Welcome back to this week's Dean's List where we're driving the lane harder than Tiger Woods. And while I have your attention, can someone please save the albinos?
Honor Roll
Reasons to love Michigan State coach Tom Izzo: His players wear
football helmets and pads during rebounding drills in practice; he named his son
after NFL coach Steve Mariucci and MSU point guard Mateen Cleaves;
every MSU player who has played four years under Coach Izzo has been to
a Final Four; and lastly, he's the winningest coach in Michigan State
basketball history. With the Spartan's 106-68 beat down of UMass on Saturday night, Izzo won his 341st game, passing his predecessor Jud Heathcote as MSU's most victorious coach.
Now that Northeastern has lost its football team, the Huskies have to concentrate on basketball and, apparently, that means more half-court shots at the end of practice. Northeastern guard Chaisson Allen hit the first buzzerbeater of this nascent season, nailing a half-court shot as time expired to give the Huskies a 70-67 victory over Wright State.
America loves the Portland Pilots more than we love gasoline. After shellacking UCLA and then beating Minnesota, the Pilots are the sweetheart story of the season. ESPN.com's Andy Katz sure loves them, writing "It is clear the Pilots are playing like one of the 34 best teams in the country." So does Mike Tokito at The Oregonian, going so far as to postulate about the Pilots' chances of winning the Pac-10. The Pilots ran out of magic against West Virginia, but they made their point. They'll challenge Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference and could even make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid.
If November were March, Clemson would be North Carolina. The Tigers
beat Winthrop to push their November win streak to 30 before losing to
Texas A&M 69-60. Of course, as CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish notes, "Clemson hasn't played a ranked opponent in this streak."
Ironically, three days after the A&M loss, the Tigers beat their
first ranked opponent in November, dropping Butler 70-69. Of course, by
then, the win streak was no longer, but I imagine that Oliver Purnell
would trade a meaningless win streak for a quality victory over a ranked opponenent any day.
I'm going to go ahead and put a sports writer on the Honor Roll for the first time ever. John Goodman over at FoxSports.com receives the honor for a bit he included in his homage to Thanksgiving which is sure to make my North Carolina cabal in my family furious. Goodman writes, "(I'm thankful) I don't live in Chapel Hill: After saying that North Carolina isn't a Final Four-caliber squad this season due to various weaknesses, I can only imagine what it would be like to live down there this year with all the unrealistic Tar Heels homers who are unable to see that Larry Drew II isn't Ty Lawson or Raymond Felton, that the Tar Heels don't have enough perimeter shooting and they lack a guy who can get his own with the game on the line." Oh Goodman, now you did it. Trust me, you don't want to piss off Aunt Nancy.
Detention
The most disappointing teams so far this season have to be Oklahoma and UCLA. With the talented Willie Warren returning, the Sooners were supposed to compete with Kansas and Texas for the Big 12 crown, but they lost three games in a row in the Great Alaska Shootout before overcoming a half-time deficit to beat Nicolls State 81-60 in the fifth-place game. In one week, the Sooners fell to Virginia Commonwealth, San Diego and Houston - not exactly powerhouse programs - and now Warren has been benched for reasons yet to be determined.
But UCLA's performance so far has been much more disturbing. The Bruins lost all three games they played in the 76 Classic to finish in eighth in tournament. The program with the most NCAA championships has now lost to Cal State, Portland, Butler and Long Beach State. Very humbling indeed for coach Ben Howland.
Thad Matta refused to go to his bench in Ohio State's two games of the NIT Season Tip-Off and now a member of that bench is abandoning ship. Guard Walter Offutt has decided to transfer from Matta's program. This is becoming a pattern in Columbus. As Doug Lesmerises of The Cleveland Plain Dealer notes, "This is the third straight season the Buckeyes have had a player transfer." Not that losing Offutt will be a major blow to the Buckeye's this season. The sophomore guard only scored 29 points at OSU and, most recently, had been slowed by a knee injury. But now Matta only has two playable guards on his bench and, more importantly, he can't hold onto his role players.
In the heyday of George Washington basketball Yinka Dare patrolled the paint, leading the Colonials to a spot in the Sweet 16 in 1993. Then, in the 2005-2006 season, GW went undefeated in A-10 play and climbed all the way to number six in the nation. But the good days are over in Foggy Bottom. Not even the Commander and Chief could inspire the Colonials to pull out a win against Oregon State. The Colonials bowed to the Beavers 64-57 in front of the Obama family, who were on hand to support Oregon State coach Craig Robinson, Michelle's brother. In fact, Michelle spent a fair amount of time during the game checking out the GW dance team, named the First Ladies dance team. It's never good for a program when more people are paying attention to the dance team, than the basketball team.
Honor Roll
Reasons to love Michigan State coach Tom Izzo: His players wear
football helmets and pads during rebounding drills in practice; he named his son
after NFL coach Steve Mariucci and MSU point guard Mateen Cleaves;
every MSU player who has played four years under Coach Izzo has been to
a Final Four; and lastly, he's the winningest coach in Michigan State
basketball history. With the Spartan's 106-68 beat down of UMass on Saturday night, Izzo won his 341st game, passing his predecessor Jud Heathcote as MSU's most victorious coach. Now that Northeastern has lost its football team, the Huskies have to concentrate on basketball and, apparently, that means more half-court shots at the end of practice. Northeastern guard Chaisson Allen hit the first buzzerbeater of this nascent season, nailing a half-court shot as time expired to give the Huskies a 70-67 victory over Wright State.
America loves the Portland Pilots more than we love gasoline. After shellacking UCLA and then beating Minnesota, the Pilots are the sweetheart story of the season. ESPN.com's Andy Katz sure loves them, writing "It is clear the Pilots are playing like one of the 34 best teams in the country." So does Mike Tokito at The Oregonian, going so far as to postulate about the Pilots' chances of winning the Pac-10. The Pilots ran out of magic against West Virginia, but they made their point. They'll challenge Gonzaga in the West Coast Conference and could even make the NCAA Tournament as an at-large bid.
If November were March, Clemson would be North Carolina. The Tigers
beat Winthrop to push their November win streak to 30 before losing to
Texas A&M 69-60. Of course, as CBSSports.com's Gary Parrish notes, "Clemson hasn't played a ranked opponent in this streak."
Ironically, three days after the A&M loss, the Tigers beat their
first ranked opponent in November, dropping Butler 70-69. Of course, by
then, the win streak was no longer, but I imagine that Oliver Purnell
would trade a meaningless win streak for a quality victory over a ranked opponenent any day. I'm going to go ahead and put a sports writer on the Honor Roll for the first time ever. John Goodman over at FoxSports.com receives the honor for a bit he included in his homage to Thanksgiving which is sure to make my North Carolina cabal in my family furious. Goodman writes, "(I'm thankful) I don't live in Chapel Hill: After saying that North Carolina isn't a Final Four-caliber squad this season due to various weaknesses, I can only imagine what it would be like to live down there this year with all the unrealistic Tar Heels homers who are unable to see that Larry Drew II isn't Ty Lawson or Raymond Felton, that the Tar Heels don't have enough perimeter shooting and they lack a guy who can get his own with the game on the line." Oh Goodman, now you did it. Trust me, you don't want to piss off Aunt Nancy.
Detention
The most disappointing teams so far this season have to be Oklahoma and UCLA. With the talented Willie Warren returning, the Sooners were supposed to compete with Kansas and Texas for the Big 12 crown, but they lost three games in a row in the Great Alaska Shootout before overcoming a half-time deficit to beat Nicolls State 81-60 in the fifth-place game. In one week, the Sooners fell to Virginia Commonwealth, San Diego and Houston - not exactly powerhouse programs - and now Warren has been benched for reasons yet to be determined.
But UCLA's performance so far has been much more disturbing. The Bruins lost all three games they played in the 76 Classic to finish in eighth in tournament. The program with the most NCAA championships has now lost to Cal State, Portland, Butler and Long Beach State. Very humbling indeed for coach Ben Howland. Thad Matta refused to go to his bench in Ohio State's two games of the NIT Season Tip-Off and now a member of that bench is abandoning ship. Guard Walter Offutt has decided to transfer from Matta's program. This is becoming a pattern in Columbus. As Doug Lesmerises of The Cleveland Plain Dealer notes, "This is the third straight season the Buckeyes have had a player transfer." Not that losing Offutt will be a major blow to the Buckeye's this season. The sophomore guard only scored 29 points at OSU and, most recently, had been slowed by a knee injury. But now Matta only has two playable guards on his bench and, more importantly, he can't hold onto his role players.
In the heyday of George Washington basketball Yinka Dare patrolled the paint, leading the Colonials to a spot in the Sweet 16 in 1993. Then, in the 2005-2006 season, GW went undefeated in A-10 play and climbed all the way to number six in the nation. But the good days are over in Foggy Bottom. Not even the Commander and Chief could inspire the Colonials to pull out a win against Oregon State. The Colonials bowed to the Beavers 64-57 in front of the Obama family, who were on hand to support Oregon State coach Craig Robinson, Michelle's brother. In fact, Michelle spent a fair amount of time during the game checking out the GW dance team, named the First Ladies dance team. It's never good for a program when more people are paying attention to the dance team, than the basketball team.
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