For all of us around here, it’s Christmas, our birthday, graduation and St. Patty’s all in one — Selection Sunday. A true national holiday. Let’s celebrate with some analysis and chat throughout the show this evening. Join us!
Game #220: The eyes of the college basketball world are on Indianapolis for other reasons, today. But first, there’s the small matter of the Big Ten Tournament title game.
Here’s the biggest reason why this will be an interesting one: Ohio State knows its status. It’s not just a 1-seed. It’s the 1-seed. Even a loss here won’t change that. They’re playing for the right to print t-shirts, cut nets, and to take home that big brass and wood trophy sitting about 30 feet from where I type this. Penn State is playing for all of that, and maybe even their Tournament existence. Can the Buckeyes avoid playing this game without one eye focused on a bracket that’s being pieced together mere minutes from here? You know where the Nittany Lions’ focus is. Join us just before 3:30 PM ET as we see how it plays out.
Game #219. The top two programs in the SEC meet on Sunday afternoon with a championship on the line.
In yesterday’s semifinal matchup with Vanderbilt, Florida guards Kenny Boynton and Erving Walker took over in the second half to recover from a 12-point deficit. The two guards shot a combined 8-15 from behind the arc, an uncharacteristic number from a pair that often struggles from three. The team as a whole shot 11-21 from three. The Gators had to make a second consecutive second half comeback to get the win. Kentucky on the other hand easily cruised past SEC West leader Alabama, leading at one point by as many as many as 26. Kentucky Coach Calipari shrugged the performance off as one of those days where you just can’t go wrong saying, “We’d have smacked anybody the way we played today.” He also expressed his displeasure with Kentucky’s seven turnovers saying that only having seven turnovers is a sign his team isn’t playing fast enough. Not a lot of coaches out there demanding more turnovers.
Today in the SEC Championship we have the two best teams in the league. They split wins during the season with the home team winning each time. These two programs have learned a special disgust for each other. Yesterday during the Florida/Vanderbilt game a picture of Joakim Noah was displayed on the giant screen as the SEC Tournament stars were honored. That picture caused loud boos from the many Kentucky fans in attendance, so many that they drowned out the Florida cheers. This should be an exciting matchup. Kentucky wins it 71-68.
Game #217. These two teams have played once or twice before, right? RTC Live will experience its first such battle.
Isn’t this the matchup that everyone really wanted deep down? Carolina and Duke, bitterest rivals, settling their split series in the conference finals. The Coliseum is going to be packed and it is going to be loud. Duke, despite the thumping they took in Chapel Hill, is still the better team on paper. Despite Jimmer and Kemba’s masterwork performances, Nolan Smith isn’t done making his case as the best player in college basketball. Yet a surging and emergent Harrison Barnes spell trouble for this Duke team. Carolina is playing like they believe they can’t lose and, given the finishes in their other tournament games, who can blame them? Singler may be the deciding factor. Duke doesn’t need a great game from him to win games, as they showed today against Virginia Tech, but it sure helps. Singler has struggled against the defense of Barnes and John Henson, both possessing the speed and length to match up effectively. Carolina has established itself as the better team on defense, but Duke is no slouch on defense and throughout this season, their offense has been consistently better. Duke wants to prove that they deserve a number one seed, and North Carolina wants to go from being a “dark horse” Final Four pick to an acknowledged member of this year’s most elite teams. Of course this is Duke and Carolina: There may be other stakes, but this games is about pride. For the rest of us, it’s one last scintillating spectacle before the Big Dance starts.
Game #218. Dayton could play bubble buster for any of a number of teams across the country, making this one of the more important games of Selection Sunday.
Two days of great basketball concludes this afternoon as two “sort of Cinderellas”, Dayton (22-12) and Richmond (26-7), go head-to-head for the Atlantic 10 Championship at 1:00 pm in Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ. Cinderella may seem like a strange label – combined they have 48 wins and over 4,400 points scored over 60+ games this season, but both the #1 and #2 seeds in the tournament are gone, and the two teams left standing took them down. Dayton eliminated #1 seed Xavier 68-67, on Friday afternoon, and Richmond broke Temple’s 10 game Boardwalk Hall winning streak, 58-54, on Saturday. Dayton Coach Brian Gregory may use nine or ten players in his normal rotation, but expect to see All-Conference players Chris Wright and Chris Johnson for at least 33 minutes. Richmond Coach Chris Mooney, whose Spiders beat the Flyers 70-61 in Dayton in the team’s only meeting of 2011 will counter with seniors Kevin Anderson and Justin Harper and a supporting cast as solid and deep as Dayton. Join RTC Live at 1:00 pm in the Boardwalk Hall for the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship game.
Game #215. After five days of incredible basketball, it comes down to a NPOY candidate vs. a bunch of unknowns in MSG tonight.
After 14 games in four grueling days at MSG, we have finally reached the Big East Tournament final where UConn and Louisville will be squaring off. The Huskies are playing their fifth game in five days, having knocked off both Pitt and Syracuse in the last two games in instant classics. Louisville played a gem themselves, coming back from 16 points down to beat Notre Dame. Both the Cardinals and the Huskies went to overtime last night. The first time these two teams met up in the regular season went into double overtime. With three overtime games — a record — in this tournament already, can I just go ahead and assume we will be getting an extra five minutes tonight?
Game #215. A third clash of the Mountain West titans occurs tonight in the desert. Jimmer’s 52 and the high NCAA seed on the line makes this must-see television.
We’re back for one last battle in Vegas, as BYU and San Diego State renew their rivalry with the Aztecs hoping to avenge their only two losses on the season. BYU, for their part, still has a potential #1 seed on its mind, and it would also love to leave the MWC with their trophy. We’ll get to see SDSU’s potent frontcourt provide the stiffest challenge for BYU’s Brandon Davies-less roster, and we’ll get to see if the Aztecs have anyone who can slow Jimmer Fredette, fresh off the performance of his career in the semifinals. And if this championship game can in any way live up to their precedent set by the semifinals, we could be in for a classic. Stop by and chat us up if you get a chance, it should be a fun couple hours of basketball.
Game #214. After going to town on a burnt end sandwich, we lick our fingers for the Big 12 Tournament Final in Kansas City.
Kansas and Texas have given us some of the most memorable games in Big 12 history. In 2003, KU beat the Longhorns behind 24 points and 23 rebounds from Nick Collison. In the 2006 Big 12 final, a young Kansas team starting three freshmen and two sophomores shut down LaMarcus Aldridge to capture tournament gold. The next year, Kevin Durant lit up Allen Fieldhouse for 25 first half points and followed it up a week later with a 37-point, six-block effort in the last game of the conference tournament. Kansas and Texas met up again in the 2008 final, with national championship hero (or villain, depending on your tastes) Mario Chalmers torching the nets for 30 points on 8-12 shooting from beyond the arc. This year should be no different. Kansas lost to UT on January 22 after the Jayhawks were up all night grieving with Thomas Robinson over his mother’s death, and were zapped by the second half. Texas took advantage and rolled to victory, and from the minute the clock ran out that day, KU has longed for a second shot at the Longhorns. Both teams have taken care of business this week in Kansas City, and after yesterday’s semifinals played to seed, we very well could have another classic brewing tonight, so pull up a chair and join us as the Big 12 crowns a tournament champ!
Game #207. It’s the game we all anticipated, part three. If it’s anything at all like the game in Tucson, it should be fantastic.
6 pm. Arizona vs. Washington. It’s Wildcats-Huskies Round 3, and if this game is half as good as the game in Tucson, Arizona, we’ll be in for a treat. Arizona and Washington both avenged earlier losses with their semifinal wins over USC and Oregon, respectively. Zona put the clamps on the Trojans’ post game and rode some key performances off its bench (Jordin Mayes and Jamelle Horne each had eight points) into the finals, while the Huskies were in control throughout their 18-point romp over the Ducks. The Wildcats and U-Dub have been the class of the Pac-10 for most of the season, so it’s fitting that they’re squaring off for the tournament title. The last time these two teams faced each other, we were treated to an 87-86 epic that was one of the more entertaining games of the year. With Gus Johnson on the call for CBS, I expect big things Saturday evening in LA.
Games #212-213: The state of Michiganis well-represented here in Indianapolis, which, as we’ve said, may be the most basketball-crazy town we’ve invaded. It’s just silly here. And it’s a beautiful thing.
Today starts off with no less than Ohio State up against Michigan, and you know how those institutions feel about each other. If you think this is only a football rivalry, try telling that to the maize and blue and the scarlet and gray amoeba-like crowds that have taken their positions outside of Conseco Fieldhouse like angry Libyans swarming around Qaddafi’s house. A tad more civilized, this gathering. But Buckeyes vs Wolverines has an intensity all its own, no matter the playing surface. Ohio State is probably still the overall #1 seed in the upcoming, but they’ll have to knock off UM for the third time this season, and that’s never easy. After that, Penn State is playing for sheer Tournament survival while Michigan State attempts to improve upon a week that just may have put them into the Dance. Let us not worry about that, now, though. It’s Big Ten semifinal day, and every player on each of these teams has cast a keen eye on that gigantic trophy sitting over there beside Jim Jackson as they run in and out of the locker room. Michigan vs Ohio State. Penn State vs Michigan State. A basketball-crazy city. Let’s go.
Overnight 5: February 16, 2023
2021-22 Rush The Court Preseason All-America TeamsRTC 16: 2021-2022 Pre-Season Rankings
Preseason Stock Report: Buy Now
Preseason Stock Report: Bear Market
2020-21 Rush the Court All-America Teams and Yearly AwardsEight Questions for the Final FourEight Key Questions for the Sweet Sixteen16 Questions For First Round Saturday of the NCAA Tournament16 Questions for First Round Friday of the NCAA Tournament
