[The Poet]

Sorry to say, that Manhattan/Niagara game did not live up to my expectations, yet there were a dozen great contests outside of the ranks last night. As for the ranked teams, they all won - however, none were very impressive:

# 9 Michigan State 72 - Wofford 60 = Yeah, so?
# 13 Florida State 85 - Jacksonville 67 = Ditto.
# 19 Texas A&M 74 - Akron 62 = Dit-two.

Already today Ohio State is beating Eastern Michigan like a toy drum on Christmas morning, while Kentucky/UNC is about to tip off. Again, aside from a slew of good matchups outside the rankings, the rest of today's schedule include:

# 4 Purdue vs. Buffalo = Yawn.
# 6 Duke vs. St. John's = Maybe we'll see if the Redman are relevant again today.
# 8 Syracuse vs. Maine = Should not be a contest.
# 16 Georgetown vs. American = Will not be a contest.
# 17 Gonzaga vs. Wake Forest = Will be one.
# 20 Louisville vs. Charlotte = Will likely be one too.
# 23 Butler vs. Valparaiso = Has some potential, but I wouldn't bet the farm.

Sunday's lineup includes these games:

# 1 Kansas vs. UCLA = I bet the Jayhawks thought this would be a test when they scheduled it. It won't.
# 3 Villanova vs. Maryland = Now THIS will be a test, for both teams.
# 12 Washington vs. CSU Northridge = Now this won't.
# 14 U.Conn vs. Harvard = If they matched graduation rates, the Crimson wins in a cakewalk.
# 18 Clemson vs. South Carolina = An instate rivalry that will be a war.
# 21 Florida State vs. Florida International = And one that will not be one.
# 25 Portland vs. Idaho = Portland could lose its second in a row, but even if they win by 100 points you won't see them ranked come Monday.

Enjoy, my brothers.