College basketball thread...

Not been the best decade in T-Town.

 

WTF is Princeton doing in that tournament? Weak field this year. I know they do these things a couple years in advance, and two years ago you would have expected Illinois, Oklahoma State and LSU to be top-25 teams. Still, Maui is usually loaded, and this should be a walk for Duke and Marquette to meet in the finals.

After watching Princeton tonight, I'd say Chaminade has a damn good chance to get a win.

 

not at all, the only saving grace was the Elite 8 run in 2004, but that was a team that barely snuck its way into the dance

 

Not a bad day for rectangular states so far.

Wyoming survives 75-71 at Lamar, North Dakota State wins 90-72 at Tennessee Tech.

 

Just gonna throw this out there, but don't be surprised if Arizona State makes a run in Maui. They're better than a lot of people realize. Might take a bit, but they're going to bite some folks in the Pac-10 this year.

 

they've gotta score first (down 11-0 4:04 in)

 

Make it 14-0 ... so there's that. <Sigh>

 

Chapel Hill is supposed to be loaded, but always try to separate fact from fiction when it comes to hyping that program. Too many of the people who always try and take a baseball bat to Duke seem to forget that the same kind of suck-and-blow stories were written about Chapel Hill when Dean Smith was there.

N.C. State is arguably more talented than it was last year, when a very young team got better, made a really nice run in the ACC Tournament and used the NIT to get some more experience. J.J. Hickson looks to be every bit as good as advertised so far this season.

But it's early, NCSU is being overhyped, the emergence of Hickson could really hinder Ben McCauley's progress from the last year and there's no replacing Engin Atsur's leadership. Sidney Lowe found out in the loss to New Orleans how much this team needs a leader at the point.

Chapel Hill will be pretty good ... chemistry will be the key. Duke will get better if the Devils find any semblance of a post presence. NCSU will be good if a point guard emerges.

 

Dick Vitale told me that Duke is going to be awesome baby with a capital A.

 

First thing first, the Bruins are playing without their preseason All-American point guard, Darren Collison. His return will definitely pick up the pace.

UCLA will never be a team that averages 80-90 points per game because of how well Howland coaches defense. Opponents will have to work and work and work to get open looks, taking the shot clock down deep, which means less offensive opportunities for UCLA.

Having watched a couple games so far, Kevin Love is one of the best outlet passers I've ever seen, on any level. I think what Love will provide the Bruins is more EASY opportunities.

 

They are going in the right direction, but ASU is still a year out. They might be a handful in the second half of conference play.

Trust me, I keep a sharp eye on ASU hoops. I'm just glad the dark ages of Evans and the card counter seem to be over.

 

Fixed.