You had 4 ACC teams get to the second round (Wake, Duke, Maryland, GT). You can vouch that two of those teams competed because they had some legit talent (Wake with Aminu and GT with Favors). WHICH, might I add, is something severely lacking in the ACC this year: no over-powering players. Big East also had 4 get to the second round.
Now – not arguing about LAST YEAR – how many teams from the ACC make your final 32 THIS YEAR? All I’m saying is that they’re lacking in a lot of categories this year and the non-conference records are telling. Meanwhile, since we’re comparing so much, Big East teams are ripping through their competition from what I’ve seen.
I did say – “if Duke advances to the third round and say Maryland and BC get wins, the ACC is ‘very weak?'”
Back to your original point – the ACC is very weak. Now, you are adding that the Big East should not be compared to others. So is the difference between “very weak” and beyond comparison one win on the first weekend of the NCAA tournament? If so, it sounds like an overreaction. Have you been spending time reading Notre Dame football sites?
Last year the Big East was supposed to be great. How far did that get them? The ACC, in what was not supposed to be a great year for the league, had as many wins as the Big East in the first round.
Syracuse is really ripping – they beat William and Mary at home by 3, NC State AT HOME by 6, Iona AT HOME by 6, Detroit AT HOME by 11. Oh yeah, but they really took it to Colgate, Drexel and Morgan State.
UConn looked good at Maui. Since then, they have beaten UNH, UMBC, FDU, Coppin St. and Harvard.
I can understand why Pitt lost to Tennessee. The Panthers must have struggled with the change of pace after beating Rider and Delaware St.
Don’t forget South Florida, Seton Hall, DePaul, St. John’s and Providence all play in the Big East.
Out of curiosity – who are the “over-powering” players in the Big East this year? Without looking any up.
I refer to last year because this sounds like the same discussion that comes up EVERY year. That the Big East is untouchable, and other conferences are secondary. Then comes the NCAA Tournament, and the Big East is right in the pack with every other league – no better, no worse. Much of this comes down to the public perception of the league which is affected by the media. The Big East had four teams win the first round of last year’s tournament. How many Big East teams lost in the first round? The conference gets more pieces to the pie than others which gives them a better a chance at winning.
Who started the comparison to the Big East? Me or you? I can’t keep up. Now the argument rests on relative semantics. Let me cognitively rewind and think about what I meant when I said very weak. By very weak, my brain was tuned into how much money I would bet on the number of ACC teams playing after the first round. My over/under for that bet would 1.5, and I’d take the under. Then my brain said, “Hey – if this was 3-4 years ago, at this point of the season, we’d have, like, 4 teams people would be willing to bet on from the ACC as legit contenders for the final 32.
Even though now we can say they were never good enough, most of us would have vouched for Purnell’s Clemson Tigers at some point (didn’t they start 16-0 one year?). Wake would always be in the discussion. And of course you have UNC and Duke. Then, every other year you could throw in maybe a Maryland/NC State.
So where is the ACC now? I will ask again – how many ACC teams are you willing to say are alive in the final 32 THIS year? I am going with 1. Never have I felt that way before.
Big East – I can’t name any big names. I haven’t watched a single game this year. But I bet by conference time some names emerge other than Kemba Walker. And I never said the Big East had over-powering guys. I said that about the ACC last year. Who’s the one obsessed with the Big East again? Me or you?
And finally, the only difference between Syracuse/UCONN/Pitt/whoeever else’s weak wins is that they WON!!!! These sorry ACC teams are losing games they should never lose. And losing many of them.
The Big East was mentioned in the same sentence with the Big Ten. At that point you suggested that “There is a problem (in my eyes) in comparing the Big East to anyone. The Big East beat up on each other because they were all good.”
You didn’t mention the Big Ten so I figured you were using the Big east as a gauge. Then there was some mention of word games? I’ll trust you on that one.
My guess – the ACC has three wins in this year’s first round of the NCAA Tournament.
3 wins! WHO? Duke gets a win. Who gets the other wins????
Well I was trying to compare them to someone with as many bids. Didn’t think the Big Ten had 5+ bids so went with the Big East I guess.
You haven’t watched a single game this year?
Ok. The following teams don’t even MAKE the tourney this year:
North Carolina
North Carolina State
Georgia Tech
Wake Forest
Clemson
Maryland
Virginia
Virginia Tech
That leaves:
Duke
FSU
Miami
Boston College
Duke wins. FSU by that point will be a low seed and get a bad draw in first round. Miami will have forgotten that they play basketball atr the U and not even show up. Boston College will be on upset alert if they get anywhere close to an 8/9 seed.
A complete game. Am I still allowed to discuss? You know, you are the greatest NCAABB writer in the country 🙂
Ok – If UNC stays injury free then they make the tourney. I was getting ahead of myself.
This projection has Maryland as a 10, UNC as a 9, Miami as a 12.
https://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/writers/andy_glockner/12/27/bracket-watch/?eref=sihp
So…3 comments up? Rey, are you trying to carry the day with flattery, or is that sarcasm?
Definitely flattery.
Is there a winner in this debate … or do we declare it a draw? And what was the debate again? 😉
I still think A&M should be in the Top 25 … esp if you’re gonna include UCF of all teams. Sheeesh.
https://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/rankings
Please note #19 AP, #21 Coaches and #16 by Parrish.
Yes, I know A&M is on ALL of those polls and ahead of UCF. But at #18 others must have left them off too. Probably people whose kids aren’t Aggies.
Not that I want to start validating my poll through the AP and coaches. Just thought it would give a frame of reference. It’s not like you weren’t given the opportunity to include your 25.
Great article to brush up on your Big 10 hoops this season:
https://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5962367