This Week in College BAketball

The past seven days have seen several titans of college basketball fall. On Monday U-CONN fell out of the top-25 after suffering a 3 three game losing streak. UNC fell far as well, landing at 24 before suffering a loss to Wake Forest in their only game this week. Texas? Well, after losing to Kansas State the Longhorns encored with a loss to currently un-ranked U-CONN.

So, how did the top-25 fair this week overall? Not well.
1. Texas - loses twice to KSU and U-CONN
7. Duke - lost to NC State by 14
8. Tennessee - lost by 15 to Georgia
9. Pittsburgh - lost to Georgetown and Seton Hall
10. Kansas St - lost to Oklahoma State
17. Clemson - lost to Georgia Tech and Duke (both ranked)
19. Georgia Tech - lost to Florida State
20. Northern IA - lost to Wichita State
21. Ohio State - lost to West Virginia
23. Miss State - lost to Alabama
24. UNC - lost to Wake Forest
25. Baylor - lost to #3 Kansas

So, numbers 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, & 25 all lost at least once. Eleven of the top-25 lost once with three of them losing more than once.

The cougars? A home win over Wyoming followed up by a road victory over San Diego State. BYU currently sits at 14 in the AP and 13 in the Coach's. Five teams ahead of them lost with Pittsburgh and Texas losing twice. Kansas State had a case to jump up in the ranks, but after beating then number one Texas they lost to un-ranked Oklahoma State. I expect BYU to move up past three of those teams, if not four, and if they can get wins over New Mexico (who WILL be ranked as of tomorrow) on the road and rival Utah at home next week they could easily be a top-10 team for the first time in a very long time. (I wonder when the last time might have been...) Anyway, just thought you might like to see how these "elite" teams have done this last week before we get a new wave of one week wonders like Baylor, UNI, and Mississippi State.

NBA All Star Game

Ken Berger of CBSSports.com wrote,

"The All-Star starters will be revealed Thursday night on TNT before the nationally televised rematch of the Cavs' Christmas Day blowout of the Lakers. Presumably, Tracy McGrady will be watching from home, where he's spent the majority of the 2009-10 season. Hopefully, if T-Mac is awarded a starting spot in the Western Conference back court alongside Kobe Bryant, he will do the right thing. The right thing would be to thank his fans for their support and respectfully decline.

He needs to be a team player and politely decline."

So, in an effort to share my opinions with all the world concerning professional and collegiate sports I wrote back to him with the following.

Be a team player? Not in T-Mac's character. In fact, I am pretty sure that his unwillingness to play less minutes in a more reserve type role is why the Rockets aren't playing him so I wouldn't expect THAT to happen.

Setting that reason aside, McGrady has EVERY reason to go ahead and accept this offer to play in the All-Star Game. While it isn't exactly heavy on defense the All-Star Game hosts the best players in the league and has the attention of every manager and coach. McGrady is TRYING to get traded and the Rockets are not playing him in the mean time. So, if you are a player who's team is trying to trade you and not playing you what other venue is there for you to make a case for yourself? I can't think of a single one.

I am a Rocket fan, but I am NOT a T-Mac fan so I didn't/wouldn't vote for him, and would encourage all fans not to vote for him either, but to think that he should give up his spot if he gets it is just plain silly.

Why do reporters feel the need to bash the fans for their voting? Isn't this supposed to be a game between those players that the fans want to see face off against each other? Why should we be upset at T-Mac should he decide to make a GOOD career decision? However, I would like to say here and now that anyone who votes for him probably doesn't know much about how the season is going and who really should be there and they should be restricted in their ability to vote like crazy. That's the problem here, not McGrady.

So, that being said is there a way to fix the All-Star Game?

Option 1: Make people log in to something to vote and then only once each, but this can be circumvented by creating an endless supply of email aliases.

Option 2: Sportswriters vote. This creates similar problems as exist in college sports with biased reporters and lack of exposure between Eastern and Western teams.

Option 3: Players vote. This seams like the best option available, but if the fans are taken out of the equation then the fans choose not to watch because they care significantly less.

Conclusion: This whole event is fun for some fans, but those fans can't be trusted to vote so the verdict? Who cares. I care so little about the whole thing that I refuse to state my position. Take that!

Bad AP Rankings "Crossover" from Football to Basketball

So I sit down this morning to read the recap of the BYU-CSU game (I was there, but wondered what stats I might have missed) and happened upon the Top 25 Breakdown on CBSSports.com. I couldn't help but notice the UCONN 3-game losing streak that could be matched by UNC's own version. So I said to myself, "Self, what's the big idea? Why isn't UNM or some other deserving team ranked when these teams are losing games left and right (and left again in some cases)?" Well, the debate will end tomorrow when the new rankings appear, but for now I took the chance to compare the RPI Breakdown for several teams that are either ranked or COULD be ranked depending on the voters.

Team - Rank(Rec) - vs Top-100 - 101+ Losses - Worst Loss - Best Win

Purdue - 6 (14-3) - (6-3) - 0 - Northwestern (60) - West Virginia (11)
UNC - 12(12-6)- (5-6) - 0 - Coll of Charleston (96) - Mich State (17)
U-CONN-15(11-5)-(5-5) - 1 - Michigan (150) - William & Mary (28)
BYU - 18(18-1) - (7-1) - 0 - Utah State (85) - UNLV (41)
Miami - 23(15-3)- (3-2) - 1 - Boston College (117) - Wake Forest (27)
UNM - NR(16-3)-(5-2) - 1 - Oral Roberts (143) - California (25)
UNLV - NR(14-4)-(6-3) - 1 - Utah (127) - New Mexico (19)/Louisville (39)

U-CONN is 0-4 against teams in the top-25 and 2-5 overall against top-50 programs. So, there best win is William & Mary (28) and they have gone 0-4 against teams better than that and 1-1 against team worse than them but better than 50. So there #15 ranking is a thing that makes me say, "Huh?" Add that to their current three game losing streak, which includes a loss to RPI 150 Michigan, and you are left asking, "Yeah, they're U-CONN but who have they BEAT to get up so high in the rankings?"

UNC is 1-3 against teams in the top-25, 0-2 against teams in the 26-50 range, against the 51-75 range they hold a 4--0 record, and 0-1 agaisnt teams in the 76-100 range. So at #12 they are easily the most over-rated team in the country. Do they have a VERY difficult schedule? Absolutely. They have already played Texas, Mich St., Clemson, GA-Tech, Ohio State, Syracuse, and Kentucky. However, the point is not "who they can schedule" but "who they can beat" and so far they haven't proved that they can beat the big boys so how is it possible that they are ranked with the big boys? I understood early this year when they lost to Syracuse and beat MSU and OSU, but now they have added losses to Clemson, GA-Tech, Kentucky, Texas, and Col of Charleston without beating anyone better than Marshall (53) and going 5-5 in their last 10. They should drop heavy and, in my opinion, out of the rankings until they can find a way to beat a decent team again.

Purdue is definitely a team that shoudl be ranked, but at 6? I think not. Not with 2 straight losses. However, these losses came this week so I give the pollers until tomorrow to get this straightened out.

BYU is the team that I love to follow so I can't help but be a little biased, but with 12 wins in a row since their only loss, a streak that includes wins over Arizona State, Arizona, Nevada, and UNLV. This team is deservedly ranked and should even rise a couple spots with teams above them losing (some more than once) and commanding victories over CSU and AFA.

Miami would have 2 losses if the category had been 100+ and not 101+ with their most recent loss to Virginia. The Hurricanes have only 3 wins over top-100 schools with a 1 point win over Wake Forest (@ home), a 5 point win over Minnesota (@ home), and 15 points over South Carolina (Neutral). Going 7-3 in their last 10 and with a two game losing streak in hand the Hurricanse should be done with the top-25 for now.

UNM and UNLV are both teams with pretty good resumes. Though if UNLV hoped this would be the week to get back into the top-25 those dreams were lost with a home loss to Utah (127 RPI). However, UNM picked up the pieces after a 2 loss week and beat Utah and Wyoming (though the Wyoming game was WAY too close) and have wins over 4 top-50 teams in TX-A&M, TX-Tech, Dayton, and California. In my opinion, they look better on paper than UNC right now and really should be ranked again this week, but if not, they could be back next week with wins over AFA and CSU.

When I say bogus of course I mean UCONN/UNC/etc get the love even when they lose much like the FLA's/Bama's/UT's/OU's of the football world. That is why I really like the RPI rankings because it is unbiased by conference and awards a varying strength of schedule as the season progresses while calculating based on your opponent's record and THEIR opponent's record.

RPI
Purdue-15 (A more accurate spot than 6 for a team like this one)
UCONN-16 (Still too high for me, but with the Michigan loss they should fall a good deal)
UNM-18
BYU-24
UNLV-41
UNC-42 (ranked among the class of teams they have beaten and behind those they have loss to.
Seams fair to me)
Miami-69 (Not even close to top-25 right now, but with some more ACC wins they could get
right back)

So, will UNC fall out of the rankings? Could U-Conn share a similar fate? Doubtful. With those names they will be given some slack, but lose a few more times (maybe even just one more loss next week) and they will be done with the top-25 for a while themselves.

BYU Basketball Weekend Wrap-Up

This week the BYU faced conference foe UNLV in Provo before finishing the week with a Saturday night game in El-Paso against the Miners of UTEP. Since the 49 point outing of Jimmer Fredette at Arizona the BYU team has to play without his usual pizazz and 2 of the 3 games he never got off the bench. Sidelined with a bout of Strep Throat he was left on the bench as the Cougars handled Eastern New Mexico (or perhaps better known as "Who?"). He is averaging 20.7 pts, 5.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds, 1.7 steals and shooting 93% from the free throw line. He is a truly irreplaceable player leading the conference in several statistical categories (including scoring) and leading the pack as the favorite for conference play of the year. Now that his dominance has been established lets see how the Cougars fared without his normal brilliance.

UNLV:
BYU entered the game 68-3 at home under Coach Rose and did not disappoint edging out the Rebels by 4 points. Jimmer got in the game in this one and managed only 7 points in 25 minutes. He also added only 1 assist, 1 rebound, and found the time to commit 3 turnovers. How is it possible that the cougars won this game? Well, much of the theatrics of the victory belonged to Michael Lloyd, Jr who's quickness helped him find his way to the hoop twice in the waning minutes of this game. He also added a three point field goal giving himself 7 points in 16 minutes of play (all seven in the second half when it was needed most). Then there was Jonathan Tavernari who scored 17 points, 14 in the second half and Noah Hartsock who also had 17, 13 in the first half to keep us in it. However, another unsung hero of this game and, as you will see, the game against UTEP was freshman Tyler Haws. On a night where the cougars shot 37% from the field Haws grabbed 4 offensive rebounds, to lead all cougars, and 6 overall. He also 12 points, 2 steals, and 3 assists. While he started the year off slowly he has been improving with each game played in both scoring, shooting, assisting, and rebounding. He is making a strong case for freshman of the year, especially if BYU wins the conference.

UTEP:
I was able to watch much less of this game than I would have liked, so I have little to report on the impact of players outside of the stats. However, in a game where Jimmer Fredette didn't make it off the bench, on the road, against a team that just might make the tournament (may need to win the conference after losses to BYU and TX-Tech) BYU found a way to get it done. Once again, BYU was able to rely on freshman Tyler Haws and former starter Jonathan Tavernari with additional scoring coming from another unlikely place. Against UNLV Hartsock was the hero, but El Paso proved to belong to another big man, Brandon Davies. Davies added 14 points to the 19 by Tavernari and the 20 from Haws to give BYU a 7 point victory. Haws built on the success against UNLV adding 11 rebounds to his 20 points along with a steal and 2 assists. BYU scored over 80 for the 11th time this year and are looking like a team that (with a couple wins in the conference tournament) that could win 30+ games and make a splash in the NCAA tournament, especially if they can get a good draw at a 5 or 4 seed and in the SLC regional.

End of Another Football Season

I think that when I show this blog to Gnat she might just roll her eyes.

Speaking of rolling, the Alabama Crimson Tide rolled its way to a National Championship yesterday, obtaining the 4th straight national title for the SEC (nobody will be taking away THEIR automatic bid any time soon) and, though it comes amongst some controversy with Colt McCoy's injury early in the game, it has left me wondering about the differences between strengths of conferences today. Partially I am curious because the new AP and Coach's polls came out today (the final one for the year) and I was shocked by the new rankings. Here is a link should you like to go take a look yourself.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/polls

The top 10 are Alabama, Texas, Florida, Boise State, Iowa, Ohio State, TCU, Iowa, Cincinnati, Penn State, Virginia Tech. (BYU was 12th... since I know you were wondering)

What is this? Texas gets pasted by Alabama by 16 and doesn't move even one spot? Florida jumps Boise State while Boise State plays, and beats, a legitimate National Title contender while Florida shellacs a very over-rated Cincinnati? Why all the love for the Big 6 conferences (Cincinnati over TCU)? Florida and Texas get special treatment for playing an AQ conference opponent while BSU moves up only one spot (had to move up a little because TCU and Cincinnati lost) for not, but didn't Texas lose?

Well, I am crying foul.

The BCS's bowl game system creates a whole slew of meaningless games. Meaningless in the sense that it fails to determine a consensus national champion while playing 30+ games and including 60+ teams. What it does do, is require teams to put up, or shut up. What I mean but this is that while teams are responsible for their schedules before conference play begins, somebody else makes those calls for their post season. This means that while people may claim the SEC is the deepest conference in the country at some point the Arkansas of the world will have to prove it on the field. My question is, why all the SEC love? Are they really that much better than the MWC or Boise State?

So here is how these conferences/teams did in the put up/shut up part of the season.

SEC
People argue that this is the deepest and most difficult conference to play in. However, the fact that only 3 team had winning records in conference play says that they are as top heavy as anyone else. The conference went 6-4 in bowl games this year, good for second best bowl record among conferences. The conference's 1 and 2 teams both won BCS games and one was for the "title", whatever that means, but how about number 3? (Remeber, the conference only had 3 teams with winning records in conference play) They lost Penn State. No 4 won but the 2 teams tied at number 5 (4-4 in conference) split games losing to VA Tech and beating TX A&M (a big who cares on that one). The four teams tied for 7 (3-5 in conference) split games as well with wins over powerhouses like Northwestern and East Carolina (each by 3 in OT) and losses to UCONN and Clemson. For a conference touted for their depth they Alabama and Florida really seemed to be swimming in a pretty shallow pool...

MWC
Openly criticized for its lack of depth, yet the conference with the best bowl record (4-1). In the final ranking even with a loss by TCU the conference has 3 teams in the top-20 and AFA was even on a few people's ballots. Wyoming won its bowl game against a Fresno State team that beat Illinois and lost to Cincinnati and Wisconsin by a combined 11 points. 5/9 teams ended the season with winning records and the non-conference schedule across the conference included, Oklahoma, Florida State, Clemson, Virginia, Texas Tech, Texas, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, California, UCLA, Tulsa, Boise State, Navy and TX A&M (some were played more than once including bowl games). Is the conference deep? Not really, but they have gone 6-9 since 1999 against the SEC including a Wyoming win at Tennessee in 2008.

Boise State
The WAC is weak. There is not case to be made for them. What they do have, however, is a great team in Boise State. This year Alabama had wins over 5 ranked teams. BSU had 2. Florida had 2 and Texas had 2. They finished the season with 14 wins, ranked #1 in scoring offense, #10 in total offense and #14 in both total and scoring defense. They were a top 30 team in a slew of other categories including Rush Defense, Pass Offense, Rush Offense, Pass Defense, and in several special teams categories. They also finished third in turnover margin. Kellen Moore threw 39 TD's and only 3 Int. They have a decent case to have played in the title game and with only one graduating starter they are poised to have another great year with non-conference games against Oregon State at home and Virginia Tech on the road. The other games are against Toledo and Wyoming.