Jersey Appreciation Friday Vol. 47

This week's Jersey Appreciation Friday goes to the one and only Boston Celtics. As you remember, I believed that the Celtics had the coolest alternate jerseys on the league when they had the green and black combination back in the Kevin Garnett/Paul Pierce/Ray Allen/Rajon Rondo days, but this past week they made that jersey even better. The Celtics' new Statement Jersey is black with green letters, and they finally debuted the masterpiece. It is truly the greatest NBA uniform I have ever laid my eyes on. I'm getting a Kyrie one. Book it. Click Here

Podcast #48

What Am I Wearing?
The Maui, Atlantis, PKs, and CBE
Other Notable Games Last Week
Previewing/Predicting Games This Week
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Jersey Appreciation Friday Vol. 46

WOAH! Having this week of of school has made me forget what day it is. It's almost SUNDAY, and there has yet to be a Jersey Appreciation Friday this week. Maybe I was hypnotized by the glorious PK80 uniforms. Anyway, for the 46th edition of Jersey Appreciation Friday, I'll go with a uniform i just saw recently. While the game between Maryland and Bucknell was quite the thriller, I couldn't help but notice the sleeved Bison uniforms. They were gray, which usually yields a dull jersey, but the navy blue and orange accents on the collar and letters made the uniform stand out . They make the orange and navy work without making it too much like the Chicago Bears or Illinois. Well done. Click Here

Ranking the PK80 Uniforms

While the Maui Invitational and Battle 4 Atlantis are certainly making their own headlines this Feast Weekj\, a new tournament, the PK80 held in honor of Nike legend Phil Knight's 80th birthday, is the tournament everyone seems to be talking about. And who could blame them? With a field featuring Duke, North Carolina, Butler, Florida, Gonzaga, Texas, Oregon, Michigan State, Oregon, Oklahoma, Ohio State and more, this is the most anticipated Thanksgiving tournament in recent memory. Aside from all the great teams playing basketball, each one is going to be wearing a special uniform for the entire event. Let's rank all 16 of them here.

16. DePaul

Like most things basketball-related. DePaul finds itself dead last in these rankings. Their royal blue uniforms with black lettering wouldn't be such a bad idea, but the jerseys lack any outline. This makes the uniform look like a jumbled mess created with crayon by a second-grader.

15. Portland State

These green and white uniforms wouldn't be so bad if they were worn in a regular game, but seeing that so many other teams stepped up their jersey game for this event, Portland State looks lost in a galaxy of uniform normalcy. Again, it's not a bad look--forest green with white lettering--but it just doesn't compare with the heavyweights of the PK80.

14. Oklahoma

This one isn't really Oklahoma's fault. It's almost impossible to make anything look good using that atrocious shade of red. The Sooners also lose points for lack of effort, as these are basically the same as their regular jerseys. Bummer Sooner.

13. Stanford

Stanford's are also quite unremarkable. The cardinal red with black letters is so overdone, and using black with that dark of a red won't allow people to even make out the word 'Stanford' on their uniforms. An outline would've helped here.

12. Duke

Again, we have a case of a team not putting forth the effort. The Dukies basically have the same blue uniform as they do during ACC play, and that one isn't even that impressive. Considering their encouraging color scheme and their beast uniforms from the early 2010s, I was expecting more.

11. UConn
The Huskies changed their color scheme from red, white and navy to black and gray. The look isn't horrible, but I punish UConn for being sellouts and changing their entire identity for some Nike dude's preference. Also, whenever gray is your main color your ceiling is like a 6/10.

10. Ohio State
The Buckeyes did a pretty good job with these uniforms. You're probably wondering what sets Ohio State apart from Stanford, and it's the shade of red. Ohio State has a brighter, more Nike-esque tone than the humdrum Cardinal. Again, the red and black isn't my favorite combination, but the Buckeyes made the best of it. If we were talking black jerseys with red lettering, then I'd be higher on them.

9. Arkansas
There we go! I told you the black/red jersey looks way better than the inverse. I also give credit to the Razorbacks for going with the logo look instead of the letters. They were the only team to do it, so that bumps them up a few spots.

8. Michigan State
Sparty went with their traditional green but with gold lettering for the PK80. This is a really good uniform. If I ranked solely on shorts, the Spartans would be #1. But the jersey isn't as strong as the other competitors, thus, they land in 8th.

7. Butler
Butler's uniform looks so plain, but it's so cool. The Bulldogs have black jerseys with white lettering (Yawn.), but the shorts are phenomenal. The thick white stripes contrasting with the thinner black ones gives this uniform a hypnotic appearance. Butler just created the best black and white uniform ever in my book.

6. Texas
I'm sad. Texas might've been given the second-best color combination to work with, yet its design is ordinary. The jerseys are fine, but the semi-two-tone shorts just aren't getting it done for me. The Longhorns did a good job, just not a great job. But their color scheme carries them into 6th.

5. North Carolina
The Tar Heels never have a disappointing uniform, and this is no different. The navy blue "UNC" on top of the traditional Carolina blue is just amazing and angelic. North Carolina has once again outclassed everyone in the uniform game.

4. Gonzaga
Such a great uniform. They utilize the black/red combo better than anyone in the tournament, and their shorts have a fantastic zigzag pattern running across them. Just an absolute masterpiece from the folks up in Spokane.

3. Portland
This might be my wildcard pick, but I can't help but dig the purple uniforms of the Pilots. Nothing really special about the design here really, but the color scheme featuring that lavender-ish purple pushes them up to 3rd on my list.

2. Florida
Orange. Black. Perfect. Florida's uniform is just like the German Confederations Cup team: They bring their B-team and still dominate. Ideally, I would've loved to see a royal blue with orange lettering, but since Phil Knight wanted black in everything, that couldn't happen. Still, the Gators have great uniforms. Don't sleep on the gator-print shorts either.

1. Oregon
It's only right that Oregon gets the top rank after all of this. I mean Phil Knight did go there. Anyway, the vibrant, but not overdone green is the best uniform color in this field, and the duck wing pattern on the shorts is good too. There is nothing I don't like about this Oregon uniform, but again it all comes back to that green. Just amazing.

I'll be doing a Twitter tournament throughout the week too. Make sure you vote and make YOUR favorite PK80 uniform the champion.

Maui Delivers; Battle 4 Atlantis Disappoints

College basketball showed why it's the best spectator sport in the world today as there were several exciting and meaningful games played in the two major Thanksgiving tournaments: the Battle 4 Atlantis and the Maui Invitational.

The Battle 4 Atlantis gave us four games in which three of them were upsets. North Carolina State beat (2) Arizona. Ugh. Tennessee needed overtime to knock off (18) Purdue. Ugh. Northern Iowa got by SMU. Enh. The only favored team to win in the Battle was 5th-ranked Villanova, but even they struggled against Western Kentucky, a team that should be favored in Conference USA this season. While the upsets do provide an element of excitement, this ultimately f**ks up the rest of the tournament. The semifinal matchups are Villanova/Tennessee and North Carolina State/Northern Iowa. Good, but not great. This is a rare time where I am thankful for a consolation bracket. The 5th place game (ideally Arizona vs Purdue) will be more interesting than the championship (ideally Villanova vs North Carolina State). But the way this tournament went down today, I'm sure Nova will go down and either Arizona or Purdue will lose again. This tournament already turned into a s**tshow, so we might as well burn it all to the ground.

Predicitons: Villanova over Tennessee; NC State over Northern Iowa; Arizona over SMU; Purdue over Western Kentucky

The Maui Invitational thankfully made up for the Battle 4 Atlantis crap and gave us an awesome championship between (6) Wichita State and (13) Notre Dame. Wichita State literally dominated the entire game. They were up by 15 at one point and looked poised to close the game out without a problem. Then the Irish woke up. Bonzie Colson started knocking down shots, and Matt Farrell revved up his intensity. With about 30 seconds left, ND had the ball down by 3 points. Then Bonzie Colson airballed a 3-pointer with 13 seconds left, and all hope was lost for the Irish. BUT WAIT. Matt Farrell stole the in-bounds pass and dished it to Colson for a layup. 66-65 Shockers. Notre Dame fouled Austin Reeves and sent him to the line where he missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Matt Farrell attempted to get to the cup on the ensuing possession but was ferociously denied. After the scrap for the rebound, a jump ball was called, giving Notre Dame the ball with 3.3 seconds left. Mike Brey then drew up a genius out-of-bounds play that got Martinas Geben fouled with 2.3 seconds remaining. His first free throw hit the back iron and bounced in the air, then the front rim, then in. His second one was made in a cleaner fashion. ND leads 67-66. Wichita State tried to pass the ball to halfcourt from their own baseline, but Landry Shamet caught it and turned it over soonafter. NOTRE DAME WINS.

This was an absolutely wild finish. After seeing this, I think both Wichita State and Notre Dame are legit top-10 teams in America. Screw Kentucky. The Shockers and the Irish are far superior right now.

Also in the Maui, I got my wish as Chaminade curb-stomped California 96-72. Yeah, I'm not kidding; look it up. Michigan beat VCU in a great consolation championship, and Marquette looked good in a win against LSU even though Tremont Waters torched them for 39 points.

OTHER NEWS:
-Brian Bowen won't be playing for Louisville this season (check Twitter).
-The Celtics finally lost.
-Vanderbilt got its 2nd Top-15 2018 recruit as Simi Shittu announced he'll be a Commodore.
-Kyron Cartwright of Providence had the craziest buzzer-beater of the year as he got the win against Belmont.
-The PK80s start tomorrow, so pay attention to that.

Maui Invitational Championship Preview

Ladies and gentlemen, we have actually received the Maui championship game we wanted. After Georgetown screwed everything up last year, the Maui Invitational has made up for it by pairing up Wichita State and Notre Dame for the title tomorrow.

The finals better be good because the semifinals weren't anything special. Wichita State beat Marquette handily 80-66, and Notre Dame put the hurt on LSU by a score of 92-53.

Wichita State looks really good defensively. Their full-court press is incredibly difficult to break, helping the Shockers force 28 turnovers in their two games so far. Big man Shaquille Morris is averaging 18 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3 blocks during the tournament and will be a key defensive presence against a Notre Dame squad that can fill it up. Landry Shamet is also playing quite well for Wichita State, but it's really been a team effort. The loose balls, offensive rebounds and deflections are propelling Wichita State to victories; it'll be interesting to see how they do against on of the nation's best offenses.

Notre Dame is coming off two games in which the combined margin of victory was 33 points. Fun fact: they actually beat LSU by more points than Division II host Chaminade. Anyway, you've all heard about Matt Farrell and Bonzie Colson. Yeah, they're great. But Temple Gibbs has silently been one of Notre Dame's most productive players offensively. He's averaging 15 points per game on the season and exploded for 27 tonight. He could end up being the X-factor in the championship tomorrow.

As for a prediction, I'll take the Irish by 7. We have to remember that Wichita State isn't fully healthy, as Markis McDuffie is recovering from a broken foot. Ultimately, I think Notre Dame has too much firepower on the offensive end for Wichita State to keep up with, at least for tomorrow night.

Maui Invitational Day 1

You know the college basketball season has arrived when you hear Dan Shulman and Jay Bilas calling games in the ESPN polos at midnight. This, of course, can only mean one thing: The Maui Jim Maui Invitational is back! The first day of games kicked off today, and we saw some pretty decent action. Let's recap here.

Quarterfinal 1: Marquette 94 VCU 83
Not surprisingly, Markus Howard led all scorers in this one with 22 points, but Marquette as a team had a solid outing against a frantic VCU team. Despite committing 17 turnovers, Marquette always had a decent handle on the game, and it felt that they were in the driver’s seat from the opening tip. 94 points against one of the most established defensive teams in the country is always a good sign, but the Golden Eagles will get a tougher test tomorrow.

Quarterfinal 2: Wichita State 92 California 82
The Shockers were down by as many as 18 early in the second half thanks to a tremendous performance by Cal guard Don Coleman, but they eventually woke up and used a fantastic 5-minute stretch at the end of the game to propel themselves to a 10-point win. I know Cal isn't a great team, but I loved the way Wichita State just turned it on and won that game. Shaquille Morris is playing way better than I gave him credit for at the beginning of the year, and Landry Shamet is one of the best guards in the country. Oh, and the Shockers aren't fully healthy yet.

Quarterfinal 3: Notre Dame 83 Chaminade 56
I would've loved to see a Chaminade win against the Irish today, but I think we all knew better than to expect it. When the Irish boast two of the best players in the ACC in Matt Farrell and Bonzie Colson, and those two players combine for 50 points (Farrell 27, Colson 23), Chaminade had no chance of winning. The good news is that we are one step closer to the highly-anticipated Wichita State/Notre Dame championship game.

Quarterfinal 4: LSU 77  Michigan 75
Clearly the best game of the opening round, LSU edged Michigan by two behind a spectacular performance from freshman guard Tremont Waters, who had 21 points (15 in the 2nd half). I'm telling you, this guy is really good. Apparently he was a top-100 freshman who held offers from Duke and Kansas, but I had never heard of him before tonight. Anyway, Michigan looked pretty good too. And the fact that Kentucky transfer Charles Matthews had 28 points should be encouraging for the Wolverines moving forward. For now though, let's look forward to Tremont Waters taking on Notre Dame tomorrow.

Side Note: The most interesting game of the night didn't even come from Hawaii. Creighton “upset” UCLA tonight 100-89 in the Hall of Fame Classic. Creighton’s offense looks like a video game, and it's always nice to see UCLA lose. But seriously, Creighton’s offense might be the best in the NCAA. Marcus Foster and Khyri Thomas are a fantastic 1-2 punch that will strike fear into any opponent. And Mitchell Ballock will be college basketball’s next lovable superstar. If they stay healthy (they didn't last year), they should be in consideration to finish 2nd in the Big East. (Villanova is on a another level right now). If they beat Baylor tomorrow (which I think they will), it would be their third straight win against a ranked opponent. Something to keep an eye on.