Saturday Recap

Okay. It is just past midnight here in the suburbs of Chicago, and I think everything has wound down enough for me to give you my recap of Saturday's insanely awesome slate.

Let's start with the biggest news of the day: Duke lost. Yeah.. they lost. And not even to a bigtime team either. They lost to Boston College in Chestnut Hill to open ACC play. Everyone's now acting like the blueprint to beating Duke is apparent and easily applicable, but I don't think this is a major deal for Duke. If you watched the game, you had to realize that Boston College shot an absurd 57.7% from distance and 50% for the game. There was no team in America today that could've taken down Boston College today; they couldn't miss. Sure, Duke's defense could've been better, but this isn't a concern for me because Duke's defense always sucks at this time of year. And if the only way a team can beat Duke is by shooting over 55% from 3, then I like the Blue Devils' chances. Every team loses, so we shouldn't be that worked up about this one. Side note: Way to go BC! Ky Bowman had 30 in the win, and the Eagles had recently lost one of their best players for the year in Deontae Hawkins. Great job.

Next up let's talk about CBS's battle of middling teams from mediocre conferences. UCLA visited Michigan and looked dominant for about 35 minutes. Then the Wolverines stormed back from a double-digit deficit to win in overtime. I think there's still hope for both Michigan and UCLA to make the tournaments. Both of their conferences suck, so they should be able to win a lot of games in January and February. This game seemed pretty underwhelming on paper, but it gave us an entertaining last few minutes (Minutes 1-35 sucked, the overtime sucked). So...um.....yeah.

Louisville and Indiana played today from the KFC Yum! Center, and it went how it was expected to go. Louisville won by 9, and Indiana dropped to 5-5 on the year. This matchup has really lost its luster. If they were playing this in 2013, Rece Davis and Company would've ditched the Army-Navy game and headed over to watch some hoops. Unfortunately that's not the world we live in. Both Louisville and Indiana have fallen off the national radar; Indiana more deservedly than Louisville. But the whole time I was watching this all I could think of was what could've been.

Florida and Cincinnati played today in the Who Needs A Win The Most Bowl, and Florida won by 6. The Gators had come in losing three straight including two at home to Florida State and Loyola Chicago. I was SO HIGH on Florida just a week ago, and then poof, they suck. It's gonna take a lot more than a win over Cincinnati to re-convince me that they're a Final Four team again. Florida had 54 of its 66 points from the backcourt today. They need more depth on the interior if they are gonna be legit contenders. As for Cincinnati, I'm rooting against them in every game they play from now on in hopes I get the thrill of seeing another Mick Cronin meltdown. Seriously I just need to see Landry Shamet say "You suck" like twice and then he'll go fricking nuts. Cincinnati is one of those teams where I couldn't match any names to faces, but I just know exactly how they play. I know they have Gary Clark and Jacob Evans, and they're pretty good I guess, but I wouldn't recognize them walking down the street. Anyway, Cincinnati has branded themselves on playing tough and physical, but honestly where has it gotten them? The Sweet 16 in 2012? I think they gotta find a different style if they are really going to become a national power.

UPDATE: Wisconsin is REALLY bad this year. Marquette beat them by 29 at the Kohl Center. Marquette's backcourt of Andrew Rowsey and Markus Howard is really underrated. They combined for 47 points in the win.

Speaking of national power, Wichita State won at the always classy Gallagher-Iba Arena in Stillwater, Oklahoma against Oklahoma State. The Shockers had a bad first half and trailed for most of it, but they came alive in the second and won by 12. Landry Shamet (our potential Mick Cronin Meltdown Inducer) had 30 in the win. That's what he needs to do. Wichita State has struggled offensively when he doesn't get the ball enough. The Shcokers have to realize that he's their most talented player, and they are better when he shoots the most. It looks like they took a step in the right direction today.

Here's an interesting one: Minnesota got whooped at Arkansas today 95-79. The Gophers were ranked #14 in the country, but they might fall out of the Top 25 after today's brutal performance. Honestly, the only good Big Ten teams this year are Michigan State and Purdue...kind of. Everyone else, from Minnesota to Northwestern, is terrible. It's finally time to admit that the SEC is the better basketball conference. Minnesota losing to Arkansas had to have been Exhibit H.

The last game of interest from today was Alabama taking on Arizona at the McKale Center. It was an back-and-forth affair, with Alabama taking a 2-point lead into half thanks to a banked three-pointer from Collin Sexton. The second half was great too with the teams trading blows ultimately ending with an 88-82 victory for Arizona. First of all, my preseason national champion is officially #back. After three straight wins over UNLV, Texas A&m and now Alabama, I'm ready to say that this Arizona team has righted the ship. Now, there were two incredible freshmen on display as well. Arizona's DeAndre Ayton and Alabama's Collin Sexton both looked really impressive. Ayton had 29 points and 18 rebounds, and Sexton had 30 points. Ayton will be the top pick in the NBA Draft--I think he'll separate himself by season's end--and Sexston will be top-5. Seriously, we were given a gift from the basketball gods tonight. In terms of these teams though, Arizona I still think has a shot of winning it all. Allonzo Trier and Ayton are two special talents, and Rawle Alkins finally came back from injury tonight too. Everything's looking up for the Cats. Alabama can get to an Elite Eight because Collin Sexton can will them to it. The Tide are live by the Collin, die by the Collin. Whatever he does, his team will have a similar result. Tonight was a rare exception.