Adam Glatczak writes the "Wednesday Onions" column for CollegeHoopsnet.  Bookmark the "Wednesday Onions" homepage and come back each week!

Onions

-A lot of obsession right now about how number one ranked teams keep losing. Sense should tell us that polls don’t matter, especially in college basketball and especially this early in the year. Truth is, they do matter and will. The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee has admitted in the past that polls do play some bearing on the selection and seeding process. Since many have assumed for years that polls mean nothing-and have treated their voting rights accordingly-there’s no logical reason why they should matter, but they do. Remember that in March when some team with a bad RPI gets a good seed.

-Is anyone really that surprised Florida lost a few games last week? Come on, the Gators have been doing this for years, putting together (advertised) star-studded rosters, blowing out inferior competition and beating most they should beat while alternating hot-and-cold against the best teams. Not sure this program is ever going to get past that point, at least for the time being, and I’m not sure the talent there is as good as it gets hyped up. For the past 2-3 years, we keep hearing how guys like David Lee and Christian Drejer are about to explode nationally. We’re still waiting, and the Gators are a perfect example of why players shouldn’t be overly hyped based on offseason workouts, practices and recruiting rep.

-They’re doing it again. The Creighton Bluejays were written off this year after Kyle Korver and a few others graduated from last year’s team, yet there they are now at 6-0 after a pair of good wins last week. CU beat an improved Nebraska team last Wednesday, making it five straight for the Jays over the Cornhuskers, and followed that with an OT win at Fresno State Saturday. Word is the Bluejay defense has stepped up in a big way this season, and that’s impressive since this team has usually revolved more around offense. Even though the rest of the early schedule hasn’t been that impressive, if this year doesn’t prove coach Dana Altman as one of the best around, maybe nothing will. Altman continues to get the best out of teams that don’t exactly pass the eye test, and it shouldn’t be a surprise anymore. Creighton’s NCAA Tournament streak is at five years and counting, the same as Gonzaga, and the Bluejays are a big reason the Missouri Valley Conference has become a nearly consistent two-bid league to the tourney. Who knows if the TV execs will ever wake up to this program or this underrated conference which is as good as the more exposed Mountain West (example: MVC is 44-24 out of conference as of Wednesday, MWC is 36-21). Even if they don’t, though, that shouldn’t be stopping fans and the media from getting to understand how strong Creighton is.

-Credit has to go to Nebraska as well as Wisconsin, two schools who haven’t relied on tired and weak excuses and have the guts to play their fellow Division I state schools. To the average schmoe, the only thing more surprising than Creighton owning a five-game winning streak over the main state school is that the Huskers continue to subject themselves to beatings from the Jays. And what was that Bo Ryan said last week after Wisconsin announced it had signed ten-year contract extensions to play Wisconsin-Green Bay and Wisconsin-Milwaukee? “I think we have something to gain. We're going to play well-coached teams with scrappy, tough players that will make every possession tough…I don't look at it as something to lose," Ryan said. He also said he thinks the games are good for the state of Wisconsin, and if the Badgers lost, it simply meant they needed to get better. Are you listening, Marquette, the school that is utterly afraid of UW-Milwaukee right now?

Both schools should be commended, and thank you for taking some responsibility for the wins and losses, Mr. Ryan, and avoiding the excuses. You said what too many aren’t enlightened enough or are simply afraid to say-even though the opponent may not be in a BCS league, there is plenty to gain from playing good teams that are jacked up to play you, certainly more than playing a bunch of no-name schools and a few semi-tough neutral court games out of conference. Like road games, state games are great tests and will prepare a team mentally for league and postseason play. If the opponent is good, there should be no lack of incentive, and if players don’t understand how good the opponent is, doesn’t that just add to the challenge? If a coach can get players ready to play against teams they’re “supposed” to beat, particularly on the road, that team will be ready for almost anything later in the year.

The point about the games being good for the state also can’t be emphasized enough. Particularly in states like Wisconsin, Nebraska, Nevada and other non-basketball hotbeds, these are the type of games that can fire up an entire state. That includes youngsters who might be just learning the game. It’s certainly not a reach to say more kids might play the game if they become interested in the state games, and more players playing equals a bigger pool of talented players for state colleges to choose from. That’s a win-win for all, and with the games usually at home and a BCS conference schedule for most state schools to cushion any small RPI damage, the benefits easily outnumber the negatives.

-Other than unheralded teams like Creighton and Southern Illinois, who aren’t getting nary a sniff for their unbeaten records, I really don’t want to hear right now about the supposed “dominance” of some of these teams that haven’t lost yet, or how dominant their leagues are because of it. So many of those wins are either against teams that should be beaten and/or are at home, it just doesn’t impress me one bit. When you see a team like Tennessee go to Nebraska and lose by 15 or hear South Carolina losing at Temple, you should understand why those home and neutral site-loaded perfect records meant zilch.

-I just love watching the Northeast Conference’s television broadcasts on the minidish. Unlike so many TV games today, they aren’t overproduced, the games are entertaining and close thanks in part to the conference’s balance, and the contests are almost always done in about 1 hour, 45 minutes or less. That’s because the games start almost as soon as the broadcast does, usually no more than a minute after the intro. Unlike ESPN, though, the NEC games tell us the names, numbers and positions of who is starting BEFORE the game, and that is much appreciated. I want to know who’s playing by the time the game starts, not three minutes in. For being a league of tiny schools, this conference sure gets how to play the TV game.

Saturday’s game featured St. Francis of Pennsylvania and Robert Morris. The Red Flash got off to a big early lead on the road, but the Colonials came back for a three-point win in a great game that actually kept me from watching equally good games like Princeton-Rutgers, Indiana-Butler, and even the first half of Missouri-Gonzaga. Neither team will be threatening for an NCAA at-large bid, but both have some legit scorers and underrated inside games with a good amount of beef. It’s not a surprise that St. Francis almost won at Penn State and RMU gave Pitt all it could handle. And like a number of other teams in the NEC, both should be in the mix to win the conference tournament.

-Wow. Players from Maryland-Eastern Shore, of all places, were talking trash before a game against Illinois, telling Illini players that they were going to beat them? At Illinois? All right, I’m not going to take the easy path and belittle UMES for showing a little gumption against a ranked opponent. It’s much better than these teams that go in and are scared out of their shorts, mentally defeated before the game tips. However, it might be suggested that the Hawks actually accomplish something in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference before even thinking about running their traps against a ranked team. This is a program that was 5-23 last year and, frankly, has been hard pressed to even finish in the top half of the MEAC at all in its years in Division I. One could easily make the case Eastern Shore has been one of the least successful programs at this level over the past 20 years. Guys might want to think about maybe coming close to winning your league before doing that again. As it was, the Illini won the game, 85-43, although maybe if Bill Self were coaching the score would’ve been 105-33 or something (see below).

-Two mentions of Illinois in this same column-don’t worry, it won’t happen again. Kidding. Some are saying Bruce Weber was being disrespectful when he made some comments about whipping Bill Self’s butt a couple times when Weber was coach at Southern Illinois. You know what? Fantastic! I believe in showing respect as much as anyone, and I don’t care for windbags who try to talk smack just to cover up some personal insecurities. But Weber was only saying it to defend himself, not to trash Self. Plus, how often in college basketball do we find coaches who aren’t afraid to show they have a character? Most of today’s coaches are so boring, so politically correct or so focused on creating a TV image that it gets sickening. (Especially the third part-one gets the feeling the only reason why they are so vanilla is so they don’t offend whoever can get them recruits.) One really misses the days when Norm Stewart and Billy Tubbs were in the Big 8, or when John Thompson cut his imposing figure in the Big East. And besides all this, it is really ridiculous that a portion of the Illini fan base can’t just let Weber get on with molding the team into his own. Maybe it is more suited to Self’s style, and maybe Weber needs to do a better job of adjusting to his talent, but anyone who thinks Self is an infinitely better coach than Weber needs to wake up and smell the college basketball coffee. He’s not-Weber has already proven his place in the game-and there is a period of adjustment that sometimes goes with having a new coach. Weber deserves credit for not being afraid to say something that someone had to get out there. He needs to be allowed to do his thing, and I’m pretty certain he wouldn’t have said a word about Bill Self if the subject didn’t come up so often from UIUC folks.

-If the atmosphere at Key Arena for the Missouri-Gonzaga game wasn’t reminiscent of an NCAA Tournament game, I don’t know what was. You were just waiting for Richie Frahm to come off the sidelines and bomb a three, as he did in 1999 at that very site in the tourney. The Zags have now played several games like this, as the Georgia and St. Joseph’s games also were similar, while the Washington and Maryland road tests were darn close. It’s awful hard for anyone to tell me that any other team in the country has been tested more than Gonzaga so far, and that includes a certain team in green.

-Not to beat on Michigan State, since their schedule has done enough of that, but just a reminder that, like Temple or any other team that plays ridiculous schedules, it better be remembered in March that you still have to win some of those tough games. The Spartans four losses were to teams now in the top 10, but they did lose three of those four at home-no, they weren’t all at the Breslin Center, but they were still home crowd advantages. Other than DePaul, they also haven’t beaten anyone of note yet, either. If at the end of the season MSU is, say, 17-12, and has mostly beaten only the teams it should with maybe one or two wins over excellent teams, the Spartans better not be receiving no 5 seed in the tourney because of their schedule strength. Once again, Michigan St. is applauded for playing a tough schedule and it should and will be rewarded by the selection committee, but the teams you play should only count so much; in the end, you still have to win some of those games. If you don’t, you’re really no different than a Coppin State or Florida A&M that plays a ton of tough non-conference games and loses but doesn’t get any kind of additional respect for it.

-Quietly, Arkansas State is putting together a pretty nice non-conference season in almost total anonymity. The Indians are 6-1 and already have wins over Mississippi and Southern Mississippi. The only loss is by one point to Toledo, another team that at 4-1 might fit in this category if the Rockets had more games under their belt and against better competition. Arkansas State also still has TCU and Penn State before conference play starts, so there are more chances to make at least some light ripples nationally. With Western Kentucky and new coach Darrin Horn going through some serious growing pains (0-7 now), the Sun Belt also looks to be wide open, and that should provide extra incentive for ASU and some other league schools to put together great runs in conference.

-Add Western Michigan to that list too. The Broncos picked up a nice win Monday night, beating a very good Alabama-Birmingham team, 69-62. That win will look better in March, when the Blazers are on the NCAA bubble. UAB is going to beat some good teams in Conference USA, but Western beat them and has also already whipped USC, and its only loss was an ugly one to a decent Detroit team. If the Broncos can keep playing well and avoid the meltdown in Mid-American Conference play they suffered last year, they would have a shot at an at-large bid to the NCAAs. Last year’s WMU team went on the road early in the season and whipped both Auburn and Michigan, but then went just 10-8 in the MAC to finish 19-10 in the regular season. They need to avoid being cannibalized in the conference, and more consistent offense wouldn’t hurt. The Broncos are always stout on defense, but the scoring is sometimes missing, as it was in that 64-43 loss to Detroit. Still, new coach Steve Hawkins is doing a nice job replacing for Robert McCullum, and it looks like the transition at Western is going smoothly.

-Non-hoops thought: Count me as another who thought Joe Horn’s cell-phone thing in the New Orleans-N.Y. Giants NFL game was just stupid. I don’t want to give it more publicity than it deserves, since ESPN has already worked hard to do that. However, I think it does bear mentioning because I’d just like someone to explain to me how what Horn did was “celebrating?” It wasn’t spontaneous and it wasn’t an expression of joy. It had nothing to do with being happy he scored, it was pure and simple showboating, just taking advantage of the occasion of a touchdown to get people to say “Look what Joe Horn did.” He succeeded somewhat, but I think most thought it was a stupid, attention-deficit act that just made him look bad. I’m not a supporter of the NFL being the No Fun League, and I’m not against players dancing or being happy after scoring a touchdown, as long as it’s not taunting or incredibly staged. (Shooting fireworks after a field goal like San Diego did after a three-pointer brought them within 17-6 against Green Bay Sunday…that’s a little much.) Still, this was unacceptable and showed zero class, little imagination, and had nothing to do with celebrating. If I were the Giants, I would have at least got in Horn’s face, if not actually hammering him for that stunt.

-Back to basketball, congrats to Denver, which rolled over 2003 NCAAs participant Colorado State to the tune of 84-67 Saturday night. One of the more surprising results of the season, especially considering how convincingly the Pioneers beat the Rams. Former Iowa State assistant Terry Carroll has done a great job with the Denver program, taking them to 17-15 last year and making the Pioneers a threat in the Sun Belt (a ridiculous conference fit for DU). Denver is 4-4 this year after losing a double OT heartbreaker to Loyola Marymount Tuesday night, but this program is on stable ground in Division I now and may not be far from an NCAA appearance. Also, I mentioned it last year and it still boggles my mind how a city so large can be so unsupportive of the only big-time college basketball team in town. A gathering of 2,595 saw the Colorado State game at 7,200-seat Magness Arena, but a lot of that had to do with it being a state rival. Three days later, with Denver coming off an emotional victory and welcoming a good LMU team to town, a whole 884 people saw the Loyola Marymount game. Ugh. DU isn’t exactly a national name university, but it is well-regarded academically and has a nice sports facility and some good teams-the women’s basketball team earned an at-large bid to the NCAAs a few years ago. It’s incredible more aren’t catching on to this program.

Audibles

On one hand, I’d like to take credit for noting the skill level of non-Division I teams. However, I was the same one poking fun of Pitt for playing NAIA Georgetown of Kentucky on Monday night. Sure enough, the Tigers played the Panthers to a near stand-still, once again reinforcing how strong these lower division schools can be and exposing me as a fool for comparing the Tigers to the St. Leos, Hawaii-Hilos and Shenandoahs John Thompson’s Georgetown teams used to whip. Note to self: next time, take your own advice instead of choosing the tired path of ripping an opponent without knowing anything about them.

Interestingly enough, Georgetown (Ky.)’s roster includes Marshall Williams, a former high school all-American from Milwaukee Vincent who originally went to North Carolina State before transferring home to Wisconsin-Green Bay. He never played for the Phoenix, but is now at this NAIA power that won the 1998 NAIA title and has a 325-49 record over the past 10 seasons.

Also, I’ve changed my mind about Wisconsin. After watching the Badgers beat UW-Milwaukee, I don’t think the Badgers are boring. In fact, I love the motion and movement in the Badger offense, and I think it’s a big reason UW is so successful. It’s almost eerie how often the Badgers get guards able to post up inside-it’s something you don’t see and haven’t seen often in college basketball in years. Wisconsin also doesn’t turn the ball over. Bo Ryan is a terrific coach, and it shows. If the Badgers are boring, it’s because there aren’t any stars on the team and because the players are so interchangeable in where they can score. That shouldn’t make them boring, though, just different. And that’s a good thing.

Finally, we don’t usually talk music or much other than sports in these spaces. My musical tastes would be regarded by many as cheesy (ex. White Stripes, Radiohead or The Clash-no; Bee Gees, Sawyer Brown or Bread-yes; Outkast-maybe). This column doesn’t need to be any more centered on what I think about life in general, anyways. However, got to go see country singer John Berry do a Christmas concert in my rather small hometown last week, and just had to mention it was a fantastic show. Berry possesses one of the most underrated voices in music, and the show was very classy and very intimate. Also, two members of his band, John Hall and John Catchings, put together a Christmas album called “Silent Night” of mostly instrumental music that was sold at the show. I’m probably the only person who visits this hoops site who enjoys Christmas tunes, but if somehow you’re one of those who celebrates the season and likes Christmas music, I’d highly recommend it. Mr. Catchings was a great guy to talk to for a few moments, very humble and friendly. Again, I’m exposing my cheesy tastes here, but the CD is great if you like holiday music and/or instrumentals with piano and cello.

Games you can’t or won’t watch but should

Schedule starts to get a little richer before Christmas. Last year, most of the biggest upsets of the season came late in December, and the potential is there for a few more this year. By now, we’re finally almost rid of classics like Oklahoma-Arkansas Pine Bluff and Kansas-Fort Hays State.

Also, if you’re observing and celebrating the season, have a Merry Christmas, enjoy it and travel safely wherever you go. Between all the events, family activities, festivities, food and the (mostly) fun bowl games on TV, this is a great time of year, certainly my personal favorite.

Wednesday

IUPUI at West Virginia. Despite replacing some starters from last year’s NCAA team, the Jaguars/Metros have been pretty impressive, barely losing at Dayton and hanging with Vanderbilt most of the way.

Belmont at Memphis. Just because it will be on ESPN Full Court and should be the first time I ever get to see the Bruins on TV.

Manhattan at Syracuse. Rematch of an NCAA 1^st Round game last year. The Jaspers haven’t played much yet, but this will be a good test of their manhood. (By the way, not to dig at another respectable college hoops site, but this game was referred to by said site in its daily rundown as Syracuse facing “lesser competition.” Huh?)

Southern Illinois at Murray State. Last year I said this game should’ve been on TV and the Salukis proceeded to pound the Racers. This year, I will say it again-this one should be televised nationally. I think it will be closer than last year’s.

Furman at Ohio State. Look for the Paladins to make this one closer than expected. Furman took Minnesota to OT on the road and won at a pretty good Northern Iowa team.

Mississippi at Evansville. Great scheduling job by the Aces to get an SEC team at Roberts Stadium.

UC Santa Barbara at UCLA. Seems the Bruins are about due for one of their traditional early season surprise slip-ups. Gauchos’ chances are better if Branduinn Fullove can play.

Thursday

Rice at Lamar. Quietly, Billy Tubbs has the Cardinals at 6-1. The schedule has been Pitt Panthers-like, but the Owls still better be ready for this one.

Friday

Virginia at Loyola Marymount. So far, the Lions are beating the teams they are equal to or better than but are 0-2 in real statement games against UNLV and UCLA.

Saturday

Gonzaga at Stanford, St. Joseph’s at California. The Pete Newell Challenge features a pair of fascinating games and, believe it or not, three Final Four contenders.

Murray State at Pittsburgh. One of the games of the day. Racers up-tempo game against the Panthers uglyball defense. Murray can’t get overwhelmed inside.

Kent State at Boston College. Golden Flashes beat BC last year, and Al Skinner vowed never to play Kent St. again in Ohio. Figures.

Richmond at Manhattan. Now, we start getting a look at how good this Jaspers team is.

Georgia State at Tennessee. GSU has already beaten Tulsa and pummeled South Alabama, while also giving Utah fits. But they lost to Belmont by 18? At home? Still, Panthers are good enough and tough enough to win this.

Temple at Miami (Fla.). John Chaney’s young Owls are growing up in a hurry. Watch for them in March.

Toledo at DePaul. We will know a lot more about the Rockets after they get done with the Blue Demons and Louisville over a 10-day span.

Northwestern at Illinois-Chicago. Quite simply, an eminently winnable game that UIC needs to take.

Tulsa at Wichita State. I just love this rivalry, and wish TU was still in the MVC. These two had so many great games in the 80s.

Bradley at Pepperdine. Last year’s game was a season-opening OT masterpiece. Both are entertaining teams with some great athletes.

Winthrop at Wyoming. Another tough but winnable game for the Eagles, who already drilled Georgia.

Sunday

Kansas at Nevada. The Wolf Pack has been staggering since playing Connecticut so tough, but homecourt games like this don’t come along often.

Monday

Georgetown (Ky.) at Murray State. After learning a little about the Tigers, this game doesn’t look like a picnic for the Racers, especially after Murray plays Pitt.

Radford at Clemson. The Tigers should win this, but crazy things tend to happen when teams get this close to Christmas.

College of Charleston at NC-Wilmington. Haven’t heard much from either yet this year. We will soon.

Georgia State at Auburn. Another tough game for the Panthers. If they win 1 of these 2 against SEC teams, eyes should start opening.

Creighton at Wyoming. Tough road game for the Jays, even if Wyoming is rebuilding.

Winthrop at Weber State. Both of these teams could certainly be in the NCAAs.

Tuesday

Dayton at Cincinnati. Another that could qualify for game of the week. With two battle-tested teams, this one could almost match the intensity of a UC-Xavier game. Almost.

George Washington at Fairfield. Good eastern matchup. GW looks good early and Fairfield has done well, especially considering the dark clouds around the program.

UNC Charlotte at Rhode Island. This one could mean a bunch on Selection Sunday.

Providence at Richmond. Friars get another tough road test similar to their one against Rhody.

Illinois-Chicago at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. These two put on some great shows last year, and their games this year will have a lot to do with the Horizon League race.

BYU at Utah State. The Aggies traditionally make life heck for their state rivals.

Adam Glatczak writes the "Wednesday Onions" column for CollegeHoopsnet.  Bookmark the "Wednesday Onions" homepage and come back each week!