Last night’s Big South and Horizon League losers knocked eight teams from the ranks of national title contenders.  That leaves a total of 310 teams vying for the crown this season.  Liberty, Winthrop, Charleston Southern, Gardner-Webb, Illinois-Chicago, Green Bay, Loyola (Ill) and Youngstown State — we’ll see you again next year!

Coming next: eight more teams eliminated from the Atlantic Sun, Ohio Valley and Patriot Leagues tonight.

The final M5 before we enter that magical month…

1. Butler head coach Brad Stevens left his team’s win against Loyola (Ill.) on Saturday a little early due to a condition that blurred his vision badly enough to where he couldn’t even see the other end of the court. He was diagnosed with corneal edema, an entity for which there are many causes, most of them benign. Assistant coach Matthew Graves guided the Bulldogs for the final 22 minutes in that win on Saturday which clinched at least a share of the Horizon League regular season title. Stevens, vision restored, was back at practice on Sunday.
2. Want to hear what Louisville fans are saying about the incident involving the cheerleader at the end of the Cardinals’ win over Pittsburgh on Sunday? Well, here you go [a warning: there is some explicit language used, including the header of that page]. Pitt’s Ashton Gibbs also had some thoughts on the game, one of which he shared with the world via Twitter. To his credit, soon after posting it, he took it down and apologized to Louisville and its fans.
3. Unfortunately for U of L, the celebration of their victory over the Panthers and the laughter they shared at angry tweets was short-lived, when news arrived that Rakeem Buckles had torn his ACL in the first half. Sporting News‘ Mike DeCourcy has details on how unfair this is for the young man, and what the Cards have lost — right before Tournament time — as a result of the injury.
4. Monmouth head coach Dave Calloway has been with that school in one capacity or another for 24 years. He was a player, then an assistant coach, then became head honcho in 1997. He took the program to three NCAA Tournaments — 2001, 2004, and a trip that included a play-in game win in 2006. After that, though, the Hawks endured five straight losing seasons and they won’t even play in the upcoming NEC Tournament. On Saturday, the school and Calloway parted ways. Brendan Prunty and Tom Luicci of New Jersey’s Star-Ledger explain Calloway’s disapointment in a story that includes several candid, honest statements from the dismissed coach.
5. The unstoppable Luke Winn has an amazing summary of Saturday’s BYU vs San Diego State game, including insights into the minds and methods of the Aztecs’ student section, appropriately named The Show, in case you haven’t heard. A show, indeed. If you watched the game, you saw the kinds of taunts and, er, visuals that The Show employed to get the attention of Jimmer Fredette. If you thought those were…original, check out Winn’s story and find out what actually wasn’t approved — or at least couldn’t be brought into the arena — and how one SDSU fan finally got the attention of the POY candidate after the game. It makes The Jimmer’s performance all the more impressive.

John Templon of Chicago College Basketball is the RTC correspondent for the Horizon League.

Standings

1. Butler 3-0
2. Green Bay 4-1
3. Detroit 3-1
4. Wright State 3-1
5. Cleveland State 2-2
6. Loyola (IL) 2-3
7. Valparaiso 1-2
8. Milwaukee 1-3
9. Youngstown State 1-4
10. UIC 1-4

Top Storylines

• Into conference play to stay. Besides the Bracket Busters event everyone is locked in and focused on conference play in the Horizon League.
• Butler is still the team to beat. The Bulldogs haven’t been challenged yet in the Horizon League, but every team is gunning for them. There’s a huge game coming up at Wright State on Friday and another at Detroit on Saturday.
• Parity reigns in league play. Besides the Butler bully at the top the conference nobody can get away with playing anything less than their “A” game. That’s especially true on the road.

Team Breakdowns

Butler: The Bulldogs are an excellent offensive team, but the trip to Wright State is going to be a huge game. Pomeroy projects the Bulldogs to lose in a tight game on the road. The Bulldogs might’ve slipped up one too many times to make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team, but now all that matters is the conference tournament in March. Gordon Hayward is ridiculous. If you haven’t seen Butler play this season you’re missing out on a treat. He’s got an excellent game and he rebounds. He’s 46th in the nation in defensive rebounding percentage.

Green Bay: One of the two annual rivalry games between the two Wisconsin schools in the Horizon League takes place on Saturday. The game is in Milwaukee so the Phoenix are slight underdogs. Green Bay won’t have played in a week since its last game was a 6-point win at Valparaiso. Here the player to watch is Rahmon Fletcher. He dominates the ball for the Phoenix, taking the 16th highest percentage of shots in the nation. Fletcher has to be on the court for Green Bay to play well. The Phoenix lost by an average of 23.5 points per game to Butler and Oakland when he was out.

Detroit: Probably the tallest team in the Horizon League, the aptly named Titans are using it to their advantage. Detroit suffered an upset loss to UIC at the Pavilion last Thursday, but came back to beat Loyola on the road to get a split in Chicago. A game against Valparaiso could be a trap game before Butler on Sunday. (Valparaiso is Butler’s “travel partner” and could be a trap game for many opponents this season.) Eli Holman is one of the tall people on the frontline. He’s 6’9″ but plays bigger and is 28th in the country in block percentage.

Wright State: The “other” Top 50 Pomeroy team in the Horizon League, the Raiders already have a tough loss in Horizon League play – 53-52 to Loyola on New Year’s Eve. Now they get Butler on their home court. Wright State forces a lot of turnovers, plays at a slow pace and generally grinds through a game. They don’t have any particularly good non-conference wins – Belmont is the best – so it’s Horizon League title or bust for the Raiders. Senior guard Todd Brown and junior guard Vaughn Duggins lead a very balanced attack. No player uses more than 21.8% of the team’s possessions while on the court.

Cleveland State: The Vikings are 6-10, but don’t let the record fool you, this team is a competitor in the Horizon League. After a four-game losing streak (albeit against some talented teams) head coach Gary Waters switched to a four-guard starting lineup and it’s paid off in two wins over Youngstown State and Loyola. The Vikings have to finish off the Chicago pair when UIC comes to town and then prepare for Butler. (Everyone prepares for Butler.) Norris Cole is the guy for Cleveland State. He does a little bit of everything from his guard position. Also, the four-guard rotation has given Jeremy Montgomery a more prominent role in which he could also flourish.

Loyola: A little bit of luck went a long way, but the Ramblers are coming back to reality during conference play. Then again, being sixth is still a surprising position for a team that was picked 10th in the preseason poll. Loyola lost a close game to Cleveland State in Cleveland on Thursday. The bench continues to outscore the starters and every game is going to be close. The loss to the Vikings was Loyola’s first close loss of the season. Now they have to go to Youngstown State to finish up the Ohio swing before playing crosstown rival UIC next Friday. Sophomore Walt Gibler is emerging as an effective scoring threat that goes to the line often. He’s seventh in the nation in fouls drawn.

Valparaiso: A New Year’s Eve victory over Milwaukee was a good way to end 2009, but 2010 hasn’t been as kind to the Crusaders. They have a sieve for a defense, probably because they gamble too often. (Valparaiso does rank 69th in steal percentage as a team.) Like I noted above, the Crusaders are Butler’s travel partner, so they might benefit from that, though it didn’t help last time as Green Bay won a tight game 64-58. Look out for sophomore guard Brandon Wood. He takes a lot of shots and makes them, a lethal combination. He also draws some fouls, making him a very effective scorer.

Milwaukee: Nothing like playing SIU-Edwardsville to make a Horizon League team feel better about itself. That’s exactly what the Panthers did on Tuesday to improve their record to 9-7. The game against Green Bay should be a big one and according to Pomeroy the Panthers are a slight favorite. If I had to handicap it though I’d give the edge to the Phoenix, even on the road. The Panthers don’t like giving up offensive rebounds, they rank 7th in the country in defensive rebounding percentage. The guy here is James Eayrs, but the senior is having a bit of a problem with his three-point shot thus far this season.

Youngstown State: The reason the Penguins are ninth in the standings is because they got a home game against the tenth team. Youngstown State became the final Horizon League team to win a league game when it defeated UIC 76-67. Now maybe the Penguins can start a two-game winning streak when Loyola comes to town on Saturday. DeAndre Mays is the go-to-guy for the Youngstown.

UIC: An upset victory over Detroit on New Year’s gave the Flames their first conference victory, but two losses have followed. Jeremy Buttell absolutely went off with 31 points and 12 rebounds against Youngstown State, but it wasn’t enough to carry the Flames to victory. Now they’ll take on Cleveland State before the crosstown game versus Loyola on their home floor at the Pavilion on January 15. (A game that will be televised on ESPNU.) Robo Kreps is the go-to-guy most nights for UIC and when he’s on he can carry the team, but nights when he shoots 4-14, like he did against Youngstown State, make it difficult to win.

John Templon of Chicago College Basketball is the RTC correspondent for the Horizon League. 

Horizon League Standings

1. Green Bay 2-0 (9-2)
2. Wright State 1-0 (4-2)
3. Detroit 2-0 (6-3)
4. Butler 1-0 (6-3)
5. Loyola-Chicago 1-1 (5-2)
6. Milwaukee 1-1 (6-4)
7. Valparaiso 0-1 (3-6)
8. Youngstown State 0-2 (3-5)
9. Cleveland State 0-2 (3-6)
10. UIC 0-2 (1-5)

Top Storylines

• The Phoenix are rising. Green Bay has turned into one of the best teams in the Horizon League and is set to challenge Butler. In fact, it can be argued that Green Bay’s victory over Wisconsin is the biggest non-conference win for the league thus far this season.
• Howard if off track. Reigning Player of the Year Butler’s Matt Howard has struggled in the post during the non-conference schedule. He hasn’t been able to get into a rhythm and has more fouls this season than field goals made (36 to 24).
• Detroit suffers a bad loss at home. A lot of people think the Titans have the talent to compete with early leaders Green Bay, Butler and Wright State. Detroit may be up there now in the standings, but the Titans still have a long way to go. It showed in a home loss to Tennessee State this week.
• Final chance to pull some big upsets. The Horizon League has a number of chances this week to improve its overall profile by pulling upsets at major conference venues. The best chances seem to be Detroit at Michigan and Wright State at Mississippi State.

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Damon Lewis, a reporter and play-by-play announcer for the Horizon League Network, is RTC’s Horizon League correspondent.

1. Butler (#15/15)  12-1, 21-2
2. Green Bay   11-3, 19-7
3. Cleveland State  9-5, 18-8
4. Wright State   9-5, 15-10
5. Milwaukee   9-5, 14-10
6. Youngstown State  6-8, 9-15
7. Loyola    4-10, 12-14
8. UIC    4-10, 11-13
9. Valparaiso   3-10, 6-18
10. Detroit    2-12, 7-17

This edition of the HL “check in” comes smack dab in the middle of a whirlwind tour of the Horizon League.  Loyola to Cleveland State to Butler to Valparaiso…four games in six days, all in an effort to sew up my notes on as many teams as possible heading into the Horizon League Championship, which begins on March 3rd.  Some things are already crystal clear while others remain murky, much like the weather we deal with here in the Midwest this time of year.  Two weeks ago it was snow measured in feet and this week it’s been unseasonable warmth, followed by wind and rain.  It’s a nice sign that March is right around the corner, but for now the return of the winter chill is a reminder that this time of year features “Mock Selection Thursday” and not “Selection Sunday.”

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Damon Lewis, a reporter and play-by-play announcer for the Horizon League Network, is RTC’s Horizon League correspondent.

1. Butler (#13/13)        9-0    18-1
   
2. Green Bay            8-2    16-6
3. Milwaukee            8-3    13-8
4. Wright State            7-3    13-8
5. Cleveland State        5-5    14-8
6. Loyola                4-6    12-10
7. UIC                3-7    10-10
8. Youngstown State        3-7    6-14
9. Valparaiso            3-7    6-15
10. Detroit                0-10    5-15

I’ve used up the majority of this space over the last several weeks explaining why and/or how the Horizon League would be a two-bid league in the NCAA Tournament this year.  Actually, it was more like “explaining why” early in the season because the hopes were so high, then “explaining how” as of late, as the chances became slimmer and slimmer.  That said, let me make something very clear…

The Horizon League will ONLY send 2 teams to the NCAA Tournament if Butler stumbles in the Horizon League Tournament.  Period.

I’m really, really disappointed about this.  The fact that the HL will likely be a one-bid league once again this season isn’t a knock on the overall level of basketball.  It’s simply evidence that, right now, there’s really only one elite team/program in the Horizon League.  That program, of course, is Butler.  Having seen nearly every team play in person (and all of them via TV or Internet), I have a lot of confidence in saying that there truly isn’t much difference between team #2 and team #10.  There may be a wide margin in the wins and losses, but talent-wise and coaching-wise, the gap is much tighter.  To me, the differences between teams 2-thru-5 and teams 6-thru-10 are things like experience, lack of injuries, or mental toughness.  Some teams have better results in these areas, and because of that they’ve risen slightly higher in the league standings.  It’s not because of a disparity in talent.  The only disparity in talent I see is at Butler.  Along with doing the little things right, they have the most talent, and it shows.

No need to go on, and on, about teams that are irrelevant right now, unless I feel like poking a little fun (which I will).  There have been some impressive performances since the last time we checked in, which has prompted a lot of chatter in Horizon League circles about who this season’s “HL Player of the Year” will be, “All-HL 1st Team,” etc.  We’ll dive into that, among other things, right about…now.

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Damon Lewis, a reporter and play-by-play announcer for the Horizon League Network, is RTC’s Horizon League correspondent.

1. Butler (#17/18)          6-0    15-1
2. Milwaukee                   6-1    11-6
3. Green Bay                    5-1    12-5
4. Cleveland State        4-3    13-6
5. Wright State               3-3    9-8
6. UIC                                    2-4    9-7
7. Loyola                            2-4    10-8
8. Youngstown St.       2-5    5-11
9. Valparaiso                   2-5    5-13
10. Detroit                           0-6    4-11

Much to my surprise, there seems to be as much attention on the Horizon League this year, as any year I can remember.  Maybe some of that has to do with the often-mentioned “reload” at Butler, or maybe it’s the HL’s tendency to impress when the lights are at their brightest.

In my RTC Horizon League season preview, I mentioned how tough HL teams have been once they make the NCAA Tournament.  During the regular season, the lights are brightest in the Horizon League when teams get the opportunity to play on national television, via the ESPN family of networks.  To date, Horizon League games on one of the WWL’s platforms have featured a buzzer-beating win by Butler over Cleveland State, a HUGE road win by Butler over Xavier, and an overtime win by Green Bay over Milwaukee.  Not to be forgotten, Cleveland State’s 70-foot buzzer-beating win over Syracuse was broadcast on the Big East Network (AKA – ESPN Regional).  Both buzzer-beaters were the “Top Play” on ESPN’s SportsCenter that night, and this play from Green Bay’s Terry Evans and Ryan Tillema also brought home “Top Play” honors on SportsCenter, in Green Bay’s 77-75 OT win last Friday night at the home of the Panthers.

Those are only a few examples of what’s going on this year in the Horizon League.  The level of play is as good as I’ve seen it many years, but that may not translate into multiple NCAA bids.  Unfortunately, as you can probably see by the current standings (shown above), There aren’t 2 or 3 teams separating themselves from the rest of the pack.  Yes, I see the 2-game gap between Green Bay and Cleveland State, but looks can be deceiving.  There are 3 teams in the HL who have yet to play Butler.  Wanna guess who they are?  Yep…Milwaukee, Green Bay (Butler hosts both next week), and UIC (hosting Butler on Saturday afternoon).  It’s still early, but this thing is trending more and more toward one-bid with each passing road loss by Cleveland State and UIC.

Now that we’re in the heart of league play, my position with the Horizon League Network allows for a fair amount of travel to see a lot of these teams in person.  With that in mind, my thoughts on specific teams will hopefully be a bit more concise from here on out, as I no longer have to speculate solely on what “seems” to be true by reading game recaps and looking over box scores.  Remember folks…games aren’t played on paper.

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Damon Lewis, a reporter and play-by-play announcer for the Horizon League Network, is RTC’s Horizon League correspondent.

1. Milwaukee  (3-0,  7-5)
2. Butler  (2-0, 11-1)
3. Green Bay  (2-0, 9-4)
4. UIC  ( 1-1,  8-4)
5. Valparaiso  (1-1,  4-9)
6. Cleveland State  (1-2, 10-5)
7. Wright State (1-2, 7-7)
8. Youngstown State  (1-2, 4-8)
9. Loyola  (0-1, 8-5)
10. Detroit  (0-3, 4-8)

I’m feeling a little prophetic since the last time we checked in on the Horizon League.  All I’ll say is that the developments don’t bode well for the Horizon League’s two-bid aspirations.  But, it does speak to the level of competition that teams face night in and night out in the Horizon League.  Before we get into some team-by-team breakdowns, lets take a quick look at the league as a whole, which has enjoyed a successful non-conference season.

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Damon Lewis, a reporter and play-by-play announcer for the Horizon League Network, is RTC’s Horizon League correspondent.

ROLL THE VIDEO!

Oh hell, why not…ROLL THE 2nd VIDEO…

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