Buckeye Blogger Network
We Blew It!
The revolving door that is known as the Top 25 continued to revolve this week. 4 of the 5 Top 5 teams all loss, including Kansas who has now lost three in a row. In addition to the top 5 teams laying an egg, 14 of the 25 teams lost at least one game this week, with 5 of them not even picking up a single win. All was not bad though in the Top 25 world. There were several great games and several overtime games, including a stunning 5 overtime in the Big East. The Miami Hurricanes continued to come on like gang-busters and very well could be in the Top 5 when all is said is done with the polls this week. This week doesn’t look like it will let us down as there are quite a few Top 25 matchups and tough games against un-ranked opponents. Only time will tell how this week will end up but in the meantime, I am just going to sit back and enjoy one of the most exciting college basketball seasons that I can remember.
Here’s a look at the Top 25 Week Ahead and Week in Review
1. Indiana (20-3, 8-2) Previous Rank: 3
Past Week: 2/7 @ Illinois, L 72-74
Upcoming: 2/10 @ (10) Ohio State & 2/13 Nebraska & 2/16 Purdue
The Hoosiers were the latest Number One team to fall. A beautifully ran inbounds play by Illinois sunk Indiana. It doesn’t get any easier this week as they travel to Columbus to face the Buckeyes.
2. Florida (19-3, 9-1) Previous Rank: 4
Past Week: 2/5 @ Arkansas, L 69-80 & 2/9 Mississippi State, W 83-58
Upcoming: 2/12 Kentucky & 2/16 @ Auburn
Florida lost its chance to be the top ranked team with a loss to Arkansas earlier this week. A trip to Lexington to face Kentucky could spell out another loss this week. Read More
The Sugar Bowl has always been the major post-season destination of the SEC, and only once did the bowl play two teams that didn’t include the SEC from 1950-1995. That tradition continues today, and the Sugar Bowl has established themselves as the SEC vs. Big 12 match-up starting in 2015, ostensibly to rival the Rose Bowl’s B1G vs. PAC-12.
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The BBC continues its look at bowl season, this time with some appropriate theme music. I feel fine – don’t you?
Things that go "Swoosh!"
Tonight is the last LiveBlog of the season as the Kentucky Wildcats and Kansas Jayhawks do battle for the College Basketball National Championship.
As with each round, we’ve got to give a huge “Thank You!” to our BBN Bracket Challenge sponsors- the semis and finals are brought to you by The Buckeye Room. They’re having a sweet deal right now where you can get 20% off your gear by using “MADNESS2012” as the checkout code- even for the cool Nike shirt you see on the right there.
While you’re waiting for the game to start, go check out our partners in the BBN! the Buckeye Blog, OSU Silver Bullet, Buckeye House Call, Our Honor Defend, and Men of the Scarlet and Gray. Fox Sports Ohio also joins us as usual.
All of these blogs deserve a lot of thanks for making these chats a success. Thanks Guys!
Things that go "Swoosh!"
We’re continuing the Madness here with the BBN! Kentucky and Louisville get going at 6:09 PM EST, with the Buckeyes and Jayhawks tipping shortly after, currently approximately 8:49 PM EST. The liveblog will start at 6:00 PM EST to get you ready for the first of the excellent double-header.
As with each round, we’ve got to give a huge “Thank You!” to our BBN Bracket Challenge sponsors- the semis and finals are brought to you by The Buckeye Room. They’re having a sweet deal right now where you can get 20% off your gear by using “MADNESS2012” as the checkout code- even for the cool Nike shirt you see on the right there.
If you find time during the games, you should check out our friends in the Buckeye Bloggers Network! the Buckeye Blog, OSU Silver Bullet, Buckeye House Call, Our Honor Defend, and Men of the Scarlet and Gray. Fox Sports Ohio also joins us as usual.
Go Bucks!
Just three more games before someone gets to hoist the prize.
We’re one day away from finding out the answer to that question. The last weekend of College Basketball stands before us, and the Buckeyes are one of the last four teams remaining. They’ve got a tough road ahead, but they’ve certainly got the talent and coaching to make a go of it.
You may recall another Buckeye Basketball Breakdown I wrote about a month ago. In it, I looked at the various traits of College Basketball champions and looked at OSU’s stats to see how the Buckeyes measured up. The answer was mostly satisfactory, but not completely. Also, considering we hadn’t finished the regular season, the data was incomplete.
I want to go back and reanalyze the Buckeyes now that we’re two (very difficult) games away from the Championship. Have the Buckeyes improved statistically, or met any other conditions we couldn’t check yet, to make them look more like a championship contender? That’s what we want to find out.
Allow me to reiterate a thought I had in that previous article. No one champion has ever possessed all of the following traits, but every single champion has owned a majority of them. These are simply traits common to the champions in the last 30 years or so.
As one last gift, I thought that we could include the data for Kentucky, Louisville, and Kansas as well. It should serve as an overall great preview of the weekend!
Jared Sullinger's double-double lead the day.
Like many of their earlier games this season, the Buckeyes started out slow on the offensive side of the ball. Part of that was due to the mediocre opening play from Deshaun Thomas, a suprise considering his recent success as a starter averaging 20 points per game over his last 5. With Thomas struggling, the rest of the team stepped up their work and spread out the early scoring. Unfortunately, the points were hard to find as the Bucks continued to shoot the rock poorly.
On advantage favoring the Buckeyes, however, was that the poor shooting was a mutual problem. The Cardinals had difficulty finding open looks against the tough Buckeye defense, which even managed to force a shot-clock violation early on. The few open looks Lamar did find simply would not go down. The Cards were able to take advantage of some lazy “screen-door” defense on a nice dunk, but otherwise had trouble getting the ball down low to the bucket.
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