What a week. Well, actually, it sucked, but I’m biased: my beloved UNC got taught a lesson by UNLV. But, as you will see, they weren’t the only ones dropping games they should have won.
Some points of interest from Week 3:
- Michigan (was #15) beats Memphis (was #8) in Maui, 73-61 on Monday night.
- Memphis subsequently squeaks out a win against Tennessee the following day in 2OT, blowing a 16 point lead, 99-97. Not the kind of games you expect from a former #8.
- Missouri (was #21) beats California (was #21), but not in the manner you’d expect from two supposedly closely-matched teams. Final score on Tuesday night: 92-53.
- Griffin Lentsch, a guard with the Division III Grinnell College, set a Division III record by scoring a staggering 89 points last Saturday night (Nov 19). He shot 27-55 from the field and casually dropped 15-33 from beyond the arc.
- Duke (was #6) beats Michigan (was #15) out in Maui, 82-75. The Tuesday night game led to a meeting of the Blue Devils and the Kansas Jayhawks on Wednesday night.
- Duke (was #6) beats Kansas (was #14) in a crazy championship game in the Maui Invitational, 68-61 on Wednesday night. Tyler Thornton hit a crazy off-balance three with 20 seconds remaining to give Duke the win.
- Virginia Military Institute‘s (VMI) Stan Okoye makes his early case for Dunk Of The Year in Wednesday’s matchup against Ohio State (was #3). Ohio State won the game 107-74.
- Georgetown (was NR) beat Memphis (was #8) 91-88 on Wednesday, the former #8 seed’s second loss in three games this past week.
- San Diego State knocked off former #23 Arizona, 61-57 on Wednesday night. After starting 4-0, the Wildcats have lost two in a row.
- Connecticut (was #4) loses to UCF (University of Central Florida) on Friday night, 68-63.
- Harvard tops Florida State (was #22) on Friday night; a game in which the score at half time was 14-14. The final was 46-41, in favour of Harvard.
- North Carolina (was #1) is beaten by the still perfect (7-0) UNLV Running Rebels at the Las Vegas Invitational. UNC blew a four-point halftime lead, losing 90-80.
- Connecticut (was #4) drops Florida State (was #22), 78-76 in OT, for the Seminoles second loss in a row.
That is a LOT of losses and changes in the Top 25 from the past week; the new AP Poll now looks like this, the most obvious change being at the top with UNC’s loss:
RANK |
SCHOOL (FIRST-PLACE VOTES) |
RECORD |
POINTS |
PREVIOUS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kentucky (46) | 6-0 | 1,599 | 2 |
| 2 | Ohio State (17) | 6-0 | 1,564 | 3 |
| 3 | Duke (2) | 7-0 | 1,465 | 6 |
| 4 | Syracuse | 6-0 | 1,439 | 5 |
| 5 | North Carolina | 5-1 | 1,337 | 1 |
| 6 | Louisville | 5-0 | 1,259 | 7 |
| 7 | Baylor | 5-0 | 1,183 | 9 |
| 8 | Connecticut | 6-1 | 1,055 | 4 |
| 9 | Wisconsin | 6-0 | 1,045 | 11 |
| 10 | Florida | 4-1 | 1,040 | 10 |
| 11 | Xavier | 4-0 | 982 | 12 |
| 12 | Alabama | 7-0 | 912 | 13 |
| 13 | Missouri | 6-0 | 746 | 21 |
| 14 | Michigan | 5-1 | 681 | 15 |
| 15 | Kansas | 3-2 | 676 | 14 |
| 16 | Marquette | 5-0 | 637 | 16 |
| 17 | Pittsburgh | 5-1 | 537 | 17 |
| 18 | UNLV | 7-0 | 535 | NR |
| 19 | Gonzaga | 4-0 | 525 | 19 |
| 20 | Vanderbilt | 5-1 | 482 | 18 |
| 21 | Mississippi State | 7-1 | 277 | 24 |
| 22 | Memphis | 2-2 | 269 | 8 |
| 23 | Saint Louis | 6-0 | 149 | NR |
| 24 | California | 5-1 | 121 | 20 |
| 25 | Texas A&M | 4-1 | 115 | 25 |
Dropped Out: No. 22 Florida State, No. 23 Arizona.
Syracuse Fires Bernie Fine
On a sidenote, as mentioned last week, Syracuse is currently in the midst of their own sexual-abuse scandal, one in which Jim Boeheim came to the defence of his assistant, calling the allegations “baseless”. The Orangemen have since fired that assistant coach, Bernie Fine, with some writers calling for the firing of Boeheim as well. The drama continues down in New York.
Upcoming Games of Note, Week 4:
- Saturday afternoon sees current #1 Kentucky, host former #1 North Carolina. In what could be a National Championship preview, this game should be an epic one.
- Not to be outdone, Duke (#3) travels to Ohio State (#2) on Tuesday night in what could also be a National Championship preview.
- #4 Syracuse welcomes #10 Florida on Friday night; a 6:30PM start. Whether Boeheim is at the helm for the Orangement remains to be seen.
- Four days before UNC plays #1 Kentucky, they will have their game tested at home against #9 Wisconsin. The game gets under way at 9:30PM on Wednesday night.
There aren’t a LOT of Top 25 battles this week, but the ones that are on the schedule promise to be good ones. These seven teams could very well be vying for a spot in the Final Four in March, so this week promises to be an exciting one. Hopefully one that redeems my Tar Heels.
… and that’s the last word.
