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Murky Mess Welcome to the world of college basketball. Since I started hosting "College Basketball Today" every Monday and Friday from 12-3pm on Sirius 122 / XM 143, I have found myself spending more time trying to decipher the college hoops world. Let me tell you what I've found out....it's impossible to figure out. With the exception of Kansas, Texas and Ohio State, you can't count on anything with this roundball year. Pitt is tough and consistent, but they play in a league that is ridiculously competitive and deep. Duke is really good, too....but I thought they were more than fortunate to beat the upstart Heels last week in Durham. They are a dangerous team....but they have flaws. To be honest with you....teams ranked #6 thru #40 all look the same to me. On any given day, they can all get beat. But it will come down to solid guard play when it matters the most.....so keep that in mind, when you start to analyze the end of the regular season and the beginning of the Madness next month. I read a great article in the Washington Post last week about the current state of college hoops and the article described how many average teams were still in the mix. By my calculations, there were 26 teams in the BCS leagues that were at .500 or within one-game of .500 heading into this past weekend. What makes the stat more startling is that according to the Post story last week, only 3 teams from the same leagues made the Big Dance at .500 or within a game of .500 last year. Good luck to the committee....they are going to need all the help they can get this year, in determining the 68 teams that make it to the show. As for the debate about who is #1 in the land this week: since the Buckeyes' loss at Wisconsin, I don't think it matters. Kansas, Texas and Ohio State are in firm control of #1 seeds at this point in the season. The bigger question is which team grabs the final # 1 seed? Pitt and Duke are fighting for the last spot and it's a tough call between those two, as of today....I'd probably lean towards Pitt, considering that they actually get tested more than two games all season in conference play. One thing I can do without is the constant jabbering of college coaches about how their respective league doesn't get enough respect or credit. The one collection of coaches that has taken the lead in this department is found in the ACC. It's one thing for Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg to complain...his team is always on the bubble, and he's fighting for a chance. I get that part. But I'm talking about a guy like Gary Williams at Maryland. Williams is a terrific coach and his accomplishments at Maryland speak for themselves. But last week he was trying to make the case that the ACC was better than the Big Ten....he even had the nerve to say that the Big Ten has Ohio State and.......? Well, there is Wisconsin, Gary. You might have heard about them....they just knocked off #1 Ohio State. Of course, you were busy losing to mighty Boston College, so it might have snuck by you. And for the record, Purdue has a nice team, too...and that includes a season-ending injury to Robbie Hummel, but it hasn't stopped the Boilers from being a Top 10 team. One more thing....we actually have a competition between the two leagues, and for the second year in a row, the Big Ten won the challenge vs. the ACC. I thought I'd mention it, for the sake of being fair. The problem for the ACC is that other than Duke and North Carolina, you start to scratch your head and wonder where did all the good teams go? Florida State is a nice squad...certainly NCAA Tourney worthy.....but they are also capable of losing to a team like Auburn, and when you throw in the recent injury to star Chris Singleton, you realize that the ACC's lack of quality depth gets exposed....again. Given the unrest of the college hoops landscape, I still think the ACC will probably land a handful of teams in the NCAA Tourney...and who knows, it might even include Gary Williams' Terps team. But anybody that defends the quality of this year's version of ACC basketball is either a coach, administrator, or a paid employee of an institution within the conference's membership. I can't believe I'm going to write this, but I agreed with ESPN's Jay Bilas when he declared that they aren't going to put a plaque on the national title trophy that states team x won it all in a "down year of college basketball". The team that stays healthy, catches a break or two, and executes the best is going to win it all....and it counts. Jay Bilas is 100% right on the money with his assessment. When you add it all up, the upcoming NCAA Tourney should be very entertaining, given the equality of the teams. Even though we start without any great teams, the tournament as a whole should add up to some fantastic finishes. How about the Chancellor of the University of North Carolina taking a cheap shot at the Dukies last week, before the big rivalry game at Cameron Indoor? Chancellor Holden Thorp tweeted, "Our students are talking about the future and asking smart questions instead of wasting time sitting in a tent." Nice job, Holden. Needless to say, when the heat hit the Chancellor, he disposed of his tweet as quickly as the Heels did with that 16-point lead at Cameron. The President of Duke University, Dick Brodhead, had a funny line when he mentioned that somebody must have hacked Chancellor Holden's twitter account. Everybody had a good laugh, and Chancellor Thorp eventually apologized. I'm just glad he didn't blame the tweet on a tutor or a nanny. Speaking of encouraging words to your student-athletes, how about the situation surrounding UCLA? Apparently Hollywood actor Charlie Sheen has a tight relationship with the staff of the Bruins baseball team. Sheen was asked to give the guys some encouraging words. Sheen's response: "Stay off crack. Drink chocolate milk and enjoy your moment. That's all I got." Those are certainly words to live by, coming from a guy that got two of the three right based on his recent altercation. Maybe he can get in contact with Chancellor Thorp? But knowing Thorp, he probably contacted fellow UNC alum Lawrence Taylor instead. The Charlotte Bobcats had a weird couple of days. I saw where NBA executive Michael Jordan showed up for practice and proceeded to look his age. I guess Mike still thinks he's a "playa" and evidently he still thinks he's in his 20's or early 30's? After practice, the 48 year old was icing down his tired, achy knees.....it's a bitch getting old, MJ. The Bobcats apparently picked up their intensity for practice trying to impress the boss, only to lay an egg the next night in the only game that mattered. How does anybody lose to the New Jersey Nets at home? The Jordan practice backfired on his team, as the guys looked like they were flat and uninspired. The good news is that the Bobcats won a game in ATL that they had no business winning, as they rallied from 22 down to beat the Hawks. It was the greatest comeback win in team history. Stephen Jackson's great jumper at the buzzer was the game winner and it made up for a terrible "no call" involving Jack in Indianapolis earlier in the week. The only gripe I have for Jackson is that he stole Aaron Rodgers' "give me the belt" gig on the court after the game winner. Come on, Jack....the guy won the Super Bowl, you beat Atlanta. You need to come up with some new material. But it was a sweet dagger to the heart. The ten-year anniversary of the death of Dale Earnhardt takes place this week. It's hard to believe that it's been ten years, but time is flying by...and it is a reminder to maximize every day. I still remember the crash....I still remember hearing the news of his passing....I still remember how hard it was to conduct the radio shows that week. I'm sure FOX Sports will do a great job at Daytona, covering the story and the race. They always do....but it is amazing that Earnhardt has been gone for a decade. The sport is safer than ever before, and you can absolutely draw a direct correlation between the wreck in Daytona's turn 4 on February 18, 2001 and the safer cars and tracks in NASCAR today. But the sport hasn't been the same, since. While there are still great drivers, and entertaining storylines....the loss of Dale Earnhardt was impossible to measure. I can only imagine the media that will surround Dale, Jr. and Richard Childress this week....it will be crazier and more intense than normal. It will be good to see the cars zipping around the track at the Great American Race, but every race fan knows exactly where they were and what they were doing ten years ago when they heard that the sport had lost Dale Earnhardt. And the news saddens me even to this day. God Bless, Dale Earnhardt. |
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