Unanimous 1st Teamer Evan Turner

With the regular season winding down to a close, the powers-that-be here at Rush the Court met in rtmsf’s basement bunker and spent 36 hours without food or water sorting out our 1st, 2nd and 3rd All-American teams for the 2009-10 season. Just kidding, we actually did it by e-mail. Regardless, here is the much-anticipated unveiling (with a slight adjustment to the three-guard lineup for the 3rd team based on the voting). Enjoy:

1st Team

• G – John Wall, Kentucky (16.8 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 6.2 APG, 1.8 SPG)
• G – Evan Turner, Ohio State (19.5 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 5.8 APG, 1.8 SPG)
• G – Greivis Vasquez, Maryland (19.6 PPG, 4.6 RPG, 6.3 APG, 1.6 SPG)
• F – Wesley Johnson, Syracuse (15.7 PPG, 8.5 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.9 BPG)
• C – DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky (15.6 PPG, 10.1 RPG, 1.8 BPG)

There’s not much surprise with Wall, Turner or Johnson. All three garnered 1st-team selections from all four of our voters and accomplished the feat basically wire-to-wire. The two late bloomers were Cousins and Vasquez. Cousins was overshadowed in the early part of the season by his superstar teammate, but more and more attention was paid to his obscene production as the campaign wore on. His numbers spread out over 40 minutes are off the charts. Vasquez really took off late as well, dusting off the cobwebs from a slow shooting start to lead his Terrapins to a share of the ACC crown. His heroics at the end of the Duke win likely was the clincher for our voters.

2nd Team

• G – Scottie Reynolds, Villanova (18.8 PPG, 3.4 APG, 2.7 RPG, 1.6 SPG)
• G – James Anderson, Oklahoma State (22.9 PPG, 6.0 RPG, 2.4 APG, 1.4 SPG)
• G – Sherron Collins, Kansas (15.3 PPG, 4.3 APG, 1.2 SPG)
• F – Da’Sean Butler, West Virginia (17.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 3.3 APG)
• C – Cole Aldrich, Kansas (11.3 PPG, 9.7 RPG, 3.5 BPG)

The 2nd-team features the Jayhawks inside-outside tandem of Collins and Aldrich. While many expected at least one of them to finish the season as a first-teamer, I think both players would rather grab that #1 overall seed in the Dance. This honor is not a bad consolation prize, either. Reynolds and Butler provided the backbones for two squads that excelled in the loaded Big East, while Anderson posted the strongest raw stats of any power six-conference player other than Turner. He’s expanding his game to become more of a complete weapon, and, along with Turner, is probably the most important player to his respective team of anyone in the nation.

3rd Team

• G – Jon Scheyer, Duke (18.9 PPG, 5.2 APG, 3.5 RPG, 1.6 SPG)
• G – Jimmer Fredette, BYU (20.6 PPG, 4.7 APG, 3.1 RPG, 1.2 SPG)
• F – Darington Hobson, New Mexico (15.8 PPG, 9.1 RPG, 4.6 APG)
• F – Luke Harangody, Notre Dame (23.3 PPG, 9.7 RPG)
• C – Greg Monroe, Georgetown (16.0 PPG, 9.6 RPG, 3.6 APG, 1.5 BPG)

The Mountain West received some serious love on this team with outstanding seasons from Hobson and Fredette both rewarded. Despite missing a good portion of the stretch run, Harangody’s statistics just couldn’t be ignored. Monroe put up a solid campaign for the Hoyas and might be the best passing big man in the nation. The most efficient guard? Could very well be Scheyer. He’s led Duke to #1-seed contention.

Also receiving votes: Quincy Pondexter, Washington, Ekpe Udoh, Baylor, Robbie Hummel, Purdue, Luke Babbitt, Nevada, Damion James, Texas, Kyle Singler, Duke, Patrick Patterson, Kentucky, Gordon Hayward, Butler, Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest.

Paul Jordan of Wildcat Blue Blog is the RTC correspondent for the Southeastern Conference.  The SEC Tournament begins Thursday at Noon ET.

EAST

1. Kentucky 29-2 (14-2)
2. Vanderbilt 23-7 (12-4)
3. Tennessee 23-7 (11-5)
4. Florida 20-11 (9-7)
5. South Carolina 15-15 (6-10)
6. Georgia 13-16 (5-11)

WEST

1. Mississippi State 21-10 (9-7)
2. Mississippi 21-9 (9-7)
3. Arkansas 14-17 (7-9)
4. Alabama 16-14 (6-10)
5. Auburn 15-15 (6-10)
6. LSU 11-19 (2-14)

Despite all the hype and hoopla over the SEC being a much improved conference this season, at this time the SEC still has as many teams locked into the NCAA Tournament as they did last year — three. Kentucky finished up the regular season with their 44th SEC regular season championship and the number two ranking in both the AP and the ESPN/USA Today Top 25. Tennessee finished #13 in the ESPN/USA Today poll and #15 in the AP top 25. The Vanderbilt Commodores finished the season ranked #20 in the AP Top 25 and #23 in the ESPN/USA Today poll. Other than these three teams, no other SEC school even received votes in either poll so you would figure that if any other teams are to go dancing, they need to get some wins in the upcoming SEC Tournament.

Now that the regular season is over, I am pleased to present my first and second team ALL-SEC roster, as well as my choice for Player of the Year and Coach of the Year:

FIRST TEAM ALL-SEC

• G- John Wall, Kentucky
• G- Devan Downey – South Carolina
• F- DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky
• F- Trey Thompkins, Georgia
• C – Jarvis Varnado – Mississippi State

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1. We love this bracket science stuff, which is reminiscent of some of the work we did when this site was in its infancy nearly three years ago.  It’s good to see Peter Tiernan continuing to do this every year, now for CBS Sportsline.  Maybe the NCAA Selection Committee should bring him on board.  Here’s a taste: best team against seed expectation in the last decade?  Florida.  Worst?  Wake Forest.  Sounds about right.
2. The NCAA’s Greg Shaheen came out yesterday with the news that there has been no decision made to expand the NCAA Tournament.  Sounds great, but is Mr. Shaheen playing the role of Colin Powell standing before the UN here, or is this more like Mark McGwire’s contention that he only took steroids for health reasons?  Willfully misleading or delusional — you tell us?
3. If you’re lucky enough to live in an area with a select movie theater chosen by the NCAA overlords, the Final Four will be shown in living, breathing 3-D.  Because nothing says March Madness like seeing Sherron Collins barreling down the court at you at 100 miles an hour.  We have no idea if this will be incredibly awesome or incredibly lame, but we’ll make sure to send someone out there to check it out.
4. Speaking of all three dimensions, here’s Seth Davis’ 2010 All-Glue team.  The headliner is Ohio State’s David Lighty, but we also love the Willie Veasley (Butler) and Rick Jackson (Syracuse) picks.
5. More conference awards today.  POY – ACC: Greivis Vasquez, Maryland; Big East: Wes Johnson, Syracuse; SEC: John Wall, Kentucky.  COY – ACC: Gary Williams, Maryland; Big East: Jim Boeheim, Syracuse; SEC: Kevin Stallings, Vanderbilt.  FrOY: ACC: Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech; Big East: Lance Stephenson, Cincinnati; SEC: DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky.  Some weird goings-on in the SEC there.  First, how does John Wall win POY but not FrOY?  Isn’t he a freshman, and isn’t he the best player in the league according to the voters?  Second, how does Kevin Stallings win COY — DeMarcus Cousins was so shocked he didn’t even know who Stallings was!

Paul Jordan of Wildcat Blue Blog is the RTC correspondent for the Southeastern Conference.

SEC Standings

EAST

1. Kentucky 26-1 (11-1)
2. Vanderbilt 20-6 (9-3)
3. Tennessee 20-6 (8-4)
4. Florida 19-8 (8-4)
5. South Carolina 14-12 (5-7)
6. Georgia 12-13 (4-8)

WEST

1. Mississippi State 19-8 (7-5)
2. Arkansas 14-13 (7-5)
3. Mississippi 17-9 (5-7)
4. Alabama 14-12 (4-8)
5. Auburn 13-14 (4-8)
6. LSU 9-17 (0-12)

Storylines

As we enter the last two weeks of the SEC season, Kentucky is closing in on the regular season title as they withstood two big road challenges at Mississippi State and Vanderbilt this week. They currently lead the SEC East by two games with four games to go, but they do hold the tiebreaker over second place Vandy whom they swept. Keep in mind that in the SEC Tournament the top two teams in each division get a first round bye so there is still a lot at stake. Vanderbilt currently has a pretty good grasp on that bye position as they are 3-0 against trailing Tennessee and Florida. The Vols and Gators both had 2-0 weeks to stay in competition for the bye game. South Carolina and Georgia are strictly spoilers at this point, but it would appear that Georgia could get a great moral victory by not finishing last in the East.

The West appears to be the division no one wants to win as the Bulldogs and Arkansas went 1-1 on the week. Getting the first round bye would be a great coup for Arkansas. Mississippi had a horrible week as they appear to have fallen out of the race altogether. Alabama started off the season with promise, but they have fallen on hard times. They, along with Auburn, are just playing out the string while LSU is trying desperately to avoid the winless conference season.

The SEC’s presence in the polls is still dominated by the East division. Kentucky remains at #2 in both polls. Vanderbilt continues to move up, despite losing games. They are now #16 in the AP Top 25 and the #20 in the ESPN/USA Today edition. The Volunteers are still registering in both polls at #19 in the AP Top 25 and #17 in the ESPN version. Mississippi State was ranked the equivalent of 34th in the AP Poll. For the weekly awards, Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins took home the SEC Freshman of the Week award and Tennessee’s Wayne Chism won the Player of the Week.

As of right now, the SEC has three teams penciled into the NCAA Tournament: Kentucky, Vanderbilt and Tennessee. Kentucky is very close to having a number one seed locked up, and you would figure that wins this week over South Carolina and Tennessee will seal the deal. Vanderbilt is in a good position as well and they have two winnable games this week versus Georgia and Arkansas. If Vandy can go 2-0 this week, they are knocking on the door of a number four seed in one of the four regions. Of all the SEC teams currently in, Tennessee is the most tenuous. You would think that they are a lock right now, but this week’s schedule features a trip to Gainesville and then a date with the #2 Wildcats. The Florida game has become a must win for both teams, as UT would have to beat Kentucky to avoid a 0-2 week. Tennessee would still be a NCAA lock losing both games. but their seeding could fall to the #7-#8 range. If Tennessee can pull off two wins, they can compete for a top 4 seed as well.

As of right now, Mississippi State and Florida sit firmly on the bubble. I think that Mississippi State is in with another two wins and they could lock up their bid with wins over Alabama and South Carolina. The Bulldogs also need these wins to try to win the SEC West. Florida was a very impressive team this week and I would say they are on the “in” portion of the bubble right now thanks to their tough win over Mississippi. However, Florida needs two more wins and a win over Tennessee could almost seal the bid for them. As I see it, Florida has to beat Georgia this week and win one of the following three: Tennessee, Vandy, and Kentucky. Florida has Tennessee right where they want them … in the O’Dome and they need to take advantage of it.

Ole Miss is firmly on the bad side of the bubble but if they can go 4-0 and make the semis of the SEC Tournament, they may go dancing. Mississippi has a favorable schedule this week with Auburn and Alabama on the schedule. If Mississippi can not close strongly, they are doomed for the NIT. I do think that Arkansas, South Carolina and Alabama have a good shot at the NIT, although they all need about three wins each (includes the SEC Tourney) to secure it. Arkansas is also in the position of fighting for the SEC West Title and faces LSU and Vanderbilt this week.

CAN’T MISS GAMES

• 2/23 – Tennessee @ Florida – 9PM – ESPN
• 2/24 – Arkansas @ LSU – 8 PM – ESPN 360
• 2/24 – Alabama @ Mississippi State – 9 PM – ESPN 360
• 2/25 – Georgia @ Vanderbilt – 7 PM – ESPNU
• 2/25 – South Carolina @ Kentucky – 9 PM ESPN
• 2/27 – Kentucky @ Tennessee – 12 PM – CBS
• 2/27 – Vanderbilt @ Arkansas – 1:30 – ESPN 360
• 2/27 – Florida @ Georgia 4:00PM – ESPN 360
• 2/27 – Mississippi State @ South Carolina – 6PM – ESPN

RTC contributor and bracketologist Zach Hayes will deliver permeating thoughts every week as the season progresses.

This week’s Scribbles column will take on a new twist- which eight teams I’d select to reach the four regional final games in late March. Now, I realize individual matchups within the bracket will determine the fate of these teams, but these are the eight clubs I feel like have an excellent chance of winning three games to reach the Elite 8 regardless of the teams that stand in their way. Some of these teams are the favorites, those expected to reach this level or their season will be labeled a colossal disappointment. The others are mild sleepers that certainly have the capabilities to make a serious run. Without further ado:

1. Kansas– One screaming commentator keeps telling me there’s not one clear favorite heading into March Madness this season. There’s no one team that stands above the rest akin to last year’s North Carolina entering the field as the favorite to hoist the championship trophy on that Monday night in April. This claim continues to baffle me for two reasons: 1) North Carolina was NOT the clear favorite to win the national championship last season. They entered the NCAA Tournament coming off a semifinal loss in the ACC Tournament to Florida State and were chosen as the #3 overall seed in the Dance behind Louisville and Pittsburgh. They were also dealing with question marks around Ty Lawson’s playing status. For a sample, I checked back to the NCAA Tournament pool I conducted last season and North Carolina was picked to win it all less than both Pitt (the most frequent) and Louisville. Even though the Heels featured the most pure talent, let’s put an end to this false claim. I also vehemently disagree that one team doesn’t stand alone this season ahead of the pack. To me, Kansas is the clear cut #1 favorite to win their second title in three years. Bill Self has the second most efficient offense and the third most efficient defense. He’s slowly but surely cut down his rotation and found a perfect balance. Most great teams start with a dominant point guard and center and Self has both of those covered. Even the enigma known as Tyshawn Taylor received a jolt from a surprising start by Self last Saturday and responded. I haven’t even mentioned the scorching hot Xavier Henry. The Jayhawks are an obvious Elite 8 team.

Taylor and Self finally on the same page?

2. Kentucky– If any team can hold a candle to Kansas at this stage of the season, it’s Kentucky. The Wildcats have matched Kansas’ road triumphs in the Big 12 with impressive wins away from Lexington against Florida, Mississippi State and Vanderbilt. John Calipari has blended complicated personalities to perfection and found the ideal concoction to finally win a national title. I mentioned Kansas has a tremendous starting point with Collins and Aldrich; they’re actually topped by the inside-outside duo of John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins. Wall has emerged from a mid-season turnover slump to play more like the December John Wall the entire college basketball world fell in love with. He’s absolutely deadly in transition and continues to make clutch plays down the stretch. Cousins will be the single most difficult player to guard in the entire NCAA Tournament, evident by his top-five rank in fouls drawn per 40 minutes. He has guard skills in a 6’11 body and is the most effective rebounder in the nation. The real question is if Kentucky can play a halfcourt game against the likes of Purdue and West Virginia should they run into either team. The Wildcats are much more ordinary than spectacular when they play a game in the 60s and are forced to settle for outside jump shots. Still, this team has the goods and the talent to reach a regional final.

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1. Appropriately, we begin with D2 Philadelphia University’s head coach Herb Magee winning his 902nd game on Saturday, which ties Bobby Knight for first place on the all-time NCAA victories list for a men’s basketball coach.  Magee, to whom the guys from our Backdoor Cuts feature devoted their column last week, has been at Philadelphia for 50 years — as a player from 1959-63, an assistant coach from 1963-67, and head coach since then — but his record-tying win wasn’t secured until the game’s very last second, when Philadelphia U.’s Jim Connolly hit a three-pointer to win it over Post University, 70-67.  Magee will go for win #903 at home against Goldey-Beacom College on Tuesday.
2. Great stuff here from The Big Lead.  If you’re a college basketball player, it’s always important to listen to your coach, right?  Especially in a very important late-February game between a conference’s two best teams.  That can be tough, depending on what distractors are in the area.  In Saturday’s intense Kentucky vs. Vanderbilt game, while John Calipari was drawing up a play during a time out, the Wildcats’ DeMarcus Cousins was busted eyeballing an undeniably strong distractor in the form of a certain ESPN sideline reporter, not that we’re castin’ any stones…
3. New York Times college sports reporter (and excellent tweeter) Pete Thamel had the privilege of spending his Saturday in Tempe, Arizona, the site of the secret little talks going on between USC and the NCAA’s infractions committee.  He logs an excellent summary here, with the reactions of two USC coaches (one current, one former) catching our eye:  1) we were moved to downright guffaws by the moral ascendancy Tim Floyd appears to be claming, as he opined that appearing before the committee was “the right thing to do,” and 2) we loved Lane Kiffin’s admission after the three-day hearings, proclaiming “I’ve never moved less in a 72-hour period,” which was only slightly shorter than his tenure in Knoxville.
4. We also give Mr. Thamel an assist on this one, which we started checking out because of a tweet of his (seriously, he’s really good)…but it just keeps getting worse for Binghamton.  They’re now down to two coaches, now that assistant Marc Hsu has been placed on leave following a report by the school alleging that Hsu gave money to a player and did coursework for several members of the team.  Hsu hasn’t been on the bench for the last three games, and this suspension is indefinite.
5. Oklahoma’s Willie Warren missed Saturday’s loss to Kansas State due to mononucleosis, a diagnosis that also caused him to sit out the Sooners’ loss to Oklahoma State two games ago.  Warren played in the loss at Colorado this past Wednesday, which struck us as odd, given the debilitating nature of mono and the fact that the older you are when you get it, the worse you usually feel.  If you’ve never had it, it causes flu-like symptoms but it absolutely drains you of energy.  What’s worse, in some cases it can cause enlargement of the spleen, an organ you don’t want to bust open, which is why kids and adolescents with mono are told to stay away from contact sports/ballet/wrestling with siblings/etc until further notice — usually at least a month.  You can also still spread it (through saliva) anywhere from six to 18 months after having it, and even though most people recover to full strength, the only treatments are the tinctures of time and rest.  The Sooners aren’t going dancing this year, and Warren’s health comes first, so we couldn’t blame the OU program if official word soon came down that Warren was going to miss the rest of the year.  Mononucleosis is no picnic, despite the fact that it gets glossed over quite frequently, so we hope Warren is back to his old self soon.

***** – 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 2012
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

Siena @ #13 Butler – 11 am on ESPN 2 (****)

Butler Will Have Their Hands Full With Siena

ESPN picked a fantastic matchup for their Bracketbuster weekend.  When Siena’s 14-game winning streak (tied for third in the country) came to an end last week against Niagara, Butler took their place as the hottest team in the country.  Butler has the longest current winning streak at the nation at 16 games, and they have shown no signs of slowing down.  They haven’t lost at Hinkle Fieldhouse this year, and are now ranked #13 in the country.  Siena has four scorers averaging at least 13.6 points per game, but their offense will be severely limited by Butler’s style of play.  The Bulldogs aren’t the best team in the country (#32 in defensive efficiency according to Ken Pomeroy) but they are able to slow the pace down enough that they have not given up 60 points in their last four games, and haven’t given up 70 points since a loss to Georgetown in early December.  Both teams have struggled to come up with big wins this year, having lost to Minnesota, Clemson, Georgetown, Temple, Georgia Tech, and Northern Iowa.  The difference is that all of Butler’s losses were by single digits and Siena’s last three losses were by at least 10 points.  Butler has four double-digit scorers of their own, and if Siena’s #87 ranked defense fails to guard the Bulldogs, they won’t stand much of a chance because Butler doesn’t turn the ball over that often.  This matchup should be highly entertaining, but considering Siena is coming off of a bad loss and Hinkle Fieldhouse is a tough place to play, the Bulldogs should push their winning streak on to the NCAA tournament.

Georgia Tech @ Maryland – 2 pm on ESPN 360 (**)

Both of these teams responded from tough losses recently, and have played like they can either run the table or lose several of their remaining games.  These squads have been lingering just inside or outside the top 25 for a large part of the season, but with their recent losses they are not only fighting to get back in the polls, they are trying ensure a tournament bid as well.   Joe Lunardi has both of these teams in the dance right now, but another loss for Georgia Tech would mean they will have lost half of their last 14 games.  Although Maryland is one of the more balanced teams in the ACC, ranking in the top 20 nationally in offensive and defensive efficiency, Georgia Tech has one of the best defenses in the country (#6 according to Ken Pomeroy) but one of the worst offenses (#81).  In their last two losses, the Yellow Jackets failed to shoot 40% from the field, and have not show much consistency since their 11-2 start.  They Yellow Jackets use a big lineup, as four of their top five scorers are forwards.  Three of Maryland’s top four scorers are guards, and it could make for some interesting matchups as these teams have not faced each other yet this year.  Given that the Yellow Jackets have lost six out of their last seven road games, look for Maryland to solidify their tournament status with a win in College Park.

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Kentucky Survives in Raucous Starkville.  #2 Kentucky 81, Mississippi State 75 (OT).  After several days of fielding phone calls from Mississippi State fans who ranged in temperament from delusional to deranged, DeMarcus Cousins and his team had the last laugh tonight in Starkville as water bottles and sodas rained down on the court in the closing minutes of this one.  Coach John Calipari was so giddy afterward that he even played up the hostility of the situation in his interview with Jeannine Edwards, ducking for cover at one point and running over to corral his players at another (wow, consider just how different things were last year at this time with respect to UK’s head coach and Miss Edwards).  The story of this game, however, was in the way that Kentucky was able to overcome a seven-point deficit in the last three minutes after having looked shaken and stirred in the previous few as MSU built its lead with inside star Jarvis Varnado on the bench fouled out.  Cousins held up his end of the bargain with MSU fans by dropping 19/14/3 assts, including seven huge offensive rebounds, several of which he converted at key points in the second half to keep the Cats afloat.  Patrick Patterson added a dub-dub himself (19/10), while John Wall ended up just shy of a triple-double with 18/10/8 assts/3 stls.  Come March, when the rest of the country decides to tune back into college basketball, all anyone is going to hear about is the mercurial Wall; but to those of us who know better, it will be Cousins that makes the difference if Kentucky is to make a serious run at the national title.  He has a knack for corralling the ball on the offensive end of the court (the #1 offensive rebounder in America), but he’s probably just as effective at converting those extra possessions into points with his soft touch around the bucket (note: if anyone has hard stats on this, we’d love to see them).  MSU had numerous chances to put a signature win on their NCAA resume, but like much of their season this year, they were close but not close enough.  The Bulldogs played the game without leading scorer Ravern Johnson, who was suspended for conduct detrimental prior to his team’s biggest game of the season, and Varnado had at least two silly fouls that would have allowed his presence to stay on the court longer than 23 semi-effective minutes (10/5/2 blks).  If any one of those decisions were different, perhaps MSU wins the game and we’d have a photo of their fans RTCing underneath this writeup.  But as it happened, Bulldog fans will instead by remembered for their unsportsmanlike behavior, and they’ll have to settle for screaming into DeMarcus Cousins’ voicemail as he moves on to the more important things like winning SEC titles and gunning for the Final Four.

Holla Back At Ya!

Regular Season Champs. Two clinchers tonight…

• #24 Northern Iowa 70, Creighton 52.  No Jordan Eglseder, no problem.  Even without the big man who was suspended for three games after his arrest for DWI over the weekend, UNI clinches its first outright MVC regular season title with an easy win over the Bluejays.  The Panthers hit thirteen treys for the game, including a 5-10 effort from Ali Farokhmanesh.  It will be a very interesting Bracketbuster game on Friday night when UNI hosts the co-leader of the CAA, Old Dominion.
• Murray State 80, Southeast Missouri State 62.  Murray moved to 16-0 in the OVC tonight, clinching their 21st regular season title and the top seed in the OVC Tournament next month.  The Racers now have the nation’s longest winning streak (at sixteen) and put twelve players into the scoring column this evening.  This is a team that has six players averaging between 9.5 – 10.8 points per game that nobody will want to see as their first round opponent on March 14.

Other Games of National Interest.

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***** – 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 2012
* – don’t waste bandwidth (yours or the tivo’s) of any kind on this game

#25 Wake Forest @ Virginia Tech – 7 pm on ESPN2 (****)

This game might feature two of the most underrated teams in the entire country.  It took a four-game winning streak for Wake Forest to crack the bottom of the top 25, and the 20-4 Hokies are still unranked in both polls.  In fact, Virginia Tech ranks just #50 in the RPI and are still considered by many to be a bubble team.  VT’s out of conference schedule is weak, but with four straight wins against ACC opponents, they are 7-3 in the league, just half a game behind Wake Forest and still in contention to win the conference.  Before the Hokies can even think about an ACC title, though, they need to prove their legitimacy against a solid Wake Forest team.  This game may only end up in the low 60s for both teams, as neither ranks in the top 70 in offensive efficiency, and both rank among the top 20 defensive teams.  Virginia Tech, whose leading scorer shoots below 40%, ranks #113 in Ken Pomeroy’s offensive ratings, so a below-average shooting night could bring this game down to the 50s.  If the Hokies want to be successful tonight, they are going to have to stop Wake Forest in the post.  Led by Al-Farouq Aminu, the Demon Deacons score the majority of their points from forwards and centers, and they rank third in the nation in rebounds per game.  Virginia Tech has not lost in Blacksburg yet, but they will face their toughest test of the season tonight.

Cincinnati @ South Florida – 7 pm on ESPNU (**)

With their recent performances, South Florida played itself out of the tournament and Cincinnati is on the verge of playing themselves back in.  USF has lost their last two games to other bubble teams (Notre Dame and Marquette) and are now not even in Joe Lunardi’s first eight teams out.  The Bearcats, on the other hand, are coming off a game in which they held UConn to their lowest point total since 2002, and are now the second team out according to Lunardi.  Like the Wake Forest vs. Virginia Tech matchup, this game will also be extremely low scoring.  Both teams give up less than 66 points per game, and neither ranks in the top 70 in offensive efficiency.  Cincinnati has no players scoring over 12 points per game, and they rank #112 in offensive efficiency.  On paper, it would seem like USF would score more than 68.9 points per game, with four players averaging over 10 points per game and two players scoring over 17 points per game.  However, one reason for that is Gus Gilchrist just returned from an injury that kept him sidelined since December 2.  In his first game back against Marquette, he scored 10 points below his season average of 17.4 (most of USF’s earlier games were against weaker teams), but if he can provide some quality minutes and score close to what he did earlier in the year, USF should be able to win this game.  Cincinnati is just 2-6 on the road this year, and despite a relatively empty crowd at the Sun Dome, the Bulls should at least play themselves back in the bubble discussion.

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According to this report from Kentucky basketball blog BigBlueCats.com, DeMarcus Cousins’ cell phone number has been leaked onto the internet via various social networking media, and he is receiving phone calls from the fans and students from various SEC schools.  In the video below, which was shown on local Lexington television on Monday evening, Cousins says the messages being left range from morons spouting racial remarks to people asking him to…er…make out.

Ahead of Kentucky’s game against Mississippi State on Tuesday, the majority of the calls are evidently coming from Bulldogs fans.  The best part of the video, in our view, is when Cousins states that not only is he now having conversations with some of the antagonistic callers, but he’s going to wait to change his number until tomorrow — after the Mississippi State vs Kentucky game.

After watching this, there are obviously several items of note:

• DeMarcus’ nickname is “Boogie”…and now there are headbands.  We bet this is going to be the Kentucky (and maybe national) equivalent of those weird red berets made by Roots Canada that the world went nuts over during the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano.  We’re a little surprised that we don’t hear more “Boooooogie” cat-calls (see what I did, there?) during games by the Rupp Arena fans when he scores, or whatever.
• DeMarcus Cousins can already handle himself around a slew of media, impressive for this age.
• And the most important thing:  DeMarcus Cousins is a very, very funny man.