College basketball 2009-10 running thread No. 1

How loud should I clear my throat?

 

Southern fans will not be upset to see R.L. Horton graduate.
The Eagles have had some productivity overall through Larry Eustachy's time there but the SOS is always God-awful and the fan support is lacking. Plus, they've not had a standout BMOC-type who's come there.
Eustachy's a good coach, I think, but in a sort of a pit there in Hattiesburg.

 

The anti-Alford sentiment has encompassed Lick. It's so bad, he's getting blamed for the downhill of the program.

Lick's going to be on the podium in about a few minutes. I don't expect him to even bring it up until they get back to Iowa City.

 

IU up 14-9 extreeeeeemely early on what has been a sassy NWestern team.

Also, R.L. Horton has hit a pair of 3-pointers in second half as USM continues to lead UAB by double figures.

 

I don't know why you'd say that about R.L. He hasn't lived up to the hype coming out of high school, but he's been a solid player.

You're right about Southern's SOS, however, and that's because Eustachy insists on taking the NAIA World Tour every season. I can see them playing William Carey every year; it's a crosstown matchup and they usually get a decent gate out of it, but there is no excuse for playing Spring Hill, Dillard and Belhaven. That's four (4) games they played this year that don't count in their "real" W-L record.

That said, they're still making UAB look silly. USM is up 14 with 5 minutes to play. Southern could be a real sleeper next year. They return just about everybody and they signed Rashad Perkins from 6A state champ Starkville High, who can jump out of the gym.

 

I was at the 6A title game last weekend, when my alma mater lost to Perkins and SHS at the Big House in Jackson. (SHS coach Greg Carter told me pregame that MSU had barely even recruited Perkins.)
Were you there, by chance?
Provine and Callaway played a tight 5A title game a few hours earlier.
Perkins better get his grades together, because that's talent that you'd hate to see wasted.

 

Out with the flu all week last week, blitz, but I watched Starkville and Meridian on TV Saturday night. I wouldn't feel too bad about the 'Cats; they return everybody and Rodney Hood will get a year to get a little stronger. Kid's an absolute stud.

For the record, Southern closes out UAB 58-44. They'll play Houston in the semis.

 

Yeah, Hood's had some monster games and comes from family where both parents played D-I at Mississippi State.
Some of his fouls in the championship, including the last one, were awful as far as technique.
He can and will do better, and eventually land a D-I skolly.

And I never said Horton was terrible and anything close. He's just underachieved on that level and been inconsistent.
Southern needs a big-time recruit or two and I hear they and ECU will be joining the Big East this summer.
You down with that?

 

Lot of Big 10 tournament tickets about to hit the market.

Thanks for stopping by IU.

 

A bunch of bubble teams apparently decided that winning in their conference tournaments (Memphis, UAB, Wake, et al). There really are not 64 teams worthy this season. It might actually be good for Utah State and UTEP to lose so that the bubble can be filled by somewhat more legitimate teams.

 

Also, streaming live tv online is amazing. I don't even have cable but I'm able to watch both the Pitt and UNC games side-by-side on pretty good streams.

 

I am adding California and New Mexico to my Sweet 16 list today.
The Bears are as legit as any Top 25 team I've seen and while New Mexico has questions, they will get a good seed and play lesser opponents in the first two games.
That makes:
Duke, Pitt, Villanova, Georgetown, KSU, Kansas, Kentucky, New Mexico, Cal, Michigan State

That leaves 6 spots up for grabs (and some of you might even include Syracuse, which would pull it down to just 5).

Even with all this predictability, the tourney season should be fun to watch.