ACC Standings? Go Figure!

The "new" No. 1 team in college basketball this week looks awafully familiar. And how about that nailing-biting weekend that a lot of Pac-10 teams had? Oh, yes . . . Kevin Durant kept rebounding and scoring like pretty much no one else in the country.

Boston College, Virginia Tech and Clemson currently occupy the 1-3 slots in the Atlantic Coast Conference standings.

 

That’s kind of tough to figure, huh?

Well, it’s no tougher to figure than is trying to sort out the Pac-10 standings.

How well balanced is that conference?

Of the five Pac-10 games played over Saturday and Sunday, two (UCLA over USC and Oregon over Arizona) were decided on jump shots with less than five seconds to play, and two more (Stanford over Washington State and Cal over Washington) went into overtime.

At least one thing remained consistent with preseason analysis:

Florida is the best team in the country.

Well, the Gators are No. 1, at least, after returning to the top of the Frankhoops.com, thanks to a combination of Southeastern Conference victories over Arkansas and South Carolina, and North Carolina’s Atlantic Coast Conference defeat at Virginia Tech Saturday.

We’ll see how the Tar Heels react to that loss, and how Clemson recovers from its first loss of the season Saturday (at Maryland) when the teams hook up at Clemson Wednesday night.

Bagging Individual Kudos for the Week of Jan. 7-13

*Anthony Goods (6-3, So., Stanford)

 He scored 11 points in the Cardinal’s 76-75 non-conference victory at Virginia on Jan. 7 to start the week. Then he really got involved in his team’s success. He had 19 points, four assists and the deciding free throws in a 78-77 Pac-10 victory over Washington on Thursday, and 30 more points – three of those coming on the winning jump shot – to go with three rebounds and three assists as Stanford made it a weekend conference sweep with a 71-68 victory over Washington State.

*Joseph Jones (6-9, So., Texas A&M)

Jones averaged 16.0 points, 13.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as the Aggies swept Baylor and Colorado in a pair of road Big 12 contests.

*Stephane Lasme (6-8, Sr., Massachusetts)

How are these for gaudy averages during Atlantic 10 victories over George Washington and Temple: 22.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 8.5 blocked shots per game?

*Lee Humphrey (6-2, Sr, Florida)

Was at his jump-shooting best in SEC victories over Arkansas (79-72) and South Carolina (84-50), hitting 14 of 20 shots from the field – including 10 of 14 from behind the arc.

*Virginia Tech backcourt of Jamon Gordon (6-3, Sr.) and Zabian Dowdell (6-3, Sr.)

The Hokies cruised to a 74-51 non-conference victory at UNC Greensboro on Wednesday and then held off a frantic UNC finish to stun the then-No. 1 Tar Heels, 94-88. Gordon averaged 13.5 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.5 steals, Dowdell 20.0 points, 3.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.5 steals.

This Week’s Cool Games

(A look at the weekend games will be posted Friday)

MONDAY

Missouri at No. 6 Kansas

Frank Says: The Tigers (0-3 in conference) are finding that life in the Big 12 isn’t quite as free and easy as during non-conference games in Columbia.

Marquette at Louisville

Frank Says: Are the Cardinals playing well enough to be considered NCAA Tournament at-large bid contenders? Check back after this one.

TUESDAY

Connecticut at No. 8 Pittsburgh

Frank Says: At some point the Huskies are going to have to whip a decent team away from Storrs or Hartford to be considered a legitimate NCAA Tournament at-large bid-caliber club. This is a nice opportunity to do so.

No. 17 Texas at No. 14 Oklahoma State

Frank Says: The Cowboys get a chance to do what no one else been able to (“contain Kevin Durant”) and bounce back from that ugly performance in Lawrence last week.

Iowa at Indiana

Frank Says: The Hoosiers have looked every bit the part of the third best team in the Big Ten while beating Michigan State, Purdue and Penn State by an average of 19.7 points over the past three games.

WEDNESDAY

No. 4 North Carolina at No. 16 Clemson

Frank Says: Both clubs are looking to bounce back from ACC road losses Saturday. It will not be a game of the low-scoring variety, that’s for sure.

Virginia at Florida State

Frank Says: It’s not nearly desperation time yet but each of these teams needs a win in this one in order to juice up its NCAA Tournament at-large bid aspirations.

THURSDAY

No. 25 Stanford at No. 10 Oregon

Frank Says: Each team takes a three-game winning streak into this Pac-10 affair. It’s a bit simplistic to call it a showdown of “Stanford’s inside game vs. Oregon’s perimeter offense”. But we’ll do it anyway.

No. 11 Arizona at USC

Frank Says: The Wildcats and Trojans each fell victim to late jump shots in their last Pac-10 outing. Nick Young (USC) vs. Marcus Williams will be a heck of a matchup – assuming Arizona plays man-to-man and they guard one another, that is.

Massachusetts at Xavier

Frank Says: The team currently atop the A-10 standings visits the team that was picked to win the conference. Certainly that’s a formula for an interesting A-10 “showdown”, isn’t it?

Frankhoops.com Top 25

(Includes last rating and record as of Jan. 14)

1. (2) Florida (16-2)

Frank Says: The Gators were the best team in the country beforehand but had to wait until the Tar Heels were knocked off to sink their teeth into the No. 1 spot.

2. (3) UCLA (15-1)

Frank Says: The Bruins’ move up a spot in the ratings, thanks to a nails jump shot by Arron Afflalo over the left hand of USC defender Lodrick Stewart Saturday in the Trojans’ Galen Center.

3. (4) Wisconsin (17-1)

Frank Says: Picked up a huge win over Ohio State in Madison and then nearly suffered an embarrassing loss to Northwestern in Evanston.

4. (1) North Carolina (15-2)

Frank Says: The Tar Heels nearly pulled off the mother of all frantic rallies after being thoroughly outplayed most of the way Saturday by Virginia Tech.

5. (5) Ohio State (14-3)

Frank Says: The Buckeyes had a nice rally down the stretch to make things close at the end in Madison then needed a 3-pointer from Ron Lewis and Greg Oden’s best all-around performance of the season to hold off Tennessee in Columbus.

6. (8) Kansas (15-2)

Frank Says: The Jayhawks smacked the Oklahoma State Cowboys silly in Lawrence but needed some Brandon Rush heroics to slip past Iowa State in Ames.

7. (10) Texas A&M (15-2)

Frank Says: The Aggies face a nationally ranked club (Oklahoma State) at home for the first time Saturday.

8. (11) Pittsburgh (16-2)

Frank Says: Can continue to separate itself from the rest of the Big East pack with home games against Connecticut (Tuesday) and Marquette (Sunday) over the next seven days.

9. (12) Nevada (15-1)

Frank Says: The Wolf Pack may have collected their most impressive W of the season by winning in Hawaii without National Player of the Year candidate Nick Fazekas.

10. (13) Oregon (16-1)

Frank Says: Aaron Brooks hit game-winning shots over UCLA and Arizona in an eight-day stretch. Not bad, indeed.

11. (6) Arizona (13-3)

Frank Says: The Wildcats aren’t going to be the best team in the Pac 10 until they starting making it a lot more difficult for opponents to score.

12. (7) Butler (15-1)

Frank Says: We can’t beat up on the Bulldogs too much for a road conference loss (Illinois-Chicago).

13. (9) Duke (14-3)

Frank Says: The questions about the Blue Devils’ offense will cease to be asked if the performance in Miami Sunday doesn’t prove to be just a case of hooking up with a bad defensive opponent.

14. (14) Oklahoma State (15-2)

Frank Says: What a week for the Cowboys – Texas Tuesday and Texas A&M Saturday!

15. (15) Alabama (14-2)

Frank Says: A couple of sophomores – Richard Hendrix and Alonzo Gee – are Mark Gottfried’s leading scorers.

16. (18) Clemson (17-1)

Frank Says: Talk of that loss in Maryland Saturday will cease to be an issue if the Tigers knock off the team they play host to Wednesday night.

17. (19) Texas (13-3)

Frank Says: Kevin Durant is averaging 28.2 points and 14.8 rebounds over the past five games.

18. (20) Air Force (17-1)

Frank Says: Just an idle thought but will the Falcons ever lose again? Sure they will – probably two or three times in the MWC and once in the NCAA Tournament.

19. (21) Washington State (15-3)

Frank Says: There is no punishing the Cougars after a lopsided win at California and overtime loss at Stanford.

20. (24) Notre Dame (15-2)

Frank Says: Russell Carter (18.0 points and 4.5 rebounds per game) is having a heck of a senior season, isn’t he?

21. (ur) Virginia Tech (13-4)

Frank Says: Say hello to our lil’ friends the Hokies! Duke and North Carolina already had their introductions.

22. (16) Tennessee (13-4)

Frank Says: The Volunteers could oh-so-easily be 15-2 if not for gut-twisting losses at Vanderbilt and Ohio State.

23. (17) LSU (12-4)

Frank Says: The Tigers’ non-conference win over Texas A&M is keeping them in the Top 25 – for now, at least.

24. (ur) Memphis (13-3)

Frank Says: Welcome back, Tigers!

25. (UR) Stanford (11-4)

Frank Says: A sweep of Virginia, Washington and Washington State enables Trent Johnson’s crew to become the fifth Pac-10 team in the Top 25 this week.

Dropped out: Georgetown (22), West Virginia (23) and UNLV (25)

Just missed: Arkansas, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kentucky, Marquette, Massachusetts, New Mexico State, UNLV and USC.

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Inducted into the USBWA Hall of Fame in April, 2005, Frank Burlison is Scout.com’s national basketball expert and is also a columnist for the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram. He can be reached at . Read more of Burlison’s pieces at www.frankhoops.com