Official 2007-2008 College Basketball Thread

[Wolfpack]

Looks like the honeymoon for Sidney Lowe is pretty much over as State suffered its second embarassing loss of the season tonight, 75-69 at ECU. At least one loon over at the State board is already calling for Lowe to be fired. Most, however, are directing their venom at AD Lee Fowler for even having State play at ECU to begin with. (It should be noted that the hate for Fowler amongst the internet fanbase is very deep to begin with and this sort of thing just sets the haters off like striking a match in an ammunition dump.)

Clearly, however, there is some sort of malaise in the team because they've generally played well below expectations in most of their games this year (see the crushing blowout at Michigan State last game). I don't know what's wrong and how to fix it (unlike the armchair coaches infesting the State board at the moment), but it does seem like the team bought into the hype and just thought they'd show up and win their games and it's apparent they are not nearly as good as they thought they were.

I had thought this team was still the third-best team in the conference (distantly behind Duke and Carolina), but it's rapidly become obvious that this team is going to be a bubble team this year at best. Maybe 7-9 or 8-8 in the ACC and that's if they don't let these consecutive disasters ruin them. The season could very well get away from them if they take any more losses before conference play even begins.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

I had thought this team was still the third-best team in the conference (distantly behind Duke and Carolina), but it's rapidly become obvious that this team is going to be a bubble team this year at best.

I assumed the same, and the talent surely is still there. Perhaps they will still be able to compete with Clemson for 3rd in the conference. The ACC seems pretty weak this year to me despite some predictions talking about 6 and 7 NCAA Tournament teams, it still wouldn't suprise me to see State put it together enough to at least get 4th and get a tournament bid.

[kingnebwsu]

Wright State beats #13 Butler 43-42! Big win for WSU, and it gets us back into play for the conference title. Butler is scary good this year and I'm just glad WSU survived a nail-biter. The arena felt like March, not December. Hopefully Wright State can carry the momentum into the tough non-conference schedule and then into the huge conference games that loom in January & February.

hxxp://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/recap?gameId=273422750

GO WRIGHT STATE RAIDERS!!!

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

Dayton at Louisville 2 PM Saturday on ESPN2.

Should be quite a game. At least I hope it is. Dayton is currently hosed by not getting a single vote in the coaches poll, but a win here would earn some respect. Louisville looking for revenge after UD beat a depleted Louisville team in Cincinnati early last season. Dayton with 2 of the top players in the country no one's heard of: Brian Roberts (a dynamic shooting guard who sometimes plays the point), and forward Chris Wright, Dayton's first top-50 recruit in years who has already been named A-10 Freshman of the Week twice in the early going. Louisville has some very good players as well. Should be an intense game!

I'll go out on a limb and say Dayton gets at least one vote in the coaches poll.

[JeeberD]

UTEP swept their biggest rival tonight, beating NMSU 79-78 in Las Cruces. Junior SG/SF Stephon Jackson had a career high 36 points and is now averaging 25.9ppg for the season. The Miners are 5-2 now and looking quite solid. Our rebounding is still very suspect, though, so we're probably still a middle of the pack CUSA team.

[Butter]

Originally Posted by miami_fan

I'll go out on a limb and say Dayton gets at least one vote in the coaches poll.

It was Dayton's first true road win against a top-25 team in over 20 years. Which actually surprises me, even as a UD fan. Dayton has never been a good road team, so 3 straight road wins against quality opponents is really an important benchmark for this team and this coach. Hopefully, we can take the next 3 games at home against marginal opponents, and head into our home showdown against Pitt at 10-1 and having cracked into the top 25. Pitt @ Dayton will be Dec. 29th on ESPN2, our only other ESPN appearance this year.

[BishopMVP]

Originally Posted by Butter_of_69

It was Dayton's first true road win against a top-25 team in over 20 years. Which actually surprises me, even as a UD fan. Dayton has never been a good road team, so 3 straight road wins against quality opponents is really an important benchmark for this team and this coach. Hopefully, we can take the next 3 games at home against marginal opponents, and head into our home showdown against Pitt at 10-1 and having cracked into the top 25. Pitt @ Dayton will be Dec. 29th on ESPN2, our only other ESPN appearance this year.

Thanks to the resigning Linda Bruno's wonderful TV contract, can't you make another appearance on like ESPNU if you make the A-10 Championship game?

A-10 is really up this year. Xavier and Dayton leading the way at the top, but teams like Rhode Island, Duquesne, Fordham, St. Joes and a (very inconsistent and unpredictable) UMass that was supposed to be rebuilding all having a shot at post-season play. Even the bottom-feeders like St. Bonaventure are out of the 300's in the RPI.

Wednesday night, Xavier hosts Cincy on ESPN2 and UMass goes to BC on ESPNU with a chance for 2 more good wins.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Some interesting conference RPI numbers now that most teams are reaching the 10 game mark (where the RPI actually starts to fall into place)........

#1: ACC
#2: Big 12
#3: Pac 10
#4: Big East
#5: Big Ten
#6: SEC
#7: Atlantic 10
#8: Missouri Valley

The two conference that are obviously major movers thus far are the Big 12 and the SEC. The SEC was the #1 conference in the RPI ratings last year. This year, they have slipped to 6th, putting them at the bottom of the major conferences. Conversely, the Big 12 was the #7 conference in the RPI ratings last year, even finishing behind the Missouri Valley Conference at #6. This year, the Big 12 sits in the #2 position in the RPI ratings.

Once conference play begins, the RPI ratings for the conferences don't change a whole lot as the teams beat up on each other. So the teams in each conference have 4-5 more non-conference games to establish themselves before the grind of conference play begins.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Dick Vitale to have throat surgery. Expects to be out until February. Wish him the best on a speedy recovery. He can drive people nuts at times, but he's still a great ambassador to the game.

http://espn.go.com/dickvitale/071218lettertofans.html

[miami_fan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Dick Vitale to have throat surgery. Expects to be out until February. Wish him the best on a speedy recovery. He can drive people nuts at times, but he's still a great ambassador to the game.

http://espn.go.com/dickvitale/071218lettertofans.html

Here here! As much as the man drives me nuts during a Duke game, I hope he gets back soon.

[JeeberD]

Tee hee, it's good to see CUSA own that douche Gillispie. Especially since the pussy has gone on record saying he'll never schedule UTEP...

[Butter]

Originally Posted by RPI ratings from above

#1: ACC
#2: Big 12
#3: Pac 10
#4: Big East
#5: Big Ten
#6: SEC
#7: Atlantic 10
#8: Missouri Valley

Woo! A-10, bitches!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

New bracketology up for those that might be interested in seeing where their teams stand.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

[Radii]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/bracketology

Hah, love this early season stuff. Since only one ACC game has been played(Boston College beat Maryland), BC is an 11 seed with the ACC's automatic bid for being 1st in the conference.

[Karlifornia]

Going to my first game of the season..Stanford/Santa Clara tonight. Brook Lopez returns from academic suspension. Let's go Cardinal!

[Butter]

UNLV falls apart down the stretch against Arizona. Arizona didn't lead all game until late, and take it 51-48. UNLV looked barely coached... nice job, Lon Kruger.

[BishopMVP]

A-10 up to 6th, ahead of the Big 10 in the current RPI. Unfortunately we still have St. Bonnie and LaSalle, but 4 Top 20 teams looks nice.

UMass added a win @BC to go along with the one @Syracuse, and gets Houston at home Jan 2 and plays at the #1 RPI team, Vanderbilt, before conference play gets underway.

Partly due to the pace/style we use (think Pitino's Kentucky teams that pressed and shot 3's) this team is schizophrenic from half to half, so it could all disappear, but it's been great so far for what was supposed to be a rebuilding year.

[Radii]

Pitt's up on Duke with 3 minutes left, looks like a good ending to an otherwise crappy game.

[Radii]

Impressive last 3 minutes from both teams, Gerald Henderson absolutely took over for Duke and was perfect until that last posession, overtime! GO PITT!

[Radii]

CLUTCH. DOWN GOES DUKE!

[Butter]

Pitt comes to Dayton on December 29th on ESPN2 at 8 PM. The game is already sold out (13,500 seats at the UD Arena). I was too slow to get tix, dammit!

The Dayton fans haven't had a reason to really get up for a game like this in a long time. I am not sure the last time we had a top 10 team visit UD Arena in non-conference (we had St. Joseph's come here that year they went 32-1 or whatever it was in A-10 action). When the fans are into a game, UD Arena is one of the toughest places in the country to play.

Hopefully, the Flyer players will be up to the challenge. Should be an absolutely terrific game!

[JeeberD]

Hey Dark Cloud, your Cowboys are going down tonight!

[Chief Rum]

At least a couple good matchups today. Memphis and GTown right now. Florida State and Ohio State (even if neither team is the same). And I get to watch UCLA-Michigan, although that "should" be a blowout until Bielein has a chance to really get his imprint on that program (it should be noted Bieliein's teams beat us the last two years in WVU).

[GoldenEagle]

Memphis beats Georgetown by 14. I am not sure if we will be ranked #1 when the polls come out, but I bet the gap between Memphis and UNC is very small.

[JeeberD]

Originally Posted by JeeberD

Hey Dark Cloud, your Cowboys are going down tonight!

And I was right. The Miners beat Wyoming 79-73 in the final of the Sun Carnival Tournament in a game which featured 78 free throw attempts. Stefon "DJ" Jackson had another huge game with 33 points, so he should still be in the top 5 in the nation in scoring. Our downfall this year, though, is going to be our lack of reboudning and our hot/cold three point shooting...

[Chief Rum]

Heh...Michigan State over Texas tonight. It all comes full circle.

MSU beats Texas, which beat UCLA, which beat MSU.

Thank God we don't have the BCS for basketball.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

Memphis beats Georgetown by 14. I am not sure if we will be ranked #1 when the polls come out, but I bet the gap between Memphis and UNC is very small.

Excellent win for Memphis.

[Scarecrow]

You might not heard of this kid, but he's doing pretty good: Michael Beasley

2007-2008 Game Log											Rebounds
DATE	OPP	RESULT	MIN	FG	FGA	FTM	FTA	3PM	3PA	PTS	OFF	DEF	TOT	AST	TO	STL	BLK	PF
11/9	Sac St	W 94-63	31	12	20	7	11	1	2	32	12	12	24	4	8	2	4	3
11/11	Pitt. St.	W 76-66	29	12	19	5	7	1	3	30	6	8	14	3	2	1	0	5
11/17	W Illinois	W 77-64	32	10	16	7	11	1	2	28	8	14	22	2	1	2	1	2
11/22	G Mason	L 87-77	25	13	20	3	3	1	2	30	4	6	10	0	3	0	1	4
11/23	C Florida	W 73-71	36	11	17	6	8	2	3	30	4	9	13	0	4	1	2	2
11/25	@Rider	W 82-69	34	5	11	2	4	1	1	13	2	8	10	1	1	1	0	3
11/29	Oregon	L 80-77	36	10	17	3	6	1	4	24	1	11	12	1	1	1	3	2
12/4	@N Dame	L 68-59	36	8	20	3	5	0	3	19	3	10	13	1	5	1	3	1
12/9	California	W 82-75	31	7	13	5	7	0	1	19	4	7	11	2	4	3	3	3
12/17	Florida A&M	W 87-60	25	7	16	10	12	0	2	24	5	5	10	1	2	0	2	2
12/22	Win Salem	W 90-48	23	14	22	9	13	3	4	40	5	10	15	1	2	1	3	2

Scored almost as many points as the entire Winston-Salem (Cigarette U) did last night. 11 double-doubles in 11 games including 2 super double-doubles (20+ pts and 20+ rebounds). [sarcasm]Glad he said he was staying to get his degree instead of the one and done [/sarcasm].

[IMetTrentGreen]

No. 10 Michigan St whooped No. 5 Texas. Game wasn't as close as the final score. Having seen MSU play a few times I was shocked how well well they played throughout. The team that played last night could win it all, if they can do it for 6 straight games.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by GoldenEagle

I bet the gap between Memphis and UNC is very small.

I bet you're glad you didn't bet

Last week (poll on 12/17)
AP 1st place votes -- UNC 48, Memphis 19, Kansas & Texas 2 each, G'town 1
USA Today 1st votes - UNC 24, Memphis 4, KU, G'town & Texas 1 each
AP gap was 62, USA Today gap was 17

This week (poll on 12/24)
AP 1st place votes - UNC 47, Memphis 24, Kansas 1
USA 1st place votes - UNC 23, Memphis 6, KU 2
AP gap is 34, USA Today gap is 15

Basically those who were UNC believers still are, while Memphis picked up the stray votes that went elsewhere.

edit to add: Not to say that the gap isn't relatively small, but it isn't particularly smaller than it was before this week either, as Memphis basically became a solid #2.

[MrBug708]

Memphis - Zona game is going to be interesting

[mckerney]

Woohoo! Tubby is 1 win away from reaching last seasons total and has Minnesota in the "Also recieving votes" category with 1 ESPN/USA Today voter having the Gophers at #25!

[Radii]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Basically those who were UNC believers still are, while Memphis picked up the stray votes that went elsewhere.

I'm a bit suprised at that, with UNC struggling a bit vs Nicholls State and Memphis beating Georgetown last week. I guess UNC is completely locked in at #1 until they lose now.

[dawgfan]

UW gets a nice road win today, taking out LSU 73-65. Things started off badly and they were down 41-27 at the half, but they stormed out of the break on fire and took control of the game midway through the 2nd half.

Granted, LSU isn't a great team this year (maybe not even a good team) but it was a big win for the UW in a few ways:

- The UW has struggled mightily on the road the last few years - a win like this, even considering LSU's current status, should be a big confidence booster;
- Quincy Pondexter has his biggest game of the year; Pondexter has to become a key guy for this Huskies team if they expect to compete in the Pac-10 this year;
- A big comeback win like this on the road could be the kind of breakthrough this team needs going into Pac-10 play to feel like they can compete and battle out of tough situations

I don't expect this team will win the conference or anything, but there is enough talent here that they have a shot at finishing in the upper half and securing an NCAA tourney invite. And I'd love to see them knock off WSU and hand them their first loss of the season - this win gives me more confidence they could pull it off.

[MrBug708]

If Memphis wins tonight, they could go the rest of the regular season without a loss

[whomario]

Wisconsin with a big road win at Texas. Butch was great, Flowers with 3 terrific plays to win the game, first he takes a key rebound away from Abrams, then hits the winning 3 with about 3 seconds on the clock, then stole the ball on the inbounds and threw it up in the air while flying out of bounds and clock expires . Why didn´t Texas call a timeout, they had a couple remaining, no ? Texas basically played 6 guys with 4 starters playing 36+ minutes, definitely a good thing that Johnson was now cleared to play ... Was a good game with a great ending.
Vanderbilt survives a big scare by Tennessee-Martin, up 2 with just over a minute 2 play, 92-85 at the end.

[JeeberD]

Good game in El Paso tonight between the 9-2 Miners and the 11-2 New Mexico Lobos. Too bad it's not on TV anywhere.

UNM up 9-8 early on...

[Butter]

Dayton scrapes by with a 2OT win over 10-2 Akron in their first game as a top-25 team this year. A nail-biting game to watch, but good to pull out the W.

Next Wednesday night, 2 ranked A-10 teams meet (a rarity these days) as Rhode Island visits Dayton in an untelevised game thanks to the A-10's horrific TV contract with CSTV.

Also give a shout to BishopMVP, as UMass continues to do the A-10 proud, taking down a good Houston team last night. Hopefully Dayton, URI, UMass, and Xavier can push the A-10 to 4 NCAA bids this year.

[Radii]

Clemson is good. And they match up extremely well against UNC. UNC is completely worthless when Lawson isn't on the court(Frasor's injury is a big one for this team's title hopes). And, like last year, if you can get UNC to stop running and get them in a half court set, you basically win if you're a top 30 team or so.

[RedKingGold]

Nice comeback by Nova today after a dissappointing opening BigEast loss to DePaul. I'm sure it'll be up-and-down all year and we'll have another early exit this season.

[Radii]

if you've got fox sports, UNC/Clemson tied with 45 seconds left.

[Radii]

Dear lord, Clemson comes out in a zone and UNC burns 30 seconds off the clock essentially standing behind the 3 point line confused.

[Radii]

Good D by Clemson, Ellington has to take a bad 3, Clemson gets a chance to win it with the ball w/ 15 seconds left.

[Radii]

oh my. Clemson got it into the post, got a tough fadeaway though, then two putbacks miss... OVERTIME.

Please dear god let UNC come out and put this away in the first couple minutes. Though really, they're lucky to be in OT at all. Clemson really opened it back up for Carolina by being horrible at the line down the stretch.

[CU Tiger]

We cant compete against UNC now.
Our arrows have meet and passed, UNC on the rise, Clemson on the descent.

[Radii]

Originally Posted by CU Tiger

We cant compete against UNC now.
Our arrows have meet and passed, UNC on the rise, Clemson on the descent.

I hope you're right but I'm not about to agree yet. Booker fouling out is huge, but Clemson has been playing well on offense all night and causing just enough havoc when UNC tries to run to get them out of control a bit...


regardless, this is a better Clemson team than last year. Hopefully they keep it up(after these last 3 minutes at least :P ) and give the ACC a 3rd threatening team this year.

[Radii]

dear god what a game. please miss these free throws buddy!

[Radii]

HOLY SHIT ELLINGTON.

[CU Tiger]

Good game Tarheels....So close...

[Radii]

Damn, incredible game. great, great game. Clemson had some chances to put it away(FTs in regulation) and failed but they had those chances b/c when UNC went on some runs early Clemson withstood them and came right back.

Going for the steal on that pass that led to the game winning shot is only ok if you get the ball :P Potter probably should have just challenged Ellington and make him take a much more difficult shot.

whew, that was a serious quality road challenge for the #1 team, and Clemson is a very good team. Also, that was one of the best individual performances i've seen in a long time, Ellington was so huge all game since Clemson shut down Hansbrough so well. 36 points, 5/8 from 3, 9/9 from the line.

I'm exhausted after that one.