After opening with four games apiece on Monday and Wednesday night, college basketball really starts to pick up this evening with 16 of the top 25 teams in action including Georgetown traveling to play a tough Old Dominion team. By Sunday night, 24 of the top 25 teams will have played with Missouri being the lone exception, as they do not play their first game until November 18th. Even though there are only a few games that I would deem particularly compelling in isolation it will be interesting to see how the new pieces on these teams work with the returning parts.

We will have more about each day’s game with our Set Your Tivo feature, but in addition to those games you can watch on TV, we will also be coming to you courtside from nine games on RTC Live this weekend. Check back throughout the weekend for more (somewhat) instant analysis and join us on RTC Live for action from across the nation.

Friday

• Boston University at Northeastern, 7 PM – One of the early battles of Boston will occur in Matthews Arena as the Terriers come to play the Huskies, who will be significantly weaker this year after losing four of their top five scorers. Chaisson Allen and the Huskies will be tested against a promising Terrier team led by John Holland, the leading scorer in America East, who has support from a team that includes four transfers.
• East Tennessee State at #10 Kentucky, 7 PM on Big Blue Sports and ESPN Full Court – This game will be interesting if only for the reaction of the Wildcats and their fans a day after learning that Enes Kanter, whom many said would be the key to their season, would never play in a Wildcat uniform. On the other sideline, the Buccaneers will be without Tommy Hubbard, their leading scorer and rebounder. Ok, technically Hubbard will be on the sideline, but you get my point…
• Cornell at Albany, 7:30 PM – While the Great Danes should be improved with Tim Ambrose returning for his senior season, most of the college basketball world will be focused on the Big Red, who lost eight seniors, including Ryan Whitman, Louis Dale, and Jeff Foote along with their coach Steve Donahue, who headed to Boston College. New coach Bill Courtney will be relying on Chris Wroblewski as one of the few known elements of his team to help guide the Big Red in the early season while they try to establish a new identity.

Saturday

• North Florida at #5 Pittsburgh, 4 PM on The Big East Network and ESPN Full Court – We aren’t expecting this to be a particularly competitive game, but it will be worth following to see the co-favorites in the Big East (along with Villanova and Syracuse). The Panthers have one of the best backcourts in America with Ashton Gibbs, Brad Wanamaker, and Gilbert Brown, but the success of the team could well depend on the interior play of Gary McGhee, who has been quiet so far this season.
• Harvard at George Mason, 4 PM – Jeremy Lin is gone, but Tommy Amaker returns with a solid squad–led by Kyle Casey and Keith Wright–that is good enough to win the school’s first Ivy League title. [Ed. Note: The Crimson are the only historic Division 1 program to have never won a league championship. And the answer is no, we do not count schools that joined recently in the discussion.] They will have their hands full, however, as they travel down to Fairfax, Virginia to take on Jim Larranaga‘s squad that is led by Cam Long and Ryan Pearson and could very easily end up winning the CAA.
• #23 San Diego State at Long Beach State, 7 PM – This game should be all about the Aztecs who return all five starters from a team that challenged Tennessee in a close game in the 1st round of the NCAA Tournament last March. The Aztecs, who are led by sophomore sensation Kawhi Leonard, should challenge BYU for the Mountain West title this season, but Steve Fisher has higher aspirations for what’s certainly a Sweet 16-level team. Look for Casper White to make his mark for the 49ers, but the Aztecs should win this one fairly easily.
• Weber State at Utah State, 9:05 PM – An early season Bracket Buster match-up that might be the most interesting game of the weekend. The Wildcats will have the best player on the court in Damian Lillard, projected as a potential first round pick in 2012, but they will have to travel to Logan to take on a Aggie team that returns four of five starters but will really miss Jared Quayle as they have to break in a new point guard against Lillard.

Sunday

• Cornell at Seton Hall, Noon on The Big East Network and ESPN Full Court – Their second game of the weekend should be significantly more challenging for the Big Red as they travel to play a Pirate team that has a new coach in Kevin Willard and returns two stars in Jeremy Hazell and Herb Pope. We know what to expect from Hazell (shooting, lots of shooting), but we aren’t sure what to expect from Pope who underwent cardiac surgery in the off-season to repair a congenital abnormality. Pope looked pretty good in some exhibition games, but we expect it will be a while before he gets back to the level where he was last year. A year ago, the Pirates won a tight game over the Big Red on the road. Don’t expect this year to be as close.
• Princeton at #1 Duke, 5 PM on ESPNU – That’s right. We will be courtside for the opening game of Duke’s title defense. Nothing against the Tigers, but this should be one of those 40-50 point blowouts. Still, we will be interested to see how Kyrie Irving and Seth Curry fit into an already loaded perimeter attack for the Blue Devils that features Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler.

Matt McKillip is the RTC correspondent for the America East Conference.

Stony Brook took the regular season crown in 2010, but Evan Fjeld’s Catamounts had the last laugh – they represented the America East in the Big Dance in 2010 by way of the conference tournament.

Predicted Order of Finish

1. Maine (12-4)
2. Boston University (11-5)
3. Stony Brook (10-6)
4. New Hampshire (8-8)
5. Vermont (7-9)
6. Binghamton (7-9)
7. UMBC (6-10)
8. Albany (6-10)
9. Hartford (5-11)

All-Conference Team (key stats from last season in parentheses)

• Joe Zeglinski (G) – Hartford (16.5 PPG)
• Gerald McLemore (G) – Maine (14.6 PPG, 102 3FG, 40% 3FG)
• John Holland (F) – Boston University (19.2 PPG, 46% FG )
• Greer Wright (F) – Binghamton (15 PPG, 6 RPG, 3.2 APG)
• Evan Fjeld (F) – Vermont (10.7 PPG, 55% FG, 6.1 RPG)

6th Man

• Chris Martin (G) – Stony Brook (10.8 PPG, 6.8 fouls drawn/40 minutes)

Impact Newcomer

• Matt Glass (F) – Vermont – Patrick Hazel’s transfer to Boston University from Marquette is certain to grab the attention of the America East, but Glass (formerly of UMass) should have the bigger impact. The 6’8 forward has a reputation as a top-flight defender and his ability to stretch opposing defenses with his three-point shooting will be a huge boost for the Catamounts.

The image of Maine's Gerald McLemore lining up a three will be a common one in the America East this season. (goblackbears.cstv.com)

What You Need To Know

• Worst Case Scenario: The biggest news of the off-season came last Tuesday (9/28) when it was reported that Stony Brook’s Tommy Brenton dislocated his knee while training; coach Steve Pikiell said there is no timetable for his return. The 6’5 power/point-forward with an otherworldly motor led the America East in rebounding during his first two seasons and was an integral piece of the offense. Coming off a 22-win season, Stony Brook was tabbed as the league favorite by multiple publications despite the graduation of 2010 POY Muhammad El-Amin and a big reason was the expected offensive boost from Brenton (7.6 PPG last season). That said, if there is one kid I wouldn’t bet against making a recovery, it’s Benton. If he does, he’ll be First Team All-Conference.

Read the rest of this entry »

Matt McKillip is the RTC correspondent for the America East Conference.

Around The America East:

• A Carousel for Two: Hartford coach Dan Leibovitz jumped ship after his program took a sharp decline following a 2008 run to the AE title; he will join Penn as an assistant coach. Taking the reins is former Hartford assistant John Gallagher…who served last season as a Penn assistant.
• Just a Fling: Binghamton‘s All-America East performer Greer Wright filed for a transfer waiver and flirted with the idea of attending Connecticut or Cincinnati before deciding to return to Binghamton for his senior season.
• The Departed: Binghamton was less fortunate with last season’s AE Rookie of the Year, Dylan Talley, who decided to take his services elsewhere. Other notable transfers are Vermont’s All-Defensive team player Garvey Young and UMBC leading scorer Chauncey Gilliam, who packed his bags for Akron.
• Big Haul: After having only three players left on Boston University‘s roster at the end of last season’s AE runner-up finish, second-year head coach Patrick Chambers hauled in a seven-man recruiting class to surround the league’s premier player, John Holland.
• Break Out the Vegemite: Coach Will Brown and his Albany Great Danes have welcomed freshman Luke Devlin from Australia to campus. The 6’8 Aussie has three-point range and should quickly become a favorite among a fan base eager for something to cheer about.
• Catching On With the Clippers: Vermont standout Marqus Blakely received a two-year, partially guaranteed contract with the LA Clippers and has angled himself towards a spot on the roster.

Star swingman John Holland is a powerful weapon for BU, but will he be able to power the Terriers into the Big Dance?

Power Rankings:

1. Boston University: The Terriers’ hopes revolve around two-time all-conference star John Holland, the heir apparent to the AE POY title. An NCAA trip is hardly guaranteed – an exodus of senior guards leaves BU with only three returning players (none of whom are guards) and many question marks. The loss of Corey Lowe especially hurts; the four-year starter carried the Terriers to last year’s title game when teams cued in on Holland, the league leader in scoring. During the AE tournament, Holland was held to an eFG of 38% and 10.3 PPG, well below his season averages of 52% and 19.9, respectively. Alongside Holland, BU returns 2009 AE ROY Jake O’Brien, who can score in volume, and hard-nosed center Jeff Pelage, who is a banger inside. Former Marquette swingman Patrick Hazel should make his presence felt immediately, but the most pressing question is which of the four incoming freshman and two transfer guards will land the role of primary ball handler.
2. Maine: Maine’s defense propelled them to a surprising 11-5 conference record last year, but the Black Bears were promptly upset by New Hampshire in the first round of the conference tournament. Despite the setback, they are well-positioned to build on last year’s success. They graduated Junior Bernal, an all-league defender, but the core of their lineup returns. Central to the offense is all-league guard Gerald McLemore, the league leader in three-point field goals. Last season, the offense exhibited a tendency to stall if opponents could take McLemore’s shot away (as UNH did in the tournament). Help could be on the way for the offense in the form of juco transfer Raheem Singleton, a point guard whose game and appearance is eerily reminiscent of former Pittsburgh floor general Levance Fields. Maine fans are also excited about incoming forward Alasdair Fraser, who has had a stellar summer playing for Scotland in the European under-18 championships, and could form a formidable frontcourt alongside Sean McNally.
3. Stony Brook: Stony Brook won the conference regular season title, but will have to defend that title without conference POY Muhammed El-Amin, who graduated in the spring. What was a very effective supporting cast will be forced into a starring role. The identity of the team will likely flow from Tommy Brenton, the best defensive big man in the league at only 6’5.  Brenton personifies hustle and is a rebounding machine – he averaged nearly ten boards per game last season. The x-factor for the Seawolves is speedy guard Chris Martin. He was one of the best in the nation in drawing fouls and should continue to frustrate opposing guards, especially if he can improve his jump shot (44% from the floor last year). The emergence of Martin is essential to keeping the defense from focusing on marksman Bryan Dougher, who led the AE in three-point shooting percentage. Read the rest of this entry »

Now that we’re all back in the swing of things from the holiday weekend, let’s dive into another set of morning links.

1. Former Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez was arrested under suspicion of trying to steal a $1,395 man purse from a Ralph Lauren store in a New Jersey mall. The story says “satchel”, but we all know that’s just a nice way of saying man purse. We don’t know which man purse it is, but these are the most likely options (purse 1 or purse 2).
2. Adam Zagoria brings you the winner of future all-name college basketball teams, God’s Gift Achiuwa, who is being recruited St. John’s. Zagoria missed a great potential finishing joke when he forgot to mention the upcoming moment where Knick fans boo the selection of God’s Gift.
3. The Legends Classic announced the match-ups and locations for the regional match-ups of its early season tournament with Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Michigan, and UTEP hosting a bunch of sacrificial lambs–Albany, Bowling Green, Detroit, Gardner-Webb, Mercer, Niagara, Western Carolina, and William & Mary.
4. Georgia’s athletic department took a step toward getting back to business as usual by naming Frank Crumley interim AD on Tuesday.  University prez Michael Adams, though, has formed a committee who will search outside the UGA system for a permanent replacement for Damon Evans.
5. Celebrate we will, for it’s the July evaluation period.  Coaches might not be able to talk to available recruits, but they may watch them as much as they want and determine where — that is, on whom — they’ll concentrate their recruiting efforts.  The period kicked off with a huge showcase in Indianapolis featuring over 4,000 basketball players as well as many of the biggest names in the coaching game.

Michael Hurley is the RTC correspondent for the America East Conference.

America East Standings (conf/over):

1. Maine                                                 5-1       13-6
2. Stony Brook                                   6-2       14-7
3. Boston University                     6-2       11-9
4. Vermont                                          5-2       14-7
5. Binghamton                                  3-3       8-13
6. Hartford                                           3-4       5-15
7. New Hampshire                          2-4       7-10
8. Albany                                               1-6       6-16
9. UMBC                                                 0-7       1-19

Hottest Team — Maine

Maine has won five straight since the loss at Vermont. The Black Bears now have sole possession of first place.

Stud Player– Gerald McLemore, soph. G – 24 PPG in two wins away from home.  McLemore is really coming into his own including a 7-11 night from downtown against Hartford. He is helping Maine get off to a great start.

Thoughts on the AE

Two teams received votes in the most recent mid-major top 25 poll, while another is off to their best start since joining the league in 2001-02. There is still one team looking for their first victory.

Team Notes

Maine is playing their best ball in years. They have won five straight, eight out of their last nine, and ten out of their last 12. Sophomore Gerald McLemore shined in the most recent game out finishing with a career high 27. McLemore shot 7-11 from downtown in helping the Black Bears beat Hartford. Terrance Mitchell played great off the bench, scoring 17 points. As a team the Black Bears shot 12-18 from three-point range. McLemore is starting to heat up — in the previous game at Albany he scored 21 points. Mitchell has also developed a scoring touch, hitting double-digits in points in his last six games.

Stony Brook is sitting in second place in the league at 6-2. They are the only team to knock off both Boston University and Vermont, and did so on the road in both games. At UVM last week Bryan Dougher scored 20 points to help the Seawolves win. Stony Brook followed that up with a win over Albany. Freshman Marcus Rouse led the way with 17 points while Tommy Brenton added 14.  Their combined 31 points came on a combined 13-for-15 shooting.

Boston University has won seven of eight, with the only blemish at Vermont. They fell behind early by a lot against the Catamounts and were never able to cut into the lead very much at all, losing 78-58. The Terriers have followed that up with two big wins. They beat Albany by 21, then followed it up with an 18 point win over UMBC. John Holland scored 25 points and had 12 rebounds while sophomore Jake O’Brien added 18 points. It was the first team BU had swept this year. Holland and O’Brien had big games in that one, too, with 21 and 19 points, respectively. Carlos Strong also added six three-pointers for 18 points. The team as a whole hit 16 long balls setting a school record. The offense is clicking and averaging over 70 PPG, good for first in the league.

Vermont started off the conference schedule with five straight wins, all with margins of eight or more. The Catamounts were beating their America East foes by an average of 14+ points a game. They have since hit a wall in losses to Stony Brook and Binghamton. In the loss to Binghamton, Vermont was led by guard Maurice Joseph, who scored 29 points. Marqus Blakely had his second straight double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds.

Binghamton is the ultimate surprise so far halfway through the year. They lost at Hartford by one, 64-63, then bounced  back well with a win over Vermont. Eight of the Bearcats’ 22 games have had differentials of five points or less this year.  Vermont had no answer for Binghamton’s Greer Wright in the game. Wright scored 30 points and pulled down ten rebounds for the Bearcats. The Bearcats should also be proud of hitting 10-for-12 from the foul line.

Hartford is only 3-4 in league play this year including, most recently, a 77-69 loss at home against Maine last week. Charles White and Joe Zeglinski led the way with 18 points and Morgan Sabia added 16 points.

New Hampshire played four of their first six league games on the road and were only victorious in one of them. The last game was against winless UMBC and the Wildcats managed to come out on top by a slim margin, 62-58. Alvin Abreu played especially well, scoring 22 points for New Hampshire.

Albany is lucky that UMBC is in the league or else they would be sitting at the bottom. The Great Danes’ lone victory came at the hands of UMBC. They have lost their last three to Boston University, Maine, and Stony Brook, admittedly the top three teams in the league. Luckily they are playing Hartford at home on Wednesday. Hartford and UMBC are the only teams who are worse on the road than Albany (Hartford is 1-10 currently on the road). Tim Ambrose and Will Harris are still the only players who can score for the Great Danes. Both players are averaging over 14 PPG, while not a single other player is averaging even six points a game.

UMBC still is looking for their second victory on the season and their first in conference. They are currently in the midst of a ten-game losing streak. It seems their best shot will be when they host Albany in the second weekend of February. They did come within four points in that loss against UNH last week.

Michael Hurley is the RTC correspondent for the America East Conference.

2009-10 America East  (Conf/Overall)

1. Vermont                                   1-0       10-5
2. Stony Brook                             1-0       9-5
3. Maine                                          0-0       8-5
4. New Hampshire                    0-0       5-6
5. Albany                                        0-0       5-10
6. Binghamton                            0-0       5-10
7. Hartford                                    0-0       2-11
8. Boston University              0-1       5-8
9. UMBC                                          0-1       1-13

Hottest Team- Maine

Even with the roll Vermont is on, it is hard to ignore the three-game winning streak that Maine have put together. The win over Columbia in New York was expected, but no one could have predicted the win at BC, and the Black Bears finished it off by snapping Princeton’s six-game winning streak.

Stud Player– Marqus Blakely- Sr. F, Vermont, 22 PPG/12 RPG

It seems Blakely may have taken offense to the most recent nomination of classmate Maurice Joseph as Stud Player of the week. In the last three games Blakely has recorded a double-double in each, reminding us who makes Vermont go.

Thoughts on the AE

In the last two weeks we have seen two teams riding three-game winning streaks before facing off in their conference opener. One had beaten a team for the first time since 1924-25. It was the America East’s third victory against a BCS conference school this year. The other had been riding one of the greatest players this league has seen in winning eight out of their last nine. All the while the preseason favorite fell in their first game to the Seawolves who demonstrated their dominance over the state of Massachusetts.

Team Notes

Marqus Blakely has led the way for the Catamounts recently. Vermont has won three straight and eight of their last nine. The only loss in the streak was to Delaware, 56-50. The most recent victory was a 73-58 win over UMBC in Vermont’s first conference game. In the victory, Blakely registered 17 points, 14 rebounds, and seven assists. It was his third straight double-double and eighth on the season (the school record is 17). In the previous two victories he recorded 26 points and 11 rebounds at St. Mary’s and 23 points and 11 rebounds at Marist. The victory over St. Mary’s was the Catamounts’ 14^th straight over NEC teams. Senior guard Maurice Joseph added 15 points, including 12 from behind the arc.

Check out Blakely’s current stat line on the year: 18.6 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 3.9 APG, 3.0 SPG, and 2.3 BPG. He is first in the America East in points steals, blocks, second in rebounds, and fourth in assists per game. No player in the history of the America East has finished in the top ten for every category let alone the top five. It was known coming into the season that he is one of the most versatile players in history of the league and it looks like he is putting it all together to statistically put together the best all around season in the history of the America East.  Blakely broke the 1500-point barrier last week and is currently 29^th with 1,547 points. He also is 14^th with 858 rebounds and is among the top ten with 222 blocks.  There are only seven players in history of the league who’ve hit the same plateaus in points and rebounds that Blakely has. When he is done this season, he may be one of three with 1700 points and 1000 rebounds.

Maine managed to record three victories in a row including a huge victory at BC. The Black Bears rallied from eight down with six minutes left. Sean McNally made the deciding free throws with just over a minute left to give Maine a 52-51 advantage that secure the win. McNally played a great all-around game with 15 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. Gerald McLemore chipped in with 14 points. Maine’s 52-51 victory over BC is the America East’s third victory this year over a BCS-conference school. Previously, BU beat Indiana and Vermont won at Rutgers. It was the first victory over an ACC school for an America East team since Vermont downed the Eagles 77-63, on November 14, 2006.

After losing back to back games against Sacred Heart and Saint Peter’s, Stony Brook won a couple of games to push their record to 9-5. There was a victory over Holy Cross on New Year’s Eve at home followed by a win in the conference opener against preseason favorite Boston University. Against BU sophomore Bryan Dougher shot 8-10 from three-point range. He was the first player to score 30+ points for Stony Brook in almost two full years and the eight treys tied the school record. Dougher is shooting 17-24 in the past three games. Tommy Brenton added 15 points and 11 rebounds against BU. It was his third double-double of the season.

New Hampshire beat Colgate, 63-55, before heading west and dropping the game against Santa Clara, 71-68. Tyrone Conley did all he could in California, scoring a career-high 28 points for UNH. The Wildcats took a 68-67 lead with 14 seconds left on a jumper from Chandler Rhoads, but Ray Cowels hit two free throws for Santa Clara to give them the lead back. Cowels followed it up with two more to finish off the game. To start off the conference slate they face Boston University at home where they have won eight straight dating back to last year.

Albany managed to snap a four-game losing streak with a 21-point victory over Yale. Albany turned a six-point lead at half into a blowout in the second period. Tim Ambrose led the way with 22 points and Billy Allen finished with 21 on 8-9 shooting including 5-6 from three-point range. The game against North Carolina was the second straight year they have faced the defending champions. Even in losing Albany can find bright spots though. The Great Danes were down by 38 with less than eight minutes to go and managed to cut it to a final deficit of 17. It was the fourth-highest ranked opponent Albany has faced. Billy Allen’s (at the time) career-high 16 points seemed to have set the stage for his big game against Yale.

Surprisingly enough, Binghamton has won two out of their last four after starting out 3-8, with only two wins against Division I opponents. In the Bearcats’ last game they took down A-10 foe LaSalle. The game included a big comeback by the Bearcats in the second half; they were down ten going into halftime. Greer Wright finished with 20 points and nine rebounds.

Hartford is currently in the midst of a nine-game losing streak. The last two losses were to undefeated #3 Kentucky and St. Francis of Pennsylvania. The Hawks were destroyed 104-61 at Kentucky. The biggest loss of the game though was point guard Andres Torres who tore the PCL in his right knee. Torres is not expected to return for 4 to 6 weeks. Against St. Francis, Joe Zeglinski’s 17 points were not enough for Hartford. The Hawks shot 6-26 from three-point range compared to the Red Flash, who shot 6-12.

After it seemed Boston University might be turning the corner before Christmas with three straight wins, they dropped their first two after Christmas. They lost by 14 to a good Dayton squad. The loss that hurt, though, was the league opener to Stony Brook. In the past 30 years the America East champion has only lost it’s opener twice, so BU is already starting from behind. The Terriers had no answer for Stony Brook’s deep range. They allowed the Seawolves to shoot 12-20 from three-point land. Sophomore Jake O’Brien led the way with a career-high 27 points in the losing effort.

UMBC finally did get their first victory before Christmas over American, but have since continued their losing ways with four straight losses. The closest they got to a victory since the holiday was against Central Connecticut State. UMBC took CCSU to double overtime before losing, 89-86. Chris De La Rosa had 25 points in the loss.

Michael Hurley is the RTC correspondent for the America East Conference.

Standings

1. Stony Brook    5-2
2. Vermont     4-4
3. Maine    3-3
4. New Hampshire    2-3
5. Albany     3-5
6. Binghamton     3-5
7. Hartford     2-6
8. Boston University   2-6
9. UMBC     0-6

Hottest Team. Stony Brook

We still have to see what the Seawolves do once they start playing better competition, but they have beaten the teams they should have and lost the games we expected. Regardless, they are the only team in the conference with a winning record, and what more can you ask from a team other than that.

Stud Player.  Maurice Joseph (G) Vermont – 14.8 ppg, 40% three-point.  Joseph has taken the step. Vermont needed a scorer this year that could take over if Marqus Blakely was taken out of the game by the opposing team. Joseph became that and more in the past couple games. It will be interesting to see if Joseph can continue this throughout the year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Michael Hurley is the RTC correspondent for the America East Conference and Patriot League.

2009-10 America East Standings

1. Stony Brook 2-0
2. New Hampshire 1-0
3. Maine 2-1
4. Binghamton 1-1
5. Vermont 1-1
6. Albany 1-2
7. Hartford 1-2
8. Boston University 0-3
9. UMBC 0-2

Team of the week: Stony Brook (2-0) (W 75-57 at UMES 11/13, W 87-53 vs. MSM 11/19)

Player of the week: Marqus Blakely, Sr., Vermont. (21.5 PPG, 9.5 RPG, 4.5 APG, 4 BPG, 3 SPG)

Read the rest of this entry »

We will readily admit that we crushed the Orange for their embarrassing exhibition game loss to Le Moyne three weeks ago and even left them out of our Top 25 after that loss, but we can admit when we were wrong even if we are pretty sure most Syracuse fans felt the same way that we did at the time. We figured that Jim Boeheim was in for a long year waiting for next year’s much hyped recruiting class to come to upstate New York. After the Le Moyne loss, the Orange rolled off big wins at home against Albany (by 32) and Robert Morris (by 40), but those two programs were hardly in the same category as the three teams that would be travelling to Madison Square Garden for the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic (UNC, Ohio State, and Cal) and we expected the Orange to have a difficult time competing with those teams even if we never really considered any of those teams that great (you will notice that my co-editors were a bit behind me on the Tar Heels being overrated if you look at that last poll).

The Orange opened up against Cal, a team we had already covered live twice this season (against Murray State and against Detroit), and destroyed the more highly touted Bears. After falling behind 5-0 to start the game, the Orange took the lead with 17:08 left in the first half and dominated Cal from that point forward with their frontcourt outscoring Cal’s 54-22. The Bears highly regarded backcourt struggled against the zone and shot just 30% as a team from beyond the arc only managing to outscore the Syracuse guards by 10 (51-41). The fact that the Orange dominated on the inside was no surprise to us. They have one of the best frontcourts (Wesley Johnson, Rick Jackson, and Arinze Onuaku) in the country and Cal’s frontcourt is lackluster to put it kindly. The real surprise was the play of their guards and redshirt sophomore Scoop Jardine (22 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists) in particular.

We figured the next hurdle — defending national champion UNC — would be a much higher hurdle and it was. For a half. The first half of the game was as good as any we have seen this season with the teams trading quick runs and both teams making big shots. The Orange opened the game with an 8-0 run that had us questioning whether Roy Williams was trying to channel Phil Jackson by not taking a timeout and letting his team work things out on their own. The Tar Heels responded with a quick run of their own and took the lead at 12-11 with 15:06 left in the first half. The Orange briefly took a 9-point lead at 31-22 before the Tar Heels rallied again to tie it up before taking a 39-37 lead into the intermission. Then the Orange exploded opening up the 2nd half on an insane 22-1 run that left us speechless and led Williams to comment after the game that Syracuse “beat the dickens out of us”. Andy Rautins was the star of the game with an Andrei Kirilenko-like line of 11 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, and 7 steals (minus all the whining) and Wesley Johnson added a 25 points and 8 rebounds against one of the best frontcourts in the country. The Orange’s performance left us wondering if this year’s version might be better than last year’s version even without Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf, and Paul Harris. And for those of you who are wondering, the Orange will be in this week’s yet unreleased RTC Top 25, which should be out some time on Monday. The Orange need to be careful not to let the honor of being RTC’s inaugural Team of the Week get to their heads though because their next game is at home against a very good Cornell team that much of the country doesn’t know about, but has already won on the road at Alabama and UMass.

As I write this, the North Carolina men’s basketball team just finished off their second win of the 2009-10 season against North Carolina Central.  The University of Kentucky squad will play their first game this Friday, November 13th against Morehead State.  That means that as of right now, the UNC program has amassed 1,986 wins in its incredible history.  UK will start this season with 1,988.  From this, it looks like in the Race For 2,000, we have a real barnburner on our hands.

Well, if you’re a Tar Heel supporter and you’re reading this, I have some bad news.  We don’t.  To Wildcat fans:  you can fire up the sewing machines and start creating that banner.  Call the silkscreeners and start cranking out T-shirts.  I’m calling it.

The wins have occurred over time in such a way that both programs will get to the 2,000-win mark early in this season’s schedule, and we know the early part of any season is a time of the year when many teams load their schedule with a fair number of cupcakes and a few big non-conference names thrown in there for RPI/strength-of-schedule boosting.  UNC and UK have both done this for this season, and this is nothing new for anyone.  This season started with UK leading the race with 1,988 wins to UNC’s 1,984.  UNC’s early start this week pulls them to within two wins.  So let’s see how the rest of their schedules look up until December 5th, when Kentucky and North Carolina meet  up for a monumental clash at Rupp Arena:

North Carolina:  Valparaiso, Ohio State (in NYC), California OR Syracuse (in NYC), Gardner-Webb, Nevada, Michigan State.

Kentucky:  Morehead State, Miami (OH), Sam Houston State, Rider, Cleveland State, Stanford OR Virginia, UNC-Asheville.

For the sake of argument, let’s say both teams start the season perfectly up to this point.  That’s no guarantee; UNC-Ohio State, UNC-California/Syracuse, or even UNC-Nevada could be interesting.  Kentucky has it a little easier up to here, so we’re actually helping the Tar Heels by assuming a perfect start to the season.  But let’s say it happens — this would put the race at UK with 1,995 and UNC with 1,992 going into the head-to-head matchup.

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