Monday, January 30, 2006
Random College Basketball Thoughts
Lots of Surprises in ACC
The Duke Blue Devils are hot. The Virginia Tech Hokies are not. Those are the only constants, as the conference season heats up. What a wild ride it's been so far in the conference. The Blue Devils are the only undefeated team in conference play and except for a narrow 77-75 win over Virginia Tech at the beginning of the season, the Blue Devils have been virtually untouchable in conference with their only loss coming against Georgetown two weeks ago.
But the story in the ACC might not be what's going on at the top of the conference, but rather it's what's happening in the middle that appears the most intriguing. Boston College, Florida State, North Carolina, and Miami are all 3-3 in the conference, with each team having played each other at least once.
I admit I was wrong about Boston College and Miami. Heading into their first season in the conference, no one, including me, gave either team a chance to compete in arguably the most competitive conference in the country. But they have so far. Given that both teams came from a weaker conference in the Big East (yes, the Big East was a weaker conference, but not anymore), the battle for last place in the conference appeared inevitable.
But to my surprise, both have fared extremely well in the conference. As it stands now, Boston College has an inside track to steal one the conference's NCAA tournament bids. As far as the other three teams in the equation, let's be serious. Before the season started, no one gave North Carolina even a fighter's chance of making back to the Final Four. While I'm not saying they have their tickets Indianapolis, but they'll be one of the 65 teams in the tournament. Florida State and Miami, however — not happening.
Big East Blunders
It's seems like this happens every year. You know, the Big East has a great team that is undefeated and manages to become ranked in top 10. We've all seen it before with Pittsburgh a couple of years ago and now this year with Pittsburgh and Villanova. It boggles my mind how Big East teams continue to be more overrated year after year. Both Pittsburgh and Villanova began the season undefeated, both powering their way to the top 10. But what's the use? We've all know the script. Each team will finish with maybe five or six losses and then get bounced in the second round of tournament.
Granted, the Big East is a tougher conference this year with the additions Louisville, Marquette, DePaul, and Cincinnati, making the Big East another one of those sought-after Super Conferences. But let's be serious (there's that word again), Connecticut is the only school in the conference that has shot of doing anything spectacular in the tournament. While people in Philadelphia might have flashbacks of 1985, let me borrow a phrase from the great philosopher Rick Pitino. "Ed Pinckney is not coming through that door, folks."
Knockout in Knoxville?
Of course not, but what the heck is wrong with Tennessee Lady Volunteers? I mean, two losses in the same week. That's not Pat Summit basketball. Of course, one of those losses came against No. 1 Duke. But losing to Kentucky, that's not Pat Summit basketball. A loss in the conference this early in the season, that's not Pat Summit basketball.
Let's dissect this, shall we? The Lady Volunteers have one of the nation's best players in Candace Parker and maybe Kentucky is a good team. After all, the Lady Wildcats are 15-4 and in fourth place in the conference. But honestly, Rupp Arena hasn't seen much in the way of great women's basketball, so I guess Kentucky was overdue for some success. But again, that wasn't Pat Summit basketball. Pat Summit basketball is going 34-1 or 35-0 en route to at least — at least — a birth in the title game. Pat Summit teams don't lose two straight games. That just doesn't happen. The Lady Vols better get their act together because the SEC is tough — really tough.
Scheduling Gone Horribly Wrong?
Year after year, it's the same story. Mid-major schools padding their schedules with superior teams hoping to gain some added exposure for their respective schools. What's the point? It never happens. Sure, Hampton University beat Iowa State in the first round of the 2001 NCAA tournament, a matchup of the No. 2 and No. 15 seeds. Yeah, the image of Hampton players picking up their coach, as he kicked his legs in the air, was priceless. So was the image of Bryce Drew diving on the floor in celebration of hitting the biggest shot of his life.
But seriously (there's that word again), these things rarely happen in the regular season. What's the use of a school such as the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), playing a school like Illinois early in the season? The smaller school isn't getting exposure for getting drubbed by the more powerful school. It just doesn't make any sense. It's pointless.
Here's an example — Morgan State (another MEAC school) is currently 0-17. Sure, they're terrible, but the bulk of their losses came at the beginning of the season against superior teams such as Washington, Florida, Miami, and Virginia Tech. By the time conference play started, they were already 0-11. That's not fair to the players. Sure, it's an experience that they can tell their grandchildren about. But it's got to be crushing for these kids, knowing they're getting on a plane or bus, traveling thousands of miles, just to lose — and lose badly.
This doesn't make sense and the NCAA should step in and do something about it. Force these schools to schedule non-conference games against teams where the games will be competitive. One game against a major school is enough. The players get the experience and you get to test your program against the nation's elite. But nine or 10 games are road kill, simply road kill.