Chris Johnson is an RTC Columnist. He can be reached @ChrisDJohnsonn.

Tonight’s Lede. The “Other” Inter-League Challenge Doesn’t Fail to Entertain. There’s a power shift afoot in college hoops, a big, transcendent, diffusion of brand name programs. Thanks in large part to conference realignment, the sport’s epicenter will soon reside in the ACC and Big Ten. Those two leagues had their fun earlier in the week. On Thursday, the SEC and realignment-riddled Big East grabbed the national spotlight. The traditional Northeastern hoops power league may not stand on solid footing once all this movement settles down for good, but for one night, the conference provided a bit of magic. When Notre Dame ransacked the young Kentucky Wildcats on their home floor, proving the merits of veteran leadership and savvy over recruiting rankings, and temporarily accomplishing the seemingly impossible feat of distracting attention away from an Irish football National Championship season, this clip, culled from the annals of Gladiator, immediately came to mind. Thank you Notre Dame: we are entertained.

Your Watercooler Moment. Will The Real SEC Front-runner Please Stand Up?

Two words describe the Gators beatdown of Marquette in Thursday night’s SEC-Big East challenge tilt: balanced and dominant (Photo credit: AP).

I had serious questions heading into the season about Kentucky’s ability to completely turn over its roster and win an arguably top-heavy SEC. Thursday night’s loss confirmed my doubts. Throw in Florida’s 82-49 drubbing of Marquette, and I’m now fully on board with the Gators’ chances of stealing the league title from the young Wildcats. You may be wondering why I’m so bullish on Florida. This statistical anecdote may help explain: Against the Golden Eagles, a likely NCAA Tournament team, Florida had six players in double figures, and got just six points from leading scorer Kenny Boynton. If Boynton’s going to shoot 2-for-11 and Florida is still blowing a team out, just think what the Gators are capable of when Boynton’s locked in. We knew coming in that Billy Donovan’s team had a fair shot to dethrone Kentucky this season. Thursday night furthered that notion. We’ll get a better sense of Florida’s true value over the next couple weeks. The Gators travel to Florida State on December 5, then 10 days later go out west for a date with Arizona. Win those two games, and you’re talking about one of the best non-conference resumes in the country. Early as it is, this team has the looks of a Final Four outfit. When Billy Donovan has this much talent, national championship aspirations are not at all misguided. This team belongs in that conversation.

At the Buzzer. Your annual Notre Dame court rushing came before Big East play. This one was well-worth it – When you take down the basketball monolith from Lexington, a joyous celebration is in order. Even Heisman Trophy candidate Manti Te’o got into the act (including an interview with Dick Vitale during the game).

Heisman Trophy candidate and star linebacker Manti Te’o celebrates the Irish’s victory (Photo credit: US Presswire).

Tonight’s Quick Hits…

• Breaking: This is Not Last Year’s Kentucky. The headline should not be taken at face value. By now, it’s old news: The Kentucky Wildcats are not the same team as last season’s group. Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress and Nerlens Noel do not equal Marquis Teague, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis. And unlike the incredibly-talented and selfless trio that powered last season’s championship run, this year’s freshmen play to their age and experience levels. Which is totally expected! So it should have come as no huge surprise to see the Wildcats struggle at one of the nation’s most brutal places to play, Purcell Pavilion, against a highly underrated yet very experienced and talented Notre Dame team. Kentucky is going to take its lumps in the non-conference slate. Last season’s instant reward model was an anomaly; it won’t be replicated any time soon (well, ok, maybe next year). Calipari has the unique ability of condensing the high school-college hoops transition process into a five-month period, and with this team, it’s probably going to take all five months. Be patient: Kentucky is trying to find itself. By the time March rolls around, you’ll witness a completely different team.
• With the Bahamas in the Rearview, Memphis Plows Ahead. It’s encouraging to see Memphis bounce back from a discouraging two-loss performance at the Battle 4 Atlantis with a convincing win over Tennessee-Martin. The name you need to know: Shaq Goodwin, the highly touted freshman big man who led the Tigers with 17 points and 12 rebounds. Memphis’ B4A sendoff win over Northern Iowa is a bigger feat, no doubt, but the Tigers needed a confidence-building tune-up to prepare for the rigors ahead. Over the next two weeks and change, Memphis will host undefeated Ohio (who welcomes back pretty much everyone of note from last year’s Sweet Sixteen run) and Lousville. Josh Pastner’s team took its lumps at the loaded B4A — let’s see if it can right the ship in time to salvage a respectable nonconference portfolio.
• Basketball Life In the Big Apple. One of the early prizes of Steve Lavin’s recruiting voyages, De’Angelo Harrison, passed on the NBA after an impressive freshman campaign. At this point, following yet another 20-or-more scoring night, his sixth in seven games this season, you’d have a hard time convincing Harrison he made the wrong decision. The Red Storm bumrushed South Carolina in Queens Thursday night. Harrison’s 27 points were the main takeaway, but almost equally impressive is the way Lavin has his young team playing cohesive and disciplined basketball. There’s no mistaking the general improvement in this team’s togetherness and familiarity, and Lavin deserves a huge share of credit for fending off his recent ailments and returning to the sidelines with poise and aplomb.

…and Misses

• The Poorest-Timed Program Cover of All Time. In case you missed the big news out of Westwood Wednesday afternoon that embattled and forever over-hefty center Josh Smith decided to leave the program, you might not have appreciated the suddenly ironic image plastered on the cover of UCLA’s game program for the Bruins’ game last night against Cal State Northridge. But there he was, his 6’ 10’’, 305-pound likeness, front and center on the standard information packet. On such short notice, it’s difficult to blame the folks at UCLA’s sports information department. No one can flip a major production staple like game programs in such a tight window. So the Bruins’ fans who did show up to witness their team actually win a game – after losing to Cal Poly, every victory is savored – got the added bonus of taking home a UCLA game day relic, and a hilariously timed one at that.
• The Latest Larry Bird Namedrop. The default comparison for any white player taller than 6’ 7’’ with unique a unique offensive skill set is Larry Bird. Parallels have been drawn with the likes of Adam Morrison and Wally Sczerbiak, just to name a couple, and in every case, the label’s been completely misguided. Creighton’s Doug McDermott received the lofty name-check Wednesday courtesy of St. Joe’s head coach Phil Martelli. “This kid is Larry Bird. McDermott is Larry Bird. He is this year’s Larry Bird. He has all the stuff,” Martelli told the Philadelphia Inquirer. No disrespect to McDermott, but Larry Legend is a once-an-era generational talent. Bird’s air does not reside in this year’s class of players, nor is it likely to pop up any time soon. It’s time we bury any and all Bird comparisons; neither McDermott nor anyone else currently in basketball fits that bill.
• Tigers’ Backcourt Loses Major Piece. So there goes any lingering hope of Missouri suiting up one of the most dazzling backcourt duos in recent memory. Few sights in college basketball are more entertaining than Phil Pressey and Michael Dixon, flying up the floor, flinging cross-court passes and pin-pointing open shooters in space. Forget about the possibilities – Dixon’s career at Missouri is over. The senior guard faced sexual allegations stemming from an August incident with a woman, and was penalized by the University for his actions. The reason behind his early-season suspension was kept under wraps until this week. Now we know the cause for his absence, and it’s costing Dixon the potential of playing for a national championship-caliber team in his senior season. Pity, too, because Dixon’s far and away one of the most exciting open-court ball-handlers in the country.
• Explorers Did Not Like What They Found in Spokane. Historically, Lewis and Clark are significant actors in our nation’s founding. On Thursday night, their legacy school ventured into Spokane, WA. Their voyage ended in embarrassment. There’s no shame in losing to Gonzaga, particularly not at a time when the Bulldogs have the look of a top-10 team. This result was significant more for what Gonzaga was able to do despite sitting two of its best players, Elias Harris and Gary Bell Jr. Redshirt freshman Kyle Draginis seized the moment by scoring a season-high 30 points in the rout. Gonzaga is about to enter a four-week stretch of high-level competition, with Illinois, Kansas State, Baylor and Oklahoma State all featured on the December docket.

Dunkdafied. A one-day waiting period doesn’t dull the sheer athletic brilliance of this Mason Plumlee dunk. The fluidity and timing of this jam, completed at high speed, requires a suspension of disbelief. Hats off to Duke’s premier big.

Thursday Night’s All-Americans.

• Kyle Dranginis, Gonzaga (NPOY) – Sure, it was Lewis Clark State, but Dranginis will take his 30 points, six rebounds and seven assists any way he can get them.
  
• D’Angelo Harrison, St. John’s – If there’s one thing we know about St. John’s, it’s that Harrison will give you 26 points on a nightly basis. His 26 points and six rebounds helped the Red Storm pick up a nice win over South Carolina in the Big East/SEC challenge.
• Jack Cooley, Notre Dame – The tall trees of Kentucky’s young front line have nothing on Cooley, who finished with 13 points and 11 rebounds in the big Notre Dame win.
• Michael Frazier II, Florida – Did the Gators find another potent scoring guard to throw in their dangerous rotation? Looks like it. Frazier, who had a team-high 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting against Marquette, was just what the doctor ordered to ease Boyton’s shooting woes.
• Shaq Goodwin, Memphis – Once Josh Pastner figures out how to groom all his young talent into a coherent and self-contained ensemble, watch out. Goodwin, who finished with 17 points and 12 rebounds, is yet another product of Pastner’s recruiting prowess.

Tweet of the Night. An out of character sartorial shakeup from the Irish only added to Kentucky’s frenzied effort at Purcell Pavilion. Lexington Herald-Leader columnist John Clay’s natural recourse: a vain protest to authority. With all due respect, Mr. Clay, Notre Dame delivered a convincing beat down. Jersey swap or not, the outcome was never in doubt.

Those Notre Dame uniforms should be illegal.

— John Clay (@johnclayiv) November 30, 2012

Chris Johnson (290 Posts)

My name is Chris Johnson and I'm a national columnist here at RTC, the co-founder of Northwestern sports site Insidenu.com and a freelance contributor to SI.com.

This entry was posted on Friday, November 30th, 2012 at 5:15 am by Chris Johnson and is filed under after the buzzer, Regular Features. Tagged: florida, gonzaga, josh smith, kentucky, marquette, memphis, Michael Dixon, missouri, notre dame, st johns. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.