College Hoops: Weekend Overreactions

Sure we’re a little late on this, but for some unknown reason we wanted to include last night’s WVU/ Georgetown game in the mix.

• If you were a highly ranked team you’d have most likely gotten your backside waxed: The top 3 teams in the game lost to in conference opponents over the weekend. While Purdue’s loss to Michigan State was no shocker, the other 2 games are why college basketball > college football. Kentucky and Kansas are still in the mix for a national title despite losing in the type of dramatic games that are commonplace in hoops but rare in the modern world of BCS football. So the next time some moron tries to tell you that a playoff would diminish the regular season in football, remember this weekend and don’t buy the company line.
• John Wall has no business being the national POY: Wall is an amazing talent, but he treats the basketball like live grenade that he must get out of his hand at any cost. Wall has 11 turnovers and 10 assists in his last 2 games and averages more than 4 turnovers per contest. Wall’s probably the most dynamic and talented player in country, but he hasn’t been the best player in the game this year. That honored is reserved for Evan Turner of Ohio State.
• Steve Alford doesn’t care about no stinking reprimand: New Mexico coach Steve Alford should probably be in the running for national coach of the year considering what his Lobos are doing in the Mountain West. Plus he’s not willing to get street when stepped to by a Mormon student athlete. The conference reprimanded him for the confrontation (as we understand it the word reprimand is actually Latin for “worthless act of symbolism”), but notice that he was willing to give the kid what for when the time came.
• The A-10 played its way out of a seat at the big boy table:  Just two weeks ago Lunardi had 6 teams from the A-10 getting in to the dance, Richmond and Rhode Island were quickly becoming the toasts of college basketball, and Xavier had just upset Florida in Gainesville. Fast-forward to today and the conference will be lucky to get 3 teams into the tourney. The problem? Teams like Charlotte, Rhode Island, and Dayton didn’t handle their business against the weaker teams in conference. When you’re not in a power 6 conference and you take on all-comers out of conference to improve your RPI, you have to handle business when it comes to the LaSalles and Duquenses of the world. As many as 4 A-10 teams didn’t do that, and that’s why they’ll be dancing in the NIT this spring.