Six of the previous week’s top 25 (Ohio State, Texas, Kansas, Notre Dame, Kentucky and Utah State) went unscathed in the last seven days. Here is the carnage.
1. Ohio State – Buckeyes’ recipe has been to commit just 14.1 fouls per game (second in the nation) while limiting to 57.5 (7th).
2. Texas – Hot time at College Station tonight.
3. Kansas – Jayhawks have the number one field-goal percentage (51.4) while holding opponents to 27.7 (5th) from behind the arc.
4. Pittsburgh – Panthers have a rebound margin of 13.4 (1st-next closest is Old Dominion at 10.4) and an assist to turnover ratio of 1.71 (second).
5. BYU – The Cougars host UNLV on Wednesday.
6. UConn – Huskies host Syracuse on Wednesday before traveling to Seton Hall.
7. Duke – Any guesses as to the level of difficulty and/or intensity of today’s practice at Cameron last night.
8. San Diego State – Rebounded from first loss by hanging a 39-spot on Wyoming.
9. Kentucky – Wildcats hold opponents to 37.9 percent from the field (tied for 7th).
10. Notre Dame – Irish picked a good week to play just one game.
11. Villanova – Wildcats have lost three of four.
12. Washington – Huskies knock down 48.8 percent (9th) from the field.
13. Texas A&M – Judgment game with the Longhorns tonight.
14. Louisville – Cardinals get 10.1 steals (4th) per game, but commit 14 turnovers.
15. Missouri – Looked helpless at times against Texas.
16. Syracuse – Coach Boeheim did say that this is the most over-rated team he has ever coached.
17. Florida – Gators host Vanderbilt and Kentucky this week.
18. Utah State – Aggies have won 15 in a row.
19. Penn State – Nittany Lions are 4-2 in their last six with both losses on the road. Three of the wins have been over ranked teams.
20. Arizona – Wildcats have won six of seven.
21. Georgetown – Rumors of their demise might be greatly exaggerated.
22. Missouri State – Bears turn over the ball 10.4 times (4th) per game.
23. Purdue – Boilermakers travel to Wisconsin tomorrow. That’s never good for the win-loss percentage.
24. VCU – Rams have won nine in a row.
25. North Carolina – Harrison Barnes has actually made more free throws (48) than threes (26). Now, he needs to work on increasing the total number of attempts from the former.
Casey —
Just another indication on how one outcome can be viewed so differently depending on one’s vantage point. You’re probably looking at Duke’s loss to St John’s as a complete disaster … while at same time, it made me feel better about ND’s own meltdown at MSG 2 weeks ago. St Johns is obviously very dangerous at home and maybe Lavin & Co have that ship headed in the right direction.
Saw Louie Carnesecca in attendance at the game … isn’t he almost 90 or something like that??
So the Irish beat Pitt last Monday Jan 24 and they won’t play another game until DePaul on Feb 3 !!! What kind of scheduling is that?!?!? I cannot make sense out of it. Who goes 9-10 days in January without playing a game?!?!? So much for keeping momentum ….
I’m sure you are not going to believe me, but I did not look at yesterday’s game as a complete disaster. I have been waiting for it to happen. It’s about time a team exposed Duke for their defensive over-pursuit on the perimeter. Rey commented that the Blue Devils looked flat-footed on defense. They looked flat-footed when they had to play defense. When they had the chance for a steal, the Blue Devils looked fine. The Johnnies did a great job with back door cuts.
It was one game in January. The last time Duke lost by a margin like that was last year against Georgetown. I’ll go as far back as 1991 when UNC emasculated Duke in the ACC final. They recovered and won their next six games. I’m not predicting Duke will win the title. But the sun came up today. It’s not the game. It’s the recovery.
That being said, Nolan Smith is NOT a championship-level point guard. Yeah, he scored 32, but that does not make him a championship level point guard. Coach K and staff will have to figure that out because it doesn’t look like Kyrie Irving is coming back.
I feel you on Nolan Smith, but who does Coach K have as an option at point at this time?
#19!!! Wow!!! All I can say is wow!!!
Casey, did you feel pressured to put Penn State in your top 25? 😉
If they lose to Illinois tomorrow night, I’m going to call the Pickin’ Splinters jinx.
By the way – Duke at Maryland on Wednesday. Don’t be surprised if the Terps get Duke.
Rey – you are absolutely right. Nolan Smith is Duke’s only option. But people were jumping all over it when Smith lit it up for the first couple of games at point. I knew it wouldn’t last long.
Chas – hahaha. No pressure. But I did see a little of the Nittany Lions against Wisconsin because of you. Plus Talor Battle is from upstate New York. He played on the same AAU team with Jimmer Fredette.
Speaking of Fredette, great article in last week’s SI about Jimmer. His legal name is James. Jimmer was the nickname his mom gave him at birth. Kinda cool that the lead picture for the article was taking during the Cougars recent game at the University of Buffalo.
Casey —
Your reaction is about what I expected a former coach to say. But for the “average Duke fan” it was a nightmare. Still … your points are valid … it’s one game, now what can they learn from it and improve on that will serve them well in the weeks ahead? Maybe Mike Brey and ND learned a lot and made some corrections after their own debacle in MSG 2 weeks earlier.
Chas —
I’m thinking he felt pressured … but he’ll deny it 🙂
See ?
See what?
I think meant: “See, I told you he’d deny that he felt pressured.”
See … you denied that you felt any pressure to put Penn State in your Top 25 … just like I said you would.
Meanwhile, I’m thinkin’ … “How does a #45 or so RPI team like PSU make Casey’s Top 25 without the power of a little suggestion from the Pine?” Methinks it’s a bit “aggressive” at this point to have PSU up there … not saying they haven’t been impressive at times lately. I just can’t help but think that the Big 10 is really the Big 1 (Ohio State) with 5-6 other teams “capable” of a #15-25 ranking. When Indiana and Michigan start scaring conference foes, it’s not a good year for the B10. Just sayin’ …..
Timing is everything … and I’m just off a little bit today 😉
For instance … Today, I get 3/4 of the way to the office only to discover that I left my computer and briefcase back at the house. Doh!!!
Every time ND cracks ANY top 10 (and they cracked them ALL this week) I think…OVERRATED! But then I take a look around and say; “No more overrated than many other teams!”
Texas is playing like they want to be a #1 seed.
Pete … any theories as to why ND has about 10 days between these last two games??? Hope they remember what a basket looks like when they play DePaul Thurs.
No theory for the inexplicable. Certainly not related to exams or semester breaks. At least they have DePaul after this long, unnecessary, untimely break. I’m guessing Brey made a New Year’s resolution; no more cupcakes, and he felt his league schedule was tough enough that he didn’t need to find some tournament-caliber foes, but that would be typical Brey mis-thinking! Or maybe no one wanted to come to South Bend in potentially snowy weather and certainly Brey would not want to travel and help his team develop road warrior instincts!
Texas may be playing like they want a #1 seed, but maybe all of those spots should go to Big East teams . As hot as Texas is, they have losses to Pitt and UConn (in early Jan, amidst the Longhorns’ hot streak). The Big East will keep each other from getting #1 seeds, but they may have 6 of the top 10 teams in the country and 10 of the top 25, giving them the potential for 10 seeds of #6 or higher!
UConn, Syracuse and Cincinnati are the only Big East teams undefeated in non-conference play. Syracuse had the advantage of playing almost all of their non-conference games in the Carrier Dome. Cincy’s best non-conference win came at home. UConn has had some nice wins, but they coasted through much of December playing the likes of UMBC, Coppin St., Fairleigh-Dickinson and New Hampshire.
An interesting take on all the comings and goings from our friends over at Rush the Court: https://rushthecourt.net/2011/02/01/the-week-that-was-jan-25-jan-31/
Over the past couple of weeks, it just seems Texas is getting better and better. They are talented, tough and physical … good traits for doing very well in March. Went into the Phog last week and ended Kansas’s long home winning streak. Then they go to A&M last night … a place that had been a nightmare for them for several years … and they just took the game as theirs right from the start. If Texas plays UConn today, I’m thinking it’s a double digit Longhorn win … on any court.
Winning on the road and/or losing at home might be the best gauges of where a team is at this point. Like Wally said, those two wins for the Horns are pretty impressive. I just wonder if they are peaking early, but that doesn’t really matter right now. There are not many teams getting road conference wins.
Casey … please put Penn State back where they belong next week.
Sorry, Chas, but … we all saw it.