College Hoops Thread '10-'11

[The Poet]

I'm feeling pretty crappy today, so don't expect my typical long (and hopefully lively) posts. There were, as noted above, many games last night, but only a few were truly much fun:

Boston College 70 - Virginia 67 = The Cavs hung tough, but dropped another close one to a better team.

Indiana State 70 - Missouri State 69 = I thought this could be a good one, and it was.

Oklahoma State 96 - Iowa State 87 (OT) = It proved to be the war I predicted.

Florida State 55 - Miami 53 = And this was another tight conference battle, though the score seems more typical of a football game between the 'Canes and 'Holes.

Purdue 63 - Penn State 62 = I guess the time is passed to be shocked at the Nittany Lions. Yes they lost again on the road, after dropping one by only 3 at Ohio State, but be honest . . . could YOUR team lose two better games? I said you should put a penny on the Boilermakers, and a penny was what it was.

South Carolina 81 - Arkansas 74 (OT) = And I told you these two would be focused on the victory. Seems the 'Cocks kept it up just a bit longer.

Memphis 76 - Southern Mississippi 75 = I thought it might be close. It couldn't have been much closer.

Marshall 75 - West Virginia 71 = And if there was an upset, this one is it. It's a mild one at best, but still a good win for the Herd.

Northern Iowa 77 - Wichita State 74 = It's sometimes hard to get a good read on how good some mid-majors are, but you're pretty safe with these two. The Panthers made a lot of noise last year, and the Shockers have been around the block a time or three themselves.


And speaking of such games, there may be quite a few tonight. However, most seem to be of the type that, entertaining as they may be, there's little national import and few people really care all that much. Detroit/Cleveland State? Oakland/South Dakota State? Gonzaga/Santa Clara? Even some of the "big boys" fall into this gap, like Cal/UCLA, USC/Stanford/ Rutgers/South Florida . . . hell, even Florida/Auburn, as you'd expect this to be over by the half. But I did spot 3 that piqued my interest a bit:

Wisconsin vs. Indiana = There is no doubt the Badgers are a better team than the Hoosiers, who just won their first following a 6-game losing streak. But four of those six were under 10 points at the end, so it is possible IU can stay close to a team as . . . uh, shall we be kind and say "deliberate"? . . . as is Wisconsin.

Virginia Tech vs. Maryland = The Hokies want to stay at least mid-pack in the ACC for now, in the hope they can take advantage if somebody stumbles. The Terps want to get there, for the same reason. Both need every game like this.

Arizona vs. Washington = And as it is for those "competing" on the Right Coast, so it is for these two trying to stay on top of the Left one. Only the winner of this will stay so.


That's all I feel like doing today. I hope you shall enjoy, as I don't think I will much.

[SD Beerman]

Hope you feel better soon....

[The Poet]

Originally Posted by SD Beerman

Hope you feel better soon....

Why, thank you Larry. I'm about twice as good as yesterday, but still not up to par.


A handful of the games last night were pretty decent:


Florida 45 - Auburn 40 = But I'm not sure this was one of them. The Gators are supposed to be fairly good, while the Tigers purely stink. This is better than a loss, but not by much.

Virginia Tech 74 - Maryland 57 = Nor was this one all that hot. The Terps have lost 3 of their last 4, and to get spanked by the Hokies like this, in College Park no less, does not bode well. But it's a good road win for VT, and puts them above .500 in the ACC.

Wisconsin 69 - Indiana 60 = And though I'm sure the Hoosiers would prefer a victory, there's no shame in keeping it this close against the Badgers, in Madison.

UCLA 86 - California 84 = The Bruins tried to p!$$ this one away, dropping most of a 14-point lead in the last 4 minutes, but managed to hang on by the tips of their claws to remain relevant in the Pac-10 . . . for what that's worth.

Eastern Illinois 61 - Murray State 60 = But the Racers dropped a squeaker on their home court to slip a full game out of the OVC race. It's still early, yet they need to find some consistency in their play before it's not still early, and rather too late.

UMBC 74 - Hartford 70 (2OT) = Though nobody much cares, any game as hard fought as this one deserved a bit of attention.

Mo. Kansas City 85 - IUPUI 77 (2OT) = Here too.

Utah Valley 107 - North Dakota 96 (4OT) = Here, X 2.


There are slim pickin's tonight. The Lipscomb/East Tenn. State, the Valpo/Wisc. Milwaukee, and Butler/Wisc. Green Bay games might be pretty good, while Fairfield/Canisius and Siena/St. Peter's should be competitive, but none of those teams seem likely to make much noise this season. However, on Saturday there's once again altogether too many games to do proper justice to. I'll be back a bit later to preview at least the ones which tip off early. Until later then.