College Basketball: November 2006

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JohnBM01

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This thread is the start of my new monthly format for college basketball. Each month, I'd like to incorporate basketball talk as well as sharing scores. The only way I think we can really get this ship in the right direction is by having you get involved in these scores. Because ANYONE can give out scores. Only a certain few will try to get people more involved to help make this experience better. It's what I try to do with college football, and in my second season of covering scores, I'd like to replicate that into college basketball. Will you help make this better?

Something I may consider doing is covering fewer games. I try to get a lot of colleges involved to maybe try to get as many fans noticed. For example, I mostly do Kentucky and Louisville stuff for FoolKiller, Washington stuff for kylenhat, Illinois Fighting Illini action from my good buddy dougiemeats, and stuff like that. Only non-football school people I've done some stuff on was someone on GTPlanet who liked that Maryland-Baltimore County proven to become the king of basketball in the Baltimore area. Then I've tagged along with BlazinXtreme to cover the Oakland University Golden Grizzlies. I also want to balance men's and women's basketball. I know some people don't really care for women's basketball since it isn't as intriguing as men's basketball. However, women play just as hard as their male counterparts. Last season marked over 25(?) years of women's March Madness action. Maybe two of my favorite stories involved the success of Pat Summitt as well as how Connecticut became one of only a few schools to win the National Championship in both Men's and Women's hoops in the same season. So I want to get some people involved. It would be very interesting if I could get some ladies to talk women's hoops. And if not that, then maybe their boyfriends getting on GTPlanet talking about the team the guy's girlfriend plays for. In case you forgot last season, here are the defending National Champions in both levels of NCAA Division 1 basketball:

Defending Men's Div. 1 National Champions:
University of Florida (SEC; Gators; Gainesville, FL)

Defending Women's Div. 1 National Champions:
University of Maryland (ACC; (Lady) Terrapins; College Park, MD)

You up for a new season? Then let's do this, players!
 
I just want to touch base on this deal. The regular season and exhibitional seasons begin this weekend. I'm not likely going to cover all the games throughout this timeframe since I'm committed to college football. Remember that this is your thread. Offer your own scores and highlights. The monthly format will allow you to discuss college basketball. I'll surely provide my own comments and insight including some non-basketball material.

I have a few teams I'd like to follow this year. They include:

* Kentucky (can they keep a good thing going?)
* Texas A&M-Corpus Christi (will they succeed in Southland Conference and make an appearance into the NCAA Tournament?
* Tennessee! (will they stand tall in women's hoops?)
* Houston! (will Joe Curl coach his girls in some tough matches this season?)

! = women's team


I have other teams I may follow, but those are only a few. I may even do profiles in my college basketball threads like I do with college football. You probably won't see any in the college basketball threads while football season is on, but I do touch up on certain teams. I may even talk about conferences as profiles.

I think you'll enjoy this format as long as I try to make each month's thread of games work. It just takes you to make it all possible. Okay? So let's do a new season of hoops!
 
Let me start with my Kentucky v Louisville spiel.

This year both teams started with an exhibition against an NAIA team from within Kentucky. Louisville played Georgetown and Kentucky played Lindsey Wilson.

Louisville won by two, but everyone held their breath as an at the buzzer three from Georgetown nearly went in. Louisville's excuse: Georgetown has a lot of Division I transfers. My response: So you nearly lost to a bunch of rejects?

Kentucky won by 40. This was with show boating and freshman being given time. Heck, we even had a starter that was benched for a breach of team rules.

At a luncheon Saturday Kentucky President Dr. Lee Todd set out a challeneg that he always does. At a pre-final party held in the student center he will play any student at pool. The first student to win gets a pair of UKvUL tickets. He said it should be a good game, although Louisville nearly lost to Georgetown so you never know. :lol:

At the same Luncheon Tubby said to expect a new team who will have fun and play great. He said we had question marks last year and they will all be answered. He also called out the racist Tubby-haters and said that it is not about black and white but Ws and he expects to put a lot more Ws up this year.

Basketball is here and my time has come.
 
I don't have a fancy report with me right now, but a big upset occured last night in college basketball. Let me bring you all up to date.



COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOTEBOOK

- LAST NIGHT -
* Indiana put up 26 points over Butler's 23 points at the half. But in the end, Indiana was stunned as the Butler Bulldogs took down the Hoosiers 60-55. This was a match in the Midwest Region of the Preseason NIT.

* Western Kentucky lost to Georgia in football. So can WKU top the Georgia Bulldogs? They did. The Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky won 70-67 against Georgia's pathetic men's basketball team.

* Florida is top-ranked and ready to defend their title. It all begins with the non-football team known as the University of North Florida. The Ospreys thought they had a chance to shock Florida in this crazy world of college basketball. What they got instead was Gator OWNAGE. (86-40; #1 FLORIDA)

Other scores from 11/14/2006 can be found here: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2006-11-14&c=all&refresh=0



- MONDAY, NOVEMBER 13th -

* The Houston Cougars began their campaign to hopefully make the NCAA playoffs. They had to begin with a trip to Rhode Island. It would have been a stunning loss if Houston was taken down by the Rhode Island Rams. Thanks to a cold-blooded three-point shot by Houston's Oliver Lafayette, the Coogs won. Good job. Their next opponent is this Saturday against Monmouth. (102-99, OT; Houston)

* People say that Creighton University is a team to watch this season. They are #23 in the nation, in fact. They took on the Delta Devils of Mississippi Valley State. Omaha, Nebraska's Creighton Blue Jays won this match convincingly. (78-42; #23 CREIGHTON)

* One of the first upsets of the season was when Vermont went on the road to Boston College. I know Vermont has a great hockey team, but the Catamounts' basketball team shot the #15 Boston College Eagles right out of the sky. (77-63, Vermont) *upset!*

* The #17 team was Marquette University in Milwaukee, WI. They struggled a bit against the Idaho State Bengals. The score was very close as it went into Overtime. And in the end, the Golden Eagles emerged victorious in this match. (59-56, OT; #17 MARQUETTE)

Other scores from 11/13/2006 can be found here: http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2006-11-13&c=all&refresh=0






As for tonight, tonight will be the first game for the Kentucky Wildcats as they host the Miami University Redhawks. I'll be sure to try to report the scores of this game when I get them and report them.
 
As for tonight, tonight will be the first game for the Kentucky Wildcats as they host the Miami University Redhawks. I'll be sure to try to report the scores of this game when I get them and report them.
I would love to tell you all about this game, but it was broadcast on Fox Sports South and my cable doesn't pick up any Fox Sports without getting digital. Of course, even if I had digital we get Fox Sports Ohio (WTF?).

So I didn't get to see the game, I just know that we won. YAY!
 
I'm using Yahoo! Sports for scores since it's simple and not so cluttered (that's the point of something simple, right?). If I can find a way to cover Division 2 and 3, I'll find ways to share those scores with you all. I will not produce as many scores since college football is still underway. I'll shift my focus to hoops when most college football is done. Look below for all the scores from November 15th:

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2006-11-15&c=all&refresh=0 (men)
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/scoreboard?d=2006-11-15&c=all&refresh=0 (women)

A few people here on GTPlanet want scores from some popular schools. Here are some basic notes from the realm of college basketball...


DIVISION 1 GAMES - MEN
* Miami University -Redhawks- at #22 Kentucky -Wildcats-
Per FoolKiller's request, I'll share Kentucky's first game of their 2006-2007 campaign. Miami University's football team played in the wind, mud, and rain against Bowling Green. The men's basketball team were high and dry in Rupp Arena. The Miami University Redhawks looked ready to potentially stun the supreme power of SEC basketball- Kentucky. The football team at Kentucky will try to take down Louisiana-Monroe this Saturday. The basketball faithful packed Rupp Arena. Have I mentioned that blue is a beautiful color? It couldn't be any more true if you're talking Kentucky athletics. The kitties are ready to throw down for yet another year as Tubby Smith has his Wildcats fired up. According to the report on Yahoo! Sports, a Freshman for Kentucky named Perry Stevenson swatted away seven shots and scored the final 10 points to win. So good so far, Kentucky. Let's see how you all do against Mississippi Valley State this Friday. (57-46; KENTUCKY)
--- Stay tuned later in this report as I'll feature Kentucky's Lady Wildcats.


* Jackson State at Illinois
Now let's check in with dougiemeats' crew at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. As a recap, Illinois slaughtered Austin Peay State University on Monday with an 80-35 win. The Fighting Illini are ready to put up a fight yet again as Jackson State wants a piece of that big orange-colored "I." Jackson State is a SWAC team, one of two prolific black college sports conferences (the other is the MEAC) in Division 1. The Jackson State Tigers operate out of Jackson, Mississippi. And JSU are known as the Tigers. Once this game was over, leave it to Illinois to pound away Jackson State. Thanks for making the trip up north! (76-55; ILLINOIS)
^ The next four games should be pretty simple for Illinois. They got Georgia Southern on Friday, Florida A&M this coming Sunday, next week against Savannah State, and next Friday against Miami University. But look who they have November 28th... Maryland (2002 National Champions)! This should be a great test for the unranked Fighting Illini.

* -- Savannah State Report --
Savannah State is one of the most horrible teams in Division 1 athletics. It is a historically-black university based in Savannah, GA. Their colors are orange and reflex blue. The following is not a typo... I repeat, NOT a typo- Savannah State is unbeaten heading into their match this Thursay against Savannah College. The Savannah State Tigers beat Division 2's Clark Atlanta 66-59, then beat Jacksonville 67-64. Their most recent game was against Mercer. They won the game 71-61. I predict that Savannah State may indeed be 4-0 and perhaps even 5-0 (their next opponent is Southeastern College). And if Savannah State is REALLY improved, they should try taking down Illinois AT Illinois next Tuesday.

* Oral Roberts at #3 Kansas
I've always considered Oral Roberts as having a great basketball team. They are easily the best unit in the Mid-Continent. Oral Roberts flew into Kansas to face birds of a different feather. Oral Roberts University is located in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is a Christian university named after a televangelist that shares the same name of this university. And here's a fact for you: The Simpsons character, Ned Flanders, is a graduate of Oral Roberts University. You can learn more about Oral Roberts University at < http://www.oru.edu/ > and the Wikipedia entry at < http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oral_Roberts_University >. All you need to know is that the Golden Eagles are ready to brilliantly sparkle for all you college basketball fans. I may likely do a profile on Oral Roberts. Meanwhile, let's talk about Kansas. It's the Sunflower State that is truly in the center of America's lower 48. It was the setting to the classic, "The Wizard of Oz" and home to a great number of schools. The brightest star in college basketball in Kansas is Kansas. Too bad their football team stinks. But when football gets horrible, there's always basketball to hopefully cheer up fans. The Jayhawks are ready to make another postseason appearance. Or WILL they? Oral Roberts stunned Kansas with a 78-71 win. Congrats, boys! (78-71; Oral Roberts) *upset!*


* Winthrop at #2 North Carolina
There's nothing like college basketball in North Carolina. Nothing better. North Carolina briefly stumbled against Sacred Heart as SHU was lighting it up from behind the arc. North Carolina secured a beatdown in the Second Half to win. Now the Tar Heels looked to take on Winthrop. And if you recall from last year's March Madness, Winthrop was a #15 seed that knocked off #2 Tennessee. The Winthrop Eagles had some sharpshooters of their own. Is this North Carolina struggling, or just these lesser teams getting better? North Carolina still won. (73-66; NORTH CAROLINA)

Don't forget to look at my other scores to see who else won.



DIVISION 1 SCORES - WOMEN
Now let's check in with the divas of the hardwood. Here are some brief scores:

* North Carolina A&T at #9 Georgia (89-35; #9 GEORGIA)
(JOHN'S NOTE: Now why can't Georgia's male team be as good as the women's team?)

* Indiana State at Iowa (88-83; IOWA)
* Valparaiso at Indiana (85-51; INDIANA)
* Wyoming at Northern Colorado (76-46; Wyoming)
* Lafayette at Mount St. Mary's (68-55; Lafayette)


View the site I included so you can see more women's results from Wednesday.





JOHN'S EXTRAS

--- Meet the Kentucky Women ---
I try to put both teams into perspective. The University of Kentucky has a team ranked #22, I believe. The women of Rupp Arena are #21. They've beaten Shawnee in an exhibition 99-42 and Washington State by a score of 80-51. But they lost at home to Indiana 54-51. Here is the rest of their schedule. The next five games are in italics:

Remaining Kentucky Women's Schedule:

11/18 - Old Dominion
11/24 - Delaware
11-29 - Detroit
@ Louisville (Battle of the Blue Grass - Women's Edition)
12-08 - Alabama State

12/17 - Ark-PB
12/19 - Mississippi Valley State
12/21 - Southern <<<fewest points scored in ANY round of an NCAA Tournament when they lost to Duke
12/29 - Kent St.
12/30 - Memphis
01/02 - Texas-Pan American
01/04 - S. Carolina
01/06 - at #6 Ohio St.
01/11 - at Alabama*
01/14 - Ole Miss*
01/18 - at #9 LSU* <<< critical match. LSU women's team is great under Pokey Chatman.
01/21 - at Auburn*
01/25 - Miss St.*
01/28 - at S. Carolina*
02/01 - #15 Vanderbilt*
02/04 - Florida*
02/08 - at Ole Miss*
02/11 - at #4 Tennessee* <<< even more critical match. Tennessee is no pushover under Pat Summitt.
02/15 - #8 Georgia*
02/18 - Arkansas*
02/25 - at Florida*

* = Conference game


--- Who I Consider "Good Teams" ---

There are a few Divsion 1 schools I greatly respect. Get to meet a few of them.

*** University of Detroit-Mercy
Detroit has a great program. Unfortunately, they haven't had a great season last season. These Titans from Motown are a very good unit.


*** University of Denver
Denver is one of the toughest teams in the Sun Belt. The Pioneers may be familar to you if you follow Division 1 hockey. There is little doubt they could rise to power yet again. It's just somewhat of a slow process.


*** University of North Carolina-Wilmington
The University of North Carolina-Wilmington has a great program as well. They are perhaps the finest of the UNC basketball schools other than the UNC in Chapel Hill. The Seahawks win a lot of their games and don't stumble mercilessly all the time. I've always rated the four different Division 1 UNCs like this:

04 - UNC-Greensboro
03 - UNC-Asheville
02 - UNC-Charlotte (or just "Charlotte")
01 - UNC-Wilmington

I think it's a team to watch. Or at least one I watch.


*** University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
The Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers are another great Horizon League team. I do wish they could go farther than they actually did in last season's March Madness. I think they are better than Wisconsin-Green Bay.


*** Western Kentucky University
I think more people probably know WKU for basketball than football. They have no national championships that I know of in basketball, but the Hilltoppers are certainly capable of great things on the hardwood. I think WKU's competition in conference is probably in going against South Alabama. Which leads me...


*** University of South Alabama
They've shown me something. South Alabama is tough as nails. The Jaguars are perhaps going to be tough to take down in the Sun Belt. Wouldn't be surprised one bit if the Sun Belt Western Final comes down to Western Kentucky at South Alabama.


And those are only a few of them. Surprisingly, only WKU is at least known by football types.





I'll return with more scores if I get any.
 
Kentucky wins again and with a tad bit more dominance this time.
 
I haven't been updating this, I know. Congratulations to Kentucky for their win. One of the highlights from last week is that Maryland beat out Michigan State to win the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic. The biggest surprise of 2006-2007 is that Savannah State is 5-0. They mostly have beaten non Division 1 teams (except Jacksonville). Locally, the Houston Cougars are doing very well and very bad. The men's team are undefeated at about 3-0. They won this past weekend against Monmouth. The Houston women lost at Duke. The Lady Cougars are 0-2 right now.

Again, I've been more committed towards football and haven't really gotten off of the ground with college basketball much. It still doesn't mean that I don't care. You all are free to give out your own discussions of college hoops in my abscence. Basketball for men and women is fair game in this thread. An extra I had planned is to talk about Louisville's women's team. I never realized how good they are. I forgot to place a date on the women's match between Kentucky at Louisville. Can the Lady Wildcats beat the Lady Cardinals? We'll see next month.

While you're here, FoolKiller, let me ask you. Are there any other Division 1 teams you like besides Kentucky and Western Kentucky? Or do you at least have respect for some other teams?
 
While you're here, FoolKiller, let me ask you. Are there any other Division 1 teams you like besides Kentucky and Western Kentucky? Or do you at least have respect for some other teams?
That's about it for like. I bleed pure blue and have a small soft hilltop in my heart. I haven't had my car a month and it already has the UK collegiate plate with a chrome Kentucky alumni license plate frame.

I do respect the better teams, but most of them leave me with a hatred for the team <cough>Duke,cough>. North Carolina is fun to watch and I have good respect for them, plus I have no reason to hate them, which allows me to cheer them on against Duke.

Then of course, I respect the SEC teams and root for them when they are not playing Kentucky. But there is little love there as conference opponents are rivals for that reason alone. Plus, Florida is returning a championship team and anything to knock them down a few pegs will be good, but I respect them. I like Billy Donovan as he used to assist at Kentucky under Pitino, but they are still a rival.
 
Well, Kentucky went to the Maui Invitational Tournament this year. I always like this tournament because they are mostly ranked teams and it is a good way for your team to show off what it can do pre-conference. It is games like these can be a deciding factor come time to get seeded for the NCAA Tournament. If you can't beat or play close with a good team then you wind up getting something like an NIT bid <cough>Louisville<cough>. If you can beat and play close against ranked teams early on instead of playing Northwestern University Cullinary School of Cupcake Chefs then you will get an NCAA bid and possibly get a top 5 seed.

Who was at Maui this year?

UCLA (5)
Memphis (14)
Kentucky (22)
Georgia Tech (23)
DePaul
Oklahoma
Purdue
Chaminade (host)

I would love to tell you all about the tournament, but I am a Kentucky fan and as such that is all that matters. Thus, this is a Kentucky post, not a Maui post.

In their first game Kentucky met DePaul. DePaul isn't ranked but they are no slouch either. It started out like a great Kentucky game but ten minutes in and DePaul starts to come back to get within five. Kentucly started playing sloppy. We couldn't make any shots from the paint and Morris was having trouble against DePaul's centers (both starter and bench) as they looked like they should be on a football line. Their added weight did allow Morris to grab rebounds as he could jump faster and higher than they could. The second half was a back and forth as Kentucky would jump to a double-digit lead and then DePaul would bring it back to within five. It was sloppy on both sides. The final score was 87-81, Kentucky.

My thoughts on this game are that Kentucky cannot play like this if they hope to win the big games and face up against Florida this year. My thoughts were varified the next night as UCLA was our next opponent.

When the game started UCLA took off and before I knew it Kentucky had multiple fouls and were down 15 points with ten minutes left in the first half. Part of this was due to poor officiating (which I will get to later). Then something happened; three freshman were on the floor for Kentucky. :eek: I guess when your seniors and juniors are getting more fouls than baskets you need to make a change. And a change it was. Jasper and Stevenson are suddenly two guys aI cannot wait to see play in a couple of years. They are excellent now, but start to make freshman errors at times. They brought the game back into a competitive match. The final score was 73-68 UCLA.

My thoughts: It was a game that could have been won if we hadn't started out looking liek a high school team. Oddly enough it took the guys fresh out of high school to turn it around. The talent of our freshmen is amazing. Once they have some smarts about them it will be a beautiful thing to watch. Crawford needs to give up teh ball some. He is not Rondo and he will get stopped. Bradley needs to quit trying to show off his dribbling and not think he can out maneuver his defenders. He had it taken away twice in three minutes because he got faked by a defender who then switched and took the ball. Turnovers were a big problem. If we had used our heads as much as our talents we would have won easily.

Tonight we play Memphis. This should be a good game.



Now, the officiating has been horrible all around. There was even one point when the foul was given to a player who was three feet away instead of the guy who did it. It was corrected eventually but it was the difference between a player having four fouls and another having two. The announcers last night even made a comment about the horrid officiating in this tournament. It seems to mne that thi has gotten worse in both football and basketball over the years. Something has to be done about thsi.
 
I had a big report lined up for this game, but I don't have my Flash Drive to type Copy and Paste my report here on GTPlanet. Here are some highlights that I hope to update:

* I called Kentucky vs. UCLA as the Colts vs. Patriots of college basketball. Over 18 national championships seperate the two (UCLA = 11, Kentucky = 7). UCLA leads the all-time series. UCLA was #5 and Kentucky #22(?). UCLA won the game.

* You might like this, FoolKiller. I had an upset planned- Duke going down against Marquette. Did it happen? Yes it did! Keep in mind that the 1977 National Champions, Marquette, made it to the Final Four in 2003 under the wing of Dwayne Wade. So this is big in beating Duke. (73-62; Marquette) *upset!*

* Western Kentucky blew out Towson. (95-72; WESTERN KENTUCKY)

* Air Force shocks Texas Tech. (67-53; AIR FORCE)
 
Well, Kentucky finished the Maui tournament by being manhandled by UCLA. I was sitting at my usual Wednesday night bar drinking and watching the game. The first half went great, but UCLA just dominated the second half.

Oh well, a slow start to the season.

On a bonus: Florida got beat by Kansas!!!
 
I'm very behind thanks to some Internet troubles I have no control over. So let me just show you my (outdated) report on Kentucky and UCLA. Look below:


* #22 Kentucky vs. #5 UCLA (Maui Invitational Semifinal)
GTPlanet, this is a heavyweight fight for the ages. The two schools have a combined total of 18 National Championships. UCLA has 11 while Kentucky has 7. Footballers, remember something- the home team is usually the one wearing white. So Kentucky will showcase their beautiful blue colors and spread them all over UCLA. UCLA is clearly the more prestigious school with over 11 National Championships under the wonderful wing of John Wooden. The UCLA Bruins wear sky blue and gold lovingly in all sports that they participate in. The boys from Los Angeles are ready to take the fight to Kentucky in this Semi-Final. Now for Kentucky. The University of Kentucky took out DePaul University in the Quarterfinals. I personally didn't see that game against Chicago's DePaul University. The boys from Lexington, KY decided to get away from the cold temperatures and have some fun in Maui. And what's their definition of fun? Simple- above the rim, in the paint, top of the key, behind the arc, full court press, you name it. The Wildcats can do it all. With seven National Championships for Kentucky, they would love to one day overtake UCLA in most National Championships. The winner of this game meets the #19 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets tomorrow night. Unfortunately, Kentucky won't play for the Maui Invitational title. That's okay. You can still make the NCAA Tournament in March. This game is the Colts vs. Patriots of college basketball. (73-68; #5 California-Los Angeles)

DID YOU KNOW...
...that before this match, Kentucky has 1,929 total wins compared to UCLA's 1,583 total wins? Kentucky is the NCAA leader in all-time wins.
 
I don't have my Flash Drive with me to report on some scores from yesterday. So get ready for some more notes.

COLLEGE BASKETBALL STUDENT LOUNGE

* Back on Monday night, the ACC/Big Ten Challenge was underway. One of the key wins was North Carolina State edging out Michigan.

* People have lots of invested interest in Creighton University. I've commented that they are the MAC conference of Division 1 basketball. It was once said that about 4 or 6 Missouri Valley schools could make the NCAA tourney. Creighton's Blue Jays were one of those teams in the Missouri Valley. I'd love to see more Missouri Valley teams maybe make a deep postseason run. Most people seem to have Creighton as the 2006-2007 George Mason. Creighton University can be found in the city of Omaha, NE. It is one of over 27 Jesuit colleges and universities in America (I said 27 in America because there is a Jesuit school in Spain which makes the full 28 member schools). I think I read something about Jesuit education compared to normal education. If I find some links, I'll tell you more about what these Jesuit schools provide in terms of education and religious faith.

* Why does it have to be the ACC/Big Ten challenge? Why not ACC and Big East? ACC vs. SEC? Big East vs. SEC? Or here's a way to get noticed: Missouri Valley vs. Big East/ACC/SEC? I can make the case that North Carolina and Duke are two greats in the ACC. I can also make a case that Illinois and Michigan State (maybe even Ohio State) are the best in the Big Ten. But I think there would be better matchups if it was the ACC against a "BCS Conference." Likewise for the SEC and Big East. Maybe even have Big XII vs. Big Ten.


Enjoy your Tuesday Night games, college basketball fans!
 
It's time I provide a few scores for you all.

* Maryland stunned the Illinois Fighting Illini (much to the dismay of dougiemeats) by snapping their 51-game home winning streak. They won 72-66. (72-66; #1? Maryland)

* Georgia Tech got into a dogfight against a team that normally isn't a Big Ten power. Penn State took Georgia Tech to the limit, but the #21-ranked Yellow Jackets were too much for the Nittany Lions. (77-73; #21 GEORGIA TECH)



--- BEATDOWN PACK ---
No one wants to be beaten down.
Sadly, here are some for you.

* The defending National Champions took on the alma mater of my brother's girlfriend- Southern University. The Jaguars won their Bayou Classic match against Grambling State. But Southern's men's basketball team got their butts handed to by Florida. "Hi, I'd like a Gator pounding with cheese and large fries." Thnak you drive through! (83-27; #4 FLORIDA)

* Dartmouth played in Lawrence, KS. The Big Green are a terrible basketball team. They even went winless one season. Kansas' Jayhawks sent Dartmouth packing back to New Hampshire. Kansas wins. Big. (83-32; KANSAS)

* Texas Southern played at Texas. Houston's only 1-AA school is Texas Southern of the SWAC Conference. They lost in a TRUE beatdown. (90-50; TEXAS)

-end "Beatdown Pack"


*** More scores for this day can be found:
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/scoreboard?d=2006-11-28&c=all&refresh=0 (Men)
http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaaw/scoreboard?d=2006-11-28&c=all&refresh=0 (Women)




JOHN'S EXTRAS

--- I Often Wonder About Basketball Arenas... ---
I usually sense how basketball courts can look radically differnt at times. Take the Verizon Wireless Center as an example. It's normally the home of the Washington Wizards in the NBA. But it is also home to the Georgetown Hoyas. I often wonder... how do arenas have different floors? I read a website as to how some basketball arenas are prepared for hockey games. And here locally, Toyota Center has some different floors as to when the Houston Rockets play as well as the Houston Comets. Keep in mind that I've been to Toyota Center before. If you're in Houston and want to see some basketball action, Toyota Center is a lovely facility. It's going to be great to see Final Four action at Toyota Center in a few years time.



--- What if [the University of] Houston Played Their Home Games at Toyota Center? ---
I haven't been to Hoffheinz Pavillion on the campus of the University of Houston. But from what I've seen on television, Hoffheinz Pavillion has ther big scoreboard attached to the ceiling. The arena has perhaps the lowest ceiling of any Division 1 (maybe even of ANY collegiate arena) arena. I either believe Hoffheinz needs some bigtime renovations, or maybe play some games at Toyota Center. Like I said, Toyota Center is a beautiful facility. It's real state-of-the-art and wonderful. Astros fans know that you're never too far from Minute Maid Park if you're around the Toyota Center. If Houston ever continues to recruit solid talent for their basketball team on the men's and women's side, then it would be nice to see Houston play some games at the big arena. I'm not too sure, but I think only schools like Connecticut and Villanova play at different arenas. Villanova plays at their arena closer to home, but they also play at the Wachovia Center for some of their other games.



Talk about this month continues with your replies.
 
I got a big surprise last night. I got home and about the time my wife leaves work she calls to tell me that she has two tickets to the Kentucky game, if I want them. Why do people ask? I have an open statement that I will take any tickets to any Kentucky baskteball or football event, any NFL, and any baseball. Don't ask, just give them to me. :rolleyes:

Anyway, after having barely enough time to change out of my work clothes and set the garbage out we were at the game. Last night Kentucky played "who dat" College of Charleston. The first half of the game was the sloppiest basketball I think I have ever seen. After five minutes Kentucky was down something like 6-2. It didn't get any better until nine minutes remained in the half and then Tubby got tired of watching Joe Crawford hog the ball and Ramel Bradley try and show of his dribbling skills (don't dribble across your body and between your legs when you have a defender on you). At this point Tubby started sending teh freshman in. Jasper, Stevenson, and Meeks are three incredible players. Jasper doesn't even look like he's 18, more like 28. Unfortunately they are all still young and make mistakes brought on by inexperience and don't have the strong build necessary to muscle their way in to things. They do have the ability and speed though.

Anyway, by the half Kentucky had taken a nearly 20 point lead, but they still looked ugly. Apparently Tubby said so in the locker room because they came out fired up and gunning. Suddenly they looked like the team I knew. But in typical Tubby fashion he had them relax with ten minutes left and just hold their lead between 15 and 20 instead of running away with a huge blowout, Rick Pitino style. Tubby is a coach of dignity and embarrasing an elderly coach at a small college earns you nothing. He was even putting in the freshmen that no one ever mentioned. However it didn't change the fact that the freshmen were playing as well as (and better in a few cases) the juniors and seniors. Poor Sophmore Jared Carter, in his first game back since dislocating his shoulder, got shown up. He looked confused for the first couple of possesions and then you could see he was favoring the shoulder. He was even letting the arm hang limp in warm-ups. He'll look a lot better once he is completely healed and gets his confidence back.

In the end Kentucky won 77-61 and it was a fun game in the second half. Our freshmen are awesome and I predict you will see Kentucky in the Final Four their junior or senior years. On teh eother end, Bradley needs to quit trying to be "smooth" (his nickname he gave himself) and learn to handle the ball. He turns it over nearly twice every game just by dribbling it right in front of the defender. That doesn't count the times he tries something fancy and it goes wrong, sending the ball out of bounds. Honestly, Bradley needs to sit for a while but with our next best point guard being Jasper, a freshmen, you need Bradley right now. Then Crawford needs to learn that he doesn't have to drive the basket EVERY TIME THE BALL TOUCHES HIS HANDS. He has four other teammates that might just be open.

All in all it was a fun night and the seats were good. They were sixth row on the side, about even with the basket. Not half court, but it was a free ticket and a better seat than I could have bought.

Now my usual Kentucky rant, the most horrid thing about the game: The fans. In one end zone: student sections. In the other end zone: Old people, some that had trouble standing through the entire National Anthem. When the opposing team is making free throws on their end of the floor it is a dead silent section. The students on the other end of the court are making a bigger effort to distract the shooter even though he is across the floor. At least they are trying.

I understand that these are season ticket holders who have had these tickets since before my parents were borns, but I make more noise sitting at hom on the couch. I have a better chance from home of distracting the shooter than they do. I appreciate that they have given money to teh school loyal over teh years, but if you cannot show any more excitement and can't participate any better than that then you should be at home, and let someone who actually gets excited about watching the game and gets involved and moves at least enough so that I know they didn't fall asleep have your ticket. Pick up your cane/walker/oxygen/whatever and go home. There is a two year waiting list for season tickets and there are parents who would love to introduce their children to basketball in a way that only Kentucky tradtion can present it. But no, you want to be able to say to all your friends at the community center that you are a true blue fan.

Anyone who doubts me on this should explain why in the second half they had to get Ashley Judd (she never misses a home game) out on the floor to yell at everyone to get up and make some noise.

Then of course our cheerleaders did the Wildcat pyramid, which is one of my favorite parts of any game.

cheer_2004_1_800x600.jpg
 
AT lunch today I read an interesting article that I thought you might like. It is about WKU's freshman recruit from Arkansas that didn't even rank in teh top 1,000 recruits because he came from a town so small no one had heard of him. He is proving to be a great talent and could prove to be a huge asset to Western Kentucky.

Topper proves talent is more than a ranking
 
Pretty interesting, FoolKiller. I say that talent is talent no matter where he/she comes from. Can you make magic on the hardwood? All that matters.


December 2006 thread is on the way.
 
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