Quickie Recap 1.12: Big Monday Premieres

Forgetting the object of OT, score to win

The premiere of ESPN’s Big Monday brought us a Big East match up that was intense for all 40 minutes…of regulation.  Someone forgot to tell Mike Brey’s Notre Dame team that an OT loss, still counts as a loss.  Louisville defeated Notre Dame 87-73, Notre Dame only scored 2 points in 5 minutes of overtime. 

Both teams did look sharp in regulation, combining for 19 three pointers.  The game was a back and forth battle all throughout regulation, but with 3:23 to go both teams remained locked at 71.  And then Louisville went off.  Terrence Williams fell two assists shy of a triple-double, tallying 24 points, 16 rebounds and 8 dimes.  Frosh, Samardo Samuels looked like he is starting to get the Big East style of play, being able to post 18 points, 6 boards and 4 “return to sender” blocks.  Notre Dame did get 28 points and 13 rebounds out of Luke Harangody, however it all came in the first 34 minutes of play.  Saturday Louisville will host #1 Pittsburgh and Notre Dame will travel to “The Dome” to take on #8 Syracuse.

The Red River Shootout was the nightcap from Norman, Oklahoma.  The Oklahoma Sooners took control early in the Big 12 rivalry and never looked back at the Longhorns of Texas.  The closest the game ever was, was during the first 19 seconds of the game before Oklahoma made it 2-0.  There were no lead changes and no ties throughout the game.  Oklahoma was led by none other than Blake Griffin, who got his 14th double-double, racking up 20 points and 10 rebounds.  Frosh PG Willie Warren added 17 points.  Had Texas standout AJ Abrams not gone 3-15 from beyond the arc, the story of the game could have drastically changed, but we will have to wait until February 21st when Oklahoma travels to Austin.

If you ain’t a Gator, you’re Gator Bait

Play Music: I will Always Love You~ Whitney Houston

The Florida Gators are the National Champions.  BAAAAAAAH! Dah Na Na Na Na, Go GATORS!  Yes, we got sick of hearing that band all night long but we must give the Florida Gators their props.  The Gators SEC defense proved to be too tough for the prolific Big 12 offense of Oklahoma, taking home the Sears Trophy with a 24 – 14 victory.  The winners exuded confidence from the start, as Urban Meyer paced the sideline with a stoic look, all while Bob Stoops looked like he forgot 100,000 people were going to be in the stadium.

This game was one of the better BCS Championships in recent memory despite being falsely advertised as a shootout style game, of which the over-under hovered around 70.  Heisman QB’s, Bradford and Tebow each threw 2 first half picks despite only throwing a combined 8 all year long and  Oklahoma was held to 14 points after averaging 63 a clip during the regular season.

Tim Tebow shrugged off two first half interceptions, and willed his team to victory, finishing with 231 passing yards, Two TD’s.  Oh not to mention the 109 yards he reeled off on the ground.  Percy Harvin, solidified his draft status with 122 rushing yards on only 9 carries. Oklahoma could have changed the landscape of this game in the first half but a couple of second quarter goal line stands by the Gator defense, left an open stage for Tebow, and of course he capitalized.  We should have known Tebow would deliver, after essentially guaranteeing that the Gators would not be stopped for the remainder of the season.  Will power.

We know Tebow and his Gators receive a lot of “pub” and most often times to a nauseating extent but when it is all said and done, Tim Tebow might be one of, it not, THE greatest college football player of all time, as his personal destiny has manifested itself right before the country’s eyes.

We will be looking forward to next year when Tebow will likely return for his Senior season.  We also may get a chance to see Bradford come back as well, due to his sub-par performance on the biggest stage.  If that happens, expect next year’s preseason rankings to have Florida on top of the list followed by Oklahoma.

Quickie Recap 12.30: Teams trying to make a name

No fun for the Sooners in Fayetteville

The Sooner’s were the next of the undefeated to fall on Tuesday night, and the most we could do was check the score when our browser refreshed every 30 seconds.  Arkansas jumped on them early, starting the game with a 25-10 lead.  The Razorbacks have flown under the radar all year, even with a 10-1 record, but with this win we’re sure more than just Corliss Williamson and Bill Clinton will be paying attention to PIG Sooie!!!  All teams have to fall at some point, unless you have Argyle on your jersey, so a loss to a 9-1 team isn’t the worst way to go down.

Purdue seemed like the “sexy” pick of the year for a lot of people, but now we just want to call them the “Tara Reid All-Stars,” after losing to Illinois 71 – 67 on their own hardwood.  It took overtime to pull it off but the Fightin’ Illini improved to 13-1.  The stat of the game was “6″: Illinois only committed 6 turnovers, coupled with 21 assists.  The Illini, like Arkansas, have been quietly building up force despite being unranked, but today Andy Katz says it’s time to give them their due.

Andy “Rainman” Rautins is back at it.  After tying a school record with 9 triples last game, Rautins (26 pts) added 7 more on Tuesday night to aid the Orange to a 100 – 76 shooting clinic. The Orange shot 55% from beyond the arc compared to Seton Hall’s 7.4% on 2 of 27 (Yes, all schools do TRY and recruit players that can shoot).  The ‘Cuse also welcomed back Eric Devendorf for their Big East opener to the tune of 20 large.

Quickie Recap 12.6: No Percy no problem, Big 10 earns some respect

Rulers of the South

Oh what a dreary day to be a ‘Bama fan; a waste of a resurgent season, in our opinion. Granted they exceeded expectations, but this is where college football becomes irritating, We’re glad we have no deeply rooted allegiances and can instead crush Bud heavies every Saturday, all while watching 118 programs slowly widdle away like a slug doused with salt.

‘Bama can now likely look forward to a Sugar Bowl match-up with non-BCS children, Utah or Bosie State. Boring.<a name=”5476386886″></a>

In the other quasi-semifinal, Bob Stoops continues to proves he’s the biggest bully in college football by putting up 60+ points for the fifth consecutive game. It was over before it started and to us, Chase Daniels looked disinterested.

So it’s most likely going to be the Sooners vs. Gators for in the BCS Championship Game. Start your fact checking now Mr. Thom Brennaman.

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In roundball, the Big 10 may have gained some respect with two upset victories…

Meeeechigan’s Deshawn Sims had his shining moment, leading all with 28 in a win over the Dukies, who played like absolute sissies. Coach K’s boys didn’t get to the free throw line even once in the first half, and shot 2-18 behind the new arc. The Wolverines now have two signature wins (UCLA) to hang their hat on come March.

No football left in South Bend? No problem! There’s still reason to be pissed off…as the Buckeyes take down the Irish in Indy. Luke Harangody is back and looking healthy, but the story here is Ohio State’s Evan Turner. He also led all scorers with 28, and has basically emegred as the team’s go-to-guy.

One final game of note, attention-seeking Marquette protects their house, with a win over identity-seeking Wisconsin. Both of these teams have talent but right now aren’t really getting any chatter, especially from us.

Quickie Recap 12.4: Even a “bag-tag” won’t slow down Griffin, 8 is greater than 9

Every man feels his pain

Who would attack the “manhood” of arguably the strongest player in college basketball? Enter Leonard Washington…exit Leonard Washington. Not only is Leonard Washington mentally inferior, he also still believes it is acceptable to play the elementary school “bag-tag” game.

After Blake was able to get over that not-so-loving feeling, he was able to convert 11 of the Sooners final 21 points, leading them to a 73-72 victory. The Sooners are now 7-0 and looking very nice.

Texas was able to give UCLA their second loss in the early season, as part of yet another inter-conference series. AJ Abrams led all with 31, with a tie-breaking three ball with just under three minutes left.

UCONN quietly avoids a monumental upset from the Buffalo Bulls, their only true non-conference road game. This begs the question if the Huskies are ready for the Big East grind, which is sure to be tagged as ‘historical’ before this season is over.

Quickie Recap 11.28: Sooners win NIT, G’Town-UT shoot it out

Blake Griffin: All-American, bully who throws balls at his peers

It’s only the Preseason NIT, but it might carry more weight than its sister tournament held in March. Oklahoma took home the trophy tonight over Purdue. Blake Griffin adds more hardware to the Blake and Taylor Griffin trophy mantle, taking home Tournament MVP honors.

It’s no secret that freshman in Madison Square Garden can get a little caught up in the moment, and we saw that in this game. Down 83-80 with nine seconds left, Purdue’s Freshman PG Lewis Jackson froze in the middle of the lane like a early teenage boy forced to slow dance. He panicked and threw the ball directly out of bounds, which ensured victory for the Sooners.

We’ve got to think this infuriated Purdue’s Namanja Calasan, a guy we’re already handicapping as the “2031 Suburban Indianapolis Adult Men’s League MVP.” After playing his bum off the entire game and getting slapped around by the better Griffin, he has to settle for some sort of moral victory. For the record, since he’s really good, let’s note that Griffin put up 18 and more importantly had 21 “window cleans.”

Down in Disney Tennessee and Georgetown put on a shooting clinic, essentially playing 40 minutes of L-A-K-E-B-U-E-N-A-V-I-S-T-A-F-L-O-R-I-D-A (that’s ‘Horse’ but much longer, obviously) before the Vols finished off the Hoyas, 90-78. Both teams shot over 50 percent from the field but the Vols just made more of ‘em, and got the victory. Props to ESPN for breaking the Lane Kiffin new hire story during a Tennessee basketball game. Always love to have something like this provoke John Sciambi into a conversation with Fran Fraschilla about his Heisman favorite. We’d rather hear Dicky V talk about the Tampa Bay Rays, or even his analysis of President elect Barack Obama naming his cabinet. That’s just our take.

Tennessee now will meet Gonzaga in the finals. The Bulldogs brought Gary Williams and his Maryland Terrapins back down to earth, after they took down Sparty of Michigan State in the quarterfinals. Maryland never led in this game so there’s no point in overanalyzing. Maryland’s consolation prize: We’re not really sure.

Quickie Recap 11.26: UNC is pretty, pretty good

So much for that injury, Hansborough looked sharp out in Maui

We’re guessing that you didn’t spend last night sitting in a well lit living room, sipping on a couple beverages complimented by some sort of vegetable spread, tending to your dog, and watching the few decent games on in solitude. No, we’re guessing you had to keep monitoring the televisions on mute while navigating through cramped bars full of high school “has beens” and “never weres.” Biggest bar night of the year but it’s always fun though, we think.

While you were catching up, partaking in “stop and chats” that you wish never had to happen, UNC made the Irish look like Charlie Weis was coaching them. Tyler Hansborough put up 34 points, while after the game Roy Williams said his star center is playing at only about 75 percent. Ass holes.

Staying in Maui, Indiana did manage a two point victory over host Chaminade in the seventh place game. Phew! You can credit Tom Crean’s staff on that victory. Great advance scouting guys!

In NYC, Blake Griffin, the second best player in the country, led his Sooners over a good UAB team, Ya granted the Blazers blew the lead at the end, but they have talent in a lame Conference USA. We’re not sure if this news made it back to Norman, as attention is strictly on the Bedlam game. Nonetheless, they’ll face Purdue in the NIT Season Tip-Off finals.

If you’re eyes are hurting from the awful football the NFL is giving to us on this sacred day, we noticed that ESPN2 has all the first round games of the Old Spice Classic. Feel free to switch over.

Now if you’ll excuse us we need to go watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade back to bed.

Enjoy Turkey.

Quickie (football) Recap 11.23: Penn St wins Big10, Big12 South gets confusing

Sam Bradford now has a strong case for the Heisman

The Oklahoma Sooners created a three way tie for the Big 12 South with their impressive 65-21 beat down of #2 Texas Tech on Saturday night in Norman, Oklahoma. So now that Texas beat Oklahoma, Texas Tech beat Texas and Oklahoma beat Texas Tech, the water gets a little murky. Do not forget that there is still one week left in the season and all three teams don’t play “roll-overs.”

Texas will host Texas A&M in their annual Thanksgiving weekend game.

Oklahoma travels to hostile Stillwater for the Bedlam Game.

Texas Tech gets the mediocre Baylor Bears.

Everyone seems to be looking past Chase Daniels (one of Preseason favorites for Heisman) and his Tigers from Missouri, who await whichever team floats to the top of the Big 12 South. Nothing is a given.

In the Big 10, Penn State rolls on Michigan State, 49-18 in State College. Everyone gets a rose!!! When do we get rid of that? We think someone killed that whole Sports Illustrated Cover pic. With the win the Nittany Lions assured themselves a trip to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl, with a possible rematch against Oregon State and NOT Southern California; Oregon State traveled to Penn State on September 6th, 45-14 Nittany lions. If Oregon State takes care of business next week at home vs. the #24 Oregon Ducks, then they are in the Rose Bowl and USC will be in another BCS game (thank goodness, we don’t know if we can stand another Big 10 vs USC game in Pasadena for the Trojan Invitational).

I (Matt) officially am done talking about Notre Dame, I’ll quietly hang to every snap of the football in which they are involved but you will no longer need to listen to me…until they show me something (at USC next week, wouldn’t that be nice?)

Quickie 11.18: Babyfaced Curry gets 44 in loss, Griffin looks like “Man Among Boys”

Curry with the floater, he's nasty

Four or five years ago you would not have been surprised to read an ESPN Bottom Line: Oklahoma 82, Davidson 44. However, add in Stephen Curry, son of former NBA sharp shooter Dell Curry (arguably one of the top moustaches in the NBA), and you get those 44 points (from him alone) plus some, a career high for the Junior.

Our first Top 25 match up of the early season pitted #14 the Sooners from Oklahoma (3-0) and the #21 Curry Davidson Wildcats (2-1) in Norman, Oklahoma. The Wildcats were down as much as 21 points but as we all found out in March, never count out Davidson, NO MATTER WHO THEY PLAY. It took 29 shots for Curry to get his 44 but he did finish a non-super-human 6-15 from behind the arc. Only one other player finished in double figures for the Wildcats, Andrew Lovedale had 10 points.

As for Griffin and his Sooner’s, a lot of power forwards in the Big 12 probably did not get a good night sleep on Tuesday night. Nightmares of Griffin’s groin region flying over their face ambushed their REM sleep. At one point last night Fran Fraschilla (actually) added something to the color commentary of the game, when he compared Blake Griffin to Amare Stoudemire. Griffin led the team in all five major statistical categories…WOW…finishing with 25 points, and a modest 21 rebounds…sarcasm anyone? Also impressive was Sooner freshman Willie Warren, who finished with 20 points.

The Sooner’s looked impressive, and despite the comeback last night, they were able to shut the door on Davidson and take care of business. Don’t write Davidson off yet, last year they suffered an eerily similar loss to North Carolina early in the season by the same margin (4 points), and ended up being the Cinderella of March.

A great game yes, but you can bet it was just the appetizer for what’s to come in Norman. Saturday, undefeated #2 Texas Tech rolls into town trying to hold on to their Big 12 title hopes against the #5 Sooners. This game is definitely on par, in terms of hype, with the USC-Ohio State and any SEC game this season.

Obligatory Preseason Top 10. #s 10-6

OK it’s just about that time. Baseball is finito, ESPN is in full on “NFL ALL DAY EVERYDAY UNTIL IT HURTS!!!” mode, and it’s getting effing cold in the Northeast. That can only mean one thing…National Novel Writing Month college basketball is about to finally tip-off. We’re not that into the whole preseason prediction crap–we’ll leave that to the talking heads. But even so we must post something. So we will stick to a quick top ten, as we finally get this blog rolling.

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#10 OKLAHOMA SOONERS

Blake Griffin does a pretty mean David Tyree

When Sophomore Blake Griffin announced in April that he was giving up his Lottery Pick status, millions of dollars and stripper groupies to return to trifling Norman, Oklahoma, you better believe coach Jeff Capel was pleased. Chances are however, the rest of Sooner Country said, “cool” and resumed their insatiable anticipation for the upcoming spring football game.

It’s pretty simple with this team: As (Blake) Griffin goes, so go the Sooners. He’s a preseason All-American, which is well deserved. We should note that his older brother Taylor is on this team, but serves as a bench reserve and doesn’t garner any attention from the NBA.

In addition to BLAKE GRIFFIN, there’s a few other guys to keep an eye on. Tony Crocker will have to continue his 3-point prowess-as he shot over 40 percent from 3 last season. He will look to spot up with passes from freshman Willie Warren, a Top 25 recruit making the transition to point guard.

OU will participate in the NIT Season Tip Off, with potential noteworthy match-ups against Davidson and Purdue. Other than that it’s a pretty easy non-conference schedule, although we’re full of glee for that December 10th match-up against the Maine Black Bears. WHOOOO!!!

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#9 NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH

I mean, they sure don't not look alike.

GODY!!! OK we just wanted to say that once. The Irish look good this year, and return Big East Player of the year Luke Harangody. That red head can play.

The Irish are set up for a very entertaining season, with one of their best teams on paper and toughest schedules in recent memory. They will get lei’d out in Hawaii and participate in the Maui Invitational, with potential match-ups against Texas and UNC.

We’re expecting a 30 win season from this team, but keep this stretch of games in mind…from January 12^th to February 12^th their schedule is as follows: @ Louisville, @ Syracuse, UCONN, Marquette, @ Pitt, @ Cincinnati, @ UCLA, and home to Louisville… Good Luck Leprechaun.

In addition to luck and Harangody, the Irish will always be in games with Kyle McAlarney stroking it from deep—he shot 44 percent from 3 last season. They also have Tory Jackson, the “Tito” to McAlarney’s “Michael,” as he led the Big East in assists last year. That reference probably resonated with our fathers, but none of our other readers.

There will be depth issues as the bench lacks a real sparkplug who can score, but a good, top-heavy team here that will certainly be battled-tested come March.

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#8 UCLA BRUINS

It falls on Darren Collison's shoulders, as UCLA is sans Kevin Love

If college basketball powerhouse programs were like little girls, they would all be whispering into each other’s ears talking about how UCLA has been to three straight final fours, but won NO NATIONAL TITLES!!! HAHAHA!

So this year, as The Buffalo Bills look to reach their fourth straight Super Bowl UCLA looks to reach the Final Four for the fourth consecutive season, Ben Howland will have to find a way to maximize effort. The Bruins return All-American Darren Collison and have an explosive freshman in Jrue Holiday. But with the losses of Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook and that really handsome boy Lorenzo Mata-Real, depth will certainly be an issue. If you don’t believe us, James Keefe is expected to start at power forward—over the past two years, he’s only managed 1.9 points per game.

Yes, the Pac-10 will be down this year so UCLA will still be the class of the conference. But getting to Detroit will be tough, as well as keeping those little girls from laughing.

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#7 PURDUE BOILERMAKERS

A Final Four appearance could make Matt Painter national coach of the year

If you’re looking for a trendy pick to follow this season jump on the Boilermaker bandwagon, a team that’s got a ton of energy and depth.

All five starters return, and seven of their top eight scorers, to a team bounced by Xavier in the 2^nd round of the 2008 tournament. We saw these guys in person last year, and were very impressed with their backcourt—something that’s imperative to success in college basketball.

Coach Matt Painter has supplanted ESPN weirdo Steve Lavin, and New Mexico Head Coach Steve Alford as the “Coolest Guy In College Basketball With Slicked Back Hair.” Although few other competitors really come to mind.

Anyways, getting back to that backcourt, they have guards a plenty and a point guard by committee comprised of E’Twaun Moore (all around stud), Keaton Grant (voted by teammates last year as team MVP), and Chris Kramer (reigning Big 10 defensive player of the year).

There’s also Robbie Hummel. A 6’ 8” guy who can shoot lights out, even though he looks like a 3rd grader shooting with both hands.

Yes there’s a lot of talent here and a lot of guys who can handle the ball, making them a team you don’t want to press. However, the Boilermakers will need to do better on the boards this season. They virtually broke even in rebounding margin, so that will have to be improved if they want to close out games. If they can gel and figure out each other’s roles, there could be great success! in West Lafayette.

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#6 PITTSBURGH PANTHERS

These kids are good at watching basketball, not playing

We’re not descendants of Nostradamus, but we’re nearly certain that despite Pitt’s high level of talent, they will win at least 20 games, reach the Big East Tournament final, then struggle in the NCAA Tournament. They’ve accomplished the first two feats seven times this decade but have never even played in a regional final. They’ve got the make-up to finally break down that wall this season but some players will have to take on, and perform well, in larger roles. The backcourt now falls on the shoulders of Levance Fields. He is a typical, tough Panthers point guard plucked from the NY/NJ area. Now he will have to run the show with Ronald Ramon no longer around.

Dejaun Blair will be an absolute horse down low. He’s a rebounding machine that loves attention and loves to compete.
Expect him and Tyrell Biggs to take lesser opponents lunch money throughout the season.

The bulk of the scoring will come from Sam Young, a versatile senior who is the 2nd highest returning scorer in the conference. Pittsburgh will be fun to watch, probably even more then their intra-city professional counterparts Steelers and Penguins. I purposely didn’t include the Pirates because they’re more like semi-pro, but even that is being generous.