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.
#1 Kentucky and #2 Syracuse both cemented their places at the top of the rankings for at least one more week. Ohio State, however, lost their 3rd place ranking and are now #6, thanks to now #8 Michigan State. #7 UNC lost to #4 Duke, but only fell two spots. Missouri moved from 4th to 3rd and Kansas moved from 10th to 5th.
Other Moves
–Duke 9th to 4th
–Mich. St. 12th to 8th
–Baylor 6th to 10th
–UNLV 16th to 11th
–Florida 7th to 12th
–Marquette 19th to 13th
–Murray State 7th to 14th
–Notre Dame NR to 25th
–Gonzaga NR to 24th
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.
Just as I expected, #2 Syracuse toppled UConn by double digits, while Senior Guard Scoop Jardine managed to score 21 points against the Calhoun-less Huskies. #4 Mizzou also beat #6 Baylor, while #5 UNC ran right over #20 Virginia, and #16 UNLV upset #14 San Diego State. Unfortunately, I was wrong about one game, and that was when #3 Ohio State was upset by defensive-minded #12 Michigan State.
#7 Florida was also upset against unranked Tennessee by 5 points. #15 Creighton lost their third straight game Saturday against Wichata State. You can guarantee that they will not see the top 25 come Monday morning.
Games to watch for this week:
#2 Syracuse vs. #23 Louisville (Monday @ 7)
#5 UNC vs. Miami (Wednesday @ 8) Miami beat Duke last week
#12 Michigan State vs. #22 Wisconsin (Thursday @ 7)
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)
It was more than just a big night for the Syracuse men’s basketball team. It was a huge night for their coach. Coach Jim Boeheim passed legend Dean Smith for third all time in wins, with 880. He now only trails Bob Knight (902) and Coach K (919). Coach K will coach until he’s 103 so I don’t see him catching up unless my dreams come true and Duke finally starts to suck. But unless Bob Knight makes a return to coaching, or Boeheim gets on the wrong end of the scandal allegations (See Joe Paterno), then Boeheim should be able to pass Knight by next season. However, Boeheim now holds the record for most wins at a single school. (Coach K coached Army and Duke)
It was a great win in overtime over Georgetown 64-61. He has been head coach at Syracuse University since 1976 and was an assistant coach for 7 years prior to that. He has coached great players such as Carmelo Anthony, Wesley Johnson, Billy Owens, and won the NCAA tournament in 2003. Congratulations to Coach Jim Boeheim!
This night seemed to turn out a little bit better for my picks than usual. #10 Kansas topped #6 Baylor 68-54. Junior 7 foot center, Jeff Withey was able to drop 25 points on 8-10 shooting from the field. Thomas Robinson added 15 points of his own while snagging 11 rebounds. On the flip side, Baylor’s Perry Jones III shot 1-8 from the field and only scored 5 points against the Jayhawks.
#2 Syracuse barely escaped an upset from #11 Georgetown in an overtime thriller. The final score was 64-61. Syracuse senior forward, Kris Joseph, was able to put up 29 points against G-Town while Fab Melo was only able to pitch in 11 of his own.
Finally, in case you somehow missed it, #9 Duke shocked #5 UNC at the buzzer as Austin Rivers made a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give them th
e win, 85-84. Doc’s son finished with a career high 29 points and the biggest shot of his career thus far. Both Tyler Zeller and Harrison Barnes both finished with 25 and 23 points, respectively. This was probably the most exciting game to watch this season, with an NBA-like vibe and score.
As rivalry continues, we take a look at the biggest night of the week. First off, #2 Syracuse will take on #11 Georgetown. Although I think it will be a closer game than most think, I believe Georgetown can hang with the Orange, but I still think that Syracuse will win the game.
Secondly, #9 Duke plays #5 North Carolina in the biggest rivalry game of the season. Yes, I know that they are not the highest seeds, but this is always a good game even 
though I despise both teams. Duke is strong but even Coach K said that UNC is the most talented team in the country and I see them winning.
Finally, #10 Kansas looks to jump back from a loss against Mizzou when they play #6 Baylor. I know that I picked the underdog Kansas last week and it didn’t work, but I am going to have to do it again. I think they are strong and Thomas Robinson is one of the best players in the country. Plus, they beat them by 18 points a few weeks ago. Yeah the Bruins are on tonight, but this will be a nice thing to flip the channel too every now and then.
A few high magnitude games this weekend beginning on Saturday. Yes, once again I am leaving out the face that Harvard is playing on Friday. #1 Kentucky & #2 Syracuse both have conference games but against teams that are 2 games below .500. The first dual-ranked game is between #3 Ohio State & #20 Wisconsin. This is both a ranked game, and a Big Ten conference game.
Prediction: Ohio State
The other big game is between #4 Missouri & #8 Kansas. Once again, this is a conference match-up and I think it’s going to be real close. I am really tempted to pick Kansas because I think Thomas Robinson is a beast. However, Missouri is home and they have only lost 2 games all season. I just haven’t fully bought into the Mizzou hype yet.
Prediction: Kansas
On Sunday, #5 Duke takes on unranked Miami. Miami is 13-7 so they are not a team that will be walked right over. However, I do not see the Blue Devils losing this game. #10 Michigan State is home against rival #22 Michigan in a battle of the Big Ten. Gonna be another close game as always but since State is home, I think they can hang on.
Prediction: Michigan State
I am going to just skip over Friday because the only ranked game consists of #23 Harvard vs. Yale… Not even gonna touch that one. On Saturday, #1 Kentucky looks to stay perfect in the SEC against LSU, which shouldn’t be tough considering their star-studded line up. #2 Missouri looks to bounce back from their loss against Oklahoma State with a game against Texas Tech. Normally you could count Texas Tech out but the way Missouri played the other night, they could be in trouble. #4 Syracuse will face a tough test when they play always-strong West Virginia in a battle of the Big East. #5 Kansas will most likely run over Iowa State, even though they have a pretty decent record so far. #10 Georgetown plays usually-ranked Pittsburgh in a big game. Even though the Panthers are unranked, they are going to give Georgetown a run for their money at 4:00 on ESPN.
On Sunday, #22 Michigan will look to take down power house #3 Ohio State. This in my opinion will be the game of the weekend. At night, Notre Dame will look to take advantage of #19 UConn’s recent struggles. However, UConn will be wearing their new uniforms (click here) , so maybe they can find some sort of spark that they have been lacking in recent weeks.
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