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.

A zero calorie Six Pack!

Here is a zero calorie six pack:

The highly anticipated prep basketball game on ESPN2 ended about an hour ago and it did not disappoint. Norcoss of Georgia won the front court battle, Oak Hill Academy won the back court and the game. The score was not as indicative of how close this game was. More details at RecruitingWars

CSTV's Taking Issue with Brian Curtis jumped into a couple of controversial topics the last two weeks. And that's a good thing. Last week he featured a discussion on the dreaded BCS (college football), while this week he featured the love/hate relationship of some sports fans with Notre Dame.

Come on national media outlets! Give LSU some love! This team was at the Final Four last year, and Big Baby is back along with other talented players! They already had two games that should have been on national TV, with Wichita State and Texas A&M. ESPN2 chose instead to show Holy Cross at Duke instead of a much better game: Texas A&M at LSU! But LSU is getting some love the next two Sundays: First this Sunday December 10, in a highly advertised game on ESPN, LSU plays Texas in Houston. The next Sunday LSU is on national FSN (and Fox College Sports) as they play Oregon State on the road.

Here comes Wazzu! Tony Bennett's team rewarded their fans with a victory over regional foe and national darling Gonzaga. Rewarded? Yes, because that game was the first sellout in Pullman since 1995. Yes, since 1995. Not a typo. The fans gave them their first sellout in 11 years, and they got rewarded with a W over the Zags!

Comcast really needs to add ESPNU to their channel line-up ASAP!. They just added the Tennis channel, but still no ESPNU. Make sure you tell your cable or satellite provider that you want ESPNU to be added to your lineup. They got tired of hearing it from me :-) To borrow a phrase from Jim Rome's Jungle, bang your monkey and demand ESPNU!

Found on Fox College Sports: An excellent 30-minute show, "The Drive", with three reporters and a host debating sports in the state of Kansas and the Big 12. They cover Kansas, Kansas State and Wichita State basketball, along with Big 12 basketball. A nice show, not just for Kansas or Big 12 fans, but also for the hard core basketball fan :-)

Impact Freshmen previewed by ESPN Plus

During half-time shows, ESPN Plus shows a preview of the top impact freshmen. The ones selected by them are (presented here in alphabetic order):

Thaddeus Young, Georgia Tech

Chase Budinger, Arizona

Kevin Durant, Texas

Wayne Ellington, North Carolina

Tywon Lawson, North Carolina

Greg Oden, Ohio State

This is not necessarily a comprehensive list, ESPN+ may have just decided to showcase these six for the purposes of the preview.

Thursday What to Watch!

*** all times pacific ***


Live Games

5pm, 10pm: Penn at Navy on CSTV. Prediction: Penn on a buzzer beater.

6pm: Alabama vs Notre Dame on ESPN. Prediction: Alabama on a Hendrix dunk with :05 left

6pm: Norcross of Georgia vs the famous Oak Hill Academy (should be renamed to Oak Hill Basketball Factory) of Mouth Wilson Virginia on ESPN2. Prediction: Oak Hill. This game features some of the most highly touted recruits of the class of 2007 and beyond, including Brandon Jennings (USC), Michael Beasley (Kansas State of Huggins fame), Nolan Smith (Duke), Alex Legion (Meeeecheeegan), Gani Lawal (Georgia Tech) and a lot more. More details at RecruitingWars



Repeats

2pm: Nevada vs Cal on CSTV (Pete Newell classic)

4pm: 2006 College basketball Skills competition on ESPN2

8pm: Cal State Fullerton vs UCLA on FCS. CSF is running a version of the Vance Wahlberg drive/pitch/drive/shoot offense that UCLA successfully defeated in the Elite 8 of 2005.

8pm: Paradise Jam game (Virgin Islands) on FCS (Fox College Sports)



Weekend lookahead

Lots of exciting on Saturday, while Sunday features LSU vs Texas in Houston. I bet Turnaround Tom feels left behind as he had hopes of getting rematch(es) with UCLA of their classic games in H-town.

OTL First Report: Larry Bird's birthday

Today's (Thursday December 7, 2006) edition of Outside the Lines: First Report has Larry Bird's 50th birthday as the centerpiece. Affectionately known as the "hick from french link", he along with Magic had one of the most memorable NCAA college basketball games of all time in the 1979 Final Four.

Check local listings for air time or check the OTL website for more...

Discussion: Syracuse and their Schedule

A couple of discussion on the topic of Syracuse and their schedule:

* Orange Hoops at Wordpress

* NunesMagician blog

Jimmy V Classic recap

To learn about the V foundation, the fight against cancer or to make a donation, please visit JimmyV.org

Dookie Vitale revealed that his all star guest at his May gala will be none other than Coach AMEX (Coach K) of Duke. This will probably lead to a sellout, although some people may be allergic to the smug-cloud that follows Coach AMEX ;-)

Speaking of Dick Vitale, you may be tired of hearing about his breakfasts the Broken Egg. But how much do you know about the Broken Egg? Learn all about it here http://www.thebrokenegg.com/ (multimedia intro page).

The broadcast also included the original 12-minute speech from Jimmy Valavano that he gave at the 1993 ESPYs that launched the V Foundation. If you have not seen it or heard it, I highly recommend that you try to find it!

On the court, both games were entertaining and had multiple personalities. We saw it all! Here is a quick recap:

Louisville had flashes, and it is obvious they are still a work in progress. Part of the reason Louisville had only played three games was the unavailability of Freedom Hall, but I think part of it also was all the injuries key players were recovering from. Along with the Derrick Caracter weight loss program. Pitino needed the extra weeks for his team to heal and get in shape. The return of the Caracter highlighted their game. The new and improved and much slimmer Derrick Caracter showed flashes of what he could be. He was having his way with the Arizona defense before he quickly got in foul trouble on the defensive end. This is going to be an on-going soap opera, although to his credit Derrick Caracter has so far met all the milestones given to him by Rick Pitino according to the espn broadcasters. Juan Diego Tello Palacios seemed to have a spring in his step, perhaps a sign he is recovering from his injuries. The T-Will vs M-Will battle did not really materialize, as M-Will was struggling and spent more time on the pine than usual. According to the broadcasters Padgett is not going to be 100% this season, which probably means he won't bolt for the NBA draft his summer, so Louisville fans will probably have him for his senior season much closer to 100%.

Arizona showed perfect offensive execution and they also showed a 2 from 21 segment. The Silver Fox showed a new look with Shakur, Nic Wise and Dillon on the floor at the same time. The rotation was expanded to 8, but with a quick hook when Wise made not so wise decisions. Jordan Hill made a guest appearance. Keep in mind Kirk Walters is out with mono, and JP Prince is not 100% (or something along those lines)

Syracuse showed flashes of how good they can be when the pieces fit. Paul Harris is definately a unique player, and unique can cause problems for the opponents. Just like any other defense, the 2-3 zone can be very effective when played well, and not so effective when it is not played well.

Oklahoma State may have surprised people. Just like every other team at this time, they are a work in progress as well, but their core rotation of eight has proven that they can give opponents a headache.

Wednesday what to watch on TV

** All times PACIFIC **

Game of the day

6pm Memphis at Tennessee on ESPN2. Prediction: Memphis is a tight game.


Other games

4pm Villanova at Oklahoma on ESPN. Prediction: Villanova on a barrage of 3s

4pm Holy Cross at Puke on ESPN2. Hope for: Holy Cross. Prediction: Duke

4pm NCState at West Virginia on ESPN+, Full Court and CSN. Prediction: West Virginia by 20+

6pm Dusquene at Pitt on ESPN+, Full Court and CSN. Prediction: Pitt by a small margin

Additional teams featured on ESPN Full Court: Indiana, UConn, Illinois, Texas Tech playing mid-majors and such


Repeats

11am Stanford vs Texas Tech (Pete Newell) on CSTV

1pm Nevada vs California Berkeley (Pete Newell) on CSTV

1pm, 9pm, 3am: Gonzaga vs Washington State on FCS

11pm UT-Chattanooga at Kentucky on FCS (Fox College Sports)

Various overnight 30-minute FSN team previews on FCS

Fantasy Math: Outside the Lines First Report

Not directly related to college basketball, but you may find this of interest. Today's (Wednesday December 6, 2006) outside the Lines deals with the topic of Fantasy Math, and how it can be used in the classroom. Some may find this interesting...

Humor: Meet the new Godfather of the Big12

The Bill Self cartel has increased its control to three teams in the Big12: Kansas (Bill Self), Texas A&M (Billy Gillespie) and Nebraska (Doc Sandler). At this rate (one per year), the "Big 12" will become the "BillSelf 12" by 2015 :-)

The Injury Repor(t)

Not to be confused with the Colber(t) Repor(t), this is the Injury Repor(t):

Here is the latest injury repor(t) posted by Detroit News thru the Sports Network

Some of them:

Mono: Corey Brewer (Florida), Kirk Waters (Arizona)

Out for the season: Jordan Wilkes (Cal), Penny Thiam (Baylor), Joe Wolfinger (Washington)

Knee: Patrick Fields (Baylor), Andre McGee (Pitinoville), Arinze Onuaku (Syracuse)

Gonzaga: Theo Davis, Micah Downs (February), David Burgess, Larry Gurganious

Brian Randle (Illinois)

Engin Atsur (NC StatE)

Q Thomas (North Carolana)

touted freshman Bobby Maze (Oklahoma)

Matt Thomas (Steve Fisher State)

Johny Dukes (SF)

Joel Smith (WAshington)

Tuesday: What to Watch on the Television

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

The Jimmy V Classic
*** Supporting the Jimmy V Foundation. Visit their website for details on the program and how to make donations. You can also call 1-800-4-JIMMYV, a number you may have memorized already if you watched previous Jimmy V classics as they repeat this number over and over. As of October 1, 2006, 100% of donations will be given to Cancer Research according to their website.

4pm: Oklahoma State vs Syrcause. This is probably a must-win for Syracuse as it was for Florida State hosting Florida. Syracuse plays a soft OOC schedule, so they have little room for error in the Big East, which may have a lower than expected RPI this season. The toughest OOC foes for Syracuse this year are at home: Wichita State, Charlotte, Baylor, Hofstra, Penn, UTEP and Drexel. Not bad teams, but they are all at home. Even this game is neutral-home since they are playing in the state of New York. Prediction: Syracuse.

Arizona vs Louisville. Prediction: Arizona unless Derrick Caracter comes ready to play and can play for more than 20 minutes, and he proves to be too much for the Arizona bigs who are a few sizes smaller than Caracter.


Rest of the games

6pm Texas A&M at LSU on ESPN Full Court. This game deserved to be on ESPN2 baby! Starts at 6pm. Check anyway since sometimes they allow some games on as a teaser or free promotion. Prediction: Big Baby eats A&M

7pm Gonzaga at Washington State, on regional FSNs and Fox College Sports. Prediction: Washington State squeaks as Bennett-TNG continues to impress.

4pm: Hofstra at Stony Brook on FoxCollegeSports. Your chance to see the mid-major that could. They beat George Mason twice last year, and they even suffered a low blow from Tony Skinn in their last encounter. Yet the NCAA selection committee gave the nod to George Mason.

730pm: Cal State Fullerton at UCLA: UCLA continues to eat cupcakes, this time playing the Harvard of SoCal ;-). Prediction: UCLA. Score: 49-31 ;-)

Other teams playing mid-majors on ESPN Full Court: Kentucky, South Carolina, and Northern Iowa vs Iowa.


Repeats, reruns and classic games

11am Utah at Rice on CSTV. This game is from last season. It went to triple overtime!

1pm New Mexico at UTEP on CSTV

230pm: SF at Pacifica on CSN

Jay Bilas on the Golf Channel...

Tomorrow (Tuesday, December 5, 2006) on the GOLF Channel, the Big-Break All Star Challenge features some veteran broadcasters such as Jay Bilas, Verne Lundquist, Tim Brando and Billy Cunningham. This is a one-hour edit, at 12pm Pacific time. As always, check local listings for exact air times... They had a similar event earlier in the year featuring college basketball coaches (Jim Calhoun, Jim Boeheim, and Turnaround Tom Penders).

CSTV online Pay Per View (Internet)

Online/Internet
You can watch either Live (as the game happens) or On-Demand (after the game is over):

CSTV PPV Home page

Men's Basketball PPV Schedule

Some individual games are $6 each, others are $10 each, and I they may have a package deal as well.


Traditional Cable/Satellite
Live Games on TV. Note that the number of Memphis games has significantly decreased nationally. On a totally unrelated note, Rodney Carney, Shawne Williams and Darius Washington are not playing this year.

Schedule including repeats, reruns and classic games

Memo to ESPN

Dear ESPN,

Please stop interrupting live basketball games for the 30:30 Sportscenter update. Please feel free to do as many updates as you like during timeouts and commercial breaks, but disrupting a game with an annoying 30-30 update is just not cool. There's already the ticker at the bottom of the screen, the half-time show, media timeouts along with ESPN-News and ESPN-Now for all that. Why do you have to interrupt a game? Most of the news recaps don't actually contain any dramatic, significant or breaking news anyways. You are not CNN. People turn on to watch the game, not Sportscenter divas :-)

Confused about ESPN+, ESPN Plus and ESPN Regional?

The Wiki page does a good job of explaining this!

There are also going to be some changes coming August 2007, when the Big Ten Network comes alive. The Big Ten network is a collaboration between the Big 10 and Fox Sports, so it will affect some of the games carried by ESPN+ and ESPN Pay Per View, Game Plan and Full Court. Direct TV picked it up already. Fox Sports could easily make this channel available in August 2007 by switching one of its three Fox College Sports to be the Big Ten Network channel part-time or full-time.

This continues the trend of C-USA and CSTV, along with "the mtn", the collaboration between CSTV, the Mountain West and Versus (formerly OLN, owned by Comcast).

Bargain Gift Idea: Lord of the Rings DVD for just $6

The second Lord of the Rings movie, the Two Towers, widescreen, the theatrical version, just $6 on Amazon.

Monday night hoops and Week Preview (on TV)

Two games tonight, all times are PACIFIC; ADD +3 for Eastern time.

Live Games

6pm: USC at Kansas on ESPN2. Prediction: Kansas by 20+ in a blowout

730pm: Southern Utah at Washington on regional FSNs and Fox College Sports nationally. Lorenzo Romar needs all these cupcakes so he can blend all the talented new freshmen with the return players. Don't miss this game as you will get a chance to see Spencer Hawes, Q Pointdexter, Adrian Oliver and Phil Nelson before they become national stars. Incidentally, redshirt freshman Harvey Perry is transfering out of Washington, presumably because he couldn't crack the rotation.


Repeats

1pm and 3pm: The two games of the Pete Newell Classic on CSTV. Texas Tech vs Stanford, and Nevada vs California. The games were played in San Jose, so they are home-neutral for Stanford and Cal. Prediction: Stanford and Nevada (Ha!)

2pm: UC Riverside at UCLA. Ben continues to work on his Hostess 12-pack :-)


Looking forward to this week

Tuesday: Jimmy V Classic on ESPN, featuring Syracuse, Oklahoma State, Arizona and Pitinoville (Louisville), and Texas A&M at LSU on ESPN Full Court

Wednesday: Memphis vs Tennessee on ESPN2

Thursday: Norcoss vs Oak Hill on ESPN2 (some of the best up-and-coming high school players, including SoCal speedster Brandon Jennings and Huggins-bound Michael Beasly). Details here

Friday: Iowa State at Iowa on ESPN+ and ESPN Full Court

Saturday: George Mason vs Duke, Washington at Gonzaga, Texas A&M at UCLA, Wisconsin at Marquette, Indiana at Kentucky

Sunday: LSU at Texas

Weekend Winners and Losers

Winners

The Gren Oden debut, almost a month ahead of the publicized schedule, was a big success with a double-double and 5 blocks. The next Ohio State game is Saturday December 9, at home against cupcake special Cleveland State. The game will be carried on ESPN+, ESPN Full Court and Comcast Sports Net. I believe it starts at 4pm ET / 1pm PT

Bucknell: One day after losing at home to Northern Iowa, they flew to DC to play George Mason at the MCI/Verizon center and managed to hold on to a nice neutral-road W.

Florida State: They badly needed to win this game. This was a must-win, otherwise they would need a top 3 finish in the ACC to get an at-large bid. Al Thornton was clutch. This team is so loaded at guard that touted freshman Josue Soto sits on the bench. And no, Andrew Wilson is not eligible this year :-)

Nevada Big neutral-road against California in San Jose.

The Lopez twins: Stanford will be a very different team when they are both healthy.


Losers

Corey Brewer: He was caught by the FSN cameras twice smiling, laughing and blowing kisses while his team was losing by double figures. Perhaps he was enjoying his importance to the team? He will probably get in trouble when Billy Donovan and his Florida assistants review the tape (or DVD) of the game.

George Mason: The glass slipper does not fit this year. As you may recall they had their march madness magic moments at the MCI/Verizon Center in DC last year.


Random Thoughts

You won't find out about this by reading Andy Katz: CBS has new graphics and special effects for its basketball coverage. Of note is the new score tracking bug which resembles the one used by FSN, except the score tracker by CBS Sports is at the bottom of the screen. Not sure if the tracker will be color-coded to match the team's colors or the court. It clearly color-matched the Kentucky-Carolina game.

Coaches Shows are starting to air on local, regional and national tv outlets. Apart from learning more information about your favorite team(s), they also provide comic relief. There's nothing funnier than a head coach drinking orange juice or sampling local produce during the in-show ads.

Time to look at the RPI and SOS!

We are almost one month into the season so this is a good time to start looking into the RPI and SOS (strength of schedule) data.

Here is Ken Pomeroy's data: 2006-2007 RPI. It should not come as a surprise that Butler and Wichita State are #1 and #2 as they have managed some big wins on neutral/road games. Who is last? At #336 stands St Bonaventure, something that I'm sure makes the other Atlantic-10 teams really happy. Perhaps the A-10 can institute a good old soccer relegation and send their bottom teams to a lower-level division. The A-10 has 14 teams, and their RPI would significantly take a boost if they lost the bottom two (or even four) teams.

Browsing the other RPI and Rating sites:

UCLA, Georgia Tech and Wichita State lead http://www.teamrankings.com/

Butler, UCLA, Wichita State and North CArolina lead the Sagarin ratings at USA Today

Butler, Wichita State and UCLA lead RealTimeRPI.com

The Bracketology 101 blog has taken a stab at the Field of 65 as of November 26: http://bracketology101.blogspot.com/



Long list of RPI, SOS, Power Rating and Bracketology links here, including Sagarin ratings: http://ncaahoopstoday.blogspot.com/2006/02/rpi-rankings-and-bracketology-links.html


For reference, here is last year's RPI: 2005-2006 at RPIRatings.com

Saturday: Winners and Losers

Winners

Minnesota: By a hair (by a three pointer really). Molinari ball is back! The new interim coach of the Gophers has 13 years of head coaching experience at high mid-major conferences. His primary focus is defense. It was a bit surpring to find out he didn't even know the plays on offense. A defensive co-ordinator for sure. What happen to cross-training at the office Dan Monson? :-) Anyway, the Gophers played a spirited and tough game on defense and managed to get a heartwarming 19 point lead. Then the press came on. Arizona State is nowhere near as athletic as Clemson, but the press was nevertheless effective, and they were a three pointer away from sending the game into overtime. But regardless, this was a big win for the Gopher players and fans as they enter the post-Monson era...

DePaul: The genius of Jerry Wainwright? He beats Kansas once again, this time with DePaul. As you may recall, he also beat Kansas at Allen Fieldhouse with the Richmond Spiders.

Illinois: Despite the injuries of Brian Randle and Jamar Smith, despite the disparity of the calls, and despite the fact that the game was played in Phoenix, the Fighting Illini jumped to a strong start. In a mirror reversal of the 2005 Elite 8 game, the Illini lost their big lead, and got worn down by the refs and a 7-man rotation of Arizona, but one would think that if they had Randle and Smith they would have probably managed to maintain their lead.

Arizona: A revenge game for them. The 2005 Elite 8 game was at a "neutral" court in Chicago. This game was at a "neutral" court in Phoenix. In 2005 Arizona had a big lead and lost the game. This time Illinois had a big lead and lost game. One note of interest: Arizona has a deep bench but only a 7-man rotation, with the five starters playing most of the minutes. JP Prince is under the weather so to speak, but the rest of the players were available. But who am I to question the Silver Fox?

Gonzaga: Another big win against a big name opporenent and super-frosh Kevin Durant. This Zags team has more resilience and bite despite the loss of scoring machines Ammo and JP Batista.

Wichita State: If any team is for real, here is one! They won on the road at LSU, Syrcause and George Mason.


Losers

Duke: They won the game but their disfunctional offense is going to hurt future recruiting if it continues to be so. Already Coach K was in spin mode by calling the Indiana game beautiful. Even Dookie Vitale said that game was UGLY.

Kansas: Can we take this team seriously yet? They are loaded with talent but not with consistency (not yet). As you may recall they started slowly last year before heating up...

Syracuse: By playing a soft OOC schedule and losing a home game to a tough Wichita State team, the Boeheim Orange have put themselves on the bubble. They may have to rely on a G-Mac run in the Big East tourney by Do-It-All-Paul (Paul Harris).

South Carolina: Bad home loss to in-state rival Clemson. Dave Odom is becoming the John Wooden of the post-season NIT, but is that enough to keep his job?



Random Thoughts

If anyone had any doubts that Dick Vitale was Duke's official #1 cheerleader, the sight of his two grandsons as Dookie Crazies would seal it.

Roy Williams has found the other side of Coke! He appears in a new (new to me) Coca Cola commercial talking about how during his childhood he couldn't to buy a Coke, that's why now he has a fridge stocked with it in his office. Heartwarming or corny? You decide...

Kentucky won the tempo war but lost the game to North Carolina

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Winningest Active Coaches at the start of the 2006-2007 season

Winningest Active College Basketball Coaches as of the start of the 2006-2007 season

Only counts NCAA sanctioned wins are counted. No JuCo or high school.

1. Bob Knight at Texas Tech 869
2. Lute Olson at Arizona 760
3. Coach AMEX at Duke 753
4. Jim Calhoun at UConn 733
5. Jim Boeheim at Syracuse 726
6. Dr Tom Davis @ Drake 581
7. Huggie Bear (Bob Huggins) at Kansas State 567
8. Turnaround Tom (Tom Penders) at Houston 566
9. Fear the Gary! (Gary Williams) at Maryland 560
10. Homer Drew (Valpo) at 555

What to watch - weekend edition

If it's cold outside, there is plenty of reason to stay at home and watch some great games on TV! Forget about long lines at the mall, just make your holiday shopping online at Amazon.com instead :-)

*** ALL TIMES ARE PACIFIC; ADD +3 FOR EASTERN TIME ***

Friday December 1st 2006
* 6pm Texas Pan Am at Iowa on ESPN+, ESPN FULL COURT, and CSN



Saturday December 2nd

9am Kentucky at North Carolina on CBS. Prediction: NC

10am ASU at Minnessota on CSN and FCS. This would have been a rather boring game in a day full of elite action, however, the recent firing of Dan Monson would make this the coaching debut of interim head coach Jim Molinari. Will the Minnesota players rally and play hard for their new interim coach?

12pm and 230pm: Hall of Fame Challenge in Phoenix on ESPN: Gonzaga vs Texas and Arizona vs Illinois. Arizona is seeking revenge after their 2005 Elite 8 loss to the Illini in the "neutral site" of Chicago. This game is also at a "neutral site" in Phoenix ;-). Prediction: Kevin Durant is too much for the Zags, Texas wins, and Arizona gets a 20+ win over the Illini.

4pm Georgetown at Duke on ESPN2. Zubek vs Hibbert in the paint. Green vs McRoberts! Prediction: Georgetown! Wishing: Georgetown!

430pm (and 11pm repeat): BC at UMass on CSTV. The battle of the chowds :-) Prediction: BC with Sean Williams at least 7 blocks.

6pm LMU at USC on FCS

ESPN Full Court: Clemson at South Carolina, and mid-majors visits at Oklahoma and Oklahoma State



Sunday December 3
*** This is probably the busiest Sunday of the regular season. Surpringly ESPN has NO games!

11am ACC Preview on FSN

BB&T Triple Header: 1030am: Bucknell vs George Mason on FCS (FoxCollegeSports). 1pm: George WAshington vs Virgina Tech on FCS. 330pm: Maryland vs Notre Dame on CSN (ComcastSportsNet). Predictions: Bucknell, VaTech and Maryland in a blowout.

ACC Sunday Night Hoops on FSN: 12pm: Tip Off Show. 1230pm: NC State at Virgina. 230pm: Georgia Tech at Miami. 4pm: Florida at Florida State. This is a must win for Florida State if they want to establish themselves as an at-large candidate (remember all the cupcakes they played last year?). Prediction: Virginia, Georgia Tech and Florida.

Pete Newell Challenge on CSTV. 330pm: Texas Tech vs Stanford and 6pm Nevada vs California. The two games repeat again starting at 9pm and again at 1pm on Monday. Prediction: Stanford and California.

230pm: UC Riverside at UCLA on FCS. Prediction: UC Riverside upset!!!

12pm New Mexico at UTEP on CSTV, in the battle of the southwest. Prediction: New Mexico with 30 points by JR Giddens

ESPN Full Court: Bradley at Michigan State, and games featuring Iowa State and Missouri State.

830pm and 1130pm: Soul of a Champion on Versus (formerly OLN) featuring the one and only Bob Knight!




*** ALL TIMES ARE PACIFIC; ADD +3 FOR EASTERN TIME ***