It was a bad night to be a ranked team in college basketball last night. With the exception of #6 Ohio State & #12 Florida, who won by 10 points and 9 points, respectively, they all lost. #11 UNLV lost their first game since being ranked 11th on Monday, losing to TCU in a high scoring game, 102-97. Guard Hank Thorns had 32 points in the victory. Unranked LSU topped #23 Miss. State in overtime, while Clemson held #22 Virginia to only 48 points as they won the ACC battle.
There was a close one in the Big East last night on ESPN between #2 Syracuse & #18 Louisville. It was a very low scoring game so it was tough to tell who played well unless you actually watched the game. Scoop Jardine was utterly useless scoring 0 points on 0-8 shooting following his big game against UConn last week. The game came down to the wire when Louisville’s junior guard Peyton Siva threw the ball away with 5 seconds left when he probably should have just shot it. Syracuse had a chance to seal the victory with 2 seconds left but failed to do so with a missed free throw. Louisville had a last second chance but failed to convert as the Cardinals fell to the Orange 52-51. Only 4 players in the whole game scored in double digits, no one going over 16 points.
Another big weekend in college basketball begins Saturday (once again, omitting Harvard’s game on Friday). My favorite team, UConn, will face #2 Syracuse and almost definitely lose by double digits. #4 Missouri will host #6 Baylor in a Big 12 showdown at 1:30. #5 UNC will try to avenge their last loss when they welcome #20 Virginia to Chapel Hill. #3 Ohio State will play #12 Michigan State, while #14 San Diego State plays #16 UNLV.
Predictions
Syracuse over Uconn (Still my favorite)
Mizzou over Baylor (Baylor got smoked against Kansas)
UNC over Virginia (hate them but they are home)
Ohio State over Michigan State (Still think Ohio St. has a chance of winning it all)
UNLV over SD State (Could go either way but I’ll go with the home team)
Even though it was close early, #1 Kentucky proved to be a little bit too much to handle when they battled #7 Florida in an SEC conference game. Forward Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 13 points and added 13 boards in the 20 point blowout. Doron Lamb added 18 and Anthony Davis added 16 and a few nice blocks and alley-oops.
#15 Creighton was upset by sub-par Evansville in a Missouri Valley Conference showdown. They have lost two straight now, and since they have not beaten any ranked teams, or even played any for that matter, they will most likely fall to the 22nd-25th rank, or just won’t make it at all.
#3 Ohio State was barely able to hang on against unranked Purdue. Senior Guard William Buford was able to drop 29 points and grab 7 rebounds while other star Jared Sullinger was able to score 18 points and grab 6 rebounds of his own.
Since we are pretending Sunday didn’t happen, I decided to take Monday off as well. Let’s call it a “personal day”. Scores are a bit late but seeing as everyone was focused on the game that didn’t happen Sunday evening, I figured none of you would care.
Just as predicted, Kentucky & Syracuse both won with ease. #3 Ohio State beat #20 Wisconsin by 6 points in a tough battle where Sullinger had to drop 24 points and grab 10 boards in order to hold on. Unfortunately, my other prediction was wrong… barely. #8 Kansas was unable to upset #4 Missouri because they decided to heave up a contested 3 pointer with 3 seconds left rather than kicking it to the wide open 3 man for a clear shot.
Anyways, there was some good in the weekend (on the basketball court, not football field). #5 Duke was upset by Miami. HA. #10 Michigan State was able to beat #22 Michigan by 10 points in an in-state rivalry game. If only I could pick my bets as well as I pick these games.
Since it’s a day late, we also know this week’s rankings so here is the top 5.
*Denotes overrated team
Kentucky, Missouri, Murray State, Syracuse, Duke, Baylor, & UNC all won with ease this weekend solidifying their spots in the top 10 for at least one more week. #5 Kansas 
lost by 8 against unranked Iowa State, which is their first loss in the Big 12 this season. Pittsburgh beat #10 Georgetown in which I predicted would be a tough game as always. #19 UConn continued to struggle against Notre Dame on Sunday. Lastly, #3 Ohio State beat #22 Michigan in a battle of the Big Ten.
Just over a month in and there have already been a few different #1 teams in the country. There have also been many players who have stepped up, or fell off the radar. I thought it would be fun to vote on who has been the best player in the NCAA ( I only did ranked teams players). If you are unsure, do not just vote for North Carolina players because I’m pretty sure thats what everyone in the coaches poll does…
Previously unbeaten Xavier lost their first game Sunday against Oral Roberts… Wait, What? Oh yeah, 3 of their best players are suspended because of their brawl against Cincinnati last week (in case you somehow missed it) so they lost against a team with “Oral” in their name… Since these 3 didn’t play, I don’t see Xavier dropping far below their previous rank of #9, just as Ohio State remained near the top even though they lost a game last week when they didn’t have Sullinger, who got hurt again on Saturday. In my opinion he is the most dominant player in college right now, when he is healthy that is. I hope they drop below UConn who should climb a little bit higher with another win on Sunday.
On Saturday night, Syracuse almost felt the curse of the #1 but somehow held on against North Carolina State, which would have been a huge upset once again. #19 Illinois lost but I wouldn’t be surprised if they stay in the top 25 since it is their first loss, even though they have not played anyone that tough. #21 Alabama and #25 Vanderbilt both lost, which will most likely move both of them out of the top 25 come Monday morning. Every other team that played and should have won, did win. Unfortunately, that includes the Tar Heels.
It was a weekend full of upsets in college basketball. And it wasn’t just me feeling upset that Duke and North Carolina both won. #1 Kentucky was upset by unranked, but undefeated Indiana at the buzzer. Probably the most exciting game of the year so far in my opinion. #2 Ohio State was also upset by #13 Kansas. It should be mentioned, however, that the Buckeyes were playing without the best player (in my opinion) in the league due to back spasms. I think they will still be ranked near the top once he is back and well.
Usually, I wouldn’t comment on a team like Xavier that no one cares about, including myself, but if you watch the news at all, you should know what happened. A bench clearing brawl, including everyone that could reach an opposing player, ended a blow out by #8 Xavier of Cincinnati before the game was even over. The only thing that was missing was Ron Artest running into the stands and punching fans in the face. I am willing to bet that Artest (or as he now likes to be called Metta World Peace??) is laughing like hell remembering his ‘glory’ days with the Pacers.
The Kentucky Wildcats remain on top of the Coaches Poll for men’s basketball after slipping by UNC on Saturday. A last second block sealed the win as they proved that having all-stars doesn’t mean anything (See Miami Heat for details). However, because they lost against a number 1 seed and they have the best overall line up in college basketball, they remain at #6.
Duke dropped from #4 all the way down to #5? Wait a minute, how do they only drop one spot after getting smoked by #2 Ohio State 85-63, you ask? Because they are the Blue Devils. No one will count them out of the top ten even if they lose the next 3 games because of their constant dominance of unranked teams. Seeing as they don’t face another ranked team until the Tar Heels in February, you can expect to see them up here for a while.
These next 4 weeks are kind of on the dull side for most NCAA teams with Christmas tourneys and non-conference games (With the exception of Ohio State vs. #13 Kansas this Saturday). Therefore, many teams will not be changing position unless they somehow get upset by their random opponents. Let’s hope that UNC and Duke are some of those teams…
Boston Sports Blog 