Every weekend my head shakes more furiously than the one before as I contemplate how FIFA could ignore the outstanding accomplishments of Robin Van Persie. As I am a huge Gunners fan I will acknowledge a bias, however in this case I think most of you will agree with my frustration when you get up to date on some facts.
FIFA narrowed its search for this year’s recipient of the Ballon D’or award recognizing the world’s best player to 25 players in November, and recently down to the top three: Xavi and Messi (Barca) and Ronaldo (Real Madrid). Startlingly, Van Persie was not even amongst the 25 candidates despite sizzling for Arsenal all year.
Only Ronaldo has netted a better goal:game ratio than the Dutchman’s 1.04 goals/game. Not even Messi has better than a goal per game. Also, consider that Persie is playing for a decimated Arsenal team that suffered the exits of his two set-up men, Fabregas (to Barcelona) and Nasri (to Manchester City). Compare his supporting cast to that of the Barcelona and Real Madrid players – I wouldn’t mind letting Xavi, Fabregas and Iniesta passing me the ball! How about you? Not to take anything away from the Gunners’ mids, but they just aren’t in the same category as the three mentioned. Further, really compare the EPL and Liga beyond the top two teams. After you take away Barca and Madrid, what competition are you left with? Let’s subtract Manchester United and Chelsea from the EPL and you still have Arsenal, Manchester City, Tottenham, Liverpool and Newcastle. Even compare Liga to other leagues like Serie A and Bundesliga. I would argue that both are deeper in talent as well, just maybe not in the top two.
I am going to stop myself because my intent is/was not to compare Robin Van Persie to Messi, or even Ronaldo, and certainly was not to get in a “Which league is the best” debate. Whether RvP is better than either is open to debate and only time will tell. I can tell you that any player who can sustain a better than one goal per game ratio for an entire year is joining ELITE company. I think that alone should have propelled Persie into the top 25 at least.
Sit back and watch Van Persie break the record for the best goalscoring calendar year in modern Premier League history – breaking records held by Alan Shearer and Arsenal legend, Thierry Henry.
You might want to sit down for this one. For the second time this season, the Toronto Maple Leafs won’t be on Hockey Night in Canada! It’s okay though, put the paper bag down, there are still 11 games on the card tonight, and NHL Centre Ice is offering it’s free mid-season preview until Sunday. So if you don’t already have the premium hockey package, enjoy all of the hockey you can handle over the next few days. Oh, and also, if you order the package during the free preview, you can get it for a discount rate for the remainder of the season. Anyway… lets get to the games!
New York Rangers @ Buffalo
Buffalo played a tight checking game against Florida last night that wound up going to overtime. Buffalo ended up winning the game, but I’m sure there is a certain level of fatigue that came with the win. Both clubs seem to be starting their backups tonight, which is bad for the Sabres seeing as Enroth has lost a lot of his confidence lately. Biron is no gem, but I’ll still take New York at 1.70.
Vancouver @ Ottawa
With Toronto and Montreal out of the picture tonight, Ottawa steps into the spotlight. The primetime HNIC game on CBC tonight will be the Sens and the Canucks. The Canucks usually getting the spotlight in the late game, will get a chance to showcase their talent on primetime to the rest of Canada. Which is exactly what I think they will do. Vancouver at 1.50.
Pittsburgh @ New York Islanders
Cancel the game, Sids not playing! Oh wait, it’s the Islanders. As much as I think Pittsburgh should win this game sans Crosby. I don’t like the “slam dunk” odds Proline is issuing. Pittsburgh is just over .500 on the road, and the Islanders are .500 at home. Pittsburgh should still win for 1.35. But it’s rare to see a home team getting 2.50, while the other team is missing their best player.
Tampa Bay @ Philly
Can’t wait to see what happens in the second meeting of this 4-game season series. The first game made for one of the most exciting games in history, where neither team attempted to play hockey! I think the Flyers settle their grudge here after losing that first game in embarrassing fashion. Philly at 1.30.
Winnipeg @ Detroit
Winnipeg is in tough tonight. They played at home yesterday and recorded a win over Carolina, but had to wake up this morning and travel to Detroit. The Red Wings aren’t an easy team to beat on rested legs, and are even harder on tired ones. Detroit at 1.35.
Boston @ Columbus
Boston is on a 2-game slide coming off the best winning streak of the season. I think they get back on track tonight against the leagues worst team. Boston at 1.35.
San Jose @ St. Louis
This is probably the toughest game of the evening to call. The Sharks are great on the road, while the Blues are great at home. San Jose has the better team, but the Blues have proven that there is no team they can’t beat. I’m going to flip a coin here, and take San Jose at 1.70.
Anaheim @ Nashville
This is the third game of the 4-game series between these teams that saw Nashville win the first two quite easily. I think the Ducks exact some revenge here, not only for this season, but also for the playoffs last year. All the talent is there in Anaheim, they just need someone to harness it. I think Boudreau could be that guy. Give me the Ducks at 2.10 for the major upset.
Minnesota @ Phoenix
I keep betting against Phoenix and losing! How can they be that good?!? Well hopefully tonight I get my revenge by taking the NHL’s hottest team, and best according to the standings. Believe it or not the Wild, who have won 6 in a row, are the underdogs here. Minnesota at 1.80.
Edmonton @ Calgary
I know Edmonton played last night. But the kids are playing at an elite level right now. And they are doing it with smiles on their faces and twinkles in their eyes. It’s infectious! Edmonton at 1.80.
Dallas @ Los Angeles
Both of these teams are an awful 4-5-1 over their last 10. And both have the talent to demand better. LA should win this one, but don’t rule out Dallas at 2-1 odds. With both teams playing badly nothing should be taken for granted. Los Angeles at 1.55.
Favorites
Vancouver
Pittsburgh
Philly
Detroit
Boston
Los Angeles
Pick ‘ems
New York Rangers
San Jose
Long shots
Anaheim
Minnesota
Edmonton
OWC (Odds Worth Considering)
New York Islanders 2.50
Dallas 2.00
That’s it for this week. Look for more Phantom picks coming next week. And as always, good luck, and let me know how you did!
Before previewing this week’s matches in the Italian league, a round of applause goes to all of the underdogs that qualified for the Champions League round of 16. I am pleased to say that all 3 of the Italian teams qualified for the first time in a long while, namely AC Milan, Internazionale FC and even SSC Napoli. The Partenopei came out of the group of death in second place with Bayern Munich FC topping the group. Manchester City who spent a whopping $123 million pounds are out! Manchester United, who had the easiest group and the finalist of last year, are also heading out. When will the soccer world learn that you need balance to win championships? A team full of superstars doesn’t always work!
In week 15 of the Serie A, Internazionale will take on ACF Fiorentina at the San Siro. The Nerazzurri need a home win to salvage their season that is rapidly diminishing, while the Viola is slowly making their presence felt under new head coach Delio Rossi. Novara will play host to SSC Napoli. This will be a tough game for the home side who is sitting in 18th place. The Napolitanit will look to carry their momentum after their historic Champions League qualification. Bologna FC will play at home and will most likely struggle against the talented Rossoneri who seem to be winning with ease in the Serie A. Although in past seasons in past seasons, Bologna have always seemed to give the Diavoli some trouble. The Bologna defence did look tough to beat in mid-week Coppa Italia action against a Juventus side that keeps attacking. Udinese FC , currently tied for second place, will welcome the flying donkies of Chievo Verona at the Stadio Friuli. The Bianconeri of Udine will look to keep their winning streak at home alive – seven wins out of seven. It has been very difficult to play in Udine this year as Francesco Guidolin’s, they need to keep their home record perfect to try to get a Champions League spot. In the final match, AS Roma will challenge the league leaders and still undefeated Juventus FC. This has always been a grudge match. The Giallorossi are going through a severe crisis at the moment finishing their last Serie A match with 8 men leaving head coach, Luis Enrique, dealing with formation problem. On the other hand, The Old Lady of Italian football is currently playing at her best. Juve boss Antonio Conte has done a fantastic job demonstrating what juventinità means –to play with heart, grit and determination sweating tears of black and white in the process. Against Bologna in the Coppa Italia, Conte rested all but two of his main players leaving Andrea Barzagli and Leonardo Bonucci in the heart of defence and the Bianconeri were still dominant over the Felsinei . This is a big step forward for Seria A to go get its 4th place Champions League back!
Now that everybody has settled down from one of the best postseasons in history. It’s hardware time! Here is the complete list of awards handed out this season.
World Series Award Winners
Championship– St. Louis Cardinals
The Cards were very deserving this year.
MVP– David Freese
The unlikely hometown hero was the obvious choice here.
MVP Award Winners
American League– Justin Verlander
After a stellar season including a no-hitter, an AL pitching Triple Crown, and a Tigers division title, it was no wonder this Detroit based gunslinger captured the AL MVP (280 votes). Runners up included; Boston’s Jacoby Ellsbury with 242 votes, and Toronto’s Jose Bautista with 231 votes.
National League– Ryan Braun
Braun edged out second place candidate Matt Kemp, to finish with 388 votes to Kemp’s 332. The voting doesn’t seem all that close, but what was close, was their stats. Both players put up similar numbers throughout the season, with Kemp even having slightly better numbers. The big difference though, was how their teams did. Braun’s Milwaukee Brewers captured the NL Central title, while Kemp’s Los Angeles Dodgers finished 11.5 games back in the NL West. Which brings us to the age-old debate, “Should the success of a players team be taken into account when awarding a personal accolade such as an MVP award?” I say yes, and obviously the majority of voters agree with me, but it is still a raging debate. Prince Fielder finished 3rd in voting, and well back with 229 votes.
Cy Young Award Winners
American League– Justin Verlander
Verlander was the unanimous choice here. He won the voting with 196 points, which was 99 points better than second place finisher Jered Weaver. Justin is only the 10th player to win the MVP and Cy Young awards in the same year.
National League– Clayton Kershaw
The 23-year-old ace, also won the award unanimously, by receiving 207 votes. The second and third place finishers were Roy Halladay with 133, and Cliff Lee with 90, both from the Phillies.
Rookie of the Year Award Winners
American League– Jeremy Hellickson
This impressive young Rays pitcher led all rookies in ERA (2.95), innings pitched (189), games started (29), and was second in wins (13). He won the voting with 102 points over runner-up Mark Trumbo, of the L.A. Angels, who finished with 63 votes.
National League– Craig Kimbrel
Atlanta Braves rookie Craig Kimbrel, received 32 of 32 possible first place votes. He won the honour by outscoring fellow teammate Freddie Freeman by a score of 160 to 70. Kimbrel set a MLB record by recording 46 saves in his rookie season.
Manager of the Year Award Winners
American League– Joe Maddon
After a mediocre start to the season, and with one of the lower payrolls in baseball, Maddon managed a late season run that ended with his team making the postseason over powerful division rivals, the Boston Red Sox. The Rays skip deserved to win this award, and it showed, as he was awarded 26 of a possible 28 first place votes.
National League– Kirk Gibson
The D-backs manager led his club to 94 regular season wins; which was good enough to capture first place in the NL West. It was his first full year as manager, and the team saw a 29 game improvement from 2010 when they finished in last place. The voting takes place after the season is finished, and before the postseason starts, which is a good thing for Kirk. And that’s because 3rd place finisher, and former 4-time winner, Tony La Russa, took his club from missing the postseason last year, to winning the World Series in heroic fashion this year. However I think La Russa is happy enough with the championship, as he retired 3 days later, after a 33-year managerial career.
Comeback Player of the Year Award Winners
American League– Jacoby Ellsbury
After only playing 18 games in 2010 due to left rib fractures; Jacoby bounced back with a monster season that almost won him AL MVP honours. And it did help him win Comeback player of the year. He managed to play 158 games this season. Over that period of time, he had a .321 batting average, amassed 119 runs, 212 hits, 32 homers, 5 triples, 105 RBIs, 39 steals and a .928 OPS. Not only is that a really impressive season, but he is also the first Boston Red Sox in history to have a 30-30 season. Which means, 30 stolen bases and 30 homeruns in the same season. And of course he accomplished all of this coming off a major injury.
National League– Lance Berkman
After playing only 37 games in 2010 in a backup role with the Yankees, he was eventually released by New York at the end of the season. Picked up by St. Louis, the 35-year-old found his form again. He finished the season 2nd on the team in batting average (.301), and 2nd in both homeruns (31) and RBIs (94). Pretty amazing season for anyone, but especially for Lance considering he rode the pine all last year! Oh, and off the record, he also helped his team win the World Series!
Hank Aaron Award Winners
American League– Jose Bautista
Bautista also won the “leagues best hitter award” last year. And is the 3rd player to win the award in consecutive years since its inception in 1999. He is also one of four muli-year winners. To earn the honours this year, Bautista, or Joey Bats as they call him in Taronta, led the majors again with 43 homeruns. He also led in walks, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging percentage, while maintaining a .302 average.
National League– Matt Kemp
Kemp won the award with an overall great performance. He led the NL in homeruns (39), RBIs (126), runs scored (115), total bases (353), and finished third in the NL in batting average (.324). He also became only the 7th player in MLB history to finish the season ranked in the top three in homers, batting average, RBIs, and stolen bases in his respective league. Which is fitting company because one of the other 7 was none other than Hank Aaron himself.
Delivery Man of the Year– Jose Valverde
Clemente Award Winner– David Ortiz
Rawlings Gold Glove Award Winners
American LeagueNational League
C- Matt Wieters, BAL C- Yadler Molina, STL
1B-Adrian Gonzalez, BOS 1B- Joey Votto, CIN
2B-Dustin Pedroia, BOS 2B-Brandon Phillips, CIN
3B-Adrian Beltre, TEX 3B- Placido Polanco, PHI
SS-Erick Aybar, LAA SS- Troy Tulowitzki, COL
LF-Alex Gordon, KC LF- Gerardo Parra, ARI
CF-Jacoby Elisbury, BOS CF- Matt Kemp, LAD
RF-Nick Markakis, BAL RF- Andre Ethier, LAD
P-Mark Buehrle, CWS P- Clayton Kershaw, LAD
Louisville Silver Slugger Award Winners
American LeagueNational League
C-Alex Avila, DET C- Brian McCann, ATL
1B- Adrian Gonzalez, BOS 1B- Prince Fielder, MIL
2B- Robinson Cano, NYY 2B- Brandon Phillips, CIN
3B-Adrian Beltre, TEX 3B- Aramis Ramirez, CHC
SS-Asdrubal Cabrera, CLE SS- Troy Tulowitzki, COL
OF- Curtis Granderson, NYY OF- Ryan Braun, MIL
OF-Jose Bautista, TOR OF- Matt Kemp, LA
OF- Jacoby Ellsbury, BOS OF- Justin Upton, ARI
DH- David Ortiz, BOS P- Daniel Hudson, ARI
GSP dominated headlines this week. However, this time it wasn’t to talk about another dominating victory, or his place in the pound-for-pound rankings – it was about the torn ACL muscle that is going to sideline him for the next ten months.The biggest immediate fall-out from this is that it puts the brakes on his headlining championship bout with Nick Diaz. I however think the more important question is: where does this leave the Welterweight division as a whole for the next ten months?
Personally, I think GSP on sidelines for this period of time makes for an interesting year in the WW division. Firstly, because it will give us a glimpse into the future – a future with no dominant champion in the division. I think when you remove GSP from the picture in the WW division as it currently stands you’re all of the sudden looking at a division that’s very similar to the LHW or HW division; lots of equally matched fighters all vying for their chance at the strap. You could see the interim belt change hands more than once; albeit very unlikely that Diaz or Condit would fight anyone else after winning the title.
This period will also give the division a chance to build up some contender names again. The current consensus is that GSP has cleaned out the division, and that there aren’t really any fighters who can hold a candle to him. Now we can watch an interim title match between Diaz and Condit on the edge of our seats – because, it’s no longer an irrelevant fight, it’s determining the future division champ. We could start to see some new stars emerge.
The last most significant implication is what the future holds for St. Pierre. The injury he has sustained is significant, and it may be hard for him to rebound from it. Shogun had both his knees rebuilt, and he is only now starting to again look like the fighter who dominated the LHW division all those years ago. GSP is a superb athlete, likely the best in the sport, and I am sure he will take his time coming back (a la Crosby) – but, will he maintain his dominance? Only time will tell.
A future without GSP? A future without the GSP that we know today? All difficult things for us to accept. Even if it does happen, life will move on and so will we – and we may even see the next P4P top fighter emerge.
On a random day last week, I woke up and decide to solve the NHL’s realignment problem. Quite a daunting task I might add, but I thought I was up for the challenge. I started by pulling up a map showing the location of all 30 teams, which is essential when trying to figure out this 30-piece puzzle that really doesn’t have a solution. I then jotted down the few ideas that seemed to come to mind, as well as the ones I had somehow woken up with (must have had that recurring dream where I usurp Gary Bettman and take control of the NHL again). Then I decided to address the concerns of the major teams that would be involved in the realignment and see if they fit into any of my plans.
What I quickly found out is that every single team has an opinion, and a concern that they want addressed through realignment. Children! Squabbling children! I wish I knew this before I started, because if I knew I was going to have to conjure up close to 30 different scenarios I would have switched to baseball realignment instead! Houston to the AL West. Done. But this NHL puzzle had just turned into the Japanese River Test (google it if you’re bored -or if you want to prove to yourself how smart you think you are) and I wanted no part of it. She won’t go with him, he won’t go with her, she won’t go with him or her…
Anyway, later that day I did eventually write down the concerns of EVERY team, and start to piece them together, when my brother called me to get together for a pint and a pizza at the local pub. We ordered our drinks, and settled in to watch Toronto beat the trap out of Tampa Bay. Halfway through the game I brought up the topic of realignment. My brother listened to me rant and rave about all of the problems surrounding it, and then mentioned that he had just read an article on it by TSN’s Bob McKenzie. He went on to explain that in the article Bob also showed his frustration with the teams, and the infinite number of possible solutions, each one catering to a different club. I have spent the majority of my life admiring McKenzie, and agreeing with his positions on various hockey issues over the years. But lately (mainly this season), I have found myself on the other side of the fence. I didn’t agree with his stances on fighting and supplementary discipline earlier in the year. As well as his prediction that Montreal would win the division, and finish 3rd in the Conference. Everybody has their share of bad predictions (myself included), but I’m sorry Bob, I can’t let that one go.
After stuffing the last slice of pizza in my mouth and sliding the bill over to my brother (oh, and chirping the guy wearing the Stamkos jersey). I headed home to read Bob’s article and finish mapping out mine. After reading Bob’s article I have to say I was impressed, and it definitely restored my faith in the man I used to see as the best hockey analyst on the planet. Here is a link to his article that you might want to read before going further. But be forewarned, you might want to grab a coffee or a tea and settle in, because if you’re passionate about realignment, the journeys just getting started… http://www.tsn.ca/blogs/bob_mckenzie/?id=377916
In my mind there are four main factors when considering realignment, geographical location, time zone, travel time, and rivalry (ticket sales). Based on these factors, here are the senarios I like best. If you’d like to follow along at home, I suggest pulling up a map of all 30 teams, but remember Atlanta is now Winnipeg…
NYR-NYI-NJ-PIT-PHI
TOR-BUF-BOS-MON-OTT
FLO-TAM-CAR-WAS-NAS*
CHI-STL-DET-CLB-DAL*
VAN-CAL-EDM-MIN-WIN*
PHO-SJ-LA-ANA-COL*
*-teams that moved
Sticking with the division format, I like this scenario the best, but obviously Minnesota doesn’t. The other option here is to move Vancouver (against their will). Basically just swap VAN and COL, which when it comes to time zones makes the most sense.
Another format option is to have 3 conferences, each containing 10 teams. It’s nice and clean on paper (30/3=10), and also looks surprising clean geographically. But it makes for a messy playoff structure, and I don’t think anybody really likes it, including myself.
Which brings us to the final format. Two Conferences with two divisions, or simply four conferences. The debate on keeping East vs. West or just having four conferences does have an impact on the playoffs, but not on how the teams line up, so lets push it aside for now. As the league stands now with 30 teams, we would have 2 conferences with 7, and 2 with 8. I say, what better time than now to expand? I know there are teams that are financially unstable, but there are also markets crying for teams! If we expanded to two more cities, it would give us an even 32 teams with 4 Conferences of 8. It would also still leave a few viable cities for potential bankruptcy moves in the future.
Here are some examples of possible franchise candidates; Quebec City, Hamilton, Kansas City, Las Vegas, Hartford, Houston, Seattle. Here are a couple of examples of what the new conferences would look like. I’ll use Quebec and Hamilton for one, and Quebec and Vegas for the other.
Option #1
(East)
Conference A
Quebec
Montreal
Boston
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey
Philly
Washington
Conference B
Ottawa
Toronto
Hamilton
Buffalo
Pittsburgh
Carolina
Tampa Bay
Florida
(West)
Conference C
Detroit
Columbus
Nashville
St. Louis
Chicago
Dallas
Minnesota
Winnipeg
Conference D
Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver
San Jose
Los Angeles
Anaheim
Phoenix
Colorado
Option #2
(East)
Conference A
Quebec
Montreal
Boston
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey
Philly
Washington
Conference B
Ottawa
Toronto
Buffalo
Pittsburgh
Detroit
Carolina
Tampa Bay
Florida
(West)
Conference C
Columbus
Nashville
St. Louis
Chicago
Minnesota
Winnipeg
Dallas
Colorado
Conference D
Edmonton
Calgary
Vancouver
San Jose
Los Angeles
Anaheim
Phoenix
Las Vegas
I think these conferences line up well, and I think the expansions would be well received in their respective cities. Plus a 32-team league makes for 4 even conferences, wherein 4 teams make the playoffs, and 4 teams miss the playoffs. However, the NHL, and of course Gary Bettman, have no desire to expand right now. They have also released their own version of the 4-conference format to be voted on by the Board of Governors at their meeting in Pebble Beach on Monday. Here is their proposal.
Conference A (7 teams)
Toronto
Ottawa
Montreal
Buffalo
Boston
Florida
Tampa Bay
Conference B (7 teams)
New York Rangers
New York Islanders
New Jersey
Philly
Pittsburgh
Washington
Carolina
Conference C (8 teams)
Winnipeg
Detroit
St. Louis
Chicago
Nashville
Columbus
Minnesota
Dallas
Conference D (8 teams)
Vancouver
Edmonton
Calgary
Colorado
Phoenix
Los Angeles
Anaheim
San Jose
The MLB has finally done the right thing and made some necessary changes. One of them being a new wild card format, allowing more teams to enter the postseason, which is long overdue. The new format will have two extra wild card spots. These spots are desperately needed as currently only eight teams make the postseason. And that is extremely minuscule compared to the other major sports leagues.
In the NFL we see 12 teams make the playoffs, and in the NBA and NHL we see 16. The other major change that was made was also long overdue. And that was moving the Houston Astros into the AL West division. Which gives both the American league and the National League 15 teams, instead of the 16/14 split they have now.
The current playoff format sees four teams from each league going to the postseason, the three division winners, and one wild card team. The new format will still have the three division winners going, but now there will be two wild card sports instead of one. Which means two more playoff teams, and more meaningful baseball being played in September/October. Well except for this past season that is.
If it were already implemented we wouldn’t have seen the intense wild card race we had the pleasure of watching this fall. Instead all four teams would have made it (Boston, Tampa, St. Louis, Atlanta). But for seasons to come this is great news! More teams will a see a reason to compete late in the season, and we should see more “down to the wire” seasons as we did this year.
Also, it means teams like the Blue Jays have one more reason to smile. Stuck in the toughest division in baseball, with perennial powerhouses New York and Boston, they now won’t be forced to best one of those two teams to make the postseason. Under the new format, it is possible for New York, Boston, and Toronto to all make the postseason. But even with an extra spot, it will still take about 90 wins to make it. I hope the Jays are up to the task, because it would be great to see some meaningful baseball played in Toronto this millennium.
As for the realignment change, well, it was subtle but necessary. Moving the Houston Astros from the NL Central division (currently with 6 teams), over to the AL West (currently with 4 teams), balances the league out perfectly with every division having 5 teams, and each league having 15. It also reunites the State of Texas, as the Astros will now be in the same division as the Texas Rangers. Many people wanted to see more drastic realignment changes, like splitting up Boston and New York into separate divisions, but the MLB wanted to play it safe. Which I think was the right move. They balanced the league out by making a necessary change, and there is no reason they can’t still talk about other changes in the future.
Both of the new wild card format, and the league realignment will be implemented for the start of the 2013 season.
Not enough games this past weekend to come up with ten things- not on the amount of cold medicine I’m taking, anyway. So here goes:
1. So did LSU dress their third-team for the first half or what? No first downs in the first half, one TD that came on a punt return, and a 10-7 deficit. In the second half, the defense got a shutout and they scored five TDs. The Tiger faithful better hope they don’t come out that flat against Alabama in the title game, not that I would expect them to.
2. Guess my read on Clemson’s mental state was a bit off. That’s why I’m picking games on my sofa with a laptop and not on an ESPN set with a teleprompter.
3. Lot of respect for Oklahoma State. That’s a very good team, and OSU-LSU would have been an entertaining BCS game as well.
4. Props also to Southern Miss for taking down undefeated Houston 49-28. They played extremely well in all phases of the game.
5. Don’t get me wrong, I love bowl season, but I’d love a playoff system of some kind even more.
Kentucky Wildcats' fans have a lot to cheer about after their team knocked off #5 North Carolina to maintain their place atop the AP Poll. (image via ukathletics.com)
NCAA basketball is the purest form of basketball in the world.
You can take that to the bank. The NBA, the Olympics, the World Championships; none of them come close to the parity and team skill that the NCAA holds. From week to week, any given team can shoot poorly, play shoddy defence or simply come out flat. And they pay the price. Eventually, the better teams will find a way to win those poor-shooting games, rising them to top of the pile. But in November, these March-bound teams are still learning from their mistakes.
And boy, is it ever fun to watch.
Points of interest from Week 4:
Xavier (was #11) stuns Vanderbilt (was #20) at home in an overtime comeback win, 82-70, Monday night. Xavier outscored Vandy 16-4 in the extra frame.
Michigan (former #15) fell to Virginia on Tuesday night. The game was close until around the middle of the second half. Then Michigan looked like a Junior Varsity team, watching their older brethren run them all over the floor. That is Michigan’s second loss in their last three.
Duke (former #3) and Ohio State (former #2) met up in a rare early-season clash of titans on Tuesday night. In what was supposed to be a very close game, Ohio State could rarely miss against a decent Duke defence, finally setting for a 22 point win, 85-63. This game was over early; hopefully a late-season rematch will produce a better game.
North Carolina (was #5) topped Wisconsin (was #9) on Wednesday night, 60-57, in Chapel Hill, NC. In a game that no one seemed to want to win – there was sloppy play all over the place: missed layups, bad passing, terrible shot selection – the low final score reflects a mediocre game.
In a “you need to keep an eye on this team” game, Indiana (8-0, NR) easily knocked off North Carolina State (NR) 86-75 on NC State’s home floor, on Wednesday night. At 8-0, Indiana may play themselves into earning a spot in the Top 25.
Syracuse (#4) continues their run, despite sideline distractions, and knocked off visiting #10 Florida, 72-68 on Friday night.
It took overtime, but #6 Louisville took out a feisty Vanderbilt (was #20) 62-60, also on Friday night.
After a mediocre showing against Wisconsin, North Carolina (was #5) traveled to Kentucky (#1) on Saturday. In a very good game that went back and forth, Kentucky came out on top, 73-72, with a last-second shot block to preserve their #1 ranking.
In another “you should watch this team” game, Illinois (was NR, now #24) beat Gonzaga (was #19, now #24) 82-75 to preserve their perfect record, now standing at 8-0.
Speaking of perfect records, the Marquette Golden Eagles (were #16, now #11) now sit at 7-0 after beating Wisconsin (was #9) 61-54. That marks Wisconsin’s second loss this past week to a ranked opponent, dropping the Badgers to #14 in the AP Poll.
After starting 8-0, UNLV (was #18, now NR) fell to an inferior Wichita State on Sunday night, 89-70. Sorry UNLV, but if you want to stay in the rankings, you can’t lose these gimme games.
Upcoming games to watch, Week 5:
Ohio State (#2) drops in to Kansas (#13) on Saturday afternoon in what should be a pretty good battle. Tip-off time is at 3:15 EST.
#12 Florida hosts the formerly ranked Arizona on Wednesday night in a must-win game for the Wildcats. If they want their resumé to stand out in March, these are the games they need to win to turn their season around.
#9 Connecticut hosts the newly ranked #25 Harvard Crimson. Don’t adjust your monitors, that really does say “Harvard”. Tip-off is Thursday night, 7PM EST.
Associated Press Poll, December 5, 2011
1. Kentucky
2. Ohio State
3. Syracuse
4. North Carolina
5. Louisville
6. Baylor
7. Duke
8. Xavier
9. Connecticut
10. Missouri
11. Marquette
12. Florida
13. Kansas
14. Wisconsin
15. Pittsburgh
16. Alabama
17. Mississippi State
18. Georgetown
19. Creighton
20. Michigan
21. Memphis
22. Texas A&M
23. Gonzaga
24. Illinois
25. Harvard
Welcome to the rankings Creighton Blue Jays, Illinois FIghting Illini, Georgetown Bulldogs, and the aforementioned Harvard Crimson. Seriously… Harvard.
