I Dislike Your Favorite Team

I should mention first of all that the polls came out Sunday and Monday (the Coaches and the AP). Not a a ton of difference.

Also, I should note that something ominous this way comes. On the CBS Sportsline College Hoops page, there's a note saying that March Madness ON Demand is coming. Is this the beginning of having to pay for First Round content? I hope not. CBS had finally gotten good at delivering free product.

Anywho, on to the scores. Some big ones today.

(2) Florida 79, Arkansas 72 -- Almost every article you read about this game will mention the big emotional surge that the Gators got when the Football team were feted at halftime. The score does not really reflect the fact that Arkansas didn't really have anyone who could match up with Corey Brewer. It could have probably been the Corey Brewer show, if he wanted it to be. I personally think that Joachim Noah is a bit over-hyped. He makes decent passes, from underneath the basket, but this idea that he has guardlike skills? Feh. He looks out of control a lot of the time. Corey Brewer is the engine that makes this team go. Derrian Townes of Arkansas came off the bench to score 18, and outscored the entire Florida bench by himself. Florida is returning all 5 starters, yes, and they won this game, but there are undoubtedly issues here. Gary Ervin, who I mentioned earlier this week, had 11 points and 9 assists for Arkansas. They are definitely a factor in an SEC that sees some perennially great teams (Kentucky) fall off a bit.

(17) Clemson 87, NC State 76 -- Funny, when there were 6 undefeated teams, Clemson wasn't ranked, and wasn't being talked about. One can presume from that they played an even easier schedule than UConn, which is hard to imagine. Now that they are the only undefeated team in the country, Clemson is getting a lot of love. Beating NC State used to mean something, just two years ago, when NC State had Old Man in Young Man's Clothes Julius Hodge running rampant in the paint for them. James Mays, for Clemson, has never played for a Clemson that lost a game (he was declared academically ineligible after Clemson's pattycake early schedule last year). The Wolfpack were missing a starting player, and used all of 6 players until the game was out of hand in the final minutes. Am I saying that Clemson doesn't deserve to be in the Top 25? No. Does this game suggest that they should move up? HELL NO. And yet, they probably will. And probably a ton of spots, depending on who else they play this week. Talentwise, however, there is possibly 2 or 3 unranked nationally teams in the ACC who will beat this Clemson team. Don't believe the hype. Maryland won't. BC won't. VA Tech won't. This conference is all about Duke and UNC. Everyone else is pretty much in the middle of a huge, stinky dogpile.

Speaking of Dogpiles, two of the ranked team in the Big East played:

#22 Notre Dame 61, #21 West Virginia 58 -- After Notre Dame got their dog walked by Georgetown earlier in the week, and after Georgetown got fully confused by the press of Villanova the other day, this game could have really confused the standings of the Big East. If WVA had won this game, they would have been at the top of the Big East. They didn't, and it should be noted that Notre Dame guard McAlarney is being forced to sit out after he was busted with marijuana! Oh, you degenerate fuck Kyle McAlarney! Interesting note: it is so early in the season that Providence is at the top of the table of the Big East, and Marquette is near the bottom (they also got worked tonight).

#18 Air Force 65 , New Mexico 57 --Air Force looked done in this game. It took a massive second half rally to win this for them, and the final result makes it look like it wasn't even close. Down by 15, they opened the second half with a 21-2 run to establish a lead. And New Mexico ain't complete punks, either. This is a quality win for Air Force. Dan Nwaelele is the force for Air Force (though I suspect he's too tall to actually BE in the Air Force.). It would not shock me if this team continues up the ranks--possibly up to #15 or so. Then, in March, they will get screwed, as some mediocre Big Conference team takes their well justified #4 seed.


(13) LSU 61 , (14) Bama 71 -- Alabama bounced from being worked over by Arkansas, by defeating another SEC team that has lots of questions about it. A couple of weeks ago, both of these games were both in the top 10. Now, they are both looking over their shoulders at fucking Clemson? LSU's Not Quite So Big Baby Glen Davis (who has shed a lot of weight since last year) is still a monster, but LSU's shooters went cold tonight, and Bama's shooters were hot, relatively. Bama still only plays about 7 guys, and most of them shot under 50%. I think, as writers and coaches realize the relative weakness of the SEC (Florida excepted) that these teams will slowly sink in the rankings. Bama's celebrated badass, Alonzo Gee, went 5-14 from the field. Ronny Steele only took 3 shots. LSU has demonstrated to have many issues against any sort of serious defense. We'll see how Bama fares against Florida.

THE MARQUEE MATCH-UP

(3) Wisconsin 72, (5) Ohio State 69 -- For all the the hype, and the final score suggesting that this was a close game--well, I guess it was, but Wisconsin was in control, and only let it get close because they thought they had it won. They forget the stick-to-iveness of Matta's Buckeyes, especially Conley. But Wisconsin dominated this game. Cammron Taylor, Alando Tucker and Butch make a dangerous trio. Wisconsin has 3 guys over 6' 10" to throw at the likes of Greg Oden. And when Ohio State, or anyone else goes small, they've got quality players off the bench to match up--Flowers, and Landry are talents that could probably start for half of the teams in the Big Ten. Ohio State could have used Flowers on their team today. An athletic defender who knows how to convert his steals into points, Flowers could be argued as the player of the game. Of course, to award him for that, you would have to ignore Alando Tucker, whose ability to score baskets, even when he's falling away from the basket and losing the ball, is something special. Until I see North Carolina or Florida beat Wisconsin, the Badgers are the best team in the country.



I can't wait (and I hope it happens) to see Alando Tucker go at it with Corey Brewer; and Cammron Taylor go at it with Taureen Green. And Charlie Butch work the key against Horford. Thank The NCAA BB Gods there is no Instant Final Game, and both of these teams have to make their way through 63 other teams--both I think right now the most likely teams in the Final in late March are Wisconsin and Florida. And I'll take Wisconsin.