AP Photo/Al Goldis

By Paul Casey Gotham

ACC/Big Ten Challenge

With a week of feasting on season-opening tournaments behind basketball fans, it is time for conference challenges. The Big 12 and Pac 10 will weigh in with their hardwood series. The Big East and SEC have their tete a tete. But the original throw-down exists between the Atlantic Coast Conference and Big Ten. Click here for a rundown of the all-time team records in the Challenge.

Last year, the Big Ten won the Challenge for the first time. Many are predicting a repeat. The ACC has three new coaches (Boston College – Steve Donahue, Clemson-Brad Brownell and Wake Forest – Jeff Bzdelik) to one (Fran McCaffery-Iowa) in the Big Ten.

Virginia tops Minnesota

The Cavaliers nabbed a 1-0 lead for the ACC with an 87-79 victory at “The Barn” in Minnesota. The Cavs outscored the Gophers 58-40 in the second half. Joe Harris led the way with 24 and Mustapha Farrakhan added with 23. Virginia went 25-30 from the free throw line. Minnesota finished 12-20 from the stripe.

The loss marked the first non-conference home loss for Tubby Smith at Minnesota. Injuries and a suspension have depleted the Gopher crew.

Tony Bennett is already working his magic at Virginia. After three successful seasons at Washington State, Bennett came east last season. His young squad features six freshmen who log minutes for the Cavs. Bennett is showing his ability to recruit on the east coast. He even lured a son away from his father. Much to the chagrin of those in the ocean state, Billy Baron chose Virginia over Rhode Island. What’s the big deal? Virginia is an ACC school, and Rhode Island belongs to the Atlantic 10.  Not a big deal until one considers that Billy Baron is the youngest son of Rhode Island head coach, Jim Baron. Yes, the elder Baron recruited the younger. That must have been an interesting conversation.

Jim Baron

The elder Baron is familiar with testy discussions between father and son. His older son, Jimmy finished his college career with the Rams just last year.

Bennett hopes Jim Baron’s ability to rebuild programs has rubbed off on Billy. It’s been a few years since Virginia basketball was relevant. Monday night’s win was a big one for the second-year coach.

The game featured some name-dropping. Beyond the Baron connection, Farrakhan is the grandson of Louis Farrakhan, the leader of the Nation of Islam. Ralph Sampson III scored two points and grabbed four rebounds for the Gophers. The elder Sampson must have had some mixed emotions while watching the game. Sampson was a player of the year for the Virginia Cavaliers.

Thumbnail tales: ACC/Big Ten Challenge

Iowa at Wake Forest – a pair of coaches new to their surroundings get their baptisms. Both teams are 3-3. Iowa did beat Alabama. Wake has beaten Elon, Hampton and Marist. McCaffery’s teams at Siena pressed and played upbeat. If the Hawkeyes can execute their pressure, it will be a long night for the Demon Deacons.

Georgia Tech at Northwestern – People are talking about Northwestern punching a ticket to the NCAA Tournament. This game could go a long way to securing the bid. Northwestern is 4-0. G-Tech is 4-2 with a win over UTEP. The Yellowjackets lost to Syracuse over the weekend. Can the Wildcats wear down the Jackets with their possession offense?

Ohio State and Florida State – The Seminoles are 5-1. OSU is 6-0. FSU lost to Florida over the weekend, 55-51. OSU beat the Gators on November 16th, 93-75. Seems like a lock for the Buckeyes. Fly in the ointment could be FSU’s stingy defense. The Seminoles have not allowed any team to score more than 75. Four of their opponents have scored less than 60. Can the Bucks sail on seas consisting of less than 60 points? FSU’s Chris Singleton might enjoy a coming out party.

Michigan at Clemson - Clemson enters play 5-1 with their only loss to a very good Old Dominion team. Michigan checks in at 3-2 coming off consecutive losses to Syracuse and UTEP.  The Tigers have a new coach, and the Wolverines are looking for an identity after Manny Harris. Andre Young leads the Tigers from behind the arc at a rate of 43 percent. He will be the key when the Wolverines go 1-3-1.

North Carolina at Illinois - UNC hobbles in at 4-2. Illinois brings a 6-1 mark. The Heels fell to Minnesota (not bad) and Vanderbilt (hmmm..) and struggled with College of Charleston (Again?).  A loss and the Heels might find themselves in the dictionary somewhere between overqualified and overreach. At the same time, the Illini might also have a case of those over-rated blues. Or at least, Bruce Weber’s gang seems uncomfortable carrying the responsibility.

Indiana at Boston College - IU is undefeated. In case you are not sure, that previous statement said the Indiana Hoosiers have not lost yet this year. Sure, it’s only six games, but the Hoosiers are taking strides to erase the name of of…..from memory. What was the name of that coach who did a lot of texting? The Hoosiers are off and running with victories over Wright St., Florida Gulf Coast, Mississippi Valley State, North Carolina Central, Evansville and Northwestern State.  BC comes in at 4-2 with victories of Texas A&M, St. Francis, Holy Cross and California but with losses to Wisconsin and Yale. I hate the idea of quoting Sally Fields for this game, but it might apply.

North Carolina State at Wisconsin - Wisconsin is coming off being held to 32 points in the second half of a loss to Notre Dame. The Badgers might execute a little better on offense tonight. The Wolfpack is 4-1 heading to Madison. Playing in Wisconsin is never good for opponents.

Purdue at Virginia Tech - The Boilermakers are 5-1 with a loss to Richmond in their most recent decision. The defeat should motivate JaJuan Johnson and E’Twaun Moore, but maybe they need help. Richmond’s match-up zone gave them fits. Va-Tech plays? Let’s see…oh yeah, a zone. Purdue better get some points off turnovers. Pressuring Malcolm Delaney will be first priority for Purdue.

Maryland at Penn State - Don’t be fooled by Maryland’s 5-2 ledger. Both of their losses came at the hands of respectable teams (Pittsburgh and Illinois) and in both situations correctable errors (rebounding, free throw shooting and 3 pt. defense) led to the loss.  Maryland clanked their way to a 14-30 showing from the line in a 79-70 loss to the Pitt. At the same time, Pitt grabbed 43 boards to Maryland’s29 – many while Gary Williams sat 6’10″ Jordan Williams on the pine for instruction. Illinois shot 10-19 from behind the arc in 80-76 trimming of the Terrapins. Williams will make the adjustments, and Maryland will be good for the long haul.

Michigan State at Duke – Stat of interest: Michigan State is 5-5 in The Challenge. During those years, the Spartans have advanced to four Final Fours, an Elite Eight and one Sweet Sixteen appearance. Lesson?  Izzo focuses more on the process of these early games and not the result. MSU would take Duke in East Lansing, but probably not in Cameron. Keep this in mind – Kalin Lucas sat on the bench with a torn achilles when MSU lost to Butler in the Final Four. Lucas is back as is Durrell Summers, Draymond Green, Korie Lucious and Delvon Roe. The 6’6″,  235 pound Green on the perimeter is an interesting concept.

The D in ND

Once was a time when the Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish would be characterized more as flash than substance. The Irish could roll up the points in an efficient manner. With that tact, ND could not advance beyond the first round of the NCAA Tournament. That might be changing. The Irish are 7-0, and the ND defense has held five of its opponents under 70 points. No big deal when the Irish held Georgia Southern to 61 or Liberty to 51. ND made Cal into a bunch of bronze statues allowing just FIVE points in the first half Friday’s game. Cal is adjusting to life after losing all of its starters. But holding Wisconsin to 51? That is something to note. And how they did it. The Badgers looked perplexed when ND switched defenses. It was nothing fancy. Just a basic man-to-man or two-three zone. It’s not what you do. It’s how you do it. The Irish got out in passing lanes – even in the zone – and disrupted Wisconsin’s rhythm.

Mike Brey might have an engine that can go a ways.

Worth the read

Rush the Court offers their break down of tonight’s games.

RTC’s Morning Five is always worth the read.

Seth Davis weighs in on Kemba Walker, Syracuse winning ugly, Georgia Tech, UTEP’s Randy Culpepper and Michigan’ loss to the Orange.

The Mid-Majority wants to know what to call non-Division I over Big Seven upsets.

CBS’s Gary Parrish always offers his insights.

Got any college basketball splinters? Share them here.

By Paul Gotham

Dissection of a victory

As the saying goes: “It’s better to be lucky than good.” Yeah, it doesn’t hurt when you are lucky and good at the same time.

That is the case with Mike Brey’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish and their recent victory over Marquette.

Solid rebounding, gamesmanship, and being in the right place at the right time proved the recipe to ND’s latest triumph.

I was not privvy to watching the entire game. I caught an ESPN “look in” at the end of regulation and overtime. ND’s buzzer beater to tie the game combined luck and savvy play. With a hand in his face, Tim Abromaitis chucked up an air ball only to have teammate Ben Hansbrough grab the rock. Down three, Hansbrough alertly pivoted and looked to get the ball back behind the arc (ND was down 3). Hansbrough took a quick dribble and then looked slightly startled to see Carleton Scott open from long range. Hansbrough, thinking on the fly and without a script, made the pass, and Scott hit the three ball.

When you think about everything that fell into place on that play, it is crazy. Marquette suffocated ND on the perimeter for the first part and got the missed shot, but Hansbrough slipped away from his man. Then, he had his wits about him and looked to bring the ball out. How many times have we seen a team need a three, miss it,  a kid gets a rebound, and puts it back up only to still have a deficit?

But wait. There is more. The guy getting the rebound, Hansbrough, is second on the team in threes made (58). He passes to Scott who has hit a whopping 15 from long range prior to that shot. The 6’3″ guard passes it to 6’7″ forward who finishes.

It was a great heads up play by Hansbrough, but they were lucky Scott was actually out of position. The junior probably should have been under the boards.

Tory Jackson made a shrew play that might have saved the game in overtime. With ND clinging to a three-point lead inside 10 seconds remaining, Jackson fouled Marquette’s Darius Johnson-Odom BEFORE the Golden Eagle could tie the game. Johnson-Odom made both. ND in-bounded to Abromaitis with two ticks on the Timex. Out of timeouts, Marquette fouled, and there was not enough time for Marquette to recover. Game. Set. Match.

Marquette coach, Buzz Williams and Brey must have had similar game plans. Both teams entered play shooting better than 40 percent from behind the three-point arc (both in the nation’s top ten). Both teams shot less than 20 percent Saturday. Notre Dame went 3 of 21 (14.3%). Marquette hit 4 of 23 (17.4%).

For the fourth game in a row, the Irish have out-rebounded an opponent. The Irish won the battle of the boards 36-26. This has been a familiar theme to ND’s recent success. The Irish grabbed 10 more boards than Pitt, 11 more than Georgetown, and they had a three-rebound advantage on UConn. That’s a rebound margin over eight against some pretty good rebounding teams. Two weeks ago, ND’s rebounding margin for the year was a little more than one.

Have the Irish found their recipe? They still play a ball-control offense with an assist to turnover ratio of 1.64 :1 (3rd in the nation). ND hits 39 percent from long range (11 in the country). Now, the Irish are rebounding. That’s a good mix.

Bracketology anyone?

Click here for Rush The Court’s weekly brackets as posted by Zach Hayes. Hayes puts in his time with seeds and then makes his predictions.

Home court advantage in the balls?

Former ND hoopster Zach Hillesland is lending his insights to the New York Times. His recent piece provides an interesting look at one home-court advantage many of us might overlook.

Cheers to Tony Bennett

One thing you cannot call first-year Virginia coach, Tony Bennett, is scared. With his team mired in a slump and about to face Maryland, Bennett suspended his leading scorer.

Virginia announced late last week that Sylven Landesberg was suspended for “failing to meet his academic expectations.”

Reading between the lines, Landesberg was suspended for not meeting the team’s academic expectations as opposed to the school’s. I am not sure of Virginia’s academic calendar, but this suspension took place in March. Usually, academic suspensions occur at the end of semesters.

Maybe Virginia works on a quarter system, but judging by the wording (failing to meet his academic expectations), Landesberg’s suspension is the result of Bennett’s direct supervision of his player’s progress. It is refreshing to hear of a coach taking a stand like this.

Landesberg leads the Cavaliers with 17 points. Virginia has lost their last nine.

Long past due

During our recent trip to southern Ohio, the better half and I caught a pair of games and learned of a tradition. While at the St. Joe’s – Xavier game, we were “distracted” by the contnuous motion of the Hawks’ mascot. At first we (wife, daughter, and myself) thought the Hawk would flap “its” wings until St. Joe’s scored. The Hawks found the twine, and that bird kept flapping. Maybe, we thought, the mascot would continue until St. Joe’s got the lead. That never happened. And the mascot never stopped flapping its wings. In fact, through all the time-outs and even half time, the Hawk stayed in constant motion. It was not until later that we learned “the Hawk will never die!”

What a great commitment by the student mascot.

18 to get 16

A week from today we will know the brackets, and fans will make their predictions. Without knowing any match-ups, I’m thinking of the teams most likely to win two games and advance to the Sweet Sixteen. First weekend games could pose some of these teams against each other. With that in mind, here are 18 teams capable of winning two games in The Dance.

The obvious: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky (unless they play a Big Ten team on the first weekend), Ohio State, Duke

The arguable: Kansas State, Michigan State, Maryland, Wisconsin, Xavier, Temple, West Virginia, Villanova, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Pittsburgh, BYU,  Notre Dame.

1st Team All Casey

PG Jon Scheyer – Duke

SG Jordan Crawford – Xavier

SF Evan Turner – Ohio State

PF Da’Sean Butler – West Virginia

C Greg Monroe – Georgetown

2nd Team All Casey

PG – Greivis Vasquez – Maryland

SG  Andy Rautins – Syracuse

SF  Wes Johnson – Syracuse

PF  Damion James – Texas

C Cole Aldrich – Kansas

All-freshmen

John Wall – Kentucky

Xavier Henry – Kansas

DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky

Dane Miller – Rutgers

Mason Plumlee – Duke

Got any college hoops splinters? Share them here.

By Paul Gotham

In less than 48 hours, we will be fully immersed in conference tournaments. As the regular season of college basketball ends, here is a smattering of questions to consider.

1. Does Jim Boeheim have any voodoo is in his bag of tricks? Louisville is 11-4 against Syracuse, including a Cardinal win less than a month ago. Rick Pitino seems to have a hex on his old boss’s team.

2. Can UNC make it worthwhile for ESPN? UNC at Duke is the game of the week. Did anyone see the Heels being 16-14 overall and 5-10 in the league? On paper, tonight’s game looks like a mismatch. But this rivalry is never about what is on the paper.

3. Can Purdue take a page from ND? The Boilermakers lost Robbie Hummel. It appears the Fighting Irish have lost Luke Harangody for the foreseeable future. ND is catching some momentum. Can Purdue do the same?

4. Truth AND Consequences? Villanova is 4-4 in the last eight. West Virginia is 4-3 over their last seven, including a home loss to…Villanova. Will the real Wildcats and Mountaineers stand up?

5. Why is Texas in the top 25? Seven and seven since the middle of January? Somewhere, there is a Mountain West team crying foul.

6. When will Rick Barnes learn his lesson? Barnes did a great job bringing in Kevin Durant and D.J. Augustin. How is the time spent on those recruits looking right about now?

7. Does Gary Williams know the tonic? The Terps topped Duke earlier this week. They get Virginia today. Is Maryland suffering from a hangover?

8. U.C.L.A. at Arizona State…in case anyone forgot or overlooked it or cared. It would serve me right if a Pac 10 team made a run in the tournament.

9. 3s or rebounding? Mike Brey’s team has put the fight back in Fighting Irish. ND has taken three in a row in the Big East. How are they doing it? Is it the three ball? Is it their rebounding?

10. Will Richmond avoid the pothole? The Spiders rebounded from an overtime loss to Xavier by trimming Dayton. Richmond plays at Charlotte today. The 49ers will be hungry for the upset.

AP Photo/Nick Wass

By Paul Gotham

Setting: Hot times tonight in the Purcell Pavilion at the Joyce Center when Jim Calhoun and his Connecticut Huskies (17-12/ 7-9) come a calling for a Big East battle with Mike Brey’s Notre Dame Fighting Irish (19-10/ 8-8).

Plot: A first round bye is at stake. The Irish possess eighth place and the final bye for the upcoming conference tournament. UConn is lurking in tenth.

Sub-plot: Notre Dame continues to play and win without former Big East player-of-the year, Luke Harangody. UConn recently experienced a resurgence when their long-time coach returned from a medical leave of absence.

Flashback: UConn downed Notre Dame, 82-70 earlier this season. Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker both had double-doubles in the victory. Dyson scored 20 to go with 10 assists. Walker also dished out 10 assists and scored 11. Stanley Robinson led the way with 22. After taking the last four head-to-head match-ups,  UConn leads the series 16-6. Notre Dame has won five of nine at South Bend.

Notre Dame has made 29 appearances in the NCAA Tournament – five under Mike Brey. Likewise, UConn has danced 29 times, including a pair of national titles in 1999 and 2004.

Foreshadowing: Forty-nine Fightin’ Irish have graduated to the N.B.A., including current players Matt Carroll, Troy Murphy and  Chris Quinn. Twenty-nine Huskies have laced them up in the Association with the current list including: Ray Allen, Hilton Armstrong, Josh Boone, Caron Butler, Rudy Gay, Ben Gordon, Richard Hamilton, Emeka Okafor, Kevin Ollie, A.J. Price, Hasheem Thabeet, Charlie Villanueva, and Marcus Williams.

Conflict: Notre Dame is coming off a week where they won two games over ranked opponents shooting just under 50 percent (51-104) from the field. UConn limits opponents to 38.7 percent. UConn’s recipe is not a new one. The Huskies have held opponents under 40 percent since the 1995-96 campaign. Once again, UConn is near the top of blocked shots in the nation at 7.9. UConn’s bigs have led the nation eight years running.

The Irish will need to pick their spots carefully. Notre Dame has decreased their number of shots the last two games. This indicates plenty of ball movement and switching sides of the floor. The Irish will need to continue this pattern. Trying to penetrate into the teeth of UConn’s defense without any ball reversal will serve as an exercise of frustration.

Ben Hansbrough and Tory Jackson combine for an assist to turnover ratio of 2.7:1. Jackson gets into the paint from the top of the key. Hansbrough drives the baseline well and sees the floor for kick outs. The two average over 20 points together. Hansbrough hit three threes in ND’s recent win over Georgetown. A similar result tonight would open up the Husky defense and create lanes.

Tim Abromaitis is third in the nation from long range hitting over 47 percent from behind the arc. The junior struggled against Georgetown (1-9). Returning to familiar confines should help his cause.

Tyrone Nash and Carleton Scott grab just under 10 rebounds a game. They will be called on to do that and then some. The Irish front court will need to stay active on the glass. With the Huskies swatting everything that flies in the paint, Nash and Scott will need to gather what opportunities they can to put points on the board.

Jonathan Peoples and Jack Cooley give the Irish valuable minutes off the bench.

Jerome Dyson leads four Huskies in double figures with 18 and a half. Dyson can hurt an opponent in a variety of ways. He is not afraid to shoot from long range hitting 30 percent (37-122). He does the bulk of his damage inside the arc driving to the basket and getting contact and finishing.

Stanley Robinson averages over 15 points and slightly less than eight rebounds. Robinson is the heart and soul of the Husky lineup.

As a team, the Huskies have made 754 trips to the free throw line. In comparison, the Irish have only taken 642 from the charity stripe. The Huskies thrive on contact and Kemba Walker leads the way making 141 free throws. Walker averages over five assists and almost 15 points.

Gavin Edwards and Alex Oriakhi add 16 points and almost 14 boards. The two combine for four blocks a contest.

Resolution: After getting a boost from Calhoun’s return, UConn came back to reality losing at home against Louisville. Notre Dame shot well in their last two games, but the Irish also out-rebounded  Pitt (31-21) and Georgetown (26-15). This trend will need to continue if ND wants to be successful. UConn will not make it easy though. The Huskies have a rebound margin of +3.4.

Notre Dame is at home which bodes well for their outside shooting. Their best defense will be their offense tonight as the Irish play ball control and minimize UConn’s chances. Notre Dame makes it three in a row over Big East rivals.

Got any comments on the game? Post them here.

By Paul Gotham

Here come the Irish

What was once thought to be an aberration is looking more and more like reality.

The Notre Dame Fightin’ Irish knocked out a pair of Big East contenders: Pittsburgh 68-53 and Georgetown 78-64. A quick look at the box scores shows that the Irish are doing more with less. Notre Dame shot 22 of 44 from the field, including 10 of 18 behind the three point arc to win at Pittsburgh. Against Georgetown, the Irish hit 28 of 49. In comparison ND shot 28 of 68 in a one-point loss at Rutgers earlier this year.

Notre Dame is taking fewer shots but increasing the scoring margin. The formula is not real complicated. The Irish are developing a rhythm on offense. Players moving off the ball create passing and driving lanes. The result is five players prepared when a shot goes up.

Not only is the Irish scoring margin increasing, so, too, is their rebound margin. There is no coincidence that Notre Dame out-rebounded both the Hoyas and Panthers. By the way, Rutgers out-rebounded the Irish 43-30. Teammates will give approval to a shot when they have faith in the shot selection. That means guys are more willing and able to crash the boards.

Meanwhile, former Big East Player-of-the-Year, Luke Harangody is on the bench with an injury. Reports have it that the power forward might be down longer than originally expected. His teammates have picked up the slack in his absence. Here’s hoping Harangody has learned to trust his teammates. Too often over the last year and a half, Harangody has made poor decisions on the court. He is taking shots that suggest a lack of confidence in his teammates. The recent winning streak should change that.

Of Notre Dame’s 10 losses this season, six have come by a combined total of 11 points. Under Mike Brey, the Irish have made five appearances in the NCAA Tournament, with a record of 5-5.

Life after Hummel

One week ago, Purdue’s Boilermakers looked prime to for a number one seed. Seven days later, the Boilermakers are circling the wagons.

With Robbie Hummel on the pine for the rest of the year with an ACL injury, Matt Painter and his Boilermakers will need to redefine themselves…quickly.

Hummel averaged just under 16 points and nearly eight rebounds for the Big Ten team. Hummel led the Boilermakers with 43 three-pointers. He hit 36 percent from long range.

Purdue is still a Sweet Sixteen team. They play stiff defense. In their last ten games, only two teams have scored 60 or more against them. Problem is that without Hummel they only scored 44 against Michigan State.

Mack gives power to the people

Rockin' the Cintas Center

Xavier’s administration might need to reconsider the school calendar. Scheduling Spring Break during the final weeks of basketball season is questionable. With much off the student body away on vacation, head coach, Chris Mack, took matters into his hands. CBS’s Gary Parrish reported that Mack used the Musketeer message board to encourage enthusiasm at Sunday’s A10 first-place showdown with Richmond. Mack went so far as to impose a curfew on fans, so that the Musky faithful would bring plenty of energy to the Cintas center. Mack’s efforts paid off. Xavier won in double overtime, and Parrish called it the game of the weekend.

Temple wins the Big 5

With their 65-53 victory over LaSalle, the Temple Owls pitched a shutout in this season’s Philadelphia Big 5 city series.

Temple opened the series with a 75-65 triumph over Villanova. The Owls continued with victories over St. Joe’s (73-46 and 75-67) and Penn (60-45).

The Big 5 series began play in 1955 and has continued every year since. Until only recently, all the Big 5 games were played at the Palestra.

Player to watch-Willie Veasley, Butler

March is the time for heroes, and Willie Veasley has all the makings. The senior forward has one more go around and what better way to finish than taking the Bulldogs to the Final Four. Over the weekend, Butler played at Horizon League rival, Valparaiso. On the Butler bench with an injury was leading scorer, Gordon Hayward. No problem. Veasley picked up the slack with a 20-point, six-rebound performance. Veasley averages ten a game with nearly five rebounds and one steal.

Hazell reminds me of…

…Ray Allen. Seton Hall’s Jeremy Hazell might not garner many post-season awards. He probably won’t make any All-American teams. Hazell’s team might not get an invite to the Dance. But Hazell will eventually hear his name called in the NBA draft. If there is one player Hazell reminds me of, it is Ray Allen. Hazell moves without the ball as well as anyone in the country. When he gets the rock, he can square up and pull the trigger just like Allen. Another year in college could allow Hazell to improve his ability to go off the dribble.

1st Team All Casey

PG Jon Scheyer – Duke

SG Jordan Crawford – Xavier

SF Evan Turner – Ohio State

PF Damion James – Texas

C Greg Monroe – Georgetown

2nd Team All Casey

PG – Scottie Reynolds – Villanova

SG  Andy Rautins – Syracuse

SF  Wes Johnson – Syracuse

PF  Patrick Patterson – Kentucky

C Cole Aldrich – Kansas

All-freshmen

John Wall – Kentucky

Xavier Henry – Kansas

DeMarcus Cousins – Kentucky

Dane Miller – Rutgers

Mason Plumlee – Duke

Got any college hoops splinters? Share them here.

The College Football Belt

The College Football Belt

The College Football Belt

The College Football Belt

Whew!!!    As I’m sitting here sipping my victory brew, an Alaskan IPA if you’re wondering, I feel the need to offer thanks.   Thanks to the “Football Gods”!   Thanks to whomever had a hand in seeing to it that, this time, it was the Irish who snatched victory from the jaws of defeat instead of the other way around!   Thank God Notre Dame pulled out this win!!!     I really don’t think I could’ve taken a defeat today … not another gut wrenching close loss … not ANOTHER home defeat to the Michigan State Spartans of all unlikely teams … not ANOTHER extremely disappointing loss to yet ANOTHER team we clearly outrecruit every year.  As uncomfortable as it was, the Irish REALLY needed a win today and the ball finally bounced their way at the end of the game when it really mattered.   Irish 33  Spartans 30.

In some ways, many observers will claim the Irish got lucky.   MSU gained more net yards (458 to 438) and were clearly able to move the ball almost effortlessly at times against the Irish D throughout the game, and especially in the second half.     (Last week, the Irish clearly out-statted Michigan … and lost).   And in other ways, some will claim that ND finally got THE break it deserved after suffering through yet several more bad/unlucky breaks in this game.    (Floyd’s first half touchdown that somehow wasn’t, Tate dropping yet another clear TD pass, Sam Young continuing to haunt this team with untimely penalties, etc).    Either way you look at it, the Irish are 2-1 after challenging themselves to open the season with 3 quality opponents.

This was really a “character win” by the offense as Jimmy Clausen played most of the game with an injured toe or ankle, Armando Allen was banged up and of course Michael Floyd left the game in the 2nd quarter with the broken collarbone after his apparent TD catch that was overruled.   Clausen had another excellent and gritty game as he again hit 300 yards in passing with two TDs (really three) and no INTs.    Allen had 115 yards and a TD on 23 carries.   And when Tate wasn’t dropping a sure TD pass, he managed a TD and 127 yards on 7 grabs, including two or three extremely clutch plays to get 1st downs in the 4th quarter.    Kyle Rudolph also contributed with 95 yards on 6 grabs.

The Irish started quite hot on offense, but again let their coaching staff get in the way.   With a 13-3 lead early in the 2nd quarter and the ball at about MSU’s 45 yard line … and after having moved the ball effortlessly with a ”conventional offense” … ol’ Charlie decided to get cute on a 1st down play and called for a halfback pass from Golden Tate on a fake reverse.   Problem was, Tate is a left-handed thrower and Charlie had him rolling to the right.   Duh!!!    WHY DID WE EVEN NEED TO GET CUTE LIKE THAT?!?!?!?    All of our conventional plays were working and MSU was back on it’s heels … until Charlie gave them life.    This was one major turning point in the game.   After that, Clausen got sacked on what became an obvious passing down and that”s when he got hurt.   ND started going backwards and the Spartans gained confidence and started moving the ball and scoring on ND’s porous defense.    Does anyone else feel that CW gets way too cute with play calling when he doesn’t need to … and it ends up back-firing????    He did it last week and again today.

Okay, can somebody explain to me how Floyd’s 2nd quarter grab in the endzone was not a TD?!?!?!?!?     He clearly had possession of the ball and was able to get BOTH feet down … and ya only need one.   Okay, I’ll move on.

Let’s talk defense now.    Clearly the Irish defense … if that’s what they’re calling it … is subpar.   I’ve seen enough to know that anyone expecting this team to run the table or go 8-1 in the remaining 9 games is simply kidding themselves.    This defense is simply not good enough for the Irish to be in the BCS conversation, so forget about it.   Right now, this team closely resembles the team that Charlie inherited with Brady Quinn and a very good offense, but a defense that was clearly “bend and break sometimes”.   We MIGHT be lucky enough to go 9-3 this season, but a top 10 squad will easily lay 35-40 points on us … and that’s no way to crack the top 10 yourself.   I suppose ND can improve, but in-season improvement has not been Charlie’s track record.    Having said that … I’m worried about Purdue laying 40 on us … even after their stunning home defeat to Northern Illinois!!!

The Irish will be without Michael Floyd for at least 4 weeks, which makes him doubtful for the USC tilt on Oct 17.    In the meantime, ND goes to Purdue next week and then hosts a rejuvenated Washington squad who did the unthinkable this week … they upset SoCal in Seattle … something the Irish would clearly love to do, but have only come close once over the past 8 seasons or so.   Losing Floyd really challenges the offense, but now we have an opportunity to develop Shaq Evans and some others.

Well … a win is a win and this team showed some character again.    They won with some banged up players, while commiting several penalties and again getting a TD taken away.   The very porous defense came through with the last minute INT to seal the win.    There’s certainly a lot to be worried about (namely the defense and the health of key players), but I want to re-emphasize that the Irish should undoubtedly be 4-1 when the USC Trojans visit in October.   Instead of a gimmee, the Washington game is looking like a challenge, but we’ve got them at home and we absolutely stomped them in Seattle last year.  True, they’ve got a new coach and their starting QB back, but we should beat ‘em and be 4-1.

I’m on the road next weekend and won’t be able to send in the recap after the Purdue game, so you’re on your own.   Hopefully, the Irish will meet expectations and handle the Boilers easily.   Maybe it will be a non-event.   Unless our defense continues to underperform ….

In the meantime … have a great week and enjoy the termination of ND’s home losing streak to MSU!!