College Hoops 101

By David K.
Welcome to a weekly article at thesportsbank.net where I will give you the 101 on what has happened in the week of college basketball and what is to come in the days ahead. 

First off, there has been a major development in my push to watch 225 games this season.  It gets a little easier to accomplish because my brother added ESPNU to my cable package as my Christmas gift.  The thought alone nearly brought tears to my eyes.  Translation: the nerdiness just reached exponential levels.  Consider yourself warned!
 

Rewind

-Let me be the first to admit how dead wrong I was about the Big Ten having a down year.  Michigan State picked up a much needed marquee win against Texas in Houston on Saturday.  Purdue jumped out to a 21-0 lead against Davidson in a blowout win which included holding sharpshooter Stephen Curry to 5 of 26 from the field.  Minnesota remained unbeaten by upsetting Louisville.  Ohio State has still yet to suffer a loss while Michigan, Illinois, and Penn State continue to impress.

 

-What an interesting week for Syracuse.  They suffer an absolutely shocking, heart-breaking loss to Cleveland State on Monday (watch the video below to see how it went down.)  Then the Orange found out they will likely be without starting shooting guard Eric Devendorf for the rest season because of an off-the-court incident in which he “hit a female student on the jaw with the heel of his hand.”  But ‘Cuse responded by getting a big win Saturday at Memphis. 

-Watch out for Clemson in the ACC.  The Tigers have surpassed their tremendous 10-0 start of last season by winning their first twelve games this season including a 19-point pounding in Miami on Sunday.

Fast Forward

-It is another slow schedule for games due to Christmas falling smack dab in the middle of the week. 

-Marquette has a must-win Monday night at N.C. State.  The Golden Eagles need this road win for their tourney resume come March.  (By the way, the game conveniently is on ESPNU, which I now have.  WOO HOO!!!!!)

-I am very excited to be covering Texas at Wisconsin on Tuesday; especially with the chance to see the Longhorns’ A.J. Abrams and Damion James in person.  I am also scheduled to interview Dickie V. before the game so look out for details from that sure-to-be-geeky-college hoops conversation later in the week.

-Paul M. Banks will surely be glued to the tube Tuesday night when Missouri heads to Illinois for their annual rivalry game.  It would be a big win for either teams as both the Illini and Tigers figure to be potential bubble teams come March, so a victory would serve as a nice boost for one school’s case over the other.
The Push to 225

I set an over/under for myself at the beginning of the season.  My goal is watch at least 225 college basketball games this season thanks to the wonder that is DVR.  To clarify, I have to watch the entire game from opening tip to the final whistle, unless it is a blow-out late and the scrubs are brought in. 

It was a slow week even though Saturday was loaded with games, but since I was home for Christmas I only caught parts of a lot of games.  I’m counting the Davidson at Purdue/UConn vs. Gonzaga as one game because CBS switched their coverage when Purdue was blowing them out late.

Games watched through 12/21:  67

Games watched this past week: 6
Xavier at Cincinnati
Marquette vs. Tennessee
Sienna at Pittsburgh
Michigan State vs. Texas
Temple at Kansas
Davidson at Purdue/UConn vs. Gonzaga