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Show Daily Utah Chronicle 10 Friday, January 14, 2005 National View College hoops is getting exciting Has anyone on the hill paid notice to college basketball this season? Can anyone believe that March Madness is fewer than two months away? College basketball is in full swing and I barely hear anything about it. Even the U basketball team is struggling to get many fans out to the games, and it is on fire. It may be disinterest after such a great season in football, but the fervor should pick up soon, since conference play has begun. With that in mind, how many people know anything about what is going on outside of Utah in college basketball? College hoops has been watered down over the past few years because of the amount of players who have made the early jump to the NBA, either out of high school or after their freshman years in college. This year however, has been much different. College basketball is full of NBA talent, and there will be many exciting teams and players to watch as the regular season winds down. North Carolina seems to be the most dominant team in college basketball, even though it isn't undefeated. After its early season loss to Santa Clara, they have handily defeated teams such as Georgia Tech Asad Kudiya Columnist and Maryland. It's easy to see why North Carolina is so good. It has three of the best players in college basketball: Rashad McCants, Sean May and Raymond Felton. Besides the three potential allAmericans, the Tar Heels also have one of the best freshmen, Marvin Williams and also one of the best allaround players in Jawad Williams. Needless to say, they are my pick to win it all, but there are many other teams that have the potential to walk out of St. Louis with the big trophy in March. Wake Forest has quite possibly the best player in college basketball in Chris Paul, while Duke is always good and Daniel Ewing is explosive. J.J. Reddick does not miss many shots, Top 25 1. Illinois 16-0 Last Week: Def. Ohio State 84-65 (1/5), Def. Purdue 68-59 (1/8) This Week: Def. Penn State 90-64 (1/12), 1/15 at Northwestern (8-7) 2. Kansas 11-0 Last Week: Def. Texas ASM 65-60 (1/5), Def. No. 8 Kentucky 65-59 (1/9) This Week: Del. Iowa State 71-66 (1/12), 1/15 at Colorado (8-5) 3. Wake Forest 13-1 Last Week: Def. Clemson 103-68 (1/8) This Week: Def. Maryland 81-66 (1/11), 1/15 vs. No. 4 North Carolina (14-1) 4. North Carolina 13-1 Last Week: Det. No. 21 Maryland 109-75 (1/8) This Week: Def. No. 8 Georgia Tech 91-69 (1/12), 1/15 at No.-3 -Wake Forest (14-1) 5. Duke 11-0 Last Week: Def. Princeton 59-46 (1/5), Def. Temple 82-74 (1/8) This Week: Lost to N.C. State 41-38 (1/13), 1/16 vs. Virginia (9-4) 6. Oklahoma State 11-1 Last Week: Def. TX ASM Corp Chris 86-61 (1/3), Def. Texas Tech 76-66 (1/8) This Week: Def. Missouri 78-68 (1/11), 1/15 vs. Iowa State (8-5) 7. Syracuse 1S-1 Last Week: Def. St. John's 79-65 (1/5), Def. Seton Hall 75-50 (1/8) This Week: Def. Notre Dame 70-61 (1/10), 1/15 at Providence (9-6) 8. Georgia Tech 11-2 Last Week: Def. Miami 80-69 (1/6), Def. Virginia 92-69 (1/8) This Week: Lost to No. 4 North Carolina 91-69 (1/12), 1/16 at N.C. State (10-4) 9. Texas 12-2 Last Week: Def. Memphis 74-67 (1/6), Def. Baylor 79-60 (1/9) This Week: Lost to Texas ASM 74-63 (1/12), 1/15 at Nebraska (8-4) 10. Kentucky 10-2 Last Week: Def. South Carolina 79-75 (1/5), Lost to No. 2 Kansas 65-59 (1/9) This Week: Def. Vanderbilt 69-54 (1/12), 1/15 at Georgia (6-7) Tickets 11. Connecticut 9-2 Last Week: Lost to Boston College 75-70 (1/5), Def. Georgetown 66-59 (1/8) This Week: Lost to No. 25 Oklahoma 77-65 (1/10), 1/15 vs. Rutgers (6-6) 12. Michigan State 10-2 Last Week: Def. Penn State 84-58 (1/5), Def. Northwestern 87-58 (1/8) This Week: 1/16 at Wisconsin (11-3) 13. Cincinnati 13-1 Last Week: Def. DePaul 83-54 (1/6), Def. St. Louis 69-53 (1/8) This Week: Def. East Carolina 84-78 (1/12), 1/15 vs. No. 19 Louisville (13-3) 14. Washington 13-2 Last Week: Def. USC 84-59 (1/6), Lost to UCLA 95-86 (1/8) This Week: 1/13 vs. Oregon (10-2), 1/15 vs. Oregon State (10-4) 15. Mississippi St. 14-2 Last Week: Def. Auburn 90-53 (1/5), Def. Mississippi 87-76 (1/8) This Week: Lost to Tennessee 64-63 (1/12), 1/15 vs. Arkansas (13-3) 16. Arizona 12-3 Last Week: Def. California 87-67 (1/6), Lost to Stanford 87-76 (1/8) This Week: 1/13 vs. USC (8-8), 1/15 vs. UCLA (9-3) 17. Boston College 13-0 Last Week: Def. No. 9 Connecticut 75-70 (1/5), Def. Providence 69-60 (1/8) This Week: 1/16 at No. 24 West Virginia (11-2) 18. Pittsburgh 11-2 Last Week: Lost to Georgetown 67-64 (1/5), Def. Rutgers 66-63 (1/8) This Week: 1/15 vs. Seton Hall (8-5) 19. Louisville 12-3 Last Week: Lost to Houston 70-67 (1/5), Def. TCU 86-61 (1/8) This Week: Def. Southern Miss 107-62 (1/11), 1/15 at No. 13 Cincinnati (14-1) 2 0 . Gonzaga 11-3 Last Week: Def. Santa Clara 91-87 (1/6), Lost to St. Mary's (CA) 89-81 (1/8) This Week: 1/13 vs. Loyola Marymnt (9-6), 1/15 vs. Pepperdine (12-5) 21. Alabama 12-3 Last Week: Lost to Vanderbilt 70-56 (1/5), Def. LSU 73-58 (1/8) This Week: Def. Arkansas 64-61 (1/11) 22. Geo Washington 10-2 Last Week: Def. La Salle 71-42 (1/5), Def. Duquesne 81-57 (1/8) This Week: Def. St. Bonaventure 85-59 (1/12), 1/15 vs. Massachusetts (7-6) 23. Iowa 12-3 Last Week: Lost to Michigan 65-63 (1/5), Lost to Ohio State 81-69 (1/8) This Week: 1/15 vs. Minnesota (12-3) 24. West Virginia 11-1 Last Week: Lost to Villanova 84-46 (1/5). Def, St. John's 64-60 (1/8) This Week: Lost to Marshall 59-55 (1/11), 1/16 vs. No. 17 Boston College (13-0) 25. Oklahoma 11-2 Last Week: Def. Colorado 85-55 (1/8) This Week: Def. No. 11 Connecticut 77-65 (1/10), 1/15 at Baylor (7-4) but they still won't win the title. The ACC is tight this year, with Wake Forest and North Carolina at the top of the conference and undefeated Duke barely trailing behind. Illinois is the top-ranked team in the nation, led by point guard Dee Brown and shooting guard Deron Williams. There are three teams right behind Illinois in the standings, but the fightin' Illini should pull away and win the regular-season title. Kansas, led by Wayne Simien, is the team to beat in the Big 12 and is coming off a huge win on the road versus Kentucky. Oklahoma State came off a great season last year and is still very good, with only one loss on the season. John Lucas, like the rest of the team, has improved this year and they are tied with Kansas atop the Big 12 standings. Hakim Warrick of Syracuse is in his 10th year and is still solid, while Francisco Garcia heads a shaky Louisville team. Garcia is a very good allaround player and had good range on his shot. Boston College is one of the most surprising teams this year, as they defeated UCONN on the road and are undefeated thus far. Utah's Tim Drisdom lays up his two points of the evening Monday in the Huntsman Center as the Utes crushed UNLV. The Huskies are very young and will peak at some point in order to make a run. The Big East tourney will be extremely exciting. Gonzaga lost early in the year to Illinois, but since has defeated Washington and Georgia Tech. Some other players and teams to watch include Marquette. Travis Diener still doesn't miss many threepointers, but Marquette still hasn't recovered from the loss of current NBA star Dwyane Wade. They could make some noise in the tourney. All in all, college basketball is pretty exciting this year and chances are that you haven't watched much this season. Go watch it and I guarantee you will be stoked come tourney time. akudiya@ chronicle.utah.edu Conference spotlight The ACC The New Year has begun and fans of big-conference NCAA football programs seek to fill a great void in thenlives. If you're one of those people who have to fill your weekly quota of collegiate dominance, or if you seek a fitted cap that is appropriately seasonal, you need look no further than the Atlantic Coast Conference. Just as always, the ACC contains the highest concentration of grotesquely athletic super mutants in college basketball, minus the few who got the early call-up to the ACC's parent organization, the NBA. And as always, they boast of more top 25's than Courtney Love has in E!'s "Most Embarrassing" series. No. 3 North Carolina, No. 4 Wake Forest, No. 5 Duke and No. 8 Georgia Tech all factor prominently in pretourney projections —and a handnil of others are sure to contend for bracket slots. In the meantime, they are barreling their way through unfortunate non-conference competitors. ACC teams have gone 103-24 in nonconference play as of Thursday, and conference losses account for a higher percentage of their total losses than for any Division I conference. Pole sitters North Carolina Tar Heels (14-1) are led by a trio of scorers averaging more than 15 points a game. Four of their starters appear to be destined for the NBA draft, and the consensus opinion stands that time is of the essence for Roy Williams' squad. Rashad McCants is one of the few players left in college basketball capable of creating his own shot, Raymond Felton has emerged as a savvy floor leader and Sean May provides a dominating presence underneath. They are shooting an unconscious 52 percent as a team, including 45 percent from Trey Wingo land. Since their opening-game loss to Santa Clara, the Tar Heels have run off 14 straight victories. Only one of their margins of victory has been within 10 points, and 11 have been more than 20. While Illinois has shown no signs of relinquish- Matthew Piper Columnist ing the top spot in the rankings, it may have to start shooting exclusively left handed to impress voters as much as North Carolina's huge victories of late over difficult opposition. Wake Forest (14-1) is also talentloaded. Sophomore point guard Chris Paul, widely considered the best player in the country, has almost been overshadowed of late by the exploits of sharpshooter Justin Gray. Big Eric Williams prevents teams from guarding solely against these perimeter stars, and is a large part of the reason that Paul is shooting an absurd 58 percent for three. Skip Prosser's only loss this year came to Illinois, and the rest of the schedule has been no cakewalk. Already ranked sixth in national schedule strength, n of the team's next 15 are against ranked opponents. The Demon Deacons face the Tar Heels this Saturday (at 11:30 MST on ABC) in a battle for the conference lead. Coach Krzyzewski has led Duke to an undefeated (11-0) start that would surely satisfy most basketball fans, but they haven't proved themselves against the same competition as the conference leaders. Nevertheless, they have two of college basketball's best pure shooters in J.J. Redick and Daniel Ewing, and Sheldon Williams has contributed 12 rebounds and 3.6 blocks a game. The team lacks nothing in potential, and will be sure to garner more attention when it engages more heavily in conference play. Georgia Tech (11-3) kept in tact the roster which performed so well in the NCAA Tournament last year, and it is still a force. Jarret Jack, B.J. Elder, Will Bynum, Luke Schenscher and high-flying Isma'il Muhammed all continue to perform at a high level—and the Yellow Jackets have one of the deepest lineups in the nation. However, North Carolina hammered the Techies 91-69 on Wednesday, and it will be interesting to see how well they recover. The lower-profile ACC teams have also been performing well. Maryland's multitasking John Gilchrist has shined for Gary Williams, though he sat out most of Wednesday's loss against the Demon Deacons because of a missed academic assignment. Robert Hite has led Miami to an 11-3 start, and NC State (10-4) and Clemson (10-5) are also firmly on the path to postseason play. "Bottom dwellers" Florida State, Virginia Tech and Virginia have combined for a 25-15 record, which speaks volumes about the overall talent in the ACC. No conference in basketball attracts more big-name players, and they will continue to dominate for some time until national TV contracts go elsewhere. This is not likely, in a sport where conference rivalry games draw better ratings than games of significant relevance to overall rankings. The ACC is, and will always be, the highest echelon of college basketball. It has multiple rivalry games that happen to coincide with the overall rankings every week. mpiper@ chronicle.utah.edu Your Home Away from Home for Utah away games is Orbit Cafe. Don't miss this Tailgate party packed with Food, Fun, and Fans All you can eat stadium food for $10 801.322.3808 Located one block west of the Gateway 540W.200S |
