A look back on a hugely eventful Saturday in college basketball, as well as a rant against how many of the power programs schedule.
PUPPET RAMBLINGS
-We’ve seen at least two games this year that we really don’t see all that often because they’re the kinds of games that power programs would rather not play. The other week Indiana went on the road to Fort Wayne and lost, and last night Louisville played at Grand Canyon in front of a crowd that was absolutely bonkers, and didn’t really get control of the game until the final ten minutes or so. Both games were certainly great for the fans and players of Grand Canyon and Fort Wayne, but I would argue that the games were great for the players and coaches of both Indiana and Louisville as well. I’ve been saying for years that these games aren’t just good for college basketball, but are even good for the power programs on the rare occasions when they do schedule them.
Many who are associated with the power programs, be it fans, coaches, administrators, or whoever, will say they don’t play these types of games because they have everything to lose and nothing to gain. Oh really?? This kind of thinking is dumb, illogical, and easily debunked.
Indiana lost at Fort Wayne. No sane person can argue that losing that game meant losing everything. They’re still highly ranked. Hell, with wins over Kansas and North Carolina, they can still end up as high as a #1 seed. Not only did they not lose everything, they really didn’t lose much of ANYTHING!! If anything you could argue that it made their team better. Taking an early lump like that on the road in front an an enthusiastic crowd gets teams used to playing on the road in front of enthusiastic crowds once conference play starts. I’d say the Hoosiers took something from that and actually ended up better off. Another example of a game like this was last night’s Louisville vs Grand Canyong game. In the post game presser, Louisville coach Rick Pitino said that he felt the crowd was amazing, and that playing in that environment did a lot to make them a better team. Louisville has a tendency to like to schedule a lot of home buy games. Hopefully he’s serious and they’ll continue to seak out games like this.
There are a few teams out there who do play games like this, and we need to mention them. Virginia typically plays an early season road game, oftentimes an opener, against what we at Hoops HD would call an Under the Radar team. They went to UNC Greensboro this year. In recent years they’ve gone to Old Dominion, James Madison, Green Bay, and some other tough local teams such as VCU and George Washington. They’ve won a lot of those games, but you know what?? They haven’t won all of them. Yet, in the last three years they’ve yet to be seeded worse than the #2 line. So, they’re not “losing everything and gaining nothing” either. Like Indiana, they’re not really losing ANYTHING even when they don’t win the games, and they gain more than they would from a home buy game when they do win the games.
North Carolina was the national runner up last year. They played and lost at Northern Iowa. They didn’t gain nothing and lose everything. In fact North Carolina is considered among the top college basketball programs in the country, and they’ve played in many of these games. They’ve gone to UAB, Tulane, UNC Asheville, Long Beach State, and Evansville to name a few in recent years. I think their program is doing just fine.
Villanova was the national champion last year. They still play all the Big Five teams, including the UTR Big Five teams, on equal terms. They didn’t gain nothing and lose everything. In fact, last year, they won everything.
We’ve seen Wisconsin do it, and they seem to be doing just fine. They’re one of the most successful programs in the Big Ten. They have not lost everything and gained nothing.
There is not a single example of a program who played in a game like this and then had it go on to be the defining moment of what wrecked their season after they lost it. Not one. Anyone who argues that there is everything to lose and nothing to gain for a power conference team who schedules a game or two like this doesn’t know what they’re talking about. If you encounter this, know that you’re listening to a misinformed idiot.
Chad made this point and asked this question in an email discussion group that we have here at Hoops HD. I will repeat it here. WHY THE F*** DON’T MORE TEAMS SCHEDULE THESE KINDS OF GAMES??
NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Like all Saturdays, yesterday was a crazy busy day in college basketball that featured three top sixteen match-ups! If you like match-ups between top sixteen teams, then this was the day for you! If you like exciting games, well, then maybe you should have changed the station if you were watching the two that we highlighted. Gonzaga jumped out to a huge early lead against Arizona and although the Wildcats did close it up down the stretch, you never felt that the game was close. Xavier played well against Baylor for a half, but it was the wrong half. The Bears opened it up about midway through the second half and were comfortably ahead by the end of the game. For Baylor, it’s their third top ten win of the season, and they have one of the best looking profiles so far.
-West Virginia picked up a very nice win at Virginia. I love this UVA team, and for West Virginia to get the win there may turn out to be one of the biggest road wins on anyone’s NCAA Tournament profile come Selection Sunday. Just very impressive and perhaps season defining win! Well, it turns out that it wasn’t even the most impressive road win of the day….
-UCLA went into Rupp Arena and got the win after leading for pretty much the entire second half. I had my concerns about UCLA before the season. I had my concerns about UCLA even after they started 7-0. At halftime, I had my concerns as to whether or not UCLA would hold on. I no longer have any concerns about UCLA. Just a HUGELY impressive and very rare type of road win that they picked up yesterday.
(***TRIVIA*** Last year’s #1 and #2 seeds, which included Virginia, were a combined 122-6 at home. So, to see two teams that we believe could easiliy/likely end up as #1 or #2 seeds both lose at home in the same day is rather rare. A #1 or #2 seed losing at home to anyone happens about the same percent of time that a #15 seed wins in the Round of 64)
-The Providence vs Rhode Island game has been hugely exicting for the past three or four years. It has also been won by Providence for the last seven years, and that streak continued yesterday as the Friars upset nationally ranked Rhody at home. For a Providence team that we were expecting to be in a rebuilding mode, they’ve looked very good this season and now have a big win both on and off paper to fuel their season.
-One of the more exciting games of the day was Texas Tech, who took down Rice after getting fouled while shooting a three pointer in the final seconds and then hitting all three freethrows. Both teams came into the game with just one loss, and both teams looked good, so they may be someone you want to keep an eye on if you’re looking for a darkhorse.
-VCU lost to Illinois in Miami, and they did not mess around when it came to losing this game!! They did so thoroughly and decisively and left no doubt about it!! I still like VCU, but it was a shockingly poor and uninspired performance against an Illinois team that they really should have beaten.
-Wichita State led the entire second half at Colorado State, who was unbeaten and on an emotional high after winning at Colorado. It is probably the best that I’ve seen the Shockers look this year, and I know this game wasn’t high on the radars of most college basketball fans, but it is a game that I think they’ll get a lot of credit for winning.
-USC defeated BYU to remain unbeaten on the year. When are people finally going to notice how good USC is?? Even their own fans seem to be in the dark about how good they are.
-TCU improved to 8-0 after absolutely clobbering what I think is a good Arkansas State team. I mean, TCU beat them all over the place. This sounds weird to say, but they are no longer a doormat.
-Beating DePaul is no feat, but Northwestern certainly passed the so called ‘eye test’ while doing it. Honestly, Northwestern has been passing the ‘eye test’ all year. They had close and disappointing losses to very good Butler and Notre Dame teams, but they’ve won all their other games and have looked good doing it. And unlike USC, their fans do seem to be aware of it! They’re packing their building and their home atmosphere is quite electric.
-Middle Tennessee is an Under the Radar team that perhaps needs to be on your radar. They won on the road at South Alabama (who had just one loss) to improve to 8-1 on the year.
-Auburn picked up a big win at UAB. Winning at UAB in and of itself isn’t a huge feat, but Auburn is off to a 6-1 start and looks to have their best team since Bruce Pearl took over. Well, to be more accurate, they appear to have their best team since long before Bruce Pearl took over.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MARQUETTE AT GEORGIA. Both teams come into this game at 5-2 and needing to continue to build their tournament resumes during out of conference play.
-CANISIUS AT MONMOUTH (Metro Atlantic). The window for Monmouth is still open, but barely. They basically need to run the table if they want to land inside the bubble.
-FLORIDA STATE VS GEORGE WASHINGON (BB&T Classic). GW has struggled this year, but they’re good enough to where this would be a nice OOC win away from home if the Florida State is able to pick it up. If they’re a top 25 caliber team then they should be able to win games like this.
-DAVIDSON AT CHARLESTON. This isn’t the easiest road game to win, but it would get Davidson out to a rather noticeable 6-1 and give them their second true road win of the season.
BUY GAMES
-Florida International @ South Carolina
-Coppin State @ Clemson
-Radford @ North Carolina
-Delaware State @ SMU
-SEMO @ Indiana
-Georgia State @ Mississippi State
-North Carolina A&T @ Notre Dame
-Bowling Green @ Cincinnati
Puppet Ramblings, News and Notes, and Highlighted Games: Sunday, Dec 4th
A look back on a hugely eventful Saturday in college basketball, as well as a rant against how many of the power programs schedule.
PUPPET RAMBLINGS
-We’ve seen at least two games this year that we really don’t see all that often because they’re the kinds of games that power programs would rather not play. The other week Indiana went on the road to Fort Wayne and lost, and last night Louisville played at Grand Canyon in front of a crowd that was absolutely bonkers, and didn’t really get control of the game until the final ten minutes or so. Both games were certainly great for the fans and players of Grand Canyon and Fort Wayne, but I would argue that the games were great for the players and coaches of both Indiana and Louisville as well. I’ve been saying for years that these games aren’t just good for college basketball, but are even good for the power programs on the rare occasions when they do schedule them.
Many who are associated with the power programs, be it fans, coaches, administrators, or whoever, will say they don’t play these types of games because they have everything to lose and nothing to gain. Oh really?? This kind of thinking is dumb, illogical, and easily debunked.
Indiana lost at Fort Wayne. No sane person can argue that losing that game meant losing everything. They’re still highly ranked. Hell, with wins over Kansas and North Carolina, they can still end up as high as a #1 seed. Not only did they not lose everything, they really didn’t lose much of ANYTHING!! If anything you could argue that it made their team better. Taking an early lump like that on the road in front an an enthusiastic crowd gets teams used to playing on the road in front of enthusiastic crowds once conference play starts. I’d say the Hoosiers took something from that and actually ended up better off. Another example of a game like this was last night’s Louisville vs Grand Canyong game. In the post game presser, Louisville coach Rick Pitino said that he felt the crowd was amazing, and that playing in that environment did a lot to make them a better team. Louisville has a tendency to like to schedule a lot of home buy games. Hopefully he’s serious and they’ll continue to seak out games like this.
There are a few teams out there who do play games like this, and we need to mention them. Virginia typically plays an early season road game, oftentimes an opener, against what we at Hoops HD would call an Under the Radar team. They went to UNC Greensboro this year. In recent years they’ve gone to Old Dominion, James Madison, Green Bay, and some other tough local teams such as VCU and George Washington. They’ve won a lot of those games, but you know what?? They haven’t won all of them. Yet, in the last three years they’ve yet to be seeded worse than the #2 line. So, they’re not “losing everything and gaining nothing” either. Like Indiana, they’re not really losing ANYTHING even when they don’t win the games, and they gain more than they would from a home buy game when they do win the games.
North Carolina was the national runner up last year. They played and lost at Northern Iowa. They didn’t gain nothing and lose everything. In fact North Carolina is considered among the top college basketball programs in the country, and they’ve played in many of these games. They’ve gone to UAB, Tulane, UNC Asheville, Long Beach State, and Evansville to name a few in recent years. I think their program is doing just fine.
Villanova was the national champion last year. They still play all the Big Five teams, including the UTR Big Five teams, on equal terms. They didn’t gain nothing and lose everything. In fact, last year, they won everything.
We’ve seen Wisconsin do it, and they seem to be doing just fine. They’re one of the most successful programs in the Big Ten. They have not lost everything and gained nothing.
There is not a single example of a program who played in a game like this and then had it go on to be the defining moment of what wrecked their season after they lost it. Not one. Anyone who argues that there is everything to lose and nothing to gain for a power conference team who schedules a game or two like this doesn’t know what they’re talking about. If you encounter this, know that you’re listening to a misinformed idiot.
Chad made this point and asked this question in an email discussion group that we have here at Hoops HD. I will repeat it here. WHY THE F*** DON’T MORE TEAMS SCHEDULE THESE KINDS OF GAMES??
NEWS AND NOTES
-For Chad Sherwood’s UTR Game of the Day – CLICK HERE
-Like all Saturdays, yesterday was a crazy busy day in college basketball that featured three top sixteen match-ups! If you like match-ups between top sixteen teams, then this was the day for you! If you like exciting games, well, then maybe you should have changed the station if you were watching the two that we highlighted. Gonzaga jumped out to a huge early lead against Arizona and although the Wildcats did close it up down the stretch, you never felt that the game was close. Xavier played well against Baylor for a half, but it was the wrong half. The Bears opened it up about midway through the second half and were comfortably ahead by the end of the game. For Baylor, it’s their third top ten win of the season, and they have one of the best looking profiles so far.
-West Virginia picked up a very nice win at Virginia. I love this UVA team, and for West Virginia to get the win there may turn out to be one of the biggest road wins on anyone’s NCAA Tournament profile come Selection Sunday. Just very impressive and perhaps season defining win! Well, it turns out that it wasn’t even the most impressive road win of the day….
-UCLA went into Rupp Arena and got the win after leading for pretty much the entire second half. I had my concerns about UCLA before the season. I had my concerns about UCLA even after they started 7-0. At halftime, I had my concerns as to whether or not UCLA would hold on. I no longer have any concerns about UCLA. Just a HUGELY impressive and very rare type of road win that they picked up yesterday.
(***TRIVIA*** Last year’s #1 and #2 seeds, which included Virginia, were a combined 122-6 at home. So, to see two teams that we believe could easiliy/likely end up as #1 or #2 seeds both lose at home in the same day is rather rare. A #1 or #2 seed losing at home to anyone happens about the same percent of time that a #15 seed wins in the Round of 64)
-The Providence vs Rhode Island game has been hugely exicting for the past three or four years. It has also been won by Providence for the last seven years, and that streak continued yesterday as the Friars upset nationally ranked Rhody at home. For a Providence team that we were expecting to be in a rebuilding mode, they’ve looked very good this season and now have a big win both on and off paper to fuel their season.
-One of the more exciting games of the day was Texas Tech, who took down Rice after getting fouled while shooting a three pointer in the final seconds and then hitting all three freethrows. Both teams came into the game with just one loss, and both teams looked good, so they may be someone you want to keep an eye on if you’re looking for a darkhorse.
-VCU lost to Illinois in Miami, and they did not mess around when it came to losing this game!! They did so thoroughly and decisively and left no doubt about it!! I still like VCU, but it was a shockingly poor and uninspired performance against an Illinois team that they really should have beaten.
-Wichita State led the entire second half at Colorado State, who was unbeaten and on an emotional high after winning at Colorado. It is probably the best that I’ve seen the Shockers look this year, and I know this game wasn’t high on the radars of most college basketball fans, but it is a game that I think they’ll get a lot of credit for winning.
-USC defeated BYU to remain unbeaten on the year. When are people finally going to notice how good USC is?? Even their own fans seem to be in the dark about how good they are.
-TCU improved to 8-0 after absolutely clobbering what I think is a good Arkansas State team. I mean, TCU beat them all over the place. This sounds weird to say, but they are no longer a doormat.
-Beating DePaul is no feat, but Northwestern certainly passed the so called ‘eye test’ while doing it. Honestly, Northwestern has been passing the ‘eye test’ all year. They had close and disappointing losses to very good Butler and Notre Dame teams, but they’ve won all their other games and have looked good doing it. And unlike USC, their fans do seem to be aware of it! They’re packing their building and their home atmosphere is quite electric.
-Middle Tennessee is an Under the Radar team that perhaps needs to be on your radar. They won on the road at South Alabama (who had just one loss) to improve to 8-1 on the year.
-Auburn picked up a big win at UAB. Winning at UAB in and of itself isn’t a huge feat, but Auburn is off to a 6-1 start and looks to have their best team since Bruce Pearl took over. Well, to be more accurate, they appear to have their best team since long before Bruce Pearl took over.
HIGHLIGHTED GAMES
-MARQUETTE AT GEORGIA. Both teams come into this game at 5-2 and needing to continue to build their tournament resumes during out of conference play.
-CANISIUS AT MONMOUTH (Metro Atlantic). The window for Monmouth is still open, but barely. They basically need to run the table if they want to land inside the bubble.
-FLORIDA STATE VS GEORGE WASHINGON (BB&T Classic). GW has struggled this year, but they’re good enough to where this would be a nice OOC win away from home if the Florida State is able to pick it up. If they’re a top 25 caliber team then they should be able to win games like this.
-DAVIDSON AT CHARLESTON. This isn’t the easiest road game to win, but it would get Davidson out to a rather noticeable 6-1 and give them their second true road win of the season.
BUY GAMES
-Florida International @ South Carolina
-Coppin State @ Clemson
-Radford @ North Carolina
-Delaware State @ SMU
-SEMO @ Indiana
-Georgia State @ Mississippi State
-North Carolina A&T @ Notre Dame
-Bowling Green @ Cincinnati