South Alabama

Let the Madness Begin: Some Love for the Committee & Other Thoughts

Jason Brubaker — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 12:18:46 -0700

Let the Madness begin! With the dance cards officially punched, the best three weeks in sports are set to begin. Among the participants:

- Georgia, who battled fatigue and tornados, not to mention four SEC opponents, to claim the Sec Tournament crown. The 17-16 Bulldogs completed their surprising run, which included two buzzer-beaters, by knocking off Arkansas on Sunday, in front of a small crowd on Georgia Tech’s campus. With fans, media and tournament officials all scrambling after the severe weather in Atlanta on Friday night, somehow the Bulldogs kept their poise and earned a date with Xavier in the first round of the NCAA Tourney.

- USC and Kansas State, in a 6-11 match-up figures to be one of the better ones, as two young teams follow their freshman leaders. OJ Mayo and Michael Beasley both figure to be wearing NBA uniforms at this time next year, so advancing to the tournament gives college basketball fans at least one more weekend to enjoy these phenomenal talents.

- South Alabama, who earned at-large bid from the Sun Belt. The Jaguars, who own wins over Mississippi State and San Diego, and two over conference foe Western Kentucky, earned a 10 seed, marking the first time in 14 years the Sun Belt has sent two teams to the Dance.

- Arizona, who despite a mediocre 19-14 record, sneaks into the tourney as a 10 seed in the West. The Wildcats, who battle injuries to guard Nic Wise and Jerryd Bayless as well as the Lute Olson distraction all year, apparently did enough to sway the committee. With the team back at full strength, and with Olson set to return next year, the Wildcats have a great chance to pull off the upset against West Virginia in the first round.

- Hats off to the selection committee – easily one of the toughest jobs in sports. To anyone who thinks they could be a part of it, sit down and draw up your own brackets, complete with the 31 conference winners and 34 at-large teams. Keep in mind the travel conditions, conference affiliations, team schedules (possible rematches, etc) and injury situations. Also, be sure to at least glance at the RPI, the polls, conference standings, tie-breakers, non-conference schedule and injuries for each of the teams. Now, after you spend all that time, add in a surprise conference winner (i.e. Georgia) at the last moment. Finally, be prepared to be ripped and criticized by anyone and everyone with an opinion. Not quite so easy is it? This isn’t to say they don’t make mistakes, but all in all, they get it right more often than not.

- As a final note to all the coaches and fans pushing for an expanded tournament, such as 128 games…give me a break. If your team hasn’t done enough after 30-35 games to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that they’re among the best 34 teams in the country, they probably don’t deserve to be there. We can argue RPI and non-conference schedules all day long, but the bottom line is that teams have all season to prove themselves. Expanding the field to 128 would mean nearly every one of the 73 BCS-conference teams would make the tournament, as well as fifth and sixth-place teams in smaller leagues…providing for such ground-breaking first round match-ups as Oregon State-Duquesne. The bottom line is that each year, 4-6 teams will feel that they deserved a berth, and they may be right, But to advocate adding another 63 teams to accommodate these bubble teams is just plain ridiculous. The tournament as it is now places enough importance on the regular season to make it relevant, but also allows for enough leniency to mean a loss here or there won’t kill you. I’ll argue all day that the system works the way it is, and doesn’t need to change. Let the Madness begin!

2008 NCAA Tournament Capsule: South Alabama

Joel Welser — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 21:54:04 -0700

South Alabama Jaguars

Sun Belt Conference (26-6, 16-2)

Seed: #10

East Region

RPI: 37

Big Wins: 12/15 Mississippi State (71-67), 1/5 Western Kentucky (65-61), 2/21 at Western Kentucky (69-64)

Bad Losses: 11/22 vs Miami Ohio (59-64), 1/31 at North Texas (68-70), 2/14 at Middle Tennessee State (70-76)

Last NCAA Appearance: 2006, First Round loss to Florida

Coach: Ronnie Arrow (1-2 in 2 NCAA appearances)

Probable Starters:

Daon Merritt, Senior, Guard, 11.5 ppg, 5.6 apg

Domonic Tilford, Junior, Guard, 12.7 ppg, 2.1 apg

Demetric Bennett, Senior, Guard, 20.1 ppg, 2.6 apg, 5.9 rpg

Brandon Davis, Junior, Forward, 10.9 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 1.3 bpg

DeAndre Coleman, Junior, Forward, 7.8 ppg, 7.8 rpg

Key Roleplayers:

B.J. Ford, Junior, Forward, 2.1 ppg

Daniel Hayles, Junior, Forward, 3.4ppg, 2.2 rpg

Ronald Douglas, Junior, Center, 6.6 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.1 bpg

Why They Can Surprise:

In college basketball, three-point shooting is the great equalizer when you are outmatched physically and South Alabama has a few dangerous long range shooters. And none are more dangerous than senior Demetric Bennett. Bennett hits over 41 percent of his shots from downtown and will hit nearly three a game. It is a bad game for Bennett when he fails to reach the 20 point mark and he can explode on any night, just like when he scored 39 points against Mississippi State in December.

Domonic Tilford is nearly as prolific as Bennett from beyond the arc. The former Cincinnati Bearcat will not look to shoot as much as Bennett, but he still averages 12.7 points per game. Daon Merritt adds another scoring threat from the perimeter. The 5-8 point guard will use his speed to be a surprisingly effective scorer getting to the basket.

Why They Can Disappoint:

South Alabama will not be the biggest team playing in the postseason. Tilford and Merritt are both under 6-0 and their shot blocker, Brandon Davis, is only 6-6. Davis is an effective scorer around the basket, and a superb rebounder, but scoring and rebounding will become much more difficult when he is matched up against an athletic big man. DeAndre Coleman, at 6-7, mans the five spot. Another former Bearcat, Coleman is a monster on the glass and a decent scorer who can step out and hit the mid-range jumper. At 233 pounds, Coleman has enough girth to battle with taller centers, but South Alabama’s impressive rebounding skills might be neutralized against teams outside of the Sun Belt.

Who To Watch:

Coach Ronnie Arrow does not have an extremely deep bench to work with, but the group does not lack in experience. B.J. Ford played at Eastern Michigan before heading to Mobile. The 6-0 junior is listed as a forward and has started over half the games this season. He will not fill up the stat sheet, but he plays solid defense and has plenty of versatility. Daniel Hayles has had a couple decent games this year, but again, he will not have a lot of big games. Center Ronald Douglas might be the most important player coming off the bench. He must keep up the scoring and rebounding production when Davis or Coleman run into foul trouble or need a rest.

By the Numbers:

Scoring Offense: 75.5 (59^th in nation, 4^th in conference)

Scoring Defense: 64.9 (85, 3)

Field-Goal Percentage: 47.5 (29, 1)

Field-Goal Defense: 41.7 (78, 2)

Three-Point Field Goals Per Game: 6.7 (161, 6)

Three-Point Field-Goal Percentage: 36.5 (110, 5)

Free-Throw Percentage: 71.2 (105, 7)

Rebound Margin: 6.4 (14, 1)

Assists Per Game: 15.7 (43, 1)

Turnovers Per Game: 13.9 (130, 4)

Joel’s Bracket Says: First Round loss to Butler

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Team of the Day: South Alabama

Raphielle Johnson — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 23:40:14 -0800

South Alabama 22-5 (14-2 Sun Belt) Computer numbers: 37 RPI, 131 SOS While Thursday is a night when many train their eyes to the Pac-10, Ronnie Arrow's Jaguars picked up a huge road win that could go a long way in determining their fate come March. In the 69-64 win at Western Kentucky, USA completed a season sweep of the Hilltoppers and put themselves in the driver's seat in the Sun Belt's East Division. Despite eighteen turnovers, the Jaguars held WKU to 33.8% shooting from the field and took ten more foul shots (23-31 to WKU's 13-21) in the victory. Can the Sun Belt get two bids? It's definitely a possibility, and tonight's win should help USA if they need a boost in the room come selection time. On the clock: Davidson. The Wildcats, winners of sixteen straight (they haven't lost in 2008), head to Winthrop for the TV opening of O'Reilly BracketBusters weekend in a game that will really help the winner's tournament resume.

Games of the Night: South Alabama at Western Kentucky

Shawn Siegel — Thu, 21 Feb 2008 09:48:06 -0800

Games of the Night

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

South Alabama (21-5) at Western Kentucky (21-5)

8:00 PM ESPN

The top two teams in the Sun Belt meet up with first place on the line. WKU has a 13-1 league record, while USA is 13-2. Both of these teams are in the running for an at-large bid, but the Jaguars have the edge in RPI and overall resume. Ideally, if you're a Sun Belt fan and want two teams to make it.. you'd need USA to win this game, and win out until the conference tournament.. where they lose to WKU in the finals. This would probably give them enough strength to make it as an at-large team.

Prediction: Western Kentucky

UMASS (16-9) at Rhode Island (20-6)

7:00 PM ESPN

A rare quality non-BCS matchup that is televised, this A10 clash features two teams vying for NCAA Tournament position. A week ago, URI looked like they would cruise into the Big Dance, but back to back losses dropped them 6-5 in league play with an RPI of 31. Two weeks ago these teams met back in UMASS and the Rams almost pulled out a victory, despite Will Daniels not being 100%. URI has a very favorable schedule the rest of the way, and a win tonight will be the start of a big finish.

Prediction: Rhode Island

Oregon (15-10) at USC (15-9)

11:00 PM FSN

Today's third game also doesn't include a ranked team.. but simply two teams focused on the NCAA Tournament. Oregon is firmly on the edge of the bubble.. the last team in the field as of now according to some. But the dreaded trip to LA to face USC and UCLA will not help the cause. A loss in both of these upcoming games would drop them to 6-9 in Pac-10 play, which won't get it done. Thus tonight's game is pretty huge for the Ducks.. and I expect them to give a very good effort. Still, USC is the pick.. but I like Oregon against a 5.5 point spread.

Prediction: USC

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions, 67-38)

February 20th - UNC at NC State (3-0)

February 19th - Purdue at Indiana (2-1)

February 18th - Texas A&M at Texas (2-1)

February 16th - Stanford at Arizona (1-2)

February 14th - Wisconsin at Indiana (2-1)

February 12th - Michigan State at Purdue (2-1)

February 11th - Kansas at Texas (2-1)

February 10th - Indiana at Ohio State (2-1)

February 9th - Georgetown at Louisville (2-1)

February 7th - UCLA at Washington State (2-1)

February 6th - Duke at North Carolina (1-2)

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

February 4th - Gonzaga at SMC (1-2)

January 30th - Indiana at Wisconsin (1-2)

January 29th - VCU at George Mason (2-1)

January 28th - Louisville at UCONN (1-2)

January 27th - Duke at Maryland (2-1)

January 26th - Georgetown at West Virginia (3-0)

January 24rd - Dayton at Xavier (2-1)

January 22nd - Akron at Kent State (2-1)

January 21st - Drake at Creighton (1-2)

January 20th - Texas at Oklahoma State (3-0)

January 19th - Marquette at UCONN (2-1)

January 18th - Illinois State at Drake (2-1)

January 17th - Vanderbilt at Tennessee (2-1)

January 14th - Georgetown at Pittsburgh (2-1)

January 12th - Stanford at Oregon (3-0)

January 9th - Rhode Island at Dayton (2-1)

January 8th - Florida at Alabama (2-1)

January 7th - Robert Morris at Boston College (1-2)

January 6th - North Carolina at Clemson (2-1)

January 5th - Western Kentucky at South Alabama (3-0)

January 4th - American at Brown (0-3)

January 3rd - UCLA at Stanford (3-0)

January 2nd - Houston at UMASS (2-1)

Daily Bracketology: Wednesday's Update

Shawn Siegel — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 23:56:57 -0800

Another day, another Field of 65. As you should know by now, I'm projecting the NCAA Tournament field on a daily basis for the rest of the year (except no Saturday's since there's little action Friday). This is a field based on how the tourney looks "as of this moment." For one-bid leagues, I simply include the conference leader at the time of publishing. In case of ties, I use my projected winner.

Arrows indicate a team that moved up or down based on last night's performance. (Just because a team won or lost doesn't necessarily mean they'll move substantially.)

Note on Wednesday's Movement: Indiana's big win over Purdue bumps the Hoosiers back up to a 4 seed for the first time in awhile. Purdue drops down to a 4, allowing conference rival Wisconsin to move back up to a 3 (not a bad jump for doing nothing). Indiana's move to a 4 was made easy due to Drake's loss to Bradley. Drake is now in the middle of the 5's. Despite a loss to a weak FSU squad, Clemson barely falls, simply switching spots with Arizona. Oklahoma however, moves up to an 8 for the first time after another close win.. while their opponent Baylor falls back firmly in the 10 pod. OU's gain also knocked USC back to a 9. Also in today's update, South Alabama moves up a bit just due to the updated RPI.

ONE

TWO

THREE

Xavier*

UCONN

Butler*

Wisconsin

FOUR

Stanford

Purdue*

Louisville

Indiana

FIVE

Kansas State

Drake*

Michigan State

Notre Dame

SIX

Washington State

Saint Mary's

Marquette

Pittsburgh

SEVEN

Vanderbilt

Arizona

Clemson

Gonzaga*

EIGHT

Texas A&M

BYU*

Arkansas

Oklahoma

NINE

USC

Rhode Island

Mississippi State

West Virginia

TEN

UNLV

Baylor

South Alabama

Ohio State

ELEVEN

Maryland

Oregon

Arizona State

Syracuse

TWELVE

Kent State*

Saint Joseph's

Florida

Western Kentucky*

THIRTEEN

Davidson*

VCU*

Oral Roberts*

Boise State*

FOURTEEN

CS Northridge*

UNC-Asheville*

Rider*

Cornell*

FIFTEEN

UMBC*

Belmont*

American*

Lamar*

SIXTEEN + ONE

Robert Morris*

Austin Peay*

Portland State*

Morgan State* /Alabama State*

* = Conference champion

League Winners (31)

America East - UMBC

A-10 - Xavier

ACC - Duke

Atlantic Sun - Belmont

Big 12 - Kansas

Big East - Georgetown

Big Sky - Portland State

Big South - UNC-Asheville

Big Ten - Purdue

Big West - CS Northridge

CAA - VCU

Conference USA - Memphis

Horizon - Butler

Ivy - Cornell

MAAC - Rider

MAC - Kent State

MEAC - Morgan State

MVC - Drake

MWC - BYU

Northeast - Robert Morris

Ohio Valley - Austin Peay

Pac-10 - UCLA

Patriot - American

SEC - Tennessee

Southern - Davidson

Southland - Lamar

SWAC - Alabama State

Summit - Oral Roberts

Sun Belt - Western Kentucky*

WAC - Boise State

WCC - Gonzaga

Last In: Arizona State, Syracuse, Saint Joseph's, Florida

Last Out: Dayton, UMASS, Houston, Wake Forest

- Check out yesterday's Daily Bracketology to compare the subtle changes.

Monday Report Card: Fisher Goes Off For 45

Shawn Siegel — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 09:16:03 -0800

The Report Card

A - Charron Fisher / Calvin Murphy

Scoring points has never been a problem for Fisher, but he took it to another level by scoring 45 last night. He was neck and neck with VMI's Reggie Williams for the national scoring lead, but moved to 27.6 ppg (0.9 ahead) after last night's outburst. It was the highest total by a Purple Eagle in over a decade and just one off the MAAC record set back in 1986. But what's truly amazing is that it wasn't even one of the Top 10 scoring totals in Niagara history. This due to the unstoppable sums put up by the legendary Calvin Murphy, recently named one of college basketball's Top 25 all-time best players by ESPN. Murphy scored 47 or better 11 times, including a high of 68. That's getting it done.

B - South Alabama

Another ho hum win for the Jags last night, who improved to 20-4, 12-1 on the season. With a solid RPI of 34, its time people give USA more respect as a potential at-large bid. Locked in a tight race with Western Kentucky, the Jaguars will have some serious competition for the Sun Belt title. Their lone big non-conference win was at home over Mississippi State, who looks like they'll make the Tournament at this point. Their lone losses in OOC play were at Ole Miss, at Vandy, and against Miami (OH). All three of those teams were great teams at the time (lets not forget Miami had just beaten Xavier and took USC down to the wire the next time out), while Ole Miss and Vandy didn't lose a game in 2007. The losses to the SEC teams were on the road and extremely close, so USA certainly good have won those games at home or on a neutral court. If

C - Clemson

It's amazing that Clemson still has never beaten UNC on the road. 0-53 now, the longest losing streak at one opponent in NCAA history. You'd figure, just by pure chance over the past 50 years that the Tigers would catch the Heels on a night that their shots weren't falling and that their point guard was out.. Oh wait, last night was that night and they still lost. It's amazing how last night's loss was reminiscent of their results in recent seasons: A great start, getting out to what seems like an insurmountable lead (ie, a tournament lock), before collapsing in an inevitable and comical fashion.

D - Chase Budinger

What happened to Budinger's game? He's been nonexistent in Arizona's last two losses.. combining for 13 points on 5 of 24 shooting (21%). In the two losses to ASU, Budinger's 5 for 25 (20%). Its safe to say the Sun Devils simply own him right now. I'm still not sure what to make out of Arizona right now.. they have a lot of decent wins over Top 100 teams and no really horrible losses. Yet they seem primed to get too high of a seed thanks to the RPI, and then proceed to lose in the 1st or 2nd round.

F - Tim Morris

You've probably seen the clips by now of the Huskies senior throwing the ball of Alfred Aboya's face. There's really nothing to add here that the clip doesn't show.. except for ouch that hurts.

The Daily Report Card tells you all you need to know about the day in college hoops. From good to bad and bad to worse, I'll be laying down the law.

Previous Best / Worst

February 8th - Big West / Virginia

February 6th - Chris Lofton / Dick Vitale

February 5th - Bob Knight / Josh Heytvelt

February 4th - New York Giants / Washington State

February 1st - Nevada / Penn

January 31st - Kansas State / St. John's

January 29th - Winthrop / Dyson & Wiggins

January 28th - Rutgers / Doris Burke

January 25th - Ron Hunter / Princeton Offense

January 23rd - Kentucky / Archbishop Burke

January 22nd - DJ Augustin / Scott Sutton

January 21st - New York Giants / Marquette

January 20th - Maryland / ESPN.com editors

January 18th - Cleveland State / Marquette

January 17th - Drake / HP Laptops

January 14th - Roy Hibbert / Michigan State

January 10th - Tony Bennett / Saint Louis

January 9th - DJ White / CSTV

January 8th - Robert Morris / Schedule Makers

January 7th - Wayne Ellington / Illinois

January 6th - Herb Sendek / Kentucky

Welser Wonders: WAC Struggles & Sun Belt Battle

Joel Welser — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 07:53:26 -0800

How can you not feel bad for Brody Angley? And it has nothing to do with the hair. The poor guy is in the 1,000 point club and has been a superb leader for Santa Clara for four years, but he might now be mostly remembered for losing the game against Gonzaga this week. Angley was a little over aggressive at the end of regulation and fouled a Bulldog with virtually no time left on the clock. It was a dumb play, but it was an aggressive foul, and it is hard to blame anybody for hustling. But that led the game to overtime where the Broncos lost. The status of UNC’s Ty Lawson dominates what “Welser Wonders…”

…when Ty Lawson will return?

North Carolina is a different team without their point guard. Usually the Tar Heels could survive thanks to quality depth provided by Bobby Frasor. However, Frasor is done for the year. That leaves Quentin Thomas. Thomas has some of that senior leadership in his favor, but he has never been expected to contribute a large amount of minutes.

This goes beyond the Duke game last night. UNC has had an excuse to lose that one and it’s not like it goes down as a bad loss anyway. Yet, if Lawson is out for a larger period of time, it could put a big damper on the Tar Heels record and seeding come March.

…when the WAC will get better?

If you haven’t noticed, the

Western Athletic Conference still exists. It’s just nobody is paying attention. And that is for a good reason. As a whole, the conference is horrible compared to what we have become used to seeing. Being sandwiched between the Metro Atlantic and Big West on the conference RPI rankings is not a good place to be unless you’re the SWAC. The conference is a one-bid league this year and that is a very odd thing to say in early February. Even if Utah State, Boise State or Nevada win out the rest of the year, it will be very unlikely that they will earn an at-large bid.

Those are the only three teams in the league with a winning record. Louisiana Tech is one of the ten worst teams in the nation, being surprised by such powerhouses like Longwood, Presbyterian and The Citadel according to the RPI numbers. The WAC still has an opportunity to save face this season by winning some of the BracketBusters games, but even most are those are pretty bad match-ups that won’t do much for public perception.

…why the race for the Sun Belt title has gone so widely unnoticed?

Maybe it is the lack of television exposure…most of us would need one heck of a dish to pick up WKYU PBS in Bowling Green, Kentucky. But South Alabama and Western Kentucky are both having great years. The Jaguars (that’s USA (that’s University of South Alabama)) are 18-4 overall. They’ve beaten teams like San Diego and Mississippi State and their four losses are at Mississippi, at Vanderbilt, at North Texas and to Miami (OH) on a neutral floor. Besides the UNT loss, who represented the conference in the NCAA Tournament last year, those are all understandable defeats.

Western Kentucky lacks the quality win to get an at-large bid, but they still have beaten everybody they should beat and are 18-5 overall. South Alabama won the first battle between the two

Sun Belt East leaders, but WKU will look for revenge on their home floor on February 21^st. Yet, it will be the third meeting between the two teams in March that will be the most important.

This is a rivalry that has been very interesting to watch over the last few years. Western Kentucky has not made the NCAA Tournament since 2003 when they nearly knocked off Illinois in the first round, but they have continued to be the team to beat in the conference. South Alabama is trying to become the cream of the crop after winning at least 20 games the last two years. But the pundits have always found an excuse to keep the expectations of USA up where they belong. A coaching change and some key graduations have made most of us, myself included, write off USA as a one year wonder. This year proves that they are not going anywhere and another trip to the NCAA Tournament will cement their spot as the new team to beat in the Sun Belt for years to come.

…what everyone is worried about?

Skipping all that Bob Knight stuff, we’ll jump right to new Texas Tech coach Pat Knight. It was not long ago when we were all worried about the nepotism of college basketball. Dr. Tom Davis handed the reins to his son Keno and, one of my all-time favorites, Dick Bennett gave way to his son Tony. Drake is only 21-1 at the moment and we all know what the younger Bennett has done at Washington State over the last year and a half.

There is something to be said about the traditional road to big time college basketball coaching…paying your dues, working your way up…but it’s not like Pat Knight doesn’t know a thing or two about hoops. The guy has spent his entire adult life preparing to be a head coach behind a man who knows more than a thing or two about the college game.

Seven Day Stretch: The Week in College Hoops

Rob Carpentier — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 18:24:37 -0800

Seven Day Savior (Team): New Jersey Schools

This week’s selection is not a team, but a state. The schools in New Jersey had a heck of a week. Both Rutgers and Seton Hall went 2-0 last week, and in the Hall’s case, its two victories, over Providence and Cincinnati, went a long way to making them look like and NCAA Tourney team. Fred Hill’s Rutgers squad needed the wins, over Louisville and on the road against Pitt, to possibly save his job. Now the Scarlet Knights have some serious momentum going. Interestingly enough, Rutgers and Seton Hall squared off last night. Even Princeton, which has fallen precipitously over the past three seasons, won for only the third time this year…granted, it was against a non-D1 school, but a win’s a win. In fact, of the four losses suffered last week by NJ’s 7 D1 schools, (I don’t count NJIT, who clearly made a mistake by opting up to Division 1), two of them were losses to other schools from the Garden State.

Seven Day Savior (Player): Amorrow Morgan

Sophomore guard Amorrow Morgan of Idaho State. The Bengals, who sit at 8-12 overall, are 5-2 in the Big Sky Conference and are in a virtual tie with league leader Northern Arizona, got 21 points from their point guard as they defeated NAU this past Saturday. Morgan was scoring at will against the Lumberjacks, which was good for Idaho State because they were down by as much as 11 points in the second half before the rest of the squad decided to follow Morgan’s lead. Earlier in the week, Morgan led the Bengals to an easy win over Sacramento State, not by scoring, but by handing out assists. He had 8 assists, but only one turnover in the game as well as scoring eight points. Morgan has been key for an ISU program that hasn’t been this high in the conference’s standings this late in the season in almost a decade.

Game of the Week (The one you DON’T know about): Winthrop vs UNCA

The top two teams in the Big South, Winthrop and UNC-Asheville, face off on Saturday in Asheville. Perennial conference heavyweight Winthrop is sitting in second place in the Big South with one loss. Asheville, on the other hand, which has already made national news because of 7’7” center Kenny George, is sitting atop the conference with an undefeated record. Both teams recognize the mental boost winning this game will give them, as the Big South is a one-bid league. That’s a shame because both teams have shown they can beat teams from the “power” conferences. Winthrop has already defeated Miami (FL), who will probably make the NCAA Tournament, and Asheville has defeated South Carolina on the road and lost at North Carolina by only 12 in a game that was closer than the score. Most importantly, however, the Big South has a conference tournament where games, including the championship, are played at the site of the higher seed. Asheville stands a much better chance of getting to the NCAAs if they can hold serve on Saturday and take a two-game lead on the Eagles.

Seven Days Under the Radar: South Alabama

The South Alabama Jaguars are quietly having one of the best seasons in the school’s history. The Jags are currently on a 13-game winning streak, lead the Sun Belt Conference with an undefeated 9-0 mark and have an overall record of 17-3. Perhaps most importantly, USA has an RPI rating of 27. Along the way, South Alabama has defeated Mississippi State, who is currently the leader of the SEC West, Southern Mississippi and Western Kentucky, while losing at Mississippi by 3 and at Vanderbilt in overtime back when the Commodores were still undefeated. Coach Ronnie Arrow, who is in his second stint as Jaguar head coach, has a squad dominated by upperclassmen and has four players averaging in double figures, including senior guard Demetric Bennett, who is averaging over 20 PPG. The high major conferences better hope that USA wins the Sun Belt Conference Tournament because if they don’t, barring a complete collapse, the Jags are going to get an at-large bid to the NCAAs.

Seven Days on the Hot Seat: Ben Braun

California’s Ben Braun has been able to bring some very good talent to the Berkeley campus, but he hasn’t been able to get it to ever fully gel. While a god recruiter, (Cal is one of the tougher academic institutions in the country), Braun has been criticized each year because of his supposed mediocre in-game adjustments. At the end of the past two seasons there has been noise made by the Cal faithful about dumping Braun, and the noise has gotten progressively louder. Last spring, there was a fairly unified effort by boosters and fans to convince Golden Bear Athletic Director Sandy Barbour to move in a new direction. Instead Braun was given another season or two because he last year he lost arguably his best player in 6’11” center DeVon Hardin. Well, Hardin is back and Braun is running out of excuses as Cal slipped to 9^th place in the Pac-10 this past weekend after losing at home to Stanford. Braun and the Bears are 2-5 in the conference and four of those losses have come at home. Now the Bears travel to the Washington schools before starting the second half of their Pac-10 schedule which will include trips to L.A., Arizona and Stanford. Jay John was fired last week; Ben Braun may be the next pac-10 coach to get a pink slip.

Seven Days of Head Scratching: Refusing to Play Zone

As I was watching Connecticut host Louisville on Monday night, it dawned on me that the only reason that Louisville was staying in the game was because of Coach Rick Pitino, and more specifically his decision to go with a zone defense against the Huskies. It’s not important as to the specifics because the question that left me scratching my head was: Why don’t more coaches employ zone defenses in their repertoire? I have watched several games this year where I wondered out loud why a coach would prefer a man defense against a team that is so good at attacking it. In the Pac-10, teams insist on playing man against UCLA when they clearly struggle against a zone defense. USC ran zone against them and beat them. The Trojans ran a “gimmick” zone against Memphis and should have beaten the Tigers. Louisville ran a zone against the Huskies because Pitino knew that two of UConn’s best outside shooters were suspended. Pitino did this despite knowing his team likes to push the tempo. Coaches today seem less flexible with changing defensive styles because they feel that they want to establish an identity for their team. Jim Boeheim acts much the same way, only he refuses to play man defense, even when he has some outstanding athletes on his roster. It’s almost as if coaches are working as if their jobs were to look innovative and smart in front of the cameras. And here I thought a coach’s job at the D-1 level was to win games. Isn’t that the innovative and smart thing to do?

News of the Week: Tournament Bids

As January gets close to turning into February, the talk of who will make the Big Dance is beginning to heat up. Among the foremost topics right now is the total number of teams that will receive an NCAA Tournament invite from a given conference. Surprisingly, the ACC and the Big Ten are the current focal points of this conversation. I say surprisingly because it seems like each year both of these traditionally powerful basketball conferences are virtually guaranteed to get at least five teams into the Tournament. However, this year, both conferences have serious questions regarding about how many teams will get their tickets punched. The ACC has two locks in Duke and North Carolina, but then there is a jumbled mess. 9 of the 12 conference teams have at least 3 conference losses already and, outside of Clemson, all of them have middling computer numbers. The Big Ten is even worse off. Indiana, supposedly one of the top 2 in the conference, was defeated at home by a very average Connecticut squad. While Indiana is most likely a lock, along with Michigan State, only Wisconsin and Ohio State are even in a realistic NCAA conversation right now. Even worse, the conference sits 6^th in the RPI standings, last among the so called “BCS” conferences. So what does this all mean? Major conferences such as the Pc-10 and the Big East may very well be the beneficiaries of this drop off, with both conferences looking at realistically getting at least 7 teams into the Tournament. More importantly, though, and here’s the news, it opens things up for mid-major conferences. There is talk of the Atlantic 10 getting as many as four teams into the Tournament, while the Mountain West can argue that their 3^rd and even 4^th place teams have better resumes than those in the middle of the pack of either the ACC or the Big Ten. Then there’s the Horizon League and West Coast Conference that have real chances of getting multiple teams into the Big Dance. Things can change between now and Selection Sunday, but don’t be shocked if there are some major surprises when the brackets are unveiled.

Games of the Night: WKU at South Alabama

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 05 Jan 2008 08:31:15 -0800

Games of the Night

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

Western Kentucky (10-4) at South Alabama (11-3)

8:05 PM

The top two teams in the Sun Belt, both undefeated in league play so far, get together in Mobile. The big personal battle is Courtney Lee (WKU) vs Demetric Bennett (USA), both coming in averaging 20 ppg.

Prediction: South Alabama

USC (9-4) at Stanford (11-2)

8:00 PM

There's going to be a lot of Pac-10 games this year in the Games of the Night series. Both teams lost their conference openers, and Stanford needs a win or they'll drop out of the Top 25. The Cardinal are favored by 6 which seems a bit much, but USC hasn't proven they can win big Pac-10 road games.

Prediction: Stanford

Louisville (9-4) at Kentucky (6-6)

4:00 PM CBS

Before the season, you would have figured this easily would have been the Game of the Night. And honestly, the only reason it makes the list now is simply because as a fan, its kind of fun to watch storied programs fizzle before your eyes. Kind of like turning on a Knicks game.

Prediction: Louisville

Previous Game of the Night (Predictions)

January 4th - American at Brown (0-3)

January 3rd - UCLA at Stanford (3-0)

January 2nd - Houston at UMASS (2-1)

Three Stars of the Day: Bennett, Toolson, Vaden

Shawn Siegel — Sun, 16 Dec 2007 09:20:19 -0800

Three Stars of The Day

We handpick the best performances of the day, whether it be stat lines that make you drool, or clutch performances. Either way, its our way of showing the love:

Demetric Bennett - South Alabama

Leading the Jaguars to a win over disappointing Mississippi State, Bennett had a smoking hot 39 points on 14 of 17 shooting, 6 of 6 from three

Ryan Toolson - Utah Valley State

Finished with 35 points and hit huge threes in regulation, OT, and Double-OT, as the Wolverines beat Southern Utah 91-88

Robert Vaden - UAB

Blowing through his career high by scoring 33 points, Vaden helped UAB get a semi-road win against Kentucky

Other Top Performers

Connor Atchley - Texas - The 6-10 junior is taking his game to another level this year, evidenced by his 26 point, 10 rebound effort last night

Todd Brown - Wright State - Not his best game, but Brown's three with less than a second to go gave the Raiders a one-point win over Miami (OH)

AJ Graves - Butler - Setting a season-high with 7 threes, Graves finished with 25 points as the Bulldogs beat FSU by 11

Previous Stars of the Day

December 13th - Jack McClinton - Miami (FL)

December 12th - Lee Cummard, BYU

December 11th - Bryan Mullins - SIU

December 10th - Ben Nwachukwu, Columbia

December 9th - Dane Watts, Creighton

December 5th - Drew Lavender, Xavier

December 4th - Luke Harangody, Notre Dame

December 3rd - DJ White, Indiana

December 2nd - Jerryd Bayless, Arizona

December 1st - George Hill, IUPUI

November 30th - Craig Brackins - Iowa State

November 29th - Ryan Anderson, California

November 28th - James Powell, UCSB

November 27th - Stephen Curry, Davidson

November 26th - Michael Bramos, Miami (OH)

November 22nd - Michael Beasley, Kansas State

November 21st - Kyle Singler, Duke

November 20th - Patty Mills, Saint Mary's

November 19th - Matt Causey, Georgia Tech

November 18th - Daniel Hackett, USC

November 17th - Chris Douglas-Roberts, Memphis

November 16th - JJ Hickson, NC State

November 15th - Jon Brockman, Washington

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