The Lede. What a ho-hum evening of basketball.  There were 19 games on the slate, but only a couple of them were even mildly interesting.  Get used to it.  There is a smattering of games throughout the week, but things don’t really heat up again until Saturday when most schools are finished with exams and heading into the holiday break.

Your Watercooler Moment.  The SEC West should consider seceding from the rest of the conference and joining the Southland.  After yet another embarrassing home loss to a low-major team tonight when LSU lost in overtime to Coastal Carolina, 78-69, the SEC’s redheaded stepchild of a division seemingly cannot get any worse.  Consider that in the first six weeks of this season, the six division members have lost to the following laundry list of national powers: Campbell, Jacksonville, ETSU, UNC-Asheville, Nicholls State, Samford, St. Peter’s and Florida Atlantic.  They have a combined eighteen losses already, which is more than the top twelve teams in the Big East and makes you wonder if Cam Newton has mesmerized everyone from Birmingham to Baton Rouge down there.  According to Pomeroy, the top team (Ole Miss) is the 60th best team in America, and the bottom (Auburn) is 210th, which puts this division roughly on par with the Missouri Valley Conference.  Yet if we put together a hypothetical SEC West/MVC Challenge, we’re pretty confident in asserting that the one-bid Valley would roast this sad-sack collection of southern teams.  Well, the good news is that four of the SEC West division teams rank in the bottom 75 schedules in the country so far, proving that even when you try to cook the books by loading up on easy wins in the non-conference season, the basketball gods may have something else in mind.

Maybe Football-Only is the Way to Go...

Five Games in Five Days.  If it feels like Mississippi State has been playing an awful lot lately, it’s because they have been.  Tonight they beat Nicholls State 67-58 behind Ravern Johnson’s 23/4, but you’ll forgive the Bulldogs if they’re running out of steam.  You see, on Saturday they played and lost to ETSU 63-62; yesterday the Bulldogs defeated NC A&T 74-58; and tomorrow, they’ll play Alabama State in Starkville.  Want more?  Well, on Wednesday, MSU will play its fifth game in five days, this time an exhibition against Belhaven College.  Honestly, we’ve never heard of anything quite like this where a school purposefully scheduled this sort of gauntlet, but there is a rhyme to the reason behind it.  Dee Bost’s nine-game suspension handed down by the NCAA didn’t take place until after the end of the fall semester, which was officially on Saturday.  So the school put together this schedule (along with upcoming games against Virginia Tech, St. Mary’s and three games at the Diamond Head Classic) so that Bost would be able to play in their SEC opener against Alabama on January 8.  We’re not sure if this is pure insanity or utter brilliance, but it’s certainly unique.

Tonight’s Quick Hits...

• SDSU Minus Kawhi Leonard & Chase Tapley.  Down two starters due to illness, the rest of the Aztecs gutted through one of those games that ends in a big-time upset if you allow it to.  Sure, it was exceptionally ugly — a 16-15 halftime score is all you really need to prove that — but Malcolm Thomas went for 18/15 and the SDSU defense held Cal Poly to only 29% from the field in order to secure the win and move to 11-0 on the season.
• Northwestern Still Unbeaten.  They’ve been very quietly going about their business so far this season, but Northwestern’s win over LIU, 81-65, moved the Wildcats to 6-0, its best start in seventeen years.  With three more cupcakes between now and their Big Ten opener against Purdue on New Year’s Eve, the Wildcats are in good position to start 9-0.  This record will not help the RPI all that much because of the weak schedule, but more importantly, it may help the confidence of a team (and fanbase) who is still looking for its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance.
• Well, It Is Called the Badger State.  With Wisconsin’s well-balanced win tonight over Green Bay, Bo Ryan’s team took the crown as the top team in the Badger State for the 2010-11 season.  In consecutive games over the last six days, Wisconsin beat Milwaukee, Marquette and GB, the first time since the 2006-07 season that the Badgers have turned the in-state hat trick.

…and Misses.

• Literally, 0-18. Not many teams will be without two of its best players and shoot 0-18 from three and still win, but San Diego State is one of those teams.  Guard DJ Gay brought in a 48% stroke from distance this season, and left with a 42% one after an 0-7 outing.  Just one of those nights, but SDSU was lucky to get this win.

Tweet of the Night.  With the news that Rick Pitino will take over the coaching reins for the Puerto Rican national team, the jokes kept coming.  Here’s the best:

***** – quit your job and divorce your wife if that’s what it takes to watch this game live
**** – best watched live, but if you must, tivo and watch it tonight as soon as you get home
*** – set your tivo but make sure you watch it later
** – set your tivo but we’ll forgive you if it stays in the queue until 2013
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

Brian Otskey is an RTC contributor.

Tonight begins a week of almost nothing of significance in the college basketball world. Many schools have finals this week resulting in the annual light schedule for this week.  All rankings from RTC and all times eastern.

Florida Atlantic @ Siena – 7:30 pm on Time Warner Cable Sports (*)

Siena enters the game at 2-6 coming off three straight losses. The Saints were expected to contend at the top of the MAAC but they’ve looked ordinary so far. It would be foolish to write them off however as they have quality talent for a mid-major league, talent that’s experienced for the most part. Surprisingly, Siena is 0-4 at home under the direction of first year head coach Mitch Buonaguro. He does have two star players though as Ryan Rossiter and Clarence Jackson are back for their senior seasons in upstate New York. Rossiter has been outstanding, averaging 20/13. Those 13 rebounds are good enough for second in the country behind Kenneth Faried of Morehead State. A key matchup in this game will be Rossiter against FAU’s Kore White who had 18/8 in a win at Mississippi State and was 5-8 from the floor in a victory over South Florida. At 6’8/245, White possesses the height and strength to bang with the 6’9/235 Rossiter. The Owls are 5-4 against D1 competition and have won three straight, including the wins against MSU and USF. They’re led by former St. John’s head coach Mike Jarvis who is trying to work his way back up the coaching ladder. Florida Atlantic takes good care of the ball, ranked eighth in offensive turnover percentage. They should win the turnover battle against a Siena team that averages 16 turnovers a game. Siena may be shorthanded as Owen Wignot missed their last game against Fairfield with a head injury. Wignot has been a valuable weapon, hitting 13 of his 21 three point attempts this season. Jarvis has a shooter of his own in leading scorer Gregg Gantt, averaging 15 PPG and 40% from three. The senior duo of Rossiter and Jackson should do most of the scoring for Siena and Rossiter should especially look to take advantage inside. FAU gives up 51% shooting from inside the arc on average but White should be able to contain him somewhat, at least you’d think so. This should be a pretty good game between two decent mid-major teams, despite Siena’s record.

Green Bay @ Wisconsin – 8 pm on Big Ten Network (*)

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We hate the off-season. The only college basketball there is to watch is whatever we decided to keep saved on our TiVOs or DVRs from the previous season, we’re coming down from the buzz of traveling to see games during the year, and we know there are certain friends we won’t hear from for about six months. Like the rest of college hoopheads, we rely on occasional stories from certain topics to get us through — recruiting, the buildup to the NBA draft, the musical chairs game in the coaching world, and so on. Still, every summer feels longer than the last.

This off-season was different. In addition to the above, we had a little conference realignment, a decision on the fate of the Tournament (specifically, the number of tickets to the dance), and a couple of big-time coaches dealing with scandals from which they’ll most likely never separate themselves. The specter of the Karen Sypher scandal haunted Rick Pitino for months, and Bruce Pearl is still in the middle of dealing with the recruiting scandal he’s heaped upon the Tennessee program.

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Some shakeups in the top five this week as a sea of orange — Tennessee and Syracuse — busted up after huge wins last week.  QnD analysis after the jump…

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Jesse Baumgartner is an RTC contributor.  In this piece he’ll spend each week reviewing the five things he loved and hated about the previous week of college basketball.

The Five Things I Loved This Week

I LOVED…..a good comeback story, in this case Notre Dame’s Carleton Scott. Here’s a guy who didn’t play much his first three years and had an issue of some sort last season that caused him to leave the team for a bit. Well he got his chance this year, and the bouncy 6’8 forward has showed big-time versatility while putting up solid numbers in Irish wins against Georgia, Cal and then Saturday against Gonzaga (a career-high 23 points). It’s nice to see someone with obvious talent taking his final chance, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him on an NBA roster somewhere next season.

Carleton Scott Deserves a Strong Senior Year

I LOVED…..teams who know how to schedule tough. I’m looking at you, Tom Izzo, and you, too, Bruce Pearl. Game after game you send your guys into hostile environments. This week it was Syracuse in New York for the Spartans, and Pitt in Pittsburgh for the Vols. Yes, MSU has struggled thus far, but these tough games are exactly why that team always wins the close ones in March and makes it to the later rounds. Repeat after me: SOFT SCHEDULERS OF THE WORLD UNITE AND CONFORM, you have nothing to lose but your inflated records, media detractors and early tournament exits.

I LOVED…..the creation of the Champions Classic. Much like ESPN’s little 24-hour marathon to start the year, matching up four elite programs gets fans amped up earlier in the season. No complaints here.

I LOVED…..Illinois using the women’s basketball. Loved might not be a strong enough word. It was hilarious, golden, priceless, whatever adjective you want. If you’re like me, your reaction was something to the tune of: no way…..how…..for seven minutes???…..drop on the floor in laughter. In this day and age of increased replays and greater official oversight in sports, it’s nice to know the zebras can still give us an unthinkable gem like that one. And if you’re  Oakland coach Greg Kampe, you’ve gotta wonder what it says about your team that you were significantly more effective with the women’s ball.

I LOVED…..the disparity between some of the nation’s top freshmen. You have the Jared Sullingers who come out and produce from the first game (props for the 40-spot against IUPUI), but then you have the country’s #1 recruit, Harrison Barnes, struggling to have a big impact. It just shows again that at least one year in college can be an extremely valuable tool for this young talent.

Five Things I Hated This Week

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If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• #2 Ohio State 85, Western Carolina 60: “As expected, Thad Matta’s basketball Buckeyes showed a bit more emotion out of the gate and overwhelmed the Western Carolina Catamounts 85-60 this afternoon in venerable St. John Arena.” (Eleven Warriors)
• #8 Georgetown 89, Appalachian State 60: “It’s always interesting to see how a team reacts to a heartbreaking loss. Today’s game for the Georgetown Hoyas was that test. In addition, this team has had the reputation of playing down to competition in the last few years.  Today, none of that mattered. The Hoyas outworked, outmuscled and outhustled Appalachian State in an 89-60 victory.” (Casual Hoya)
• #16 Illinois 86, Northern Colorado 76: The Fighting Illini won despite a lackluster defensive effort. (Hail to the Orange)

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1. How hard is it to lay off the phones? Seriously. We are starting to lose count of all the programs that have gotten in trouble for excessive phone calls and/or text messages. California is the latest program to fall under the NCAA’s microscope for inability to use a phone properly. The alleged infractions occurred in 2008 by a current member of the basketball staff just as Mike Montgomery had taken the job. According to the school, the infractions were discovered during a routine review of records. We don’t expect much to come of this outside a light slap on the wrist, but the NCAA might want to consider either clarifying these rules or start to come down with the hammer on programs to show it has some teeth because it seems like nobody respects any of the rules relating to use of phones.
2. The weekend’s big winner? Louisville. The Cardinals not only pulled off the most impressive win of the weekend knocking off UNLV after a sluggish start, they also landed Rodney Purvis, the top rated point guard in the class of 2012. It looks like all the work that Rick Pitino and the administration at Louisville have been doing is starting to pay dividends with their new facilities likely being a major draw. It is worth noting that Purvis is the second big-time point guard recruit to leave the state of North Carolina to play for a school in Kentucky in the past few years (the other being John Wall).
3. In a surprising piece of news, Angel Garcia is the first player in college basketball this season to opt to forgo the rest of his college eligibility (at least to our knowledge). Garcia, a junior forward at Memphis who was averaging 6.1 points and three rebounds per game this season, is leaving the Tigers to sign a professional contract in Spain. Garcia said that he wished that he did not have to leave Memphis, but that there were mitigating circumstances (family financial pressures).
4. Duke may be still be the #1 team in the country, but the loss of Kyrie Irving for an unspecified amount of time has led many to question whether the Blue Devils can repeat. For those people, Doug Gottlieb offers an explanation of how Duke can change its game plan to succeed even without Irving in the line-up (ESPN Insider required). For those of your who don’t have access, it basically amounts to playing like last year’s team did. While that might work (it did last year), that style of play would probably only make them about #3 or #4 on our list of favorites this year.
5. Wake Forest welcomed Melvin Tabb back to their team on Friday afternoon after previously suspending the 6’8″ forward while he got his academics in order. According to reports, Tabb has met the academic requirements set forth by Jeff Bzdelik and was voted back on the team by the remaining Demon Deacons. While every bit of help is needed by a team that has is barely above .500 against a weak early schedule, Tabb only provides a small part of the production (2.7 points and 2.3 rebounds per game).

From the in-case-you-missed-it department… the weekend’s conference check-ins.

• Atlantic Sun.  East Tennessee State notched an impressive win last Wednesday at Dayton, which had a 40-game winning streak at UD Arena against non-conference foes. So with all that momentum behind them, the Buccaneers naturally went down to USC Upstate and face-planted, losing 60-59 in a game which saw them hit nine of their first 40 shots and blow no less than a dozen layups.
• Big Sky.  Don’t look now, Weber State, but the Lumberjacks of Northern Arizona are on a roll! Coach Mike Adras has his team firing on all cylinders. They have won the last seven games in a row, with three of those wins coming on the road.
• Big South.  While the Big South has mounted appropriate marks of 3-3 against SoCon foes and 2-2 vs. A-Sun opponents so far this season, other records may not reflect as well on the league, most notably an 0-6 total against the Colonial–and throw in a combined 0-4 vs. teams from the MEAC, MVC, and Patriot.
• Missouri Valley.  Everyone anointed Wichita State the preseason favorites. Some thought Creighton was ready to break out even with a new coach. There were others that said Northern Iowa would just reload. But very quietly, Missouri State has strung together the most consistency so far.
• NEC.  A few hours later, St. Francis (NY) came from four down to edge defending NEC champion Robert Morris in Brooklyn. Senior guard Akeem Bennett hit two free throws with four seconds left to put the Terriers on top. Bennett then raced down court and blocked a potential game winning three-point attempt to seal the verdict.  It is going to be that type of year….
• Patriot League.  The Patriot League has yet to win that one game that causes the rest of the Mid-Major world to turn their collective heads in. In years past, the league has beaten the likes of Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Boston College, and Maryland, but right now, the two best wins for the league are against Boston University (Bucknell) and George Washington (Navy)—hardly a blip on the radar.
• Sun Belt.  Tristan Thompson had a masterful four-game stretch for North Texas recently, averaging 26.5 points per game against Rice, Texas State, Texas Arlington and Grambling. Although Josh White and George Odufuwa are also All-Conference performers, nobody’s been better than Thompson.
• WCC.  It began as a whisper earlier in the season, but recent events have given it full throat – the WCC is down this year. Gonzaga, which has waved the conference’s banner brilliantly for over a decade, has stumbled to a 4-4 record, most recently Wednesday’s 81-59 beat-down at Washington State. Saint Mary’s, coming off a Sweet Sixteen year with high expectations, has whiffed in its only two statement games.

The Lede.  It was a relatively quiet weekend in college basketball, as most schools scheduled lightly because they are either already taking or heading into exams.  There was only one matchup between ranked teams, and most everybody else in the Top 25 rolled (17-2 this weekend).  In the two losses — UNLV and Washington — both squads played good teams in their own right in Louisville and Texas A&M on the road.  As we head into the holiday season, the next three weeks will be hit-and-miss (mostly miss) in terms of quality games, with the majority of the pre-conference tournaments finished and schools preferring to not kill themselves immediately before conference play.  Keep this in mind over the next few weeks, though.  With the onset of winter break, teams will have a couple of things going for them.  First, if they’re waiting on a key player who might have been a transfer or academically ineligible, guys such as New Mexico’s Drew Gordon or USC’s Jio Fontan or even Missouri’s Tony Mitchell, there’s a good chance that player will be back and ready to help his team soon.  Second, with classes over and NCAA hours restrictions lifted during the break, coaches can practice as much as they want.  It shouldn’t surprise you in the least if some teams that looked shaky during the first month of the season come back much more polished and stronger after the break.

The UT Defense Outdid Pitt's on Saturday (P-S/M. Freed)

Your Watercooler Moment.  Tennessee Throttles Pitt on the Road.  You have to give it to Bruce Pearl.  When he perceives that his back is against the wall, he comes out with guns blazing, repeatedly doing things considered nearly impossible by those of us who remember how the Vols collapse when the burden of expectations is placed upon them.  Who can forget, for example, the victories over #1 Kansas and #2 Kentucky last season; or, the win at #1 Memphis in 2008; or, the victories over the back-to-back Florida teams in 2006 and 2007?  The man gets it done when he’s playing the role of woebegone underdog, and Saturday’s 83-76 victory over Pitt in their own backyard is just the latest example of this trend.  With Pearl set to miss the first eight games of the SEC season and still-untold penalties looming from the NCAA masters, he has his team believing in one another and they’re once again shocking the basketball world in the process.  So how are the Vols doing it this year?  Try defense and a junior who has finally reached his potential.  Pitt learned quickly on Saturday that this Tennessee team wasn’t just another soft SEC squad more interested in scoring than getting back and moving their feet on the other end — these Vols actually play defense.  With athletic size and length across the front line in the form of Brian Williams, Tobias Harris and Scotty Hopson, the Pitt bigs had trouble finding openings, but it was the specific work that Melvin Goins put in on Pitt’s star Ashton Gibbs that made the biggest difference, holding the guard to 4-13 shooting.  On the other side, no Panther seemed to have a clue as to how to defend the lithe Hopson, who for the first time in his career on a national stage looked like the top ten recruit in the Class of 2008 he once was.  He was 10-13 from the field, hitting all three of his bombs and slicing and dunking his way to a 27-point performance befitting a significantly improved and more efficient player this season.  Sometimes it just takes certain players longer to figure out how to play this game at a high level, and Hopson’s better understanding of what a great shot is has been one of the primary reasons that UT sits at 7-0 and presumably in the top five at this point in the season.  With a light home-heavy schedule until the SEC season starts, Pearl has his team poised to remain unbeaten and near the top of the rankings when he goes on hiatus.

Quit Calling It a Court Storm!!!! Hehe, regardless of the chosen nomenclature, we had another RTC over the weekend as Fordham came back from 21 down in the second half to beat crosstown rival St. John’s.  The Johnnies suffered not one, but two separate 16-0 runs by Fordham (who, remember, only won five games the last two seasons) before succumbing down the stretch.  It was Fordham’s first win over a Big East team since the first Reagan administration (1982) and clearly a massive win for Tom Pecora’s program looking for some traction in a crowded NYC sports market.  Somewhere on the left coast, UCLA fans knowingly nodded in quiet unison…  (h/t to The East Coast Bias for sending along the clip)

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If you are interested in participating in our ATB2 feature, send in your submissions to rushthecourt@gmail.com.

Top 25 Games

• #11 Tennessee 83, #3 Pittsburgh 76: “Tennessee just DISMANTLED the #3 team in the nation on what was essentially their home court a day after learning a player they were counting on and practicing around wasn’t going to be available. Ho hum. Just another day in the life of Bruce Pearl and the Tennessee Volunteers. Don’t let the score fool you. After Pitt scored the first basket, it was All Vols. For the first eight minutes or so, it was a kind of stealthy ravaging. Up one. Up three. Up six. Eight. And then, with a little over twelve minutes to play in the first half you suddenly noticed that Tennessee was simply having its way with the Panthers and that it wasn’t a fluke. They were just beating them like it was what they were designed to do. And it looked almost effortless.” (Rocky Top Talk)
• #4 Kansas 76, Colorado State 55: “The Jayhawks move to 9-0 tonight and head for a long week off before playing Southern California next Saturday.  The game had a few scares but they weren’t provided by the Rams.  Marcus Morris missed a large chunk of the first half after rolling his ankle under the basket.  Elijah Johnson also missed time due to an injury of some sort, theories included a separated shoulder, a torn tricep, and maybe a hangnail was ripped off.  Both players logged significant time in the 2nd half, so neither appears to be very serious at this point. As to the actual game, it was kind of a “we’re better than you, so please quit causing us problems” type of game.  Intensity came and went throughout.  The Jayhawks had trouble finding their rhythm in the high/low offense and didn’t have Marcus Morris to bail them out.  Colorado Sate had the lead cut down to 5 early in the second half and appeared to have raised Bill Self’s blood pressure.  The effect of that was for Kansas to go on their typical run and building a 15 point lead for the next several minutes.  As time went on, Kansas just continued to build the lead and won by 21.” (Rock Chalk Talk)
• #5 Kansas State 68, Loyola (IL) 60: The Wildcats won a close game in what was Jacob Pullen’s homecoming.  (Bring on the Cats)
• #6 Michigan State 77, Oakland 76: Taking a look from the Golden Grizzlies’ perspective about a pair of losses this week to Michigan State and Illinois. (Golden Grizzlies Gameplan)
• #14 Syracuse 100, Colgate 43: “45 years ago, Syracuse and Colgate staged an epic game. Today, Colgate didn’t even score 45 points. Every single player on the Syracuse roster played and the Orange held the Raiders to a mere eight points in the first half as they enjoyed a 100-43 breather after the big Michigan State win. It was a one-sided affair, to say the least.” (Troy Nunes is an Absolute Magician)
• #16 Purdue 77, North Florida 57: “Purdue enjoyed a delicious cupcake at home tonight and played Purdue basketball for one half and then simply put it on cruise control in the second. JaJuan Johnson had 25 for the Boilermakers while E’Twaun Moore had 21 and the rest of the team napped on the bench.” (Boiled Sports)
• #18 Minnesota 71, Eastern Kentucky 58: “Braving blizzard-like conditions and hitting the floor without one of their leaders, the Gophers overcame a slow start against a pesky 1-3-1 zone to take down Eastern Kentucky in game that was expected to be a blowout from the beginning.” (From the Barn and The Daily Gopher)
• #21 Kentucky 82, Indiana 62: “The very best thing I can say about this game is that we won.  Let’s be honest, this was not Kentucky’s best game, but I will say that this was the best they have finished a game all year.  They were struggling against an inferior but dangerous opponent, and I have seen UK teams fail open in that situation like a burnt-out circuit breaker.  But not this team. In the end, the way they finished this tough rivalry game is encouraging.  The way Kentucky played 32 of the 40 minutes is a bit disconcerting, but as the old golf saying goes, “It isn’t how, it’s how many.”  This team got it done in the end when other teams haven’t in similar situations.” (A Sea of Blue and Inside the Hall)

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