Four Point Play College Basketball Review - Dec. 23

3 Most Important Results from Tonight

UNLV 85, Cal 68 – Another nice notch for UNLV and yet another stinging failure for the Pac-12. You know its bad when the national media is calling you the WAC-12 and some might think its a complement.

Baylor 83, West Virginia 81 (OT) – Baylor is learning how to win the close game that it didn't win early last season. It also is being tested in ways that will only help come March. West Virginia showed very well and should comfortably make the tournament as long as conference road game don't overwhelm the youngsters.

Long Beach St. 64, Auburn 43 – Despite five losses, Long Beach St.'s schedule has been tough enough that an incredible run through the Big West might get them back in the at large conversation. This win over Auburn will be middling in the end, but its still a nice get along with the wins over Pittsburgh and Xavier with a shot at Kansas St. coming Sunday.

Worst Loss from Tonight

UCLA 71, Richmond 63 – I know I'm burying Richmond again (3^rd time in the last three weeks), but nobody had a truly bad loss and losing to bad Pac-12 teams (even improved ones) is never a good way to avoid this category.

EDIT: Evidently my brain malfunctioned when it skipped the Wagner win over Pittsburgh on the score website tonight. Needless to say, losing to NEC teams is never a good idea when looking for high seeds and respect as a Big East team.

Upcoming Schedule

Until Tuesday, only game in the Diamond Head Classic are on the schedule for anyone. Here are preview capsules for all remaining games.

Kansas St. vs Long Beach St. - The big question is if Long Beach St. can stand up to the length of Kansas St. inside. If it can, it can win this game because the 49ers have the advantage, though slightly, in the backcourt.

Auburn vs UTEP – I'm sure this is a game Auburn coach Tony Barbee wanted to avoid since he recruited much of the UTEP roster when he was the Miners head coach. As for the game, Auburn is one of the worst 8-2 teams anyone has ever laid eyes on. UTEP should win.

Clemson vs Hawaii – Clemson has looked bad since getting to Hawaii (and really for much of the season). Hawaii never was thought to be good and still isn't even after beating reeling Xavier. This game has the potential to look a lot like the Auburn-Hawaii game: close but ugly as heck to watch.

Xavier vs Southern Illinois – Ugh. Southern Illinois has totally collapsed from its level of a few years ago when it was a top five NCAA Tournament seed. At this point though, the Salukis might be in better shape than Xavier, where the program might be collapsing before our eyes after the Cincinnati brawl.

Final Thought on the night in College Basketball

As weird as the schedule is, the Diamond Head Classic fills a nice niche on the schedule. With nothing else going around Christmas, this has turned into a nice event, even if the arena is half empty and the games are on Christmas. Before anyone complains about the Christmas games, remember that the players are still on campus no matter what. I'm sure they would rather play and spend Christmas in Hawaii then spend it in the athletic dorms with practice on Christmas morning.