College Basketball Odds and Ends

I know I start off about six of my columns each year with, "This is my favorite time of the year!" But dear readers, I'm just enthusiastic about life, and this is yet another one of those favorite-time-of-the-year periods: when college football and college basketball converge.

We're already seeing upsets start to creep in in basketball, such as South Dakota State's victory over Iowa, and it continues a trend I have been keeping an eye on: the — what do you call resurgence that happens the first time? Surgence? — of the Dakotas in college sports.

As recently as 2003, their were no Dakota-based teams in D1. Now there are four: North Dakota, North Dakota State, South Dakota, and South Dakota State. Three of the four have knocked off a big opponent in football, basketball, or both. Besides SDSU's win over Iowa, South Dakota has beaten Minnesota in football. But North Dakota State has collected the most scalps, having defeated Marquette and Wisconsin in basketball and Minnesota in football. In fact, Minnesota's football team is hilariously just 2-2 against Dakotan opponents since 2006, with those wins coming by 1 and 3 points.

The only omission is North Dakota, but you needn't feel sorry for them. They may not have a big football or basketball victory, but they are big powers in college hockey, making 18 trips to the Frozen Four and winning seven. Additionally, their logo looks like the Chicago Blackhawks' younger cousin, the Art History major.

In a basketball game I did watch, South Dakota (they're the Coyotes) were trying to knock off one of the lower-hanging fruits of major college basketball, Nebraska. They came up just short, losing by 8, but it was an entertaining game. Nebraska has a sophomore from Germany they are excited about, Christian Standhardinger.

Now, since Nebraska is joining the Big Ten next year, and I probably watch more Big Ten basketball than any other conference save the MAC, I will be hearing Standhardinger's name a lot, which gives me plenty of time to concoct the perfect insulting nickname such a fertile valley as "Standhardinger" gives us.

But in looking at his bio on the Nebraska basketball home page, he's he's actually half-German, half-Filipino. I know, I know. Yet another Filipino-German basketball player in the corn belt! But is it nice knowing that there's a student prowling the halls of Nebraska who looks like Apolo Anton Ohno, but sounds like Ranier Wolfcastle.

In other college basketball news, Nike Labs U, I mean Oregon, unveiled their new court. Feast your eyes on this bad boy.

Although I appreciate garishness in sports more than most, I reflexively hate any aesthetic Oregon tries, and so I did with this, especially when I thought that which outlined the court is what you find outside a Eugene frat house when a pledge has too much to drink, but no, those are trees.

And ... I like it. I do. I think more schools can make a theme out of their entire court background. Boise State, what about a blue court to go along with the blue turf? A background of corn for Nebraska? A lane and key at Notre Dame made from the leprechaun logo's fist? Coach K's face writ large on Coach K Court?

Finally, I leave you with three big games for this weekend:

Kentucky at Portland, Friday 10:30 EST, ESPNU

I'm not quite sure how Portland managed to get Kentucky to come all the way across the country for this one, but they did, and it will be a chance for the Pilots to get a big win and take their turn as The Team Most Likely to Challenge Gonzaga in the WCC.

Wisconsin at UNLV, Saturday 7 PM EST, Versus

In football this year and now in basketball, Wisconsin also goes out West to let the Rebels play host. In that one, the Badgers won by 20. I think they win this one, too, by about half that.

LSU vs. Memphis at Tupelo, Mississippi, 5PM EST, CBS College Sports

Tupelo! You may be asking why these once-proud programs trying to make a resurgence to their glory days of yonder are playing in Elvis' hometown. Well, keep wondering, because my researching skills have failed me.