College Basketball: December 2006

[JohnBM01]

Welcome to the month of December. It's time to start a new month. I may become more active with college basketball since December and January won't see too much football action. November was a time in which you could hear about teams you've never heard of before. You'll see Division 1 schools play up against Division 2 and 3 schools as well as teams from other sanctioning bodies. Some of those even include the NAIA and NJCAA (National Junior College Athletic Association; has nothing to do with New Jersey). Things start to get more intense as we close out 2006 and welcome 2007.

I will try to provide regularly updates all month long. Got some college hoops scores or news to talk about? These monthly threads are YOUR threads. I'll trust some of you college hoops fans to give out your own scores and comments even when I'm not posting. So let's do December!

 

[JohnBM01]

Can you read me?

 

[JohnBM01]

Here's the short version of my college basketball report for Saturday. The following highlights:

* North Carolina beats Kentucky at home
* North Dakota State picks up a big win
* DePaul shocks #5 Kansas
* Gonzaga gets a big win at Texas
* Wichita State gets an impressive win at Syracuse

Maybe more to come when I get a full report.

 

[FoolKiller]

Well, this is when I was hoping to come in and talk trash about UNc and how great teh Wildcats are, but truth is we got beat, it was ugly and teh wildcats aren't doing so well. We have yet to beat a ranked opponent. If we can't win some big SEC games then it will be hello NIT. If that happens then it will be goodbye Tubby.

 

[JohnBM01]

This was a bad weekend for Kentucky Wildcat basketball on the road. The men get Kentucky, and the ladies get Alabama State. Here are my reports:


--- KENTUCKY LOOK IN ---

MEN
* Kentucky at #7 North Carolina (from Sat. 12/2/2006)
It was 31-24 at the half in favor of North Carolina. Afterwards, the home crowd had more reason to celebrate by picking up a win over Kentucky. (75-63; NORTH CAROLINA)



WOMEN
* Kentucky at #19 Louisville
Kentucky's men lost at North Carolina. So let's see if Kentucky's women can win on the road. The Kentucky/Louisville rivalry is already a heated rivalry for men. But what happens when a heated rivalry is shared among ladies? A rivalry is a rivalry no matter who is involved. It can be anything from student athletes hating each other to janitors hating each other. It can be teachers from rival schools hating each other to even rival school presidents and administration hating each other. A rivalry is a rivalry, and none as big as Kentucky/Louisville. Let's meet Louisville's divas first. Red is a color of love. Red can also represent something hot. Love and hot... the measure by which most ladies judge their overall image to others. The Louisville Lady Cardinals have to be good. They are in the Top 25. The best of them all are in the Top 25. They hope to have Kentucky's number. But let's meet the Lexington girls. In contrast to red, blue can be a color of sadness and cold. There's a movie title that describes their women's hoops team- "Mean Girls." But don't worry. They're kind and friendly. Just don't share the basketball court with these Lady Wildcats. Let's see what Kentucky's women can do in Louisville. They didn't do much in the first half as Louisville dominated them. But the Lady Wildcats came back hard to bring the gap to about 3. Freedom Hall was rocking as the Lady Cardinals continued the pressure. Blue is beautiful... even on ladies. Both teams were looking at a double bonus situation around 6:15 left in the Second Half. So you already know this must have been a physical, foul-infested game. I've seen some WNBA games that were pretty physical, but even the ladies can elevate their game. It seemed like Kentucky was in a slipstream battle against Louisville. They pulled close to Louisville in drafting, but couldn't seem to overtake Louisville. Arounds 2:17 left in the Second Half, it was 76-69 in favor of Louisville. Remember that both teams are in the double bonus. 78-73 was Louisville's lead. This slipstream battle continues. Could Kentucky overtake? There's one minute left and an 80-73 Louisville lead. Meanwhile, this caps a bad weekend for Kentucky basketball on the road. Louisville remains unbeaten in women's hoops. The Lady Cardinals host Western Kentucky December 9th. Word has it that WKU's women are pretty good. Could this be an upset? Find out this Saturday (if I get those scores). (83-75; #19 LOUISVILLE)

-end "Kentucky Look-In"





JOHN'S EXTRAS

--- Meet the 28 Jesuit Schools ---
I talk about Jesuit schools in some of my reports. Well, get to meet them. Of the 28 schools, only one is not in America. Take a look at these schools. I've included their nickname and location:

Boston College (Eagles; Chestnut Hill, MA)
Canisius College (Golden Griffins; Buffalo, NY)
College of the Holy Cross (Crusaders; Worcester, MA)
Creighton University (Blue Jays; Omaha, NE)
Fairfield University (Stags; Fairfield, CT)
Fordham University (Rams; New York City, NY)
Georgetown University (Hoyas; Washington, D.C.)
Gonzaga University (Bulldogs; Spokane, WA)
John Carroll University (Blue Streaks; Clevland, OH)
Le Moyne College (Dolphins; Syracuse, NY)
Loyola College (Greyhounds; Baltimore, MD)
Loyola Marymount University (Lions; Los Angeles, CA)
Loyola University of Chicago (Ramblers; Chicago, IL)
Loyola University New Orleans (Wolfpack; New Oreleans, LA)
Marquette University (Golden Eagles; Milwaukee, WI)
Regis University (Rangers; Denver, CO)
Rockhurst University (Hawks; Kansas City, MO)
Saint Joseph's University (Hawks; Philadelphia, PA)
Saint Louis University (Bilikens; St. Louis, MO)
Saint Louis University (Spain)
Saint Peter's College (Peacocks; Jersey City, NJ)
Santa Clara University (Broncos; Santa Clara, CA)
Seattle University (Redhawks; Seattle, WA)
Spring Hill College (Badgers; Mobile, AL)
University of Detroit-Mercy College (Titans; Detroit, MI)
University of San Francisco (Dons; San Francisco, CA)
University of Scranton (Royals; Scranton, PA)
Wheeling Jesuit University (Cardinals; Wheeling, WV)
Xavier University (Musketeers; Cincinatti, OH)

From an education standpoint, these schools comprise the Assciation of Jesuit Colleges and Universities (AJCU). The Jesuit education experience (as noted at Creighton: http://www.creighton.edu/endchr/jesuit.html ) is basically about combining a great learning experience in addition to understanding today's world and all its ethical value. It must be pretty powerful to learn whatever you can as well as get it all with an ethical view on life.





More scores to come in the future.

 

[JohnBM01]

NOTE: Due to some personal problems in my life and Finals, I'll likely be away from college basketball talk until my last Finals are complete by next Wednesday.

 

[JohnBM01]

- Cats Return Home to Rupp Arena -
* Indiana at Kentucky
Kentucky's men lost on the road at North Carolina last Saturday. Kentucky's women lost on the road against their hated Louisville Lady Cardinals. Now let's see how the men do as they'll perform a little housekeeping at Rupp Arena. This game is for FoolKiller and his boys in blue. They'll hit it off against Indiana. Let's meet Indiana first. Indiana is best known for their basketball prowess. But did you know that Indiana has one of the most storied soccer programs as well? These Hoosiers hope to give Kentucky some more growing pains. Perhaps soften them up against their game against Louisville later this year. Now it's time to meet the home team. Commonwealth Stadium seats well over 60,000 football fans. Rupp Arena probably seats about 1/3 of Commonwealth Stadium. Playing as the Away team at Rupp Arena is like feeding yourself to the lion's den. It's suicide. You can see people play like Joe Crawford and Randolph Morris play along with Tubby Smith calling the shots. Speaking of shots, the Wildcats are like hitmen- only armed with basketballs that know how to find their way to the bottom on the net. Their bank is open 24/7 when it's game day or game night. Can they be money against Indiana? For the first half, Kentucky led by a small margin. Indiana was bricking a lot of their shots early in the second half as Kentucky was on point. The lead changed like a competitive NASCAR race. Morris put up 12 points with 8 rebounds for Kentucky. On the other end, D.J. White put up 19 for Indiana despite trailing 47-41 at around 7:45 left in the game. Kentucky defended the inside very well in this game. Indiana put up some freaky shots that weren't cashed in. In the end, Kentucky picks up a HUGE win against a storied Indiana program. How you like that, FoolKiller? (59-54; KENTUCKY)


Again, I'll still be away likely.

 

[FoolKiller]

How you like that, FoolKiller? (59-54; KENTUCKY)

They are still sloppy.

It is getting better now that Tubby has taken Bradley off the point and given that to Jasper. I just fear playing Louisville next week with a freshman as our point man. Hopefully now that Bradley has gotten out to where he can move around more and make some shots he will be a larger factor to contend with.

Well, both Louisville and Kentucly have been playing mediocre (for Kentucky teams) so Saturday's matchup should be a close game. I think teh key to winning will be which coach works out the most kinks between now and then. Kentucky has a week off and will be able to focus completely on Louisville, but Louisville has to play between now and then against Massachusetts, coached by Kentucky Pitino Alum Travis ford, and so they will only have a couple of days to prepare for Kentucky. I think this gives Kentucky an advantage, but the game is in Freedom Hall. Fortunately, the fans travel well.

It will be a good game come Saturday.

 

[Max Powers]

I'm really excited about the Pittsburgh Panthers this year. Aaron Gray is looking like he could be the most dominant center in college hoops.

 

[JohnBM01]

I know I promised that I wouldn't cover college hoops until I was done with Finals. But I just want to add some comments.

I obviously know you you're pulling for, FoolKiller! The Kentucky women lost at Louisville's women last weekend. I don't see Kentucky's men losing to Louisville's men. This game is still competitive wherever the game is held. Rupp Arena is hell to play in if you're the Away team. But the same goes for Freedom Hall. The team that best knows how to weather the storm will be the winner. We could be seeing NBA-style scoring for this game this Saturday.



- Pittsburgh Look-In -
Max Powers, thanks for coming in and offering your input. I checked the Yahoo! Sports entry on the Pittsburgh Panthers. Let's take a look at how they have done so far:

They beat down Western Michigan on November 12th by a store of 86-67. Two days later, they blew out the Delaware State Hornets 67-50. The beating down continued as they took on the FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) pride of Boston- Northeastern University. They got Huskies, but it's all about cats in this one as the Panthers won 78-52 three days after beating Delaware State. Massachusetts used to be a #1-ranked team in their history. They weren't #1 against the Pittsburgh squad as they lost 85-68 on November 18th. They took down BlazinXtreme's boys of Oakland University. The Golden Grizzlies lost by 11 to Pitt as they won 66-55. Florida State football has been disappointing, so can their men make up for it? Not a chance. It was 88-66 in favor of Pittsburgh on Black Friday (Nov. 24 - day after Thanksgiving). Robert Morris wanted to upset Pitt on November 29th. The Colonials were Panther food by beating them 67-53. Auburn University- great football school... worst men's basketball team in the SEC. Pitt hit the road and took Auburn to school with a 74-66 win on the road. Duquesne was in the news all preseason, but for all the wrong reasons. There was violence on school grounds involving the players for Duquesne. Everyone is thankfully all healthy. But still... Pittsburgh won themselves a game. 73-56, thank you very much. They survived a scare at Buffalo by winning 70-67.

Now let's look at their next five games:
They play at #11 Wisconsin this Saturday. This follows a trip to #22 Oklahoma State on December 21st. They return home to play Dayton and Florida A&M on December 23 and 30 respectively. And what a way to kick off 2007: go to the Carrier Dome to meet #21 Syracuse. Hello! The Big East fun begins when they go to Syracuse.

I personally think Pittsburgh will make the NCAA Tournament. I think they'll make it to the Sweet Sixteen and higher. I probably have them as high as the Elite Eight or even the Final Four. Max Powers, your breed of felines are #2 in the nation. How do you see things when Pittsburgh heads to the Kohl Center?

-end "Pittsburgh Look-In"



- Houston Look-In -

The University of Houston has played six games so far and are in second place in Conference USA. The Cougars are looking to return to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1992. They aren't looking too good so far. Here's their run up to this point:

The University of Houston began their season at Rhode Island against the Rams. It was November 13th as this game went into Overtime. Houston won on the heels of their big gamebreaker, Oliver Lafayette. He cashed in the winning long-range bomb to win 102-99 in a furious match. They returned to Hoffheinz Pavillion to meet the Monmouth Hawks on November 18th. This New Jersey school left Texas with an 89-80 loss. They would smash Grambling State of the highly unfavored SWAC conference four days later. The GSU Tigers lost 96-61. Then trouble struck on November 25th. Houston would lose at Saint Louis 81-78. But it was no problem on November 29th when they exorcised Prairie View A&M 101-54. Houston lost to Virginia Commonwealth last year. This year on December 2nd, they lost and lost bad- 102-84. So they stand at 4-2.

Here are their next five games: they have had a BIG break after December 2nd as they play at #14 Arizona on December 17th. They will take on a capable Charlotte (North Carolina-Charlotte) team at home on December 21st. Charlotte was once a member of Conference USA (Houston's conference). Now they are an Atlantic-10 squad which is almost basketball exclusive since the A-10 will drop football after this season is done. They will start 2007 with a BIG game. They will head to Rupp Arena on January 3rd to meet the Kentucky Wildcats. That will be one hell of a cat fight. They'll rest up and have another cat fight when they play at home against #16 Memphis and their Memphis Tigers. Memphis has never played better since their football team severely disappointed this year.

-end "Houston Look-In"


And there's your college basketball love.

 

[JohnBM01]

There are some other notes I wanted to touch up on. I normally considered Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Detroit, and Denver to be powerful mid-major teams. All three of them are under .500 for what I know. It's a tough season even considering that Denver lost to Northern Colorado recently. Better hope all these teams get better. Otherwise, they'll go to the NIT or even to nobody's tournament.

 

[JohnBM01]

I am done with Finals. So I may likely cover some college basketball again. We may (a) outlook to Kentucky's match at Louisville (for FoolKiller). We could (b) outlook to Pittsburgh's match at Wisconsin to see if Pittsburgh can remain #2 in the nation (for Max Powers). Or we can have a little outlook to ANY game or team you wish to discuss.

 

[FoolKiller]

An outlookfor the Louisville vs Kentucky rivalry:

Kentucky is looking sloppy, but they have only lost to ranked teams so far. Louisville is also looking sloppy and appear about the same, but they have yet to play a ranked opponent. This could be a close game, but after Louisville's loss to Massachusetts last night I am fairly confident that Kentucky will pull out a win.

My prediction: Kentucky's improved rebounding and free throw shooting will make the difference as Louisville fails to get any points from their rebounds and can't hit a free throw to save their life. It is likely that we will see a close game but Kentucky's minor advantages will be the deciding factor. Expect a lot of turnovers. Both teams are having troubles with this, but since Kentucky has switched Bradley off the point and has Jasper taking on that roll Bradley is now free for fast breaks and has more freedom to cause the other team to turn it over instead of turning it over himself.

In the end, it appears Kentucky may have patched the holes in the ship and are just waiting to hit their stride, while Louisville is still trying to find the answers to their problems.

My prediction: Kentucky by 7, expect a low score.

 

[JohnBM01]

Today has college football playoffs in Division 2 and 3. The first two scores are for FoolKiller and Max Powers respectively.





--- E-'Ville Intentions ---
* Kentucky at Louisville (RIVALRY: Battle of the Bluegrass)
Pretend both teams are going to be on a winless all year. I'm talking about a performance similar to the 2003-2004 Savannah State Tigers. If you ask Kentucky and/or Louisville which game out of the year they'd love to win, they would probably say this rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville. I'm not saying it will happen, but if both teams were winless and have only one game to win out of the year, it's this game. The pride of Kentucky is on the line yet again. You could say that the Kentucky men are trying to avenge the loss to the Louisville women. So this must be the deal... "Kentucky, our ladies lost at Kentucky and can't believe it. We don't want BOTH of our teams losing to Louisville. So get out there and kick some butt!" Like the king sending his proud knights into battle, the Kentucky Wildcats hopped onto their horses to enter enemy territory. That territory is Louisville. Kentucky is the Bluegrass State. So why is Louisville red? In most video games, most of your red oppoents are the bad guys. The two-time National Champions met the seven-time National Champions at home. Louisville rules football in Kentucky, but it's their Cardinals' basketball team that has won National Championship gold. So who will win this game? I was unfortunately unable to watch at home to see the extreme hate these two teams have. Last year, Louisville was #4 in the nation up against an unranked(?) Kentucky squad at Rupp Arena... and lost. This year, the game ended in somewhat of a blowout. I usually consider 15 or more points as a blowout, but this is a bad loss. I guess Louisville thought the Wildcats were the Georgetown (of Kentucky) team they almost lost to in an exhibition game. Kentucky wins this game. Kentucky will likely see the 2007 rendition of this rivalry played at Rupp Arena, which seats about 20,000 (exaggeration) people. They came, they saw, they conquered. Now it's Louisville's turn next year. Kentucky is now 7-3 as Louisville is 5-4. Another Cardinals loss means they will at 0.500. Will they be? We'll see when that time rolls around. (61-49; Kentucky)



--- Curiousity Killed the Cats ---
* #2 Pittsburgh at #7 Wisconsin
Remember the Louisville and Rutgers game in football? Louisville was #3 in the nation going up against a talented and reborn Rutgers squad. The two Big East teams had a great matchup. On the basketball side, the University of Pittsburgh is looking to make some noise and in a big way. Wisconsin goes to 11-1 as Pittsburgh is now 10-1. Throw away the "unbeaten" tag for Pittsburgh. But they may need "undefeated in conference" when Big East play starts. From what I've seen from both teams, they know how to drain the rock from deep. This could be key to their advancement through March Madness should both teams make it. But Wisconsin wins in a BIG upset. (89-75; #7 WISCONSIN) *upset!*



--- Bulldog Blitz ---
* #16 Gonzaga vs. Georgia (at: Gwinnett Center - (suburban Atlanta), GA)
Both teams are Bulldogs. The deal here is that one pack of five will win over the other pack of five. Let the winner be Georgia in a stunning upset. That's right! Georgia. As in the once-dominant SEC football team with a pathetic basketball team! UGA gets the win light by several lengths. (96-83; GEORGIA) *upset!*

SIDE NOTE: During this game, Georgia executed a beautiful alley opp dunk. A Hall of Fame Georgia Bulldog (Dominique Wilkins?) was on hand to see this up front. I'm sure he enjoyed that alley oop.



--- Speaking of Good Football Teams with Pathetic Basketball Teams... ---
* Southeastern Louisiana at Pennsylvania State
Joe Paterno should coach the Penn State basketball team while waiting for their Bowl Game. The Nitanny Lions will be hating themselves next morning with a loss like this to the Southeastern Louisiana Lions. (69-66; Southeast Louisiana)



--- Bite Bigger than Bark? ---
* #18 Butler vs. Purdue (at: Conseco Field House - Indianapolis, IN)
Okay... no one gave me a memo that Butler is the #18 team in the nation. I can understand if Southern Illinois, Northern Iowa, Missouri State, Oral Roberts, North Carolina-Charlotte, North Carolina-Wilmington, or any such teams are in the Top 25. But Butler? They have a lot to prove as to why they are #18 in the nation, and they will have to do it against a fairly good Big Ten team at Purdue. We settle the score in America's fastest city, Indianapolis. Indianapolis will be ready to see their beloved Colts take on the Cincinatti Bengals this Monday night. But that's at the RCA Dome. We're talking about action from Conseco Field House. The Butler Bulldogs shown their srength in chasing and biting into the Purdue Boilermakers. Maybe Butler IS for real. (68-65; #16 Butler)



--- Some Like it Hot ---
* Akron at Illinois-Chicago
The University of Illinois system presents the University of Illinois-Chicago. This school may be unfamiliar to you if you follow football. Or from what I know, UIC once sponsored football long ago. Now they are in the Horizon League- a conference that has only one school that sponsors full-on football- Youngstown State. Then too, the University of Illinois-Chicago recently found fame in soccer. If you would like to listen to UIC's fight song and have RealPlayer, check this link out. I actually like their fight song. Click on "Listen to the Fight Song!": < http://uicflames.cstv.com/trads/ilch-fight-song.html >. The UIC Flames are ready to dole out some punishment in half-court and full-court execution. And they are ready to do it against Akron. The Akron Zips of Akron, OH are trying to ice UIC. Only thing that got iced was Akron. (86-80; ILLINOIS-CHICAGO)



--- NoCal Nightmare ---
* Santa Clara at Stanford
Stanford couldn't win a single football game this season. So let's see if their men's basketball team can do any better than their pathetic football team. The Cardinal will meet a team that once had a great football team until it was dropped in 1993. Santa Clara University is further from San Francisco than Stanford is. Granted I'd love to go to San Francisco one day in my life, there was something I didn't think I'd see. The Santa Clara Broncos might have done something completely unthinkable for a team that isn't one of the best in the nation- (1) beat Stanford, and (2) beat them BAD. Stanford had one hell of a nightmare! The score, however, is for real. Read 'em and weep. (62-46; Santa Clara)

JUST A THOUGHT... The San Francisco 49ers may play their games in 2012 in Santa Clara, California. Wonder what would happen if either San Francisco reinstates their dominant football program or if Santa Clara re-opened theirs...



--- Over-Raided? ---
* Texas Tech vs. Arkansas (Little Rock, AR)
The Red Raiders picked up a win here so that Bobby Knight could tie Dean Smith for all-time wins. Their remaining 2006 games include twom home games against Bucknell next Saturday and UNLV the Saturday after. The Razorbacks had no real threat for the potent TTU offense. I saw some of this game when my family and I were eating at this seafood restaurant. The Red Raiders were hitting plenty of three pointers. (71-56; Texas Tech)


Check out more scores from today here:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2006-12-16&c=all&refresh=0 (Men)
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaa2/scoreboard?d=2006-12-16&c=all&refresh=0 (Women)








JOHN'S EXTRAS

--- I May Have Jinxed my "Good Teams" List... ---[/B]
Okay. Let's have a look in with the teams I described as "good" teams. So far, they've had terrible seasons. See for yourself:

Denver: (1-10) *lost at Arkansas-Little Rock today*
Wisconsin-Milwaukee: (2-10)
Detroit: (2-7) *lost to Canisius today*
North Carolina-Wilmington (3-6) *lost at Toledo today*
South Alabama: (5-5) *lost at Mississippi today*

But then... not ALL of them were jinxed in terms of records...

Western Kentucky (8-2) *lost at Tennessee today*
Northern Iowa: (8-2) *lost at Loyola University of Chicago today*

They are still good teams... just having crappy seasons. But good job to Western Kentucky and Northern Iowa for their great seasons.



--- Finally Seen "College Hoops 2K7" in Stores ---
When I went to a Wal-Mart in Pearland, TX, I noticed the box for College Hoops 2K7. This game has had the reputation of being the top-rated college basketball game for about four years running. I was immediately respected of 2K Sports when they provided an experience unlike the March Madness series. I do love the commentary of Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale in the March Madness series more than Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery in the College Hoops series. And at one point before EA's quest for world domination, the College Hoops 2Kx series used to be known as ESPN College Basketball 2Kx. From what I've seen from the back of the box, here were some highlights I can recall:

* Over 200 authentic fight songs (should be a GREAT help since some of the fight songs were for the wrong teams! Since when did Houston have the fight song of Texas Tech?) including some extra music
* chant creator
* team unity
* deeper Legacy Mode
* more realistic passing

This is a game I would love to play for my PS2. I'd want to see if this bad boy actually can be better than what 2K6 provided.





JOHN'S FEATURED SCHOOL
What I may do for college basketball reports is direct your attention to a certain school in America or in American territories. This is for you to see what I've seen. So meet your first featured school:

- The University of San Francisco - [/B]

Website: http://www.usfca.edu
Athletics Website: http://usfdons.cstv.com/

The University of San Francisco is one of the 28 Jesuit Colleges and Universities. This campus is described as an urban-type university with the power of Jesuit education. Most of you know I love San Francisco. Such a beautiful place. Well, this university is as beautiful as the city itself. In addition to being described as an urban-type university with Jesuit teaching, the U. of San Francisco is also described as an "urban oasis." This university rests on a hill top in north central San Francisco. One block west of USF is Golden Gate Park. Want to attend church here? There's the St. Ignatius Church there.

On the athletics front, San Francisco's Dons are part of the West Coast Conference. They've found their stride recently in collegiate soccer. I believe they were a ranked team during the regular season. Their basketball is played at the War Memorial Gym. The men's team are currently 4-6 and haven't play a game since December 5th when they lost to Northern Arizona 84-62. They have a game tomorrow against California-Santa Barbara (UCSB). The women's team is 3-7 having lost at Fresno State 55-48 today. Their next game is against the Lady Titans of California State-Fullerton on Monday.

And that is your feature school.


I'll do more college hoops when I get a chance to update.

 

[FoolKiller]

My prediction: Kentucky by 7, expect a low score.

I got teh low score correct. So it was Kentucky by 12, and that was really just because Louisville had to foul to stop the clock. Before the clock stopping free throws began it was a six point game. I hate the clock stopping free throw strategy in a close game because it always seems to let the winning team win by a larger margin than their talent provided. There is no mistake that this was a close game, as I predicted.

Now, I only saw the second half because I was out of town for a friend's college graduation. What I did see was sloppy to say the least. Turnovers and fouls abounded. Louisville was worse but Kentucky wasn't much better. Now I question the clock-stopping foul strategy here because Kentucky was hitting free throws (it has been a strong suit all season) and Louisville wasn't hitting big shots. As soon as Kentucky made the first free throw and extended their lead to seven Louisville had to shoot threes, but they had been struggling with that all night. They would have been better setting up three penetration plays while the clock was running. Their odds would have been better.

Anyway, both these teams gave a poor performace and it was a sad and boring game to watch.

If you ask Kentucky and/or Louisville which game out of the year they'd love to win, they would probably say this rivalry between Kentucky and Louisville.

My friend I was visiting actually said, "Well, at least we beat Indiana and Louisville."

The two-time National Champions met the seven-time National Champions at home.

Know the difference between a dynasty and a wanna be? Five championships and about 70 miles.

I was unfortunately unable to watch at home to see the extreme hate these two teams have.

You would have turned it off or fell asleep anyway.

Last year, Louisville was #4 in the nation up against an unranked(?) Kentucky squad at Rupp Arena... and lost.

We never get the love we should.

This year, the game ended in somewhat of a blowout. I usually consider 15 or more points as a blowout, but this is a bad loss.

My above theory on the clock-stopping fouls shows I disagree. But I guess you could say that if the strategy doesn't work then the points are well deserved.

Kentucky will likely see the 2007 rendition of this rivalry played at Rupp Arena, which seats about 20,000 (exaggeration) people.

Actually you were short. It is officially 23,000, but we manage to cram in over 24,000 for games.

They came, they saw, they conquered. Now it's Louisville's turn next year. Kentucky is now 7-3 as Louisville is 5-4. Another Cardinals loss means they will at 0.500. Will they be? We'll see when that time rolls around. (61-49; Kentucky)

Louisville lost AGAIN!!!!

Judging by this game both teams are in trouble when they get into conference play. Kentucky will do well enough to make another NCAA tournament bid, but Louisville may be looking at another NIT. They are being coached by Rick Pitino, right?

Side note: Can someone please tell Billy Packer how to pronounce the player's names? He mispronounced about half the player's names during this game. Why does he even have a job in the media when he can't take the time to learn player's names? Imagine if he called football or baseball. He can't handle American names, I'd fear what he would do with some of the names we get from immigrants in other sports.

 

[Max Powers]

Tough game for the Panthers away at Wisconsin on Saturday, it seemed most experts were predicting a Wisconsin win, and that's what happened. Wisconsin has a spectacular record at home, and they played an excellent game. I think the Badgers will go far this year. Despite this loss, I still think Pitt is among the top teams in the NCAA, and they will have plenty of chances to prove themselves down the road. Props to Jamie Dixon for giving his team a brutal out of conference schedule this season. It should help prepare them for the tournament, which is all that really matters anyway.

Next week, they play another tough game on the road vs. an undefeated Oklahoma State. The game that I'm really looking forward to, however is when the Dayton Flyers come into town 2 days later, since I used to go to the University of Dayton, and now I attend the University of Pittsburgh. Of course I'll be cheering for the Panthers, since I grew up in Pittsburgh and have been a Pitt Football fan all of my life, but I would be cheering for Dayton if they were playing anybody besides Pitt.

Throw away the "unbeaten" tag for Pittsburgh.

It was bound to happen at some point, but it's a shame they lost so early.

From what I've seen from both teams, they know how to drain the rock from deep. This could be key to their advancement through March Madness should both teams make it.

I especially like Ronald Ramon, he's an excellent shooter and he can manage the game very well, he's doing a good job easing the loss of Carl Krauser

 

[JohnBM01]

So 23K will pack the house at Rupp? Okay. I actually wanted to say "50,000 people pack Rupp Arena." But I wanted to come up with something more modest. And Max Powers, I'm sorry for your Panthers. As I normally say, you're going to lose games in basketball. You have a better chance of going unbeaten in football than you do in basketball (and even baseball) because you play so many games so often. Not every team is going to be the 1976 Indiana Hoosiers. They may have a chance to stay unbeaten, but the chances of running the table is pretty rare at best.

This just in from ESPNEWS... Pittsburgh's loss at Wisconsin has dropped them from #2 in the nation to #7 in the nation. Alabama is a big surprise team as they are ranked #10 in the Nation. You can view the Top 25 here: < http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/polls >. Also surprising is that teams like Texas A&M, Butler, and Nevada are all ranked as well. North Carolina is the new #2 team as UCLA is still #1. Duke University is #6 in the nation.

Now on to the women's ranks. The AP Top 25 has two ACC teams atop the Top 25- Maryland and North Carolina. It has been well documented that Ohio State has a lady that is one to watch. Tennessee and Georgia have two of the SEC's best women's teams, but never count out the LSU Lady Tigers under Pokey Chatman's coaching. It's kind of a depressing deal for Michigan State. Michigan State's Lady Spartans usually have a great women's team. Here are your women's rankings: < http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/polls >. Another thing to note is that Texas' basketball team got blown out by Tennessee, and they are #24 in the USA Today/ESPN polls. And I didn't know Bowling Green had a competent team.

If I'm not mistaken, here is a match slated for later tonight for both genders:

Men's Matches:
* #15 Oklahoma State at Tennessee
* Centenary at Georgia Tech
* Alabama State at Mississippi State
* Missouri State at Saint Louis
* Mount St. Mary's College at Winthrop
* Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at South Florida

Women's Matches:
* Butler at #16 Louisville <<< Louisville is 11-0
* Alabama State at Hampton
* Georgia State vs. Florida A&M (Florida A&M is unbeaten at home at 3-0. Played at UCF's arena)
* #2 North Carolina at Coastal Carolina
* Stetson at Florida <<< Florida is unbeaten at home at 3-0. Current record is 4-6.
* #6 Connecticut at Virginia


Enjoy your basketball! In a future post, I may talk about some basketball among historically-black colleges and universities. Most of them aren't having very good seasons. However, which is more likely to be the best of them? Find out in a future post.

 

[JohnBM01]

Welcome to Monday's scores. The college football scene will see Bowl Game action take tomorrow night. But for now, let's see some college basketball scores courtesy of me.



MEN'S SCORES - 12/18/2006


--- Who Would Like to Volunteer? ---
* #16 Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee (Gaylord Entertainment Center - Nashville, TN)
Welcome to the Gaylord Entertainment Center in Nashville. Now if you know your SEC sports, Nashville is enemy territory for Tennessee because the U. of Tennessee is in Knoxville. The GEC is normally the home of the Nashville Predators of the NHL(?). But its doors have been opened for Tennessee to potentially upset #16 Oklahoma State. The game was on ESPN2 as Brad Nessler and Jimmy Dykes provided commentary for this game. Oklahoma State is based in Stillwater, OK. They've travelled pretty far to get to Nashville. The distance between Stillwater to Nashville is about three to four times longer than the distance from Knoxville to Tennessee. Considering this has been a long trip, the Cowboys really want to travel a long way and retain their high ranking. Tennessee wants to welcome OkSU and hope they leave un-unbeaten. The Volunteers of the Volunteer State is looking to make PLENTY of noise. In the end, they made so much noise that people in Cincinatti or Clevland could hear the noise Tennessee made. Oklahoma State... no longer unbeaten. Another SEC win. (79-77; Tennessee) *upset!*

*** SIDE NOTE: Dane Bradshaw will have an MRI on his right shoulder on Tuesday after being a big contributor to Tennessee's cause in the upset victory. (Off-topic) There was some controversy in the past concerning the Nashville Predators and the Gaylord Entertainment Center in terms of names.



--- Fall in Line! ---
* State University of New York-Maritime at Army
Two New York state schools went at it at the United States Military Academy. The Black Knights of Army were WAY too much for the State University of New York at Maritime. (92-42; ARMY)



--- Islanders for a Win Over a Big East Team ---
* South Florida at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
I'm very proud for Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. This is a team that I should have included in my list of "good" teams. TAMU-CC used to be the best Division 1 independent until the Southland Conference lovingly accepted this team to play for their conference. The best news about no longer being an Independent in college basketball is that you have a chance to play for a position in March Madness. I wish Texas A&M-Corpus Christi well in their adventures. This is perhaps the most surprising basketball team out of Texas (even beyond Houston). They need to traverse South Florida to win. South Florida hasn't won a Big East game last season. Good news for USF is that they aren't facing a Big East team. The Bulls have rampaged their way from Tampa, FL all the way out to Corpus Christi, TX. They are looking for a win to make the Big East proud. Texas A&M is a Top 25 team. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi hopes to make plenty of noise so that they could be that other Texas A&M in Division 1 you must watch out for. The Islanders hope to give a Big East team a run for their money. And they did. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi is now 5-3 with this win. They get Norfolk State on Tuesday. (69-63; Texas A&M-Corpus Christi)



--- Torture in Tallahassee ---
* High Point at Florida State
The Florida State Seminoles decidely smashed the Panthers of High Point University. (81-64; FLORIDA STATE)

For more men's scores, go here: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2006-12-18&c=all&refresh=0





WOMEN'S SCORES - 12/18/2006

--- Carolina War ---
* #2 North Carolina at Coastal Carolina
Coastal Carolina can be found in Conway, SC. The only Carolina that mattered was the North Carolina Lady Tar Heels taking down the Coastal Carolina Lady Chanticleers. (87-48; #2 North Carolina)



--- Freedom of Basketball ---
* Butler at #14 Louisville
This game is between Butler and Louisville played at Freedom Hall. It's time to let freedom ring. It's nothing better any American can do but honor and cherish freedom as well as honor those who helped make it happen. But in this game, it's the freedom to have an 11-woman roster and beat the brains out any team in the land. So here's how things went. Louisvile's ladies beat Kentucky two weeks ago. Louisville's men lost to Kentucky's boys. Now the Lady Cardinals want to shut up Butler's barking. The Butler Lady Bulldogs weren't intimidated as they helped make the game very close. However, Louisville was better by three. Close shave. (80-77; #14 LOUISVILLE)

For more women's scores, go here: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/scoreboard?d=2006-12-18&c=all&refresh=0


And that's Monday's scores. I'll be doing Bowl Games next, so I may not be here as often to report basketball games. So I'll trust you all to provide scores and commentary (like FoolKiller and Max Powers have done). What I may do is make brief reports and specials.


By the way, Santa Clara picked up a BIG win over Stanford on Saturday. Now the SCU Broncos look to take down Kentucky this Tuesday night. Can the Wildcats deny SCU an upset win? * The Pittsburgh Lady Panthers will welcome the Lady Pirates of East Carolina. Who will win this game? * A special I may also do is to find out exactly which HBCU (historically-black colleges and universities) is having the best season so far.

Stay tuned!

 

[JohnBM01]

Like the X-Files episode of "The Simpsons" said way back when, "I bring you love." I'm here to being Fighting Illini love to my boy dougiemeats. They'll meet the boys who call Paige Arena (a beautiful place from what I've seen in pictures) home- Missouri. But before we get to that, we have a big win scenario going here.



MEN'S SCORES: 12/19/2007

--- Enter the Dragons ---
* Drexel at Syracuse
Big city meets fairly big city as Philadelphia's Drexel University met Syracuse University in upstate New York. There is a reason why you follow big teams AS WELL AS small teams. The reason is because while such smaller teams don't have as much depth as anyone from a power conference, it doesn't mean that they can still shock big teams. A small team beating a big team is either because of two things: (1) the big team not playing very well, or (2) the small team playing very well. How do you choose? Meet Drexel. Drexel University comprises one of about five Philadelphia schools. Their nickname goes great in the Chinese Zodiac because they are the Dragons. But these Dragons went against a fire-breathing basketball team that can't cut the mustard in football- Syracuse. The 'Cuse have had their greatest football accomplishment by being the 1959 National Champions. What have you done for me lately? Very little. (84-79; Drexel)



--- Busch Bragging Rights 2006 ---
* Missouri vs. Illinois (; Scottrade Center - St. Louis, MI)
Columbia meets Urbana-Champaign as we are in the Gateway to the Midwest. We are in the home of the NHL's St. Louis Blues. Singing the blues were the Missouri Tigers as they left St. Louis with a heart break. It was smooth sailing for Illinois as the Fighting Illini fought and beaten Missouri down the wire. (73-70; Illinois)


--- Santa Clara's Comin' to Town! ---
* Santa Clara at Kentucky
Christmas will come VERY early here. Santa Clara isn't going to give Kentucky any presents, but they could be in line to give them a beating that will infuriate Tubby Smith. Santa Claus has his wonderful pack of reindeer to help navigate through the skies and into stores and neighborhoods. Santa Clara has either a plane ride or a long bus ride into Kentucky. These boys in burgundy will meet Kentucky in trying to take down Kentucky like they did to Stanford this past weekend. Santa Clara University is a reiligous-type university nestled in Santa Clara, California. Santa Clara is a few miles west from San Jose and fairly big distance southeast of beautiful San Francisco. The Broncos have looked beautiful with a great season. They could very well be your bracket-busting brothers-in-crime in taking down bigtime teams. One of those bigtime teams is Kentucky. While the Lexington boys hate Louisville red, they will allow only two red things- the Fire Department, and Santa Claus. Any other red (except maybe Transylvania University's red-clad team) is unacceptable. The Kentucky boys are still celebrating their dominance of Louisville. Party like it's 1999, then go back to work. Work is what Wildcats do because they love Tubby Smith and want to win and potentially give him the ultimate gift a coach can ask for- a National Championship. The Wildcats of Kentucky feasted on Santa Clara. I think a few of them even wanted seconds. Ha ha! Even though they won the game, I have to ask if this game was sloppy for Kentucky. If so, I would think that Tubby Smith would have to step in to discipline his team. But either way, a win is a win no matter how pretty or how ugly. And I congratulate the Wildcats on this win. (74-60; KENTUCKY)



--- Mean, Lean, and Green ---
* North Texas at Western Kentucky
Let's make a stop in Bowling Green, Kentucky while we are on the subject of the Bluegrass State. Most Texans know a lot of schools. They will know of the Texas A&M system. They'll know about the Texas system. They'll know SMU and Houston. But do you know North Texas? The Denton, TX (the Dallas-Fort Worth area) school headed into Kentucky with victory on their minds in this Sun Belt match. The Mean Green (some call them the Eagles) mean business heading into Bowling Green. Who they met were the boys from the university that rests atop a hill. That would be Western Kentucky University. They are the winningest basketball team other than their big boys from Lexington. WKU is the only Bowling Green most people know about (compared to Bowling Green in Ohio). The Hilltoppers don't want any schools toppling them. Ain't nothing stopping WKU now 'cause they got the groove. Just too bad they couldn't feel North Texas' flow in this three-point victory. So good news for FoolKiller's Wildcats, but bad news for his former school. Sorry. Close game too. (86-85; North Texas)



--- Speaking of Stanford... ---
* Stanford at Fresno State
Let's see how Stanford does after losing to Santa Clara on Saturday. They will take on Fresno State of the WAC. Stanford's football team recently picked up the coach for the University of San Diego. Stanford is basically the Syracause of the West Coast- pathetic at football, great in basketball. They are the basketballin' Cardinal. And after losing to Santa Clara, let's see if they can take down another California school. I think Fresno State's official name is California State University of Fresno. Their sporting name is Fresno State University. The Bulldogs are going to bite into Stanford any way they can. Can they crash the boards? Can they protect the rock? We shall see. Wow! This was close. Stanford's struggling. Is something wrong with this Pac-10 basketball power? Or has Washington perhaps taken the throne as Pac-10 basketball power? (69-67; Stanford)


Now let's look at two premeire schools in North Carolina. It's my North Carolina Pack.

--- North Carolina Pack ---[/I]

* Florida Atlantic at North Carolina (105-52; #2 NORTH CAROLINA)
* Kent State at #6 Duke (79-72; #6 DUKE)

-end "North Carolina Pack"



SOME OTHER SCORES:

Kennesaw State at Wichita State (74-65; WICHITA STATE)
Winston-Salem at Kansas (94-43; #12 KANSAS)
Appalachian State at Virginia (80-6?; Appalachian State)
Oakland at Marquette (80-62; MARQUETTE)

More scores at: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2006-12-19&c=all&refresh=0




WOMEN'S SCORES: 12/19/2006
My only entry involves a Big East school. None better than Pittsburgh. So let's see what the Steel City Kitties can do. What it do, dawg? ^_^


--- Women of Steel ---
* East Carolina at #?? Pittsburgh
The men's team had to stomach a crushing road loss at Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon. The women will be doing some housekeeping, if you will. It's always nice to come home from a tough day at work while you come home to a nice and clean home. The wonderful Petersen Events Center hosts this women's match between Pittsburgh and East Carolina. Let's talk East Carolina first. Their home is Greensboro (or Greenville?), North Carolina. So that answers all questions of "is there a such state as East Carolina?" The Lady Pirates look to upset a Big East basketball team. Granted Pittsburgh isn't Connecticut, they still aren't pushovers. These ladies prove to be just as dominant on the hardwood as their men's basketball team. (70-53; PITTSBURGH)

More women's scores at: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/scoreboard?d=2006-12-19&c=all&refresh=0


That's all from me. Take care.

 

[FoolKiller]

I didn't get to see the Kentucky game last night as it was on Fox Sports and I didn't feel like staying up to watch the replay at 1:00 AM.

But congrats to the cats for a victory over a nobody team.

 

[JohnBM01]

Here are some of today's/tonight's matches:

-MEN-
* Pittsburgh at Oklahoma State
* Villanova at Seton Hall
* Gonzaga at Duke


-WOMEN-
* Maryland at Loyola College

 

[Max Powers]

Damn, two losses in a row, granted they were both away games vs. good teams, but I thought Pitt could pull it out vs. Oklahoma State. After a close game, Oklahoma State pulled out the victory in double OT.

They play again in a few days vs. the Dayton Flyers, Pitt had better get up for this game, Dayton has a good team and could easily hand them their 3rd loss if Pitt doesn't take them seriously enough.

 

[JohnBM01]

Before I begin my report, I hope everyone is safe from all the horrible snows in Colorado. One of the games slated for play on Thursday, Arkansas State at Denver, has been postponed with no real makeup date. I pray for the safety of everyone who may be severely affected by the wintry weather in Denver and abroad.



--- Pittsburgh Panther Pack (Men and Women) ---

They say that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. Well, here's a quick report. And as a preview of what I'm going to discuss, Max Powers may not be happy about this...

(MEN)
* #7 Pittsburgh vs. #14 Oklahoma State (at: Ford Center - Oklahoma City, OK)
In a game of NBA-like scoring numbers, Pittsburgh took Oklahoma State to Overtime in this neutral site game. Pittsburgh hit a beautiful 3-point shot with about 30 seconds left. That made the score 75-75. The clock continued running until the refs finally got them to stop the clock. But in Overtime, welll... they needed TWO Overtimes. And in the end, Pittsburgh officially has lost two straight, Oklahoma State won in their home state. (95-89, 2OT; #14 Oklahoma State) *upset!*

So the men lost. Could the Pittsburgh women do any better?


* #4 Duke vs. #22 Pittsburgh (at: Moon Palace Resort; Cancun, Mexico)
While the men were away, the ladies were in paradise playing at the Moon Palace Resort in Cancun, Mexico (thanks to Yahoo! Sports for clarifying where this game was). National Championship Runners-up, Duke, played at home against the Steel City ladies. For their sake, they hope not to suffer the same fate as their men have endured against Oklahoma State's boys. The Lady Panthers have proven to be women of steel. They are women of steel who show the sweet touch in the paint or outside. If Pittsburgh is steel, Duke must be diamond. Diamonds are forever, but you only live twice. Forgive me for the James Bond references. The Duke Lady Blue Devils are every bit as good as their men even if they aren't coached by Coach K. The game ended in a big loss for Pittsburgh. Sad day for Panthers' basketball. (72-51; #4 Duke)

-end "Pittsburgh Panther Pack"



I'm really sorry I couldn't get my reports in time for GTPlanet. These are outdated as of Friday.



--- Preview: Can Bob Knight Surpass Dean Smith Before the End of 2006? ---[/B]

Texas Tech will play Bucknell on Saturday. They get UNLV next Saturday. Question is, can the goal of both wins before the end of 2006 be acheived? My personal view is that Bucknell could be a suprise game. I wouldn't be surprised if this game was decided by 10 points or less. Bucknell is easily the best team in Patriot League basketball. I predict that Bucknell keeps the game close, but the Red Raiders will win. I'm not completely confident of this result considering how unpredictable college basketball can be. The UNLV game should be a no-problem game. Texas Tech can only defeat themselves the rest of the way, so I do believe they can get it Knight his two wins to surpass Dean Smith before midnight of January 1, 2007.

But what do YOU think?



--- Minutemen Appeared Minute to 'Cats ---
* Massachusetts at Kentucky
I'm sure all the fans at Rupp Arena enjoyed watching their Wildcats win over the Massachusetts Minutement. (82-68; KENTUCKY)



* Locally, the Houston Cougars lost to Creighton's Blue Jays by a score of 80-72. The loser of Nebraska vs. Hawaii will meet Houston in the Rainbow Classic in Hawaii.

 

[JohnBM01]

Here is an update:

--- Sun Belt East Conference Championship Preview? ---
* South Alabama at Western Kentucky
If this is any indication of what could be in store for the other Sun Belt teams, get ready for an ugly matchup between two Sun Belt teams I greatly respect. The Hilltoppers have toppled the Jaguars of South Alabama. USA were nixed by WKU. (73-51; WESTERN KENTUCKY)


So this is a win-win deal for FoolKiller. Wildcats win, Hilltoppers win. WKU and Kentucky are over .500 right about now. Can they keep it up in their respective games? Find out in future posts.

 

[JohnBM01]

Consider this a delayed Christmas special. No game action in this report. I'd like to share this with you all:

JOHN'S EXTRAS: "Review of College Hoops 2K7"

(I have the PS2 version)

The "College Hoops 2Kx" series by 2K Sports and Visual Concepts has been the top-rated college basketball game series for four years straight. This, at least according to the average review by < http://www.gamerankings.com >. College Hoops 2K6 gave me a bit of why this college hoops game is better than EA's March Madness game series (March Madness 2007 slated for sometime before March Madness this season). College Hoops isn't prettier than March Madness, it doesn't carry that "you know what you're getting" pedigree like EA Sports' games, but it has done a lot to distance this game apart from its would-be competition. College Hoops 2K6 sort of tempts you to visit the smaller schools and for good reason- most of the other arenas are completely detailed. If some look generic, that's okay because the courts look completely believable. The courts you see for some of the big schools are likely what you can expect to see if you were to go to those arenas right now. This game has a pretty good menu soundtrack. Also advertised on the box, "over 200 authentic fight songs." No lies. 2K6 lacked fight songs to a number of schools. You have about a 60 to 66 percent chance that each school you visit (out of about 330) in the game will have authentic fight songs to them. Some of the more authentic songs may seem similar. Nowhere was that more apparent than when I set up a demo game played at Western Kentucky University (the demo I had lined up was South Alabama at Western Kentucky). WKU's song sounds a bit like some other football school I couldn't label. I wouldn't be surprised if Montana's fight song sounds like Georgia Tech's song because Montana's fight song in real life is VERY close to Georgia Tech's song. The fight song I've been humming a lot was the fight song of the Illinois-Chicago Flames. Hartford's fight song was probably done by some classical music orchestra at Hartford University. And locally, Houston's fight song isn't Texas Tech's. So the songs are great.

To be honest, I haven't played a full game yet. But from what I've seen in demo games, I've seen somewhat smarter basketball. You'll see teams chew up the shot clock and then try to drain the rock. My Game Settings probably shown off a bad sense of ball control. Also interesting was some more spirited dunks. If you get a dunk in the game, it's pretty cool. Teams will slam down the ball in your face. The normal tandem of Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery provide commentary along with Bonnie Bernstein as a sideline reporter. The commentary is much improved, but still feels flat compared to Brad Nessler and Dick Vitale in the NCAA March Madness series. You get some new teams in this game including some roster changes. New teams include:

Central Arkansas (Southland)
The New Jersey Institute of Technology (Independent)
Winston-Salem State (Independent)

There are also some more recognizable coaches. Some of the names included on the box include Roy Williams (North Carolina), Billy Donovan (Florida), John Calipari (Memphis), and Jay Wright (Villanova). I think there are one or two more arenas to unlock including many five more alternative outfits from last year's version.


Overall, it is better than 2K6, but there's still a problem. Making your own team isn't as complete as with the NCAA Football series. You can paint your custom school's colors all day and all night, but you're still going to get a team with red as the main color and gold trim. At least this combination is better than the all-white home uniforms for home teams and black with white for Away colors. Check out this game and enjoy college basketball. That is, unless you want to wait for NCAA March Madness 2007 almost before the real March Madness begins...




I finally found my doggone Sporting News college basketball preview magazine. I may get a better chance to talk about upcoming games. We'll see what I'll do before this month (and this year) ends. Hope you've had a great Christmas. Take care and be safe.

 

[FoolKiller]

Well, I haven't said much about the Wildcats lately but I thought I woudl bring up that with a decisive voctory against Mass and a solid win against Louisville the local sports talk has begun to back off a bit. Many, including myself, were feeling that this Kentucky team has been looking horrible. Looking back on it I realize that we are still pulling out wins and have only lost against three extremely good teams. The UCLA game was actually quite close and while some of our wins looked mediocre Tubby has been doing a lot of switching around and moving around.

Recently the Wildcats have had little to no performance from two of our seniors, yet we are still winning these games. We have a good team, even if certain players are not performing as they should.

Recent rethinking of this team has me becoming hopeful for the Wildcats. I doubt they will win a championship but I am sure they will do moderately well. I still expect a 20+ win season (we're almost halfway there) and at least two wins in the NCAA tournament. If our struggling seniors can get it together and actually make the ball go through the hoop then we would be doing much better and we would score 10-20 more points per game.

Conference play starts in two weeks and then we still have another week before we have a team that we need to worry about. In that time things should get worked out.

 

[JohnBM01]

For you and your team's sake, I hope they do get it together. The SEC teams most people have been making noise about have been Florida and LSU. Should your boys get it done against these two this season (it will be tough), then you're almost a lock for the field of 65 to play for a National Championship. Your final two non-conference games are December 29th against Eastern Kentucky, and then my hometown's best team- the Houston Cougars on January 3rd. Both should be home games. I hate to say it, but I think the Cougars could be in real trouble. They are currently 5-5 after losing to Creighton and Nebraska last weekend. They have to get it together much like how you say Kentucky has to get it together.

Now on to Max Powers and his Pitt Panthers. They have only one non-conference game left when they host Florida A&M. The most popular thing about Florida A&M University is that they are the only historically-black university or college to in the National Championship in 1-AA/FCS. Their basketball team is pretty good as well. But they aren't Pittsburgh. After FAMU, it's Big East play as Syracuse invites your Panthers to play at the Carrier Dome.

There's something I forgot to mention about College Hoops 2K7. You get more arenas including NIT action. You even get the Sullivan Arena (though generic), home to Division 2's University of Alaska-Anchorage Seawolves. So it looks like you get the Great Alaska Shootout in addition to the NIT. This should provide a lot of incentive for gamers.

 

[JohnBM01]

Quick report:

Bob Knight will have to wait until 2007 for pass Dean Smith. UNLV was blowing out Texas Tech until Texas Tech was fighting back. But it was too late for them.


Kentucky will play Eastern Kentucky while Houston will get UNLV on Saturday. And on January 3rd, 2007- Houston at Kentucky!