- USC and first-year head coach Andy Enfield got some terrible news Thursday when it learned that senior guard J.T. Terrell had been declared academically ineligible. After averaging 10.0 PPG in the first three Trojan contests, Terrell sat out the Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday. Add in the West Alabama game last night, which tipped just a few hours after this story broke, and he will miss at least seven games for USC. The Trojans will not have to forfeit the games he appeared in so far this season.
- I don’t know how much basketball you caught yesterday (I saw the majority via a number of shaky streams while working), but Eamonn Brennan was spot on with this piece, calling it “November Madness”. The whole day, the first of ten straight with holiday tournament action, had an early-round NCAA Tournament feel, what with a classic first round Georgetown upset, Charlotte topping Kansas State, a double overtime thriller between UAB and New Mexico, Florida State’s upset of VCU, and 1-3 Boston College taking 18th ranked Connecticut down to the final seconds. The Pac-12 was on the map as well, most notably the Washington schools, although both tumbled with 16 and 18 point losses to Gonzaga and Indiana, respectively. In Boulder, Colorado was able to hold off a pesky UC Santa Barbara team for a 76-68 win, and elsewhere around the west, Utah and Stanford both picked up their third straight wins. November Madness continues today with Washington-Boston College in the 2k Consolation game and UCLA-Morehead State in the Las Vegas Invitational preliminaries, in addition to games like Kansas State-Georgetown, Massachusetts-New Mexico, and Michigan-Florida State being played out across the world.
- Oregon State picked up one of its biggest non-conference wins in recent history last Sunday at Maryland, but the Beavers know it’s only one game and there is plenty left to prove. They are still capable of looking like the team that lost to a lower level MEAC club to open the season, but both the players and coaches are on the same page; the intensity in practice needs to continue. We should see on Tuesday whether the new Beavers or old Beavers come out against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.
- Utah athletic director Chris Hill is attempting to put together a project that I have thought about for a long time; a small tournament between each school in the state. If it goes according to plan, Utah, BYU, Utah State, and Weber State would meet in either a bracketed or round robin event at EnergySolutions Arena in Salt Lake City. The earliest the tournament could start would be 2015, and could come down to whether or not the Aggies would be willing to give up the home-and-home series with the Utes.
- Lastly, we close things out with our weekly football pick’em. While basketball is at the front of everyone’s mind, the final three weeks of football are terrific. Teams are battling in cold weather for bowl bids and BCS positioning, and of course, this is when the rivalry games begin. Last week both Drew and I went 3-3, with me hitting UCLA’s win against Washington and Drew getting Arizona State over Oregon State down in the desert. On the season, I still have a one-game lead, checking in at 61-18 to his 60-19. Our game of the week is a no-brainer, as 17th ranked Arizona State travels to the Rose Bowl to face #14 UCLA in the Pac-12 South Championship. We’re both riding the home-field advantage and taking the Bruins.
| Oregon at Arizona |
Connor: Oregon |
Drew: Oregon |
| Utah at Washington State |
Washington State |
Washington State |
| California at Stanford |
Stanford |
Stanford |
| Arizona State at UCLA |
UCLA 38-35 |
UCLA 31-28 |
| USC at Colorado |
USC |
Colorado |
| Washington at Oregon State |
Oregon State |
Washington |
Connor Pelton (300 Posts)I'm from Portland. College basketball and football is life.