Thursday, November 30, 2006

Where are they now? segment

Former NCAA Men's Basketball Selection Committee chairman Bob Bowlsby, then the AD at Iowa, he is now the AD at Stanford. (AD = Athletic Director or Director of Athletics).

Is Coach Thuggins back?

Just like Bob Knight is under scrutiny for temper tantrums, Bob Huggins is under scrutiny for Bob Thuggins behavior from his players. Well you be the judge: Last night when Kansas State played at Cal-Berkeley, JuCo transfer Luis Colon punched a Cal player in retaliation and got ejected from the game. An isolated emotional outburst by a new D-1 player or the return of Coach Thuggins? You decide...

Gift ideas: Babylon 5 DVD sets

Basketball fans are also sci-fi fans, so here are some gift ideas as Amazon has nice discounts on Babylon 5 DVD sets. Each season is $30, and the complete five-season superset is $150.

  • All five Babylon 5 seasons $150
  • Season 1 $30
  • Season 2 $30
  • Season 3 $30
  • Season 4 $30
  • Season 5 $30
  • Movie Collection $30



  • Moment of Zen for Mike Montgomery

    Former Stanford coach and former Golden State Warriors coach and current NoCal resident Mike Montgomery had his moment of Zen as he went on the other side of the camera as the basketball analyst for FSN for the Northwestern - Stanford game. Not sure if this was one time or an ongoing gig for Mike Montgomerry...

    Best nightly highlights on TV?

    Conventional wisdom says ESPN's Sportscenter, however, the new FSN Final Score sponsored by DirectTV is more action-packed. Final Score is only 30 minutes long and only shows highlights of games (basketball, football, hockey, etc). Sportscenter is 60 minutes long and shows about the same (or even less) college basketball highlights most of the time, and has a lot of fluff that is not highlights...

    If all you want to watch is college basketball game highlights without any interviews, analysis or drama, FSN's Final Score is probably a better choice than Sportscenter and is half as long timewise. I personally watch them both when possible, but if you wanted to pick only one...

    Wednesday, November 29, 2006

    ACC-Big10 Winners and Losers (So far)

    Winners
    * Maryland: Fear the Turtle for real this time. The ACC had a break for the last two years as the Gary Williams ensemble was struggling. But it looks like they are back! Fear the turtle!
    * Indiana Sooners (!): They toughed it out at Coach K court. Slugest it was, but Erek Suhr played the game of his life and schooled severely overrated (it seems) Dookie Greg Paulus.
    * Penn State: These lions can bite
    * Wisconsin: Recovered from their South Padre adventure


    Trying to figure it out
    * Illinois, Georgia Tech, Duke


    Losers
    * Jamal Boykin and Martynas Pocius: Take my advice, and transfer out of Duke by April 2007.
    * Florida State: There is a reason they played a soft schedule last year: they didn't think they could win tougher competition; They can't win this year either :)

    What to watch - Wednesday November 29

    *** all times are pacific; add +3 for eastern (EST) ***


    ACC Big Eleven Challenge
    4pm: Michigan State at BC on ESPN. Prediction: BC
    430pm: Virginia at Purdue on ESPN2. Prediction: Virginia
    6pm: Game of the day: Ohio State at North CArolina on ESPN. Prediction: NC
    630pm: Clemson at Minnessooootta on ESPN2. Prediction: Clemson


    Other games
    430pm Sacred Heart at UConn on ESPN+ and CSN. Prediction: Uconn
    430pm+ Four games with UConn, Pitt, Oklahoma State and StLouis on ESPN FULL COURT pay per view.
    6pm Colorada State at Denver on FCS (FoxCollegeSports) and regional FSNs. Prediction: Colorado STate
    7pm Idaho at WAshington on FCS (FoxCollegeSports) and regional FSNs. Prediction: Warshington
    730pm Huggins State (aka Kansas State) at CAL on FCS (FoxCollegeSports) and regional FSNs. Repeats at 1am, and at noon tomorrow. Prediction: Kansas State
    730pmSan Francisco at Pacific on CSN. Prediction: Pacifica


    Reruns
    12pmUC Davis at Stanford on on FCS (FoxCollegeSports) and regional FSNs. Prediction: Stanford (hehehe)
    1030pmLB State at USC on FCS (FoxCollegeSports) and regional FSNs. Prediction: USC (hehehe)




    *** all times are pacific; add +3 for eastern (EST) ***

    Tuesday, November 28, 2006

    What to watch: Tuesday November 28

    College Hoops on TV as follows:
    *** remember, all times are Pacific; add +3 for Eastern/EST ***


    Bob Knight special
    * 7pm tonite on Versus, a 30-minute show called Soul of a Champion features Bob Knight. If you miss it, it will repeat at least two more times on VS (Versus). Check local listings.


    ACC - Big Eleven Challenge
    4pm: Maryland-Illinois on ESPN, Prediction: Maryland wins in a great game
    430pm: FSU-Wisconsin on ESPN2. Can FSU recover from the beating they got at Pitt? Can Wisconsin recover from their South Padre adventure? Prediction: Wisconsin in a close game
    6pm: Indiana at Duke on ESPN, with Dookie Vitale. Prediction: Duke. Hope: Indiana
    630pm: Miami at Northwestern on ESPN2. Someone has to win? I predict a 0-0 soccer draw. Just kidding :-)
    5th game on ESPNU: I don't get ESPNU so I don't have quick access to their listings. Comcast add this channel already!


    Other games
    4pm+ Florida, Kansas and Kentucky host cupcakes on ESPN Full Court
    430pm College of Charleston at Kentucky on FCS. The national tv debut of Bobby Cremins as the Charleston coach!
    530pm Northern Colorado at Herb Sendek State on FCS (Fox College Sports) and regional FSNs. Prediction: Arizona State
    730pm UNLV at Arizona on FCS and regional FSNs. If Tark was the coach, I would predict a 110-109 game. But he is not. Prediction: Arizona
    730pm UCDavis at Stanford on FCS and regional FSNs


    Repeats
    * 9am, 11am: Two South Padre Island games on CSTV
    * 12pm LBState at USC on FCS
    * 1130pm College of charleston at Kentucky on FCS
    * 530am (Wedn morning): ACC season preview on FCS (1 hour long)
    * 330am, 630am (Wedn morning): Florida vs Southern and Northern Florida on FCS



    *** remember, all times are Pacific; add +3 for Eastern/EST ***

    Silliness of Polls

    A master of the obvious observation really...

    Polls have nothing to do with reality, they take a life of their own. A team loses, they go down: It doesn't matter if they lost by 1 in triple-overtime to a top team on their home court, or if they lost by 50 to a cupcake. A team beats up a bunch of cupcakes and it rises simply because the teams above it lost games.

    Case in point Ohio State (sans Greg Oden) becoming #1. Ohio State has been playing value-teams at Value City Arena and beating them handily. Great job, but at the same time UCLA has beaten two solid teams (Kentucky, Georgia Tech) back to back on neutral court in Maui. Heck, even Pitt beat FSU. You don't have to look at SOS or RPI numbers to realize that UCLA probably had the better wins and if you are going to drop Florida from #1, and put on of those three (Ohio State, UCLA, Pitt), UCLA is the most deserving for the #1 spot.

    Personally I think that Florida is still the best team in the country RIGHT NOW. They didn't show up in the first half, yet they came close to beating Kansas. I think North Carolina will be the best team by the end of the season, with Ohio State being a wildcard depending on the recovery of Greg Oden...

    New basketball drinking game

    And by drinking I mean drinking shots of unsweetened SOY MILK, don't think otherwise :-)

    UConn leads the nation with around 10 blocks a game, for the 6th year in a row. From this, there are two variations of a UConn drinking game:
    1A) Every time UConn blocks a shot
    1B) Every time Thabeet (7'3" freshman) blocks a shot. He blocked 9 against Fairfield, and it is only a matter of time before he becomes a triple-double threat, and once he becomes that, it will be goodbye Storrs and hello Lottery!

    To summarize, if you like blocked shots, watch UConn games :-)

    Monday, November 27, 2006

    College Basketball on DVD Reference Guide

    Some of these are the official NCAA DVDs produced in association with CBS Sports, some of them are produced by the individual teams, all sold on Amazon:

    The pictures are links to the Amazon summary product page, with more details on these. I have not reviewed any of these (yet), so please do your research before purchasing... Some of them have full games, some of them have highlights, some have both...

  • 1978 Duke-Kentucky NCAA Championship game
  • 1979 Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson final
  • 1980 NCAA Championship Louisville vs UCLA
  • 1981 NCAA Championship: North Carolina vs Indiana
  • North Carolina 1982 - Flashback
  • 1985 Villanova championship - a family's legacy
  • Syracuse 2003 Champions - Finally Orange
  • UConn Huskies 2004 Champions (ConnQuest)
  • 2004 Women's Final Four
  • 2005 Destination Indianapolis - Women's Final Four
  • 2005 Lady Bear Brilliance - Official NCAA Women's championship
  • North Carolina 2005 Champions - Team Carolina
  • 2006 Women's Final Four
  • 2006 Women's Final Four in Boston
  • 2006 Gator Glory
  • 2005-2006 Florida Gators
  • Magnificent March - Official 2006 NCAA Championship, includes three full games (three Final Four games: national semifinals and final) and highlights and specials
  • Un4gettable the 2005-2006 LSU Journey
  • 2006 West Virginia Highlights - Sweet Memories
  • Billy Donovan - Mastering the Full Court press
  • Mastering the Flex Offense by Gary Williams
  • John Wooden's UCLA Offense Book/DVD package
  • 100 years of Duke - guaranteed to fill up your TV screen with Coach K smug-pixels :-)









    If you are looking for Hardwood Heavens documentaries, documentaries on some of the most historical college basketball arenas narrated by Brent Mussberger, check this post

    If you are looking for the 2007 NCAA Tournament DVDs, check here. This year every single game of the NCAA tournament is available on DVD!

  • Monday Night Hoops on TV

    *** All times are Pacific; add +3 for EST ***

    * 4pm, Michigan at NC State, on ESPN2, day one of the three day ACC-BigEleven challenge. ACC has won all previous challenges. I would not expect a different outcome this time either. Prediction: Michigan wins in a tight game
    * Missouri and Tennessee are playing mid-majors on the ESPN Full Court Pay Per View package.


    Reruns
    * From 12pm to 6pm non-stop: South Padre Island Semifinals and final on CSTV, featuring Mizzoura State, Wisconsin, Auburn and Oklahoma State, with the first and fourth team meeting in the final (with overtime).
    * 430pm Nevada at SCU on CSN
    * 630pm from 1999, Stanford-Arizona on FCS (Fox College Sports)
    * Iowa at Arizona State on FCS, various times
    * Paradise Jam final on FCS
    * ACC Preview both men and women's (one hour each) on FCS


    FCS schedule and times are subject to change or get pre-empted, so your mileage may vary... I am trying to politely say their schedule can be a bit flaky at times :-)


    *** All times are Pacific; add +3 for EST ***

    Sunday, November 26, 2006

    The Dickie V Dookies Fan Club

    In last night's preseason #1 -vs- preseason #2 game (Florida -vs- Kansas) in Vegas, it took Dick Vitale just 3 minutes into the broadcast (and before the game even started) to mention the Dookies.

    That was by the way an instant classic game (at least the 2nd half and the overtime). I am sure ESPN will be rerunning this game on ESPNU, for those with access to ESPNU...

    What to watch? Sunday Hoops on TV

    *** All times are PACIFIC; add +3 for Easter time (EST) ***

    * 1pm or 3pm: Idaho at Gonzaga on Fox College Sports (FCS)
    * 2pm Albany at UConn on ESPN+, CSN and ESPN Full Court
    * 230pm 3rd place game at the Old Spice classic on ESPN2
    * 430pm 1st place game at the Old Spice classic on ESPN2
    * 5pm ACC Men's Basketball Preview show (1 hour long)on FSN, with multiple replays for both men and women on FSN and Fox Colelge Sports. Check local listings for airtimes

    Reruns/Repeats/TapeDelayed
    * 4pm Nevada at Santa Clara on CSN (repeat)
    * 6pm Samford at Arizona on FCS
    * 8pm SJSU at ASU on FCS
    * 1am Iowa at ASU on FCS


    Previewing Next Week
    * ACC-Big10 Challenge on ESPN, ESPN2, and ESPNU
    * Next Saturday and Sunday (December 2 and 3) are big hoop days with the CBS debut (Kentucky vs North Carolina), the Hall of Fame Challenge in Phoenix on ESPN, the BB&T Classic (three games), the Pete Newell Challenge, Georgetown at Duke, and the start of the ACC season with a doubleheader on FSN, along with the Florida at Florida State matchup.
    * More details on Monday...


    *** All times are PACIFIC; add +3 for Easter time (EST) ***

    Saturday, November 25, 2006

    Pre-Season NIT TipOff: Winners and Losers

    Winners
    * Butler: Got enough wins to get an at-large bid assuming they don't screw up by losing games they are not supposed to. Wins over Notre Dame, Indiana, Tennessee, and NC-giant killer Gonzaga. The Butler offense will become the new Princeton offense ;-)

    * Gonzaga: Beating North Carolina. This is as significant as any victory for the Zags, as most people expected them not to be as good without Ammo and Batista. Remember the Zags played this game without injured Larry Graganious (sp?), injured Theo Davis, and late-December-eligible Micah Downs (injured, out until early February) and big man Burgess. Along the way they picked up wins over the pesky Rice and Baylor teams. The Butler loss brought them back to reality, which in a way it's a good thing as they don't let this get to their heads.



    Losers
    * North Carolina: Lost to Gonzaga, but it wasn't just the loss, but the way they lost. Hansbro proved that he is human after all by having a horrible game (by his standards). Perhaps this is the achilles Heel of the Tar-Heels? Contain Psycho-T and the rest of the team loses its bite? Well maybe this worked right now, but once the new players get accustomed to Roy's system, containing Psycho-T won't be enough. On the other hand, this may be a good thing for Roy as his players may be more likely to listen and learn after a humbling loss to the Zags.

    * Indiana: The loss to Butler doesn't look as bad now, but they were supposed to get to MSG and get some national exposure. They didn't.

    * Notre Dame: Yet another Dookie coach failing to live up to expectations when removed from the "magic cloud" of Coach K. That's because once they are not at Duke, they don't get preferential treatments from the NCAA, the media or the refs. And they are not allowed to blatantly violate recruiting rules via a nationwide American Express ad that obviously recruits players ("I want you to...") etc. One of these days I will analyze the text of those ads and point out all the NCAA violations in them! :-)


    Draw
    * Tennessee: A work-in-progress rotation of about ten players, they had their good and bad segments, Ramar Smith, Crews and Chism look very very promising once they mature.

    Thursday, November 23, 2006

    Maui: Winners and Losers

    Winners
    * Chaminade: a chance in a lifetime to play three high profile Division 1 teams
    * Purdue: The Return of the Landri, and Keady-tough attitude
    * UCLA: Tough and grinding defense with sparks of offense. Continues to work for Ben Howland but what a disgrace to the Wooden legacy!
    * Memphis: There is life after Carney and Shawne. Is there any doubt now that Darius Washington was addition by subtraction? Darius Washington got owned by Sebastian Telfair many years ago, and has yet to recover from that.
    * Georgia Tech: Glimpses of the 2004 Georgia Tech team. A lot of promise, but also growing pains. The future is bright.


    Losers
    * Kentucky: Their talented freshmen had a few deer-in-the-headlights moments.


    Neither
    * Oklahoma: The former Dookie is starting his era at the University of 500-phone-calls.

    Wednesday, November 22, 2006

    What to watch? Wedn November 22, 2006

    I'm stealing the line from Sportscenter :-)

    *** All times are PACIFIC *** Add +3 for EASTERN (EST) ***

    Anyways, more excitement today! Load up your VCRs, DVD recorders, and clean up space on your TiVos and DVRs!

    Maui Invitational - last day
    * 1130am, 5th place game, DePaul-Purdue, on ESPN2. Prediction: DePaul falls behind in the 1st half, but makes a comeback in the last 10 minutes to win.
    * 1pm, 3rd place game, on ESPN2
    * 7pm, 1st place game, on ESPN


    Pre-Season NIT semifinals
    * 4pm: Butler - Tennessee on ESPN2. Prediction: Tenneessee in a tight game
    * 630pm: GONZAGA - NORTH CAROLINA, on ESPN2. must see TV!. Prediction: Expect NC to wear out and steam-roll the Zags under the bright lights of MSG. A deer in the headlights moment for the Zags (eg the 30+ loss to Illinois a couple of years ago)


    Alaska Shooootout
    * 830pm: Alaska-Anchorage vs Loyola Marymount on ESPN2


    Other games
    * 630pm Samford at Arizona, on Fox College Sports (FCS) and regional FSNs


    Reruns
    * 12pm SJSU at ASU on FCS
    * 2pm SCU at CAL on CSN (Comcast)


    MASSIVE season previews on Fox College Sports
    * All three Fox College Sports channels tonight will have a massive number of previews of most of the BCS conference teams. Each preview is 30 minutes and produced by the regional FSN people. These start around 3am and continue throughout Thursday! A preview feast for sure :-)

    Tuesday, November 21, 2006

    What to watch: Tuesday November 21 Hoops on TV

    *** All times are Pacific time - this is a west-coast bias blog ***

    Maui Semifinals
    * 4pm: Memphis vs Georgia Tech must see TV!. Space-eater Pierre Niles can potentially give Memphis something they lacked last year: a space-eater who can punish opporents in the paint and potentially in half-court sets. This of course assuming Pierre Niles gets in shape and makes progress as set forth by Calipari. GaTech's power-duo is Crittendon and Thaddeus Young (projected lottery pick in the NBA 2007 draft)- on ESPN. Prediction: Memphis

    * around 630pm: Kentucky vs UCLA. The two winningest programs in the country. Since they are no longer playing each other, the Maui invitational people made sure they would meet in the semifinals. They gave them the easiest assignments to guarantee this matchup. Also on ESPN. Prediction: Kentucky


    CBE/Guardians Classic Final
    * 7pm: Duke vs Marquette on ESPN2. Prediction: Duke. Hope for: Marquette. The look of defeat of Coach K's smug-face is PRICELESS!


    Other games
    * Home games against mid-majors for Florida and Kansas, while Iowa State visits Minnnesssoooottttaaaa, all on ESPN Full Court (pay per view package, $109 per year)
    * 630pm: San Jose State at Arizona State on Fox College Sports and regional FSNs
    * 7pm: TCU vs St Mary's on Comcast Sports Net (CSNET)

    Monday, November 20, 2006

    Catching up with recruiting...

  • Derrick Rose will play in an NBA arena next season...
  • USA Today publishes their Top 25 Prep teams
  • Versus, the new Comcast sports channel replacing OLN on standard cable will host a brand new high school basketball tourney right after Christmas, featuring four Top 25 teams, including Derrick Rose's Simeon team, along with Fairfax and local O'Dea.
  • OJ Mayo signs with USC, Herb Pope shocks everyone with this choice
  • All the links and details at http://recruitingwars.blogspot.com/

  • Most poorly officiated game so far!

    The zebras were acting like divas, calling every single nickle-dimer, throwing technicals left and right as if it was an NBA game, tossing one coach out, affecting the flow of the game, and affecting the outcome of the game. Horrible, horrible job that turned a potentially entertaining game into a slugfest. Nevertheless, the game ended with excitement on a buzzer beater!

    What game was this? New Mexico State at Loyola Marymount.
    Who was the head official? Dave Libby

    What to watch: Monday hoops on TV!

    All times Pacific! Add +3 for Eastern times :-)
    This is a West COAST bias blog :-)


    Maui Invitational
    * 11:30am Oklahoma-Memphis: New Oklahoma coach salvaged the 500-phone-call recruiting class and is facing the Calipari Tigers, who got a big boost after the commitment of Derrick Rose. Rose won't play until 2007-2008, but Jeremy Hunt is back (along with Clyde Wade). The Mercurial Tigers are back? Look for scoring machine Tre'von Willis, space-eaters Pierre Niles and Hashim Bailey along with the Laurenburg sophomores. Prediction: Memphis

    * around 2pm Georgia Tech-Purdue. Thaddeus Young and Javaris Crittenton make their national debut. Purdue gets Landry and a guard back for their 5th and final season, but their strong recruiting class comes in 2007-2008. Prediction:: Georgia Tech wins in a blow-out of 20+

    * 6pm DePaul-Kentucky: Judging from the earlier games this has the potential of being a slugfest. But it could also be a very entertaining game as Jerry Wainwright tries to mold his team, while Tubby tries to turn Kentucky into a single-digit loss team this season. First one to 50 wins :-) Prediction:: Kentucky

    * around 8:20pm Chaminade-UCLA. Prediction:: UCLA in a slugfest



    CBE/Guardians Classic Semifinals
    * 4pm: Air Force - Duke, Prediction: Duke, Hope for: Air Force


    Paradise Jam
    * 3pm and 530pm (with a couple of late night replays): the 3rd place and 1st place games on Fox College Sports, their only original event, with Larry Conley as the expert analyst. Teams featured: Alabama (with Davidson back), Iowa, Xavier and the new Villanova team with Scottie Reynolds and Curtis Sumpter.


    Other games
    * 5pm San Francisco at Ohio State, on ESPN+, Full Court and CSN (Comcast Sports Net)
    * 730pm Santa Clara at California on CSN


    Reruns
    * Early morning on Tuesday the New Mexico State-Arizona and UTSA-Gonzaga (blowout) games will be rebroadcast on Fox College Sports.

    Sunday, November 19, 2006

    New Bob Knight feature on Versus and USA Today!

    Versus, the channel emerging from the old Outdoor channel on standard cable is having a timely feature on Bob Knight in their weekly series called "The Soul of a Champion". The piece was done in anticipation of Bob Knight breaking Dean Smith's all time record, not because of the Prince-Chin debacle.


    Details at the Official USA Today website for Soul of a Champion and here

    Of basketball interest here are the dates for the first broadcast:
    * Tuesday November 28, 10pm ET / 7pm PT, Bob Knight!
    * This will repeat a few more times. As always check local listings!

    Friday, November 17, 2006

    The Bob Knight Media Circus

    ESPN created a big stir out of the whole "lifting his chin up" situation. While they claimed it wasn't really a big deal, they kept bringing it up during every single ESPN show from Cold Pizza to PTI to QF to ATH to SC to Mike and Mike. This was probably the biggest much-ado-about-nothing since the Janet Jackson "wardrobe malfunction".

    Having said all that however, it was interesting to see how almost all the ESPN basketball analysts went into bobble-head mode and agreed with Bob Knight. Jay Bilas desperately tried to defend Knight by reciting text he remembered from his law school text books. Is basketball coaching a "good old boys" network? This is sad...

    Only two people on ESPN's air dared to question Knight on this: Doug Gotlieb and Skip Bayless, both of whom are not afraid to speak their mind, but some could argue that they like to take the opposing view for the sake of argument. But Doug Gotlieb was the only basketball insider to "dare to question" Knight on this. Skip is a reporter, not a former coach/player...

    What to watch: Weekend Hoops

    * All times are Pacific; add +3 for EST (eastern time) *

    Friday
    * 4pm and 630pm: Coaches vs Cancer double-header on ESPN2 and ESPN2HD, featuring Texas and super-frosh Kevin Durant, Michigan State, Maryland and St Johns.
    * 4pm Eastern Kentucy at Ohio State on Comcast Sports Net and ESPN+
    * ESPN Full Court (aka Pay Per View) features five games with Kentucky, Texas Tech, Indiana, Illinois and Ohio State hosting mid-majors and cupcakes
    * 7pm Battle of the Brains: Northwestern at Stanford on FSN and Fox College Sports. Stanford is still smarting from the 30+ loss vs Air Force in the Bay Area. Perhaps the Mike Montgomery to Oregon rumor will be replaced by the Mike Montgomery returning to Stanford rumor?
    * 730pm (and repeat 12:30am) New Mexico State at Loyola Marymount on CSTV. Reggie Theus shocked the recruiting world today by signing Herb Pope away from Pitt, Maryland and such. But Herb Pope isn't playing tonite (2007-2008 recruit). But four high-profile transfers are playing for Reggie Theus tonite (barring any injuries and such)
    * 1am repeat: South Carolina at USC on FoxCollegeSports


    Saturday

  • 12pm repeat of the 1982 NCAA Final between Georgetown and Jordantown (North Carolina) on ESPN-Classic
  • 1pm Wichita State at George Mason on ESPN2. The new darling mid-majors square off once again against each other. Oh baby!
  • 430pm: Cal at San Diego State on VERSUS. Yes, Versus is the new entity that emerged from the ashes of the standard cable channel Outdoor Life or something like that. Comcast bought it and is turning it into a general purpose sports channel while maintaining a heavy rotation of "outdoorsy" programming. The call sign for this channel is "VS" and is usually found in the 70s or 80s in terms of channel number. As always check local listings
  • 5pm Fairfield at UConn on ESPN+ and CSN (Comcast Sports Net). Get a sneak peek at this year's crop of talented players getting yelled at by Calhoun ;-)


    Sunday
  • Six games on ESPN Full Court, including Iowa State, Indiana, Misery (Missouri), Oklahomo State, Northern Iowa and Kansas (about to lose at home again?). Most of them are hosting either mid-majors or cupcakes. But some of them bite them in the ass :-)
  • 1pm New Mexico State at Arizona on Fox College Sports. This promises to be a shootout as Reggie Theus has an influx of eligible talent
  • 1pm Sacramento State at Washington on Fox College Sports. Spencer Hawes is recovering quite well. Expect a strong showing here! Quite possibly a one-and-done player.
  • 5pm UT-San ANtonE at Gonzaga on Fox College Sports. Josh Heytvelt is a rising star. Abdullaih Kuso (former St Joseph's signee) could emerge as a Rodman-Lite for the Zags. (And they badly need him to do so)
  • 630pm Northern Colorado at Denver, on Fox College Sports. If you watch this game and you are not a fan of either team, then you must be a Hoops junkie! :-)
  • 4pm and 630pm (with reruns later on): Paradise Jam semi-finals from the Virgin Islands. This is the only original programming produced by Fox College Sports, which usually picks up games from regional FSNs, and other local and regional channels/networks.
  • 10pm repeat: 1954 Hoosier classic: Muncie vs Milan on ESPN-Classic
  • 3pm and 1am reruns: Northern Iowa at Washington on Fox College Sports. If you haven't watched this earlier in the week, this is a good game!
  • 7pm rerun: Northwestern at Stanford on Fox College Sports. Battle of the Brainiacs? :-0)


    Next week
    * tune-up your VCRs, TiVos, DVRs, ReplayTVs, and multimedia PCs! Dozens of games including the Maui Invitational, the Alaska shootout, the final fours of the NIT and the CBE (Guardians classic), the Paradise Jam, South Padre Island, and the ESPN debut of the Old Spice Classic in Vegas (8 teams, 3 games each on ESPN, ESPN2 and ESPNU)

  • Tuesday, November 14, 2006

    What to watch: Tuesday Hoops on TV

    All times are Pacific (PST); add +3 to get to EST (east coast time)

    Live games

  • 6pm NIT Regional final: Butler vs Indiana on ESPN and ESPNHD
  • 7pm CBE (Guardians) Regional final: Texas Tech vs Cupcake on ESPN2
  • 730pm Northern Iowa at Washington on Fox College Sports
  • 9pm NIT Round 1: Rice vs Gonzaga on ESPN2


    Repeats
  • 2pm Victoria at Arizona (exhibition) on Fox College Sports
  • 4pm Nicholls State at Washington on Fox College Sports


    Season previews
  • ESPN Gameday 60-minute season preview at 5pm on ESPN watch or tape this!
  • various 30-minute team previews on regional FSN and FoxCollegeSports - check local listings as these vary from city to city


    The new Bob Knight incident
  • Coverage of the latest Bob Knight incident (punching Michael Prince in the jaw (not the singer) to get his attention) on various ESPN shows, including SportsCenter, Cold Pizza, PTI, Around the Horn, etc... This happening with Bob Knight being eight wins away from breaking Dean Smith's record. What a contrast in personalities and temperament between Dean Smith and Bob Knight!

  • Monday, November 13, 2006

    National college basketball TV schedule online!

    MSNBC has posted the first online (first that I found) schedule of college basketball games on national TV channels. This includes ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU, FSN, CBS and ABC. Details at: Compilation of TV and multimedia schedules. I will be adding more links as I find them. Also added the Yahoo Sports broadcast schedule link. If you have any more please feel free to post them as comments or email me with them.

    Friday, November 10, 2006

    Post-Election Hoops!

    And we are baaaaack after the election extravaganza...

    Watch out for the Wildcats!
    Both the Arizona and Kentucky Wildcats may surprise people this year. Both teams were on a collision course at the Final Four a few years ago, but they both got stuck in the Elite 8, with Roy's Kansas taking out Arizona and D-Wade taking out Kentucky. They haven't recovered since it seems. As you may recall that year they were the top two teams but the silly NCAA selection cmte had them meeting in the National Semifinal instead of the Final. This prompted a change in the way teams are seated, so the national #1 and #2 are now projected to meet in the final instead of the semifinal (duh!)

    Kentucky's freshmen are severly underrated. The 2006 class is so loaded that players that would normally be considered top 10 talent in other classes are considered top 50 talent here. This will benefit these teams as they are less likely to bolt for the NBA after one year since the draft will be loaded with the likes of Oden, Durant, Billy Walker (expected to debut December 16 this year with Huggins State). Both teams have a candidate for the "Tyrus Thomas of this year" award: Perry Stevenson of Kentucky and Jordan Hill of Arizona. Both were under-rated by the experts for different reasons: Stevenson was way too skinny (even though he averaged a triple double in HS (blocks included)), and Jordan Hill had just two years of organized basketball experience. Jasper will prove to be the ultimate team player, not just a "stat-sheet staffer" as Clark Kellogg puts it. Meeks is another versatile player that compliments the other two.

    Arizona seems to always be on the brink of the Final Four each year, partly because of Lute (which by the way is featured in a new IN MY OWN WORDS on FSN), partly because they are loaded with talent. Only two of the Moody Blues remain, with Salim Stoudamire, Chris Rodgers and Hot Sauce exhausting their eligibility. The remaining two members of the Moody Blues are not as ...moody, so there is hope. Shakur could still undergo the "Terry" transformation in his senior year, but Nic Wise is available to take over as soon as he gets enough games under his belt (drawstring really). Kirk Walters just needs to block and rebound, and with the emergence of Hill he can be as moody as he wants ;-) Jordan Hill has already become #3 in the big man rotation, even though the analysts had him penciled in as a redshirt-candidate. This guy is gonna be huge this year. If you don't believe me, watch the Arizona exhibition game against Victoria of Canada on one of its many reruns on Fox College Sports. Chase Budinger has been described as an athletic version of Luke Walton. While Budinger may be a bit overrated imho, he is still a big talent. A rotatation of 10+ athletic, skilled and interchangeable players is definitely a plus. The Arizona team will make history as it will be the team that plays Virginia in their first ever game at their shiny and new John Paul Jones arena. Lute Olson is either brave or crazy - that's his first regular season game - on the other side of the country playing a ribbon-cutting-ceremony game!


    What to watch on TV this weekend - all times Pacific (add +3 for EST)

    Friday

  • 4:30pm-10pm Five games on ESPN FULL COURT, including Ohio State, UConn, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State and Iowa State hosting cupcakes!
  • 5pm VMI - Ohio State on CSN (Comcast Sports Net) - debut of the THAD FIVE but without the injured Greg Oden
  • 5pm Eastern Washington - Gonzaga on FCS (Fox College Sports) and regional FSNs - debut of Gonzaga-Part1. Gonzaga will add two spring transfers in mid-late December: Micah "Moody Blues" Downs and big Burgess. Make sure you watch or tape this game!. Eastern Washington's Rodney Stuckey is an NBA-caliber talent. Gonzaga may actually lose this game, since this is a local rivarly game!!! Repeats at 930pm and 1am on FCS
  • 730pm Denver at Colorado on FCS. Lame-duck coach Ricardo Patton's first game...
  • 5pm Classic game from 1992: BYU - Utah on BYUTV (religious channel usually available on digital cable); commercial-free game

    Saturday
  • 530am: Feature on John Wooden on PBS's Between the Lines. PBS schedule varies from station to station.
  • 1pm Sienna at Stanford on FSN, with repeats on FCS. The debut of one of the Lopez twins. The other one is recovering from surgery/injury. I forgot who is injured.
  • 5pm NAU at Kansas on ESPN FULL COURT. In the midst of college football craziness, ESPN PayPerView is showcasing the highly ranked 1st-round-exiters (oops! the Bill Self Jayhawks)

    Sunday
  • Massive number of 30-minute team previews on FCS. With Bobby Cremmins back in the coaching business, FSN has gone to a single-analyst format. The last couple of years they had a committee of three (Bobby Cremins, Eddie Fogler and another dude). According to the TV schedule they have 14 of them scheduled.
  • 4pm Arizona at Virginia on FCS. Repeats at 1130pm. The Christening of the John Paul Jones arena (pun intended!). Lute Olson is brave-crazy for doing this. Dave Leito has a chance of winning this game, no doubt assisted by the "emotionalness" of the brand new arena.
  • 730pm Pepperdine at Washington on FCS. First of three back-to-back days with Washington games on FCS. No B-Roy, no Nate Robinson, no Spencer Hawes (injured), but look out for Q and Phil Nelson. Pepperdine as you may recall has hired the Fresno State JC coach whose offense is prominently showcased by Calipari's Memphis Tigers. This should be an up-and-down affair!
  • 1230pm through 5pm: four games on ESPN FULL COURT
  • 10pm Classic game on ESPN-Classic: 1983 NCAA Final, Houston vs NC State. The Jimmy V championship game!


    To get the TV college basketball game available in your region, search for "college basketball" at tv.yahoo.com/advsearch. To get a listing of the 30-minute FSN previews search for "hoops preview". For CSTV classic games search for "retrovision". Search for "NCAA basketball" for well, NCAA events :)

  • Thursday, November 09, 2006

    Holiday shopping!

    Here are two great DVD deals that basketball fans may be interested in! This helps in supporting this blog which is totally FREE, unlike ESPN Insider :-)

    Stargate Atlantis Season 1 DVD set, sold by Amazon for $16

    Dead Like Me Season 1 DVD set, sold by Amazon for $16


    Thursday, November 02, 2006

    I want my record and I want it NOW!

    Bob Knight is crying in the comforts of his own home. He was almost guaranteed to break Dean Smith's all-time winningest coach record this year. He went to great extends by "firing" half of his team from last year and bringing a lot of new players. All that was well. But now he has to do it without his star guard Jarrius Jackson. Ouch!!!

    Speaking of Bob Knight, there was apparently a staged interview with him and Aaron Bruce of Baylor when Baylor gave Aaron Bruce a camera to interview people at the Big 12 Media Day. He interviewed Bob Knight who was wearing a green sweater and a gold shirt underneath, typically associated with Baylor colors. Bob Knight was very calm, very mild-mannered and very subdued during the interview and he didn't even flinch when Aaron Bruce dared to touch (!!!) the General on the shoulder (the expectation would be for Bob Knight to grab him by the throat *cough* Neil *cough*). Knight complimented Aaron Bruce by saying that he likes the way he plays the game. On a totally unrelated note Rush Limbaugh cannot find a week's worth of horse tranquilizers ;-)

    This was broadcast a couple of weeks ago on Baylor Inside Sports, a weekly 30-minute magazine covering Baylor sports. This is usually available on Fox College Sports, regional FSNs and perhaps CSTV.

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