I traveled to upstate New York last weekend to visit a friend and take in the Bills-Patriots game, wasn't able to post Reverse Survivor before I left, and wasn't able to get online from my laptop while there. Please accept my humblest apologies for the absence of last week's celebration of college basketball mediocrity.
Something to be sad about this week: Colgate beat Dartmouth on Tuesday, ending the Raiders' Reverse Survivor run. Why is that bad? Because Colgate visits the University of New Hampshire next Wednesday. If you don't think I would've been in the house to see my first live Reverse Survivor performance, you're crazy. Now, though, it's gone from a game that held some interest to just another contest between two not-so-good teams. Ah, c'est la vie.
Ladies and Gentlemen, In No Particular Order, Your Remaining Reverse Survivor Contestants
1. Alcorn State (Southwestern Athletic) - 0-12
Motto: Service, Scholarship, Dignity
Last Week: Lost to UTEP, 101-41; lost to New Mexico State, 97-72
Games This Week: December 30 vs. Central Michigan
2. Bryant University (Northeast) - 0-12
Motto: The Character of Success
Last Week: Lost to Columbia, 69-57; lost to Boston College, 72-46; lost to St. John's, 80-44
Games This Week: December 28 @ Indiana
3. Marist (Metro Atlantic Athletic) - 0-8
Motto: Orare et Laborare (To Pray and To Work)
Last Week: Lost to Boston University, 88-72; lost to Binghamton, 70-52; lost to Lehigh, 66-55
Games This Week: December 28 vs. Vermont; December 30 @ Bucknell
4. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Southwestern Athletic) - 0-9
Motto: None
Last Week: Lost to Oklahoma State, 81-66; lost to #15 Georgia Tech, 65-53; lost to Missouri, 88-70; lost to Kansas State, 90-76
Games This Week: December 28 @ Oregon
5. Pennsylvania (Ivy) - 0-7
Motto: Leges sine moribus vanae (Laws without morals are useless)
Last Week: Lost to Monmouth, 80-75
Games This Week: December 28 @ Davidson; December 31 @ Duke
Dropped Out
Colgate - beat Dartmouth, 63-44, on December 22
Florida A&M - beat Georgia State, 60-58, on December 13
Florida Gulf Coast - beat Florida International, 81-64, on December 12
Jacksonville - beat Bethune-Cookman, 56-48, on December 16
Jackson State - beat Eastern Washington, 72-67, on December 23
Southern - beat New Orleans, 78-73, on December 12
Wagner - beat St. Peter's, 59-58, on December 12
UMBC - beat American, 59-57, on December 20
Game(s) of the Week
Oklahoma State 81, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 66
Oklahoma State is one of the best teams in the nation. They play in the Big 12, the best conference in all the land, a conference that boasts five teams in the Top 25, including #1 Kansas and #2 Texas. This game was played at home, in front of more than 10,000 fans, against a winless Arkansas-Pine Bluff team that hails from one of the two worst conferences in college basketball, the Southwestern Athletic. Arkansas-Pine Bluff isn't just bad this year, either: since the 2001-02 season, the team's combined record is 65-168, a .279 winning percentage.
The final score doesn't necessarily reflect it, but if the play-by-play is truly representative of the game, the Golden Lions put up a terrific fight against the Cowboys. With three minutes to play in the first half, Oklahoma State led by one; they then went on a 9-0 run, only to see the visitors claw back for a 41-35 score at halftime. Pine Bluff hung around into the second half, trailing by three with fifteen minutes to play before the Cowboys ran off an 11-0 run and finally managed to pull away.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff is in the midst of a brutal stretch to start the season. Not only does the team play its first fourteen games on the road (there seems to be no good reason for this), but check out these seven games, all in the four week stretch from November 30 to December 28: Arizona State, Michigan, Oklahoma State, #15 Georgia Tech, Missouri, #22 Kansas State, and Oregon. That's ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is that they hung with Michigan, Oklahoma State, and Georgia Tech, meaning it is not out of the realm of possibility for them to upend one of these big conference powers.
And even if they don't pull off an upset in the last game of that stretch, on Monday at Oregon, watch out, Southwestern Conference. The Golden Lions might not win another game in 2009, but if they keep their collective heads up high, they could make some serious noise in 2010.
UMBC 59, American 57
After the game was delayed a day by the evil Snowpocalypse (can someone explain to me how Buffalo, of all places, didn't see a single flake?), the Retrievers put one in the win column in dramatic fashion when Chris De La Rosa scored with two seconds left for the final margin of victory.
Performance of the Week
Earnest Jones, Southern (December 12 vs. New Orleans) - 25 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals
With apologies to Colgate's Kyle Roemer (18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals), Penn's Zack Rosen (23 points, 6 assists), and Florida Gulf Coast's Reed Baker (20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals), Jones turned in the best individual Reverse Survivor performance of the week, shooting 9-16 from the field (3-4 on threes) to lead his Jaguars over the New Orleans Privateers.
Something to be sad about this week: Colgate beat Dartmouth on Tuesday, ending the Raiders' Reverse Survivor run. Why is that bad? Because Colgate visits the University of New Hampshire next Wednesday. If you don't think I would've been in the house to see my first live Reverse Survivor performance, you're crazy. Now, though, it's gone from a game that held some interest to just another contest between two not-so-good teams. Ah, c'est la vie.
Ladies and Gentlemen, In No Particular Order, Your Remaining Reverse Survivor Contestants
1. Alcorn State (Southwestern Athletic) - 0-12
Motto: Service, Scholarship, Dignity
Last Week: Lost to UTEP, 101-41; lost to New Mexico State, 97-72
Games This Week: December 30 vs. Central Michigan
2. Bryant University (Northeast) - 0-12
Motto: The Character of Success
Last Week: Lost to Columbia, 69-57; lost to Boston College, 72-46; lost to St. John's, 80-44
Games This Week: December 28 @ Indiana
3. Marist (Metro Atlantic Athletic) - 0-8
Motto: Orare et Laborare (To Pray and To Work)
Last Week: Lost to Boston University, 88-72; lost to Binghamton, 70-52; lost to Lehigh, 66-55
Games This Week: December 28 vs. Vermont; December 30 @ Bucknell
4. Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Southwestern Athletic) - 0-9
Motto: None
Last Week: Lost to Oklahoma State, 81-66; lost to #15 Georgia Tech, 65-53; lost to Missouri, 88-70; lost to Kansas State, 90-76
Games This Week: December 28 @ Oregon
5. Pennsylvania (Ivy) - 0-7
Motto: Leges sine moribus vanae (Laws without morals are useless)
Last Week: Lost to Monmouth, 80-75
Games This Week: December 28 @ Davidson; December 31 @ Duke
Dropped Out
Colgate - beat Dartmouth, 63-44, on December 22
Florida A&M - beat Georgia State, 60-58, on December 13
Florida Gulf Coast - beat Florida International, 81-64, on December 12
Jacksonville - beat Bethune-Cookman, 56-48, on December 16
Jackson State - beat Eastern Washington, 72-67, on December 23
Southern - beat New Orleans, 78-73, on December 12
Wagner - beat St. Peter's, 59-58, on December 12
UMBC - beat American, 59-57, on December 20
Game(s) of the Week
Oklahoma State 81, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 66
Oklahoma State is one of the best teams in the nation. They play in the Big 12, the best conference in all the land, a conference that boasts five teams in the Top 25, including #1 Kansas and #2 Texas. This game was played at home, in front of more than 10,000 fans, against a winless Arkansas-Pine Bluff team that hails from one of the two worst conferences in college basketball, the Southwestern Athletic. Arkansas-Pine Bluff isn't just bad this year, either: since the 2001-02 season, the team's combined record is 65-168, a .279 winning percentage.
The final score doesn't necessarily reflect it, but if the play-by-play is truly representative of the game, the Golden Lions put up a terrific fight against the Cowboys. With three minutes to play in the first half, Oklahoma State led by one; they then went on a 9-0 run, only to see the visitors claw back for a 41-35 score at halftime. Pine Bluff hung around into the second half, trailing by three with fifteen minutes to play before the Cowboys ran off an 11-0 run and finally managed to pull away.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff is in the midst of a brutal stretch to start the season. Not only does the team play its first fourteen games on the road (there seems to be no good reason for this), but check out these seven games, all in the four week stretch from November 30 to December 28: Arizona State, Michigan, Oklahoma State, #15 Georgia Tech, Missouri, #22 Kansas State, and Oregon. That's ridiculous. Even more ridiculous is that they hung with Michigan, Oklahoma State, and Georgia Tech, meaning it is not out of the realm of possibility for them to upend one of these big conference powers.
And even if they don't pull off an upset in the last game of that stretch, on Monday at Oregon, watch out, Southwestern Conference. The Golden Lions might not win another game in 2009, but if they keep their collective heads up high, they could make some serious noise in 2010.
UMBC 59, American 57
After the game was delayed a day by the evil Snowpocalypse (can someone explain to me how Buffalo, of all places, didn't see a single flake?), the Retrievers put one in the win column in dramatic fashion when Chris De La Rosa scored with two seconds left for the final margin of victory.
Performance of the Week
Earnest Jones, Southern (December 12 vs. New Orleans) - 25 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals
With apologies to Colgate's Kyle Roemer (18 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals), Penn's Zack Rosen (23 points, 6 assists), and Florida Gulf Coast's Reed Baker (20 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals), Jones turned in the best individual Reverse Survivor performance of the week, shooting 9-16 from the field (3-4 on threes) to lead his Jaguars over the New Orleans Privateers.
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