Thursday, January 13, 2011

Still Perfect After All These Games

We'll return to our regularly scheduled Big E Hoops Weekend preview later, but we couldn't let last night's jam-packed Top 25 slate pass without any comments.

It's Storm Season in College Basketball, as seen in Tallahassee last night (AP)
-The big news going into last night's games was that the five remaining unbeaten teams were all in action (#1 Duke, #2 Ohio State, #3 Kansas, #4 Syracuse and #6 San Diego State). Most people thought UNLV over San Diego State or St. Johns over Syracuse would mark one of the undefeated's going down. Instead, it was the top-ranked Blue Devils that fell on the road to Florida State.  Big deal? I don't think so. There was no way Duke was going unbeaten this year. A loss on the road in ACC play won't hurt them that much and puts to rest all the hype of a possible undefeated season. Duke is usually always good for a road loss in conference play to a Florida State or a Virginia Tech, etc. In fact, I see the Blue Devils losing another game or two in conference play, even if they are the ONLY ACC team ranked in the Top 25. We all know Duke isn't the same team without Kyrie Irving, but they are still a top 3 team and I'd be surprised if they weren't in Houston come early April (Daily Onions Final Four Projection??). Breathe easy, Dick Vitale, your boys in blue will be just fine.

-With Duke losing, THE Ohio State University will take over the #1 position after their four point win at Michigan. OSU is 4-0 in the Big Ten, but three of those four games have been decided by 5 points or less. The Buckeyes host red-hot Penn State on Saturday.  The Nittany Lions are coming off back to back home wins against Michigan State and Illinois.  Can they make it three in a row over top 25 teams? In a word, No.

-Kansas was able to hold off the Mayor Fred Hoiberg and his Iowa State Cyclones, 84-79 in Ames. Don't sleep on the Cyclones. Hoiberg has them playing good basketball and while I don't think they'll make the tournament this year, they won't be a cake walk in the Big 12.

-Syracuse does what it does best, wins at Madison Square Garden, beating St. John's, 76-59. For the first time in a long time though, Syracuse has some company from another basketball squad in orange and blue that is playing well at the Garden (Knicks are 22-16, currently 6th in the Eastern Conference).

-A hundred percent of the time, San Diego State wins every time this season. The Aztecs kept its 18 game winning streak alive with a win over UNLV. They now own the longest active win streak in Division 1 basketball (and they ate a whole wheel of cheese). Stay classy, San Diego...State.

More Big E Hoops Weekend news coming later.

1 comment:

  1. BOOOOO!! The world is only focused on one thing: Big E Hoops Weekend. Like, I heard Dick Vitale on the radio this morning and someone asked him about the Duke upset, and all he said was, "Duke who? We gotta talk about Big E Hoops Weekend BABY!!! Mista Sacks, and Mista Smith baby!! Yeah!!"

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