I love the massive laboratory that college hoops provides. A couple of experiments to follow through the conference season are Iowa and Washington State. Both have a tremendous defense to go with an uninspiring offense.

Based on the embarrassingly small data set of two seasons, both teams are overachieving defensively.  No team in ‘04 or ‘05 was able to maintain an adjusted defensive efficiency in the 70s which is the territory where the Cougars (79.0) and Hawkeyes (76.5) currently reside.

Nonetheless, neither squad is a fluke. Washington State has the legacy of Dick Bennett behind them and is the defending defensive efficiency champ. Iowa has Greg Brunner and Erek Hansen effectively turning the paint into a “no scoring zone”. Both teams should finish in the top five defensively.

There’s room in both the Pac 10 and Big 10 for Washington State and Iowa to snag enough wins to get an at-large bid. Whether it’s possible to do that solely on the strength of smashmouth defense, that’s what they’ll be trying to prove.

                           FG    3pt  FT   Reb
                      Min  M-A   M-A  M-A  O-T   A F S TO BLK Pts
Chris Wehye            40  6-16  2-7  2-2  6-16  4 3 4  5  0   16
Result: Loss. Connecticut 111, Quinnipiac 75.

                           FG    3pt  FT   Reb
                      Min  M-A   M-A  M-A  O-T   A F S TO BLK Pts
JP Batista             34 12-13  0-0  8-10 7-15  2 1 1  3  1   32
Result: Win. Gonzaga 102, Saint Joseph's 94.

                           FG    3pt  FT   Reb
                      Min  M-A   M-A  M-A  O-T   A F S TO BLK Pts
Corey Belser           35 10-13  3-3  0-0  0-6   1 3 2  1  0   23
Result: Win. San Diego 97, Eastern Washington 78.

                           FG    3pt  FT   Reb
                      Min  M-A   M-A  M-A  O-T   A F S TO BLK Pts
Yemi Nicholson         38 10-18  0-0  2-4  4-15  0 0 0  3  4   22
Result: Win. Denver 69, Wyoming 64.