Here are Thursday’s Check-Ins.  A definite west coast flava today…

Big East – Rob Dauster of Ballin is a Habit (READ MORE)

So, as any reasonable blogger would do, I’ll compare.  Last year on December 16th, the Big East was 116-28 as a league. This year? 119-29. That’s a one game difference in the loss column.  Crazy, right?  Now take into account the disastrous weekend the league just had, and it is pretty obvious that as of last Friday, the Big East was well beyond where they were at this same point last season, and last season the conference was considered one of the best ever. (…)

Mountain West – Andrew Murawa  (READ MORE)

There will be an uptick in the number of games played over the next week, as finals wrap up and schools get a chance to stretch out a bit, and a couple more early-season tournaments will play out, as BYU takes part in the Vegas Classic and UNLV plays in the Diamond Head Classic.  But the subtext over the next couple of weeks will be preparation for conference play which looms on the not-too-distant horizon.  (…)

Pac-10 – Ryan ZumMallen of LBPostSports.com (READ MORE)

[The Pac-10 is] a conference of classes, with Washington and California clearly the best teams (despite recent trouble), then a clear three-team middle class and a dreadful five-team bottom class.  Most teams have scheduled cake opponents to build some confidence before heading into the Pac-10 schedule, but that may not be enough to fool voters into handing out at-large bids come March. […]

WCC – Michael Vernetti  (READ MORE)

Although the overall conference landscape didn’t change much within the week, a mystery team has emerged in the form of Loyola Marymount. After stumbling through some early-season highs and lows, including a 67-59 win over cross-town rival USC on Nov. 21 that followed a deflating 84-78 home loss to UC Irvine, the Lions pulled off a stunning 87-85 upset over Notre Dame on Dec. 12 behind a Jared DuBois 3-pointer with eight seconds remaining. To say the Fighting Irish don’t often lose at home to non-Big East teams is a bit of an understatement – the last time it happened was four years and 41 victories ago.  (…)

Here are Wednesday’s Check-ins excerpted in case you missed them listed above.

Atlantic 10 – Joe Dzuback (MORE HERE)

Common Opponent Analysis: Providence.  Both Rhode Island and George Washington hosted the Providence Friars within a 4 day period. How did the Rams and Colonials match up against a common opponent under similar circumstances? Rhode Island won a 3-point decision (86-83), while George Washington lost by a whopping 27 points (110-83). As the table shows, both teams played about 78 possessions (lower than they usually play — Pomeroy shows about 80 possessions per game), and have work to do on their respective defenses. And both teams are close on offense, garnering over 1.0 points per possession while converting their own field goal attempts in the low-mid 40s (eFG% — 44.0% for the Rams and 43.2% for the Colonials). Providence, a perimeter-oriented team under Coach Keno Davis, allowed both A10 opponents to rebound a high percentage of their own misses (47.1% and 51.1% to URI and GWU respectively), but The Rams’ frontcourt experience showed in their defensive rebounding numbers, holding the Friars to less than 30% of their misses (29.7%), even as GWU yielded 34% of the defensive rebounds, more typical of D1 basketball teams. The Friars took over twice as many 3s against George Washington as they did against Rhode Island, suggesting the Rams did a better job of defending the perimeter than the Colonials. Providence converted their 3s at a 55.2% clip, largely the reason for the Colonials’ disappointing 64.6% eFG% on defense. The Rams forced turnovers, somewhat unexpected against a perimeter-oriented team like PC, while the Colonials put the Friars on the line about once for every two field goal attempts, again unusual for a perimeter-oriented team. Conclusion: Rhode Island looks like they may be close to ready for conference play, while George Washington may need more work.  (…)

Big 12 – Patrick Sellars (MORE HERE)

As we said in this post yesterday, we’re handling our conference check-ins a little differently now.  We’ll be posting them on a daily schedule, as usual, but they won’t be posted in full on the main page.  Rather, you’ll need to check the little box above to see what the latest conference check-ins are.  To jog the memory, we’ll also be posting daily excerpts of the previous day’s check-ins, at least for a while to get everyone used to the change. 

Yesterday, we had check-ins from the Big Ten and the SEC…

Big Ten – Jason Prziborowski (READ MORE)

Was Butler a fluke or is Ohio State on the verge of dropping out of the top 25?  Butler is definitely on the way back up, but I am questioning whether OSU has enough in its tank to make up the difference. William Buford, who is averaging 12/4 on the year, stepped up for 20/7 for the Buckeyes. David Lighty, who is 12/5 on the year, went for 16/7 against the bulldogs. OSU is averaging 85.4 points per game this season, and scored just 66 against Butler. That’s about the gap of one Evan Turner.  (…)

SEC – Paul Jordan (READ MORE)

It was a very slow week in the SEC as three teams did not see any action at all.  Kentucky and Mississippi State represented the SEC well in the SEC/Big East Invitational while Florida and Georgia lost their matchups.  Both Mississippi teams have been coming on strong and supplying some firepower to the West; Tennessee has only one setback and they should challenge UK all season.  The big story for the rest of the year will be the race to 2000 wins between UK and North Carolina.  Kentucky has pretty much assured themselves of being the first team to break the 2000-win plateau as they currently have 1998 wins to 1992 for UNC.  (…)

You may have noticed that our daily conference check-ins of nearly every D1 conference have oddly disappeared from view on our front page in the last 24 hours.  Or maybe you haven’t.  Regardless, this is not a mistake.  As part of the re-design that we’re trying so very hard to finish, we’re streamlining the site to make it easier for everyone to navigate.  So you’ve probably noticed a couple of new additions to the top of the site.  Let’s briefly cover how you can find the latest Conference Check-Ins that we know so many of you rely on with your morning espresso and croissants.  First, the schedule:

With the caveat that there are often other mitigating factors both with our correspondents and ourselves in terms of getting these up on time, here’s the ideal schedule. 

• Mondays – ACC, MVC, Big 12
• Tuesdays – Big 10, SEC
• Wednesdays – Big East, Atlantic 10
• Thursdays – Pac-10, WAC, Mountain West, WCC
• Mid-Major Fridays (every other week) – Horizon, Ivy, MAAC, SoCon, Summit, America East, Big West, MAC
• Mid-Major Fridays (every other week) – Horizon, NEC, Atlantic Sun, OVC, Patriot, Big South, Big Sky, Sun Belt

Next, the Navigation Bar at the top.  Pretty self-explanatory.  Each of the conferences we have regular check-ins for are alphabetically represented on this list.  So if you want to read the last six check-ins for the Big East (from most recent to oldest), this bar is where you’d do it. 

Next, you’ve undoubtedly noticed the four little boxes hanging out just above the top post.  The second box from the left contains the most recent twelve conference check-ins that we have posted.  So, for example, as of this morning, our most recent check-ins were our weekly looks at the Missouri Valley and the ACC, both of which were posted yesterday.  Prior to that was the Pac-10 over the weekend, and before that was a bunch from last Friday’s mid-major conference check-in day.  This is where you’ll want to come each day that your favorite conference is posted.

The final thing we’re going to try to do is provide one post each day that will excerpt that day’s check-ins so that you don’t forget that we’re doing these things.  We’ll see how this goes and reserve the right to change this around if necessary.  But for now, here are the excerpted versions of Monday’s ACC and MVC updates…

ACC – Steve Moore  (READ MORE)

RAMBLING RANT OF THE WEEK: The only news to come out of North Carolina’s rout of Presbyterian was this little tale from the uber-sensitive-snotty-coach file. In short, a Presbyterian fan (I know, I laughed too) shouted “Deon, you’re gonna miss it!” to Deon Thompson as he was shooting a free throw. Roy Williams was so upset that he had security escort the fan out of the building. I mean, are you kidding me Roy? Have you listened to what fans say at Duke games, or what your own fans say? Considering the score, this guy ­was probably being sarcastic, or at least just showing some pride for his school. Laugh if you want, or pass back an autographed Gatorade cup as a joke. But you’re gonna have him kicked out? This is the same guy who ripped his own fans for not coming to one of his cupcake-fests earlier this year. Grow up, Roy. You have a great team, a great fanbase, and more money and job security than you ever dreamed of. Act like a professional who has actually been to a college basketball game once in your life.  (…)

Missouri Valley – Patrick Marshall  (READ MORE)

Missouri St. wins two more games.  The Bears are continuing to win, much to the chagrin of my pre-season rankings. I thought they would have at least 3 losses by now. Home court advantage was probably a help to their early success, but they also have two wins on the road and are in the middle of a three-game road trip. It would be pretty amazing if they finish the non-conference season undefeated by getting road wins at St. Louis and Arkansas, both very winnable games. (…)

Now that we’re into the practice portion of the season and games begin in three short weeks, RTC needs to complement our extensive network of conference correspondents with some folks in different regions of the country who would like to become RTC Regional Correspondents.

If you’re someone who keeps a sharp eye and ear about the college basketball goings-on in your area – nothing really gets past you – then shoot us an email and tell us a little bit about yourself.  Ideally, you’d have experience working in print or online media and can write a sentence or two without your head exploding, but that’s not an absolute requirement if you pay close attention to hoops in your area and understand the kinds of things we’re looking for.  Here are the preferred criteria:

• You pay very close attention to college basketball in your region.
• You are technically savvy.
• You have some experience in print/online media.
• You can write in plain English.
• You’re dependable, reliable and responsive (quick turnaround on emails).
• You’re willing to be paid in milksteak (boiled over raw) and jelly beans.

If you think any or all of those criteria sound like you, send us an email at rushthecourt@yahoo.com for more information.

Note: if you’re an exceptional writer, we’re also still seeking a conference correspondent for the Big 12 Conference.

RTC is growing and we’re in dire need of an intern who has a love for college hoops and a keen sense of how to aggregate and analyze news from various RSS feeds.  We can’t pay you any actual funds, but if you’re in college, we may be able to work with your school to provide credit for the few hours a week you’d be giving us.   If you’re looking to move into blogging and/or writing, working at RTC could boost your career prospects, and if things work out on the initial tasks, there is also a possibility of writing assignments going forward. 

Send a one-paragraph description of yourself to rushthecourt@yahoo.com and why your skills and talents would make for a good fit at RTC.  Please refer specifically to how you keep up with sports news (particularly college basketball news) and how you would analytically distinguish between hundreds of daily stories to isolate key issues and trends in the news. 

And if you look at all similar to this prospective intern, please send a photo. 

Hello again, everybody, and welcome to our new home, rushthecourt.net!

This was a long overdue move, but thanks to the encouragement of several of our correspondents, the fine folks at Fantasy Sports Ventures and affiliates, as well as technical assistance from The Blog Doctor, we consider ourselves to be all growed up and ready to take on the interwebs sans our security blanket known as wordpress.com.

That is, until you guys crash the site when we put up another ridiculous Ugly Floors post.

Shirt/Tie or Pants? You Choose.

Seriously, though, we like to think of ourselves as a legitimate source of college hoops analysis and commentary, so we figured it was time to start acting like one.  So we’re suiting up (ok, maybe not a suit/tie combo, but we’ll consider a dress shirt, unbuttoned at the collar) and we’re ready to move into the extended adolescence of this joint.

And if you can find the old site, you can find this one, because, well, you should have been re-directed here.  Go ahead, try it.

Not much else has changed other than the fact we’re now affiliated with FSV, who will provide RTC an opportunity to network within their vast cache of sites and blogs to improve our daily content around here for you, the readers.   Take a look at some of the names on their affiliate list and you’ll see why this was an easy decision for us.

So whether this is your first time to RTC or you’re a long-time reader, we welcome you to our new home like Greg Paulus defending in the paint – with open arms and nary a hint of resistance.

As you know if you read this blog, we take pride in providing our readers with the most comprehensive coverage of all 31 Division I conferences available in the so-called alt-media.  But given our pitiful pay scale, sometimes perfectly good correspondents lose interest in providing their usual excellent coverage, and we need to find some new reliable bloggers/writers who are willing to step in and take over for certain leagues.  This is especially important as we move into conference season and start thinking about bubbles and brackets over the next ten weeks until Selection Sunday.  So please, if you have any interest in becoming an RTC correspondent for one or more of the below conferences, or if you know of someone who would, please drop us a comment below or send us an email.

Conferences Needing Correspondents

• Atlantic Sun
• Southern
  
• Southland
• SEC

Email us at rushthecourtATyahooDOTcom if you think you can help…

We at Rush the Court are pleased and honored to introduce you to our stable of world-class hoopologists, who will be serving you up tasty weekly servings of creamy nougat involving each of the 31 Division I conferences.  Each of our correspondents endured a vetting and due diligence process that would make Sarah Palin blush, and as a result, we’re here to offer you some of the most knowledgeable minds in the blogosphere for each of these conferences.  You’ve met each of these writers before with our 2008-09 Season Primers, but you’ll be seeing them a lot more often beginning this weekend, so let’s get comfortable with their names and schedules for the rest of the season.

Sundays through Thursdays will be high-major days at RTC. The thirteen leagues that typically send multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament will be covered by our correspondents during the bulk of the week.  Each league will have a new post on its scheduled day throughout the season.  Let’s meet them.

Sundays Beginning 11.23.08

• Missouri Valley – Patrick Marshall (Bluejay Basketball)
• Conference USA – Allen R
• Colonial – Ryan Kish (George Mason Basketball)

Mondays Beginning 11.24.08

• ACC – Zach Smith (Old Gold & Blog and DeaconsIllustrated)
• Big 12 – Patrick Marshall (Bluejay Basketball)

Tuesdays Beginning 11.25.08

• Big Ten – Josh & Mike (Big Ten Geeks)
• SEC – Kurt (SEC Hoops: The Good, The Bad, The Dirty)

Wednesdays Beginning 11.26.08

• Big East – Rob Dauster (Ballin is a Habit)
• Atlantic 10 – College Chalk Talk

Thursdays Beginning 11.27.08

• Pac-10 – RTC
• WAC – Kevin McCarthy (Parsing The WAC) and Sam Wasson (bleedCrimson.net)
• West Coast – Michael Chin
• Mountain West – Jordan Freemeyer

Fridays will be mid-major day at RTC.  There are eighteen D1 leagues that we qualify as typical one-bid leagues (the ‘mid-majors’).  These correspondents will report on their leagues every two weeks, resulting in an alternate-Friday schedule for each league, half of the group each week.  Let’s meet these bloggers as well.

Every Other Friday Beginning 11.21.08

• SWAC – JC  (HBCUSportsBlog)
• Horizon – Damon Lewis (Horizon League Network)
• Ivy – David Zeitlin
• Big West – Ryan ZumMallen (LBPOSTSports)
• MAAC – Ray Floriani (College Chalk Talk)
• MAC – Greg Miller (WPSD Local 6)
• Southern – Andrew Baker (Mid Major Review)
• Summitt – Ryan Pravato (collegefastbreak.com)
• Sun Belt – Rick Henderson (The Owl’s Nest)

Every other Friday Beginning 11.28.08

• MEAC – JC  (HBCUSportsBlog)
• Northeast – Ray Floriani (College Chalk Talk)
• Atlantic Sun – Andrew Baker (Mid Major Review)
• Patriot –  Marty Leon
• Ohio Valley – Ron Harris
• Southland  – RTC
• Big South – Mark Bryant  (Big South SHOUT)
• Big Sky – Jordan Freemeyer
• America East – Corey Johns

Ok, so we’ve gotten some really good responses the past few weeks from our initial outreach for correspondents from each of the 31 conferences.  We’re still a solid month out from Midnight Madness, though, and we have multiple tasty slots still available.  So come on people, help us take America back as an RTC correspondent! 

Here is a list of the conferences still available.  Hit us up at rushthecourtATyahooDOTcom if you’re interested (and we understand if nobody in America wants to write about the Big 10 – really, we do).

• America East
• Big South
• Big 10
• Big West
• Conference USA
• Horizon
• Ivy
• MAC
• MEAC
• Mountain West
• OVC
• Patriot
• Southland
• Summit
• Sun Belt
• SWAC
• WCC

Become an RTC correspondent – we’ll pay you in timely, well-intentioned platitudes!