And for those who care, Badgers kicking Hoosier heinie as badly as Dook kicked Terps.
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Vandy and 'Nova both up 3 late, and Baylor/Missou tied with 48 ticks left. Three real battles here.
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Vanderbilt 77 - LSU 69 = But don't be fooled, it was closer than that.

Baylor 64 - Missouri 62 = But don't be fooled, it was closer than THAT!

'Nova up 7 over Friars, but there's time left. There's a little time left in Wisconsin/Indiana too, but Badgers up 30 so there's not enough . . . or still too much, for the embarrased Hoosiers.
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Wisconsin 83 - Indiana 55 = But don't be fooled, it wasn't even that close.

Oklahoma State 97 - Oklahoma 76 = A whuppin' for the Sooners.

Butler 70 - Cleveland State 59 = Still too damn close, but I guess they'll take it.

And Villanova's finally got a double-digit lead, with 3+ minutes to go.
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With under a minute, 'Nova up 14. Oh, and Heels score the first bucket in Chapel Hill . . . time to go Four Corners!
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:-)
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Villanova 92 - Providence 81. And if anybody cares, American/Colgate going into 2nd OT.

I'm gonna leave you with it now, as nothing else of note is likely to end before I split. So until Monday, enjoy.
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:-)
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Well the ACC is pretty much wrapped up. Once the tourny starts I'll have to keep my mouth shut.

Hopefully the Heels will make the NIT. :-)
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Bite me, ya nit! :-)

I have a trector trailer out in front of the shop at the moment, holding a pallet or three of crap for me. I won't be able to update today, but I'll be back tomorrow - if we don't get a second blizzard. Until then, enjoy.
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"Trector trailer"? Didn't he play for the Wolverines a few years back? :-)

OK. let's turn up the pressure and play a little catch-up here, hitting some highlights from the past few days. In the balance of the action Saturday 2/13:

Memphis 93 - Tulsa 86 = This win by the Tigers, coupled with the loss to Marshall by UAB, has put them into 2nd in the CUSA by 1/2-game, and only 1 1/2 behind UTEP. Further, both Memphis and UTEP have to play UAB and Tulsa again before the season ends, so this could get real interesting.

Mississippi State 85 - Auburn 75 (OT) = This one twigged my button for several reasons. Imprimis, MS is atop their SEC division, and should not have needed an extra 5 minutes against this "meh" Auburn squad. Secundus, I have a Tar Heel's rooting interest in seeing Jeff Lebo's team do as well as possible, so I'm glad they forced the OT, even though they didn't get the W. And tertius, I found it notable that the 10-point margin happened because these particular Tigers scored only 1 stinkin' point the that extra 5 minutes.

Xavier 76 - Florida 64 = And this piqued me because here are two teams that have yet to figure out if they are good or bad, so nobody knows what the hell's gonna happen with even one on the court, much less both.

Bradley 68 - Northern Iowa 59 = And thank sweet Hayzeus, not only did this victory put the Braves over .500, in conference and overall, but it finally knocked these previously-ranked Panthers out of the Top 25. Hey, I got nuttin' against them presonally, but let's get real . . . if you look at their schedule, they beat a few decent teams, a few so-so teams, and a bunch of who-the-fark-cares. And speaking of that:

UNC 74 - N.C. State 61 = Well, what do you know? The Tar Heels do still know how to win a game, every now and then. And best of all, now Jerry doesn't have to smoke any of the dog-rockets I'd have sent him had State won. :-)

On Sunday 2/14, which was some sort of holiday or other:

Louisville 66 - Syracuse 60 = OK, seems like I said something about mebbe Pitino having a trick or three for Boeheim, yet I really didn't expect this. The Orange has played fairly consistent good ball, while the Cardinals have been like a bipolar woman going through The Change. But if you think that was an upset, what did you think of:

Rutgers 71 - Georgetown 68 = Hey, I can't see any excuse the Hoyas have for this loss to the absolutely crappy Scarlet Knights, even if the game was in Piscataway (and no, that is NOT a pet-training technique). Yet it did happen nonetheless, and coupled with wins by Seton Hall over DePaul and St. John's over Notre Dame it made for the best college hoops day the NYC Metro area's had in many a year.

On Monday 2/15, some other holiday or something:

Maryland 85 - Virginia 66 = The Terps respond to their whuppin' by Dook by whuppin' up on the Cavs. As for Virginia, they will have a bit of a struggle making it into the basement of the ACC this late in the season, but their 3 Ls inna row is a good start.

Kansas 59 - Texas A&M 54 = Bill Self Him Self called this game a "muddy, ugly" offensive effort on the part of his Jayhawks, so who am I to argue with the coach? And at the risk of having you Rock Chalkheads argue with me, I've got to say it . . . KU dodged a BU-llet here.

U. Conn 84 - Villanova 75 = Wow, what a weekend for the Big Mouth Conference. First the Huskies get upset by Cincinnati, then the Orange fall to Loo'ville, plus the Hoyas drop one to Rutgers, and then UC bounces right back to best 'Nova? What, did Vegas decide it needed to recoup some Superbowl action it lost?

There are a few noteworthy games tonight, plus one that really isn't:

Wake Forest vs. Virginia Tech = Neither team is likely to catch Dook for the regular season lead, but both are likely to have some success come tournament time.

Michigan State vs. Indiana = And one of these teams is also, while the other is the Poseurs . . . uh, Hoosiers.

Cincinnati vs. South Florida = Sort of like that Xavier/Florida game above, you can never tell who's gonna be on the court. Could be a lot of fun.

Baylor vs. Texas Tech = And this has the po' for a good matchup also.

Kentucky vs. Mississippi State = And this one does too, believe it or not. Yeah, the smart money will be on UK, but this won't be a walkover here.

UNC vs. Georgia Tech = But this might. It may be too late for the Heels to salvage anything much from this season, especially with half their frontcourt out now. Yet they have to play out the games anyway, so what the hell . . . might as well win. :-)

Enjoy.
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Sean Sutton, former head coach of Oklahoma State and son of Eddie Sutton (former head coach of Creighton, Arkansas, Kentucky, and his alma-mater the aforementioned OSU), has pleaded not guilty to four felony drug counts following his arrest last week.

I do not know what daddy Eddie pleaded after his drunk-driving crash back in 2006. :-)
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Dana Kirk, former head coach of Memphis State University, has died at the age of 74. He coached that school, now knows as the University of Memphis, for seven years and ammassed a respectable 158-58 record during that tenure. What is less respectable, and what he is best known for, is that his team's 1985 Final Four appearance was later voided by the NCAA for violations, and for his spending four months in a Federal prison in Montgomery AL for tax evasion.
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Cremosas would be sublime, if they were the fruit of a Wolfpack butt-whoopin'. :-)

Enjoyed the wager, friend.
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Cremosas, never. Consuegras, maybe. :-) And we both would have enjoyed it more had our boys been fighting for the ACC lead, not the cellar. Well, wait 'til next year.

So let's see if I get this in in a hurry here, now that I've finally finished all my work. Last night:

Kentucky 81 - Mississippi State 75 (OT) = I pretty much said that this could be a lot closer than one would think, but as any Wildcat fan can tell you, I don't know squat about hoops. And as they will certainly tell you, they had this one in total control from the get-go. Props to the team from Starkville for their effort, and shame on those fans of theirs who threw crap onto the court at the buzzer. Sorry, there's no place for that garbage.

Michigan 80 - Iowa 78 (OT) = Well, neither one of these two teams are going much of anywhere, barring some miracle, but they at least put on one hell of a show.

Virginia Tech 87 - Wake Forest 83 = And both these teams have the chance to make a little noise come March (albeit not a full-blown racket), so they too gave you some thrills.

As none of the other games were either shocks nor of much significance, let's move on to tonight's schedule:

Purdue vs. Ohio State = Two pretty good teams, and should be a real battle.

Duke vs. Miami = Not so much here, but you never know . . . Dook sometimes comes out cold from outside, and they ain't got no inside to speak of.

Virginia vs. Florida State = A fairly even matchup, though I'd give the Semi-holes an edge in positive momentum.

Notre Dame vs. Louisville = And despite the recent bad loss by one and good win by the other, these match up closely also.

Tulsa vs. Marshall = I've talked earlier about other teams in contention for the CUSA, and Marshall is not totally out of it either, being 5th with their 6-4 record, whereas Tulsa is 3rd at 8-3. There's plenty of reason for both teams to show up for this one, and if both do it will be a war.

Seton Hall vs. St. John's = Well, these may be the also-rans of the Big East, but they too are well-matched, and both are coming off nice wins.

Texas vs. Missouri = And although the Longhorns have gotten much more press, both these teams are 6-4 in the Big 12 race, so here's another with a lotta juice.

Rhode Island vs. St. Louis = Another of my good mid-majors contests, and both teams can play some pretty decent ball . . . at that level, anyway.


Well, there it is, quick and dirty. Enjoy.
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Our inside game isn't bad. We're picking it up. :-)
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So what happened last night, you ask? Lemme tell you:

Purdue 60 - Ohio State 57 = What did I tell you? Two pretty good teams, and a real battle.

Duke 81 - Miami 74 = And what else did I tell you? Dook came out icy, hitting only 31% in the first half, and found themselves in a 12-point hole. If not for their D, and 22 'Cane turnovers, this would have been a loss for the Devils.

Florida State 69 - Virginia 50 = And what else? The Cavs are heading in the wrong direction, losing 6 of their last 8 games. I doesn't get any easier for them as they wind up the regular season . . . what with Clemson, Miami, Dook, BC, and Maryland left, they may get one of these.

Louisville 91 - Notre Dame 89 (2OT) = And did I not say these two matched up closely. Hell, if they matched any closer they might still be playing!

Marshall 64 - Tulsa 58 = And did I not tell you that the Thundering Herd was not completely out of CUSA contention? Well, to be honest, they have no shot of leapfrogging all 4 teams above them, yet they have tightened up the race for second place.

Missouri 82 - Texas 77 = And did I not say that the Longhorns had the press, but Missou would bring them game? After winning their first 17 games and reaching No. 1 for the first time in school history, the 'Horns continue to get hooked, now going 3 & 6 in their last 9.

Kansas State 91 - Nebraska 87 = And while we're talking about the over-ranked Big 12, what about this one? The boys from that other Manhattan reached their highest ranking at #7 since 1962, then promptly tried their damndest to drop one to the worst team in the conference. Sheesh.

As for tonight's action, we have several notable contests:

Syracuse vs. Georgetown = Both teams are coming off conference upsets. I predict one of them will bounce back tonight, while the other will continue to slide.

Vanderbilt vs. Mississippi = If the Commodores can take both this game and their next one, they will give Kentucky a serious challenge for the SEC East. However, Vandy plays like that other Southern Ivy team at times (i.e., Dook), plus Ole Miss is not half-bad themselves, plus that next game is in Rupp Arena, so it won't be a cakewalk.

South Alabama vs. Western Kentucky = OK, I don't care much, and you likely don't care at all, but this is an important game in the Sun Belt East between two fairly even squads.

Pittsburgh vs. Marquette = And neither of these teams are likely to get in the way of 'Cuse and 'Nova in the Big Mouth conference, but it does promise to be a good fight.

Wisconsin vs. Minnesota = The Badgers are better than the Golden Gophers, yet with these two you can never tell. Hell, this could be one of those 43-36 games!

California vs. Oregon State = Cal has the slimmest edge in the Pac-10 over Arizona State and USC, so need this one to maintain it . . . as if it really matters. :-)

OK, there you have the highlights. Enjoy.
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And that's their problem, Bryan . . . they'e picking it up, off the floor, instead of taking it off the glass! :-)
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Yea Yea :-) Coming from a UNC fan
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Hey, it is what it is, bro. :-)

(For you others out there, you will never understand the love/hate relationship between the 4 NC ACC teams, and especially Dook/UNC, so don't even try.)
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