10 Most Important Results from the Weekend
Kansas St. 75, Missouri 59 – All of Missouri's warts were on display in this road game. And all of them have to do with either a lack of height or a lack of depth. The Tigers have just seven scholarship players and very little inside. When things start going bad on the road against a team with good post players (and Kansas St. has good post players), it can spiral out of control quickly if the Missouri three point shooters are even a little off their games.
Notre Dame 67, Louisville 65 (2OT) – We have more proof Louisville was way overrated at number four a couple of weeks ago. We also have proof Notre Dame remains a tough out now that it has adapted to playing without injured Tim Abromitis.
West Virginia 74, Georgetown 62 – As sure as the sun rises, Georgetown gets stomped in Morgantown. Consider the Hoyas among the happiest parties once West Virginia actually gets to the Big 12. Georgetown is likely sick of being West Virginia's stepping stool to its annual January-February run from the bubble to five or six seed in the tournament.
Michigan 59, Wisconsin 41 – And the Wisconsin collapse continues, this time with a listless and generally bad effort at Michigan. For Michigan, it is a quality win (for now) that helps in the bounce back from losing at Indiana.
Syracuse 73, Marquette 66 – Another game, another 23-1 Syracuse run and another win for Syracuse. If the Orange can bottle the effort and energy of its every game big run for the entire game, it will win the National Championship. Yes, Syracuse looks that good for stretches of most every game.
Arkansas 98, Mississippi St. 88 – The jury is now out on both teams. Mississippi St. has a good resume, but it appears as thought the Bulldogs will struggle in road games again. Arkansas hasn't been tested away from home, but winning this game at least makes it relevant in the SEC.
Xavier 67, Fordham 59 – Only important because Xavier remembered the feeling of winning. That said, Tu Holloway is still playing badly (as evidenced by his goose egg in the scoring column in this game) and he will need to be better to get Xavier to the NCAA Tournament.
LSU 81, Ole Miss 55 – With this result, we can extinguish what remaining at-large hopes Ole Miss had. We can also say that LSU at least has a chance if it can continue to play this well.
Seton Hall 66, Providence 57 – Providence had a golden opportunity to pick up a very high value win against a team coming off a big win at home. Instead, the Friars were beaten fairly soundly by the biggest surprise in all of college basketball this season.
3 Worst Losses from the Weekend
Tennessee 67, Florida 56 – A second appearance here in recent weeks doesn't bode well for Florida, a team that lacks inside players and is especially prone to streaky shooting.
Rutgers 67, Connecticut 60 – A second appearance here as a winner in recent weeks bodes well for the future at Rutgers. For UConn, this second road loss in a week shows the road will be incredibly difficult again, just as it was last season (remember that UConn finished 9th in the regular season Big East standings mostly because it struggled mightily in road games) before catching fire on neutral courts.
Wake Forest 58, Virginia Tech 55 and Clemson 79, Florida St. 59 – And thus the ACC below the top three begins its best Pac-12 impressions.
3 Biggest Games of Tomorrow
LSU vs Alabama in BCS Football National Championship Game – Yes, it's football, but it's also big for basketball. In recent years, top football schools have been using the football programs to help boost the recruiting of the basketball programs. Most notable among them are Florida and Ohio St. who followed up their national title game showdown in football with one in basketball as well. Obviously, both of these schools are a long way away in basketball, but both seem to be back on the right track this season after a few years in the wilderness. Winning here in football won't guarantee basketball success, but it certainly won't hurt at all.
Georgetown vs Cincinnati – Cincinnati also took a bad loss over the weekend to St. John's. Now, it needs to bounce back and quickly or risk falling off the bubble. Despite its recent hot streak since the Xavier brawl, Cincinnati is still the same team that lost to Presbyterian and was blown off the floor by Xavier before the brawl.
Connecticut vs West Virginia – For West Virginia, it got its annual home win over Georgetown last game. Can the Mountaineers continue the run as it has the last few seasons on the road? For Connecticut, getting home is a chance to get back on track after a lost week on the road. Both teams need this game in the muddled Big East race.
Final Thought on the weekend in College Basketball
Both now and when the NCAA Tournament roll around, there are always arguments about which system is better for crowning a champion: the BCS or the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Most come down on the side of the NCAA Tournament. That said, why can't both sports just be different. That is ok. The NCAA Tournament is great for college basketball, even if it nearly invalidates the whole regular season. The BCS is great for college football, even if it doesn't give us the neat little controversy free ending we say we want (we don't really because if that were the case, why are we still discussing BCS controversies years later while never mentioning the great NCAA Tournament finals played over the last few years). Both systems have their flaws that many would like to see improved (more restrictive field in basketball, blow the whole system up in football), but why not leave it as it is? Since the advent of the NBA age restriction, college basketball has begun to thrive once again while college football has continued its growth to become a monolith dwarfed only by the NFL in American sports. Once again, why not leave everything alone and be happy with that?
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