north texas – Rush The Court

Ten Questions to Consider: Premier Match-ups Across the Country

Matthew Eisenberg — Fri, 19 Feb 2021 13:01:00 +0000

After starting the week with a Monday slate that left much to be desired, this week ends with several great games across the land. A match-up of #3 Michigan vs. #4 Ohio State in the Big Ten leads the way, but plenty of other leagues are also scheduled to have their top teams battling it out. With the end of February fast approaching, here are 10 questions I have for the action taking place over the next few days.

Can Ohio State continue to dominate Michigan in Columbus? (Michigan @ Ohio State, Sunday, 1 PM EST, CBS) Going back to 1950, [...]

Morning Five: 01.21.16 Edition

nvr1983 — Thu, 21 Jan 2016 13:35:38 +0000

California senior point guard Tyrone Wallace is expected to be out for 4-6 weeks after breaking a bone in his right hand. Wallace, who leads the team in scoring (15.4) and assists (4.6) while averaging 5.1 rebounds per game. will be replaced in the starting lineup by Sam Singer. Wallace’s absence could be a crushing blow to any postseason aspirations that the team had coming into the season with a solid returning core and two top-10 recruits as the Bears are now 12-6 overall and 2-3 in the Pac-12. Wallace is expected to be back in time for the Pac-12 Conference Tournament, [...]

Morning Five: 01.19.16 Edition

nvr1983 — Tue, 19 Jan 2016 13:45:53 +0000

We have heard quite a few crazy coaching rumors over the years, but the idea being floated that Rick Pitino would leave Louisville to take over at UNLV is one of the more confusing ones that I have heard. As a general rule, when you start a column with the headline “Don’t laugh”, you know you have an uphill battle in convincing the reader that something might happen. We have a hard time believing that even the most ardent UNLV fan thinks that this is a realistic possibility although we do think that some of the other names mentioned would certainly [...]

C-USA Breakdown: Louisiana Tech & UTEP Atop Decidedly One-Bid League

Tommy Lemoine — Wed, 18 Feb 2015 17:01:54 +0000

As recently as last Thursday, Conference USA still had a legitimate shot at becoming a two-bid league. Old Dominion – in second place behind Louisiana Tech – was considered among Joe Lunardi’s “Last Four In” selections, a team capable of sneaking into the Big Dance even if failed to win the league tournament. But life outside power conferences can be cruel, and the Monarchs all but squandered those at-large chances over the weekend, suffering back-to-back road losses at UT-San Antonio (Thursday) and UTEP (Saturday) while falling to fifth place overall. In fact, with several other would-be contenders also stumbling badly [...]

Final Four Previews In-Depth: Florida Gators

Bennet Hayes — Fri, 04 Apr 2014 16:01:20 +0000

As part of our ongoing NCAA Tournament coverage, RTC is unveiling a detailed look at each of the Final Four teams throughout the week. Kentucky, Wisconsin and UConn have already released. Today: Florida.

Back on December 2, college basketball pollsters would have told you that Florida was the worst of the four teams still standing in this NCAA Tournament. #12 UConn beat the 15th-ranked Gators that night, and both Kentucky (#3) and Wisconsin (#8) rested comfortably among the top 10 teams in the nation. Things have changed quite significantly in the months since. As a result of 30 consecutive victories since [...]

O26 Buzz: This Week’s Storylines

Nicholas Patrick — Fri, 03 Jan 2014 17:01:51 +0000

Every Friday throughout the rest of the season, the Other 26 Microsite will dig into some of the top storylines featuring those leagues from the previous week.

1. Eye-Opening O26 Results from the Past Week

Kyle Collingsworth and his fellow BYU Cougars need to get back on track after opening WCC play with consecutive losses

Saturday: UNC Greensboro 55, Virginia Tech 52: The Spartans’ complete list of victories against D-I opponents now includes High Point, Stetson, James Madison, oh, and a member of the ACC. Saturday: Massachusetts 69, Providence 67 (OT): Derrick Gordon’s game-winner gave the Minutemen their fifth victory against power [...]

The Other 26: The Mountain West Enters the Spotlight

IRenko — Sat, 29 Dec 2012 19:13:22 +0000

I. Renko is an RTC columnist. He will kick off each weekend during the season with his analysis of the 26 other non-power conferences. Follow him on Twitter @IRenkoHoops.

The action was light during this past holiday week, but the Mountain West’s finest took advantage of the lull to thrust themselves into the spotlight with two exciting contests, a pair of one-point games against top 10 teams decided by last-second blocks. In the final of the Diamond Head Classic in Hawaii, San Diego State fell just short against third-ranked Arizona, losing 68-67 when Xavier Thames’ potential winning shot was blocked [...]

ATB: North Texas Struggles, Duke Wins on Back-to-Back Nights, and Memphis Gets Pushed To The Brink By Lipscomb…

Chris Johnson — Fri, 21 Dec 2012 12:15:56 +0000

Chris Johnson is an RTC Columnist. He can be reached @ChrisDJohnsonn.

Tonight’s Lede. Holiday Break Brings Another Scheduling Dry Spell. Last week, we lamented the scheduling lull brought about by final exams. Players were off studying for those pesky calculus or English or economics exams, writing Shakespeare papers and completing voluminous problem sets, and viewers were left with – gasp! – professional basketball, or Thursday night football or that episode(s) of Homeland you happened to miss during the show’s scheduled airtime. Some even resorted to holiday shopping. Games of interest were few and far between. Then came Saturday’s spate of excellent action, [...]

Ten Tuesday Scribbles: On November Rituals, Head-Scratchers, and More…

Brian Otskey — Tue, 13 Nov 2012 19:50:24 +0000

Brian Otskey is a regular contributor for RTC. Every Tuesday during the regular season he’ll be giving his 10 thoughts on the previous week’s action. You can find him on Twitter @botskey

In what seems to have become an annual November ritual, fans and members of the media tend to overreact in making bold statements about teams and players after just one or two games have been played. While I recognize that is the nature of the “what have you done for me lately?” society we live in, fans and the media alike must take a step [...]

McDermott vs. Mitchell a Fun Show, But the Lesson Lies in Creighton’s Legitimacy

dnspewak — Sat, 10 Nov 2012 06:17:23 +0000

Danny Spewak is an RTC correspondent and Big 12 microsite writer. He filed this report from Omaha after Creighton’s 71-51 victory over North Texas tonight. You can follow him on Twitter @dspewak.

The Tony Mitchell Show began with a fast-break dunk in the opening minutes and continued with a block, a three-pointer from the wing, another swat, a monstrous slam off an offensive rebound and, finally, a loud, piercing scream of raw emotion directed toward the sold-out CenturyLink Center crowd. The public address announcer continued to call that name in monotone – Tony Mitchell – as he racked up nine points, [...]

Five Mid-Majors You’re Likely to Hear From Next March

Chris Johnson — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 20:09:02 +0000

Chris Johnson is an RTC Columnist. He can be reached @ChrisDJohnsonn.

There exists in college basketball a certain romanticism that distinguishes it from every other sport. It shines through in March, when the sport’s preeminent end-of-season tournament provides a glimmer of hope for Division one teams, no matter how small, unknown or minimally-funded, to break through on a national stage. For the mid-majors, this is prime time. Unlike their high-major counterparts, the little guys’ path to the field of 68 is restricted. Most smaller leagues only receive one Tournament bid, which is normally decided through conference tournaments. It’s what makes championship [...]

Big East M5: 10.29.12 Edition

Dan Lyons — Mon, 29 Oct 2012 11:45:58 +0000

Basketball Prospectus’ Dan Hanner unveiled his preseason basketball rankings using a brand new methodology: “Using 10 years of historical trends, I projected the performance of every D-I player, and then projected lineups for all 345 teams.” The results are… interesting. Louisville remains the top ranked Big East school, though they’re a bit lower than most of the polls have them ranked, at #10. Syracuse is right behind the Cardinals at #11. Pittsburgh ranks surprisingly high at #19, with Marquette, Notre Dame, and Georgetown falling in behind the Panthers at #21, #22, and #27, respectively. Rutgers ranks shockingly high at #43, and Cincinnati is [...]

Analyzing the Big 12 Early Season Tournaments: Kansas State Edition

dnspewak — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 19:16:56 +0000

We’re just four days away from the official opening to the 2012-13 college basketball season as schools will be able to start officially practicing Friday night. Before then, though, we’re going to take a look at the various pre-conference tournaments that have become synonymous with the first month of college basketball. Nearly every Big 12 school is competing in one of those tournaments this season and we’ll take time each day this week to preview each bracket, from Hawaii to Puerto Rico to New York City. On Tuesday we took a look at Texas and Kansas. Today, it’s Kansas State [...]

Morning Five: 05.04.12 Edition

rtmsf — Fri, 04 May 2012 11:36:07 +0000

In just the last three days, the Atlantic 10 has added Butler, the Mountain West has eviscerated the WAC with its additions of San Jose State and Utah State, and now Conference USA has finished it off as a major conference by grabbing Louisiana Tech to go along with the A-10’s Charlotte and the Sun Belt’s North Texas and FIU. There will be a quiz on all of these moves in mid-August. What does this mean from a college basketball perspective? Probably not much. Neither Charlotte nor Louisiana Tech have been relevant in a long time, and although North Texas [...]

As NBA Draft Deadline Passes, A Reminder of NBA/NCAA Rules Discrepancies

EJacoby — Tue, 01 May 2012 01:21:51 +0000

Evan Jacoby is a regular contributor for RTC. You can find him @evanjacoby on Twitter.

The NBA’s deadline for players to enter the 2012 NBA Draft passed over the weekend, with the biggest news coming from North Texas that star big man Tony Mitchell is returning to school. Why the minimal buzz about the deadline? It’s because the NCAA’s own deadline had already passed back on April 10, the date by which players had to withdraw from draft consideration if they had previously declared but wanted to retain college eligibility. It’s a confusing rule that’s just one of many areas [...]