60 Days to Selection Sunday

Throughout the NFL season, we took a look at each game of each week in a feature we called "In the Box." It was a good way to ensure we got a comprehensive look at all the teams, not just those everybody else was talking about.

In trying to figure out a format for covering college hoops this year, I figured I might as well try the same trick. Each week, we'll look at 25 games from the previous week, looking for lessons learned, interesting tidbits, or just an inappropriate joke or two. Hey, go with what works, right?

Two months to March. Let's see where we're at.

(Game pool from last Wednesday, 1/9, through Monday, 1/14.)

WEDNESDAY

North Carolina State 54, North Carolina Central 29 — Who cares? Nobody, really. But consider this: after this game, the poor Eagles of North Carolina Central stood at a miserable 1-21. Not only is that a terrible record, that's an incredible number of games for barely a week past New Year's. And 19 of them were on the road, including places like Duke (lost 121-56), Florida (105-51), Davidson (98-50), Akron (96-49), Creighton (88-54), and Nebraska (71-28).

So here's the question: who the hell would send their kid to play here (or at fellow 1-A Independent Presbyterian, at 2-20)? Was it a choice between this or prison? This or your feet cut off? Seriously. What's the rational here?

Dayton 92, Rhode Island 83 — You'll be seeing both of these teams come Selection Sunday, so start paying attention now. In this game, the stars did what they were supposed to do. Dayton guard Brian Roberts (20.1 ppg, 4.5 apg) led his team with 23 points and seven assists. The Rhode Island duo of forward Will Daniels (19.3 ppg, 7.4 rpg) and Jimmy Baron (16.2 ppg, 41% from three) combined for 51 of the Rams' 83 points. That's three-fifths of you're All-A-10 team showing you why their teams are a combined 29-3.

The difference in this one was the other guys. For Dayton, Andres Sandoval, Marcus Johnson, and Kurt Huelsman combined for 36, nearly double their average production. For Rhode Island, Kahiem Seawright scored only four points and fouled out in 24 minutes. Dayton also had a 27-9 advantage in points off the bench.

The two teams play again February 2. To even up the series (or make any noise in March), Rhode Island is going to need more than just Daniels and Baron. Seawright is the key.

St. Joseph's 98, Massachusetts 92 — The St. Joseph's duo of Ahmad Nivens and Pat Calathes combined for as many rebounds (27) as the entire UMass team (which got out-rebounded by the entire Hawks team by 17). Travis Ford's crew has some nice wins (at Syracuse, at Boston College), but losses like this one, plus at Northern Iowa and IUPUI earlier in their non-conference schedule, has them looking like an NIT team.

Charlotte 82, Clemson 72 — Chalk this one up to the hangover from Clemson blowing an opportunity to knock-off North Carolina three days earlier. Still, games like these hang on your resume. If the Tigers fall apart in the second half like they did last year (four of their final six, and six of their final nine, are on the road), this game could loom large in the selection debate.

Cincinnati 74, Syracuse 66 — The Orange are in trouble. They have two of the most gifted freshmen in the country in Jonny Flynn (13.9 ppg, 5.5 apg) and Donte Greene (18.9 ppg, 8.2 rpg), but they were woefully thin even before losing Eric Devendorf for the season. To think coach Jim Boeheim can continue to rely on his freshmen to play 35+ minutes per game and hold up through March is expecting too much. (The two combined to shoot just 7 of 22 in a 20-point loss to West Virginia on Sunday.)

Southeastern Louisiana 61, Sam Houston State 58 — And there go Sam Houston State's at-large chances. (It also put a stop to the ridiculous two AP voters who insisted on putting the Bearkats on their ballot even though they're nowhere close to being one of the top 25 teams in the country.)

Tennessee 85, Mississippi 83 — No coach received a bigger present this past offseason than Bruce Pearl did when the NCAA granted Iowa transfer Tyler Smith a hardship waiver, allowing him to play immediately instead of sitting out the year. He and Arizona transfer J.P. Prince have turned a very good team into a legit national title contender. (Now if they would just quit with the stupid head-band thing...)

Arizona State 64, Arizona 59 (OT) — Not only did the Wildcats lose to bitter rival ASU, but the loss put Arizona is the exclusive club of teams to be knocked out of the rankings twice so far this season (joining Southern Cal and North Carolina State). Actually, they had already been knocked out of the AP Poll a week earlier thanks to the home loss to Oregon, but this game was the final nail for the college coaches who make up the ESPN/USA Today voting block.

Two notes of importance:

1. ASU freshman guard James Harden, averaging 18.6 points and 5.6 rebounds per game, is really, really good. Right now, he's on the Pac-10 All-Freshman team with USC's O.J. Mayo (19.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg) and Davon Jefferson (11.8 ppg, 5.5 rpg), Arizona's Jerryd Bayless (19.7 ppg, 4.6 apg), and UCLA's Kevin Love (16.6 ppg, 10.2 rpg).

2. Bayless didn't play in this one, or the losses to Memphis and Oregon. For all the talk about sophomore forward Chase Budinger, this is Bayless' team. Budinger just isn't alpha dog enough to tell his teammates to get the eff out of the way and let him handle it. That's what Harden did in this game, and what Bayless did against Houston in Arizona's 85-71 win on Saturday.

THURSDAY

Louisville 63, West Virginia 54 — Both of these teams depend on streaky shooters who have more bad days than good. The difference is that Louisville can rebound and play enough defense to grit out a win when the shots aren't falling. The Mountaineers can't.

USC Upstate 73, Gardner-Webb 59 — Remember when the Gardner-Webb upset at Kentucky was mentioned in the same breath as Appalachian State/Michigan in college football? Just goes to show first impressions aren't all they're cracked up to be.

George Washington 49, St. Louis 20 — These are not good times to be a St. Louis sports fan. (Unless you think giving up an all-time-great defensive third baseman in Scott Rolen in exchange for Troy Glaus is a good move, in which case things are going awesome.)

(Seven points in the first half! Seven! They stabbed Brad Soderberg in the back for this?)

Washington State 73, Southern Cal 58 — I really want to slam O.J. Mayo for being a cancer and poison and all that stuff. He's taken nearly double the number of shots as the next closest Trojan (264 to Dwight Lewis' 135). He's taken as many three-pointers (101) as Lewis, Daniel Hackett and Angelo Johnson combined. He averages almost four turnovers per game. And the guys around him are worse than they were last year, not better (with sophomore forward Taj Gibson suffering the most).

Okay, so maybe that is a slam, but I'm not writing off the Trojans just yet. Sometimes teams take time to adapt to a new way of running the show. They still have the talent. They still have a good coach. And, as we learned from the San Diego Chargers of the NFL, not all poor starts are created equal. Sometimes things click and turn around. Let's see how they do against UCLA on Saturday.

FRIDAY

Why don't they play good games on Fridays? It's not that I don't respect the MAAC and Patriot League, but would a weekly Big 12 Friday night showdown hurt? Even a WAC or Mountain West showdown would suffice.

SATURDAY

Florida 72, Auburn 56 — Through a less-than-grueling first two months (non-conference SOS of 307), Gators coach Billy Donovan has done a great job getting his kids ready to play a tough SEC schedule. Dick Vitale can go on and on about cupcakes this and that, but when your rotation is comprised of five freshmen, three sophomores and a junior, there's no point in throwing them against a murderer's row. Now they have some confidence in what they're doing heading into the meat of their schedule, with four of their next six on the road (at Ole Miss on Wednesday, Kentucky at home, at South Carolina, Vanderbilt at home, at Arkansas, at Tennessee).

North Carolina 93, North Carolina State 62 — And it could have been much worse. People are talking about Memphis possibly going undefeated, but the Tar Heels are the better bet. A look at their remaining regular season schedule: at Georgia Tech, Maryland, at Miami (FL), BC, at Florida State, Duke, Clemson, at Virginia, Virginia Tech, at NC State, Wake Forest, at BC, Florida State, at Duke.

There are some tough games there, no doubt. Miami will be pumped at home to make a statement. FSU is always capable of springing the upset. UNC lost at NC State last year. Duke is Duke. But this is the best team Roy Williams has fielded since coming over from Kansas. They can shoot (49 percent overall, 38 percent from three), pass (ACC-best 18.2 assists per game), rebound (ACC-best +11.8 rebounding margin) and defend when they need/want to (13-point first half for the Wolfpack). Don't be surprised if the Heels are 30-0 heading into Cameron Indoor Stadium. Let's just make sure we have some Ludens and a doctor ready for Dickie V. This could be dangerous.

Kentucky 79, Vanderbilt 73 (2OT) — Could this be the stepping stone for Kentucky? Maybe, but it's still a rough road. Back-to-back road games at Mississippi State (tonight) and Florida (Saturday) is a tough way to build momentum. Then again, Billy Gillispie's reputation is no accident. He hasn't forgotten how to coach just because he bailed on Texas A&M. A win Tuesday and we've got something to talk about. Win tonight and Saturday, and it's a whole new season for the Wildcats.

Missouri 97, Texas 84 — Despite the final score, Texas is still the better team. The Tigers rode the emotion of the crowd, hit some key long-range bombs, and the Longhorns let the game get away in the second half. Missouri did the same thing to Purdue earlier in the season, turning a tight game in the second half into a double-digit victory. But put these two on a neutral court 10 times, and the Longhorns are winning at least seven.

Marquette 92, Notre Dame 66 — Two lessons:

1. Marquette can make a run in the NCAA tournament. Their backcourt of Jerel McNeal and Dominic James is built for March. (Remember, McNeal was hurt at the end of last year and didn't play in the Big East Tournament or their first-round loss to Michigan State.)

2. No matter what Notre Dame is seeded come March, pick against them if they are playing a team with dominant guards. Tory Jackson and Kyle McAlarney combined for just 14 points on 6-of-16 shooting (2-of-8 from three) with 8 turnovers in this one.

UCLA 81, Washington State 74 — A lot's already been written about this game, but I wanted to point out that Wazzu's Derek Low is really fun to watch. After a miserable first half during which the Cougars were just trying to keep from getting run out of the gym, Low, who picked up two early fouls and was held scoreless through the first 20, almost single-handedly brought them back from the dead. He scored 24 in the second, including a stretch where he scored 19 of Washington State's 22 as they cut the deficit to single digits. They ran out of time in the end, but the second half showed the Cougars are very much in UCLA's class, and a threat to make a deep run in the Tournament.

Purdue 75, Ohio State 68 — Just wanted to point out my preseason sleeper has recovered from their Wofford-Iowa State double-slip to win three of four, with the only loss a three-point nail-biter at Michigan State where they came back from down 29-13 to almost knock off the then-sixth-ranked team in the country.

California 69, Oregon State 59 — Poor Jay John. Coaching Oregon State in the Pac-10 is like coaching the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the AL East. There's just too much mountain to climb.

Kansas State 84, Oklahoma 82 — Freshmen forwards Michael Beasley (Kansas State) and Blake Griffin (Oklahoma) combined for 59 points on 23-of-32 shooting with 25 rebounds. Both will be playing in the NBA next year.

Iowa 43, Michigan State 36 — Quote from last week: "Iowa is going to upset some people before it's said and done. New coach Todd Likliter, in his first year after leading Butler to the Sweet 16, has the Hawkeyes playing inspired."

Aside from just gloating, the lesson is that top coaches are the single most important element to having a successful college program. Likliter has taken a team that was bad before losing Tyler Smith and Adam Haluska, and made them a tough-as-nails cohesive group. Great coaching is the only way you take a team that makes only 11 field goals in 40 minutes of basketball and still upset a top-10 team.

SUNDAY

Duke 87, Virginia 65 — With Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, and Taylor King coming off the bench, Coach K has a solid eight guys he can rely on (nine if you include sophomore forward Lance Thomas). The Dukies are flying under the radar nationally, but they've got some noise in them come March. This is a much tougher team than last year's squad the got knocked out by Virginia Commonwealth in the first round.

MONDAY

Pittsburgh 69, Georgetown 60 — There's something missing from this Hoyas team. They haven't found a way to replace Jeff Green's fire, and it's going to cost them in the end. This team is tops on the Upset Watch list.

As for Pittsburgh, give them credit. They're one of the most mentally tough squads in the nation. Assuming Levance Fields comes back for the Tournament, they could surprise some people.

Kansas 85, Oklahoma 55 — If you want to see a great rivalry game, tune into ESPNU this Saturday at 8 PM central. KU at Missouri. It's going to be loud.

Seth Doria is a writer based out of St. Louis. For the only daily column that mixes sports, politics, and entertainment news in one, visit The Left Calf.