Tuesday, March 16, 2021

The Top Teams in College Basketball Today, in the Style of Sports Illustrated in the 1970s

 Last one for the regular season.  We will do one more of these once the tournament is over:

EAST:  1.  Virginia (18-6)  2.  Villanova (16-6)

MIDEAST:  1.  Michigan (20-4)  2.  Illinois (23-6)

MIDWEST:  1.  Baylor (22-2)  2.  Houston (24-3)

WEST:  1.  Gonzaga (26-0)  2.  USC (22-7)

In the history books, the 2020-21 season will mainly be remembered for COVID.  But in terms of the history of college basketball, this will be the year that Gonzaga entered the tournament with an undefeated record.  Pomeroy says that the Zags are the best team in the history of his database, which covers every team back to 2002.  And now we'll see what happens to them.

152 comments:

  1. In the "First Four" games of the NCAA tournament on Thursday, Texas Southern beat Mount Saint Mary's; Norfolk State beat Appalachian State; Drake beat Wichita State, and UCLA beat Michigan State. I watched a lot of the ends of both of those last two games, and they were terrific.

    I was delighted to watch Johnny Juzang, a University of Kentucky Wildcat last season, key the Bruins' come-from-behind victory late last night. He had his moments in his one, pandemic-shortened season at UK, and he seemed to leave on good terms. He's a Los Angeles kid who had apparently strongly considered attending UCLA from the start until Steve Alford got fired. He Tweeted nice things about Kentucky on the way out after last season blew up, and then he Tweeted that he was "coming home" in announcing his move to UCLA. I'm glad he's where he needs to be, and I'm glad he's doing well. In fact, if Morehead State gets eliminated, I'll probably root for UCLA in this tournament because of Johnny Juzang.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He was the difference in that game last night -- I have no idea why we didn't use him more.

      Delete
  2. I think I wish all sports but Dolphins games were played during my work hours. Right now, I'm working to Colgate ahead of Arkansas, 33-24, with 2:38 to go in the first half. This is the 3/14 game in the South Region, and Colgate's the 14.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Usually, one of the safest bets in the NCAA Tournament is to assume that SEC teams will do badly whenever Kentucky has had a bad year. I have no idea why Florida (which is a dreadful team) got a number-7 seed, but I'm pretty sure they're going down to VaTech. Tech leads 46-40 with 11 minutes left.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Personally, I'm like Alabama -- but I'd be pretty happy if all the other SEC teams went out in the first round.

    ReplyDelete
  5. This is the kind of day where I want to hear "John Deere Tractor" by the Judds.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Now the SEC is on a roll. Florida roars back to beat Va Tech 75-70 in overtime. Arkansas leads Colgate 78-62 with 2 minutes left.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Illinois crushes Drexel and Ken Pom is 3-3 on the day.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Inside-16-minute timeout in the second half of the 2/15 game in the South Region, and Ohio State (the 2) is tied with Oral Roberts at 42. Both of these teams can really play basketball--good passers, good shooters, good athletes. All of the games are beautiful when they are played well and hard; basketball certainly is.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Under-12 now in the OSU-ORU, and it's 49-44 in favor of the 15 with the 2 about to shoot a free throw. Bride just walked through and thought I was watching hockey! She said she didn't look very hard, but it's still weird--she filled out an NIT bracket just the other day.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Under-8 ... Oral Roberts 53, Ohio State 50 ... defense has picked up ... OSU ball coming back ...

    ReplyDelete
  11. 58-56, Oral Roberts ... Ohio State timeout at 5:21 ... this game is a blast ...

    ReplyDelete
  12. I like all of the AT&T commercials with that one woman. She's a good actress.

    ReplyDelete
  13. The GEICO auditions ads are also good.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Ohio State comes out of the timeout on fire ... tremendous, tremendous block on a backdoor-cut layup leads to a second-straight OSU bucket and 60-58 advantage ... but Oral Roberts calmly comes back and lofts in another hanging floater ... Oral Roberts has had a bunch of threes, a few layups and then several of these plays where some short guy runs in and lofts a floating shot up and over two or three Ohio State giants ... really pretty ...

    Under-4 ... 61-60, Ohio State, and Oral Roberts will be going to the line ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought OSU would win after they had that great block.

      Delete
  15. I loved and still love Progressive Flo. But I'll tell you what ... that Progressive Jamie just absolutely cracks me up every time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Progressive committed to the bit, and I think it works.

      Delete
  16. Now here's Jon Hamm for Mercedes. Pre-Mad Men Jon Hamm turned up in a Gilmore Girls rerun the other night, and that was fun.

    ReplyDelete
  17. Two good opportunities on that trip from Oral Roberts but no banana ... that felt critical ...

    ReplyDelete
  18. Ohio State score. Oral Roberts miss.

    ReplyDelete
  19. Ohio State one of two free throws. Oral Roberts miss.

    64-60, 2:12 ...

    ReplyDelete
  20. Ohio State turnover. Oral Roberts blocked!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Cannot believe that Oral Roberts made it back from here.

      Delete
    2. Me neither. I thought this was it.

      Delete
  21. Ohio State turnover. The Oral Roberts dribbler falls down, but another Oral Roberts guy recovers the ball, and now the Oral Roberts shooter just misses a layup and is fouled ...

    Make.

    Make.

    64-62, 1:07 ... timeout, Oral Roberts (I think) ...

    ReplyDelete
  22. Ohio State misses but also rebounds, and then Oral Roberts is called for a foul. Oral Roberts timeout with 35.8 seconds to go. One-plus-one coming for Ohio State ...

    ReplyDelete
  23. Miss on the first, and Oral Roberts rebounds ...

    ReplyDelete
  24. 14.9 to go ... 88.1-percent shooter heads to the line ...

    Make ... 64-63 ... timeout ...

    ReplyDelete
  25. Ohio State misses, and we're headed to overtime at Purdue! Very exciting.

    ReplyDelete
  26. Oral Roberts has the nation’s leading scorer, at 24.2 points per game. He’s Max Abmas, a 6-foot-1 sophomore from Rockwall, Texas, who was an honor student in high school in Dallas and is now a biomedical chemistry major.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Oral Roberts scores, and then Ohio State's three-point try wedges between the rim and backboard (or "banking board" as someone called it in the Ed Diddle book the other night). The Golden Eagles come back, score and draw a foul. The free throw is good, and now 15 leads 2, 69-64, with three and a half to go in overtime ...

    ReplyDelete
  28. Ohio State make, Oral Roberts fouled ...

    Miss (by Abmas).

    Make.

    70-66, 2:40 ...

    ReplyDelete
  29. Ohio State turnover, Oral Roberts fallaway jumper GOOD (by Abmas, for 29 points)!

    72-66, 2:05 ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was a fantastic play, and worthy of his excellence throughout the game. Reminded me of the year that one guard beat us down at South Carolina the year we had John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins.

      Delete
  30. Ohio State missed three, rebounds ... BUT ORAL ROBERTS STEALS ...

    ReplyDelete
  31. Oral Roberts travel ...

    72-66, 1:23 ...

    ReplyDelete
  32. Ohio State high off the banking board ... GOOD AND FOULED!

    ReplyDelete
  33. Oral miss three ... Ohio State fouled on slasher ...

    ReplyDelete
  34. Miss.

    Miss.

    72-69, 37.2 seconds ...

    ReplyDelete
  35. Oral Roberts fouled ... 31.8 seconds ... wow, wow, wow ...

    ReplyDelete
  36. One-and-one ... miss ... Ohio State rebound ... MISS ... ORAL ROBERTS REBOUND ... fouled ...

    ReplyDelete
  37. Same Oral Roberts shooter as last time ... this time ... make ... miss ...

    73-69, 20 seconds ..,

    ReplyDelete
  38. Oral Roberts fouled. OK, 13 seconds ... new Oral shooter ... 73-72 ...

    Make.

    Make.

    75-72 ... that Oral Roberts dude is seven-for-seven on free throws today ...

    ReplyDelete
  39. TWO OSU THREE-POINT TRIES ARE MISSED! Oral Roberts wins it! 2 over 15. First Oral Roberts NCAA-tournament win since CBK74 over Louisville.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I thought that last shot by OSU at the top of the key was going in.

      Delete
  40. ORAL ROBERTS BEATS OHIO STATE IN OVERTIME, 75 TO 72

    ReplyDelete
  41. Wow. Ohio State got who appeared to be their best player wide open at the top of the key for the last three try, and he had been very good in this game. Excellent game. Neither of these teams appeared tp me to be prone to bad luck.

    ReplyDelete
  42. Now I'm rooting for a Drake-UCLA/Oral Roberts-Morehead State Final Four.

    ReplyDelete
  43. Now I just want to think about college basketball, and it doesn't even have to be Kentucky-oriented basketball stuff. Here are two people I'm thinking about this afternoon: Bo Kimble and U.S. Reed.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Twitter desk is now following Bo Kimble and U.S. Reed:

      Bo Kimble @bokimblenba
      Vote Vote Vote !! @ Chester County, Pennsylvania
      1:38 PM · Oct 15, 2020 from Pennsylvania, USA

      U.S. Reed @usreed24
      may god bless all on another awesome day
      11:39 AM · Apr 23, 2013

      Delete
  44. In the Midwest Region, No. 12 Oregon State is whipping No. 5 Tennessee, 47-27, with 15:15 to play ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can still remember when Tennessee had the Ernie and Bernie Show, and they went into the tournament as the number 7 team in the country, and they lost in the first round to Syracuse. They've been doing this my whole life.

      Delete
  45. This game is as ugly as the last one was pretty, but, whatever, it's 59-42, Oregon State, with 6:26 remaining ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. As my mother would say, "Why doesn't Tennessee play like this against Kentucky?"

      Delete
  46. I am exactly as disappointed in Tennessee's loss to Oregon State as the Tennessee fans would be if the same thing happened to Kentucky.

    ReplyDelete
  47. If your team is down by 10 or more points with under a minute to go, and you roll the ball inbounds to save time, and then you throw up an airball three-pointer and the other team rebounds, that should be the end of the game. That should be the rule.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tennessee was down 62-42 with about 6 minutes to go, and then played hard the rest of the way. Last week they beat Florida in the SEC Tournament, and almost beat Alabama. I'll never understand that program.

      Delete
    2. At that point in the game, the CBS commentator said he felt Tennessee "now has a sense of urgency," and I thought that was a good strategy to adopt trailing 20 points with six minutes to go in the NCAA tournament.

      Delete
    3. That's Tennessee. They're pretty much like that in football, too.

      Delete
  48. The CBS guy said this is the first Oregon State win in the tournament in 40 years. I'm pretty sure that Oregon State had a center named Steve Johnson then, and I'm going to look it up.

    ReplyDelete
  49. Oregon State wins 70-56. So long, UT. Oregon State and Oklahoma State are both OSU, and both black and orange. If Oklahoma State can beat Liberty, the two OSU's will meet in the Second Round.

    ReplyDelete
  50. Terrence Clarke is leaving Kentucky for the pros. Here were his statistics with the Big Blue this season:

    Games played: 8
    Two-point shooting: 27-53 (50.9 percent)
    Three-point shooting: 5-23 (21.7 percent)
    Free-throw shooting: 8-17 (47.1 percent)

    His offensive rating for the year was 83.0, and UK was 1-7 in the games that he played -- including the last game of the year against Mississippi State, when he had 2 points in 10 minutes.

    We wish him the very best of luck in his professional career. I hope he makes a fortune.

    ReplyDelete
  51. North Texas leads Purdue 32-24 at the half. Winner to take on Villanova or Winthrop.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have plenty of Purdue kin, so I'm not rooting of the upset here.

      Delete
  52. Oklahoma State 69, Liberty 60. So Oral Roberts advances, but Liberty goes out. Make of that what you will.

    ReplyDelete
  53. That Geico "Scoop, There It Is" commercial is an all-time classic. I enjoy it every single time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's fantastic. I want it to go on and on. It is so much fun to watch people dance.

      Delete
  54. I am, of course, rooting for No. 9 Wisconsin, up 70-58 on No. 8 North Carolina with five and a half to go.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In the South Region, that is.

      Georgia Tech, No. 9 in the Midwest, lost to No. 8 Loyola Chicago, and Virginia Tech, No. 10 in the South, lost to No. 7 Florida. So, not a happy day developing for the ACC.

      On the other hand, N.C. State did win yesterday in the NIT, which means my bracket remains in pretty good shape.

      Delete
    2. And now Clemson, No. 7 in the Midwest, has lost to No. 10 Rutgers, 60-56.

      Delete
  55. Wisconsin CRUSHES North Carolina 85-62. First time Roy Williams has ever lost in the first round. (He was 29-0). Only the second time UNC has ever lost in the first round (they were 31-1). My favorite game of the year so far.

    ReplyDelete
  56. OK, UNC is gone.

    Back to Purdue, who is in trouble--behind 55-49 to North Texas. This is a huge moment for ConfUSA Nation, as we've got UNT threatening a big 13/4 upset on TBS in the NC2As and Louisiana Tech battling Ole Miss on ESPN2 in the NIT.

    ReplyDelete
  57. Baylor will play Wisconsin in the Round of 32, while Illinois will play Loyola. If you're a number-1 seed, your second round game should be a against a team that's round number 30 in the country. According to Ken Pom, Loyola is number 8 and Wisconsin is number 14, and that's before whatever boost Wisconsin will get for burying the Tar Heels. Those are brutally difficult games for the second round.

    ReplyDelete
  58. That was a great steal and dunk by Purdue. The Boilermakers have scored six points in a row, and they now trail North Texas 57-55.

    ReplyDelete
  59. KPom had Purdue winning this game 66-59, and the Boilers may get there yet. KPom is now 8-2 on the day. He missed Ohio State and Tennessee, but he's had everything else correct.

    ReplyDelete
  60. Purdue has finally figured out that the key here is to rush down the floor before North Texas can set up that defense. Another steal leads to another runout. Boilers are now tied at 57. N. Texas can't score, just like much of the second half against Western.

    ReplyDelete
  61. I've never seen any team with an offense as bad as North Texas that ever won a single game. It's uncanny to watch them. They never take a good shot.

    ReplyDelete
  62. After a weird series of herky-jerky passes, NTU makes a runner in the lane. Purdue misses. NTU leads 59-57. 1:36 left.

    ReplyDelete
  63. Similar late arc here to Oral Roberts-Ohio State.

    ReplyDelete
  64. Another basket for NTU on a weird off-balance runner, and the Mean Green are up 61-57 with about 1:20 left. Purdue calls time.

    ReplyDelete
  65. Purdue misses a three, gets the rebound, and scores. 61-59. 1 minute left.

    ReplyDelete
  66. NTU's point guard dribbles down the clock and tries that little runner that beat Western. That's the closest thing North Texas has to an offense. But he misses and Purdue grabs the rebound. Time out. 36 seconds left. Mean Green lead 61-59. All over the country, folks are wondering why Wisconsin didn't run away with the Big 10.

    ReplyDelete
  67. Purdue has this one big guy who's by far the best player in the game. He takes the ball, goes inside, misses, gets his own rebound, and scores. We are tied at 61 with 17 seconds left. I don't know why Purdue doesn't do that every time.

    ReplyDelete
  68. The Mean Green call time. They have 21.3 seconds left. I think they will be lucky to get off a shot.

    ReplyDelete
  69. I just noticed from the players' tee shirts that North Texas is not "NTU." It's "UNT." I apologize, but I like NTU better.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did you know that South Alabama is "USA"?

      Delete
    2. Yes, but I never use that -- it's just silly. I always call them "S. Alabama" or the "Jaguars."

      Delete
  70. That Purdue defender who deflected the ball was fantastic that entire UNT possession.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. He was, but on the other hand he starts in the Big Ten. UNT should have been more respectful of the Purdue defense.

      Delete
  71. As I expected, UNT waited too long to start its offense, and then they tried this crazy thing where the two guards were passing it back and forth in front of the Purdue defense. Purdue came this close to a steal and layup that would have won the game, but instead they knocked the ball out of bounds. UNT has one more chance with 1.6 seconds left. They have to catch and shoot, which is probably their best chance anyway.

    ReplyDelete
  72. The catch-and-shoot was much better than most UNT possessions, but of course it didn't work. They either missed really badly or tried a bank shot from an angle. Either way, it missed and we're going to overtime.

    ReplyDelete
  73. If I were a Purdue fan right now, I would be screaming for them to give the ball to the Big Guy every time. And if Purdue lost this game, I think I would want Matt Painter to be fired.

    ReplyDelete
  74. Purdue goes to the Big Guy, but he takes a 15-foot jump shot -- and misses. UNT hits a three and takes a 64-61 lead.

    ReplyDelete
  75. On the next possession, Purdue tries to get the ball to the Big Guy and UNT steals it. I think UNT should keep taking threes.

    ReplyDelete
  76. UNT tries one of their runners, which (of course) misses. But Purdue knocks the ball out of bounds. The next runner goes in, and UNT leads 66-61 with 3 minutes left.

    ReplyDelete
  77. The Big Guy for Purdue works the ball under the basket -- and HIS SHOT IS BLOCKED! UNT flips in another runner, and they lead 68-61!!

    ReplyDelete
  78. Purdue looks like is starting to have bad luck. Every Boilermaker pass, shot and move seems to be starting a second or two later than it feels like it should.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Actually, I thought UNT outsmarted Purdue every time. UNT knew Purdue was going to the Big Guy, and they just stopped it three times in a row.

      Delete
  79. I'm not just making this up -- I had the same thought in when they played Western in the C-USA Final -- I'm pretty sure that North Texas is that team that the Globetrotters used to play in the cartoons. They look like they can't play basketball at all, and the next thing you know they have you down.

    ReplyDelete
  80. Purdue had three different shots -- they're so much taller than UNT that they kept getting the rebound -- and missed them call. The Mean Green run 30 seconds off the clock and throw up an air ball. 68-61 for UNT with 1:14 left.

    ReplyDelete
  81. Purdue drives, misses. Gets the rebound, kicks it out for a three. Misses. The ball is knocked out of bounds. Who does it belong to?

    ReplyDelete
  82. I think Purdue knocked the ball out of bounds, but I thought UNT fouled the Purdue guy going for the rebound. So I'll be satisfied no matter what the officials do.

    ReplyDelete
  83. Still more review. If they give the ball to North Texas, the game is pretty much over, so I'm almost certain it's going to Purdue.

    ReplyDelete
  84. With 52.5 seconds left, Purdue fouls and UNT tries a one-and-one. They make the first one. They make the second one. UNT leads by 9 points with 52.5 seconds left.

    ReplyDelete
  85. In college basketball, the team that's behind will almost always make a dramatic three to bring itself closer. In this overtime, Purdue has probably missed at least six of those. The Boilers miss two more, and UNT is going to win the game.

    ReplyDelete
  86. Purdue's first make of overtime comes with about 30 seconds to go. They got a bunch of shots--some pretty heavily defended, some not so much.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Seriously, you've got to like a dad who wears a sweatshirt with a picture of his son on it.

    ReplyDelete
  88. All of the old NBA guys are good at TV.

    ReplyDelete
  89. I watch a lot of Seinfeld on TBS, and then there's some baseball playoffs and early-round NC2As. Sometimes I catch a few minutes of Conan. That's about it.

    ReplyDelete
  90. North Texas wins 78-69 in overtime. They join Baylor, Houston, and Texas Tech as the fourth team from the Lone Star state to advance today. Other winners today include Arkansas, Oral Roberts, and Oklahoma State. It's been a great day for the Southwest.

    ReplyDelete
  91. That's all for me tonight -- it's been a very entertaining day.

    ReplyDelete
  92. Part of me would really like to sit down with Coach Calipari this afternoon and have him explain to me why we can't have one or two guys like these Eastern Washington shooters. And then part of me thinks it would just turn into something along the lines of those keeping-the-airwaves-free/corrupt-FCC rages that Dad would go into when I would try to drop into dinner conversation how great A&E and the rest of cable TV were in 1982 and 1983.

    ReplyDelete
  93. I'm now rooting for UCLA, Oral Roberts, Gonzaga and Loyola of Chicago.

    ReplyDelete
  94. Ah, good ... my Loyola boys are on to the regional semis, and we have this tournament's first elimination of a No. 1 seed, Illinois.

    ReplyDelete
  95. I'll bet Clark Kellogg subscribes to the WordGenius.com "Word of the Day" emails. He just mentioned he recently came upon the word "tohubohu." So did I! A Hebrew word for a state of chaos, tohubohu was WordGenius.com's email for Jan. 12.

    ReplyDelete
  96. That's a good catch. One way that I'm entertaining myself during this tournament is by pretending that all teams are in the conference that I prefer. So I'm counting Syracuse as a Big East team, I'm counting Houston as a member of the Southwest Conference, and I'm counting Rutgers as a member of the A-10.

    ReplyDelete
  97. Rutgers, from out of the A-10, is leading Southwest power Houston 43-35 with 14:17 left in the game.

    ReplyDelete
  98. Every year, college basketball looks more and more like it did in the 1980's, before shot clocks were implemented. Every possession lasts about 25 seconds, almost no one scores 80 points, and the most valuable players are guys who can get offensive rebounds and make free throws.

    ReplyDelete
  99. Back then, Nolan Richardson and Rick Pitino helped break the game open by putting so much pressure on defense that teams couldn't hold the ball for long. They also had teams that shot enough three's that the grinding defenses preferred by coaches like Bobby Knight and John Thompson couldn't stop them.

    ReplyDelete
  100. Those lessons have been lost. Illinois went out today in a game that looked exactly like all of the disappointing losses suffered by DePaul in the early 1980's. And now Houston is down by 10 to Rutgers, in large part because the Cougars just can't score. The Scarlet Knights lead 50-40 with 10:57 left.

    ReplyDelete
  101. Houston has come charging back, and the Cougars take a 61-60 lead on an old-fashioned three-point play with 24.1 seconds. Rutgers has the ball.

    ReplyDelete
  102. HOUSTON STEALS THE BALL! HOUSTON STEALS THE BALL! Rutgers is forced to foul and Houston goes to the line with 9 seconds left.

    ReplyDelete
  103. Houston makes both FT's. Rutgers shoots a three at the buzzer, and they miss. Houston is going to the Sweet 16.

    ReplyDelete
  104. That was a devastating loss for Rutgers, which led for almost the entire second half. With 4:30 left, Rutgers was up 58-49. Down the stretch, Houston outscored Rutgers 14-2.

    ReplyDelete
  105. Rutgers had such an easy time of it for most of the second half that I think they felt like their defense would be enough to hold off Houston down the stretch. But the game speeds up down the stretch, and you need to keep scoring if you want to pull the upset.

    ReplyDelete
  106. Now Florida leads Oral Roberts 69-62 with 6:42 left.

    ReplyDelete
  107. Oral Roberts comes all the way back and beats Florida 81-78. Oral Roberts becomes only the second 15-seed to ever reach the Sweet 16. And they did it in style, with wins over Ohio State and Florida. I never did understand this Florida team.

    ReplyDelete
  108. Meanwhile, North Texas's lack of offense has finally caught up with them, as the Mean Green has run into a defense that it can't stop. Villanova leads UNT 75-57 with 4:19 left.

    ReplyDelete