Coaches Get On Board With the T & 2

Finally ! Finally ! Finally ! Yes, I screamed that three times in the past week while watching   Rutgers upset Georgetown, the Celtics beat the Kings, and, most recently, Syracuse knock off Georgetown. Why was I so excited about an awful NJ school, an elderly team whose fans have awful accents, and a whiny coach who won’t play man to man ? Simple. In the final seconds, THEY ALL FOULED; UP THREE….and of course… THEY ALL WON .

I couldn’t believe it. I was elated. As the texts from T and 2 readers like James Alberino, John Strange, Jon Snediker and Bill Hassett rolled in throughout the week, I just kept smiling.  By the time Syracuse hacked up three, I had perfected the Judd Nelson-Breakfast Club fist pump.

Clearly, coaches are coming around on what I find to be the simplest decision in sports. Based on the easy logic that it’s harder for your opponent to : hit the first free throw, miss the second, get the rebound, and then score; than it is to simply hit a three pointer. Hats off to Fred Hill, Doc Rivers, and Jim “whine about expansion even though he’s headed for a #1 seed this year” Boeheim for showing some logic. Now we’re waiting for John Thompson III, who just watched the theory burn him, not once but twice, to start hacking late.

Texas Basketball a Season Long Roller Coaster Ride

Rick Barnes must be pretty confused trying to figure out what exactly is going on with his team. After a 17-0 start, the Longhorns are 3-6 in there last nine; dropping to 6-5 in Big 12 play. While Barnes is probably trying to convince himself it’s just a rough patch for a talented team, he may want to look a little closer at exactly what his squad has done this year…which, by my account, isn’t much.

Texas is very talented and has a clear superstar in Damion James so, there’s no question
as to whether they have the talent to play with the best, its just a matter of actually beating the best. However, the Longhorns have struggled to do that this year. Barnes’ squad has impressive wins over #11 Michigan State, #21 Pittsburgh and #23 Texas A&M but losses to #7 Kansas State, UCONN, #22 Baylor, #1 Kansas, and Missouri; proving that the Longhorns are not an elite team, which is what everyone in the country wants to be heading into March.
Trips to A&M and Baylor, with a fine showing in the Big 12 Tourney may be what James and company need to change their elite status, but don’t expect it. The T and 2 is expecting to cross Texas off with a second round upset in the Big Dance.

Who Are The Elite Teams In NCAA Basketball?

In order of most expected to win a title by the T and 2 : Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, West Virginia, Duke, Villanova, Kansas State, and Gonzaga. It’s an eight team race, and if you’re
wondering why Purdue is not on the list, look no further than the fact that they play in the snail’s pace Big Ten. Ohio State and future pro Evan Turner may be the only team who can change that belief but, until now, we’re sticking with those eight, with Kansas and Kentucky as clear favorites to meet in the final.

Bracket Busters Take Center Stage

This weekend is a time for hoopsters to educate themselves. ESPN is promoting its Bracket Buster weekend, which gives fans a chance to get an early look at teams you’ll be thankful you watched once March rolls around. Some of the games and teams you need to see : 
Friday- Old Dominion (21-7) at Northern Iowa (23-3), Cornell (21-4) at Harvard (17-5)
Saturday: Siena (22-5) at Butler (24-4), Morgan State(20-8) at Murray State (25-3) 4 PM,
UTEP (19-5) at Tulsa (19-7) (CBS-CS) 11:59 PM, Wichita State (22-6) at Utah State (21-6 )(ESPN2).

The T and 2 is most intrigued by Northern Iowa (currently a 7 seed in Bracketology) Butler (6 seed in Bracketology) and Murray State (12 seed in Bracketology). Questions to ask yourself while watching : Is Northern Iowa good enough to be knock off an overrated two seed in the second round ? Is Butler as good as it current winning streak indicates ? Can Murray State pull off the virtually annual “12/5″ upset ?

Time for These ACC Basketball Fans to Cross Their Fingers

Duke : Good news Blue Devils faithful , just five more games and Duke has officially survived February, a month that’s haunted them in recent years.

Maryland : At 18-7 (8-3) and one of Joe Lunardi’s last four teams in the tourney things look solid for the Terps. The final 5 vs Georgia Tech, Clemson, @ Virginia Tech, Duke, and @ Virginia will be the deciding factor. T and 2 estimates that a 3-2 or 4-1 stretch will cement them as tourney worthy, anything less and it’s time for James Lopez and fans to begin worrying…or moping… whichever you prefer.

Virginia Tech : Currently 21-4 (8-3) the Hokies are currently seeded as a #11.  Eleven?!  Why ? Very simply, a non-conference, strength of schedule rated a dismal 332nd by kenpom.com . VT will need to grab an impressive win(or wins) over Duke,Georgia Tech or Maryland down the stretch or it will watch it’s seed fall even further. Don’t feel too sorry for them though, as this is the team that scheduled such “powerhouses” as Charleston Southern, Maryland- Baltimore County, and Longwood in a three game stretch around the holidays. Clearly “gift” wins.

Just three weeks until Selection Sunday….a national holiday here at the T and 2.

Rivalry Week Signals Shift of Focus For Sports Fans

For all you football fanatics out there,  make sure you savor the Super Bowl, because as of this morning, it’s time to focus on hoops.  Despite the endless analysis, highlights and “breakdown” sessions  ESPN may have shoved down your throat last week, you should be beside yourself about the slew of college basketball games coming up over the next seven days. Rivalry Week, as it’s become known, is easily the best single week of the regular season. It’s like the best appetizer on the menu. You make sure you order it. Things start on tonight on ESPN’s  Big Monday when Kansas(1)  travels to Texas (10) and Villanova (2) travels to West Virginia(6).

Kansas, in my opinion, is the best team in the country right now.  Granted, they won in OT last week at Kansas State on the heels of an absurd decision by Wildcats’ head coach Frank Martin; (with just a few seconds difference between the shot clock and game clock, Martin chose not to foul Kansas, instead letting the possession play out), and they barely beat the Colorado “praying for the NIT” Buffaloes by six in overtime.  While these wins aren’t pretty…they are wins, and they are wins that will be similar to how Bill Self’s squad will need to win in March;  wins where you get the one stop you need at the end of the game, or a win where you don’t play well but gut it out.  This factor has now become the icing on the cake as to why I think Kansas will be champions.  They have the skill (Collins, Henry, Aldrich),  the coach (Self) and the X factor: Efficiency.  Another gutty win vs Texas would only cement the fact that they have the final piece of the puzzle, a will to dominate  an opponent when it matters most. Look for Kansas,  who still has to win a trap game vs Nebraska on Saturday,  to trump Texas as they continue to separate themselves from the pack.

The Pick:Rock Chalk Jayhawk

#6 West Virginia vs. #2 ‘Nova- The best way to describe West Virginia is to think of an Adam Sandler movie after 2002. You know he’s always been great in the past, and the trailer for the new flick looks decent, but you know there’s a possibility to be completely let down. (i.e. 50 First Dates, Longest Yard, Funny People).  Enter Bob “sweat suits on the sidelines” Huggins and West Virginia.  The Mountaineers are 18-3 (7-2), with losses to Big Ten power # 7 Purdue, a hiccup to 16-7 Notre Dame, and a 1 point loss to #4 22-1 Syracuse. WVU also gets the T and 2 love because they rank at 4 and 24 in O and D efficiency respectively. Now while West Virginia has some impressive numbers, the amount of quality wins WVU has is what alarms us. Yes, the Mounties did beat #18 Ohio State, and 16-6 Texas Tech isn’t shabby, but they have just one quality Big East win(Pitt).  WVU begins a brutal stretch on Monday vs Nova, and still has a trip to Pitt, Georgetown and a trip to Nova on the schedule. It will be these four games where we find out how legit the Mountaineers really are. An 0-4 skid and you can dismiss them as a Final Four team, a 4-0 mark means we’d better watch. My prediction is 3-1, starting with a win on Monday.  Youngster Daryl “Truck” Bryant will have his hands full defensively with Scottie Reynolds, but the eyes of Devin Ebanks and Kevin Jones should light up against Nova’s “inferior interior” duo of Antonio Pena and Taylor King.  Simple rule for WVU: hold Reynolds to less then 20, feed the post and you’ll likely hear the student section singing  “…take me home country roads” when the game is over. I truly believe WVU is the team to exceed all expectations right now, starting Monday…that’s if their fans can stop throwing things on the court.

The pick: WVU

Tuesday continues with #7 Purdue vs #5 Michigan State. – Kalin Lucas missed Saturday’s tilt vs Illinois and is questionable for the showdown with Purdue. With Izzo’s squad missing Lucas’ 15.6 ppg, look for E’Twaun Moore to have a field day and surging Purdue to capitalize. The Boilermakers have won six in a row after dropping three to Wisconsin, Ohio State, and Northwestern in mid January. It should be noted that because these teams play in the “put you to sleep it’s such slowly paced” Big Ten, the first team to 50 points might win.

Pick: Purdue

Wednesday is The Game. Duke vs Carolina.  As a Duke fan, it’s a holiday for me.  Look forward to it all year.  This year would make a naïve Duke fan extremely happy given the fact that Carolina is struggling to win anything recently.  The Tar Heels have fallen to a dismal 2-5 in the “not as tough as people think really is this year “ ACC, and 13-9 on the year. Things are so bad, Joe Lunardi is predicting Roy Williams is NIT bound. While hearing things like this should make Duke fans giddy, “Crazies” know that Duke is a Jeckyl and Hyde team in February.  Thursday’s thrashing of #19 Georgia Tech (pardon me Counting Crowes) “gives reason to believe” that Duke has finally turned a corner. However, this is Duke-Carolina, and anything can happen.  A win over a top ten rival is just what UNC needs to boost its resume. I’m hoping that’s not the case. Look for Scheyer and Singler to stroke it early and often.

The Pick : Duke

Saturday #14 Tennessee vs #3 Kentucky- Very simple. This is where the rest of the nation finds out what I already know. Tennessee is not as good as people think. Yes, Bruce Pearl did beat John “no Final Fours” Calipari two years ago when Memphis was undefeated, yes Tennessee took down Kansas this year, and Yes Tennessee has decent talent, but in no way shape or form do I see them winning Saturday night.

The pick: Kentucky in a rout, and inside twelve minutes left the announcers start talking about John Wall’s potential “at the next level”.   Are they not allowed to say “NBA”?

Notre Dame’s horrific losses to Rutgers and Loyola Marymount may have been the final straw to end the Irish NCAA hopes this year, but don’t blame Luke Harangody for not trying to work a miracle. The workhorse scored 37 and grabbed 14 boards in a win Thursday vs Cincy. The senior is averaging 24.2 ppg and 9.7 rpg.  It may be a good thing that the nation has quietly forgotten about “Gody”, because he seems to be holding a grudge and it’s helping the squad.

Bigger Not Better in NCAA Tournament

Is it just me or is anyone else rooting for Syracuse to land a #1 seed then lose to a #16 because Jim Boehiem keeps advocating a 96 team tournament ?

Big East Basketball Still On Top

Still wondering which conference is the toughest in America?   Joe Lunardi’s most recent Bracketology has seven Big East Teams getting bids, and three listed as “first four out”. One conference- 10 of the best 68 teams in the country. Good luck coaches.