Enjoy the Undefeateds While They Last

And another unbeaten goes down. USC fell at Oregon on Friday by a score of 84-61. This comes two days after Oregon knocked previously undefeated UCLA on Wednesday. And it also comes one day before another unbeaten is guaranteed to lose when Villanova travels to Creighton on Saturday. The point is that it's extremely hard to go undefeated. Wichita State and Kentucky going undefeated in the regular season in 2014 and 2015, respectively provides a false standard of teams going undefeated more often that it really does happen. We will be down to three undefeated teams by 2 PM tomorrow, so we should enjoy them while they last. 

Granted, Gonzaga will last a long time before losing if all goes according to plan. But for Villanova, Baylor and Creighton, their perfect records shouldn't last much longer as they all play in tough conferences. 

For tomorrow's big game, I like Villanova. I know Creighton has a scary offense and it's in Omaha, but I've noticed a trend with Villanova. They haven't lost a game in which people thought they would lose since February 24, 2016, when they lost at #5 Xavier. Since then people expected them to lose to Miami, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Carolina and Purdue, and they won them all. I really don't see the Wildcats falling tomorrow to the Blue Jays. Don't get too excited though because Villanova will lose on January 4 when they play Butler on the road. And finally for Baylor, I say they lose January 10 at West Virginia. And for Gonzaga, well, we'll see.

The Big East is the Best in College Basketball

The Butler/St John's game should've been one where you don't actually watch but you just check the score after and say "Oh yeah, Butler won by 25. Cool." The game was anything but that as St John's actually beat #13 Butler 76-73 after being down double digits earlier in the contest.

This just goes to show how deep the Big East truly is. Think about it. The two worst teams in the conference--DePaul and St John's--played Villanova super close on the road and beat a top-15 team in the country, respectively. If those two teams play like they did these past two days, then the Big East is the best conference in college basketball in both depth and firepower. The conference has a great top 4 in Villanova, Creighton, Butler and Xavier, then you add in Seton Hall, Providence, Marquette and Georgetown, and I don't see a terrible team in the entire league.

Gonzaga Will Go Undefeated

After seeing Gonzaga throughout the entire non-conference season, I can honestly say that I don't think they will drop a game this year. I see them rolling all over the WCC as Saint Mary's isn't as good as expected in my opinion. I've said this before, but this is Mark Few's most complete team he's had at Gonzaga. 

Indiana's Outlook

Indiana lost to Nebraska on Wednesday, and it raised even more questions about this inconsistent Hoosier squad. I don't even know what's going on with Indiana. They have all the right pieces, but there just seems to be something missing. We all know what they can do offense, but when they aren't lighting it up, they can't rely on their defense and hustle plays to win them games. Jack Heiss, a friend of mine, said that Indiana is feast of famine, and he is exactly right, even though he is a lifelong Purdue fan who is extremely biased. (No offense, Heiss). The Hoosiers can only win one way, and until they can learn to be a multidimensional ball club, they will struggle in their quest for a Big Ten and National Championship.

What a Wednesday

What a night. Just wow. Wednesday was the real kickoff to conference play (although the Big Ten tried on Tuesday), and it certainly did not disappoint. I was focused on three games coming into last night and those were Seton Hall/Creighton, Virginia/Louisville, and UCLA/Oregon. 

Well Seton Hall and Creighton played on Fox Sports 2, and I don't get that channel. (It's times like these where I wish the Big East was still on ESPN). Anyway, Creighton won handily. Virginia and Louisville turned out to be a signature Wahoo win, in which they held Louisville to 53 points and won 61-53. So with Seton Hall and Creighton not being available and Virginia and Louisville being a snooze fest in general, I turned to Fox Sports 1 (luckily I have that) and watched Villanova battle DePaul.

And I mean battle. Villanova played its worst game of the year, and DePaul almost caught them sleeping. However, Nova just scraped by with a three-point victory at home despite Billy Garrett Jr. having a decent look to send it to overtime. In all honesty, I can't really blame Villanova for overlooking DePaul because EVERYBODY overlooks DePaul. I even sarcastically put Villanova on upset alert during my podcast yesterday. I was THAT confident that Villanova would pound the Blue Demons into the ground. SB Nation's college basketball Twitter account has a thing where they say "DePaul lost" after what seems like every DePaul game. DePaul and losing go together like peanut and butter. So that makes me even more impressed with what DePaul accomplished last night. They really showed that they have to be taken seriously in the Big East by any opponent.

While the DePaul/Villanova game was a surprise blockbuster, everyone knew what would go down in Eugene, Oregon, on Wednesday. This game was bananas. Simply bananas. Both UCLA and Oregon played extremely good basketball, and we had Bill Walton as the color guy to top it all off. The game was back-and-forth throughout, but Dillon Brooks's three pointer with .8 seconds remaining gave the Ducks the 89-87 victory over the previously undefeated UCLA Bruins. This was definitely the best game of the year. It had potent offense and little defense. Perfect! Lonzo Ball, Bryce Alford, Thomas Welsh, and TJ Leaf all scored in double figures for UCLA, while Brooks, Dylan Ennis, Payton Pritchard, Jordan Bell, and Tyler Dorsey did for Oregon. 

With the win, Oregon re-entered the discussion for the best team in the country. When healthy, they can compete with anyone. As for UCLA, I still really like them, but they clearly need help on defense if they want to get to a Final Four. 

Overall, today was nuts. Hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.

Podcast #5

Grayson Allen and his impact on Duke
Conference Play Preview
Bluegrass Battle Recap
Notable Games This Week
Podcast 5

Grayson Allen

Grayson Allen created waves on Wednesday when he tripped an opponent (Elon's Steven Santa Ana to  be specific) for a third time in 2016. What made this incident even more noticeable was Allen's reaction to the technical foul he received after it. 

And that's what bothers me more. Basketball players always do cheap things to each other on the court. Look at Draymond Green kicking people in last year's NBA Playoffs. What makes this situation different is the fact that Grayson Allen went nuts after. There's really no other way to explain it. He just had a meltdown on the bench that hurt him even more in terms of how the media treats him. Frankly, he deserves it. I hate to beat a dead horse here, but what he did was "inexcusable" and "immature." 

Duke announced on Thursday that Allen was suspended indefinitely  from competition, which is the right move. Whether he does it again is uncertain, but the suspension certainly won't induce another tripping incident. Honestly, Allen's problem isn't the tripping itself. The problem is his emotional state during games and the way he controls himself. That is what's inexcusable. The tripping won't be a problem for Duke--that can be resolved without damage to the team. The tantrum is the aspect that could be detrimental to Duke's hopes of a national championship this year. 

Looking at the schedule, I think Allen will come back on January 14th when they take on Louisville. This means he will miss four games, which is a good amount considering they don't play any powerhouse in those four.

Thoughts on Bluegrass Battle

When I watched tonight's Kentucky/Louisville game, I saw two Final Four-caliber teams. 

Louisville's defense is one of the best in the country. To hold Kentucky to 70 points is quite a feat. Deng Adel can play. I was really impressed with him along with Quentin Snider. If Louisville can just have a competent offense, I think they will be in really good shape in March. This game proved a lot about how much of a threat the Cardinals are. 

As for Kentucky, I think their biggest concern is their free throw shooting. Kentucky shot 19-29 from the line, which pretty much lost them the game. Also, this game showed that Kentucky doesn't have a lot of 3PT options if Malik Monk has an off night, which was the case tonight. The Wildcats shot 5-22 from behind the arc, which won't be good enough come tournament time. De'Aaron Fox and Monk can get to the rim at will, they shouldn't be settling for perimeter jumpers, especially Fox.

Podcast #4

Malik Monk
Best Freshman Class Ever?
UK/UNC
AP Poll Consistency
Undefeated Teams
Michigan St
Northwestern
UK/Louisville

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3sWk56cdRlmOWttZkYyRndMMlk

There's No Comparison to Malik Monk

I'm still in shock after that UNC/UK game today. I mean Justin Jackson had a career-high 34 points, and his team didn't only lose, but he was also an afterthought because of what Malik Monk did. Monk led Kentucky to a 103-100 victory by dropping 47 points including the game-winning three with 16 seconds left. 

Monk is the funnest player to watch in college basketball, and I don't even think it's close right now. Coach Calipari keeps telling him to drive the lane instead of settling for jumpers, but when he's cooking like he was today, Cal is fine letting him jack up threes. 

Along with De'Aaron Fox and Bam Adebayo, Malik Monk is also an athletic specimen on the floor. He can knock down a perimeter shot with ease on one possession and catch a lob for a dunk on the very next one. He is truly a special talent, and I can't remember if we have seen this type of player before. 

Updated Final Four Predictions

 There really hasn't been any game worth talking about so far this week, so I thought I would share my Final Four predictions based on Joe Lunardi's most recent bracket projection, which can be found here. Now it's still insanely early, but preparing for the bracket pools in March has to start somewhere right? So here it is.

 East: (2) Kentucky- They just have too much offensive firepower and the freshmen are only going to get better. De'Aaron Fox, Malik Monk, and Isaiah Bristol make up the most electrifying backcourt in the country.

 West: (2) UCLA- I don't see how UCLA is a 2 seed in Lunardi's projection, but at least it gives me less chalk in my prediction. I've said in my podcasts at least 6.3 times that UCLA is the best team in the country, and until they prove me wrong, I'm sticking with that.

 Midwest: (1) Kansas- UCLA might be the best team in the country, but the best teams don't always win the tournament. Kansas has the perfect combination of experience and young star power, and I think that healthy balance is what will propel them to the Final Four and beyond.

 South: (1) Duke- This was probably the easiest choice to make for two reasons: 1) Duke is playing out of their minds right now, and they aren't even fully healthy. 2) Their region is so bad in this projection that they could take a nice, merry stroll down to the Final Four.

Hoop Dreams: Josh Hart

If Josh Hart isn't the favorite for national player of the year right now, then something is seriously messed up. This guy has the fight in him to drag Villanova to a second straight national championship all by himself. He had 37 points against Notre Dame on Saturday, and he dropped 26 against Temple tonight. Luckily, he doesn't have to do it all by himself, but if you're Villanova, it must be nice to have that kind of asset just in case. 

Podcast #3

-An ode to Kemba Walker
- St. Mary's
- AP Poll consistency
- Fun games last week
-Games to watch this week

Guest: None

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3sWk56cdRlmLXlBMmJPazZWbjg

Don't Hit the Panic Button Yet, Tar Heels

Many people were startled by UNC's close win against Tennessee yesterday, but don't worry Tar Heel fans, UNC is a completely different team with Joel Berry II, and if he can go Saturday against Kentucky, it should be a great matchup. 

Saturday Update

Not a bad Saturday for college basketball. We got a great game in Villanova-Notre Dame, and we got to see plenty of other high-ranked teams in action too. UCLA throttled Michigan after being tied at half, and Kansas, Duke, Gonzaga, Indiana, Arizona, Louisville (although it was probably the second biggest deal in Louisville today), West Virginia, and Purdue all picked up easy victories today. Wisconsin beat Marquette, Butler beat Cincinnati, and Xavier got past Utah. Overall, it was a rather uneventful Saturday in terms of good games, but still entertaining nonetheless.

Hoop Dreams: Xavier's Struggles

Man, Xavier does not look strong right now. They just lost their second in a row to Colorado. I say that Xavier finishes 3rd instead of 2nd in the Big East. Villanova and Creighton look miles ahead of them at this point.

Podcast #2

My guest Matt Firestone and I talk about the crazy week in college basketball, Indiana, Virginia, Big Ten/ACC challenge, UCLA, and much more.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B3sWk56cdRlmeDRLZXM4N3hiNnM

We Survived the CFP Onslaught

While most people were freaking out about the College Football Playoff all weekend, Saturday was actually the best day college basketball has seen this season. UCLA shocked Kentucky in Rupp Arena, Baylor continued its dominant run with a 76-61 win over Xavier, Gonzaga solidified itself as a national power with a win over Arizona, and West Virginia defeated Virginia in Charlottesville.

 This is just a quick reminder: never sleep on college basketball. It's quite a shame that many of us missed out on an exhilarating weekend, but I'm happy to say I was not one of them. It's nice to see all of what college basketball has to offer on a day like that. We survived. That is all that matters.

The Saviors of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge

We went into Wednesday with two huge games to look forward to in the ACC Big Ten Challenge. Those were Purdue @ Louisville and North Carolina @ Indiana. Well, Louisville beat Purdue 71-64 in a game that wasn't all that exciting and Indiana handled North Carolina in a game that UNC never led. Mixed in with the disappointing Michigan State-Duke matchup on Tuesday, the blockbuster games of the Challenge weren't that exciting. However, one game pretty much saved the entire event, and it was tucked away on ESPN2 while UNC and Indiana went at it.

The game I'm talking about is Ohio State @ Virginia. Both teams were undefeated going in, and Virginia was 6th in the country. Many people, including myself, thought that it would be a classic Virginia game--win by 10-15 points while holding an inferior opponent to under 50. 

Well that wasn't what happened at all. Sure, Virginia did win, but Ohio State gave them hell of a game. Ohio State was leading for a majority of the game and they almost staved off Virginia's late-game run, but the Wahoos ultimately won 63-61 after a last-second, fade-away 3pt attempt by Ohio State's JaQuan Lyle fell short. 

But no matter the result, thanks to the Buckeyes and Cavaliers for saving this nearly unwatchable ACC Big Ten Challenge.