A quick evaluation of
the winners and losers in some of the Bracket Buster matchups over the
weekend:
WINNERS
*Southern Illinois: When you play rock-solid defense, don’t turn the
ball over much and get solid shot attempts on pretty much every possession,
you’re a very good team. And that’s what the Salukis looked like Saturday on the
home floor of another very good team, Butler, while prevailing,
68-64.
*Winthrop: An 11-point win
at Missouri State strengthens the “Winthrop is worthy of an at-large bid, if it
doesn’t win the Big South Conference tournament” suggestion.
*The WAC: Western Athletic
Conference teams Nevada (by 15 points over Northern Iowa), Utah State (by five
points at Oral Roberts), New Mexico State (by five points over Ohio), Hawaii (by
15 at Big West Conference-leading Long Beach State), Boise State (by one over
Albany), Fresno State (18 over Sam Houston State) and Louisiana Tech (by 16 at
Southeast Missouri State) enabled the conference to go 7-2. Is it the strongest
“mid-major” conference this season? Could be.
LOSERS
*The MVC (as a whole):
Creighton (losing by six to visiting Drexel), Missouri State (getting
handled by Winthrop at home), Wichita State (clipped by two at home by
Appalachian State) and Northern Iowa (smoked in the second half in Reno by
Nevada) didn’t do much to support the “the Missouri Valley is the best mid-major
conference in the country” pre-event belief, although Bradley (73-64 over
Virginia Commonwealth) joined Southern Illinois in knocking off a quality
opponent on the road.
*The Big West: What does it
say when its leader (Long Beach State, just a win a away from clinching a share
of the conference title) loses at home by 15 points to Hawaii, which is
in seventh place in the Western Athletic Conference? That’s a rhetorical
question, by the way.
Bagging Individual Kudos for
the Week of Feb. 11-17
*Derrick Byars (6-7, Sr.,
Vanderbilt)
A definition of a “nice week” for a
Southeastern Conference basketball player: Going for 32 points, seven rebounds,
two assists and two steals in a 78-68 victory over South Carolina on Wednesday,
then following that performance with 24 points, eight rebounds and five steals
while leading your team past defending national champion and (then) No. 1
Florida on Saturday, 83-70. OK, let’s change that to a “marvelous
week”.
*Darren Collison (6-0, So.,
UCLA)
The slender and slick point guard
led the Bruins back from a 10-point deficit at Arizona State on Thursday night
while finishing with 18 points, two rebounds and three assists in a 67-61 Pac-10
victory. Two days later he was even better, with 17 points (hitting five of
seven 3’s), 15 assists, a steal and only two turnovers in an 81-66 win in Tucson
over Arizona.
*Jeff Green (6-8, Jr.,
Georgetown)
One of the nation’s hottest teams
continued to be just that thanks to Green. He 15 points, six rebounds and five
assists in the Hoyas’ 71-53 victory over visiting West Virginia last Monday
night. And, on Saturday in Philadelphia, he hit the go-ahead jump shot while
finishing with 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists while playing 40
minutes in the 58-55 win at Villanova.
*Jarrius Jackson (6-1, Sr.,
Texas Tech)
The Red Raiders got themselves back
into the NCAA Tournament at-large bid hunt last week and this fellow was a
significant reason why. His jump shot at the buzzer – and 31-point performance –
gave his team a 77-75 win at Texas A&M Tuesday night, snapping a five-game
losing streak in the process. Saturday he went for 28 points and a couple of
assists – without a turnover – as Texas Tech cruised past visiting Colorado,
95-74.
*Alando Tucker (6-6, Sr.,
Wisconsin)
The Badgers hung onto their share
of the Big Ten lead and Tucker remained a strong contender for conference and
national player of the year honors as well, going for 29 points and nine
rebounds in Wisconsin’s 75-62 win at Minnesota and 22 points, six rebounds and
two assists when the team cruised past Penn State, 75-49. The only bummer: He
made just nine of 20 free-throw attempts.
This Week’s Cool
Games
(A look at the weekend games will
be posted Friday)
MONDAY
Frank Says: The Jayhawks
thumped the Wildcats by 27 points in Lawrence on Feb. 7. Bob Huggins’
club would unquestionably like to exact a bit of avenge by hurting Kansas’
Big 12 regular-season championship hopes. But, even more than that, a Kansas
State win would help the Wildcats’ at-large hopes immensely.
Villanova at No. 20
Marquette
Frank Says: The Golden
Eagles are sliding – they’ve dropped three consecutive games – and there are no
soft touches over the final three Big East regular-season games, since they’re
at Notre Dame on Friday and play host to Pittsburgh on March 3. The Wildcats’
four-game winning streak didn’t die easily, as Georgetown needed a late jumper
by Jeff Green to edge Villanova Saturday.
TUESDAY
No. 2 Wisconsin at Michigan State
Frank Says: The last two
Spartans’ wins (both at home, by 15 points over Michigan and 32 over Iowa) were
impressive. But how really impressive would a victory over the
second-ranked team be at this stage of the season, regardless of the
location?
No. 14 Air Force at
UNLV
Frank Says: This could be a
preview of a Mountain West Conference tournament (which will be played in Las
Vegas, by the way) semifinal. The Falcons had their toughest home test of the
season before knocking off the Rebels (56-50) in Colorado Springs on Jan.
7.
Texas Tech at No. 15
Texas
Frank Says: Kevin Durant
scored 37 points and grabbed 23 rebounds – 23! – when the Longhorns beat
the Red Raiders (76-64) in Lubbock on Jan. 31. That’s when the “National
freshman of the year” talk quickly changed to the “National player of the
year” conversation for the 6-9 forward.
DePaul at Notre
Dame
Frank Says: Is this the most
critical game of the season for the Blue Demons? One could suggest that. They’ve
won three in a row and the schedule (they close Big East regular-season play in
Chicago against Cincinnati and South Florida) points to a 6-0 end-of-the-regular
season run – if they can get by the Irish in South Bend, of course.
WEDNESDAY
South Carolina at No. 4
Florida
Frank Says: The Gators
looked like anything but national championship favorites last week while needing
to rally from 18 points down to beat Alabama in Gainesville and then getting
pasted by 13 points by Vanderbilt in Nashville. The Gamecocks were on the front
end of one of the weekend’s more startling scores (81-64 over
Tennessee).
North Carolina State at No. 5 North Carolina
Frank Says: Virginia’s
favorable closing schedule would seem to dictate that the Tar Heels are going to
have to win out, in all likelihood, if they want to at least share the
regular-season title with the Cavaliers. Oh, yes: There is a lot of other
motivation for Roy Williams’ team as well, since the Wolfpack knocked off
the Tar Heels in Raleigh on Feb. 3, 83-79.
No. 6 Texas A&M at Oklahoma State
Frank Says: The Aggies want
to at least hang on to a share of the Big 12 Conference lead. As for the
Cowboys, well they’ve dropped four of their past five games to fall to 5-6 in
conference. That’s not exactly closing with the kind of flourish the NCAA’s
selection and seeding crew will smile upon.
No. 16 Boston College at Virginia Tech
Frank Says: The Eagles
clipped the Hokies by 21 points the first time around. Virginia Tech built up so
much NCAA Tournament at-large bid good will with a pair of wins over North
Carolina and another at Duke. But it had better not have any more of those
unsightly 25-point losses (at North Carolina State Sunday) left in its
system.
No. 22 Vanderbilt at Mississippi State
Frank Says: OK, let’s see
how much energy the Commodores can play with in Starkville after turning in such
a stunning performance in Nashville while whacking Florida Saturday. The
Bulldogs, after consecutive SEC wins over Auburn, Arkansas and LSU leveled their
conference mark at 6-6, are suddenly back in the at-large bid gossip.
Alabama at
Tennessee
Frank Says: The Crimson Tide
comes off a solid 72-61 victory over Kentucky in Tuscaloosa on Saturday while
the Volunteers are coming off an 81-64 dud (as in “loss”) against South Carolina
in Columbus Saturday. Both are 6-6 in conference and staring face to face with
NCAA Tournament seeds that will be in the eight to 10 range.
THURSDAY
No. 9 Washington State at
Oregon
Frank Says: The Ducks can
waddle off their slippery slope of late (they dropped three games in a row and
five of their past seven) and put a damper on the Cougars’ Pac-10 titles
hopes in the process.
No. 18 Duke at
Clemson
Frank Says: Funny what a
couple of wins (at Boston College and at home to Georgia Tech) can do to the
“What’s wrong with Duke?” talk, eh? This game is firmly in the “have to have it”
category for the Tigers, who have lost seven of their past nine games and
wouldn’t be in the field if the NCAA Tournament at-large teams were being picked
today.
No. 25 Stanford at
USC
Frank Says: Third place in
the Pac-10 is on the line in this one after the Trojans’ loss at Arizona State
Sunday evening. The last time these teams played, Stanford won in Palo Alto,
65-50, as Brook and Robin Lopez, and Lawrence Hill combined
to block 19 of USC’s 67 field-goal attempts.
Frankhoops.com Top
25
(Includes last rating and record as
of Feb. 18)
1. (3) UCLA
23-3
Frank Says: Arron Afflalo
and Darren Collison looked like the best starting backcourt in the
country during the Bruins sweep in Arizona last week.
2. (4) Wisconsin
26-2
Frank Says: Are, in fact,
the Badgers the best team in the Big Ten and worthy of one of the four No. 1
seeds awarded on March 11? We’ll be able to definitively say after their treks
to East Lansing (Tuesday) and Columbus (Sunday).
3. (5) Ohio State
24-3
Frank Says: The Buckeyes
“have won every game they should have so far this season” and how many other
teams can make that claim?
4. (1) Florida
24-3
Frank Says: The Gators (had
to rally from 18 down to beat Alabama at home and lost by 13 at Vanderbilt) had
their worst week in more than a year last week.
5. (2) North Carolina
23-4
Frank Says: Here’s saying
the Tar Heels will not lose again until the NCAA Tournament.
6. (7) Texas A&M
22-4
Frank Says: The Aggies will
be facing what should be a near-desperate Oklahoma State team in Stillwater
Tuesday night.
7. (8) Kansas
23-4
Frank Says: The Jayhawks
have had a four-game “they should get to the Final Four” stretch, outscoring
Kansas State, Missouri, Colorado and Nebraska by an average margin of 31.8
points.
8. (9) Nevada
24-2
Frank Says: Three
consecutive WAC road games on tap for the Wolf Pack.
9. (10) Washington State
22-4
Frank Says: The Cougars need
a sweep in Oregon to be able to come back to Pullman with at least a share of
the Pac-10 title within their grasps.
10. (6) Pittsburgh
23-4
Frank Says: The Panthers
looked anything but “sharp” while losing by 13 at home to Louisville and then
struggling to beat a team that is 6-8 in the Pac-10 (Washington) by four in
Pittsburgh.
11. (12) Memphis
23-3
Frank Says: The Tigers’
performance while hanging on to beat an undermanned Gonzaga team in overtime
Saturday didn’t exactly scream “this is a team that should be a 3 or 4 seed in
the tournament!”
12. (14) Southern Illinois
23-5
Frank Says: Based on how
well the Salukis played in Indianapolis while beating Butler Saturday, I’d
almost be surprised if they aren’t playing in the second week of the NCAA
Tournament.
13. (17) Georgetown
20-5
Frank Says: For the time
being, at least, the Hoyas look to be the best team in the Big East.
14. (18) Air Force
23-4
Frank Says: With a Tuesday
night Mountain West Conference contest at UNLV on tap, the Falcons’ national
rating – and conference title hopes – could be in serious jeopardy in Las
Wages.
15. (19) Texas
19-7
Frank Says: Amazingly
enough, the Longhorns are still in the thick of the Big 12 Conference
championship race. Well, with Kevin Durant wearing uniform No. 35, maybe
it’s not quite that amazing after all.
16. (20) Boston College
18-8
Frank Says: The Eagles
dropped a pair of home games (to Duke and North Carolina) and still climbed four
slots in the Top 25? The logic used, of course, is that some teams ranked about
them last week lost games to teams not nearly as good as Duke and North
Carolina.
17. (21) BYU
20-6
Frank Says: Here is one of
the hottest clubs in the country (with five wins in a row and 15 in the Cougars’
past 17 games) and yet very few people seem to be abuzz with BYU conversation.
Go figure.
18. (ur) Duke
20-7
Frank Says: I haven’t heard
or read anyone suggest in the past few days that “Duke might miss the NCAA
Tournament this season”.
19. (ur) Louisville
19-8
Frank Says: What an
impressive pair of Big East road wins (Pittsburgh and Marquette)!
20. (16) Marquette
21-7
Frank Says: Three
consecutive losses and suddenly it’s Georgetown and Louisville that are stealing
a lot of the Big East national thunder.
21. (13) Indiana
17-8
Frank Says: Maybe it’s time
to ponder the suggestion that there are two very, very good teams in the Big Ten
and several “just OK” ones.
22. (ur) Vanderbilt
18-8
Frank Says: Oh, the rewards
a SEC team can pick up by sweeping South Carolina and Florida in the same
week!
23. (ur) Winthrop
23-4
Frank Says: It’s time for
some national props to a team that has lost only on the home floors of North
Carolina, Maryland, Wisconsin and Texas A&M.
24. (ur) Virginia Tech
18-8
Frank Says: The Hokies are
leading candidates for the “most unpredictable team of the season” honors. You
win at North Carolina and then lose by 25 points at North Carolina State five
days alter? I don’t get it.
25. (ur) Stanford
17-8
Frank Says: This ranking
could be a bit precarious, since the Cardinal must take a Southern California
road trip puts Trent Johnson’s team in the Galen Center (against USC) on
Thursday and Pauley Pavilion (vs. the No.1 UCLA Bruins) on Saturday
afternoon.
Dropped out: Oregon (15),
Kentucky (22), USC (23), Oklahoma State (24) and Arizona (25).
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
frank.burlison@presstelegram.com. Read more of Burlison’s pieces at
www.frankhoops.com