ForumsTop ranked teams have been scared out of their wits. Upsets have raised eyebrows. Tournaments are taking place all over the map. It’s a typical start to college hoops. Let’s go.
1. Big Red Machine. The Trap caught some heat for including Cornell in its preseason Top 25. Two games into the season, that criticism has cooled. Steve Donahue’s two time defending Ivy League champs have won at Alabama and UMASS out of the gate. Ryan Wittman and Louis Dale lead a team loaded with experience that has tasted success the last couple of campaigns. With nonconference games against Seton Hall, Syracuse, and Kansas remaining, the Big Red has a shot at putting themselves in position to parlay their almost inevitable conference title into a decent tournament seed come March.
2. With Apologies To Thomas Wolfe…This summer, a number of people wrote the obituary for Tim Floyd’s coaching career. His resignation amid allegations of NCAA violations at USC seemed to many to close the curtain on his time on the bench. However, those folks underestimated how well connected the man is in basketball circles. With his return to his adopted hometown of New Orleans as the de facto coach of the Hornets(you don’t actually think Jeff Bower is coaching that team, do you), Floyd has begun his career rehabilitation even sooner than he expected. Since it is beginning to appear that the ‘AA won’t be able to find credible evidence that he actually made payments to Rodney Guillory, O.J. Mayo’s advisor, the well traveled Floyd is now in an enviable position. If Chris Paul gets healthy and the the Bugs find their stride, he’s in a position to possibly be named the head coach. If not, he will at least be back in a visible position within the game. That can’t hurt if he chooses to attempt to get back into the college game.
3. Iowoe. Todd Lickliter is a good coach. Iowa is a solid basketball school with a rich tradition. However, it appears the marriage of the two is going to end in a quick, unhappy divorce. Duquesne is an underrated team on the rise. That said, the Hawkeyes’ inability to hold off the injury and foul plagued Dukes in Iowa City is a harginger of doom. The Big Ten is loaded. Lickliter has little top notch talent at his disposal. That is a formula for a nuclear winter at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Unless Iowa’s administration shows Jobesque patience, it’s tough to construct a scenario under which the former Butler head coach returns in ‘10-’11.
4. Almost Paradise. The Virgin Islands are a decent place to take a break from the mundane details of everyday college life. Tomorrow, the Paradise Jam tips off with a field headlined by Tennessee and Purdue. The Vols arrive fresh off a history making beatdown of UNCA, a game in which UT looked like the Lakers matched against Horace Maynard Middle School. The Boilers, on the other hand, come into the tournament dealing with the loss to injury of point guard Lewis Jackson. Keaton Grant will likely fill the spot, but the injury further depletes Matt Painter’s already thin bench. Northern Iowa and Boston College will look to prevent the anticipated marquee matchup in the finals. If the favorites make it to Monday unscathed, the winner will have a nice resume entry to show the Selection Committee come March.
5. Some Guys Have All The (Bad) Luck. This was to be Northwestern’s year. The Wildcats, who defeated both Purdue and Michigan State in ‘08-’09, were returning their most talented roster in recent memory. Optimism had arrived in Evanston. Bill Carmody was poised to deliver the school’s first ever NCAA bid. Then, cold reality arrived in the form of a foot injury to star forward Kevin Coble. Without him, NU was hammered at home by Butler. Since Coble will not return in 2009-10, Carmody will be hard pressed to get his squad into the NIT. If it weren’t for bad luck, they’d have no luck at all.
6. Men At Work. Most prognosticators assumed the loss of Patrick Mills to a questionable early entry decision would set Randy Bennett’s program at St. Mary’s back a few steps. Early indications are that they Gaels are just fine. Led by new Aussie import Matthew Dellavedova, big man Omar Samhan, and Mills’ replacement at the point Mickey McConnell, Bennett’s Australian heavy group has hammered WAC contender New Mexico State and Mountain West co-favorite San Diego State. Vanderbilt travels to McKeon Pavillion Friday night. A win would position the guys from Moraga to jump into the Top 25.
Until next week, stay classy, Volnation.
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