Gopher Basketball
Golden Gophers
* While it may eat at the Gopher fanbase to see Wisconsin and Iowa to do better than our team, from my perspective, one of the most significant moments for the next coach will be when the Gophers once again beat Illinois. The Gophers have not defeated the Illini since the days of Clem Haskins and perhaps the signature moment of Dan Monson’s ill-fated regime was the home loss in ’02 when the combination of Kerwin Fleming and Kevin Burleson could not advance the ball into the frontcourt and the Gophers lost 67-66. I have admired and enjoyed watching the Illini the past several years, but it is time for the Gophers to exorcise this demon. Heading into next season, with some senior leadership and the Illini program ebbing a bit, it seems like a great opportunity for the new coach to get a signature win.
* When I saw Jonathan Williams at the opening weekend scrimmage in Rochester, I saw an out of shape big man who already appeared to be losing minutes to Bryce Webster. In a lost season, it’s been nice to see Williams contributing some positive moments and minutes to the struggle. It will be interesting to see how he fits into Coach Mo’s scheme once Spencer Tollackson returns.
The Big Ten
* After Ohio State lost to Wisconsin, I think I felt a general assumption among prognosticators, both regional and national, that the callow Buckeyes were likely to drop another game or two in conference and that the Badgers would waltz to the Big Ten title, irregardless of the rematch on February 25th in Columbus. In the course of one week, by sweeping Michigan State and defeating Purdue on the road, Ohio State took the steps to head into their rematch versus Bucky with just that one loss in conference play. Meanwhile, while the remaining schedule for Wisconsin also appears easy, they do have to head into East Lansing to take on the Spartans the Tuesday night before heading to Columbus. The Big Ten title and likely a #1 seed will be hanging in the balance. Even in a down year for the conference, it will be an impressive feat for the talented Buckeyes if they can seize that moment.
* For years, I have lumped Steve Alford into the category of mediocre Big Ten coaches with Dan Monson and Tommy Amaker. With Monson gone and rumblings that Amaker may follow, Alford has separated himself from this bunch with a strong showing in Big Ten play, riding the shoulders of Adam Haluska and with Tyler Smith showing that all the transcedent freshman in the Big Ten do not reside in Columbus. I’m not buying talk that the Hawkeyes could ascend to a NCAA berth, but for them to bounce back from a start that had them sitting at 5-6 after a loss against Drake is pretty impressive. Now here’s hoping the Gophers can stick a pin in Iowa’s balloon this upcoming Wednesday.
* After watching Eric Gordon showcase his skills this past Thursday night, I have to think Indiana might be the early favorite for the Big Ten crown next season, depending upon what DJ White, Greg Oden, and Daequan Cook decide about the NBA. Lost in the context of all the controversy surrounding Gordon’s reneging on his committment to Illinois and choosing Indiana is the fact that another elite talent has chosen to play his college basketball in the Big Ten. Granted, the entirety of college basketball experienced a superstar talent drain over the course of the past few years until the insitution of the NBA’s draft eligibility rule, requiring preps to play at least one year of college ball. Even taking that into account, in recent years the elite national preps seemed to be avoiding the Big Ten. For instance, two years ago Joe Krabbenhoft, ranked somewhere in the 30-50 range by various scouting services, was the top ranked recruit for the Big Ten teams. Nothing against Krabbenhoft, but he’s not an elite player and neither are Travis Walton, Tony Freeman, or Chester Frazier (other sophomores of note in the Big Ten). Looking at Hoopmasters’ class of 2007 committments, I see 9 of the top 50 seniors will be heading to the Big Ten, with two top ten talents in Gordon and 7’1″ Kosta Koufos who is Ohio State-bound. Purdue has four top 100 talents coming in, Michigan State can claim three top 50 talents, and Ohio State is continuing its talent hording. The quality of overall play in the Big Ten should improve in the next few years and if you cannot keep up with recruiting, the separation between the upper and lower divisions will become more distinct. Have I mentioned, this hire for Joel Maturi is pretty huge?
The National Scene
* It’s always an interesting exercise watching how the conferences shape up as the season progresses along. I thought the SEC would set the pace this year, with the ACC close behind, and while they have two of the very elite teams pacing their conferences, the rest of the teams in their respective conferences are engaged in a scrum of underachievers, overachievers, mediocrity, and inability to win on the road, and then the inability to defend the homecourt. Meanwhile, while everyone assumed UCLA and Arizona would be very good, no one gave much, if any, credence to Oregon, Washington State, USC, and Stanford, but they have all emerged as credible teams and the Pac 10 has emerged as the best conference.
But I’m starting to think that the Big 12 may make the most noise by the time One Shining Moment is playing. Let’s take a look at a few of these teams:
Texas A&M-One of the best defensive squads out there, an elite point guard and clutch performer in Acie Law IV and other capable scorers. Perhaps the most dangerous matchup from this conference come tournament time.
Kansas-Despite their sometimes enigmatic play, they have as much talent as anyone in the country, and can play with the elite, as witnessed by their win against Florida on a neutral court.
Texas-The youngest team going, but do you think anyone wants to take on Kevin Durant and his overlooked, talented teammates on a neutral court?
Oklahoma State-Even though they’ve thrown up a couple weak efforts, including Saturday’s loss at Colorado, they are a tough team with an elite inside-outside combination in Mario Boggan and JamesOn Curry.
All four of these teams could conceivably be Final Four bound, dependent upon how seedings fall. I can’t think of another conference right now that sets up with as many legitimate Final Four threats as the Big 12.
* Now that I’ve thrown some roses at the feet of the Big 12, I have to offer some criticism. Not towards the teams, but towards the schedule makers in the conference. Examine the conference schedules for Texas A&M and Kansas, the top two teams in conference. A&M will play Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, and Baylor twice, while they play Kansas, Kansas State, Missouri, Nebraska, Colorado, and Iowa State once. The same schedule exists for Kansas, except in reverse.
Consider also Kansas will face Texas A&M, Texas, and Oklahoma State just once, and each of these games are at home. Those are the three most talented competitors in the league for the Jayhawks, each of whom have to face each other twice. If the Jayhawks do not win the conference, they really have no legimate excuse, unless A&M just goes the warrior route and plows through their brutal conference slate.
This schedule also works against a team like Kansas State, who currently are tied for second in the league at 6-2. Impressive, right? Especially coming off their win at Texas, I thought perhaps it is time to look closer at Bobby Huggins’ Wildcats. How did they sneak up? Well, by drilling the weaker competition in the Big 12 North such as Iowa State, Colorado, Nebraska, and Missouri. And while the win at Texas was a nice addition to their resume, besides two games against Kansas and a road trip to Gallagher-Iba Arena to take on Oklahoma State (never fun), their other games are against the dregs of the conference and Oklahoma. For a team that sits on the NCAA bubble and appears to be weathering the loss of Bill Walker and now ascending, some games against quality competition like A&M, Texas Tech, and Oklahoma State might be helpful in building that resume. Ohh, and remember that sweetheart schedule that Kansas has? State gets the reverse- their three games against A&M, Texas, and Oklahoma State are all on the road.
These unbalanced league schedules are never perfect and leave much to be desired in any conference, but the set-up in the Big 12 seems to be the most ridiculous and unbalanced of any. While you can never determine which matchups will be favorable before the season commences, at least in the Big Ten, Big East, and SEC there is an intermixing of teams. As it currently stands, the Kansas State fans will not have the opportunity to see Kevin Durant, Acie Law IV, DJ Augustin, Joseph Jones, JamesOn Curry, and Mario Boggan on their home court this season. To miss one of these teams is unfortunate; two, disappointing; and three is really inexcusable. The Big 12 needs to revamp their schedules to have any legitimacy to their conference title.
* Speaking of Durant, after seeing him drop 37 points and grab 23 boards against Texas Tech earlier this week, I am convinced he’s the best talent we have been blessed to see in the college game since Kevin Garnett changed the basketball universe and declared for the NBA draft out of high school. If you haven’t seen him play yet, move quickly-it won’t be long before he’s sludging his way through a 82 game schedule for the Grizzlies or the Bobcats.
* Now that I’ve ripped apart the Big 12 schedule makers, I’m going to head out west, hearkening back to a day when the superconferences did not exist and every team within a conference played each other twice. It still exists in the Pac 10. Not only does it exist, but from doing the games of the week, I’ve been awakened to how the Pac 10 sets up their schedule and I just am blissful with the tradition inherent in their schedules. With two teams in each region of the conference, a team will travel to that region for their road games on a Thursday-Saturday schedule.
As an example, when UCLA heads on the road, they hit Washington for the Huskies and Washington State; Oregon for the Ducks and Oregon State; NoCal for Stanford and Cal; and so on. Even cooler, while they may be in Pullman on Thursday night, USC will be in Seattle taking on the Huskies that night; on Saturday, UCLA is in Seattle and USC is in Pullman. This pattern plays out throughout the conference.
The best thing about the Pac 10’s set up? There’s no chance Gonzaga or Nevada or UNLV will be joining the conference anytime soon. The Pac 10 should remain the same for quite some time, which in a day when the Big East currently claims 16 members (four of whom do not even qualify for the postseason conference tournament), makes one really appreciate what the Pac 10 can still uniquely offer.
* So Duke lost at home today against Florida State? Fresh off a loss on the road to Virginia and barely escaping at home against Clemson, with some help from the timekeeper. Two games against UNC still on the docket, and with eight games to go, only three at home. It might be time for Coach K to schedule another surgery, and call up Pete Gaudet again to take on the rest of this schedule. Heh, heh, heh. . .
* Since we’re kicking sand on teams out in the ACC, what is the deal with Maryland? Before the season started, I thought they would once again be NIT bound, but then they had a nice preseason with wins over Michigan State, Illinois, and Winthrop. Then conference play begins, and they’re losing at home to Miami. They currently sit at 3-5 in conference play and have a tough schedule down the stretch. It’s really looking like three straight years the Terrapins will miss the NCAA’s, and I do not recall any national champion struggling so mightily, so soon after winning the title.
Let’s take the one mailbag question of the week:
Dr. Coolhand,
I just noticed ESPN has Brad Daugherty working on NASCAR coverage. That made me think, I hadn’t seen him doing any college basketball games this season. I kind of liked him as an analyst, he was enthusiastic, seemed to be a genuine guy.
Any idea if this was a demotion by ESPN, or perhaps did Daugherty want to make the switch to NASCAR?
D Smith, Chapel Hill
Surprisingly enough Deano, I do have the answer for this question, as it was explained in a Sports Illustrated snippet just a couple weeks ago. . .Did you let your subscription run out once there was no hope MJ would be on anymore covers? Anyway, here’s your answer-Daugherty took the opportunity to broadcast NASCAR events as he is a huge fan and he felt it was important for him to take this chance to advance the visibility of NASCAR among African-Americans. Turns out that he wore #43 in high school and college to honor Richard Petty, whose car was #43.
Games of the Week
Monday
Texas vs. Texas A&M-Far and away the best game of the night; I’m actually salivating over this matchup, to see how Durant matches up against the vaunted A&M defense.
no runner up tonight
Tuesday
St. Joseph’s vs. Villanova-Even though these two teams have not had the marquee seasons this year as in recent times, this matchup of the two best Philly Five teams going has been incredibly entertaining these past few years and should be a pretty even matchup tonight.
runner-up
Virginia vs. Maryland-Maryland really needs to win this game to stay in NCAA contention; Virginia tries to keep its momentum towards a NCAA berth.
Wednesday
North Carolina vs. Duke-I know, I know, ESPN will commence 24 hour coverage as soon as Chris Berman’s bombast wraps up the Super Bowl coverage tonight, but as much as I despise hearing about this rivalry, it is probably the greatest college rivalry going. And while I’m not a UNC fan, I will be cheering like mad for them to cross the 120 point barrier tonight at Cameron.
runner up
USC vs. UCLA-This season could be the start of an elite college hoops rivalry that we may bemoan the ad nauseum coverage in ten years or so. USC let the Bruins escape on their home court earlier this season, now they head into Pauley Pavillon.
Thursday
Stanford vs. Washington State-If it’s Thursday night, you can pretty much count on a Pac 10 matchup of top 25 teams. The Cardinal try to sneak away with a road win from Tony B’s bunch at Pullman.
runner up
Drexel vs. Hofstra-Drexel’s at-large hopes are starting to slip away, this win could help their cause; conversely, Hofstra has had a very good conference record after a disappointing preseason. A win here would give them the sweep over Drexel and keep them nipping at VCU’s heels in the Colonial.
Friday
Time to see if you can substitute a romantic night out on the town with your significant other tonight, rather than on Valentine’s Day when the Badgers visit Williams Arena.
Saturday
Florida vs. Kentucky-Kentucky, that old grey mare, ain’t what she used to be, but it’s #1 at Rupp Arena, should be a packed house and an entertaining affair.
runner up
Virginia vs. Virginia Tech-I don’t know about the staying power of either of these programs, but if they can build off of this season, I would think a pretty nice and significant rivalry could develop.
Sunday
Duke vs. Maryland-It wasn’t long ago that this was the best rivalry with the best games going on the national scene. As stated earlier, both programs have lost a bit of luster this season, but the animosity between the two programs is still pretty heated.
runner up
Boston College vs. Florida State-It’s not a great day of action, so this game gets the nod, somewhat by default. If nothing else, Jared Dudley is one of the more enjoyable players to watch on the national scene.
Odds and Sods
* The NFL season is finally over and count me as one who can’t be happier. I don’t know what it is about the league, but I just get more and more tired of the NFL with each subsequent season. It could be a little backlash because it’s so colossal now and everyone (and I mean everyone) is a huge pro football fan. Perhaps because it seems to get a relatively clean pass from the media and fans on issues such as steroids, off the field behavior, and the fact it chews up its players and spits them out like no other (Ted Johnson and Andre Waters being the most recent high profile and tragic examples). Maybe because as I get older I tire of the bluster and bravado and seriousness attached to a game. Whatever it is, each season the NFL ends, I say good riddance.
* That all being said, I’m glad to see Tony Dungy being on the winning end of this Super Bowl. Regardless of his Gopher connections, he’s a great man, one that is an incredible role model for anyone, no matter their race or religious beliefs, on how to live a meaningful life. Mark Craig’s profile in today’s Strib on Dungy showcased an incredible man.
* There’s that old Groucho Marx joke, about two woman complaining about how bad the food has gotten at a particular restaurant and then one says, “and the portions are so small too.” My next beef on the NFL reminded me of this joke, but why is it that the Super Bowl now starts at 5:30 on a Sunday night? Do they think if got moved back to 3:30 or 4:00 there’d be any dropoff in audience numbers? As it is, the late start time chased away any thought on getting together with friends tonight-and I’m not even talking about getting drunk, just getting together. If I’m leaving someone’s house at 9 p.m. to head home on a Sunday night, it’s going to be a long work week. Call me old, call me a curmudgeon, but there’s no reason for this late start time.
* I thought Prince knocked it out of the park with the halftime show. I’m one of those guys who doesn’t go to arena shows because of the lack of intimacy and I missed Prince’s club days by about ten years-as I watched him tonight, I found myself wishing I could transport myself back to the early ’80s and First Avenue to catch him during those legendary shows.
* As for the Super Bowl commercials, I thought Doritos was very good, Bud Light was mostly solid again, and Sierra Mist struck out.
* Is anyone else excited to see the Police back together? The Grammys are about as lame an awards show as there is, but I’m going to be reeled in next Sunday to watch Sting reunite with his old band mates. Now if they’d only showcase the reunited A Tribe Called Quest too.
Okay. . .that’s it. Stay warm fellow ‘holers, and catch you next Sunday.