Saturday, January 31, 2004
Black Saturday
17 teams in the top 25 played unranked teams today and 8 lost. The top 2 in the polls - Duke and Stanford - were impressive and are separating themselves from the rest of the nation. Stanford had an excuse ready with the loss of starter Justin Davis, but they refused to use it. Sophomore Matt Haryasz stepped in as a starter for the first time and contributed 19 points and 7 boards and some key defensive work late in the comeback win at Oregon. #3 Saint Joseph's also took care of business, setting an Atlantic 10 single-game record for made 3 pointers with 20 in the win at Temple.
On the other hand, people have to start asking questions about 3 of college basketball's winningest programs - UNC, Kansas, and Kentucky. The names on their uniforms have not been getting it done the last couple of weeks.
Back in Business
Thanks to everyone who e-mailed me regarding the tournament resume page. There were a few things wrong with it, mainly the fact that when some teams were selected, another team's data would pop up. It should be alright now.
In my last comment before I left everyone to fend for themselves, I mentioned how Utah coach Rick Majerus would not be too pleased if Air Force shot better than 50% from the field. Well, it turns out Air Force did, and Majerus took it worse than I thought. By now most people are aware that Majerus nearly had a heart attack on the Tuesday following the game. Majerus has announced his resignation following the season, although it's unclear whether he will return to the bench before the season ends. He needs to make shedding 100 pounds his top priority, so this is obviously a good decision. He'll be a very entertaining TV analyst next year.
With the win at Vanderbilt, South Carolina appears to be for real. I wouldn't know, because they're not on TV all that often. They apparently like to play rough (dirty?) and their style might be suited more for an ice rink. This team warrants a little more analysis, which I'll give them if they get by Ole Miss today.
A great atmosphere will surround the Saint Joseph's/Temple game today. The guards for SJU will get their share of open looks, and then some. If they aren't cold, the game won't be very close like the two meetings last year between these teams.
The game I want to see will be Duke/Georgia Tech. Duke is fast becoming the favorite to win it all, and a road win against the Jackets would cement that notion.
Monday, January 26, 2004
Hiatus
Sorry, but there will be no daily updates this week. The next update will be on Saturday morning, 1/31. In other news, I have posted the "compare tournament resume" function on the RPI page. This feature allows you to compare two teams and get the basic information the committee will rely on to make its decisions on seeding and at-large selections. So all of you who dream of being Southern University AD (and committee member) Floyd Kerr can live out your fantasy. If you find any bugs with it, drop me a line.
Football on the Hardwood
Air Force hosts Utah tonight. The football version of this matchup resulted in a 45-43 victory for Utah. This game could end up with a similar score. However if it's going to be that high scoring, it's probably going to need 3 overtimes like the football game.
Air Force is coming off a game where they went 29 of 40 from the field. That's 72.5% - a season high for any team in a single game this year. If they crack 50% against Utah, Rick Majerus will kick at least 3 players off his team. So I expect this game to be real ugly.
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Doubleheader on the Deuce
What a great pair of games tonight both filled with oddities.
In falling to Florida State, North Carolina did something they have never done before - blow a 24 point lead and lose.
In losing to Richmond, Kansas did something they haven't done in over a decade - lose a non-conference game to an unranked team at home.
(Corrected Kansas factoid on 1/23)