Oh, and I almost forgot: On January 20th, 1892, Dr. James Naismith split up the students at his Springfield MA YMCA and played a new game he had invented. The final score was 9 to 9. And no, I was not there.

Happy birthday, basketball.
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It was a good night for the Wake Co. boys! (well they used to be in Wake Forest. :-))

WF 82, UNC 69 - On the Hill. 'ol Roy is on a streak! Three straight!

Duke 74, NC State 88 - In Raleigh. Was never really close, the Pack out hustled and out pressed the Dookies in the first half. They looked stunned that the pack was trying to play basketball against them! Duke pressed most of the second half, and made matters worse. :-) If State had not have had so many turnovers in the first half, it would have been a bigger blowout!

Tuesday may be tough for those 'heels Thomas. :-)
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And why should Tuesday be any different than the rest of this season for the Heels, Jerry? See, I TOLD you you were jinxing us . . . as if we needed the help anyway. :-)

Congratulations to your Wolfpack on that Dook victory. I'll post more on it in my regular update to follow.
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OK, regular update as promised, and might as well start with those two above:

N.C. State 88 - Duke 74 = What Jerry didn't mention is that this is the Pack's first home victory against the Blue Devils since 2004. So hey, can you really blame me for not picking them to pull off the upset? Good for them.

Wake Forest 82 - UNC 69 = And this is the Deacs first win in Chapel Hill since 2003 . . . but I didn't call this one at all. Wake hit 56% of their threes, which didn't hurt their chances. The Heels had both Zeller and Ed Davis on the bench with injuries, which didn't help their chances. Yet as usual it was the backcourt that let Carolina down . . . which I DID call, 'way back in post # 1 of this thread. Good for Wake.

Kansas 81 - Baylor 75 = This one was closer than I thought it would be, especially playing in Lawrence. But neither the Jayhawk win nor the closeness of the Bear loss seems to be the story here. That's all about Coach Drew pulling his team off the court during the pregame Kansas intros. He claims it was because he couldn't hear himself think, much less talk to his squad. Self claims it was a deliberate diss. Some experts agree with Bill, while others feel it was a brilliant move to disrupt the focus of the Jayhawks. My call? No harm, no foul.

DePaul 51 - Marquette 50 = And why do I put this next on my list? Well, a fortnight after the Blue Demons can their coach, they get their first regular season Big East W in 25 tries . . . thanks to a jumper with 7/10ths left. Whoa.

Georgia Southern 68 - App. State 65 = And why is this next next? Well, the day after the NCAA slaps Ga. Southern with one hefty probation, they have something to cheer about in Statesboro . . . for an hour or so, anyway.

Auburn 84 - LSU 80 = And why this? Well, just because I told you this would be a good 'un.

West Virginia 68 - Marshall 60 = And this one too.

Michigan State 70 - Iowa 63 = And this one . . . well, I told you the Spartans would whip up on the Hawkeyes. Well, they did win, didn't they?

Georgetown 74 - Pittsburgh 66 = And this one was what you would want from this matchup . . . a battle.

Temple 77 - Xavier 72 = And here was another one, and no surprise either.

Texas Tech 78 - Iowa State 71 = And this one was a bit of one, but not really.

Wisconsin 54 - Michigan 48 = And this one is surprising only in that one wonders if they actually played both halves, or called the game at the break. Well, at least together they broke 100 points . . . barely.

Most of the games tonight are amongst the hoi-polloi, but there are a handful of some note:

Louisville vs. Seton Hall = I did say, "of some note". The Cardinals are not as good as prior seasons, and the Pirates are a little better. Go with L'ville by two possessions.

Indiana vs. Penn State = Mainly a battle to stay out of the Big 10 basement, but could be fun anyway.

Gonzaga vs. Pepperdine = The Waves have had better teams, and this one's in Spokane, not Malibu. The 'Zags should dominate.

Oregon State vs. Stanford = Both these teams are attempting to reach the .500 plateau tonight, both in-conference and overall. This could get ugly . . . or uglier.

Washington vs. UCLA = And if you think my Tar Heels stink, consider the Bruins. This couldn't be much uglier.

Oregon vs. California = And this is more of the same. For all you Pac-10 fans out there, I hope that surf's up for you, as nothing much else is.

Enjoy.
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Was at the Temple game last nite ....shooting clinic in the second half...Temple shot 68% :-)
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Glad you liked it, Keith. Tell us . . . were the Owls that hot, or did the X-men just give up on D and let them shoot?
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As I have been accused of unfairly dissing John Calipari on this thread, I find it incumbant to report the following: Coach Cal hosted a telethon called "Hoops For Haiti" which has raised to date 1.2 million dollars for the American Red Cross, to be used for desperately needed aid to that nation so tragically hurt in the recent earthquake there. Good for Calipari, and for all the Wildcat fans who supported him in this most worthy cause.
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I just noticed one other score of note from last night:

UTEP 72 - Memphis 67 = And why is this noteworthy? Well, this loss by the Tigers ends their consecutive winning streak in Conference USA play at 64 straight. Hey, even if you don't give the CUSA much props, that's still pretty impressive.
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I gotta say Thomas.....while Xavier is certainly not as tough as Temple defensively, there were not a lot of open looks...it was a good game, not over 'til it was.....
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There's a handful of scores from last night which caught my eye, for one reason or another:

Seton Hall 80 - Louisville 77 = Or even three or four reasons. OK, this was at The Rock, but the Pirates have not been this successful in quite some time. Plus, this means Roy Williams ain't the only big-time coach with 3 Ls inna row, since Pitino just dropped his third. Plus, this means the Cardinals are still stuck at 1,599 wins, and holding. Plus, all my great UK friends are likely all a'titter on Twitter too.

Florida 71 - Arkansas 66 = And the one reason here is that these are two "meh" teams in a top-heavy conference trying to remain respectable. The Gators are up and down, while the 'Hogs are rolling in the mud.

California 89 - Oregon 57 = And these are two normally pretty "meh" in their conference, though this year the Bears are the early king of the hill. I often ignore spankings like this, yet those boys from Berkeley deserve some press . . . they are usually on an entirely different high.

Gonzaga 91 - Pepperdine 84 = And this made me wonder if I'm having flashbacks too. Hey, a score like that was not odd at all, back in 1995 or so. But the 'Zags should have owned the Waves better than the Royal Navy, so 7 points ain't squat.

Indiana 67 - Penn State 61 = And the Hoosiers make it to .500, while PSU is PU POS at 0-6 in the Big Ten.

Siena 67 = Loyola (MD) 61 = And the Saints remain unbeaten in the MAAC at 9-0 . . . though just barely. The Greyhounds, 2-7 in conference play, led this one 60-54 late, but only managed one FT from that point. Siena ducked this one, for sure. And speaking of Loyola . . .

Portland 79 - Loyola Marymount 39 = OK, I didn't give a dang about Portland even back when they managed to sneak into the Top 25, and I sure don't give a dang now either. But 39 points for LM? You old farts like me certainly remember, back in the days of Hank Gathers and Bo Kimble, when Loyola would score that much in 10 minutes! For them to score under a point a minute in this game? How times have changed. But look on the bright side; at least they beat . . .

Stanford 59 - Oregon State 35 = Thirty-five stinking points? More than the Beavers' tails were flat! Their TO total equaled their rebounds, at 19 each, which was one more than their total shot made for the game . . . including their FTs. Sheesh.

UCLA 62 - Washington 61 = The Bruins hit the .500 mark in Pac-10 play, and at 3-3 are back in contention. Of course, no other team is better than 4-2, and none worst than 2-4, so maybe even schools NOT in the Pac-10 can still win this title.


As usual on Friday nights, ain't much happening . . . unless you want to watch St. Peters/Niagara or Wofford/Charleston. These will likely be pretty decent games. And as usual, I'll only give you those Saturday games which have a noon tip-off:

Michigan State vs. Minnesota = The Spartans haven't been great, and the Gophers have been fairly good. Expect a tussle here.

Mississippi State vs. Alabama = I can't figure this MSU out, and the Tide's been in-and-out. Go with the Bulldogs and maybe three possessions.

Villanova vs. St. John's = The Redmen are the best they have been in a decade . . . but they ain't this good. 'Nova by a bunch.

Georgetown vs. Rutgers = You could go with the Scarlet Knights in this one . . . if it were Stringer's girls playing the Lady Hoyas. But the distaff being datstaff instead, it's no contest. Georgetown rarely scores a ton of points, so don't expect the final to appear like a total blowout, yet don't be shocked if the Rutgers men put up a football total against the Hoya D.

I'll be back here tomorrow afternoon with more. Until then, enjoy.
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So far today all the early games are still too close to call, although Georgetown is beginning to dismount the Scarlet Knights. I'll keep you updated, but here's some of what else you can expect this weekend. Today we have (amongst a slew of others, like Charlotte/LaSalle or DePaul/Notre Dame):

Temple vs Fordham = Not much of a contest here. The Rams get fleeced.

Vanderbilt vs. Auburn = As much as I'd like to give my guy Jeff Lebo a shot here, I gotta go with the Commodores.

Boston College vs. Virginia Tech = The Hokies should take the Eagles, but you never know in the ACC.

Mississippi vs. LSU = Ole Miss take the Tigers' lunchmoney.

Syracuse vs. Marquette = The Orange have played very well, and I expect them to do so again. Yet Marquette may make it uncomfortable for a while.

California vs. Oregon State = Nobody understands the Pac-10 this year. I think the Bears will win, and the Beavers will score more than 35 points.

Ohio State vs. West Virginia = Likely the best non-conference matchup here, and maybe the best game overall. Toss a coin.

Kansas vs. Iowa State = Likely the worst conference matchup. What's that stoopid rocksalt chant again?

Virginia vs. Wake Forest = Are the Cavs for real? Can the Deacs build on their win in Chapel Hill. Should be a fun one.

Baylor vs. U. Mass = No matter how badly the Bears stomp those Massholes, it won't keep them in the rankings.

Texas vs. U. Conn = Hmmmm. Can George Blaney, subbing while Calhoun's MIA, invent some tricks to challenge the 'Horns? Maybe. I wouldn't bet on it, but he's certainly more experienced than Rick Barnes. Texas by ten would be my guess.

Purdue vs. Michigan = The Boilermakers have been nearly as disappointing as the Tar Heels, and the Logans have started to play better. These two are tied 3-3 in conference. Might just be close.

Kansas State vs. Oklahoma State = This is in that slightly smaller Manhattan, so give K-State the edge. Yet I'm still not convinced they are for real, so don't give them a huge one.

Washington State vs. UCLA = As mentioned before, the Pac-10 race is wide open. These two are 4-3 and 3-3 respectively, and the Bruins are just 8-10 overall, while the Cougars are 14-5. Plus, this is in Pauley. Toss that coin again.

Kentucky vs. Arkansas = Put that coin back in your pocket. Wildcats WILL stumble, but not this weekend, and will wake up next Monday as #1.

Tennessee vs. Georgia = The Bulldogs have lost 3 in a row, and have only one truly quality win (over the Ramblin' Wreck). On the other side, the Vols seemed to have awakened when half of them got popped. Tenn by ten.

N. C. State vs. Maryland = If the Pack can take the Terps, they'll be back in the ranks for the first time in . . . jeez, beats me. But it won't be easy. You still got that coin handy?

Rhode Island vs. Xavier = Me, I like games like this one. People expect Xavier to be good, and they have been . . . about half the time. This may be a war.

Gonzaga vs. Loyola Marymount = Time was, this was one too. No longer. 'Zags will romp.

Duke vs. Clemson = I think Coach K will have his boys ready for this one, and Devils will bounce back against the Tigers. It won't be a killing, but it will be a win.

Arizona vs. Arizona State = My interest here? Can Herb Sendek wrest bragging rights away from the Wildcats? I won't call it, but I'm rooting for these Devils.

BYU vs. San Diego State = The second bad weekend inna row for Sandyeggo sports fans.

Washington vs. USC = Back to that fight to the finish in the Pac-10. You gotta admit, this is fun . . . in a way.

There are a couple of nice games Sunday also, such as:

Cincinnati vs. Louisville = Both these squads need the W, and bad.

Georgia Tech vs. Florida State = And these match up pretty well too.

Pittsburgh vs. Seton Hall = And these shouldn't, but the Panthers haven't been great lately, while the Pirates have stolen a few good wins.

Northern Iowa vs. Indiana State = If Bird still played for Indy State, a win here by NIU might keep them in the rankings. But Larry flew the coop loooooong ago.

Wisconsin vs. Penn State = OK, so this one is a clunker.

Indiana vs. Iowa = And this won't determine the Big Ten either, but it might be nice to see the Hoosiers get back into the game again.


I'll be back in a few with some score updates. Enjoy.
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Georgetown totally kicking Rutger's butt, as you'd expect. Perhaps less so, Minnesota holds a slight edge over Michigan State mid-second, as does Alabama over Miss. State. And a shock to me, Villanova and St. John's in an all-out war.
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Final: Georgetown 88 - Rutgers 63. The outcome no shock, though I expected more a 63-40 score. Alabama up one possession with 1 1/2 left, MSU up a point with 15 seconds, and 'Nova opening up double-digits on Johnnies.
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Spartans edge Gophers 65-64. 'Bama/Miss St. down to FTs in closing seconds. 'Nova running away. Halftime: Temple 22, Fordham 19. Guess the Owls aren't hot shooting today! Auburn up early over Vandy, and BC/Va. Tech a battle.
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Alabama 62, Miss. State 57. There goes THEIR ranking!
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Temple score half as many points in first 4 minutes of second half as they did the entire first, and goes up by ten. Va. Tech up 9 over BC.
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Villanova 81 - St. John's 71 = Closer than I thought it would be. Temple going nutz on Rams now, as Ohio State is over WVA. Auburn up 10 over Vandy, and KU not yet chasing Iowa State out of Ames.
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At the half, Va.Tech 38, BC 29. Marquette giving Syracuse all they can handle early, as is LSU over Ole Miss and Iowa St. over Kansas.
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Temple 62 - Fordham 45, or the margin you'd expect, if not the score. OSU up 40-28 over WVA at the break, while 'Cuse/Marquette tied @ 34. Vandy and BC coming back to make a game of it in second, and Kansas starting to open up decent lead.
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Kansas 38-25 over Iowa State at break. WVA cuts OSU lead in half early second. Auburn still up a little over Vandy.
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