We’ve passed one milestone of the college basketball season. Most of the in-season tournaments and significant conference challenges (ACC/Big Ten, Big East/SEC) have been completed. Though there’s still a long and winding road to the finish line, we now have a little better feel for who’s gonna’ be good, and which teams look like they’re headed toward “bust” territory. To that end, early in this 2012-13 campaign here’s one man’s opinion of the pleasant surprises and disappointments from each of the 31 automatic-qualifying conferences.
Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down
America East — Albany/Boston U
ACC — Virginia Tech/Florida State
Atlantic Sun — Florida Gulf Coast/Mercer
Atlantic 10 — Charlotte/Saint Louis
Big East — UConn/Marquette
Big Sky — Sacramento State/Montana
Big South — Gardner-Webb/Charleston Southern
Big 10 — Illinois/Iowa
Big 12 — Oklahoma State/Texas
Big West — Pacific/
Colonial — William & Mary/Drexel
Conference USA — SMU/Memphis
Horizon — UIC/Green Bay
Ivy — /Harvard
Metro Atlantic — Canisius/Siena
MAC — Kent State/Buffalo
MEAC — Savannah State/
Missouri Valley — Wichita State/Northern Iowa
Mountain West — Boise State/Nevada
Northeast — Bryant/Long Island
Ohio Valley — Jacksonville State/Tennessee State
Pac 12 — Arizona State/UCLA
Patriot — Colgate/Lehigh
SEC — Alabama/Kentucky
Southern — College of Charleston
Southland — Stephen F. Austin/Oral Roberts
SWAC — n/a
Summit — North Dakota State/South Dakota State
Sun Belt — South Alabama/North Texas
West Coast — San Francisco/Saint Mary’s
WAC — Louisiana Tech/Denver
The Unconquered
The list of unbeatens was chopped from 33 to 20 last week. Who’s left, their best win so far, and which upcoming opponent looks like a potential roadblock.
1. Arizona — beat Long Beach State 94-72. (FLORIDA on Dec. 15)
2. Charlotte — beat East Carolina 76-64. (@ Davidson on Wednesday)
3. Cincinnati — beat Alabama 58-56 (vs. Xavier on Dec. 19)
4. Colorado State — won @ Washington 73-55. (@ Colorado on Wednesday)
5. Duke — beat Louisville 76-71. (vs. Temple on Saturday)
6. Eastern Kentucky — beat Norfolk State 68-44. (@ Illinois on Dec. 16)
7. Florida — beat Wisconsin 74-56. (@ Florida State on Wednesday)
8. Gonzaga — beat Oklahoma 72-47. (ILLINOIS on Saturday)
9. Illinois — beat Butler 78-61. (@ Gonzaga on Saturday)
10. Indiana — beat Georgetown 82-72. (vs. Butler on Dec. 15)
11. LSU — beat Seton Hall 72-67. (@ Boise State on Dec. 15)
12. Michigan — beat NC State 79-72. (vs. West Virginia on Dec. 15)
13. New Mexico — beat UConn 66-60. (@ Cincinnati on Dec. 27)
14. Ole Miss — beat Rutgers 80-67. (@ Middle Tennessee State on Saturday).
15. Stephen F. Austin — won @ Tulsa 57-41. (@ Texas A&M on Wednesday)
16. Syracuse — beat San Diego State 62-49. (vs. Temple on Dec. 29)
17. Temple — won @ Kent State 80-66. (@ Villanova on Wednesday)
18. Virginia Tech — beat Oklahoma State 81-71. (@ West Virginia on Saturday)
19. Wichita State — won @ VCU 53-51. (@ Tennessee on Dec. 13)
20. Wyoming — beat Colorado 76-69. (@ Illinois State on Tuesday).
The RPI Top 25 from Jerry Palm (through Dec. 2)
1. Duke (8-0)
2. Michigan (6-0)
3. New Mexico (8-0)
4. Illinois (7-0)
5. Colorado (6-1)
6. UConn (6-1) — ineligible for NCAA Tournament
7. Florida (6-0)
8. Butler (4-2)
9. Syracuse (5-0)
10. Indiana (8-0)
11. GOPHERS (8-1)
12. Wichita State (8-0)
13. Louisville (6-1)
14. Gonzaga (7-0)
15. Oklahoma State (5-1)
16. UNLV (5-1)
17. Cincinnati (7-0)
18. Ohio State (5-1)
19. Texas A&M (6-1)
20. Georgetown (5-1)
21. Kansas (6-1)
22. Arizona (5-0)
23. Alabama (5-1)
24. NC State (4-2)
25. Baylor (5-2)
The Big Ten in the RPI
2. Michigan (6-0)
4. Illinois (7-0)
10. Indiana (8-0)
11. GOPHERS (8-1)
18. Ohio State (5-1)
44. Michigan State (6-2)
74. Nebraska (5-1)
81. Northwestern (6-2)
85. Iowa (6-2)
94. Wisconsin (5-3)
142. Purdue (3-4)
190. Penn State (4-3)
RPI of Gophers’ Nonconference Opponents
1. Duke (8-0)
79. North Dakota State (4-2)
88. USC (3-3)
101. Richmond (6-2)
105. Stanford (6-3)
156. Memphis (4-2)
174. Florida State (4-3)
177. American (3-4)
187. South Dakota State (4-2)
191. Tennessee State (2-5)
198. North Florida (2-5)
246. Toledo (2-5)
323. Lafayette (2-7)
Mano-a-Mano Report: Top 8 Conferences Head to Head (Nov. 26-Dec. 2)
Last week’s results: Arizona over Texas Tech; Baylor over Kentucky; Boston College over Penn State; Cincinnati over Alabama; Clemson over South Carolina; DePaul over Auburn; Duke over Ohio State; Florida over Marquette; Georgetown over Tennessee; Illinois over Georgia Tech; Indiana over North Carolina; Kansas over Oregon State; LSU over Seton Hall; Maryland over Northwestern; Miami over Michigan State; Miami over UMass; Michigan over NC State; Minnesota over Florida State; Nebraska over Wake Forest; Notre Dame over Kentucky; Ole Miss over Rutgers; Providence over Mississippi State; Purdue over Clemson; Richmond over Wake Forest; Saint John’s over South Carolina; San Diego State over UCLA; Syracuse over Arkansas; USF over Georgia; Villanova over Vanderbilt; Virginia over Wisconsin; Virginia Tech over Iowa; Virginia Tech over Oklahoma State; Washington over Saint Louis; Wisconsin over Cal; Wyoming over Colorado; Xavier over Purdue.
Standings
1. Big Ten (22-13, 62.9%)
2. Big East (23-15, 60.5%)
3. ACC (19-14, 57.6%)
4. Mountain West (6-5, 54.5%)
5. Big 12 (11-10, 52.4%)
6. Pac 12 (13-16, 44.8%)
7. Atlantic 10 (12-18, 40%)
8. SEC (11-26, 29.7%)
Upset Special (or not)
I stink at this. It’s not being 0-4 that bothers me; it’s that my “upset specialists” are getting blown out of the building almost every week. I’ll get one eventually, I hope.
Record: 0-4
Last Week: Saint Joseph’s over Creighton (L, Jays in a slaughter, 80-51)
This Week: Ohio over Memphis (Wednesday)