NCAA Basketball FanHouse

Mississippi State Rack and Rollin'

Michelle Smith — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:54:00 EST

Filed under: California, Connecticut, Gonzaga, Maryland, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, UCLA, Virginia, WCC, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Mid-Majors, MWC, Pac-10, Women's Basketball

Two weeks ago, Pat Summitt surveyed the national scene and said this:

"A lot of people don't have Mississippi State on their radar screen and they should."

Never argue with Pat.

Mississippi State is climbing the rankings -- moving from No. 25 to No. 19 in this week's poll -- and the ladder of national recognition, particularly after Sunday's 84-55 win over No. 20 Maryland.

Granted, Maryland is remodeling after the graduation of Kristi Tolliver and Marisa Coleman and the transfer of Marah Strickland, and Brenda Frese's program will likely struggle with change most of the year, but the Bulldogs took it to the Terrapins on their home floor.

Senior guard Alexis Rack -- one of eight seniors on the roster -- broke out for 43 points, including seven 3-pointers in the victory. It was the fourth-best individual scoring performance in school history.

"Sometimes I was just letting it go," Rack (above, right) said after the game.

Mississippi State is flying high at 4-0, and it has enjoyed its home court advantage. It's time to hit the road now ... which leads up to the sun and sand of the Paradise Jam Tournament next week in the U.S. Virgin Islands. This year's eight-team field will feature five ranked teams.

Mississippi State will be there, playing in the "Reef" division along with Rutgers, USC and No. 13 Texas.

The "Island" division includes No. 5 Notre Dame, No. 20 Oklahoma, No. 23 San Diego State and South Carolina.

San Diego State, who broke into the national rankings for the first time in 14 years, feels like there's a little honor in the invitation to play.

"Three years ago, the only way we get there is to hold a fundraiser and go in the spring," Aztecs coach Beth Burns said.

The holiday's other big tournament is the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas. It is a bit more of a second-tier group with four ranked teams in the field including George Washington, No. 25 Michigan State, South Dakota State, Indiana, Minnesota, TCU, No. 18 Kansas, UNC Charlotte, No. 15 Virginia, Marist, Oklahoma State and No. 9 Xavier.

Don't overlook Tennessee

Summitt was handing off credit to Mississippi State, but her own team was building some impressive momentum after beating Virginia, 77-63. Angie Bjorklund, Shekinna Stricklen and Glory Johnson combined for 56 points.

The Lady Vols were even good enough to get their locker room back at Thompson-Boling Arena. The team had been kicked out of it for lackluster play in February and Summitt had said her team would have to "win something" to earn its way back in.

Apparently, beating a Virginia team that beat the Vols by one point in Knoxville last year was good enough to unlock the door.

Tennessee is young and inexperienced right now. But they look very, very good -- good enough to turn Connecticut and Stanford's intimate party as national championship contenders into a legitimate threesome.

Now for the bad news: Freshman center Faith Dupree will be sidelined for the season with a back injury. She played in two games, including 18 minutes against Texas Tech on Tuesday night in San Antonio. The Lady Vols are down to 11 active players for the season and need to keep Kelley Cain healthy to avoid serious depth issues in the post.

A View From the Top

The Huskies and the Cardinal don't look to be moving off their top two rankings any time soon. Here's a look at how the best of the best are stacking up so far.

Tale of the Tape
Category	No. 1 UConn	No. 2 Stanford
Scoring Avg.	91.7	86.2
Reb. Margin	17.0	23.0
Victory Margin	49.4	20.4
Next Five Games	vs. Hofstra vs. Richmond vs. Vermont vs. Hartford vs. Iona	vs. Utah vs. Gonzaga vs. DePaul vs. Duke vs. Tennessee

The Week Ahead

The most intriguing non-tournament matchups of the coming week:

UCLA at Tennessee: Former Vols assistant Nikki Caldwell comes back to Knoxville with an intriguing team that should finish near the top in the Pac-10.

Gonzaga at Stanford: One of the country's top mid-majors has a major-league test at Maples Pavilion against the Cardinal.

Cal vs. Ohio State in the Buckeye Holiday Tournament: Cal has showed its youth with poor shooting performances and the Bears lost to Baylor by 20 at home on Sunday. The No. 3 Buckeyes will be an even bigger challenge.

Randoms...

For a mid-major, Dayton is having a good early season run playing tough against big-conference teams. Dayton threw an opening salvo with a 77-74 win over Michigan State, lost a two-point game to Louisville and then knocked off Purdue 56-53 in the Boilermakers' own tournament ... The top nine teams in this week's AP poll went 19-0 last week with an average victory margin of 27 points ...There are two conferences in which every team has at least a .500 record thus far: the Big East and the Big Ten.

Mississippi State Rack and Rollin' originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:54:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Washington Makes Unserious Opening Offer to Play Gonzaga

Chas Rich — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:37:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, Washington, WCC, Pac-10, Media Watch

Having lost eight of 10 games to Gonzaga between 1997 and 2006, the Washington Huskies felt they needed a break because "the schedule began to get away from us." Apparently, that was code for "tired of being beaten by an in-state team from a non-power conference."

Well, after a few years of finding themselves, Washington would like to renew the series with Gonzaga. Just as long as the games are played for Washington's benefit.

Rather than play a home-and-home type of series with Gonzaga as had been done (and how Gonzaga plays it with Washington State, Wake Forest, Illinois, and Michigan State), Washington wants a three game series to be played at Key Arena in Seattle as a neutral site contest. Apparently playing a scant five miles from Washington's campus still constitutes a "neutral" site to Washington's athletic department as long as the ticket sales are split 50-50.

Unsurprisingly, Gonzaga is not interested in that kind of arrangement. Gonzaga already plays an annual game at Key Arena in the Battle in Seattle that annually pits them against a national opponent. There is little incentive to make a second trip of nearly 300 miles for a "neutral" court game. To say nothing of the additional costs the Bulldogs would incur to make the trip.

Gonzaga wants a home-and-home, but would likely settle for a "neutral court" system as long as the games were split between Key Arena and the Spokane Arena -- about two miles from the Gonzaga campus. Washington, having made the whole offer public very quickly, sees this working only one way.

"This is the proposal that we're interested in and I don't see it changing in terms of any other sites," said Richard Kilwien, UW's associate athletic director of athletic communications. "Having it at the Key really benefits both schools in terms of fans and financially as well."

[Gonzaga athletic director Mike] Roth isn't so sure.

"The renewal of this series is something that will be decided by the two athletic directors and the two head basketball coaches in private discussions," he said.

Washington has been taking shots the last couple years for not renewing the in-state series. Some of this is clearly an attempt to shift the pressure over to the Zags.

Eventually the series will be renewed. Most likely as a home-and-home or alternating "neutral sites." In the meantime, it can be a bit of entertaining sniping and gamesmanship to play out via the media.

Washington Makes Unserious Opening Offer to Play Gonzaga originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 27 Oct 2009 11:37:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Draft Deadline Decisions: Team Winners and Losers

Chas Rich — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:54:00 EST

Filed under: WCC, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Pac-10, SEC, NBA Prospects

The deadline for underclassmen to withdraw from the NBA draft came and went Monday at 5PM. Plenty of underclassmen had already made decisions to not even test the waters (Willie Warren, Oklahoma) or previously decided to return (Patrick Patterson, Kentucky). Still, plenty of others never looked back by hiring an agent right away (Earl Clark, Louisville).

The focus is strictly on the players that took it up until this weekend or even right under the wire Monday afternoon. Before getting to the programs that "won" and "lost" with the decisions to stay or go there are two teams that have counter-intuitive situations.

LOSER THAT ACTUALLY WINS

Kentucky. Losing a Jodie Meeks-caliber player is not a good thing for most teams. It does, however free up shots, which is something the Wildcats will need. While Meeks took a huge leap in productivity last season and was reportedly a great teammate, he also averaged over 15 shots per game. Patrick Patterson returning to join a class that includes DeMarcus Cousins, Daniel Orton, John Wall, Eric Bledsoe and Jon Hood gives the Wildcats' offense huge potential. The additional bonus is that it takes a smidgen of pressure off of preseason hype for Kentucky and coach John Calipari.

WINNER THAT ACTUALLY LOSES

UConn. The Huskies are facing an NCAA investigation into the recruitment of Nate Miles and Ator Majok along with the UConn coaches' relationship with a former student manager, former personal assistant to Rip Hamilton and wannabe agent in Josh Nochisom. Miles never played a minute for UConn and has hired an agent to pursue his career far away from NCAA investigators. Majok, though, is remaining a student-athlete and will be required to answer questions from the NCAA (assuming they get around to asking before he declares once more). The potential is there for Majok never to get a minute with the Huskies plus the harm to UConn's program is very real.

WINNERS

Notre Dame -- Luke Harangody returns for his senior year with a great chance to finish as the program's all-time leading scorer and rebounder. This is good news for a team that will be in need of giving fans a reason to watch in a rebuilding season following a season of disappointment.

Maryland -- The decision by Greivis Vasquez to come back was mildly surprising. Not that he was likely to be drafted, but the rumors were swirling that Vasquez just wanted to go pro, whether it was in the NBA, Europe or in South America.

South Carolina -- Second-year coach Darrin Horn gets a nice present as Devan Downey decides to return for his final year. He had to sit out a year after transferring from Cincinnati, so this is a bonus. Dominique Archie returning was less of a surprise, but important to the Gamecocks hopes in 2009.

LSU -- The return of Tasmin Mitchell should not have been a surprise, but he took his time coming to his senses.

Tennessee -- The SEC seems to be jumping from joke back to power in just one season. It's not just Calipari to Kentucky, the conference has now has some depth. Tyler Smith's return will help keep Tennessee from slipping further.

Villanova -- The return of Scottie Reynolds does not make the team more of a threat in terms of talent. There is plenty of that in the Wildcats backcourt. Reynolds, though, provides serious leadership and a guy you want to take the last shot in a game.

Arizona -- This was quite the turnaround from the end of the season, when the coaching search seemed to be a mess. No recruits coming in, and plenty of early departures. Nic Wise deciding he would return, though, provides a senior leader for coach Sean Miller.

Texas -- Damion James' return was a real surprise. He seemed determined to go pro after seeing D.J. Augustin leave early and A.J. Abrams graduate. James provides stability on the wing and should benefit from Florida transfer Jai Lucas running the point with McDonald's All-American shooting guard, Avery Bradley helping to spread the floor.

Georgia Tech -- Paul Hewitt is well respected. He has a Final Four appearance. He is a tremendous recruiter. But he also has had little success the last few years. That could change. Gani Lawal could not get a first-round guarantee, so the sophomore returns.

LOSERS

St. Mary's -- Patty Mills' decision to stay in the draft should not have been a surprise. If he had not missed a good chunk of the season injured, there would have been no doubt. The longer he took to decide, though, created hope that he might come back and lead the Gaels to dethroning Gonzaga.

Gonzaga -- Every scout and GM, armchair and real, has been aware at how soft and thin Austin Daye is. They practically marvel over it. He is the personification of the terms "project" and "potential upside." He will get drafted somewhere at the end of the first round or the beginning of the second and disappear for a few years maybe to re-emerge down the road. Gonzaga, meanwhile loses a big plug in the middle, and may actually be vulnerable in the WCC.

USC -- No one expected DeMar DeRozan, Daniel Hackett or Taj Gibson to return, it only became more obvious after Tim Floyd's sudden loss of energy to coach.

Wake Forest -- Not really a surprise Jeff Teague decided to make it official. He and James Johnson had started looking to the NBA Draft sometime in February.

Texas A&M -- As nice, and unsurprising, as it was to get Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis back for their senior year, it was a big blow to lose the blossoming big man Chinemelu Elonu. Especially after sportswriters in Texas had finally learned to spell his name without double checking the Aggie media guide.

Draft Deadline Decisions: Team Winners and Losers originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:54:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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College Basketball's Top 25 Coaches

Matt Snyder — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: WCC, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Mid-Majors, MVC, Pac-10, SEC, WAC, Coaches

In an effort to talk about something college basketball-related other than scandals in the summer, let's talk best current coaches. We'll attempt to order the top 25 current coaches in the nation. This is about the present and the future, not the distant past. What a guy did in the mid-90s doesn't matter near as much as the direction his program is currently headed. Past pedigree also matters, to an extent. For the perfect mix of past accomplishments with present achievement and a paved road for future success, look no further than the man atop the list.

The Untouchables

1. Roy Williams, North Carolina -- There are plenty of guys who could out X-and-O him during a game. Of course, he pretty much always has incredibly superior talent on the court, rendering that part of the coaching skill-set less meaningful. Recruiting is part of the job in college basketball, and he's done it well enough to amass two NCAA championships, three Final Fours and four 30-plus win seasons in the past five years. Until someone starts outdoing him on the recruiting trail and keeping those guys in school for more than a year, he'll stay here for a while.

2. Tom Izzo, Michigan State -- He reached his fifth Final Four last season, finishing as the runner-up to Roy's Tar Heels. In 2010, Izzo's Spartans will be cutting down the nets (yes, an incredibly early prediction). He's mixing youth with experience every single year, and that's why this program won't leave the national spotlight as long as he's around.

3. Mike Krzyzewski, Duke -- If this was any year from 1990 to 2001, he'd be the obvious choice for the best coach in the entire nation. In the past eight seasons, however, he's been slightly mortal -- advancing past the Sweet 16 just once. Of course, when we're talking about a guy going to the Sweet 16 six times and the Final Four once in an eight-year span -- and talking about how it hurts his overall resume -- that shows you what kind of bar he set for himself. He's still a legend, he's just being outperformed on Tobacco Road right now.

4. John Calipari, Kentucky -- There will be plenty of naysayers for the foreseeable future when it comes to "Coach Cal" and his "recruiting practices" -- especially in light of recent events. There's a sort of stigma following him around because he's arguably the best recruiter in the nation, but he's never been personally charged with anything concrete. The bottom line is that he's getting the job done and now his national platform is even bigger at one of the NCAA's marquee basketball programs. He's still looking for that elusive first national championship, but the smart money is on that drought ending rather quickly in Lexington (assuming he keeps his nose clean).

5. Bill Self, Kansas -- He's taken three different schools (including Tulsa) to the Elite Eight. He did so in his first year at Kansas. After a decent 2004-2005 season, Self built the team as his own, steadily improving over the next four seasons. Things culminated in 2008 when he did what Williams couldn't do at Kansas, which is win the National Championship. After significant losses to graduation and the NBA, the Jayhawks were in rebuilding mode last season, but it turned out to be reloading. A three-seed and Sweet 16 berth later, and Kansas is set up for another Final Four run. Expect that to be an annual statement about Self's Kansas squad for the foreseeable future.

6. Jim Calhoun, Connecticut -- He's got plenty of longevity, but he's likely not going anywhere, if his health and a possible NCAA inquiry allow, and neither are his Huskies. Though they're only losing Hasheem Thabeet and A.J. Price from a Final Four team, they have enough to pick up the pieces and make another deep run in March (if they make it, it will be Calhoun's ninth trip to the Elite Eight). Calhoun always does.

7. Rick Pitino, Louisville -- A Final Four and two Elite Eights in the past five years for Pitino, but he doesn't seem to have the national championship magic in Louisville. Plus, the addition of Calipari to UK will greatly cramp Pitino's recruiting within the basketball rich State of Kentucky. Don't get me wrong, though, Pitino is still ranked seventh on this list and in the prestigious "untouchables" category. He belongs.

Quasi-Elite

8. Billy Donovan, Florida -- He's lost tons of ground in the past two years. In fact, had we built this list after the two consecutive championships, he probably would have been ranked as the top overall coach in the nation. That doesn't just go away after two NCAA tournament-less seasons, but he's got something to prove now. Can he actually sustain success, or is everything dependent on landing one special recruiting class?

9. Ben Howland, UCLA -- Three straight Final Four appearances for the Bruins didn't yield a championship, though, and he took a step backward in 2009. If you look at his resume, though, there's no reason to doubt the direction of college basketball's most championship-laden program. Howland made Pitt into a powerhouse by his third season and built UCLA back into one -- making the Final Four in his third season. They'll be back.

10. Jim Boeheim, Syracuse -- The 14 Sweet 16 appearances, three national championship games and the one championship are all part of his incredibly lofty standing among historical collegiate coaching greats. Presently, he did take his 2009 group to the Sweet 16 after back-to-back trips to the NIT. He's enduring massive losses to graduation and the draft, though, so he'll have yet another reloading task in front of him. His name is keeping him here and he's likely to continue falling down the list as some of the younger talent trumps him. See the next guy on the list ...

Solid As a Rock

11. Jay Wright, Villanova -- After taking Hofstra to two consecutive NCAA tournament berths, Wright took his talents to Philly at age 40. He built the program for three years and it's been coming to fruition for the past five seasons. He's taken the Wildcats to four Sweet 16s in the past five years, and made a Final Four trip last season. It was the first for 'Nova since the magical 1985 run. They won't have to wait long for another one, because they'll be there again in 2010.

12. Tubby Smith, Minnesota -- He's gone to the Sweet 16 with three different schools and it's soon to be four [edit: originally said four and five, we regret the error] when he completes his rescue of the Gophers from the abyss. Six Sweet 16 appearances and a national championship in 10 years at Kentucky wasn't good enough for the die-hards in Lexington, but I'm pretty sure they'd deal with it in the Twin Cities. It would be awfully tough to win it all from up there, but the Gophers are on track to becoming a team who can occasionally visit the Sweet 16 and perhaps more.

13. Rick Barnes, Texas -- Texas will always be a football school, but Barnes does a heck of a job keeping the Longhorn faithful interested in hoops as well. The 2003 Final Four was nice, and they've been in the Elite Eight twice in the past four years. Heading into this year, they have some serious horses. Look for them to linger around the top 10.

14. Matt Painter, Purdue -- In my view, he's the most likely to jump up a level from this group in the next few years. I also expect this pick to receive the most scrutiny. So, here goes: Purdue has Final Four talent as they head into the 2009-2010 season. Should they make it, his resume will be as impressive as almost anyone at such a young age (he's only 38). In just four years he's transformed Purdue from a Big Ten doormat (3-13 in conference play his first season) to a legitimate national power. Maybe people outside Indiana (the State) don't realize what a joke Purdue basketball had become until he came in and played the role of savior. As beloved as Gene Keady was in Purdue, he never made it past the Elite Eight. Painter will get there before the age of 40. He's the most underrated coach in college basketball. His only other head coaching experience? A single season of domination in the Missouri Valley Conference (17-1 in 2004 conference play for Southern Illinois). [Then again, maybe I'm trying some reverse-jinxing action -- being an Indiana grad.]

15. Gary Williams, Maryland -- It's tough to argue with his past accolades, but I'm seeing three NIT appearances and two second-round exits from the Big Dance in the last five years. This is a list of coaching in the present, not the past. He'll continue to slide from what was once probably a top-5 rank if he doesn't show more potential with the future of the Maryland program.

16. Thad Matta, Ohio State -- He's a much better recruiter than on-court coach, but, again, recruiting is part of coaching in college basketball. He took Ohio State to the national title game in only his third season, yet they've been a tad bit disappointing since. Next year's Buckeyes do look to be very dangerous, especially with the return of David Lighty from injury. His worst season in three different stops still netted 20 wins overall wins.

17. Jamie Dixon, Pittsburgh -- The big knock on Dixon has been his lack of tournament success. He did make the Elite Eight this year, but the Panthers never really got on track against inferior competition from their number one seed and eventually lost to a three seed. He's only 43, though, and has built a maintained a solid program after the departure of Howland. There's upward mobility here should he get over the hump in the next few years.

18. Bo Ryan, Wisconsin -- His regular season resume is impressive enough to land him higher on the list, but he hasn't had any serious tournament runs and it doesn't appear that's changing anytime soon. One thing I love hearing about him is how he gets so much out of limited talent. Well, first of all, he's had some talent. Secondly, recruiting talent is part of your job in collegiate sports. This isn't the NBA where he's saddled with an awful general manager. All that being said, he's a great coach and deserves a top-20 spot. He just seems a bit overrated to me at times in the eyes of the national media.

19. Bruce Weber, Illinois -- Built Southern Illinois' program into a regular Big Dance attendee before steering the Illini to a National Championship game appearance. After a drastic step-back (losing overall record in 2007-2008, which single-handedly knocked him down several ranking slots here), Weber coached an unheralded team to an impressive 24-10 campaign last season. The 2005 National Coach of the Year looks to continue building his reputation with a solid nucleus in place -- along with talented newcomers -- moving into the 2009-2010 season.

Rounding It Out

20. Bob Huggins, West Virginia -- We have to include him, because he wins games everywhere he goes -- and he wins immediately. He's not higher on the list, though, because there seems to be a glass ceiling in place at this point. His only trip to the Final Four was the last time Bob Knight made a trip and he doesn't appear to be in position to crack the top 5 in the Big East anytime soon. Still, he's going to win 20 and visit the NCAAs. That's clockwork.

21. Mark Few, Gonzaga -- He absolutely owns the WCC -- nine straight conference titles -- and has had decent-to-good success in the NCAA Tournament. At some point, though, the four Sweet 16s in 10 seasons need to turn into something more. Otherwise Few's just a very good coach dominating a sub-par conference. He actually may need to take his show elsewhere to shed that label, but the question is: Why would he? He's set up nicely there and won't get fired.

22. Bruce Pearl, Tennessee -- After making UW-Milwaukee relevant, Pearl took the Tennessee job and immediately thrust them into national prominence. The Vols took a step backward in 2009 after a 31-win season and two straight Sweet 16 appearances. Should Tyler Smith decide to come back -- he's filed paperwork for the NBA draft but not hired an agent and will also consider playing overseas -- they'll be headed back that way in 2010. If not, they still return everyone else and will still be in the NCAA Tourney mix as usual.

23. John Beilein, Michigan -- Talking about working your way through the ranks. He's been to Erie Community College, Nazareth College, Le Moyne College, Canisius, Richmond, West Virginia and now Michigan. After just one bad season in Ann Arbor, Beilein gave Wolverines hope they could once again cheer for a respectable basketball program. Considering DeShawn Sims and Manny Harris are coming back, the Wolverines have a nice shot at a Sweet 16 this year, which would be the third in the past six seasons for the late-blooming Beilein.

24. Lon Kruger, UNLV -- While Kruger's successors have had more success than he has (Donovan at Florida, Self and Weber at Illinois), he's still pretty adept at building winning programs. He took UNLV to the Sweet 16 in his third season and has been to the NCAA Tournament two of the past three years with the Runnin' Rebels. If he wants one, he'll probably get a crack at another major job soon.

25. Al Skinner, Boston College -- It's gotta be awfully tough to keep Boston College competitive in ACC basketball when measuring up against Duke, North Carolina, Maryland and others. BC is a football school, after all. Skinner's had his Eagles in the NCAA Tourney seven of the last nine seasons. Despite the loss of Tyrese Rice to graduation, they'll look to improve next season with the rest of the young nucleus returning.

Up-and-Comers

Here are some guys who might possibly be better coaches than several currently on the list. Some of them will need to prove it for a few more years, and others have circumstances they'll need to fight through in order to stick (Crean's Indiana mess, Bennett moving to the ACC from Pac-10, Capel needing to show he can win without Griffin, etc.).

[ordered alphabetically]

Mike Anderson, Missouri -- After winning 20-plus games all four seasons at UAB, Anderson undertook the massive task of cleaning up the Quin Snyder fiasco for Mizzou. Last season, just his third at the helm for the Tigers, saw Anderson lead his team to the Elite Eight. If things continue on this path, they'll have themselves quite the program.

Latest College Basketball Images

Pall bearers prepare to unload the casket of Wayman Tisdale during his funeral, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in Tulsa, Okla. The former University of Oklahoma basketball star and popular jazz musician died last week after a long battle with cancer. He was 44. (AP Photo/Tom Gilbert)

The hearse carrying the casket of Wayman Tisdale moves through Tulsa, Thursday, May 21, 2009, in Tulsa, Okla. The former University of Oklahoma basketball star and popular jazz musician died last week after a long battle with cancer. He was 44. (AP Photo/Shane Bevel)

John Wall, flanked by his sister Tonya Pulley and Dr. Frank Summerfield, formally announced during a press conference on Wednesday, May 20, 2009, that he would attend the University of Kentucky next fall to play basketball. (Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT)

MCT

John Wall formally announced during a press conference on Wednesday, May 20, 2009, that he would attend the University of Kentucky next fall to play basketball. (Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT)

MCT

John Wall laughs with his sister Tonya Pulley during a press conference on Wednesday, May 20, 2009, where he announced he would attend the University of Kentucky next fall to play basketball. (Ethan Hyman/Raleigh News & Observer/MCT)

MCT

Word of God Christian Academy's point guard John Wall discusses his decision to commit to playing basketball at Kentucky during a news conference in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Word of God Christian Academy's point guard John Wall, center, discusses his decision to commit to playing basketball at Kentucky during a news conference in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, May 20, 2009. At left is Word of God Christian Academy's Dr. Frank Summerfield and at right is Wall's sister Tonya Pulley. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Word of God Christian Academy's point guard John Wall, right, and Dr. Frank Summerfield discuss Wall's decision to commit to playing college basketball at Kentucky during a news conference in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Word of God Christian Academy's point guard John Wall discusses his decision to commit to playing college basketball at Kentucky during a news conference in Raleigh, N.C., Wednesday, May 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Tony Bennett, Virginia -- Moving from the Pac-10 to the ACC is no simple task. Plus, he's now going to be also competing with the Big East for regional recruits.

Jeff Capel, Oklahoma -- As mentioned above, it's entirely possible he's not a great coach and just was fortunate enough to land the beast that was Blake Griffin. It's also possible he keeps landing beasts due to great recruiting, which would qualify him for the above rankings. Time will tell, but it appears Oklahoma has a quality coach.

Tom Crean, Indiana -- Had he stayed at Marquette he'd easily qualify for the rankings above Skinner and Beilein (at least), but what he's able to carve out at Indiana from this point forward will make or break his legacy. Thus, it's not really fair to put him near the same level as Big Ten counterparts like Ryan or Weber just yet. It's possible he gets all the way up to the top of this list, but it's also possible he's never able to overcome the significant hole dug by Kelvin Sampson -- in which case he'd fall off this list completely.

Keno Davis, Providence -- One stellar year at Drake was followed by a pretty solid season at Providence in the uber-competitive Big East. At age 37, he's a true rising star in the coaching business.

Travis Ford, Oklahoma State -- From Campbellsville to Eastern Kentucky to UMass to Oklahoma State, the former Kentucky point guard has risen through the coaching ranks from the bottom up. His first season as head coach of the Cowboys yielded a 23-12 record and an appearance in the second round of the NCAA Tourney.

Anthony Grant, Alabama -- Two NCAA appearances in three years at Virginia Commonwealth got this rising star the exposure needed to land the head coaching job for the Crimson Tide.

Trent Johnson, LSU -- After making Nevada relevant, he built Stanford as his own team in four years -- making a Sweet 16 in Year 4 -- and won the SEC in his first year in Baton Rouge. If this is his destination job, the Tigers have a program on the rise.

Chris Lowery, Southern Illinois -- His first three seasons were a cakewalk. Three Big Dances, two times advancing past the first round and one Sweet 16. The Salukies regressed to the 18-15 next season and all the way down to 13-17 last season. Did Lowery simply enjoy success due to the foundation built by Bruce Weber and Matt Painter, or is he suffering through a simple down-cycle that will be reversed in the near-future?

Sean Miller, Arizona -- It's time for the 40-year-old coaching phenom to take the next step. In five seasons at Xavier, Miller put together a 120-47 record with two Sweet 16s and one Elite Eight trip. Now, he's moving to a "power" conference across the nation. Fans will expect he maintain a top-10 program, so we'll see if he can meet expectations.

Mike Montgomery, California -- Wait, what? He's like a thousand years old, so how is he here? Because he hadn't coached in the college ranks since 2004 until last season. He had a good re-entry into the coaching ranks, but we need to see it sustained. It's not like he had a John Wooden-like resume before getting back into the swing of things.

Brad Stevens, Butler -- The 32-year-old Stevens learned the Butler ropes under both Thad Matta and Todd Lickliter. Since grabbing the head job, he's gone 56-10 in two seasons -- qualifying for the NCAA tournament both times. The Bulldogs should be even better this season than they were in 2008-2009, too.

***

It's tough to really hammer out a list with specific criteria and stick with it. For example, you could argue Roy Williams isn't as good a coach as Self because he couldn't win in Kansas while Self could. Then you could follow that up with Weber going to the Final Four at the helm for Illinois when Self couldn't get past the Sweet 16 round for the Illini. Weber, though, went 16-19 in 2007-2008 and Huggins hasn't had a losing record since 1985. All in all, there will always be reasons to say one coach is better than another.

This was simply meant to be a summer topic for arguing about college hoops while we wait out the offseason. You should also be able to find my early early early Final Four picks for 2010, though that's a different topic for a different day.

College Basketball's Top 25 Coaches originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Someday All Conference Tournaments Will Be Played in Las Vegas

Adam Papagiorgio — Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:45:00 EST

Filed under: Nevada, WCC, MWC, WAC

The Western Athletic Conference could move its tournament to the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas in 2011, joining the West Coast Conference and Mountain West Conference which also host tournaments in Sin City.

Hey Pac-10 and Big West, what are you doing having your conference tournaments in Los Angeles and Anaheim respectively? Maybe you too could move your tournaments to Las Vegas. Maybe they could erect a court on Fremont Street and have them play.

But, for right now, the WAC appears serious.

So serious, in fact, that WAC commissioner Karl Benson watched the WCC tournament final in what could only be described as a fact finding mission, and not just a reason to hang out in Las Vegas. The thinking is that the WAC tournament would follow the WCC tournament the next day. The WAC nearly had an agreement to play its conference tournament in the past, but a couple of school presidents refused to sign off.

Those presidents could be persuaded if Nevada is able to knock off Utah State this week in the conference tournament. Especially if one of those president's was from Utah State.

Benson not only witnessed a future venue for his conference tournament, he also witnessed the last gasp of Utah State's flimsy hopes for an at-large bid evaporate. St. Mary's was blown out by Gonzaga. And the Gaels, you may remember, beat the Aggies -- even without point guard Patrick Mills -- in the BracketBusters. That loss, along with the refusal to schedule quality opponents, put Utah State in a position to win or else. A daunting task consider that the Aggies have lost at Nevada this year.

So if Utah State loses on Nevada's home court, there is going to be a push for a conference tournament on a neutral court. Hence, Las Vegas.

Someday All Conference Tournaments Will Be Played in Las Vegas originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Wed, 11 Mar 2009 01:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Worst-Case Scenario for St. Mary's

Adam Papagiorgio — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:27:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, St. Mary's (CA)

Gonzaga and St. Mary's opened the WCC tournament final with Matt Boldin shooting a pair of technical free throws after the Gaels' Omar Samhan dunked in warmups.

That turned out to be the highlight of St. Mary's evening.

The Gaels were looking to make a big splash against the Bulldogs on national television and they did. Just not the splash they were looking to make. This game was a worst-case scenario for a team looking to go to the Dance, like an acne outbreak on prom night. St. Mary's made it's case for the NCAA tournament. The only problem was, that case was, "Please don't take us."

Now the only question is, does St. Mary's deserve an at-large bid?

No. 12 Gonzaga 83, St. Mary's 58: Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

ESPN analysts Steve Lavin and Stephen Bardo made the case for St. Mary's during the telecast. But even the most ardent of West Coast Conference basketball fans are going to have a hard time defending this one.

The Gaels had a chance to take their NCAA selection future out of the committee's hands, and that was the effort they came up with? Samhan's gaff during warmups should have sent a red flag that this team might be a little excited. Maybe St. Mary's read one too many positive reviews of Sunday night's game. Whatever the reason, the team did as much as it could to erase any of the good feelings from its recent winning streak.

Patrick Mills seemed a little too eager to prove that he was ready to go after missing so much time. Now you have to wonder if the selection committee should hold it against them. Don't give the committee any excuse to hold back a West Coast team. This was certainly a costly game.

St. Mary's does have a game Friday against Eastern Washington, one last chance to make its case. But how much can a possible win there erase this embarrassing loss on national television?

If forced to make a call, I'd say St. Mary's deserves the chance. Primarily because Gonzaga looked so good. Don't gloss over the Bulldogs' effort. Gonzaga would have made a lot of teams look foolish on Monday night. So I would give St. Mary's a bid, but I'm not sure that many will feel the same way.

Maybe we can get a Patrick Mills vs. Stephen Curry in the NIT.

Worst-Case Scenario for St. Mary's originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's Belongs in NCAA Tournament

Adam Papagiorgio — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:15:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, St. Mary's (CA)

St. Mary's moved into the West Coast Conference finals with a convincing win over Portland. But was it convincing enough for the Gaels to get into the NCAA tournament barring Monday's finals outcome? Right now, St. Mary's looks deserving enough to get into the tournament. The Gaels are a much more complete team right now.

Almost as if losing Mills for a stretch made this team better. But St. Mary's looked impressive enough on Sunday night to make its case to be included in the field of 65.

St. Mary's 71, Portland 61: Recap | Box Score | RPI | Scores

That is a far cry from where the team was on Jan. 31, just two days removed from Mills injuring his wrist against Gonzaga. St. Mary's went to Portland and it was trounced, 88-64. One of the most embarrassing losses for the Gaels in recent memory, and all but seemed to doomed the team's tournament hopes.

The Gaels would lose two of its next three games after that loss before beating the Pilots on Feb. 14. Since that time, the seniors Diamon Simpson, Omar Samhan and Carlin Hughes were able to take control of the team. St. Mary's had that impressive win over Utah State and have no won six consecutive games.

And the Gaels are getting Mills back.

He wasn't quite as sharp from the field as you would expect, but made enough key shots. Really, the most important thing here was to get Mills back into game shape, get him some time on the floor and get the win. This was probably going to be his most trying game.

Gonzaga wasn't challenged in its semi-final game against Santa Clara, so it's tough to judge them. But the Bulldogs could be walking into one of those dreaded trap games. The Gaels really have something to prove. They really pulled away from the Pilots and let's remember, Portland crushed St. Mary's 88-64 in the game immediately following Mills' injury. So I like the Gaels to win on Monday.

But right now, St. Mary's has shown me enough to get into the tournament win or lose in the WCC finals. The team is currently ranks No. 50 in the RPI. The Gaels are 2-2 against the RPI top 50, but those two loses were to Gonzaga -- without Mills. There's that huge win over Utah State without Mills. This seems enough to put them into the tournament.

St. Mary's Belongs in NCAA Tournament originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 09 Mar 2009 02:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bubble Teams Are Big Gonzaga Fans This Weekend

Adam Papagiorgio — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, St. Mary's (CA)

The West Coast Conference tournament starts tonight in Las Vegas, but nobody is really going to be paying attention until Sunday when St. Mary's Patrick Mills makes his much anticipated return. No offense to LMU, San Diego, Pepperdine or USF, but like most opening acts in Las Vegas, nobody cares.

(Well not nobody. The WCC did sell out all of its all-tournament passes before the first tonight's tip-off. So maybe that move to a neutral court in Las Vegas wasn't a bad move afterall. Remember this when the Pac-10 and the other big schools play conference tournaments in front of empty crowds.)
And the WCC tournament will draw a lot of interest from the bubble teams. Gonzaga is already in the NCAA tournament. If the Bulldogs can win the conference tournament, then St. Mary's could be left on the bubble. That's the rub for the WCC commissioner Jamie Zaninovich. To be honest, I don't know how he does it.

Now, you can't just keep Gonzaga out of the tournament. And you can't exactly turn into Marsellus from Pulp Fiction ... "Listen Mark, in the second half, your butt goes down. Say it." Though, you couldn't really blame the commissioner if he turns into Bobby "the Brain" Heenan for a day. You know, Matt Boldin comes running down the court and the Zaninovich throws sand in his eyes. Or maybe he gives Omar Samhan a foreign object to use.

The crowning achievement would be if St. Mary's held a one-point lead with only seconds remaining and Zaninovich ran out on the court and screamed, "Sound the horn, sound the horn!" ending the game in the Gaels' favor. (Though, that seemingly happened with the screw-job ending in the Super Bowl.)

Not that Zaninovich has to go to any of those extremes. St. Mary's probably ends up winning the tournament anyway. The Gaels have much more on the line and have something to prove. Gonzaga does not, it's human nature.

Not that it will be easy. Mills figures to come out rusty in his first game. And St. Mary's opponent will already have at least a game under its belt. But the Gaels will find a way to win that semi-final game before running the Bulldogs out of the building. Which, of course, would be bad news for the bubble teams out there.

Bubble Teams Are Big Gonzaga Fans This Weekend originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 06 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Patrick Mills' Return Should Lift St. Mary's Into Tourney

Adam Papagiorgio — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:59:00 EST

Filed under: Marquette, WCC, Mid-Majors, St. Mary's (CA)

Point guard Patrick Mills has been cleared to play in the WCC tournament which begins in Las Vegas on Sunday. (Don't ask why that conference chose Sin City of all places.) That's great news that not only greatly increases St. Mary's conference tournament chances, but also should impact the Gaels at-large bid hopes.

St. Mary's isn't in the tournament right now -- not according to any of the mock brackets out there. But should St. Mary's be given the benefit of the doubt in this instance? Should the tournament selection committee consider Mills' injury while figuring out the tournament resume of the Gaels? Uh, yeah.

And for that reason, St. Mary's should be given an at-large bid in the tournament.
Now a lot of you might take offense to this. Mainly because you are big school snobs who would rather see the eighth place team from the Big Ten make the tournament over a deserving mid-major. (And yes, it's dangerous to generalize, but play along.)

But when your postseason championship is, in large part, determined by a committee, then everything should be a factor. NCAA basketball isn't as cut and dry as, say, football. There is no selection committee in the NFL that weighs Tom Brady's injury and decides to give the Patriots a playoff bid over the Ravens. Though, that would be a pretty cool idea.

The NCAA however, does have conference winners. You have the conference winners, and then you have at large bids. Committee members will sit in a room and hash out the remaining bids. The committee will consider schedule, quality wins and a number of factors. And if a team lost its star point guard for a large chunk of the season, that team should be given the benefit of the doubt. Especially if that player is returning. If Mills was out for the season, I wouldn't be pushing for this. But when your participants are so subjective, taking injuries into consideration should play a big part.

And likewise, if a team loses its point guard for the season and he doesn't return, then the committee should consider that too and rule against them. Right Marquette? That team is completely different without Dominic James and shouldn't even be considered for the tournament right now.

St. Mary's with Mills is certainly an at-large team. And my hunch is that St. Mary's probably wins the WCC tournament to make this point moot. Still, it shouldn't come to that and hopefully the tournament selection committee does the right thing.

Patrick Mills' Return Should Lift St. Mary's Into Tourney originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 03 Mar 2009 02:59:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Billy Packer Would Have Loved the Upcoming NCAA Tournament

Shiloh Carder — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:00:00 EST

Filed under: Butler, Davidson, George Mason, Gonzaga, WCC, Xavier, A-10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Mid-Majors, MVC, MWC, Pac-10, SEC, March Madness, St. Mary's (CA)

One of the biggest gripes against former CBS basketball analyst Billy Packer was that he didn't respect the mid-majors. He famously complained that there were too many mid-majors in the 2006 NCAA Tournament. That was the year that George Mason upset Michigan State, North Carolina and UConn to get to the Final Four.

This will be the first Packer-less tournament in decades as he retired after last year's Final Four. It's a shame for him because he would have loved the makeup of the brackets this time around. Going against the recent trends, it looks as if the major conferences will get most of the at-large bids, leaving the mid-majors out in the cold.

According to ESPN's Joe Lunardi, there aren't too many mid-majors that are locks to get in if they do not win their conference tournament. Siena, Utah State and Davidson have the strongest cases to be at-large teams but there are factions that believe they won't. Utah State has that win over Utah, but nothing else. Davidson has actually lost a couple of SoCon games this year and their biggest win is against West Virginia on a neutral court. Siena just lost to Niagara last night. All will be overwhelming favorites to win their conference tournaments but they could be in trouble if they don't.

Gonzaga will snatch a bid if they don't win the West Coast Conference tournament. Butler does the same if they fail to win the Horizon.

Lunardi is also projecting that 31 of the 34 at-large bids will be going to the so-called "BCS conferences". The ACC leads the way with eight teams, followed by the Big East and Big Ten with seven each. The SEC, which is suffering a perceived down period, is projected to get five teams in the tournament. The other three bids are penciled in for the Atlantic 10's Dayton and two from the Mountain West (Utah, BYU and UNLV should all get in; one should win the conference tournament). The only non-BCS school that is currently seeded as a No. 4 seed or better is Memphis.

Even Lunardi's last four out includes nothing but BCS schools. The "next four out" features two more Mountain West schools and two Big XII schools.

All this leads up to schools from power conferences fighting for those last spots available in the tournament. It will also lead to more name matchups in the first and second round. Right now, Lunardi has first round games of Kentucky-Texas, Florida-California, Oklahoma State-Arizona State, Boston College-Tennessee, Michigan-LSU, Penn State-UCLA and South Carolina-Wisconsin.

Billy Packer Would Have Loved the Upcoming NCAA Tournament originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 28 Feb 2009 01:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's Bursts Utah State's Bubble

Adam Papagiorgio — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:04:00 EST

Filed under: Nevada, WCC, Mid-Majors, WAC, St. Mary's (CA)

St. Mary's might have been the biggest winner in Saturday's BracketBuster following a huge 75-64 win over Utah State. The Gaels had been adrift in recent weeks, seemingly rudderless without star Patrick Mills.

But St. Mary's has been solid in recent weeks, fattening up on the weaker teams in the West Coast Conference. Saturday's win over the Aggies was a big exclamation point on the season, letting people know that the Gaels are still in the hunt for an at-large bid.

Not to say that St. Mary's is in right now; the Gaels still have a lot of work to do. But the team is squarely on the bubble right now.

Utah State, not so much. It is on the bubble -- possibly. But after its own and the WAC's dismal showing in general, the Aggies are going to have to win the WAC tournament to reach the NCAA tournament. Again, this is coach Stew Morrill's own doing. As long as he is unwilling to play some of the big boys on the road, he has no reason to complain.

The ESPN announcers kept saying that this was a bigger game for St. Mary's. And the Gaels needed the win, no doubt. But Utah State has always been viewed as a fraud and probably needed the win more, especially with Mills out. Utah State was a disappointment for a conference that just looked ugly in the BracketBusters. When you don't play many good teams, you need to beat them when you get the chance.

How bad was it for the WAC on Saturday?

Nevada is clearly in a rebuilding mode, but will play host to the conference tournament. The Wolf Pack hasn't been the same following the loss of players Nick Fazekas, Ramon Sessions and Marcelus Kemp. But coach Mark Fox still has enough to win the conference tournament.

New Mexico State has never recovered from the loss of Reggie Theus and the NCAA jacking around Herb Pope. The Aggies actually had a solid win over Cal State Fullerton, but this program is on the decline.

Boise State -- last year's conference tournament winner -- beat Utah State this week, but looked average at Portland State.

In fact, the West Coast conference proved that it was the premiere mid-major conference on the West Coast. St. Mary's and San Diego knocked off Utah State and Pacific respectively, arguably the top two teams in thet WAC and Big West. (Sorry, Long Beach State fans.)

Even San Jose State was exposed by UC-Riverside.

In the end, Utah State was proven to just be the best team in a really bad conference. Which is the equivalent of being the smartest contestant on Rock of Love. St. Mary's, on the other hand, is back in the mix.

BTW, you might not have noticed this, but did you see the way the St. Mary's fans reacted after the win? They stayed in their freaking seats and cheered on their team despite beating a ranked opponent. Maryland, on the other hand, has a championship banner hanging in its rafters and its fans rushed the court after winning a conference home game. Embarrassing.

St. Mary's Bursts Utah State's Bubble originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:04:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On-Court Obsession: Love the Game

Chas Rich — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:51:00 EST

Filed under: WCC, A-10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Conference USA, Mid-Majors, MVC, MWC, Pac-10, SEC, Media Watch

Saturday is a busy day for college basketball. On any Saturday during the season, there can be well over 40 games on your TV. Unfortunately, many are completely unwatchable. Every Friday, FanHouse puts together a handy guide of the best choices on how to spend your Saturday on the couch watching college basketball.

This is when you find out how much your significant other cares about you. Just how much time will you get to watch college basketball when Valentine's Day falls on a Saturday?

Those without a partner or even a date, can take solace in the money not spent on gifts and dinner. In addition, you can to spend over 12 hours watching hoops.

12 PM ET
Georgetown-Syracuse, ESPN: Classic Big East rivalry. Neither side likes the other. Both teams really need this game to move to the right side of the bubble.

Northeastern-George Mason, CSN, CSNE: There will be only one from the Colonial Athletic Association. These are two of the three most likely teams to represent the CAA.

1 PM ET
UCLA-Arizona, CBS: Just as UCLA looked like the best in the west, they lose to Arizona State. Arizona has shown more grit and toughness than anyone would have thought, with a win over USC on Thursday they are positioned to make the NCAA Tourney once more and keep their streak of NCAA Tournament appearances going.

1:30 PM ET
Nebraska-Missouri, Big 12 Network Affiliates, Full Court: Missouri lost the first time they played, one of their few blemishes in conference play. Nebraska has won three straight Big 12 games and still believes it can get to the bubble.

2 PM ET
VCU-Old Dominion, CSN, CSNE: VCU is the other likely representative from the CAA. They are tied with Northeastern at the top of the conference standings.

3:30 PM ET
Kansas-Kansas State, ABC, Full Court: Outside of Oklahoma, K-State is the hottest team in the Big 12. They have won six straight including wins over Mizzou and at Texas. Kansas is coming off a last second loss in the Border War really does not want to lose another rivalry game.

4 PM ET
Cincinnati-Pitt, ESPN: Cinci has surged into the bubble discussion with a strong defense and adequate offense. They upset Pitt once last year, and they could catch the Panthers past them to the Big Monday game at UConn.

Florida State-Wake Forest, Raycom Affiliates, Full Court: Florida State plays defense first and can struggle on offense. Wake has stopped playing defense and is only relying on the offense. FSU has won four of their last five games. Wake has dropped three straight. Wonder which approach is working better?

Davidson-Furman, MASN: Don't you need your weekly Steph Curry fix?

5 PM ET
Stanford-California, FoxSports: One of the underrated rivalries. Stanford took the first game at Gampel Pavilion. Cal, though, has the better conference record.

6 PM ET
Texas A&M-Baylor, Fox Sports Southwest, Full Court: Two disappointing teams trying desperately to stay near the bubble.

Ole Miss-LSU, Fox Sports Florida, Fox Sports South, Full Court: LSU has been the biggest positive surprise in the SEC this year. Their weak schedule, though, means they need to keep winning. Ole Miss has suffered injuries, their coach being arrested and the video of the arrest being released. Hopefully the LSU fans can come up with something creative to address Ole Miss Andy Kennedy's situation.

8 PM ET
UC-Riverside-Cal State Northridge, Fox Sports Prime Ticket: It's not all about the East Coast and the big conferences. The Big West is a fun place and Northridge has taken the top spot in the conference.

9 PM ET
Ohio State-Wisconsin, ESPN: The bad news, ESPN has skipped hyping this primetime Saturday night game in favor of Monday's Pitt-UConn game. The good news, the game is actually relevant. Wisconsin has resurrected itself in the last week. Ohio State has very quietly put itself in third place in the Big Ten.

10 PM ET
Portland-St. Mary's, Comcast Sportsnet California: St. Mary's may not be the same team without Patty Mills, but after nearly taking out the Zags on Thursday, they are still a very good team. Portland is up one game on the Gaels in the WCC, so this should be a very good battle.

12 AM ET
Nevada-Hawaii, Comcast Sportsnet California: No great reason to watch this WAC match, other than to lay claim to having watched in excess of 12 straight hours of college basketball.

On-Court Obsession: Love the Game originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 12:51:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's At-Large Hopes Gone

Adam Papagiorgio — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:57:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, WAC, St. Mary's (CA)

St. Mary's point guard Patrick Mills and the other spectators at McKeon Pavilion are likely filled with the same 'what if' fantasies after Gonzaga defeated the home team, 72-70, on Thursday night. A crushing defeat for the Gaels who entered the season with tournament hopes.

You can never say never in college basketball. Not with conference tournaments looming a few weeks away. But any hope that St. Mary's had of getting an at-large bid floated away as the Gaels failed to rally for the second time this season against Gonzaga with their injured point guard languishing on the bench.

Fellow Australian Carlin Hughes almost willed St. Mary's to a win. A win that would have kept those at-large hopes alive. But in the end, he came up just short. The Gaels are also in danger of finishing out of the top two in the West Coast Conference, which guarantees a bye into the semifinals. But then again, playing extra games didn't seem to bother San Diego last season.

Gonzaga looked pretty good, holding off undermanned St. Mary's. The Bulldogs don't play too well in McKeon Pavilion, so escaping with a win is key and not a given. Not like, say, going to LMU.

Josh Heytvelt, in particular, looked really good. Heytvelt is the Lamar Odom of Gonzaga. He has all of the talent in the world, but sometimes you wonder where his heart is at. Much like the Lakers and Odom, Gonzaga is only going to go as far as Heytvelt will take them. He has to have a presence down low for the Bulldogs to have any sort of sustained run.

In another mid-major game of note:

Utah State 62, Idaho 53: This game was closer than it should have been. The Aggies are the Gaels last chance for a true "quality win" prior to the conference tournaments when the teams battle in the BracketBusters next week. So you can't blame Utah State for looking ahead. That happens.

St. Mary's At-Large Hopes Gone originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 13 Feb 2009 02:57:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Economy Won't Effect Tourney Seeding

Will Brinson — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:00:00 EST

Filed under: WCC, A-10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, MVC, MWC, Pac-10, SEC, WAC, March Madness, Coaches, Fans, Rumors, South

Travel costs for universities are a big deal in this economic climate. Look no further than the bowl "selections" that occurred this year -- there were a substantially larger number of teams hanging close to home, presumably to allow for cheaper travel for both the schools and their fans.

But the NCAA says that will not be a huge deal this year, and supposedly, geographical distance will not affect a team's pairing.

Selection committee chairman Mike Slive said during a conference call Tuesday that while the committee is sensitive to the economic climate, it has a responsibility to the nation to provide balanced brackets for the NCAA's marquee event, which begins in mid-March.

Whether or not this actually happens (I think it will, personally), this is still a tremendously positive statement for college basketball fans. There would be nothing worse than to see March Madness' inherent beauty -- the cross-country scramble to converge on one location -- tainted for the greater good of "economic stability."

Geographical selection isn't necessarily a problem for college football, though. Outside of the BCS bowls, any reduction of costs is substantial enough of a win for a team to validate staying close to home, not to mention an increase in ticket sales. But for college basketball, where the postseason actually matters, any sort of regional favoritism would be highly detrimental to the basic setup of the postseason itself.

Economy Won't Effect Tourney Seeding originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Tue, 10 Feb 2009 23:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On-Court Obsession: Late Night Watching

Chas Rich — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:30:00 EST

Filed under: WCC, A-10, ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Mid-Majors, MVC, Pac-10, SEC, Media Watch

Saturday is a busy day for college basketball. On any Saturday during the season, there can be well over 40 games on your TV. Unfortunately, many are completely unwatchable. Every Friday, FanHouse puts together a handy guide of the best choices on how to spend your Saturday on the couch watching college basketball.

This is not a great Saturday lineup. That will happen. You can't have the great Saturdays without some duds. It isn't that there aren't some good games, but the non-competitive or uninteresting matchups dominate. It's a good Saturday to nap during the day games and plan to stay up late.

12 PM ET
Syracuse-Villanova, ESPN: Some good one-on-one battles. The guard play between Jonny Flynn versus Scottie Reynolds on the outside should be fun. Then there are the underrated big men facing off in Dante Cunningham and Arinze Onuaku. This is one of only two games that feature top-25 teams facing each other today.

1:30 PM ET
Miami-Duke, FullCourt, Raycom affiliates: Miami coming off their biggest win of the season while Duke is coming off their worst loss in years.

2 PM ET
Texas-Nebraska, ESPN: Nebraska was able to beat Missouri -- unlike the Longhorns. Texas is on a two-game slide and needs a win. While Nebraska is only 4-4 in the Big 12, they put a scare into Oklahoma, lost by only six to Kansas and lost to Oklahoma State in OT.

4 PM ET
Providence-West Virginia, FullCourt, MASN, SNY: Halfway through the conference slate, and both teams are on the bubble in the Big East. Both teams have lost two straight and need this game.

6 PM ET
Michigan-UConn, ESPN: This could get ugly real fast if Hasheem Thabeet gets some early swats of shots inside. Or UConn could revert to individual play and Michigan gets hot on their perimeter shooting -- always a risk with a John Beilein team.

College of Charleston-Davidson, ESPN2: Steph Curry's presence has made sure Davidson is on TV every weekend. He has made Davidson a lot of money.

7 PM ET
Florida State-Clemson, RSN, NESN, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (CSN) alternate, FoxSports South: Clemson is trying not to have a letdown after the big win over Duke. Florida State could really use a quality win to go with all of the quality losses they have accumulated.

8:30 PM ET
Arizona State-Oregon State, FoxSports Northwest, FoxSports Arizona: This should be a low scoring struggle. Oregon State has been surprisingly decent, while Arizona State has been mildly disappointing.

9 PM ET
Memphis-Gonzaga, ESPN: Two teams in mid-major conferences that are anything but mid-majors. A pair of top-20 teams in a well-planned late intersectional game.

10 PM ET
Pacific-Long Beach State, FoxSports Prime Ticket: Give a little love to the Big West. LBS is in first in the conference. Pacific has been shorthanded all season, but have proven to be a resilient group, and a tough out.

11 PM ET
St. Mary's-Santa Clara, Comcast SportsNet California: The Gaels have had time to feel sorry for themselves with the loss of Patty Mills. They need to win games like this while he's out with the broken hand to keep themselves in the West Coast Conference picture and for an at-large bid.

On-Court Obsession: Late Night Watching originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 14:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Portland Close, but Nobody's Touching Gonzaga

Adam Papagiorgio — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:41:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, Nevada, WCC, Mid-Majors

The West Coast Conference had a banner 2008, getting three teams into the NCAA tournament. But any hopes of the WCC being a multiple bid conference this season evaporated as quickly as Portland's halftime lead on Thursday night.

St. Mary's did snap a two-game losing streak by beating San Francisco on Thursday night. But unless Patrick Mills is a fast healer, there is no chance of the Gaels making the NCAA tournament.

Last year's Cinderella, San Diego, lost at Santa Clara on Thursday night in a battle of the conference's most disappointing underachievers. Let this be a lesson to all of you coaches who achieve success in your first year. Take the money and run. Bill Grier probably wishes that he did.

That left Portland holding the conference's lone hope to challenge Gonzaga. And it happened ... for a half.

But in the end, the Bulldogs have too much depth and rolled for the victory. Too much scoring from Matt Boldin and Jeremy Pargo, while Austin Daye looked pretty good on the boards. Gonzaga -- as pointed out during the ESPN broadcast -- needs to get tougher on the boards. There, however, is nobody in the WCC that will challenge them.

Especially now that the conference tournament is moving to Las Vegas. There will be no opportunity for any team to ride its home court for an upset bid. Though, if you want to think of a sleeper team, keep an eye on Santa Clara. That team really should be much better.

Portland's Nik Raivio is a stud, but he's just not enough to push the Pilots over the top. And Luke Sikma is developing into a nice player. But it's just not going to happen.

And here's a look at some of the other mid-major action.

Cal State Fullerton welcome former coach Brad Holland back, as Satan's lap dog is currently an assistant at UC Santa Barbara. The Gauchos went on a huge run in the first half and looked to continue the Titans misery at home. But somehow Cal State found its stride in the second half and ran Santa Barbara off the court to win its fourth consecutive game. The Titans were 8-of-13 from 3-point range in the second half. You know, this was supposed to be a down year for Cal State that lost four starters from its tournament team from last year. But you know, this team could repeat as conference champs. Believe it.

Mainly because Long Beach State lost at home to UC Davis. Is Dan Monson already preparing his resume? The 49ers earned a nice BracketBusters game against Wisconsin-Green Bay -- and this is the way they respond. Long Beach obviously hasn't recovered from Cal State rolling into town last week and beating them in front of a soldout crowd. The 49ers are talented, but inconsistent. At least Raiders, I mean Long Beach fans don't have to worry about its team peaking too soon.

No. 25 Utah State pounded New Mexico State in Logan. I like to make fun of the Aggies' schedule, but nobody is going to beat them up there. It's not happening.

Louisiana Tech went to Reno and beat Nevada. Utah State isn't getting a lot of help from its conference. The bottom feeders (meaning anytime not named Utah State) are beating each other senseless. And it does nothing to raise the profile of the conference. The Aggies are going to find themselves in a very similar situation to Gonzaga here. Honestly though, what happened to Mark Fox's squad? This is a young team, for sure, but it shouldn't be dropping home games at the Law.

Portland Close, but Nobody's Touching Gonzaga originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:41:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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San Diego St. Could Make Mountain West Four Bid Conference

Adam Papagiorgio — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:51:00 EST

Filed under: UNLV, WCC, Mid-Majors, MWC, WAC

One of the more interesting aspects of Joe Lunardi's Bracketology this week was that San Diego State was the second to last team left out of the tournament. Lunardi has UNLV, Utah and BYU (barely) as tournament teams, with San Diego State knocking on the door.

But now the Aztecs look like a legitimate tournament team following their overtime win at Las Vegas Tuesday night. A win that should help increase it's tournament resume.

And dare you believe it? Is the Mountain West really a four-bid conference?

That's a delicate question. Are those four Mountain West teams among the best 65 teams in the country? No question. But when you start getting down to the 34 at-larges and the lower ranked conference champions, there's no guarantee the committee will include them.

If you look at Lunardi's rankings further, Miami was the first team left off the tournament list. No more. The Hurricanes, barring a huge collapse, probably punched their ticket with a home win over No. 6 Wake Forest. Though really, Hurricanes fans, you're storming the court? Don't you have like 50 baseball and football championships?

Lunardi also has St. Mary's as one of the last teams in the tournament. That's not going to happen with Patty Mills out. St. Mary's is also going to lose big at Utah State in the BracketBusters. So they are out. So San Diego State -- who might end up being the best team in the Mountain West -- should slide in.

But not at the expense of the other Mountain West teams. If anything, the NCAA selection committee should give the Mountain West the benefit of the doubt because of the way the conference is treated by the BCS. Now, one doesn't have anything to do with the other. I get that, I really do. But come on, how about a little turnabout is fair play?

UNLV, Utah, BYU and San Diego State should be looking at tournament bids this season. When you figure that the WCC is going to get in only one team, the WAC is going to get in only one team, there is no reason to believe that the Mountain West can't be a four-bid conference.

San Diego St. Could Make Mountain West Four Bid Conference originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Thu, 05 Feb 2009 01:51:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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BracketBusters: Utah State at St. Mary's

Adam Papagiorgio — Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:35:00 EST

Filed under: WCC, Mid-Majors, WAC, St. Mary's (CA)

BracketBusters 2009 matchups have been announced. FanHouse has the skinny.

The BracketBusters series is going to finally force No. 22 Utah State to play somebody good. Well, sort of.

Utah State finally cracked the Top 25 thanks in part to a schedule that includes more cupcakes than a Duncan Hines display case. Utah State's strength of schedule is currently as shameful 275 -- and that includes games against BYU and Utah.

So it's only fitting that the Aggies will be paired against an undermanned team in the 2009 BracketBusters. Utah State will face St. Mary's -- a team that has received a lot of unexplained attention from Aggies' fans.

St. Mary's, of course, will be without star guard Patrick Mills who will likely undergo surgery on his injured right hand. The Gaels haven't looked the same since Mills was injured in the first half against Gonzaga on Thursday. St. Mary's followed that up by being smoked by Portland on Saturday.

In other words, St. Mary's is the prefect opponent for Utah State.

So even when being forced to play a decent team for a change, Utah State catches a break. And it needs a break like the Steelers need another beneficial call from the referees.

The one positive for Utah State is that it will get a return visit from St. Mary's next year. Coach Stew Morrill has had trouble getting teams to travel to Logan, so now he figures to have at least one quality non-conference opponent come to town. That is, of course, assuming that Mills returns to St. Mary's next year. You can likely guess what he is going to do.

BracketBusters: Utah State at St. Mary's originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Mon, 02 Feb 2009 22:35:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's Tournament Hopes Now Dim

Adam Papagiorgio — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:07:00 EST

Filed under: WCC, Mid-Majors, St. Mary's (CA)

St. Mary's guard Patrick Mills will miss at least four weeks with two broken metacarpal bones in his right hand on Thursday night at Gonzaga. And with it, St. Mary's tournament hopes have taken a serious, serious hit.

The Gaels were a bubble team coming out of the WCC, needing a signature win against a Utah State-like soft schedule thanks in part to a first-round loss in the Anaheim Classic. They did schedule games with San Diego State, Cal State Fullerton and Oregon, so there was intent for a decent schedule. But still, St. Mary's is now likely going to have to win the WCC tournament to get a bid.

And that looks unlikely without Mills. Fans got a sneak peak of a Mills-less St. Mary's team last night and it wasn't very pretty. Mills was more than just the team's leading scorer, he was the stopper. The guy who could stop another team's run. Now the Gaels are going to lean on Diamon Simpson and Omar Samhan.

St. Mary's will have its first major test at Portland today. Portland has been playing pretty good as of late and should be ready to make it's mark against St. Mary's. But be advised, teams missing their star player always seem to play good in the immediate game following the injury. That is an unscientific theory, but more of an observation. The Gaels will be desperate, however, and really need to win to keep any at-large hopes alive.

St. Mary's Tournament Hopes Now Dim originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Sat, 31 Jan 2009 02:07:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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St. Mary's Loses Patrick Mills, Game

Adam Papagiorgio — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:55:00 EST

Filed under: Gonzaga, WCC, Mid-Majors, St. Mary's (CA)

St. Mary's looked like the best team in the West Coast Conference on Thursday night. At least for a half. The Gaels were rocking in Spokane, and it appeared that there might have been a changing of the guard right there in front of the Kennel Club.

But then the game turned on Patrick Mills' right wrist. Literally. Mills injured his wrist and did not return for the second half. Neither did St. Mary's mojo. Gonzaga took advantage of the situation and went on to win, 69-62. The Bulldogs ended the Gaels' 15-game winning streak.

St. Mary's put in a valiant effort without Mills, but there were stretches where the team obviously missed Mills' leadership. Or his ability to take the big shot. There was a time in the second half when it looked like nobody on the court wanted to shoot the ball for St. Mary's. Shot-clock violations or desperate 3-point shots taken well beyond NBA range probably wouldn't have happened with Mills in the game.

But the truth is, you have to win with the guys on the floor. Losing Mills was an obvious setback, but guys like Diamon Simpson and Omar Samhan needed to take control on the floor. They never did, at least not before it was too late.

Mills' wrist is going to be one of the top stories to follow in the coming days.

Gonzaga should be concerned about center Josh Heytvelt. The ESPN broadcasters mentioned it a couple of times, but he really played poorly. Heytvelt had a couple of nice games against Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount recently, but he needs to show something against the good teams in the conference. Though, Austin Daye has had no problem asserting himself.

In some other mid-major games of note.

Cal State Fullerton 61, Long Beach State 60: A raucous at the Rusting Pyramid witnessed Josh Akognon sink the winner in the closing seconds. A group of Cal State students chartered a bus to help cheer the Titans to victory. Long Beach State also was honoring former coach Tex Winter and Craig Hodges. Witnesses in the crowd said that Hodges was burning up. Cal State is now undefeated on the road in Big West play, but can't win at home. Maybe the Titans should move their games to Troy High School across the street.

Long Beach hospitals, however, are on full alert getting prepared to treat legions of busted ankles after all of the front-running 49ers fans jump off the Dan Monson bandwagon. Way to send the home-town fans happy. Long Beach fans are the Big West equivalent of Raiders fans so expect some reports of property damage.

Utah State 72, Nevada 61: The Aggies win, but will this push their SOS under 200? Tough call. Nobody is going to challenge Utah State at home. That just won't happen. But still, Utah State still hasn't earned your respect yet.

Idaho 63, Boise State 59: The Broncos have a weird way of showing that they want to compete in the WAC this season. Are they banking on another WAC tournament title?

Northridge 72, UCSB 70: Santa Barbara coach Bob Williams should enjoy his last season as Gauchos' coach. But if the school believes that Cheating Brad Holland is the answer, it is foolish. Matador fans will celebrate with a trip to Best Buy!

St. Mary's Loses Patrick Mills, Game originally appeared on NCAA Basketball FanHouse on Fri, 30 Jan 2009 02:55:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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