Top Posts
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Over the course of this week, we will spend a few minutes catching you up on how some of the best conferences in the country currently look. With conference play starting up, its time to get into the basketball spirit. Favorite: BYU The Cougars are still a bit of an unknown entity, and that is…
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When can a game on Saturday take the luster off another matchup later in the week? When it’s Georgetown-Louisville. The Cardinals (12-0) open Big East play tonight against the Hoyas, who are no slouches themselves. They’re 10-1 and have only lost to Kansas on a neutral court. A Hoyas win would give Louisville its first…
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VCU ready to rip through CAA, but will it lead to the NCAAs?
Dec 28, 2011, 4:41 PM EDT
Guess who’s poised to dominate the CAA this season? Hint: It’s not George Mason, who’s regressed under Paul Hewitt. Yep, it’s VCU. Turns out Shaka Smart’s team – despite losing four starters from last year’s Final Four team – is still dangerous thanks to its aggressive defense, the development of point guard Darius Theus and…
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Ever seen a seven-foot-one-inch kid do a cartwheel, then dunk a basketball? Until a few days ago, neither had I. Check out the first four seconds of this video. That’s Alex Len, the 7-1 Ukrainian-born center who is eligible to play for Maryland on Wednesday against Albany, after serving a 10-game NCAA suspension for non-compliance…
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Pac-12 sure could use some of its 50 NBA players right now
Dec 28, 2011, 12:05 PM EDT
The Pac-12 is hurtin’. It’s seventh in kenpom.com standings, ninth in the RPI, hasn’t beaten any Top 25 teams and has racked up so many bad losses, Rob had trouble recounting them all last week. UCLA is in freefall, Arizona and Washington are enduring growing pains, and Cal and Stanford have fattened up on soft…
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Recruiting rundown: Will Louisville get the Purvis treatment again?
Dec 28, 2011, 10:30 AM EDT
Louisville made three former scholarship men’s basketball players into walk-ons this year, so it’s clear that the Cardinals have a dearth of future full rides available for current high school prospects. With that said, they’ve approached their incoming recruiting classes with precision, making few offers, but also scoring important pledges. In recent days, Louisville reached…
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Favorite: Creighton How can anyone vote against the Bluejays right now? Creighton is 10-1 heading into the start of league play, with the ’1′ coming on the road against a better-than-you-think St. Joe’s team. The Bluejays have size up front and shooting on the perimeter, but more than anything they have the guy that is…
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Wednesday’s Shootaround: Pitt’s upset again while Wisconsin’s still Wisconsin
Dec 28, 2011, 8:40 AM EDT
No. 11 Wisconsin 64, Nebraska 40: It simply does not get more ‘Wisconsin’ than what the Badgers did to poor Nebraska in their Big Ten opener on Tuesday night. On the strength of a career-high 22 points from Ryan Evans, Wisky scored just 64 points as they dominated and demoralized a Nebraska team that never…
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Pitt has 3 games to solve issues before Big East’s best arrive
Dec 27, 2011, 11:52 PM EDT
Pitt’s season went from embarrassing to depressing in less than a week. Not an easy feat for an 11-3 team that’s been in the Top 25 rankings all season and got back its starting point guard Tuesday night. Still. It happened. A 72-59 loss at Notre Dame – it wasn’t even that close – saw…
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Forget the scowl — Frank Martin’s loving K-State’s season
Dec 27, 2011, 10:28 PM EDT
Frank Martin’s on-court demeanor is demanding, loud and rarely includes smiling. This season though, you might catch a few grins. It happens when your guys start 10-1, slip into the coaches’ rankings and win a tournament in impressive fashion. Not bad for a team that lost its two best players from last year’s team. “I’m…
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It’s a night for the BCS schools. OK, I can hear it now. “Oh, you mean a day that ends in Y?” Fair point. The BCS schools, Xavier, Gonzaga, Memphis, Butler and some MWC and MVC schools usually take the college hoops spotlight. But there isn’t much going on Tuesday night except for the Big…
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Pitino sets closing date to coaching career, but will it stick?
Dec 27, 2011, 4:42 PM EDT
Rick Pitino’s done with coaching in five years. Maybe. Sure, the Louisville coach didn’t leave much open to interpretation during a Tuesday press conference. Check this: “When you’re 59, you’re realistic that you don’t have a whole lot of years left,” Pitino said. “My contract’s going to run out in 2017. I’m not coaching any…
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Favorite: Ohio State This pick will be as much of a consensus as any league in country with one, absolutely crucial technicality: Jared Sullinger stays healthy. I love Aaron Craft and his ability to control a game without being a scorer. William Buford may be the best wing in the country. DeShaun Thomas can score…
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Nuts. Gonna need a new cliché for this time of year. Just last week I chalked up Kansas’ loss to Davidson as a familiar sight because “teams have long layoffs” from finals, holidays, etc. Others did the same when Pitt lost to Wagner, Louisville struggled against Western Kentucky and when Michigan did the same against…
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When Big East play starts Tuesday night – you already read Rob’s breakdown, right? – there are few certainties. Syracuse is really, really good. Seton Hall and West Virginia are better than onlookers figured two months ago. The bottom of the conference has more than its usual share of bad teams. And DePaul may no…
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Favorite: Syracuse There is a reason that the Orange are currently sitting at the top of both national polls right now. Heading into Big East play, this group is still undefeated and has as deep of a roster as we have seen in Upstate NY in a long time. Their back court is absolutely lethal…
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College Hoops Week in Review: Doug McDermott and Kansas State
Dec 27, 2011, 9:10 AM EDT
Player of the Week: Doug McDermott, Creighton Doug McDermott shouldn’t have been a secret coming into the season, but if you didn’t know about him back in October you certainly should by now. If the season ended today, he’d be a first-team all-american. Arguing that he should be the National Player of the Year would…
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Next time, Arizona might just stick with the 2010-11 non-conference schedule. That slate – filled with home games and just two stern tests against Kansas and BYU – had Wildcats coach Sean Miller worrying if a fast start would crumble when conference play rolled around. (I said no. Yay me!) It didn’t, mostly because Derrick…
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Florida’s Rosario ‘doubtful’ to play in Rutgers homecoming
Dec 26, 2011, 6:15 PM EDT
It used to be Mike Rosario was all Rutgers basketball had. Then he transferred to Florida, Rutgers hired Mike Rice and both parties seemed to benefit. So when Rosario was set for a Dec. 29 homecoming, the Florida-Rutgers game might’ve been a nice capper for both programs. Or not. Rosario’s missed the Gators’ last two…
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John Calipari’s handing out a post-Christmas gift to Kentucky fans – provided they follow this link: http://gobigblue.co/2kt That’s an invitation to watch Calipari’s ‘Cats practice Monday, starting at 5:30 ET. Just what Big Blue Nation wanted. (Well, for now. A national title in April would be the real gift.) The entire practice will be streamed…
