College Basketball 2007-2008: January 2008

[JohnBM01]

The Australian Open is still going on hours outside of our American time zones. Think tennis is boring? You're probably right if you came to this thread for college basketball. We may not have overhead slams, but I'm sure we have much more impressive slams coming your way. In the form of wicked slam dunks! So come get your college basketball here and go home happy.





Tuesday Scores

John's Feature State: Michigan
I do a lot of Kentucky talk for FoolKiller. Now, I'm going over to show some love for Joey D's home state. We begin in Big Ten country. A match so good that the Big Ten Network is not needed.

Beasts Meet Rodents
* Michigan {Wolverines} at Wisconsin {Badgers}
Michigan played them close, but Wisconsin was better down the stretch. Michigan is now 1-6 in Big Ten play. I'm sure somebody needs to be fired at Michigan so that Michgan can be as relevant in men's basketball as they are in football (longshot, but possible). (64-61; #11 WISCONSIN)

MAC In-State Rivalry
* Central Michigan {Chippewas} at Western Michigan {Broncos} --- RIVALRY GAME ---
The EA Sports' games have the wrong fight song for WMU. The Broncos of WMU have a pretty good hockey team. Like hockey, Wsetern Michigan had lots of fun putting slapshots all over the Chippewas of Central Michigan. (72-52; WESTERN MICHIGAN)

Two Teams Soar into Action
* Toledo {Rockets} at Eastern Michigan {Eagles}
Eastern Michigan is pretty lethargic in football, but the Eagles weren't lethargic in hoops. Just ask the Toledo Rockets. (68-44; EASTERN MICHIGAN)

-end Feature State





Border States Welcome a Match of Premier Schools of Each State
* #5 Tennessee {Volunteers} at Kentucky {Wildcats}
Blue is my favorite color. I like drinking orange juice. Let's match up blue and orange. Orange isn't really a popular color for teams. There's Texas, Sam Houston State, maybe Idaho State... but not too many teams have orange as their primary color. Not even Syracuse. Tennessee is one of those orange-clad teams that love to Volunteer to crush teams. Michigan loves their blue, but what about Kentucky blue? UK blue hasn't meant too much this season with the struggles they've had. I wonder what it feels like when a big day or night of basketball at Rupp Arena is like. The city of Lexington, KY is not an absolutely massive city. Rupp Arena should have its own area code because Wildcat basketball fans love the beautiful Kentucky blue colors. Perhaps its the clear and sharp colors of ESPN showing off the intensity of Kentucky blue on my TV screen, but Kentucky blue is certainly beautiful tonight. So let's get it on! I'm going to be honest. I was asleep after a long day at school today. When I woke up, Tennessee was leading Kentucky about 46-40. They are Wildcats, hear them roar... and see them shoot their way to the lead. This could be a BIG win for the 'Cats if they pull this off. Jimmy Dykes made a comment that this is not the same Kentucky team that lost to Gardner-Webb and San Diego at home. It was 54-52 at the 6:45 mark. Then some Wildcats got into foul trouble. It started with Crawford's four fouls and continued with Patterson's four fouls. Kentucky came to play, win or lose. Stevenson got into foul trouble as Kentucky has another Wildcat with four fouls. At 3:04, the score was tied at 3:04. Maybe you Kentucky fans should start humming "My Old Kentucky Home" and hope UK pulls this upset off. Maybe you Tennessee fans should chant one of my personal favorite fight songs, "Rocky Top" to hope Tennessee escapes Rupp with a win. This is like a heavyweight fight in which both fighters are tired as crap, but still dishing out body blows and hooks. It's a 60-60 tie at the 2:00 mark. At 26.4 left in the game, Kentucky led 66-60 as they were fouled by the Vols. Nobody said Kentucky's men's basketball team is the basketball version of the 2007 Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team. Chris Loften cashed in his 366th 3-point shot to tie for the all-time SEC record for 3-point shooting. It's 12.1 left as UK leads Tennessee 68-63. Tennessee's first points in ages. The cute cheerleaders were happy Kentucky's ahead immaculate in their blue tank tops, black pants, and white sneakers. Gillispie pulled a little football move as there was a pass to another player on the baseline that quickly passed it to a Wildcat who just went past the baseline. Gillispie DID go to Texas A&M prior to Kentucky, you know... Lofton took the all-time SEC lead for most all-time 3-point shots. However, Kentucky simply had more in the tank to win. And what do you know... Kentucky has beaten BOTH of Tennessee's SEC teams! Rupp Arena loves their basketball, and the fans will go home absolutely happy. Just like the UK football team, the Wildcats stood tall and made sure the blue and white stood tall over any opposition. They improve to 8-9 and pick up a serious victory. (70-63; KENTUCKY) *** upset! ***


Clash of the Carolinas
* Wake Forest {Demon Deacons} at Clemson {Tigers}
This game was a barn-burner late in the game. The Tigers could have upset North Carolina at their place, but they fought long and hard in taking down the Demon Deacons of Wake Forest. (80-75, OT; CLEMSON)


Missouri Valley Love Supplied by the States of Iowa and Nebraska
* #22 Drake {Bulldogs} at Creighton {Blue Jays}
Creighton University is the Jesuit university of Omaha, NE. I'm sure the Blue Jays preach taking care of jive turkeys that set foot on Creighton's home soil. Creighton couldn't teach the Drake Bulldogs some respect once this one ended in Overtime. (68-60, OT; #22 Drake)

SIDE NOTE:
I sometimes mix up the Drake Bulldogs and Butler Bulldogs. Drake University is in Des Moines, Iowa. Butler University is in Indianapolis, IN. I'd love to see a Drake/Butler matchup someday. Unfortunately, I just remembered that Butler is in the Horizon League and NOT the Missouri Valley. I'd still love to see a match pitting these two packs of puppies.


Houston Baptist's Return to NCAA Division 1 Isn't Going Extremely Well...
* Houston Baptist {Huskies} at Texas Pan-American {Broncs}
The Mid-Continent seems likely for Houston Baptist University if and when they fully transistion to NCAA Division 1. So I'm sure these two Texas teams would likely have a good time bashing each other's brains in. The Huskies were the ones that got pounded as the Broncos of UTPA smashed them all game long. (82-68; TEXAS PAN-AMERICAN)

Bruce Webber Wants His Boys to Slap Around Ohio State
* Illinois {Fighting Illini} at Ohio State {Buckeyes}
This is my final game for this report. I initially thought this was the annual battle for Illibuck, but that's Ohio State vs. Indiana. The Buckeyes were able to take care of Bruce Webber's Fighting Illini as Illinois lost by six. (64-58; OHIO STATE)





No women's scores this time. I know there was an upset in Women's hoops. I think DePaul knocked off a good Notre Dame program. Find more scores by visiting these two links:
* http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2008-01-22&c=all&refresh=0
* http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/scoreboard?d=2008-01-22&c=all&refresh=0

Now a quick look at Wednesday games:
* Western Kentucky at New Orleans
* #1 Memphis at Tulsa
* Florida at South Carolina
* Texas-San Antonio at Texas-Arlington
* Houston at Rice (RIVALRY GAME)



See you next time, everyone!

 

[FoolKiller]

Someone needs to explain to me what is going on with my Wildcats.

I suspect it is the injury issue, but gee whiz.

 

[JohnBM01]

I still think it was a good win for Kentucky even with injury problems and being under a coach other than Tubby Smith. Kentucky didn't cower and duck away. Wildcats don't do that. You back a wild animal into a corner, you bet your ass he'll/she'll fight back against any opposition. And that's what Kentucky did in that game.

What, in your mind, would be an accomplishment to close out the 2007-2008 season, FoolKiller? Finishing above .500? Making the NCAA Tournament even if in the "Play-In Game?" Making the NIT somehow? What?

 

[FoolKiller]

I want the NCAA tournament. Even if we go out in the first or second round we will still be in the tournament.

Of course, last night shows that we have the ability to do it. Will we is still a huge question though.

 

[JohnBM01]

Michael Wilbon of ESPN's "Pardon the Interruption" picked Tennessee to win on the road at Kentucky. During the Big Finish on Wednesday, he briefly apologized for not picking Kentucky to win against Tennessee.

In non-related news, it's said that there could be life on Mars as some sort of human-like figure was sitting on some rocks on a crater on the red planet. I was very compelled to find this out. As one website pointed out, "I love how the media in America is making this out as a joke, while the rest of the world is having intelligent discussions about this photo." See for yourself at this link: < http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/24/604152.aspx >.

Oh yeah, you want college hoops scores? Keep reading.





The University of Memphis has had a great season up to this point. Let's learn a little more about Memphis.

John's Profile School - The University of Memphis
(sources alternate between http://www.memphis.edu and Wikipedia)

The University of Memphis has been considered #1 in the nation in men's hoops. It's said that Memphis is the safest university in a metropolitan area in the entire state of Tennessee. Founded as West Tennessee State Normal School in 1912, the University of Memphis has since evolved into one of the finest universities in the state of Tennessee. Today's Memphis has over 15 Bachelor's degree programs. This ranges from more than 50 majors and 70 concentrations. An enrollment of 20,379 students (Fall 2007) means that people who bear the Reflex Blue and Gray couldn't be wrong. Perhaps you've seen Memphis commercials with the upbeat dance music with several instances of "UM" used. The run of great fortune has been the best since the 1983 Memphis Tigers. In 1983 (then known as Memphis State), the Tigers lost at Virginia Tech in the former Metro Conference. One of the best Memphis alums recently was DeAngelo Hall for the Memphis football team. Coach John Calipari is doing a great job coaching up his boys. We'll see how far into March this team will go once March Madness rolls around.


QUICK REPORT:
Memphis was at Tulsa tonight. The Tigers won 56-41 at Tulsa.



I had a report lined up, but I didn't save it on my Flash Drive. So I will unfortunately have to settle for RAPID FIRE.

RAPID FIRE (Men's scores only)
* Houston at Rice (69-60; Houston)
* Baylor at #16 Texas A&M (116-110, 5OT; Baylor) *** upset! *** <<< first 5OT game in Big XII history
* #18 Villanova at Rutgers (80-68; RUTGERS) *** upset! and disappointing loss ***
* Western Kentucky at New Orleans (73-55; Western Kentucky) <<< WKU now 15-5
* North Carolina-Charlotte at La Salle (84-78; North Carolina-Charlotte) <<< I still think of them as UNCC, though I will use "Charlotte" instead
* California State-Bakersfield at Long Beach State (80-77, OT; California State-Bakersfield)
* Texas-San Antonio at Texas-Arlington (56-50; TEXAS-ARLINGTON)
* Pennsylvania at Temple (80-64; TEMPLE)
* Marshall at West Virginia (66-64; WEST VIRGINIA) <<< two WV schools
* Northern Iowa at Wichita State (65-58; Northern Iowa) <<< Wichita State next-to-last place in MVC standings; 1-7 in conference
* Evansville at Indiana State (72-42; INDIANA STATE) <<< last in MVC standings; 0-8 in conference
* VMI at Winthrop (85-41; WINTHROP)





Wichita State is usually a good school. They stink this season. Evansville had a great team in the 1980s, and they've long been mediocre. In my next report, I'll go old school with Western Kentucky and perhaps have another feature school. Thanks for reading. I'm still sorry I didn't have a full report.

 

[FoolKiller]

In non-related news, it's said that there could be life on Mars as some sort of human-like figure was sitting on some rocks on a crater on the red planet. I was very compelled to find this out. As one website pointed out, "I love how the media in America is making this out as a joke, while the rest of the world is having intelligent discussions about this photo." See for yourself at this link: < http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/01/24/604152.aspx >.

That is because the rock in question is less than a foot tall.

Check out the GTP version here:
https://www.gtplanet.net/forum/showthread.php?t=101925

 

[High-Test]

High-Test firmly believes that KU will win the internet this year. They're doing really well.

 

[JohnBM01]

I will be attending the Houston Auto Show this Saturday. I'll get to see some of the many new and fairly new cars out on the floor at the Reliant Center. I think it's time we go for a drive around America to see how college basketball teams are fairing this Thursday night.





Oakland Heads Into the Lions' Den... or Should I Say the Jaguars' Den
* Oakland {Golden Grizzlies} at IUPUI {Jaguars}
We begin with Joey D's school- Oakland University. It's time to see if his men in gold and black took care of matters away from home. IUPUI spelled backwards is IUPUI. Okay, that was just babble. This school is based in Indianapolis, IN. Indy folk are probably still saddened that a Manning will be in the Super Bowl... just not Indy's Manning. Fear not! Other than (the other Indianapolis D-1 school), you still have a great non-football school with an potent basketball team. That would be the Jaguars of IUPUI. IUPUI is not yet at the summit of the Summit League. If that's true for IUPUI, then Oakland is just trying to scale a hellishly tall mountain. Oakland University had to make their way into Indianapolis to make something happen. Oakland knows they aren't the favorites to win the Summit League. However, the Golden Grizzlies know what they signed up for here. They beat Oregon, but can they beat IUPUI? IUPUI is a mouthful to say, but the Jags let their actions speak for themselves in taming the boys from Rochester, MI. (82-69; INDIANA-PURDUE-INDIANAPOLIS)


Two Religious Schools in Ohio Meet Up in a Good Atlantic-10 Match
* #16 Dayton {Flyers} at #23 Xavier {Musketeers}0
I hope you love A-10 basketball because two usually stellar teams will clash. It's the battle of two Ohio schools. A quick fact is that Ohio has the most FBS schools of any school in the nation. Almost as if Ohio is literred with all kinds of schools. Let's meet one of them. The University of Dayton is the pride of Dayton, OH. It's one of my favorites to win Atlantic 10 pride. I believe this is a public school that has some religious heritage and history. The Flyers have taken off leaving everyone in the dust. They even knocked off a great University of Pittsburgh program. Now let's go to a team that's slightly disappointing. Xavier University can be found in the city of Cincinnati. You have to travel through either the Kentucky cities of Coventry or Lexington to access Cincinnati by air. The University of Cincinnati is the premier school of Cincy. The Xavier Musketeers are one of 28 Jesuit colleges and universities. The Jesuit style of education is embedded and predicated on the fact that God lies in all creatures and things. So how about we get this match started? Xavier University is a religious school, but they put an unholy beatdown on Dayton. It was a good game... on paper. (69-43; #23 XAVIER) *** upset (by ranking)! and disappointing loss ***

OFF-TOPIC:
I actually thought Xavier was a team that was falling apart aside from their wonderful start. I guess you could say that I thought about Xavier's struggles more like how the rest of the nation felt about Kentucky's struggles until they crushed the orange boys from Tennessee.



Just to pause a bit...

EXTRA: "Religious School" Defined
You may see me reference certain school as religious schools. What I generally mean is that these are schools that were founded and/or instituted with religion. I often read about some of the schools I try to cover in my reports. Schools like Marquette, Villanova, Niagara, San Francisco, Houston Baptist, Providence, Detroit, Creighton, Saint Joseph's, St. John's, ANY Loyola school, Chaminade, Philadelphia, and many more are usually religious-type schools because their roots are deeply in religion. I think I've seen videos and commercials for Marquette University and Providence College. A message I heard from one of these schools (probably Marquette) was "we're a Catholic university, but we welcome all people from all religions." I can mostly think of two Division 1 conferences mostly consisting of private, religious institutions- the Metro-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) and the West Coast Conference. A good advantage to being in some of the private religious colleges and universities is that most of these schools can be found in or within city limits or metropolitan areas of most large and major cities. Take my hometown of Houston. We have Houston Baptist University which serves as our religious-type school in which you can still get to enjoy the greater Houston area. Saint Louis University is another one. It brings up the St. Louis market as far as college sports are involved. I'm still curious as to if Saint Louis University is named for the founder of St. Louis or not. That's another good thing about most private religious schools- they provide a college sports market to major cities and areas that otherwise don't have a premier market for college sports. A big example for me is San Francisco. I love San Francisco, but there's been no college football market there since the untimely demise of [the University of] San Francisco football. USaFr is a Jesuit university as I read. It's a Catholic school in the City by the Bay. So that's what I mean when I say "religious school." It relates to any school founded or established by some sort of religious congregation, religious leaders, or anyone of that nature.



Let's keep the score train rolling with a rundown!

John's Rundown
We begin with a tale of two Washingtons in men's hoops.

* #6 Washington State is Overrated, Just Ask Arizona's 76-64 Upset of the Cougars (76-64)
* Washington Upsets #24 Arizona State on the Road 72-61
* #15 Butler Knocks Off a Former National Champion, Loyola University of Chicago, 63-50
* Lamar Takes Down Central Arkansas 89-86 in Overtime
* No Lambeau Field or Brett Favre Here... Just Wisconsin-Green Bay Beating Cleveland State 59-50
* Binghamton Handles New Hampshire 67-58
* The Red Flash of St. Francis (PA) Knock Off the Terriers of St. Francis College (NY school) 92-84 in Triple Overtime
* #4 Duke Beats Down Virginia Tech 81-64
* #15 Ohio State Gets Upset 79-70 by Unranked Minnesota ~women's hoops~
* The Men Play on Saturday, but the Lady Wildcats of Kentucky Take Down South Carolina 66-62
* The Egg Bowl of Basketball! Mississippi State Wins 57-52 Over Mississippi



As an interesting fact, both the men and women of Western Kentucky are 15-5 on the year. So that I don't forget... I'd like to welcome High-Test to college hoops scores. I'll be sure to cover both Kansas and North Dakota State. I'm going to warn you, High-Test... because we have Joey D on here who goes to another Summit League school- Oakland University. He loves Michigan football, but supports Oakland basketball. So welcome.

 

[JohnBM01]

No NBA focus this Friday. So let me just delve right into some scores in my rundown. My rundown segments are basically quick reports done up as newspaper headlines.



John's Rundown: Men's Scores Only

* Boston University Thinks Big Win, but Thinks Again as They Lose to Vermont 70-57
* South Carolina Upstate Gets a Nice Win in Jacksonville Against North Florida 53-52
* Niagara Blew the Doors Off of St. Peter's 79-59
* Rockets at Trailblazers Wasn't the Only City of Roses Match... Portland Cooked the California State-Bakersfield Roadruners 73-63
* Jackrabbits at Bison... North Dakota State's football Success Carries Into Basketball With a 90-63 Beating



CSTV debuts their Division 2 matches this Saturday as it's Drury University (famous alum: Bob Barker) playing at the University of Indianapolis. I'll have many more scores. If I didn't cover your team and they played, you know I'll give you a link as to how that team did. You're always free to supply your own report of your beloved team. Don't just wait on me to give my report. Just go right ahead and post a reply. I'll be going to the Houston Auto Show this Saturday to see some of the new cars and concepts that hit the show floors. I may not get to see much action on TV because of this. Have a great weekend!

 

[BlackBeadyEyes]

I just thought about doing this...

why don't we an informal poll as to who is the best men's college basketball coach RIGHT NOW?

For me, it's Bruce Pearl, head coach at Tennessee.

Why? Well, he's enthusiastic, he's loves what he does, and he gets the best out of his players, who clearly love playing for him. He's extremely media-friendly (he even sometimes does color commentary for Tennessee women's basketball games), he loves his players, and most of all, he does his best work with limited talent. That's what he did at UW-Milwaukee, and that's what he's doing right now with the Vols. Like in his first year with the Vols, he took a team which, if I'm not mistaken, hadn't been to the NCAA Tournament since Bernard King was there, and took them to the second round!!! Even Foolkiller has to give Coach Pearl major 'dap' right there!

So, Foolkiller and JohnBM01, what do you think? Who do you think is the best coach in men's college basketball RIGHT NOW?

 

[JohnBM01]

I'll say this. I think John Calipari is doing a great job with Memphis. They knocked off Gonzaga (more scores in a later report), and I think they may able to be a Final Four team. It isn't like Memphis is underrated in any such way. They are easily the best "non-BCS conference" school in men's hoops right now. People are predicting the only real conference threat would be my hometown Houston Cougars. I think coaches are going to kill to acquire the services of Calipari. He's an awesome coach right now.

I do respect Bruce Pearl for his colorful ways. He can still get it done coaching to his players. Does that mean Tennessee's a Final Four threat? Maybe. Perhaps their football success can succeed in basketball. And perhaps the Tennessee men will be just as dominating as the Tennessee women under the amazing Pat Summitt. So with Memphis and Tennessee mentioned in the same post, you could say that Tennessee is having no problem rising to the occasion to make noise.

Another coach I'd nominate as being a great coach right now (some of you may disagree)... Tubby Smith. Disgruntled Kentucky fans run Tubby Smith out of town... and ends up making Minnesota relevant. The Big Ten isn't fully stacked from top to bottom, but Minnesota is turning out to be the brightest star among a galaxy of Big Ten teams. Kentucky's loss is Minnesota's gain. Maybe Tubby's doing so well to show Kentucky what kind of coach he REALLY is as opposed to when some disgruntled fans ran him out of Lexington.

 

[JohnBM01]

I've been to the Houston Auto Show this Saturday. I'm in the process of showcasing my building my collection of photos on my Myspace page at < http://www.myspace.com/johnbmarine >. So I didn't doo too much to get real scores down. It is never easy to cover as many different teams the nation over. So I'm always finding new ways of delivering scores to you all by featuring as many games as possible. So I'll go with an extended Rundown. I'll even throw in some traditional score reports as well. Put the keys in the ignition and let's take a drive!





John's Rundown
Just headlines. Not too many fancy reports. Just scores so that I can get some shut-eye while keeping you all informed on how your favorite teams are doing. Home team is underlined

* South Carolina Were Cocky, but Couldn't Back it Up as Kentucky Handles South Carolina 78-70
DID YOU KNOW...
(a) ...that this is Kentucky's first winning streak since the streak that began on November 21, 2007? They beat Liberty that day, Houston's own Texas Southern on November 24, and Stony Brook on November 27th.
(b) ...that Kentucky has not won a road game yet this season? They have two chances to get a road win when they go to Georgia Feb. 2 and Auburn Feb. 6.

Nebraska's Beatdown by #2 Kansas in football carries into basketball with a 84-49 Beating
* Houston Blows out Marshall 71-58
* Alabama Wins the Iron Bowl of Basketball Against Auburn 89-77

--- Upsets ---
Six Top 25 Teams Got Upset Including... (home teams underlined)

* Purdue over Wisconsin 60-56
* Connecticut over Indiana 68-63
* Mississippi State Over 88-68
* Rutgers Over Pittsburgh 77-64
* Notre Dame Over Villanova 90-80 <<< I'm sure BlackBeadyEyes loves this
* Richmond Over Dayton 80-63





RAPID FIRE (men's scores only)

* St. John's at Louisville (67-57; LOUISVILLE)
* Lamar at Northwestern State (91-62; Lamar)
* Missouri at Colorado (66-62; Missouri)
* Morgan State at Howard (69-51; Morgan State)
* Virginia Tech at Boston College (81-73, OT; Virginia Tech) *** big win ***
* Alabama A&M at Southern (65-49; SOUTHERN)
* New Mexico at BYU (83-66; BRIGHAM YOUNG)
* Rice at Southern Mississippi (71-53; SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI)
* Oakland at Western Illinois (85-71; Oakland)
* Georgia at #3 Tennessee (85-69; #3 TENNESSEE)





More scores? Come and get them here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2008-01-26&c=all&refresh=0 (Men)
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/scoreboard?d=2008-01-26&c=all&refresh=0 (Women)



That would be all. Thanks for visiting on this final weekend of January.

 

[FoolKiller]

Even Foolkiller has to give Coach Pearl major 'dap' right there!

So, Foolkiller and JohnBM01, what do you think? Who do you think is the best coach in men's college basketball RIGHT NOW?

Pearl is good, I'll give him that. Not good enough to beat the cats but good.

I don't know who I would say is the best right now. I don't watch enough non-SEC ball to say, but in the SEC I can definitely say Pearl.

 

[JohnBM01]

Congratulations to Kentucky on beating South Carolina. Time for the 'Cats to hit the road next. And it seems like the men's basketball team at Georgia has finally turned the corner. Any chance Kentucky takes care of business in Athens, GA, FoolKiller?

 

[JohnBM01]

I have no report at all. So just take a look at who won and who didn't on Sunday by following these links:

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2008-01-27&refresh=60 (Men)
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2008-01-27&refresh=60 (Women)

I hope to have something for you all with Monday scores. Until then, have a great day.

 

[FoolKiller]

Congratulations to Kentucky on beating South Carolina. Time for the 'Cats to hit the road next. And it seems like the men's basketball team at Georgia has finally turned the corner. Any chance Kentucky takes care of business in Athens, GA, FoolKiller?

If everyone stays healthy they can still earn a tournament bid. I really want that to happen because I had a conversation about how Tubby should be sued by the university for leaving us with no talent. When I tried to point out that Tubby coudl win with them last year all they could do was change to how Tubby struggled in the tournament and didn't beat any high ranked teams. Nevermind that Gillispie lost to Gardner Webb, which got, with Tubby's players. Circular argument.

I want Gillispie to do something huge from here on with these players so I can point out that he struggled when Tubby's players were injured and won when they weren't.


I am sure they will just say it is because Gillispie finally taught those boys a thing or two about basketball.

As for Georgia, yes they can do it. That has never been a doubt. The problem is we always have to ask, will they?

 

[JohnBM01]

I saw most of the State of the Union address last night. It's the last State of the Union address under the wing of President George W. Bush. On to some other stuff now. For the first time on Myspace, I got phished. Thankfully, I was able to restore my account without any damage. I fell for some link in an ad. When I tried to send a quick message because I didn't know it was someone's birthday (nobody I know personally), I got a message saying "the message failed the spam marker." So I was phished for about 3-5 minutes. Stuff like this goes to show that Myspace needs better security and stop letting these "(do something), win ## ringtone(s)!" or anything regarding secret crushes. Then again, it's what you get working on public computers like the one I'm using right now. I don't have a full report. What I WILL do is give a rundown of what happened. So here are your Monday results:



John's Rundown
* ~women~ #2 Tennessee Gives #10 Duke a 67-64 takedown
* ~women~ The Men Lost to Them, Now the IUPUI Women Take Down Oakland 64-61
* ~women~ The Battle of the Two St. Francis Schools was Won by St. Francis College 59-51 Over St. Francis University <<< St. Francis College in New York and St. Francis U. in Pennsylvania
* ~women~ Lady Buckeyes of #15 Ohio State Pound Pennsylvania State 89-53
* Bedlam! Oklahoma Held on to Beat Rivals From Stillwater- Oklahoma State 64-61
* Washington, D.C.'s Howard University Took Out Coppin State 73-69 in Overtime in this HBCU Battle
* The Rose City Of Portland Saw Their U. of Portland Pilots Push up Daisies at Gonzaga 79-41
* Eddie Sutton is Still Stuck on 799 Wins at San Francisco Lost 66-48 to Santa Clara
* San Diego Gets a Big Win Over St. Mary's 63-55 <<< St. Mary's was ranked in some polls, so I didn't consider this a true upset.





That's Monday scores. I'll have Tuesday scores when I have them available.

 

[JohnBM01]

Scores from Tuesday (I apologize):

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2008-01-29&refresh=60 (Men)
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/scoreboard?d=2008-01-29&refresh=60 (Women)



This is kind of a stretch in my college hoops reports in which I don't usually have the energy to continually provide reports on time with as many teams as possible. Remember I balance school and this. Wednesday action to come including my hometown Houston Cougars playing against #1 Memphis. If this game is on national TV, then this is probably bad for Houston because apparently, Houston teams can't win on National TV.

Thanks for reading.

 

[JohnBM01]

This is just a quick overview for water cooler talk next morning at work:

* Memphis Takes Out Houston
* Kansas No Longer Unbeaten when Kansas State Hosted Them

I hope to cover many more games as my next post will be my full report of Wednesday action.

 

[JohnBM01]

Being the late bloomer I am, I recently downloaded MUGEN for the PC. MUGEN is a fighting game in which it's basically a freeware game you can use to come up with your own battles. I'll show you a funny fight as an example of how MUGEN works and what you could do with it. Check out this fight between Homer Simpson and Peter Griffin (Family Guy): < http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pts8mppI3Ns >. I will really focus on #1 and #2 in this report and follow up with RAPID FIRE. So here are your results.





Houston Can Really Elevate Themselves with a Win Over #1 Memphis
* #1 Memphis {Tigers} at Houston {Cougars}
Houston knocked off #1 UCLA back in the 1960s in the nation's first nationally-televised regular season game. Could the Cougars of 2007-2008 get it done? They have a cat fight against the Memphis Tigers. Houston's shooting woes came back to haunt them as they were taken apart. Houston will get another shot AT Memphis on Feb. 13. Easier said than done when playing in the lion's... uh, Tigers' den at FedEx Forum. (89-77; #1 Memphis)

SIDE NOTE:
I personally think Houston jacks up way too many threes. If you're going to shoot the three, you got to hit it. I wasn't overly "fanboyish" in wanting Houston to win. I know what kind of team we have. We only lost to Virginia Commonwealth, Massachusetts, and Arizona. Houston is a good team, but they need to be better. Houston just fell apart in the second half. Plain and simple.



So one upset clearly didn't happen. Now let's see if I can make High-Test happy about a win at Kansas State.

Birds and Cats Battle in Manhattan... Kansas, That Is
* #2 Kansas {Jayhawks} at #24 Kansas State {Wildcats} --- RIVALRY GAME: Battle for the (KS) Governor's Cup ---
The state of Kansas is in the virtual center of the lower 48 of United States of America. It's the center of basketball, as long as you're not the floundering Wichita State. K-State's been in the sports news a lot for their bad boy, Beasley. The Wildcats wear purple and silver and hope to be golden over Kansas. They know a win over Kansas will definitely keep Memphis leaps and bounds over the competition since Memphis took care of Houston on the road. Kansas University has been an absolute surprise in football in going to the Orange Bowl and winning their match against Virginia Tech(?). Before I continue, I'd like to wish Mark Mangino a speedy recovery. Now let's talk KU basketball. The Jayhawks want to keep pressing forward into the Promised Land of college basketball. Trouble is, Kansas State took them to a promised land alright- a promised beating. Throw out the records on rivalry games. Kansas State just made Memphis the lone unbeaten. (8?-7?; #24 KANSAS STATE) *** upset! ***



Now for other games across the nation.


RAPID FIRE
The scores for women's games start with this symbol: ~w~

* #10 Texas at #23 Texas A&M (80-63; #23 TEXAS A&M) *** upset! ***
* #6 Georgetown at St. John's (74-42; Georgetown)
* Texas-Arlington at Sam Houston State (73-57; SAM HOUSTON STATE) <<< SHSU is now 16-3 overall
* Iowa at Purdue (51-50; PURDUE)
* UAB at Central Florida (88-81; Alabama-Birmingham)
* Cincinnati at West Virginia (62-39; Cincinnati)
* #19 Vanderbilt at #24 Mississippi (74-58; #24 MISSISSIPPI) *** upset! ***
* ~w~ #25 Texas at #6 Baylor (61-60; #6 BAYLOR)
* ~w~ Louisville at Cincinnati (79-56; Louisville)
* ~w~ #18 Kansas State at Nebraska (77-75; #18 Kansas State)





You know, something I'm going to experiment is using symbols after displaying ranking in my Rapid Fire and Rundown sessions. For example, instead of stating that Florida State is ranked #18 in the men's rankings, I'll use "#18M Florida State. It will give you a better idea of who's ranked where in a men's or women's game in my quick reports. I'll experiment that and see if you like it.

You all have a great day! Take care, everyone!

 

[JohnBM01]

Ladies and gentlemen... I got sick Thursday evening into the overnight. So I was unable to get scores from Thursday. All I had was a sore throat that I got over by drinking some orange juice and chewing on some Vitamin C tablets. I'm fine now. Just a little weary from getting extra hours of sleep this morning into this early afternoon. So I'll let you see some scores from Yahoo! Sports:

* http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2008-01-31 (men)
* http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/scoreboard?d=2008-01-31 (women)

I'll try and get all of you some scores from Friday as well as perhaps an NBA focus. Take care, everyone. I will also set up a February thread to compliment my February coverage.