New Member of the 420 club

Kyle McAlarney of Notre Dame has joined the 420 club. I wonder what Dick Vitale is going to say when he starts singing the praises of Notre Dame :-)

Links to the story of the Kyle McAlarney arrest for possession and subsequent suspension from the Domers:

South Bend Tribune and all their stories on this

Yahoo Sports

Sporting News

ESPN

RedStateMobile


And now my opinion: Can we please stop acting like this is some sort of a major fall from grace? If cigarettes and alcohol are legal to purchase and use, why do we make such a big deal of something that is very similar to those substances? Common sense seems to be an endangered species these days... And can we please stop the whole "act all shocked and surprised" when someone is caught...

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody!

An early early look at the 2008 NBA Draft

If you found the 2007 draft post interesting, you may like this one too!

Speculation is fun and free, so here's what two of the major draft sites have in their mock drafts for 2008:

NBADraft.net 2008 Mock draft

DraftExpress 2008 Mock Draft

The recruits from class of 2007 will be eligible for the 2008 draft, assuming they meet the age requirement and they have graduated as set forth by the new CBA. Here is a combined list of who is projected to be a first rounders from that group, with their college preferences listed:

OJ Mayo, USC

Kevin Love, UCLA

Derrick Rose, Memphis

Eric Gordon, Indiana over Illinois

Michael Beasley, Cincinatti, OOPS!, Kansas State :-)

Jarryd Bayless, Arizona

Donte Greene

ESPN Full Court free preview!

According to advertising material on the net (Google banner ads) by ESPN, ESPN Full Court will have a free preview from January 5 to 12, 2007. FullCourt is available as a TV package or as an online package for broadband users. This will be available on cable/satellite systems where ESPN PPV is available. As always, check local listings...

Weekend: What to watch on TV, a quasi-preview

*** all times PACIFIC; add +3 for Eastern; this is a WEST COAST BIAS BLOG! ***

Friday, December 29, 2006

4pm, Wake Forest at South Florida on ESPN2. Prediction: South Florida (as I am watching it :)

6pm, Illinois vs Xavier on ESPN2. Prediction: Illinois by 10+

7pm and 9pm, Aeropostale tourney 3rd place and 1st place games on Fox College Sports, featuring Hofstra, Saint Joseph, Saint Johns (aka St Johns) and Boston University.

two BYU games from 1998 and 2000, each repeats twice on BYU-TV.



Saturday, December 30, 2006
Pac-10 games on FSN and Fox College Sports
* 11am Stanford at Arizona, Prediction: Arizona
* 1pm, Oregon at Oregon State, Prediction: Oregon, putting Jay John squarely on the hot seat
* 3pm, Washington State at USC, Prediction: USC in double over-time :)
* 7pm, Cal at ASU, prediction: CAL in overtime...

other games
* 9am, Georgetown at Michigan on ESPN2. JT3 beats yet another smug-faced Dookie! Go Hoyas!
* 9am, Toledo at Oakland on FCS (Fox College Sports) and regional FSNs
* 11am, UConn at West Virginia on ESPN2. Prediction: Tough one to predict, my crystal ball is muddy on this one. I will pass...
* 1pm, Missouri State at Creighton, on ESPN2, enjoy another 40-39 MVC game according to Digger "Domer-Homer" Phelps :-)
* 1pm, 1030pm, 3am, Miami vs Nebraska, Orange Bowl Classic on FCS and regional FSNs. Prediction: Miami
* 1pm, Stony Brook at Notre Dame, on FCS. Prediction: Notre Dame scores 100!
* 330pm, 1am, 3am, UAB vs Florida, Orange Bowl Classic, on FCS and regional FSNs. Prediction: Florida wins by 40 and Mike Davis is caught by the camers crying
* 3pm, Gonzaga at Nevada on ESPN2. Prediction: Tough game for the Zags, Fazekas and the home-court are too much and Nevada wins in a close and entertaining game.
* 5pm, 9pm, 1am, 7am: UNLV at Houston on CSTV. Prediction: Hot off their win at Lubbock, Lon Kruger who has Bob Knight's number it seems (7-2 vs Knight), is unable to beat another long timer (Turnaround Tom). Three overtimes a possibility!

espn full court
* at least 10 games on ESPN full court, starting at 9am...


Sunday, December 31, 2006
* 930am, Tip Off Show on FSN and FCS
* 10am, San Jose State at Duke on FSN and FCS
* 12pm, Dayton at North Carolina on FSN and FCS
* 1230pm, relive the 2006 Elite 8 matchup in one-hour, George Mason vs UConn on ESPN Classic
* 2pm, Washington at UCLA on FSN and FSNHD and FCS
* 4pm, Behind the Glory: Coach K, a smug-fest flood, on FSN
* 5pm, Lamar at Memphis on CSTV, tape-delayed
* 10pm, relive the 1954 game that was immortalized in the movie Hoosiers on ESPN Classic
* 1am, George Michael Sports Machine feature on the 1966 Texas Western (UTEP) team that beat Kentucky.


*** Happy New Year ***
*** Happy New Year ***
*** Happy New Year ***


*** all times PACIFIC; add +3 for Eastern; this is a WEST COAST BIAS BLOG! ***

Recap of T-Mobile Invitational

UCLA-bound Chace Stanback of UCLA had another good game, while teamwork paid off for O'Dea: A more detailed recap of Day 2 of the T-Mobile Invitational can be found at Recruiting Wars.

Recap of Day 1 of the T-Mobile Invitational...

Recap of Day 1 of the T-Mobile Invitational can be found at Recruiting Wars. Day 2 concludes tomorrow Thursday December 28 on Versus. Check local listings for airtimes.

The games feature the following high-major recruits:

high-scoring Chace Stanback, UCLA

Center Dallas Lauderdale, Ohio State

Nick Williams, Marquette

Jamelle McMillan, Arizona State

Wednesday December 27, 2007

*** all times pacific *** add +3 for Eastern ***


LIVE GAMES

6pm: MVC conference season opener on ESPN2: Bradley at Northern Iowa

If you find these listings useful, you can encourage this blog to continue posting them by making your Amazon.com purchases via the affiliate link here or the Amazon logos in the blog.




Repeats
* 3pm SDSU vs Washington State on FCS (fox college sports) and regional FSNs
* 630pm, 1am: From 2001, Arizona at Stanford on FCS and regional FSNs
* 3am: Houston at Arizona on FCS
* 8am Sam Houston State at UCLA on FCS (oh the symmetry!)


Sneak Peek at Thursday's games
* Thursday marks the start of the Pac-10 conference season with three of the four games played on TV
* Also live from MSG, the Holiday Tournament featuring Hofstra, StJohns, StJoe's and Boston University.
* Rutgets at North Carolina
* The 3rd place and 1st place games of the T-Mobile Invitational tourney on Versus (high school teams)
* Last but not least, a Dick Vitale game as Bob Knight tries to break Dean Smith's record by beating UNLV in bucolic Lubbock Texas.



High School Hoops - The T-Mobile Invitational on VERSUS

230pm: LeFlore of Alabama vs Solon of Ohio on Versus (formerly OLN)

530pm: Faifax of Los Angeles vs O'Dea of Washington on Versus (formerly OLN)

There's also two women's games in between, so the actual start times are not exact!
*** Among the Top 100 players participating are Dallas Lauderdale (Ohio State), Nate McMillan's son Jamelle (Arizona State), Chace Stanback (UCLA), touted junior Nick Williams, and a few more.



If you find these listings useful, you can encourage this blog to continue posting them by making your Amazon.com purchases via the affiliate link here or the Amazon logos in the blog.




*** all times pacific *** add +3 for Eastern ***

Tuesday December 26, 2006: TV what to watch

*** all times pacific ***
If you find these listings useful, you can encourage this blog to continue posting them by making your Amazon.com purchases via the affiliate link here or the Amazon logos in the blog.




Live Games

NONE


REPEATS
* 9am Butler vs Purdue on FCS, the John Wooden Tradition, Game 1
* 4pm Beyond the glory: The Michigan Fab 5 on FSN
* 530pm houston at arizona on fox college sports (fcs)
* 730pm weber state at washington on fcs
* 10pm unc asheville vs north carolina on fcs (Roy and Candy Canes!)
* 11pm wake forest at virginia tech on fcs


PREP HOOPS

3PM, 7PM, Preview of the T-Mobile Invitation on Versus. Details on this tourney at Recruiting Wars

7pm: Wisconsin hoops: Wisconsin Dells vs La Crosse Aquinas on FCS and regional FSNs. Not sure if there are any high major D1 prospects. Will update if I find out.


*** all times pacific ***

An early look at the 2007 NBA Draft

Every 2007 NCAA College Basketball Tournament game on DVD!

College basketball fans will shed many tears when the 2007 NBA Draft comes around. A lot of talented freshmen and underclassmen are projected to be picked in the draft. That of course doesn't necessarily mean they will come out, but usually a lottery pick or even a first round pick is hard to say no to. Strategically some players may pass on the 2007 draft because it will be so loaded with talent. The 2007 class has some talent (OJ Mayo, Kevin Love, Derrick Rose) but the talent is not as overwhelming as this year (Oden, Durant, Florida Juniors, 2006 McDonalds team)

These are early projections in mock drafts! They are by no means guarantees...


Here are two preliminary mock drafts:

Draft Express

NBADraft.net

Freshmen projected in the first round
* Greg Oden
* Kevin Durant
* Brandan Wright
* Spencer Hawes
* Hasheem shot-blocking Thabeet (one of the coolest names in NCAA hoops this year)
* Daequan Cook
* Thaddeus Young
* Darrell Arthur


Sophomores projected in the first round
* Julian Wright and Brandon Rush
* Josh McRoberts (overrated Dookie imho but that's just me :-)
* Dominic James
* Tyler Hansbro (oops Hansborough)
* M-Will (Marcus Williams)
* Rodney Stuckey of Eastern Washington. Make sure you watch him this season!
* Luc Richard Mbah a Moute


Juniors projected in the first round
* Joakim Noah, Corey Brewer and Al Horford
* Jason Smith, one of the least known talented 7-footers. Make sure you watch Colorado State this year at least once (if you can find them on TV, which may not be easy)
* Ron Steele (although the injuries may raise durability questions)
* JR Giddens (Hello Bill Self!)
* Sean Williams (can't argue with his shot-blocking)
* Big Baby Glen Davis
* Nick Young
* Jeff Green
* Richard Roby
* DeVon Hardin (although his injury may delay his NBA entry)

Every 2007 NCAA College Basketball Tournament game on DVD!

Here comes Santa Claus!

Santa Claus sent Derrick Caracter home early this year. As expected by all, the Derrick Caracter soap opera at Louisville would have its reality TV twists and turns. In the latest installment Rick Pitino sent Derrick Caracter (often misspelled as Derek Character) home so he can get his act together (paraphrasing what was reported). This is some form of a suspension, so perhaps if Caracter does what Louisville expects him, he may be back? After all, he did lose all the weight that was expected of him! We all hope that Caracter gets his act together and work towards realizing his potential both off and on the basketball court. Some interesting Caracter links from the present and the past:
* Louisville Carrier Journal story #1, Eric Crawford commentary, a Brian Bennett take and Rick Bozich takes a more critical look at the shaky recruiting practices of Rick Pitino (not just Caracter, but gambling on Telfair over Lofton or Rondo), and a few more...
* Multi-color fishwrap story, a Jim Rome term :-)
* Virginia Student paper

How can Jon Stewart manage two demanding jobs? Not only he is the host of the Daily Shw on Comedy Central, but he is also the men's basketball coach of Dayton :-)

Dean Smith's recent interview on Sportscenter with Jay Bilas on Bob Knight breaking his record was interesting indeed. Dean said he was happy someone else has to carry the burden of the record, and he was complimentary of Knight, despite their different approaches to winning and dealing with players, media and the like.

Wild Prediction Alert!: Mike Montgomerry to coach Michigan??? While the other Dookie Mike Brey has managed to make Notre Dame basketball competitive this year, Michigan, a team with senior starters, continues to drift sideways, the big loss at UCLA a haunting experience for the Blue Maze. Even the most pro-Amaker people will lose confidence in him unless he turns it around quickly. So how about Mike Montgomerry? Although he is a west-coast guy (montana, stanford, golden state warriors), Ann Arbor has quite a few similaries with Palo Alto. Oregon is no longer a possibility unless the Ducks have a complete meltdown. Berkeley seems to be happy with Ben Braun regardless of wins and losses. Again, this is a wild prediction, with absolutely no insider information!

Great news! I am happy to reveal that my new basketball training DVD is going to be released on April 1, 2007. The DVD will have major emphasis on defense. The title of the DVD: "Matador Defense".

Facial Resemblance segment: Spencer Hawes vs swimmer Michael Phelps

This is specifically for Big 12 fans: Would you like your coach to win the press conferences and media events (Bill Self) or win the games (Sean Sutton)?

Josh McRobert's mom has become a cult icon in college basketball. Apparently Rick Majerus is not the only one who has a not-so-secret-crush on her!

Coach K and Mark Few are thankful for the exact same thing: Oklahoma State and Pittsburgh going into double over-time. The double over-time pre-empted the first half of the Gonzaga vs Duke game at Madison Square Garden, which was one of the ugliest halves in basketball. Recruits and fans were spared...

Bob Knight made an interesting comment: Why not keep track of doctor's records?

ESPN has so many channels and outlets, so many hours of programming, yet there isn't even a weekly show about college basketball! Come on ESPN :-)

Their performance against LSU should serve as an introduction to the basketball world: "Meet the New Washington Huskies", no Nate Robinson, no Brandon Roy, no krafty Jamaal Williams, but there is Spencer Hawes, Q Poindexter (no relation to Showtime's Dexter), Phil Nelson (no relation to 80s singer Phyllis Nelson), and Adrian Oliver. The team is still without injured wing Joel Smith and a couple of forwards

Bob Knight on Sunday's Outside the Lines!

Don't miss Sunday's edition of Outside the Lines on ESPN. It has a feature on Bob Knight's attempt to make history. Bob Ley reports, and Fran Fraschilla and LCJ columnist Rick Bozich are guests. Details at the OTL website. Check local listings for airtimes. First airing is supposed to be at 9:30am Eastern time on Sunday December 24, 2006.

Shopping for electronics and high tech stuff?

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pricegrabber

Weekend: What to watch on TV!

If you find these listings useful, you can encourage this blog to continue posting them by making your Amazon.com purchases via the affiliate link here or the Amazon logos in the blog.


Friday December 22, 2006
LIVE GAMES

4pm: UMass vs Kentucky on ESPN Full Court

7pm: Weber State vs Washington on Fox College Sports and regional FSN. If you haven't seen the new Huskies, you are missing out!
Repeats
* 2pm LSU at WAshington on FCS (Fox College Sports). Great game!
* 1am 1999 game: Duke vs St Johns on CSTV




Saturday December 23, 2006
LIVE GAMES

9am: Texas vs Tenneesseeee on ESPN. Prediction: Texas in double overtime, with Kevin Durant having a triple double

11am: Michigan at UCLA on CBS. Prediction: UCLA in a low-scoring slugfest (what's new?)

11am: Miami vs Louisville on ESPN. Will the Rick Pitino magic return? Will Derrick Caracter have a breakout game? Prediction: Louisville

11am, 7pm: California vs DePaul on CSN (Comcast Sports Net). How will Cal adjust to the loss of big man DeVon Hardin? Prediction: DePaul!

1pm Ohio State vs Florida on CBS. GAME OF THE DAY!. Prediction: Ohio State. Wow this game promises to be Awesome with Capital A!!! It's unbelievaaaaable!!! Okay, enough Vitalisms...

130pm Bucknell vs Texas Tech on ESPN2. Will Bob Knight tie Dean Smith? Bucknell is no cupcake! Dick Vitale will be doing this game. And he will be in full form: he lost half a game of airtime because Pitt/Oklahoma State went into double overtime.

5pm Dayton vs Pitt on CSN

830pm, 3am: Villanova vs LaSalle on CSTV (scheduling iffy here)

ESPN Full Court
* Wisconsin Green Bay vs Michigan State
* Texas Southern vs Iowa
* Louisiana Tech vs LSU
* Dayton vs Pitt

Repeats
* 8pm North Texas vs Western Kentucky
* 4am Battlelines: documentary on the 1966 NCAA Final, Kentucky vs Texas Western (UTEP) on ESPN Classic




Sunday December 24, 2006
** No Live Games!

Repeats
* 11am Beyond the Glory: The Fab 5 Story on FSN. You know, Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Jimmy King, ...
* 1pm Cal vs Depaul on CSN
* 130pm LSU vs Washington on FCS
* 430pm Maryland vs Boston College on FCS
* 7pm North Texas vs Western Kentucky on FCS
* 10pm 1979 NCAA Final, Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson (or Indiana State vs Michigan State) on ESPN Classic
* 1am Villanova vs LaSalle on CSTV


NEXT WEEK
* Four Top 25 high school basketball teams will be featured in a two-day tourney on Versus next week. The T-Mobile Invitational will air on Versus (formerly OLN), a channel usually available in standard cable. Details on this tourney, including airtimes and dates at Recruiting Wars


If you find these listings useful, you can encourage this blog to continue posting them by making your Amazon.com purchases via the affiliate link here or the Amazon logos in the blog.

Coming soon: NCAA Basketball Trivia Challenge DVD game review!

Review coming soon of the DVD game: NCAA Basketball Trivia Challenge DVD, by Snap TV Inc. This is not a video game. This is a DVD player game. You just put the DVD in the DVD player and play the Trivia challenge using the DVD player's remote control. A detailed review including screen-shots are coming soon...

We love to hate them

The Trinity College Methodists have evolved into the Coach K Smugfest!

The Encyclopedia of Duke Basketball is a hardcover book (Sept 2006) by John Roth, a hardcore Dookie himself, and it is the ultimate reference on all things Duke basketball.

What to watch on TV: Thursday December 21, 2006

*** all times pacific ***

LIVE GAMES

1:30pm Oklahoma vs Tulsa on ESPN2. Prediction: Oklahoma

3:45pm Pitt vs Oklahoma State on ESPN2. Prediction: Oklahoma State

6pm Gonzaga vs Duke on ESPN2. Prediction: Duke after a series of pro-Duke calls by the zebras. Go Zags! Go Zags! Beat Puke!

730pm San Diego State at Washington State on Fox College Sports (FCS) and regional FSNs. This is a faster Wazu team, Dick Bennett's son lets his players play faster. Prediction: San Diego State in overtime

5pm Idaho State at Illinois, on CSN, ESPN+

5pm, 930pm SMU at TCU on CSTV



ESPN full court
5pm Idaho State at Illinois


High School Hoops

6pm, 1230am Colorado Tournament of Champions Final on Fox College Sports.




Repeats
* 3pm, 830pm: LSU at Washington on FCS (good game! make sure you watch it!)
* 8pm, 1am ESPN Battlelines, the 1992 NCAA Elite 8 Duke vs Kentucky game on ESPN Classic. Yes, that game with the Christiana Laetner shot...
* 530am LSU at Oregon State on FCS


*** all times pacific ***

If you find these listings useful, you can encourage this blog to continue posting them by making your Amazon.com purchases via the affiliate link here or the Amazon logos in the blog.

Wild prediction for 2007

This is a wild prediction: Tubby Smith coaches in the NBA and Larry Brown, frustrated by NBA divas, know-it-all GMs, and filthy-rich NBA owners, decides to repair his damaged reputation (Knicks) by returning to where he started: he accepts the Kentucky basketball head coach position, where he will be king, with no owner and no GM screwing around...

Update: This wild prediction has been picked up by the Wildcat Maniacs message board.

Disclaimer: This is a wild prediction, I have absolutely no inside (or outside) information. Infact I would be very surprised if it happened - which is what makes it a wild prediction :-)

20 things you won't find in the Andy Katz blog!

1. Roy Williams eating a Candy Cane given to him by Blue-Blood Santa. Picture coming soon!!! A Roy Candy Cane commercial next? He is already in the "business" after the Coca Cola commercial. Nothing like Coke and Candy Cane for that special sugar/caffeine rush ;-) And Roy still won't look at the scoreboard. During the half-time interview of the UNC-Asheville game, Roy said "they told me they cut the lead". But Ole Roy keeps winning, so what do I know? :-)

2. New term (for me) used by Rick Majerus: A 180-man, referring to a player whose combined percentage of Free Throws, Field Goals and Three pointers is at least 180. Majerus gave examples of these: Reggie Miller and Jeff Hornacek. For example, 90% free throw shooting, 45% field goal shooting, and 45% three-point shooting. Not easy to achieve :-)

3. Derek Raivio has been called a "paperboy" because he looks like a little kid. And sometimes he plays like one. But more often he is a gamer. I am sure if Dick Vitale does a Gonzaga game he will go for the "Derek Ravioli", and then go into his "ravioli, linguini, panini, etc" routine!

4. Karma? Rick Pitino made his name in the late 80s with three point shooters. Now it's coming back to haunt him as his team can't buy a three. The game against Kentucky an obvious example on a national level

5. Meet the Georgia Bulldogs!. Beating Gonzaga will do wonders for a team's national reputation. This probably put Georgia back on the map nationally. This was the first game I saw Georgia play, and haven't seen them since (because they are not shown on TV), and I was impressed. A deep and versatile team, with lots of guards and five bigs, a couple of which have a high ceiling (and a couple who can't get off the floor). But I digress...

6. Thank you daddy! said Tony Bennett and Sean Sutton in unison. Thank you for hanging around last year and taking the blows of a so-and-so season, so when I take over, I will have a better chance of being successful. Daddy knows best!

7. And continuing from #6, Tony Bennett has worked miracles with most of the same players as Dick Bennett's team. Same can be said for Mike Anderson and the fast/exciting style of play compared to Quinn "bad hairday everyday" Snyder. Which shows how a coach can ruin a team's and a player's potential!

8. UNC Asheville has two seven-footers. Yes two of them. One starts and plays with shot-blocking being his specialty. The second one is none other than 7'7" Kenny George who is battling injuries and such. He can dunk standing up. He can probably dunk by bending his knees while still on the ground. A small mid-major has two seven-footers. How many do the high majors have? :-)

9. Random factoid: Tywon Lawson collects (or collected) Pokemon cards.

10. Majerus on UCLA's Jordan Farmar: addition by subtraction. Majerus has said this more than once...

11. ESPN Graphics Department please get some Basketball IQ! When Tennessee beat Oklahoma State in Nashville, Tennessee, the screen was flashing "Tennessee upsets #14 Oklahoma State". Come on! That was not an upset!. Please ask Jay Bilas or Rick Majerus to give you the defintion of an upset. You broadcast hundreds of basketball games every year. You should know better!

12. Mega props to Omni Smith of Kent State for a great performance against Duke!

13. Coincidence or not? The top two recruiting classes of 2006 went to North Carolina and Ohio State. Both teams play a fast, fun, and exciting style of play. Coincidence or not?

14. UConn is undefeated in both men's and women's hoops. Random factoid of some interest perhaps?

15. Capitalize on "coaching heat" while the iron is hot. Randy Bennett of St Mary's is still "Randy from the block", but two years after StMary was a national darling and Gonzaga contender, he is just another mid-major coach on the national scene.

16. Doug Gotleib was caught by the ESPN+ cameras during the StMarys vs UConn game. He was scouting UConn for his next game, along with his wife and the newborn twins. Congratulations!

17. Is it me or does Bob Wenzel has some resemblance in appearance and voice to W?

18. Is it me or does anyone else find Tim Brando's voice annoying?

19. Sign of a cluessless or unprepared play by play guy: He calls the name of a player by looking at the roster of the opposing team. This shows how little they know about the players since they can only distinguish them by jersey numbers.

20. Turnaround Tom is modelling his oaf-fense (offense in non-Majerus speak) after the Phoenix Suns. But it's effective only when the shots are falling...

Gift ideas for the sports fan

Firefly, the TV series, just $20 on Amazon. (prices subject to change!)

Rocky Anthology, all five movies, $35.50 on Amazon (prices subject to change!)

The Injury Repor(t) is back!

The injury report by the Sports Network via the Detroit News.

Some sampling of the injuries out there:
* Arizona: Iffy: Kirk Walters, JP Prince
* Cal: Nikola Knezevic
* Florida: Al Horford
* Illinois: Richard Semrau
* Kentucky: Jared Carter, out for season
* Maryland: Jerome Burney, out for season
* Miami: Anthony King
* Michigan: K'len Morris
* Izzo State: Raymar Morgan
* Oklahoma State: Obi Muonelo
* Oregon: Champ Oguchi
* RutgerS: Big Byron Jones
* Villanova: Sebastian Telfair's HS teammate Antonio Pena is out for the season


Some returns:
* NC State: Trevor Ferguson, returns today
* UCLA: Nikola Dragovic, returns Saturday. The Pac-10 is becoming the Yugoslavian-10 :-)
* Boston College, AKida McClain returns 12/23
* George Washington, Herman Opoku, returns from suspension 1/3


Visit the website above for more details...

College Hoops on TV: Wednesday December 20 2006

*** all times are pacific ***

Here is today's schedule for NCAA College Basketball Hoops on TV:


LIVE GAMES
* 530pm: Memphis at Arizona on FSN and FCS. Prediction: Arizona in triple overtime
* 730pm: LSU at Washington on FSN and FCS. Prediction: LSU
* 6pm: Arkansas at Texas on ESPN2. Prediction: Texas. Durant scores 29 with 6 three pointers
* 5pm Georgia State at Iowa on CSN and ESPN Full Court


ESPN Full Court
* Florida at home
* Indiana at home
* Iowa at home


Repeats
* 8pm, 2am: ESPN Battlelines, looking at the historic 1966 Kentucky - UTEP (Case Western then) game (one hour documentary)
* 11pm North Texas at Western Kentucky on FCS (Fox College Sports)
* 1130pm Saint Mary's at UConn on CSN


Thursday Sneak Peek
* Gonzaga vs Duke
* Pitt vs Oklahoma State


*** all times are pacific ***

Outside the Lines: The Iverson trade

Not college basketball, but it's a big enough story to garner interest. Also celebrating the 80th birthday of JoePa (Joe Paterno). Visit the OTL website for details...

TV: Tuesday December 19 what to watch

*** all times PACIFIC *** *** all times PACIFIC *** *** all times PACIFIC ***

live games
4pm: Kent State at Duke on ESPN. Go Kent State! Go Kent State! Go Kent State! Prediction: Dookies
5pm, 10pm, 1am: North Texas at Western Kentucky on FCS (Fox College Sports)
6pm: Missouri vs Illinois on ESPN. Prediction: Illinois by 5
730pm: Sam Houston State at UCLA on FCS (tough game for UCLA at home)


espn full court
* Santa Clara at Kentucky
* 5pm: Iowa State at Ohio State Greg Oden mania!!!
* Kansas at home
* Stanford vs Fresno State


high school hoops
* As of right now I do not know if any major Division 1 prospects are playing in this Tourney of Champions in Colorado
530pm: Grandview vs Denver Christian on FCS
730pm: Mullen vs Thomas Jefferson on FCS


repeats
12pm: washington at gonzaga on FCS
2pm: Portland state at washington on FCS (Fox College Sports)
530pm, 1130pm: George Washington at Marshall on CSTV (this game is from the 2005-2006 season)
830pm: Southern Illinois at Western Kentucky on FCS
11pm: houston at arizona on FCS
730am (Wedn morning): LSU at Oregon State on FCS

*** all times PACIFIC *** *** all times PACIFIC *** *** all times PACIFIC ***

Outside the Lines: Isiah Thomas

Today's Outside the Lines, first repor, deals with Isiah Thomas's involvement in the latest NBA (National Brawl Association) fight.

My opinion
Isiah Thomas tried to bring up the Bad Boys! Maybe he should put Bill Lampier back on the roster and send him in to deliver a message. That way his regular players won't be affected. On a six-degrees of separation note, Mardy Collins acted as the goon, and Collin's head coach is John Chaney, famous for sending in the "goon" in the Saint Joseph's game a couple of seasons ago. Isiah Thomas played in college under Mr Anger Management, Bob Knight. So the two main people involved in this "goon" incident are linked to John Chaney and Bob Knight. Coincidence????????????

Whether George Karl was winning for Larry Brown it doesn't really matter. This is a professional basketball game, not a prime-time "you hurt my feelings" drama. Isiah should blame himself and his players for losing the game and Isiah is responsbile for failing to revive the Knicks as a GM and a coach. He should not be taking it out on the opponents who beat him.

Let's face it, Isiah is on a long list of Top 100 All-time NBA players who have failed to live up to expectations as general managers or head coaches: Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, Clyde Drexler, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul Alcindor Jabbar, etc.

What to watch on TV: Monday December 18, 2006

** all times pacific **

LIVE GAMES

3pm: LMU (Loyola Marymount of SoCal) vs Steve Fisher State (San Diego State) on CSTV. Prediction: SDSU

4pm: Oklahoma State vs Tennessee on ESPN2. Prediction: Tennessee by 12


Repeats
* 10am: Wake Forest at Virginia Tech
* 11am: LSU and Big Baby at Oregon State on FCS
* 130pm: StMarys at UConn (12 blocks) on CSN
* 12pm: LMU at USC on FCS
* 5pm Houston at Arizona on FCS
* 6pm Southern Illinois Salukis at Western Kentucky on FCS


** all times pacific **

Ten things I wouldn't say to their face

1. Arkansas and the U Word. Stan Heath has been able to recruit lots of talented players, but given the level of talent and the number of years he has been at Arkansas, one cannot help but utter the U word. Underachieving...

2. Would you want your son to play for Bob Knight? That question was discussed by the ESPN trio covering the Texas Tech - Arkansas game. Steve Lavin ended up with a reasonable answer on what started like spinorama and waffling. Brad Nessler copped out because he has a daughter. Dykes sort of echoed Lavin's answer.

3. Jamie Dixon was undefeated in November and December in his career as a head coach at Pitt up until he lost to Wisconsin earlier today. There is good reason why he was undefeated: he played a very soft schedule, mostly at home or within his city/state. Still not an easy achievement, but it's nowhere near as impressive as it sounds. If you don't believe me, check Pitt's record the last few years at kenpom.com...

4. Happy Birthday Mr Wildcat! He turns 80. Kentucky had various head coaches during Mr Wildcat's tenure. And I have a feeling he will have at least one more before he retires...

5. Fans are not smart when they start chanting "OVERRATED!". It feels good and it's an emotional response, but basically, once you defeat a team, you actually want to convince everyone that they are a really good team, because (you guessed it), it makes your victory look even better, especially with regards to the NCAA selection committee...

6. We had eight undefeated teams as of this morning. Is it a coincidence that the majority of those wins came up against cupcakes? Look at their schedules: UCLA, Pitt, Oregon, Oklahoma State, Clemson... The only one that is really amazing is Wichita State. Go Shockers!

7. I think the Missouri Valley Conference is about to erect a statue to honor Seth Davis for his support of the Valley. The MVC threw a parade in Seth's honor during the MVC Centennial celebration...

8. My point of emphasis to the zebras: Keep the coaches off the court during the game. Some coaches are obnoxiously leaving their box and inside the sidelines. Ben Howland does this quite often.

9. Billy Packer stirring controversy in Kentucky? Rick Pitino called this recruiting class his 2nd best. Billy Packer (who probably doesn't follow recruiting until the players start playing as freshmen) called it Fantasyland.

10. Wisconsin is Awesome with capital A! They have a goto guy (and candidate for player of the year) in Alando Tucker, four versatile big men including shot-blockers, four interchangeable guards, and super-versatile Krabbenkroft (sp?). On top of that, the Big Polar Bear (as Steve Lavin affectionately calls Brian Butch) woke up from his hibernation and played like a McDonalds All-American. And the can afford to redshirt their 7-footer incoming freshman JP Gavinksi. This is a true 10-man rotation and each one of the ten players is actually contributing when they are on the court. Don't look now, but this team could end up in the Final Four...

West Coast Bias Segment

In this feature, we will look at all the West Coast teams, in RPI order. The order is determined by http://www.kenpom.com/rpi.php as of Friday December 15, 2006.

1. Arizona, 7-1, RPI #1, SOS #1
* Noteable wins: @SDSU, Louisville (Neutral), Illinois (Neutral-Home/Phoenix), UNVL
* Losses: @Virginia (in classic Arizona-style meltdown)
* Style of play: Five ballhandlers, deep bench but Lute does not trust his bench
* Currently: Work in progress, looking for someone other than the starting five to emerge


2. UCLA, 7-0, RPI #2, SOS #18
* Noteable wins: Georgia Tech (Neutral), Texas A&M (Neutral-Home/Orange County)
* Style of play: Wrestlemania interrupted by fastbreaks
* Currently: Slugfest wins games


3. Gonzaga, 9-2, RPI #12, SOS #9
* Noteable wins: North Carolina (Neutral), Texas (Neutral),
* Noteable home wins: Washington, Baylor, Rice, Easter Washington
* Losses: Butler (neutral), Washington State (road)
* Style of play: Offensive explosion interrupted by actual defense
* Currently: Exceeding expectations


4. UNLV, 6-2, RRI #15, SOS #11
* Noteable wins: @Nevada, Hawaii (twice, Home and Road)
* Losses: @Arizona, UCSB (home)
* Style of play: Kruger-ball
* Currently: Rising...


5. Oregon, 8-0, RPI #17, SOS #132
* Noteable wins: @Georgetown, @Rice, Nebraska (semi-home/Portland)
* Style of play: Fast smallball
* Currently: Surprising people by winning slow down games (Georgetown, Nebraska)


6. Utah State, 8-1, RPI #36, SOS #206
* Noteable wins: Utah (H)
* Losses: @ Northwestern State
* Style of play: Have not seen them this year, but I bet it's Stew-ball :-)
* Currently: Chopping wood


7. California, 7-3, RPI #43, SOS #41
* Noteable wins: Kansas State blowout (H)
* Losses: @SDSU, Nevada (Home/Neutral, San Jose)
* Bad Loss: San Diego (Home)
* Style of play: Ben-ball
* Currently: Ryan Anderson is a surprise freshman, yet another indicator of how good this class of 2006 is


8. Nevada, 7-1, RPI #47, SOS #159
* Noteable wins: Cal (Road/Neutral), @Oregon State
* Loss: UNLV (H)
* Style of play: Mark Fox ball
* Currently: Riding the Fazekas bandwagon


9. Washington, 7-1, RPI #65, SOS #218
* Noteable wins: Northern Iowa (H), Eastern Washington
* Losses: @Gonzaga
* Style of play: Work in progress, blend four super-freshmen, waiting for Joel Smith
* Currently: Eating cupcakes at home while trying to build this season's team


10. Loyola Marymount, 5-4, RPI #66, SOS #36
* Noteable wins: New Mexico State (H) in a comeback, in probably the most poorly officiated game of the year. Bad zebras!
* Losses: @MissSt, @USC, California (Neutral), @SamHoustonState
* Style of play: Whatever it takes
* Currently: Trying to become the "other team" in the WCC


*** more coming soon ***

Weekend what to watch on TV

Big games this weekend, empty your TiVos, get a 2nd DVR, reconnect your VCRs!

*** all times pacific, add +3 for eastern/EST time ***
*** all times pacific, add +3 for eastern/EST time ***
*** all times pacific, add +3 for eastern/EST time ***


Saturday December 16, 2006

9am: Pitt at Wisconsin, on ESPN with Dick Vitale. Prediction: Wisconsin by 5

10am: Wooden Tradition: Butler vs Purdue on WGN (yes, WGN) and Fox College Sports. Who outside of Indiana would have thought that this game would be among two highly rated (at least RPI-wise and wins/losses-wise) teams? Purdue wins in a close game

1030am: Game of the Day: Kentucky at Louisville, on CBS. Prediction: Kentucky in triple over time in an instant classic

11am: Texas Tech vs Arkansas on ESPN. Bob Knight will still be two wins away from the Dean after this game :-)

11am: N.Illinois at Michigan on CSN, ESPN+. Prediction: Tommy Amaker and his team take out their six-year-long frustration on UNI and win by 40 :-)

12pm, Bradley at Iowa State, ESPN2. Prediction: Bradley, comfortably even

1245pm: Wooden Tradition, game 2: Cincinatti vs Ohio State on CBS. Yes, the 3rd Greg Oden game. Will he get his first triple double? :-)

1pm: UNC-Asheville vs UNC-Roy Williams on regional FSNs and FCS. Prediction: North Carolina by 40

2pm: Gonzaga at Georgia on ESPN2. Prediction: Georgia surprises (!) and wins

4pm Chicago State at Izzo State on CSN, ESPN+

4pm High School Hoops: Appleton East vs Fond du Lac on FCS and regional FSNs.

7pm Portland State at Washington. Lorenzo Romar continues to try to mold this new team at home against not-so-tough teams.

930pm: UW Whitewater vs UW Superior on FCS. I am not familiar with these teams, presumably they are non-Division 1 Wisconsin teams. I just type what I see in the TV schedule :-)

130am: Sports List on FSN: Top 10 NCAA College basketball moments. Repeats other times as well. Check local listings (as with most of these anyways)

3am (tape-delayed I presume): Mississippi State at Miami on FCS (airs live earlier on some regional FSNs)

On ESPN Full Court: Tennessee, Oklahoma, Michigan State and LeBron's Akron.





Sunday December 16, 2006
* Usually Sundays are relatively quiet, but this Sunday there's some exciting games going on:

11am St Marys at UConn, on ESPN+, CSN. Prediction: Thabeet gets 7 blocks.

2pm Belmont at Illinois, on ESPN+, CSN. Prediction: Illinois by 29

2pm: ACC Sunday Night Hoops on FSN and FCS: Tip Off Show and then Wake Forest at Virginia Tech. Yes this is ACC conference action.

5pm Southern Illinois at Indiana on ESPN. ESPN seems to have picked up on the Sunday spot, usually occupied by FSN ACC Sunday Night Hoops. First one to 51 wins.

5pm LSU at Oregon State on FSN, FCS. Woohoo, LSU gets some national TV love. And if you like Big Baby and LSU, there's an even better game next Wednesday as they visit Washington (also on FCS and FSN).

530pm: (Repeat) Austin Peay (sp?) at Memphis on CSTV. Without Carney, Shawne and Darrius Disaster, Memphis is not getting as much TV love from CSTV.

7pm Houston at Arizona on FCS, FSN. In theory this should be an up-and-down high scoring affair, but it wasn't like that last year as you may recall. That was the game Lute Olson had to discipline two members of the Moody Blues (Adams, Rodgers). Prediction: Arizona in a lower-than-expected-scoring-game.

7pm REPEAT: Butler vs Purdue, Wooden Tradition on FCS

On ESPN Full Court: UConn, Illinois, Florida cup-caking





Next Week "Game of the Day" Sneak Peek
* Sneak Peek with the Game of Day for the week of Monday December 18 thru Sunday December 24 *
* Monday: Oklahoma State vs Tennessee on ESPN2
* Tue: Missouri vs Illinois on ESPN
* Wedn: Memphis at Arizona and LSU at Washington on FSN and FCS
* Thur: Oklahoma State vs Pitt and Duke vs Gonzaga on ESPN2
* Fri: UMass vs Kentucky on ESPN Full Court
* Sat: Ohio State vs Florida on CBS. Awesome with capital A baby!!!!
* Sun: ESPN Classic feature on the 1979 Bird vs Magic game that changed everything


*** all times pacific, add +3 for eastern/EST time ***
*** all times pacific, add +3 for eastern/EST time ***
*** all times pacific, add +3 for eastern/EST time ***

If you have found this feature useful, please feel free to support this blog to continue offering features such as this by making your Amazon.com purchases by following the affiliate links and logos on this blog.

Blasphemous Rumors: Bob Knight to Minnesota?

This rumor has been slowly burning in the background. The latest one to mention it was one of the reporters on "The Drive", a Kansas-area TV sports talk show airing nationally on Fox College Sports multiple times per week. Locally, the Drive airs Sunday nights at 10:30 p.m. on 49ABC KTKA in Topeka, KS and is simulcast on Sunflower Broadband Channel 6 in Lawrence, KS.

Speaking of The Drive, I highly recommend this sports talk show for college basketball fans. It is 30-minute long (including commercials) and mostly covers the Big 12 with emphasis on Kansas, Kansas State and Wichita State, three of the most buzzworthy teams this season for different reasons...

By the way, Tom Keegan of the Lawrence Journal World did a great impersonation of Coach K during this week's episode. Great job Keegan!

CSTV is searching for Cinderella

The search for Cinderella is on at CSTV!. These are CSTV's "Slipper Rankings", updated every Wednesday, trying to predict which non-BCS teams will make some noise in March. Their Top 16 includes the usual suspects, such as Wichita State, Air Force, Xavier, Winthrop, and about half of the MVC.

It appears they don't consider Memphis and Gonzaga non-BCS Cinderellas...

Tracking Bob Knight's attempt to break Dean Smith's record

You can track Bob Knight's attempt to break Dean Smith's all time winningest NCAA men's basketball coaching record by checking their schedule at Yahoo Sports. Bob Knight needs two more wins to tie Dean Smith, and three to pass him. The next four games are available on either ESPN or ESPN2. Next game is this Saturday at Arkansas. Three of those four games are at home. Right after those four games, Big 12 action begins where wins may not be as easy to come by...

Ten things you don't want to know!

1. The definition of a homer: Dan Bonner (former Virginia player and current FSN and CBS basketball analyst) predicts up to nine (9) ACC teams getting into the NCAA tournament this year. Nine out of twelve teams. Sure thing Dan :-)
2. Seth Davis made a guest appearance on the Missouri Valley Conference preview show that aired on FCS and regional FSNs. Seth's support of the Valley before it became popular last year gives him more "street cred" with the mid-majors and makes Billy Packer and play-by-play non-expert-but-opinionated Jim Nantz look like BCS-homers.
3. Roy Williams reached 500 wins, faster than any other coach!. Watch out Coach K, the new king has arrived! You deserve a fridge full of Coca Cola bottles for that, Ole Roy :-)
4. I finally got around to watching the Versus documentary Soul of a Champion featuring the one and only Bob Knight. The documentary had more of a celebratatory and pro-Knight tone than one would expect from the media. Knight's indiscretions were only mentioned in passing. A member of his Anger Management Support Group appeared in the show to defend Bob Knight. And that person what none other than John Chaney.
5. Bob Knight ties and passes Adolph Rupp. Two wins away from tying Dean Smith and one more to call the winningest coach in men's NCAA basketball record his own.
6. Props to ESPN's Sean McDonough. He adamantly and matter-of-factly stated that Duke got all the calls in its last few games at Cameron Indoor. This comment somewhat surprised the other two members of the trio (Jay Bilas, former Dookie, and hall of famer Bill Raftery). This happened during the Alabama at Notre Dame game. Once again, props to Sean McDonough for keeping it real!
7. Memphis got blown out by Tennessee last week. On a totally unrelated note, Kareem Cooper has been reinstated and played the next game. Coincidence? :-)
8. I have created a new term to describe Ben Howland's style of play with the UCLA Bruins: Wrestlemania interrupted by fastbreaks
9. Quite possibly a record this season: The last media timeout was called with just 19.7 seconds left in the game. Even though the game was a blowout, the refs had to call it. I forgot which game it was :-)
10. The McDonalds selection committee needs to be redone. The selection of players is not based on basketball skills alone: Regional, socio-poltical and college-destination factors play a significant part in their decision. For example, if James Keefe hadn't committed to UCLA, there's no way he would be on the team. (Not to mention the other reason which I won't get into). There's no way James Keefe is one of the 24 best McDonalds-eligible players! No way this year!

Quick and Painless Gifts: Amazon Gift Certificates!

You can select any amount, from $5 to $5000, and it can sent by regular mail, by e-mail, or even as a holiday e-card. Visit Amazon Gift Certificates! for details...




Why is this even remotelly related to college basketball? Because this helps this blog, which unlike Andy Katz and ESPN Insider, it is totally free :-)

Amazon Gift Certificates!

Today on Outside the Lines

Today's issue of OTL deals with guns and athletes. Related to basketball, coverage includes Sebastian Telfair and comments the Mailman (Karl Malone).

Today on Outside the Lines

Not a basketball story, but a story on OTL that might be of interest to sports fans: Holley Mangold, a national record holder on weight lifting, and also playing at the highest level of high school football in Ohio. The title of the OTL story is: "Fighting perceptions to succeed".

Details on the OTL website

Great gift idea: Lord of the Ring Trilogy DVDs only $20!

A great gift idea for all: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy DVDs in either Widescreen or Fullscreen. These are the original theatrical movies, not the extended editions, but for the price of $20 for three movies on six DVDs, nicely packaged is too good to pass up! For hardcore fans the extended editions are a must as well, but for collectors or "completists" who like to get all releases, this is a great price to stock up. Keep in mind that with the new DVDs that contain both the theatrical and extended versions you have to flip the DVD to watch the whole movie because they put half of each movie per side. Very annoying! So it is a better idea to buy each set separately. The price just dropped on Amazon (regularly $30), and this is a limited time offer, and it may go up by the time you are reading this!

Theatrical Lord of the Rings Trilogy DVD set - Widescreen

Theatrical Lord of the Rings Trilogy DVD set - Fullscreen





And now back to college basketball... Oooops! This is finals week, very few games played before Saturday, so keep on shopping :-)

Polls vs the RPI (a weekly comparison)

Let's do something fun, compare the latest basketball polls with the RPI data. I am using the RPI data from Ken Pomeroy as of right now.

Here are the latest polls posted at Yahoo Sports.

New Term: Poll-25 refers to a team in the polls (25 teams). It does not necessarily mean it's one of the Top 25 teams.

So let's go through the teams one by one and see what their RPI and SOS are. I am going by the AP poll (writers poll) since the writers poll usually shows more basketball savvy than the Coaches poll, which is rather ironic...

1. UCLA RPI: 2, SOS: 14
2. Pitt RPI: 10, SOS: 66. Obviously not the 2nd best team in the country.
3. North Carolina. RPI: 6, SOS: 7
4. Ohio State. RRI: 37, SOS: 158. Thad Matta likes homecooking. Greg Oden has only played two games. This cannot be reflected in the numbers. No judgement can be made here.
5. Florida. RPI: 91, SOS: 208. Billy likes homecooking too. Corey Brewer has been out and Noah under the weather.
6. Duke. RPI: 4, SOS: 4. Great numbers quantitatively, but qualitatively their play is a work in progress (at best).
7. Wisconsin: RPI: 24, SOS: 83. Homecookin!
8. Wichita State, RPI: 8 SOS: 17.
9. Alabama RPI: 29, SOS: 142
10. Arizona, RPI: 1, SOS: 1. While they may not be the best team on the court, they are the best team statistically (at least according to the RPI/SOS numbers)
11. Kansas, RPI: 57, SOS: 124. Over-rated?
12. LSU, RPI: 79, SOS: 82. Those two losses hurt.
13. Texas A&M, RPI: 95, SOS: 191. Kinda sad when Texas A&M Corpus Cristi has a higher RPI!. It's fascinating that this team was rated at #6 last week. I mean, COME ON!
14. UConn, RPI: 84, SOS: 307. Jim Calhoun loves CT a lot. He doesn't want to leave the state. But to his defense at least for this season his roster is loaded with inexperienced players and freshmen too. Clearly not the 14th best team in the country as of right now. But make sure you watch them and start a Thabeet-block drinking game :-)
15. Oklahoma State, RPI: 19, SOS: 129
16. Gonzaga, RPI: 11, SOS: 8. This reads like a Top 10 team to me!
17. Washington, RPI: 52, SOS: 200. Same reason as UConn above. Too many inexperienced players and four super-freshmen needing to mesh in the comforts of the Pacific Northwest. Not the 17th best team right now for sure.
18. Butler, RPI: 5, SOS: 16. It's awesome baby! They almost swept the state of Indiana but the Sycamores (without Larry Bird) managed to beat them. Another good win for the MVC.
19. Memphis, RPI: 35, SOS: 63 Shadows of the Elite 8 loss all over when they got owned by Tennessee. On a totally unrelated note, Kareem Cooper has been reinstated :-)
20. Marquette, RPI: 60, SOS: 87. A Duke win carries a lot of "poll cred". The definition of a downer? beating Duke and then losing to North Dakota State
21. Notre Dame. RPi: 51, SOS: 179. Back to back wins over Gary Williams and Alabama gave them "poll cred"
22. Oregon. RPI: 8, SOS: 47. The Flying Ducks and the Oregon Dunks are back! The grinder wins over Georgetown and Nebraska are probably more impressive than their high scoring affairs.
23. Syracuse. RPI: 56, SOS: 86. Not that bad when compared to UConn. But Syracuse is a team full of experienced seniors and a FINO in Paul Harris. FINO = Freshman In Name Only. Players who stay in prep school for additional years or reclassify early and often are not exactly freshmen (although technically they are!). Other examples: Tyler Hansborough of North Carolina last year, and 21 year old freshman Taj Gibson of USC this year and Devon Jefferson of USC next year (or the year after that?).
24. Air Force. RPI: 21. SOS: 70.
25. Nevada. RPI: 43, SOS: 139. Fazekas carries "poll cred".
*. Michigan State. RPI: 39 SOS: 99. Izzo's name is "poll cred" for the Coaches.
*. Clemson. RPI: 18, SOS: 121. Here we go again. Line up the cupcakes and the struggling BCS teams, beat them up and get everyone jazzed up. Then play NCAA-caliber competition and be thankful you got the NIT invite. Will this year be different for Clemson? The Coaches bought it and voted them in. At least the writers knew a little better.



Who's Missing from the Polls?
* RPI #7: ARKANSAS: SOS: 15. Got blown out by Missouri. Best wins: West Virginia and Southern Illinois (both neutral in the Disney classic).
* RPI #9: SMU: SOS: 13. Abrasive personality Matt Doherty has a home win over Dayton, and two cupcakes who don't count. Which explains the high RPI/SOS. Let's move along...
* RPI #14: Florida State: SOS: 22. They beat Florida, lost to Pitt/Wisc on the road. Sounds like a Poll-25 team when compared to some of the others in the Poll 25! Certainly the RPI/SOS numbers support this.
* RPI #15: UNLV
* RPI #16: Maryland
* RPI #17: Purdue
* RPI #20: Western Kentucky. SOS: 26
* RPI #22: Drexel.
* RPI #23: Villanova
* RPI #25: UAB


Notable high SOS not in the polls
Excluding the teams mentioned above, most of these teams are getting nice paychecks for the guaranteed road games:
* SOS #2: Arkansas Pine Bluff
* SOS #3: Delaware State
* SOS #5: Texas Southern
* S0S #6: Louisville. Bellarmine doesn't count RPI-wise so their SOS is propped up.
* SOS #10: Toledo
* SOS #11: Western Michigan
* SOS #12: Northeastern
* SOS #18: Rice
* SOS #19: Winthrop
* SOS #20: Alabama State
* SOS #23: Georgia Tech
* SOS #24: Grambling.

Any comments, suggestions, corrections, rants or ideas, please leave them as comments or send an email or blog them :-)

TV: What to watch (Monday thru Friday)

As this is Finals Week for the student athletes, there is only one live game during the next five days (Monday thru Friday). That game is Wisconsin-Milwaukee vs Wisconsin on Wednesday at 5pmPT/8pmET on ESPN+, Full Court and CSN. But fear not, the weekend (Saturday, Sunday) is loaded with games, including Kentucky vs Louisville and Pitt vs Wisconsin.

Look for more features from this blog this week, but I won't promise anything until I have it ready or in progress :-)

Weekend what to watch on TV

*** all times pacific; add +3 for eastern time ***

This is a loaded Saturday with loads of good games! Tune up your VCRs, empty your TiVo and DVR hard discs, you are going to need the space :-)


Friday

Friday is usually an off day for "BCS" college basketball on TV, but there is one live game today, an in-state brawl as Iowa State meets Iowa on ESPN+, ESPN Full Court and Comcast Sports Net. Tipoff is at 5pm pacific / 8pm eastern.

Repeats: Zags at Washington State (good game!) on FCS, ASU at Minneesota (the first post-Dan-Monson game) on FCS, and N.Colorado at ASU.


Saturday
* 9am: Robert Morris vs Wagner on Fox College Sports
* 9am: George Mason vs Duke on ESPN. Prediction: George Mason. Rooting for: George MASON!
* 9am: Indiana vs Kentucky on CBS. Prediction: First one to 52 wins.
* 10am: Toledo vs Kansas on ESPN2. Normally a blowout, the mercurial Jayhawks are capable of losing this or blowing them out by 30.
* 10am: Illinois-Chicago vs Illinois on CSN, ESPN+. Prediction: Illinois by 40
* 11am: Wisconsin vs Marquette on ESPN. Prediction: Triple overtime
* 11:30am: Wooden Classic: Texas A&M vs UCLA on CBS. Prediction: Texas A&M in overtime
* 12pm: BYU at Michigan State on ESPN2. Prediction: Izzo by 10+. Trent Plaisted scores 20+ with 10+ rebounds
* 12pm: Nebraska vs Oregon on regional FSNs and Fox College Sports. Prediction: Oregon in a blowout
* 1pm: Cleveland State vs Ohio State on ESPN+, ESPN Full Court and CSN. Greg Oden's second game! Will he start? Will he get his first triple double? I say YES if he STARTS!
* 2pm: Georgia Tech vs Vandy on ESPN2. Prediction: Georgia Tech in a high scoring affair
* 2pm: Wooden Classic: George Washington vs USC on WGN (yes WGN!)
* 430pm: In My Own Words: Jamie Dixon of Pitt, on Fox College Sports
* 5pm: Southern Illinois at Western Kentucky on Fox College Sports. FCS has apparently picked up the satellite broadcast rights for Western Kentucky?
* 7pm: SCU at Pacific on CSN
* 8pm: Washington at Gonzaga on regional FSNs and Fox College Sports. Promises to be a great game judging from previous contents. Easily the game of the day imho. The Zags are smarting from the loss at sold-out Pullman. Will they lose two in a row to in-state rival? Washington has mostly stayed at home and played mid-majors so we don't really know how good they are. They have a tendency to fall behind and then make a comeback. If that happens in this game, will they be too deep in a hole to comeback? Prediction: Washington pulls the upset and wins in the tightly contested last 5 minutes of the game.
* ESPN Full Court games feature: Minnessota, Seton Hall, Texas Tech, Pitt, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Illinois. Some of these games are ESPN+ pickups, with Comcast Sports Net being one of the consumers of these.



Sunday
* 3pm ACC Sunday Night Hoops on FSN and Fox College Sports: Maryland at Boston College. Promising game. Prediction: BC in overtime
* 5pm LSU vs Texas in Houston, on ESPN. Promises to be a great game and a 2005 NCAA rematch to boot. Big Baby vs Kevin Durant in star power. Tack Minor vs AJ Abrams in size.
* Repeats: Nebraska vs Oregon on FSN/FCS, SCU-Pacific on CSN, CSF-UCLA on FCS, Bucknell-GeorgeMason on FCS and Zags at Washington State on FCS.


*** Save some of these games you don't plan to watch live, if you are hoops junkie! There is almost nothing on TV next week (Monday December 11 to Friday December 16). I kid you not, there's only one live game scheduled. They are student athletes you see. They have to study for their finals :-) But next there's plenty of action next Saturday and Sunday (December 16-17), including Kentucky vs Louisville, Pitt vs Wisconsin, Bob Knight trying to tie or break THE record, and Cincy vs Oden State (oops Ohio State).

Gift ideas: College Hoops movies on DVD

Glory Road, Widescreen

Glory Road, Fullscreen

Coach Carter, Widescreen

Coach Carter, Fullscreen

Hoosiers

Hoosiers, 2-disc Collector's edition

Through the Fire, the Sebastian Telfair story.

Through the Fire, Director's Cut Extended and Uncut.

Basketball Diaries

Hoop Dreams, the Criterion Collection

A Season on the Brink, the Bob Knight story, an ESPN Original Movie.









Some of the movies are available in both Full Screen and Wide Screen. If you are not familiar between the differences between Full Screen vs Wide Screen, the website WideScreen.org does a good job of explaining this with nice examples from movies such as LOTR.