Around The Blogosphere: February 12, 2011
Posted by nvr1983 on February 12th, 2011
If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com. We will add to this post throughout the day as the submissions come in so keep on sending them.
Pre-Game Anlaysis
- #1 Ohio State at #11 Wisconsin: “Ohio State takes its undefeated record and #1 ranking to Madison, WI today for what should be the toughest test of the season thus far. OSU coach Thad Matta is 0-7 on the road against Wisconsin since taking over the team but a win in this game would erase all of the previous frustration. Not only would it preserve the ranking and record, but it would solidify the team’s reputation and also gain a small measure of revenge for the football team’s lone loss of the 2010 season.” (Eleven Warriors)
- Baylor at #2 Texas: “The University of Texas men’s basketball team (21-3, 9-0) returns to action on Saturday afternoon to host the Baylor Bears (16-7, 6-4), who after losing 23 straight games to Rick Barnes and Texas, have won the last four meetings dating back to the 2009 Big XII Tournament. The Bears swept the Longhorns last season, including a pair of double-digit wins in Waco and Kansas City.” (Burnt Orange Nation)
- Iowa State at #3 Kansas: “Round two against the Cyclones and a lot has changed since the first meeting in Hilton Coliseum. For the Jayhawks part the play on the court has improved a great deal. After a sluggish start to begin conference play the Jayhawks have looked a bit like a machine over the last five, especially on the offensive end. This one’s a home game, no Hilton magic. Right around the corner sits a Big Monday matchup against in state rival Kansas State. For Kansas it’s important to keep taking it one game at a time and bringing the defense along to a level that matches the impressive offensive tone.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
- #12 Syracuse at #19 Louisville: “With five losses in seven games, the Orange need a break. They need a chance to course correct and work out their many issues. They will not receive any such break this weekend. Instead, they’ll play a team they haven’t beaten since 2006 and haven’t beaten on the road since they joined the conference.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
- Oklahoma at #15 Missouri: “One of my favorite parts of the basketball offseason happened last April, when I was attempting to run some initial projections for the 2010-11 Big 12 season. Oklahoma had just suffered an incredible amount of attrition and had yet to really secure any commitments from replacements. My projections had walk-ons playing semi-significant minutes … and had Oklahoma’s projected conference wins at minus-1. I still giggle about that a little. Well, Jeff Capel did get some honest-to-god scholarship players to fill the roster, and despite a precarious start to the season, Oklahoma hasn’t been downright terrible. They haven’t necessarily been GOOD, by any means, but … with four conference wins, they officially have five more conference wins than projected. So good on them for that.” (Rock M Nation)
- #18 Kentucky at #23 Vanderbilt: “Saturday afternoon, the Kentucky Wildcats travel down to Nashville to face the Vanderbilt Commodores in venerable Memorial Gymnasium. This has been a competitive contest now for a good number of years, and this year figures to be no different. The Wildcats take a weak 1-4 road record with them down I-65 with an eye toward making that look at least one game closer to .500.” (A Sea of Blue)
- Tennessee at #21 Florida: “After the Vols followed up with a 12 point loss in Lexington, we arrive at the latest edition of “most important game of the year”. And this one has a combination of the elements found in the previous three: team on a losing streak, season could go one of two ways, and yet, championship implications. It’s not a must-win for NCAA Tournament purposes, but it absolutely is for SEC division and/or conference title purposes. And thanks to the dog-eat-dog reality of the SEC in 2011, a win for the Vols in Gainesville could pull them within a game of the Gators and the Tide for the conference lead.” (Rocky Top Talk)
- Indiana at Michigan: “The bottom seven teams in the Big Ten all have Pomeroy rankings that fall somewhere between 40 and 75. Because of the relative strength of the conference’s bottom half, it should come as no surprise that Indiana, tied for last in the standings, isn’t that bad of a team. Indiana managed to knock off Illinois and Minnesota at home and lost at Michigan State by just one point in overtime. Don’t let their record fool you, Indiana’s efficiency margin is almost identical to Michigan’s and the Hoosiers handled Michigan with ease in Bloomington.” (UM Hoops)
- Maryland at Boston College: With both teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble this is a game that would be huge for Maryland to win and would be a big blow for the Eagles to lose at home. (Testudo Times)
- Oregon State at UCLA: Analyzing a big home game for the Bruins as they hope to stay in contention for a NCAA bid. (Bruins Nation)
- Georgia Tech at Virginia Tech: “It’s a BLACKOUT, people, when the lowly Yellow Jackets buzz up to the Cassell on Sunday to face the Hokies, it will be as close to a must win as you get. Tech (Tech = VT, duh) sits firmly on the NCAA Tournament bubble with seven regular season games to go and cannot afford to get swept by a bad Georgia Tech team that is without their third leading scorer and best 3-point shooter, Brian Oliver, who torched the Hokies for 28 in the ATL.” (Tech Hoops)
News/Analysis
- Top Recruits Continue To Bedevil Illinois’ Bruce Weber: Recounting some of the major in-state recruits that Bruce Weber has failed to land during his time at Illinois. (Lost Letterman)
- NCAA Basketball: Memorial Magic Temporarily Blinds Tim Higgins: Taking Tim Higgins to task for his call at the end of the Alabama-Vanderbilt game. (A Sea of Blue)
- What Has Been The Difference For The Kansas Jayhawks?: A look at how and why the Jayhawks have turned around their season in the past few games. (Rock Chalk Talk)
- Was Georgetown’s Road Win At Syracuse The Best In John Thompson III’s Tenure?: Looking back at some recent big wins for the Hoyas and analyzing how this week’s win against Syracuse stacks up. (Casual Hoya)
- Calling Out My Fellow UCLA Season Ticket Holders: “I have been a season ticket holder for 18 years, and have watched the slow disintegration of season ticket holder support. Last night finally got to me. I won’t discuss student support/attendance etc. I will leave that to others, but to my fellow season ticket holders, we need to talk.” (Bruins Nation)
- Conference Differentials, Part 11/02/11: Breaking down the Big East through some advanced metrics. (Villanova by the Numbers)
