Big 12

Daily Dribble: 2009 NCAA Tournament Projection

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 10:25:35 -0700

We're only one day beyond the 2008 National Championship Game.. but its never too early to start thinking about next year's Tournament. Here's an early projection of the 2009 NCAA Tournament field:

Multi-Bid Leagues (46)
Big East (9) - UCONN - (Georgetown, Louisville, Marquette, Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Villanova, West Virginia)
ACC (6) - Duke - (Clemson, Miami, UNC, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest)
Pac-10 (5) - UCLA - (Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford, USC)
Big 12 (5) - Kansas - (Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M)
SEC (5) - Florida (Kentucky, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Tennessee)
Big Ten (4) - Purdue - (Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin)
Mountain West (2) - BYU - (UNLV)
A-10 (2) - Xavier - (Dayton)
Missouri Valley (2) - Creighton - (Drake)
Conference USA (2) - Memphis - (UAB)
WCC (2) - Gonzaga - (Saint Mary's)
WAC (2) - Nevada - (New Mexico State)

One-Bid Leagues (19)
America East - Vermont
Atlantic Sun - Belmont
Big Sky - Portland State
Big South - Winthrop
Big West - Pacific
CAA - VCU
Horizon - Wright State
Ivy - Cornell
MAAC - Siena
MAC - Kent State
MEAC - Morgan State
Northeast - Robert Morris
Ohio Valley - Murray State
Patriot - American
Southern - Davidson
Southland - Stephen F Austin
SWAC - Alabama State
Summit - IUPUI
Sun Belt - MTSU

Next In Line: Washington State, Washington, San Diego State, San Diego

Note: I'll be doing an updated projection later on in the summer once decisions about the NBA Draft are made. Let me know in the comments section if you agree or disagree with the selections.

Also: Check out last year's projection which had some good, bad, and ugly picks.

Today's Game Predictions: Conference Finals

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 09:08:42 -0700

A companion to our daily Three Stars of the Day, we present the top three Games of the Night.

#5 Kansas (30-3) vs #8 Texas (28-5)

3:00 PM ESPN

Although Texas has a higher RPI, 4 more Top 50 wins, and a stronger SOS.. Kansas is still favored by 6 in the Big 12 Championship game. This is partly due to the game being held in Kansas City, and partly due to the false perception that Kansas is a great team. I actually think is should be a simple pick'em.. so I'm going to pick Kansas to win, but suggest that Texas is a much better bet.

Prediction: Kansas

Clemson (24-8) vs #1 UNC (31-2)

1:00 PM ESPN

Perhaps decades of underachievement are suddenly behind Clemson? They beat Duke in the semis and now face nemesis UNC who barely beat the Tigers twice in OT. Ty Lawson didn't play in the last game in Chapel Hill, and though Roy Williams can claim he's only 80%, it's still a major difference. The Tar Heels are 6 point favorites.. which seems like an appropriate amount.

Prediction: UNC

Georgia (16-16) vs Arkansas (22-10)

3:30 PM ESPN2

It's hard to say whose a bigger surprise.. Georgia in the SEC or Illinois in the Big Ten? Either way, it would be an amazing wrinkle on Selection Sunday if one of these pedestrian squads snuck into the NCAA Tournament. Arkansas is a heavy favorite, which isn't surprising consider Georgia has a sub 100 RPI and played 80 minutes of high quality basketball yesterday. Still, it was the Bulldogs who won 82-69 the last time these teams met. Georiga's already knocked off three Top 60 teams on their way to the title game.. but I'm not sure they have any magic left.

Prediction: Arkansas

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions, 98-58)

March 14th - St. Joseph's vs Temple (1-2)

March 13th - Ohio State vs Michigan State (2-1)

March 12th - Arizona State at USC (2-1)

March 12th - Syracuse vs Villanova (2-1)

March 11th - IUPUI at Oral Roberts (3-0)

March 10th - Gonzaga at San Diego (1-2)

March 9th - Florida at Kentucky (1-2)

March 8th - UNC at Duke (2-1)

March 5th - Tennessee at Florida (2-1)

March 4th - UNLV at New Mexico (3-0)

March 3rd - Texas Tech at Kansas (3-0)

March 2nd - Clemson at Maryland (1-2)

Poll: What Will be the Most Exciting BCS Conference Tournament?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 08:33:48 -0800

Big 12: All-January

Jeff Fox — Sun, 10 Feb 2008 12:51:02 -0800

Kansas State’s Michael Beasley headlines the Big 12’s All-January Team. You’re not surprised by that, are you?!

Guard – Martin Zeno – Texas Tech – SR
16.0ppg, 4.5rpg, 2.9apg
Best game – Jan 23rd- Missouri – 33 points, five rebounds, five assists, four steals, three blocks, 19-24 free throws

Zeno had a killer January, pouring in at least 25 points in three games and averaged a very solid 20 points, four boards and three assists for the month. Now hopefully he doesn’t decide to resign on his team midway through the season!

Guard – D.J. Augustin – Texas – SO
19.8ppg, 6.0apg, 3.0spg
Best game – Jan 5th – St. Mary’s – 30 points, four assists, two boards

Augustin continues to make Longhorn fans ask “Durant who?” as he has kept up his stellar play. January brought four games of 20-plus points for him and almost twice as many assists as turnovers.

Guard/Forward – Damion James – Texas – SO
12.9ppg, 10.4rpg, 1.1bpg
Best game – Jan 2nd – TCU – 29 points, 14 boards, five blocks, two steals

Another Longhorn sophomore helping Texas faithful forget about Kevin Durant is the double-double machine Damion James. While January was a bit of an inconsistent month for him, he still averaged 14 points, 10 boards and two blocks per contest.

Forward – Michael Beasley - Kansas State – FR
25.3ppg, 12.3rpg, 1.7bpg
Best game – Jan 26th – Iowa State – 33 points, 15 boards

The thought that the freshman phenom Beasley might slow down once conference play gets under way has quickly been swept under the rug. January averages of 28 points and 10 boards will do that.

Forward – Bill Walker – Kansas State – FR
15.9ppg, 6.7rpg, 1.1spg
Best game – Jan 30th – Kansas – 22 points, five rebounds

The Wildcats aren’t just a one-trick pony, as Bill Walker is continuing to do what he does best – play solid ball in a shadow of a superstar. January was no different, as he averaged 17 points and six boards and helped Kansas State slay the Jayhawks.

Next up – Big East

Freshman 10 Conference Play Primer: ACC & Big 12

Jason Tomassini — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 07:25:48 -0800

With the New Year brings clarity. Not only has the excruciating bowl season come to an end, allowing us to focus solely on college hoops, with the occasional ~~Patriots hatefest~~ NFL football game mixed in here or there, but with the start of ’08 comes conference play for the BCS leagues. This means no more North Floridas or Sacramento States or Prairie View A & Ms on the schedule. No, this means we will be treated to a bevy of decent matchups on a nightly basis, providing a meaningful way to discern between squads, rather than wild guessing, or even worse, the AP poll.

It’s also a chance to see freshmen get some real tests. Last year we saw the statistics of most non-Durantian freshmen decline and with the gaudy numbers put up this season, merely treading water will be an impressive feat for most folks. So rather than just continue to rank the top 10 freshmen as the “second season” begins, I welcome conference play with a big ol’ primer – complete with a nifty little boxing gimmick – examining the impact freshmen and handicapping the rookie of the year awards in each BCS league and on the non-BCS landscape. The regular ranking comes at the bottom, minus snarky elaboration, with the usual games to watch following.

My New Year’s Resolution is to not develop an unhealthy proclivity toward one freshman which could severely cloud my judgment, taste and smell like I did last year so send anti-Eric Gordon e-mails before it’s too late.

Atlantic Coast Conference

The Champ – Kyle Singler, Duke

It’s a relatively light year for ACC freshmen but that’s not to say Singler owns this spot by default. If anything, his talent is underappreciated on a deep, balanced Duke team. He may not be Duke’s best player, as I had proclaimed in the preseason, before Gerald Henderson realized he was Gerald Henderson, but he might be Duke’s most important player. He’s got next-level talent but it’s his versatility and the intangibles that come along with it that will matter. He must defend a number of different positions and offensively, has to be part-scorer, part-spot up shooter, part post player and part playmaker. He’s almost in the Shane Battier mold, a glue guy who also happens to be your most talented player.

The Contender – JJ Hickson, NC State

A lot of people liked NC State before this season, including myself, and they have been very underwhelming thus far. The main reason for the preseason slobbering was the amazing frontcourt, of which incoming stud JJ Hickson was an afterthought. Well now that Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner have soiled their respective beds and the point guard position has been left in shambles (I heard they are in talks with Vinny Testaverde), Hickson has emerged as the Pack’s best player. He’s had some seriously monstrous games and will have better stats than Singler, but he may get labeled with the dreaded “subtraction by addition” label, if notoriously late-blooming NC State continues to struggle. Besides Hansbrough, he’s the best interior player in the league but it’ll be his ability to mix in with his frontcourt teammates that will determine his impact.

The Undercard – Rakim Sanders, Corey Roji, Boston College; James Johnson, Wake Forest; Jeff Allen, Virginia Tech

All these guys play on middling ACC teams with unproven non-conference performances but a chance to make the tourney if they take advantage of league play. Which means their team’s postseason fate probably hinges on them. If they continue to shine, a bubble is in their team’s future, if they hit the freshman wall, maybe that new weird sub-NIT tournament will come calling. I like Johnson the best, a versatile big man who should be stay a bit closer to the basket (10-49 3PTs), but a guy that might have the athleticism to neutralize the likes of Hansbrough, Clemson’s James Mays and Miami’s interior tandem to get the Deacons a signature win or two. BC needs one of their two freshman starters to emerge as a viable second scorer and Allen and the Hokies should contact NASA to retrieve the ball from the perimeter black hole that is Vassalo/Washington and establish the kid as the post threat he can be.

Big 12

The Champ – Michael Beasley, Kansas State

He’s going to win conference freshman of the year, that’s a given. But he’s probably not going to outlast DJ Augustin for POY, no matter what his absurd numbers look like. I want to see Beasley win some games for this team before I give him the credit that Eric Gordon, Kevin Love and Derrick Rose deserve and, in big games, he has shown some serious chinks in the armor. Sure he had 40 and 15 in 23 minutes against the Winston Salem Fightin’ Emphysemas but five points on six shots against Xavier in 32 minutes? Eight for 20 from the field against Notre Dame? Beasley is no doubt a top three pick in the draft this year, probably No. 1, but when an immensely talented player can’t lead a team to a .500 conference record, some NBA scouts (although probably just those of the Spurs and Pistons) will be concerned.

The ~~Contender~~ Sparring Partner – DeAndre Jordan, Texas A & M

He’s probably the most talented freshman big man in the country but his poor conditioning and the inevitable freshman wall probably led to Mark Turgeon conserving Jordan’s minutes a bit in the non-conference. What he’s done in half a game – 10 points, seven rebounds and over a block – bodes well for his Big 12 production because the Aggies can’t afford to rest him (plus if you extrapolate that 34 percent foul shooting to a full 40 minutes, he’s almost a 70 percent shooter!). And if he had enough minutes to qualify, his 78 effective FG% over at KenPom would be tops in the nation. When he’s ready to go the distance and when future Polish League Player of the Year Joseph Jones is ready to stop clogging the lane, Jordan should help the Aggies at least put a scare in Kansas and Texas.

Rock Em Sock Em Robots – Blake Griffin, Oklahoma; James Anderson, Oklahoma State; LaceDarius Dunn, Baylor; Gary Johnson, Texas

These are really good players but none of them have a shot in hell at garnering the attention of Beasley, thus their lowly, Made in China-like status. After some underwhelming and inconsistent games early on for Griffin against Memphis and USC – his two lowest scoring games of the season – he got 15 and 14 in a win against Gonzaga and then put in probably one of the top five individual freshman performances of the year against West Virginia with 18 and 16 in 42 minutes, making some incredible plays and dominating inside before fouling out in double OT. If Oklahoma can get to the NCAAs, he should finish behind Beasley for freshman of the year. Anderson is an exciting player and a polished all-around wing scorer but is languishing on a bad team. Definitely a must-see guy if you don’t mind watching a blowout. Dunn isn’t quite getting the minutes yet, but when he plays, he’s been a go-to scorer. He could be the X-factor for any return to relevance for the Bears. And Johnson is obviously a wild card. He’s only played two games this season after a heart condition but certainly the All American talent is there and a big role for the Longhorns is there for the taking. He seemed to fit in seamlessly with his teammates against St. Mary’s with 15 points on 7-10 shooting, five rebounds and zero turnovers. We know how good this team was without him and he could propel them into a legit title contender.

The next bout: Big East and Big Ten

Daily Dribble: Power Conference Power Rating

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 09:29:03 -0800

Some talk that Oregon State is the worst BCS team ever.. we'll see below in my monthly 73-team BCS Power Ranking. This follows u

1. UNC 14-0 (ACC)(1)

2. Kansas 12-0 (Big 12)(2)

3. UCLA 12-1 (Pac-10)(5)

4. Washington State 12-0 (Pac-10)(7)

5. Michigan State 12-1 (Big Ten)(8)

6. Duke 10-1 (ACC)(4)

7. Georgetown 10-1 (Big East)(6)

8. Pittsburgh 11-1 (Big East)(14)

9. Marquette 10-1 (Big East)(10)

10. Tennessee 11-1 (SEC)(12)

11. Texas 11-2 (Big 12)(3)

12. Indiana 8-1 (Big Ten)(9)

13. Texas A&M 12-1 (Big 12)(11)

14. Vanderbilt 14-0 (SEC)(17)

15. Mississippi 13-0 (SEC)(39)

16. Clemson 11-1 (ACC)(15)

17. Miami 12-1 (ACC)(27)

18. Arizona 9-3 (Pac-10)(20)

19. Baylor 10-1 (Big 12)(26)

20. Wisconsin 11-2 (Big Ten)(31)

21. Notre Dame 11-2 (Big East)(18)

22. Oklahoma 10-3 (Big 12)(43)

23. Stanford 11-2 (Pac-10)(25)

24. Syracuse 11-3 (Big East)(30)

25. Connecticut 10-2 (Big East)(23)

26. West Virginia 9-3 (Big East)(29)

27. Villanova 10-2 (Big East)(16)

28. USC 9-4 (Pac-10)(24)

29. California 11-2 (Pac-10)(32)

30. Ohio State 10-3 (Big Ten)(34)

31. Arkansas 10-3 (SEC)(21)

32. Virginia 10-3 (ACC)(19)

33. Providence 9-4 (Big East)(42)

34. Boston College 10-2 (ACC)(35)

35. Purdue 9-4 (Big Ten)(38)

36. Louisville 9-4 (Big East)(22)

37. Arizona State 11-2 (Pac-10)(60)

38. Oregon 9-4 (Pac-10)(13)

39. Kansas State 8-4 (Big 12)(28)

40. Florida State 11-4 (ACC)(40)

41. NC State 9-3 (ACC)(44)

42. Florida 13-2 (SEC)(37)

43. Nebraska 11-2 (Big 12)(51)

44. South Carolina 8-5 (SEC)(45)

45. Seton Hall 9-4 (Big East)(50)

46. Illinois 8-6 (Big Ten)(36)

47. Missouri 9-5 (Big 12)(33)

48. Alabama 11-4 (SEC)(52)

49. Washington 9-4 (Pac-10)(49)

50. Oklahoma State 8-5 (Big 12)(41)

51. South Florida 10-4 (Big East)(63)

52. Virginia Tech 8-6 (ACC)(57)

53. Wake Forest 10-3 (ACC)(66)

54. Penn State 9-4 (Big Ten)(59)

55. Mississippi State 8-5 (SEC)(53)

56. Texas Tech 7-5 (Big 12)(46)

57. Minnesota 10-2 (Big Ten)(56)

58. Auburn 9-2 (SEC)(61)

59. Georgia Tech 6-6 (ACC)(54)

60. Georgia 7-3 (SEC)(55)

61. LSU 6-6 (SEC)(58)

62. DePaul 5-7 (Big East)(67)

63. Maryland 8-6 (ACC)(48)

64. Iowa State 9-5 (Big 12)(70)

65. Kentucky 6-6 (SEC)(45)

66. Cincinnati 6-7 (Big East)(71)

67. St. John's 6-6 (Big East)(65)

68. Iowa 7-7 (Big Ten)(68)

69. Colorado 7-5 (Big 12)(62)

70. Michigan 4-9 (Big Ten)(64)

71. Rutgers 8-6 (Big East)(69)

72. Northwestern 4-5 (Big Ten)(73)

73. Oregon State 6-6 (Pac-10)(72)

* Previous ranking in parentheses. Biggest movers:

Oregon = -25, Mississippi = +24, Arizona State = +23, Oklahoma = + 21, Kentucky = -20

* Records only include games against D1 opponents

Also check out this month's High-Major & Mid-Major rankings

Poll: Best Coach in the Big 12?

Shawn Siegel — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 09:25:19 -0800

Aleks Maric is Big 12 Player of the Week

Press Release — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 15:37:01 -0800

IRVING, Texas - A pair of Nebraska athletes - senior Aleks Maric and junior Ade Dagunduro - have been chosen as the Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s Basketball Player and Rookie of the Week for Dec. 10-16, in voting by a panel of media covering the conference. It is the third career weekly honor for Maric and marks the first time in Big 12 history that NU has earned both accolades in the same week.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK

Aleks Maric, Nebraska, C, Sr., 6-11, 275, Sydney, Australia/Australian Institute for Sport

Maric helped Nebraska to a 2-0 record last week with wins over Savannah State (82-37) and No. 16 Oregon (88-79 ot). The senior center averaged a team-high 16.5 points to go along with 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 blocks per game. His top effort came against the Ducks, as he posted his third 20-point game of the season with a team-best 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting. He had 17 points after halftime to lead NU to its first win in school history against a ranked non-conference opponent outside of Lincoln. Maric’s defense helped hold UO’s starting post players to seven points after they entered the contest averaging 24 points combined. He shot 63.2 percent (12-of-19) on the week, plus 75.0 percent (9-of-12) from the free throw line.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK

Ade Dagunduro, Nebraska, G, Jr., 6-5, 290, Inglewood, Calif./Antelope Valley CC

Dagunduro registered 12.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.5 steals per game in the two victories. The junior had 15 points and seven rebounds versus Oregon, helping NU hold the Ducks to 12 points below their season scoring average. He added nine points, four rebounds and four steals earlier in the week, as his defense led the Huskers in holding Savannah State to one field goal in the first 13 minutes of the game. Dagunduro has scored in double digits in five of his last six outings and is second on the team in scoring this season with 11.8 points per contest.

Poll: What Conference Is Off to the Best Start?

Shawn Siegel — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 00:43:21 -0800

Big 12: All-November

Jeff Fox — Tue, 04 Dec 2007 19:36:31 -0800

All of the Big 12 (minus Texas) breathed a sigh of relief at the end of last season when freshman terror Kevin Durant bolted to the NBA. Little did they know that a new phenom up in Manhattan was going to be terrorizing the league this season à la Durant. You’ll find that phenom – plus four other players quick out of the gates – on the Big 12 All-November team.

Guard – D.J. Augustin – Texas – SO

17.7ppg, 6.6apg, 2.1spg

Best game – Nov 23^rd – New Mexico St – 25 points, 10 assists, 4 steals

No Durant, no problem. The Longhorns are Augustin’s team now and he hasn’t disappointed, leading them to victories over #7 Tennessee and #1 UCLA. He’s also been unconscious from downtown, hitting 18 of 36 for three. Now, about those turnovers (4.3 per game)?

Guard – Mario Chalmers – Kansas – JR

13.3ppg, 4.6apg, 2.3spg

Best game – Nov 11^th – UMKC – 23 points, 6 assists, 4 steals

The defensive stud has led the deep Jayhawks to a perfect start, including dropping 20 points on ranked USC. Add his 48% from long range to his tenacious D and you’ve got yourself a handful.

Guard/Forward – James Anderson – Oklahoma St – FR

19.7ppg, 1.5spg, 16/36 3pts

Best game – Nov 9^th – Prairie View A&M – 29 points, 5 assists, 4 boards

Anderson is letting it be known that there is more than one standout freshman residing in the Big 12 this season. He currently leads the Cowboys in scoring, three’s made and is tied for the lead in blocks. Not bad for a frosh.

Forward – Michael Beasley – Kansas State – FR

26.7ppg, 15.0rpg, 1.6bpg

Best game – Nov 9^th – Sacramento St – 32 points, 24 boards, 4 blocks

The aforementioned phenom is none other than Mr. Beasley. While Kansas State hasn’t knocked off any teams of significance yet, Beasley has been a nightmare to opponents. Just look at his averages – ridiculous.

Center – Aleks Maric – Nebraska – SR

16.2ppg, 9.0rpg, 2.3bpg

Best game – Nov 17^th – Alabama A&M – 21 points, 16 boards, 4 blocks, 4 steals

It’s hard for a guy measuring in at 6’11” 270lbs to fly under the radar, but Maric does. One of the top players in the Big 12, he’s really picked up his D numbers so far, tripling his steals average from last season and doubling his blocks per game. Can he keep it up?

- Big East coming tomorrow -