The Reitmeyer Rant: 2/22/09

Friday, February 27, 2009

BETology 2-27

Thursday, February 26, 2009

T3R College Hoops Style Week 6

The Rant has recruited a third basketball mind to help with the weekly rankings. I would like to thank Matt Dugan for taking part in this week’s rankings and hopefully throughout the rest of the season.

1. UCONN Huskies (26-2, 14-2)
60 votes (3 first place votes)
Last week: W vs South Florida 64-50, W @ #9 Marquette 93-82
This week: Saturday vs Notre Dame
All this talk about Hasheem Thabeet as the national or Big East Player of the Year has quieted a bit since being a non-factor in their loss to Pitt, but that does not mean another Husky should not be talked about. A.J. Price is the best player on this team and nobody is talking about him. He single handily kept them in the game with Pitt and he dominated Marquette last night hitting eight 3’s and finishing with 36 points.

2. North Carolina Tarheels (24-3, 10-3)
54 votes
Last week: L @ Maryland 88-85 (OT)
This week: Saturday vs Georgia Tech, Wednesday @ Virginia Tech
To me Carolina is far above everyone in the ACC, so how are the Heels losing to teams like Boston College and Maryland? This team is so talented that it seems to be a chore for them to actually put effort into their games since they rarely need to do so. My two big questions will they keep this up through March and will they finally be able to turn it on when needed in March? So far, we have no reason to believe either will happen.

2. Pitt Panthers (25-3, 12-3)
54 votes
Last week: W vs DePaul 80-61, L @ Providence 81-73
This week: Saturday @ Seton Hall, Wednesday vs #10 Marquette
The Panthers learned first hand on Tuesday that they cannot survive on talent alone (like Carolina has been doing) and went down hard when they slept walked through the first half against Providence. The good thing for the Panthers is that they really do not have any bad losses. All three losses have been on the road to Big East opponents, all of who will probably be playing in March.

4. Oklahoma Sooners (25-3, 11-2)
50 votes
Last week: L @ Texas 73-68, L vs Kansas 87-78
This week: Saturday @ Texas Tech, Wednesday @ #9 Missouri
The two losses this week are tough to explain. Yes, both were without Blake Griffin playing, but if they are really deserving of being considered a National Champion contender shouldn’t they be able to win without him in the lineup? If they cannot beat Tech on Saturday without Griffin, they will have no chance at beating Missouri next week or making a real run at the Final Four.

5. Memphis Tigers (24-3, 12-0)
46 votes
Last week: W @ UTEP 70-63
This week: Tonight @ UAB, Saturday vs Southern Miss, Wednesday @ Houston
The competition level for Memphis in C-USA is about the same for Adam Sandler when he was playing dodge ball against kindergarteners in Billy Madison. And what is even worse is that they are not blowing these teams out, they are playing down to their level. You have no idea how much I want UAB to beat them tonight!

6. Louisville Cardinals (22-5, 13-2)
44 votes
Last week: W @ Cincinnati 72-63, Monday @ Georgetown 76-58
This week: Sunday vs Marquette, Wednesday vs Seton Hall
This team could be the most athletic and talented team in the Big East along with having the best coach, so how do they lose to teams like Western Kentucky, UNLV, Minnesota and Notre Dame?

7. Villanova Wildcats (23-5, 11-4)
42 votes
Last week: W vs Rutgers 82-72, W @ Syracuse 89-86, W @ DePaul 74-72
This week: Saturday vs Georgetown, Monday @ Notre Dame
Villanova might be the most dangerous team in the country that nobody is talking about. Nova has the guard play and the scorers to play with anyone and the athletic big guys to bang the boards. This team is not as hyped as the squad that Jay Wright had in 2005-06 with Foye, Ray, Nardi and Co., but they are as good, if not better.

8. Duke Blue Devils (23-5, 9-4)
41 votes
Last week: W @ St. John’s 76-69, W vs #12 Wake Forest 101-91, W @ Maryland 78-67
This week: Saturday @ Virginia Tech, Tuesday vs Florida State
Beating Maryland is not considered a great road win just because UNC lost there four days earlier. However, beating Maryland when they are wearing those god-awful Yellow uniforms, now that is impressive!

9. Missouri Tigers (24-4, 11-2)
35 votes
Last week: W @ Colorado 66-53, W vs Kansas State 94-74
This week: Sunday @ #15 Kansas, Wednesday vs #4 Oklahoma
Winners of seven straight and 11 of 12 have everything on the line this week. Sweep KU and OU and Mizzou wins the Big XII regular season (now how hard was that to do Quin Snyder?). It is all there for the taking, not to add any pressure.

10. Marquette Golden Eagles (23-5, 12-3)
33 votes
Last week: W @ Georgetown 78-72, L vs #1 UCONN 93-82
This week: Sunday @ #6 Louisville, Wednesday @ #2 Pitt
Game one of their brutal stretch run did not go as planned and that was at home. Now the Eagles have road games in two hostile environments at Freedom Hall and the Petersen Event Center. They could go from being in the race for the league title if they win both to missing out on the all-important 2-day bye in the Big East Tournament if they lose both. And, they will have to do it without Dominic James.

11. Michigan State Spartans (22-5, 12-3)
27 votes
Last week: W vs Wisconsin 61-50, W vs Iowa 62-54
This week: Sunday @ Illinois, Tuesday @ Indiana
Congratulations should go out to the Michigan State basketball team. Not only did the Spartans get to 60 points in both games this week, they actually scored OVER 60 in both games. That is tough to do in that putrid conference known as the Big Ten.

12. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (20-5, 7-5)
26 votes
Last week: L @ #8 Duke 101-91
This week: Tonight vs NC State, Saturday @ Virginia, Tuesday @ Maryland
Jeff Teague could carry this team at any point if he wanted to, but it seems like it is a bother for him to focused and interested in playing. There are stretches in the game when he does not touch the ball in an offensive set. Not shot they ball, when he does not even touch the ball. How is that good coaching?

13. Arizona State Sun Devils (21-5, 10-4)
24 votes
Last week: W vs Arizona 70-68
This week: Tonight @ Washington, Saturday @ Washington State
This team could be very good, but they seem to trip over themselves instead of separate from the rest of the sub-par Pac-10.

14. Clemson Tigers (22-5, 8-5)
22 votes
Last week: W @ Georgia Tech 81-73, L vs Virginia Tech 80-77
This week: Saturday @ Florida State, Tuesday vs Virginia
I think this is a good and accurate summary of what the national public thinks of Clemson. When doing these rankings I also ask for comments from those voting each week. Jason responded with nothing, Matt wrote, “yawn”, and I think they are incredibly boring.

15. Kansas Jayhawks (23-5, 12-1)
21 votes
Last week: W vs Nebraska 70-53, W @ #4 Oklahoma 87-78
This week: Sunday vs # 9 Missouri, Wednesday @ Texas Tech
Sherron Collins is the only returning starter from last year’s title team, and he can light it up from anywhere on the court. Bill Self would love you to think that this team is young and Collins is all he has, but The Rant knows better. KU recruits well, and this team is loaded with young talent.

16. LSU Tigers (24-4, 12-1)
13 votes
Last week: W vs Auburn 79-72, W vs Florida 81-75
This week: Saturday @ Kentucky, Wednesday vs Vanderbilt
The SEC can have their football, but boy are they terrible at basketball this year. It will not happen, but LSU is the only truly deserving NCAA team from the entire conference. They play with speed, skill and athleticism, just like all the football programs in that conference. You would think that some of these other coaches might be able to figure that out.

Others receiving votes: Xavier 11, Gonzaga 9, Purdue 8, Florida State 5, UCLA 2, Washington 2, Texas 1

BETology 2-26

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Congratulations Pittsburgh Pirates!!!

The Pirates won their first Grapefruit League game today defeating the defending World Series Champions Philadelphia Phillies 8-2. This marks the first, last and only time the Pirates will be above .500 this season.

Some thoughts on the game:
Adam LaRoche was 0-2 with 2 K's
Matt Capps pitched 1 complete inning, and walked the bases loaded in that inning (those were the only 3 walks allowed by Pirate pitching).
As a team the Bucs struck out 8 times.
Donald Veal was the winning pitcher and Shelby Ford (yes, just like the car) hit the games only home run. These are two players that you will probably never hear about again, until they are all-stars for another team.

BETology 2-25

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

BETology 2-24

Hoop Thoughts

Ranking Reaction and a Press Conference for the Ages

The new AP and Coaches Polls that were released earlier today and some of the things in them caught my attention:

*- Pitt is back at number one. This is great and I will never complain about that, but I agree with the Panthers that I would rather they hold that ranking April 7th than Feb 23rd.

*- Five, count them, FIVE Big East teams in the Top 10 in the AP rankings. No other conference has five teams ranked except the ACC (five in top 23). Please, no more debates on which conference is the best, the numbers speak for themselves.

*- Duke and UCLA are perfect examples of teams that get by on their name and not by what they do on the court. UCLA has lost 3 of 4 including a home game to Washington State (14-13, 6-9), yet still find themselves ranked and Duke has lost four of their past seven in conference play, but is still in the Top 10. How is this possible?

Finally, the question that people all over Pittsburgh are asking and I would hope al over the nation. How did anyone cast a 1st place vote for UCONN after losing at home to Pitt? It happened in both polls. The AP has 72 votes, 69 votes went to Pitt, 2 to Oklahoma and 1 to UCONN. The Coaches poll has 31 voters, 30 voted Pitt in the top spot and the remaining vote went to UCONN. I am going to try to break this down logically. UCONN and Pitt have identical records (UCONN has one more conference win). Pitt has lost twice this season, both in conference on the road, and both to teams ranked in the Top 10 (in the AP, Villanova is 12 in the Coaches). UCONN also has lost twice, both at home and one of those teams is now barely above .500 and hoping to get it’s way in to the NIT. Yeah voting UCONN #1 makes complete sense. Coaches polls are not released to the public but after doing some research I found that Matt Stout, the UCONN beat writer for the Norwich Bulletin has a vote for the AP. I am guessing he was the one that voted for the Huskies ahead of Pitt. I will keep the Rant Readers updated as I continue to follow up on that.

PRESS CONFERENCE HALL OF FAME NOMINATION
Is there anything as entertaining as a grumpy old man whom, just because they are so old and “experienced,” think they know everything and nothing anyone else says will change their mind, especially when these old men are standing at a podium with microphones everywhere. Press conference meltdowns and blowups happen all the time.

For whatever reason it seems like college basketball coaches do this more and better than anyone else. Here are some classic that you should remember. You had John Chaney threaten to kill John Calipari after a game in 1994. Jim Boeheim and his season prediction of having to play without Gerry McNamara. Of course, anytime we compile a list of great press conference moments with angry old men Bob Knight has to be included. Enter Jim Calhoun, UCONN basketball coach. He has had some great pressers in the past. I like the Ryan Gomes one particularly. This weekend he struck again, when asked about his salary and the state deficit. Take a look:

I absolutely loved this on so many levels. First of all, the fact that he knows where the guy is going and interrupts his question with the comment, “not a dime back.” Classic. Let me also say that I agree 100% with Calhoun on this. He brings in much more money for the state and university they he is getting back. He is worth every penny he makes. I also love his comment, about making more then the $1.6M the reporter said he makes. No matter how you feel about his team, Jim Calhoun is a great sound bite, always!

Monday, February 23, 2009

BETology 2-23

This is The Rant’s daily look in at the Big East conference as we creep closer to the BET in New York City, which begins March 10th.

STANDINGS:
Big East Official Tie-Breaking formula
*-Connecticut Huskies 13-2
*-Louisville Cardinals 12-2
*-Pittsburgh Panthers 12-2
*-Marquette Golden Eagles 12-2
Villanova Wildcats 10-4
West Virginia Mountaineers 8-6
Providence Friars 8-7
Syracuse Orange 7-7
Cincinnati Bearcats 7-7
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 6-8
Seton Hall Pirates 5-9
Georgetown Hoyas 5-9
St. John’s Red Storm 4-10
T-South Florida Bulls 3-11
T-Rutgers Scarlet Knights 1-13
T-DePaul Blue Demons 0-14
*-clinched a 1st day bye
T-clinched a Tuesday game

THIS WEEKEND:
SATURDAY
Notre Dame Fighting Irish 103
Providence Friars 84
This was a very telling game for both teams. Providence started Big East play as well as anyone in the conference, winning six of their first eight, but not beating any of the leagues of the elite in the process. The Friars were padding their win total against the weaker teams in the conference. Now that Providence is facing some of the better teams, they are starting to drop games and fall back in the standings. With games against Pitt, Rutgers and Villanova remaining, the Friars should be able to end the season at .500 in the conference. Notre Dame played this game the way that many people expected them to play all season. They were very balanced in their scoring and really took it to the undermanned Friar team. What is most impressive is that this win was on the road, a place the Irish have really struggled this season. The Irish are sitting at 6-8 right now and need to finish strong to go dancing. The Irish have must wins against Rutgers and St. John’s as well as tough games with UCONN and Villanova. If Notre Dame can steal one of those two games, they should be in good shape heading to NYC.

UCONN Huskies 64
South Florida Bulls 50
This was pretty much a cakewalk for the Huskies who got back on their winning ways after the defeat against Pitt earlier in the week. UCONN still holds a ½ game lead over the rest of the lead pack for the regular season crown a d the 1-seed in the BET. However, the Huskies have three tough games remaining on their schedule. They travel to Marquette on Wednesday before their home finale against Notre Dame on Saturday. The Huskies then have a week of to prepare for their re-match with Pitt to end the season. South Florida has clinched their first trip to the BET this season, then again, everyone goes this year. The Bulls do know they will play on Tuesday, the first every Tuesday in BET history.

Marquette Golden Eagles 78
Georgetown Hoyas 72
The Hoyas really needed this game. Georgetown is now sitting at 5-9 in the conference leaving themselves in a desperate situation. The Hoyas not only will probably find themselves playing on day one of the BET this year, but if they do not beat either Louisville tomorrow, or Villanova Saturday they will be in the NIT instead of the NCAA’s. Marquette kept pace with the top pack of the Big East and clinched at least a one-day bye in the BET with the win in D.C. That was the first test of the 5-part season ending challenge for the Golden Eagles and their schedule. Marquette has UCONN at home this week and travels to Louisville this weekend.

Louisville Cardinals 72
Cincinnati Bearcats 63
Cincinnati finds themselves literally right in the middle of everything in the Big East standings. The Bearcats are currently 7-7 and tied for eighth in the standings. However due to the tiebreaker, they would miss out on the 8th place bye and be forced to play Tuesday. The good thing about that situation is that Cincinnati could use that Tuesday win as resume builder for the NCAA Tournament. The last four games will be vital to the Bearcats postseason plans. This week they have West Virginia, who one game ahead of them in the standings, and Syracuse, whom they are currently tied with. The final week of the season is against USF and Seton Hall; two must win games if they want to make the Big Dance. Louisville kept pace with Marquette and Pitt by defeating rival Cincinnati. Louisville still is in the best position of the top four to win the regular season. They have four games remaining, and the easiest schedule remaining.

Pitt Panthers 80
DePaul Blue Demons 61
The Panthers took care of business with relative ease and kept their Big East regular season title hopes alive. Pitt has two road games this week against Providence and Seton Hall before finishing at home against fellow top tier opponents Marquette and UCONN. Pitt will probably fins themselves in a rather odd situation when the new polls come out later today. In all likelihood, the Panthers will be ranked #1 in the country, but are actually not even in first place in their own conference. Welcome to life in the Big East. DePaul lost once again in Big East play. It is hard to believe that a school that is located in the middle of Chicago and plays in the Big East cannot find better athletes and put together a better team than we saw on the court Saturday. They are a long way away from being relevant at all in the Big East, and actually, you wonder if they may have second thoughts about joining in the first place.

SUNDAY
Villanova Wildcats 89
Syracuse Orange 86
If you like fast paced games, with lots of offense, this was the game for you. If you like defense of any sorts, this game would have been painful for you to watch. Villanova continues to hold a tight hold on that 5-seed and looks to be ready to jump if any of the top four stumble down the stretch. Nova is as athletic as any team in the conference, but they lack a quality inside presences. That has not hurt Jay Wright coached teams in the past, we will see if it does this season or not. The amount of shooters that the Wildcats suit up is amazing, I also love how, even though they play a smaller line up they really go after the glass hard. Syracuse has an interesting situation looking at them with four games remaining. The Orange SHOULD be in good shape for the NCAA Tournament, but finishing at .500 the past two seasons in Big East play hurt them and kept them out of the tournament. This year they do have much better non-conference wins (Florida, Kansas and Memphis), but I do not think that Boeheim and Co. want to leave any question in the committee’s mind this season. With four winnable games remaining, the Cuse may go for broke and try to make a statement before they even arrive in NYC.

West Virginia Mountaineers 74
Rutgers Scarlet Knights 56
WVU moved ahead of Providence with this win and currently sit in the six spot. With just four games remaining, the Mountaineers will be hard pressed to move up any further, but if they are not careful, they could certainly fall back. West Virginia is two games behind Villanova for the 5-seed and four backs out of getting one of the two-day byes. However, there are four teams behind West Virginia, all within two games. The Mountaineers next game is against one of those teams. WVU goes to Cincinnati on Thursday. Rutgers remains at the one win mark, thank goodness for DePaul. The Knights will be playing on Tuesday in NYC.

St. John’s Red Storm 70
Seton Hall Pirates 65
Although this is a bit of an upset, it does not do much in way of seeding as of now. Both of these teams look to be a shoe-in for playing on Tuesday and based on how the standings could end up it they could be playing each other. This game may have been for the rights to be considered the “home” team for that game.

GAMES TONIGHT:
Louisville Cardinals @ Georgetown Hoyas
7:00 ESPN

UP COMING GAMES ON NATIONAL TV:
Monday:
Louisville @ Georgetown ESPN
Wednesday:
UCONN @ Marquette ESPN
Rutgers @ Notre Dame ESPNU
Thursday:
West Virginia @ Cincinnati ESPN/ESPN2 (check your local listings)
Saturday:
Georgetown @ Villanova ESPN
Notre Dame @ UCONN CBS
Sunday:
Marquette @ Louisville CBS
Providence @ Rutgers ESPNU

BETology:
TUESDAY
March 10th:
NOON
9 - Cincinnati
Vs
16 – DePaul
2:00
12 – Georgetown
Vs
13 – St. John’s
7:00
10 – Notre Dame
Vs
15 – Rutgers
9:00
11 – Seton Hall
Vs
14 – South Florida

WEDNESDAY
March 11th:
NOON
8 – Syracuse
Vs
Tuesday NOON winner
2:00
5 – Villanova
Vs
Tuesday 2:00 winner
7:00
7 – Providence
Vs
Tuesday 7:00 winner
9:00
6 – West Virginia
Vs
Tuesday 9:00 winner

THURSDAY
March 12th:
NOON
1 – UCONN
Vs
Wednesday NOON winner
2:00
4 – Marquette
Vs
Wednesday 2:00 winner
7:00
2 – Louisville
Vs
Wednesday 7:00 winner
9:00
3 – Pitt
Vs
Wednesday 9:00 winner
Check back tomorrow for another update!

The Reitmeyer Rant