Onions

-You truly just can’t say enough about the season Air Force is having. It’s starting to work its way through the national stories, but you have to watch them play to get the full effect. It is just so much fun to watch AFA-the layups, the cuts, the bleeding of the shot clock, the defense-everything. It’s such a unique style and it’s being executed so well. I also love how most of the Air Force players look like basketball players, not overmuscled football players such as those at so many schools nowadays. Just like St. Joseph’s (see below), though, don’t let the romantic details of the story blind you to the fact that this is a very good team. Just like St. Joe’s winning at St. Bonaventure by 50, that blowout at New Mexico 1 ½ weeks ago is more proof of the Falcons’ legitimacy than anyone will acknowledge. And now, with wins over BYU and Utah this past weekend, Air Force is a legitimate top 25 contender. Not to pick on Oklahoma again (the Sooners have taken plenty of abuse lately) but there’s no way OU should be in the polls ahead of AFA.

-Their talented starting five has been very well documented, but you still have to wonder about North Carolina. No way the Tar Heels should have blown a 22-point lead to Florida State last Thursday, not the way they were playing in the first half and not considering how good this team is supposed to be. It may have been a case of “fool’s gold,” as Roy Williams put it with that early lead, but it still shouldn’t happen. UNC is still going to win 20+ games and still should get out of the first round of the NCAAs (provided they end up with a top 4 or 5 seed, as expected, but after that, I wouldn’t expect too much of anything else. The Heels could easily make the Final Four or be gone in round two.

-Have to admit Mississippi State has been impressive this year, certainly much better than expected. Whether Florida is overrated or not, winning at UF-and by so much-was still an eye-opener, as if their success before wasn’t. I must say, though, there’s part of me that is bothered by them having picked up Lawrence Roberts as a ringer just before the season. Ditto for Texas, Oklahoma State and others who picked up Baylor refugees and plugged them right into the lineup. Seems like they should’ve at least had to sit out a semester or something, or maybe a year without losing eligibility. Baylor was an extreme case, but I’m just not sure it warranted letting players go off as free agents. Oh, and the fact that so many schools had space for these guys should help kill the argument against the 5-and-8 scholarship rule. Most schools have space for players but are purposely keeping spots open by choice. The only teams that get ripped off by it are those who suffer many injuries; otherwise, the rule isn’t having near the effect that it’s said to, and if it is, maybe some coaches shouldn’t be running so many players off the team (I don’t care what they say; yes, it does happen).

-Can the national people please get off the “St. Joseph’s isn’t that good” fad already? It’s become the sexy thing to say, and apparently during the Pitt-UConn game last week Jay Bilas said the Hawks weren’t as good as Connecticut, Duke or even Kansas.

Dumb comments like that set me off because they are so far off, and when they come out on national TV most fans just assume it’s true. Kansas got mauled by Nevada. (And this is before the Jayhawks lost to Richmond) And we won’t even get started on UConn’s ups and downs. He isn’t the only saying it, though, and the guess here is few “doubters” have actually seen St. Joe’s this year. Others cling to this freely circulated and inaccurate myth that the Gonzaga win doesn’t count because Ronny Turiaf was hurt (sorry, watched the game-it wouldn’t have guaranteed a Zag win by any means). If or when the Hawks do lose a game this year, you can bet the doubters will tell us that they were right and they have conclusive proof that SJU really wasn’t that good.

Save it. Forget about their relative lack of size inside, because Dwayne Jones makes up for a lot as a shot-blocker. The Hawks also have a backcourt that shoots as well as any in recent history. No one had a problem when those Duke teams a few years ago lived so well off of three-point bombs and not much post presence, but apparently with SJU it should be an issue. Plus, there may not be another team that defends better on the outside than the Hawks. Oh, and SJU isn’t just beating people, they’re mauling them. Let’s see Duke, Pitt, UConn or anyone else go to St. Bonaventure and win by 51.

Again, what it all boils down to is that not many have seen the Hawks play, or certainly not enough to appreciate their dominance. Or, maybe some just can’t accept a non-TV school being that good. Analysts will gladly sing the praises of a Duke, Kansas or Arizona, because they are perennial powers. Even Louisville, Cincinnati and Gonzaga get plenty of credit because they are familiar faces every year and/or because they get their share of marquee made-for-TV games, though even the Cardinals received a lot of undue criticism when they were ranked highly last season. Yet St. Joe’s is denounced because TV doesn’t want them for their chosen matchups and no one else will play the Hawks. This year, with the top teams avoiding them and TV not helping, SJU went to Boston U., Delaware and a number of other places that most top 25 schools would never dream of playing. The chances of losing those games weren’t much less than if they’d played, say, Gonzaga at a neutral site. Which they did, and they won, just like they did those other road games, most of them handily. The Hawks also went on the road and whipped a Richmond team that just won at Kansas. There is loads of evidence that the Hawks aren’t a fraud; it’s not the flashiest, but it’s there.

Is St. Joseph’s vulnerable? Sure they are, but who isn’t? Connecticut is terribly average in a halfcourt game. Duke is beatable. Stanford is good but doesn’t inspire fear like UNLV in 1991 or anything. Arizona has zero depth and little height. Many question Gonzaga’s backcourt quickness. Pitt, Louisville, Kentucky and others can be had. In short, there are many equal but none that are head-and-shoulders better than St. Joe’s. That doesn’t guarantee them postseason success, but so what? Other than maybe Duke or UConn, there isn’t one team that is good enough that it should expect the Final Four. Maybe the Hawks will lose early in the NCAAs, but it could just as easily happen to any other team.

-Only in this column will you find a transition from St. Joseph’s to IUPUI. Saw the Jaguars against Missouri-Kansas City last week, and was very impressed with their unselfishness. Very good passing team, not mind-boggling assist totals but players aren’t afraid to pass up a good shot for themselves to set up a better one for a teammate. Seem to remember this about IUPUI last year, too, though when you see 200+ teams over the course of a season, sometimes the details get a little foggy. Whether you think he’s a goofball or not, you can’t deny that Ron Hunter does a pretty darn fine job with that program. Oh, and to celebrate a return of The Lost Art, the Jags were 23-for-26 from the free throw line against the Kangaroos.

-Also meant to point this out last week but forgot, Marquette shot 27-for-31 from the stripe in its 84-76 loss at UNC-Charlotte. Imagine how that game would have gone if the Warriors/Golden Eagles had shot the 60% that Pittsburgh shoots from the line.

-Speaking of the Panthers, I’ll grudgingly give them their due this week, after winning at Syracuse and giving Connecticut a battle. I still don’t have a great feeling about them, and I definitely don’t see this team doing any better in the NCAA Tournament than the last two Panthers teams. At some point, though, you can’t argue with their record.

-Repetitive ramblings, a.k.a. another example of why the RPI sucks. As of Wednesday morning, LSU was 28th in the RPI and had what was rated the 33rd toughest schedule in America. Now, you look at LSU’s schedule so far, and I beg you to just try to tell me that there are only 32 teams that have had tougher schedules than the Tigers. Until road games ever get figured into the RPI, the SOS statistic borders on meaningless.

-Oh, and despite playing Gardner-Webb, Wofford, High Point, South Carolina State and Radford, Clemson’s schedule is rated fifth according to the RPI. Har har. That’s one spot ahead of Michigan State’s.

-Sorry NASCAR, I’ve tried to hang in there, but with this new points system joke, you’ve lost me. NASCAR is trying to emulate the NFL with a playoff system, but it wants to use the NBA philosophy of favoring the big-money stars to do it. Doesn’t work that way. With steroid(base)ball having fallen by my wayside years ago, I think I could unplug my TV for the months of May through August if it weren’t for the College World Series and the NHL Playoffs.

-This week was full of entertaining games-thank heavens for conference play. I thought the Friday night game between Lafayette and Lehigh would be maybe the best I’d see all regular season, but the Monday night game between UNLV and Colorado State might tie it. Lafayette beat the Mountain Hawks, 111-104, in overtime to take the Patriot League lead, while Colorado State got by the Rebels, 89-83, also in OT. Both games featured big-time comebacks-Lehigh was down 10 with three minutes left, while UNLV trailed by 16 with six minutes left against CSU. Ultimately, both Lehigh and UNLV ran out of gas in overtime-Lafayette caught a second wind and scored 21 points in overtime, while UNLV just ran out of players. Five Rebs fouled out.

-For my money, there aren’t many schools out there with sharper uniforms than Rider’s roadies that combine a cranberry red with silver and white. They would look good in any generation, and they put to shame so many of these barfy Nike-designed get-ups the top schools wear. The Broncs aren’t too bad of a team this year, either, and with no senior starters and one more year from the excellent Jerry Johnson, should be a favorite in the Metro Atlantic next year.

-The MAAC and West Coast Conference are two more leagues I love watching on TV. The MAAC television package is particularly good-really enjoy listening to Doug Sherman and Rob Kennedy, the lead announcing team on the broadcasts. Very knowledgeable and easy to listen to, and it’s always good to see announcers who get to follow around the entire league and know the league inside and out. Every MAAC team gets on one of the regional networks in the East at least once, with most getting multiple appearances. Same with the WCC schools in the West-even the schools not named Gonzaga are shown on the Fox Sports Networks out there, and more than once. Barry Tompkins and Dan Belluomini do an excellent job as the lead team on WCC broadcasts and are one of the most underrated teams around. They should be doing NCAA tourney games for CBS.

-It’s been noted in many other places, and we haven’t forgotten about Wright State either, which is having the best in-season turnaround since Michigan last year. Seriously, has there been any team that’s come a longer way in as quick a time as Wright State this season? The Raiders lost their opening game to NAIA Cedarville and five of their first six, but that one win was a good one over a Ball State team that beat Xavier. Now, WSU is 10-9 overall and 7-2 in the Horizon League, even after losing a battle for first place against Wisconsin-Milwaukee Tuesday night. They’ve already swept Butler this year and in the loss column are two games ahead of teams like Detroit and Illinois-Chicago. Great job by new coach Paul Biancardi, and don’t sell short the Raiders’ talent, either. Seth Doliboa and Vernard Hollins are both All-Horizon League-level players. The loss to UWM (now 9-0 in the HL) shouldn’t dampen the good vibes in Dayton.

-Maybe we were a little too rough on Austin Peay earlier this year. The Governors were singled out here more than once as one of the most disappointing teams in the country, but they are now 8-0 in the Ohio Valley and right now only Murray State looks like they should challenge. Their early schedule was incredibly tough-12 of first 15 on the road, with some of those road games at Belmont, Memphis, Alabama, Western Kentucky, Louisville and Kentucky, plus five straight on the road to start conference play (ask a Big 10 coach how he’d like that). Still would’ve liked to see them come out of that with a little better record than 3-7 out of conference, but offensive struggles have plagued Peay all year. Even in conference, the wins have been anything but pretty-seven of the eight OVC wins were by 10 points or less, and in none of those games did the Govs score more than 70 points. Defensively, AP is very stout, and that is keeping them afloat, and the good thing is the team has potential to still get better on offense, too. If it doesn’t, though, expect Austin Peay’s margin for error to continue to be thin.

-I think I continue to have sympathy for coach Will Brown at Albany. Last year, the Great Danes went through basically the entire season with just eight players, and this year it’s happening again. A total of seven players were in uniform for Sunday’s game against Hartford (a 57-48 loss) and it doesn’t look to get much better. Star sophomore Jamar Wilson is out for the year with a knee injury, and center Janis Pipikis tore an ACL in December and is also finished for the season. Rather surreal sight to see the TV cameras showing the Albany bench with just two players sitting there.

-Finally, I don’t care what others say about females playing basketball, I enjoy the part of my actual “day job” that requires me to go to girls high school basketball games. There isn’t as much of the banging and smashing that goes on in boys’ games, there are some good athletes, and the games still have those moments that remind you that the contestants are still just kids playing a game. Like when players start laughing at a foul call, or when coaches start giggling when a fan gets a little too vocal in voicing displeasure to an official. And then there’s when you’re sitting in the stands, and you see players peeking up from the huddle during a timeout to check if they can find their parents or friends. Coaches wouldn’t like it, but I can’t help but think it’s pretty cool.

Excellent article by Gregg Doyel on CBSportsline.com about players transferring from smaller schools. Doyel is kind of a smart-ars in his mailbag, but he tackles a lot of topics other national writers tend to shy away from. It wasn’t mentioned by me last week but in fairness to the poachers should have been that there are also those players from smaller schools who go out searching to play somewhere else, as Doyel noted. That puzzles me. Since the bigger schools didn’t think anything of them before, wouldn’t it seem someone would rather “stick it” to them and prove them wrong, not go crawling to them after playing well somewhere else? Example: Patrick Sparks, who was jilted by Kentucky and others coming out of high school, then went to Western Kentucky and played well for two years. He was a very good player at WKU, not dominating, but decided he needed to go somewhere bigger and now is going to walk on at UK.

I don’t know 100% of the story on Sparks, so maybe it was just a childhood dream to play at UK, though I doubt it. I seem to remember him looking at several schools. He’s just one example and some may have personal reasons, but more often than not, you have to question why they do it. The NBA will find you no matter where you play, and I don’t really think these kids want to win an NCAA title so bad that they do it for that reason. There is a difference in the level of play from the SEC to the Sun Belt, but it’s not like the difference between college and pro or anything. I guess it gives you a look at the psyche of people today; the “chip on the shoulder” attitude is less and less common, and that’s not a good thing. Just look at Jason Conley right now. Unfortunately, it’s just like the NBA Draft; even if there are a bunch of Scotty Thurmans who never make it, the kids will only remember the occasional Jarvis Hayes who does.

Patrick, the former St. Joseph’s Hawks writer extraordinaire on this site, offered me another example of how underrated Hawks guard Delonte West is: in my point about him being underrated, I misspelled Delonte’s first name. There you go.

I also spelled Taquan Dean’s name wrong last week. My bad.

Finally, a bit more on Air Force. Falcon fan Rick from Texas initially took umbrage with my characterization of AFA’s schedule as soft. After discussing it, we came to a nice little accord, so it was all good, but on my end there’s a few points to be made. First, the Falcons’ non-conference sked wasn’t awe-inspiring, but it was a little tougher than I gave credit for. I initially forgot the blowout win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and that win at California still impresses me. Wins over Belmont and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi won’t get much national respect, but they aren’t bad, either, and one of the losses was to Auburn. Moreover, this year’s schedule actually represented a toughening up from the past, because several years ago Air Force played 3-4 non-Division I teams every year. To call it “traditionally pillow-soft” probably wasn’t quite fair, though games against Savannah State and Arkansas-Pine Bluff still will impress no one.

Second and more importantly, to expand on their past schedules. Air Force’s sked has been soft in the past by design and directly because of its lack of hoops success, not necessarily because it was ducking competition. It’s really not anything to be ashamed of. The Falcons have been struggling mightily for decades, not just a couple or ten years. A 12-16 record was good, and a finish two or three spots from the bottom of the conference, whether the WAC or Mountain West, was defined as a successful year. For obvious reasons, getting the height usually required for basketball is exceptionally tough for Air Force, and before this year the talent level has usually been low. Considering all the circumstances, it was only natural for the “Zoomies” to keep the non-conference schedule light. It’s something everyone understood and accepted; I don’t think you’d find anyone who could blame them. Even this year, I don’t think Joe Scott expected his team to be contending for an NCAA berth, so it’s hard to cut the Falcons too much for their schedule. Ultimately, it is going to hurt if/when the NCAA is looking at AFA for an at-large berth, and the school’s history won’t get them any slack. But that doesn’t mean Air Force should be disrespected too much for its slate. They certainly aren’t here.

The fun of making predictions is you win some and you lose some. Before Wake Forest played Texas two weeks ago, I said there was no way the Deacs were the third- or fourth-best team in the country. Since then, Wake has lost four in a row. Of course, last week I also said Florida State had a classic 6-10 or 5-11 ACC look, and the Seminoles promptly went out and beat Carolina and Wake last week. Though the games were at home and UNC flat-out choked, FSU is plenty capable of finishing at least .500 in the league. Despite their relatively lousy non-league schedule, the top of the ACC is so tough this year that it would almost certainly get them into the NCAAs.

Saturday is a loaded slate of games, particularly in the top 25 and just beyond. Hard to single out some, because there are certainly plenty just as good that won’t be listed.

Really not sure what to think or say about this year’s Super Bowl. In Wisconsin, we’re still trying to forget about 4th-and-26. I would tend to think the Patriots will win comfortably but not in a blowout, but that’s just me.

Boston College at Pittsburgh. With Craig Smith, maybe the Eagles have the beef to match up with Pitt inside.

Southern Illinois at Wichita State. Shockers are starting to show signs of life in the MVC. If the Salukis win, no one will understand just how good of a win this is.

Hawaii at Rice. Owls got Fresno on the road last week before getting ripped at Nevada. Still think both of these teams are NCAA-caliber.

Louisiana-Lafayette at Western Kentucky. I’ve championed Middle Tennessee State mostly, but I’m kind of expecting the Ragin’ Cajuns to emerge in the Sun Belt, though depth is going to be an issue all year. WKU is hanging around, too.

Chicago State at IUPUI. The Cougars are kind of Wright State Lite, having ripped off five straight wins after a 1-14 start. Great to see for a program that has struggled almost as long as Air Force.

UC Irvine at Utah State. America’s most competitive series the past couple years-4 of last 5 decided by one or two points, with the other decided by seven only because of late free throws. If there was only one game I could watch this week, it would be this one.

St. Mary’s at Pepperdine. The Waves are coming on ever since getting Yakhouba Diawara eligible.

California at Oregon. Somebody has to finish third in the Pac-10…right?

Niagara at Manhattan. These two match up well and played some good games last year, including an overtime game in the MAAC tourney.

Army at Navy. There’s always a spot on this list open for when these two play.

George Washington at Richmond. This should be a fun game. The Spiders are a hot team and deserve every bit of credit they receive for winning at Kansas and Xavier, but don’t count out the Colonials.

Pennsylvania at Brown. These two played a great one last year at the Palestra, and the Bears might be the Quakers’ best competition for the Ivy Group title.

Duke at Georgia Tech, Stanford at Oregon. The top two in the rankings could both certainly go down today.

Kentucky at Vanderbilt. The Commodores are beginning to lose my endorsement due to some questionable road losses (if Western Carolina can win at Arkansas, the Commodores should be able to). A win here would serve them well.

Troy State at Central Florida. UCF won round one at Troy. I’m a believer in the Knights, who are torching a good Atlantic Sun Conference.

Saint Louis at Alabama-Birmingham. Billikens are starting to creep into NCAA at-large conversation. Tough upcoming schedule will provide a make-or-break opportunity.

Akron at Kent State, Wyoming at Colorado State. Two more of those heated regional rivalries. Both are pretty even matchups, and Kent may be starting to sneak back into the national picture.

BYU at Utah. It’s time to make a move, Cougars, because you’re running out of chances to impress. At this point, BYU is probably not an NCAA tourney team.

Fresno State at Nevada. It’s also getting to be go time for these two if they’re going to finish in the top 2-3 in the WAC. Especially the Wolf Pack, which has been dynamite at home, shoddy on the road.

Oklahoma at Nebraska, Seton Hall at Providence. Plenty of time before the Super Bowl to watch these games. The first is almost a desperation game for both teams, while the second is just two good borderline top 25 teams.

St. Joseph’s at Villanova. The Hawks are better than the Wildcats-don’t even try to say they aren’t. This is a road game, though, which makes it tricky.

Delaware State at South Carolina State. Ah heck, gotta find a MEAC game at some point. The Hornets seem to be as close a thing there is to a favorite in the league, while the Bulldogs won the league last year.

Idaho State at Idaho. Admit it, this game sounds interesting, even if you know nothing about the two teams. Too bad the Vandals aren’t still in the Big Sky so these two could play a home-and-home every year.

Air Force at UNLV. Finally, the Falcons hit national TV with this Big Monday game. Check them out.

Cincinnati at Xavier. There can be all kinds of titles for rivalry games. This is the most intense rivalry in the country, by far.

Siena at St. Peter’s. They’ve been disappointing, but I’m smelling a late-season charge from the Saints. Watch out for them in the MAAC tourney.