I�m really upset with a certain former point guard from Oklahoma State.
His name is Doug Gottlieb, and he�s my favorite analyst on ESPN. Sure, he comes across as condescending sometimes on the air. He couldn�t make a free throw to save his life, he was kicked out of Notre Dame for stealing his roommate�s credit cards and he once wore his shorts backwards. Still, I�m willing to overlook that because he�s opinionated, passionate and most importantly, educated and knowledgeable about college basketball. Gottlieb is a refreshing exception to television analysts, but I�ve never been madder at him. Why? Well, I supposed you�ll need to read on for the answer to that question.
At the time, that wise man � which is me, by the way, in case you didn�t quite figure that out yet - seemed insane. After all, the Cavaliers won 10 games last year and fired their coach, so my proclamation that UVA and first-year coach Tony Bennett would become a surprise team didn�t seem so logical. On that fateful night of November 16th, 2009, Virginia lost to South Florida by 17 points, despite my confident prediction of a UVA six-point victory. Later that month, Bennett�s crew lost to bottom-feeders Stanford and Penn State, and in December it dropped a game to Auburn.
Things were looking bleak for Virginia. Even more importantly, my reputation was in shambles. People were starting to talk.
But I�m on top of the world now, thanks to a seven-game winning streak by UVA that has included three top-25 victims. In fact, Virginia now sits atop the ACC with a 3-0 record after knocking off Georgia Tech and Miami at home last week. We knew the Cavaliers would be able to score with Sylven Landesberg and the crew, but who knew they�d buy into Bennett�s defense-first philosophy so quickly? Nobody could have seen it coming. Except for me, of course.
If it seems like I�m rubbing it in your face, I am. I�m not right about things very often. Just last week, my prediction record was 6-8. So I needed to boost my ego a little bit. And it�s not like I didn�t warn you. In my last column, I stated that �when UVA beats Georgia Tech on Wednesday, I�m never going to let you hear the end of it in next week�s column.� I simply made good on a promise.
In the last eight days, Purdue has slipped from top-five in the polls to desperation mode. It started with a loss at Wisconsin Jan. 9th. No biggie. Nobody wins at the Kohl Center. But after collapsing against Evan Turner and Ohio State at home last Tuesday and losing at Northwestern on Saturday, the Boilermakers have now lost three straight games for the first time since 2006. Purdue now visits the Big Ten�s second-place team, Illinois, on Tuesday. A four-game losing streak early in the league schedule would be disastrous for the Boilermakers, who still play Michigan State twice and travel to Ohio State and Minnesota in February. A Big Ten title is out of the question at this point. Who thought I�d be writing that in January? The loss of Lewis Jackson hurts because he�s the only true point guard on the team, but he hasn�t played all season. Purdue�s losing streak can be partly attributed to JaJuan Johnson�s lackluster play. He hasn�t scored in double-figures once during the past three games, and against Northwestern he played 18 minutes due to foul trouble. The Boilermakers have little depth in the frontcourt after Johnson, so they cannot afford for him to struggle. Where�s Nemanja Calasan when you need him?
Thought 3: How good is BYU?
Brigham Young has won 13 straight games and sits at 18-1 on the season, with a lone loss at Utah State. Star Jimmer Fredette is over his mono and the Cougars beat Colorado State by 44 points on Saturday. The Mountain West is a challenging conference�probably better than the Pac-10�so it won�t be easy for BYU to roll through conference play. But I still don�t expect this team to lose more than two games the rest of the way.
BYU will present the NCAA Tournament committee with an interesting dilemma if it keeps winning, however (in terms of seeding: there�s no way it misses the tournament altogether barring a major collapse). The Cougars played a soft non-conference schedule thanks to down years from Arizona, Arizona State, Nevada and Nebraska. UNLV is probably the only opponent to date that has a chance at an at-large bid, and even the Runnin� Rebels don�t look like a lock anymore after losing at home to Utah on Saturday. I watched a bit of BYU�s trouncing of Arizona, but other than that, I haven�t seen much of this team. BYU isn�t exactly coveted by ESPN. That�s why the Cougars, to me, are one of the biggest question marks in America right now. I�ll find out a little more about this team as it continues in the tough Mountain West, and games at New Mexico and UNLV should help me gauge this team. Still, BYU will enter the NCAA Tournament this year having played zero elite teams. We all wanted to know how good this team would be without Lee Cummard, but that question probably won�t be answered until March.
UPDATE: This column will now appear twice each week: once on Monday, and once on Friday. That way, I can write a Weekly Preview and a Weekend Preview, and you can enjoy my fabulous writing twice a week. Everybody wins!
Want to know why I hate Doug Gottlieb right now? It�s because he totally stole my thunder on Saturday night by predicting a Kansas State victory over top-ranked Texas tonight. I�ve been waiting to call this upset for weeks now, and that jerk just had to beat me to it.
I�m going to take it even further than Gottlieb, though. Kansas State isn�t just going to beat Texas. The Wildcats are going to annihilate Texas. There isn�t a tougher environment in the Big 12 than Bramlage Coliseum. The KSU student section is as fierce as I�ve ever seen as a college basketball fan. The place is dark, gloomy and unbelievably loud. Remember when Michael Beasley and Bill Walker welcomed Kansas to Bramlage in 2008 and finally broke a 24-year home losing streak to the Jayhawks? KU won the National Championship that year, but the Wildcats controlled that game for 40 minutes. Tonight, expect an atmosphere similar to that KU game two years ago. Kansas State is physical enough at forward to match-up with the Longhorns� deep frontcourt, and I think the Wildcats� guards are better than UT�s. 
The first part of the Big Monday double-header features a Notre Dame team whose last three games have been decided by two points or fewer. Tonight�s contest with Syracuse will probably go right down to the wire as well. The Irish only have one quality win right now, which came against West Virginia at home last weekend.
Tennessee fooled me last week. After the personal love-fest I had for myself earlier in this column due to Virginia�s emergence, I feel I should admit my mistake with the Vols. I thought the suspensions and euphoric win over Kansas would result in a letdown against Auburn and Mississippi. Instead, Bruce Pearl�s team once again fought adversity to gain two critical home wins. Now, with Melvin Goins and Cameron Tatum reinstated, Tennessee hits the road this week. Alabama led for most of the way at home against Vanderbilt last week but ended up losing by one point. Anthony Grant is showing signs of a turnaround at �Bama, but I expect another competitive loss tomorrow night.
It�s remarkable what Northwestern has done without Kevin Coble this season. The improvement of point guard Michael Thompson has done wonders for this team, which has renewed hope for an NCAA Tournament bid after upsetting Purdue on Saturday. I still don�t expect Northwestern to win tomorrow night at Ohio State, who looks like the second-best team in the Big Ten after Michigan State with Evan Turner back in the lineup.
Clemson and Georgia Tech�incidentally the last two teams to beat North Carolina�both experienced similar letdowns on Saturday. They both blew huge leads to North Carolina State and North Carolina respectively, before escaping with close road wins. Georgia Tech�s young guards will need to take care of the ball against a relentless Clemson defense.
I�m looking forward to this game because I�m eager to find out if Oklahoma�s recent surge is for real. The Sooners struggled in non-conference play, dropping games to San Diego, Houston, VCU and UTEP, but they�ve now won two straight games over quality teams in Oklahoma State and Missouri. Jeff Capel has plenty of young talent to work with, and though it�s an uphill battle, an NCAA Tournament berth isn�t out of reach just yet.
As I mentioned in the Opening Thoughts, tomorrow night�s game has reached must-win territory for Purdue. The Boilermakers don�t have any excuses anymore. Robbie Hummel has been banged up a bit this year, but he�s healthy for the most part after missing significant time last season. This team starts all juniors and seniors. A four-game losing streak should not happen, even in a difficult conference such as the Big Ten. Illinois, which lost at Michigan State on Saturday, is in second-place at 4-1 after beating up on the bottom of the league.
Wichita State played poorly on Saturday at Creighton, losing by a point after inexplicably failing to foul the Bluejays with less than 10 seconds remaining in the game. Still, though the Shockers hardly played to their capabilities in a tough Qwest Center environment, I came away impressed by Gregg Marshall�s tenacity. Creighton isn�t an easy place to play, and I was surprised that Wichita State overcame a disappointing second half performance to take the Bluejays to the wire. Now, the Shockers return home to a place they almost never lose to host Northern Iowa, the first-place team in the Valley with an undefeated league record. The Panthers are a senior-laden squad who might not lose a game in the MVC if they slip by Wichita State tomorrow night. I�m not going to bet against the Shockers at Koch Arena, however.
There�s no reason why Xavier should have won against rival Dayton on Saturday. The Flyers haven�t won at Xavier since 1981, but they outrebounded the Musketeers by 19 and contained Jordan Crawford, who picked up three fouls in the first half. Xavier showed why it�s the class of the Atlantic Ten, however, and found a way to win an extremely physical basketball game that contained 45 personal fouls. Temple has the better team on paper, but I�m still taking the Musketeers on the road. Much like Pittsburgh and Wisconsin, Xavier has shredded the �rebuilding� label this season to prove its consistency as a league power.
This game has early Big East title implications. Undefeated Pittsburgh looks like the league favorite right now, having already won at Syracuse. The Panthers also face Villanova at home this year, which helps their chances. Georgetown is 1-2 on the road in Big East play�with the sole win coming at DePaul�and it doesn�t get much tougher than playing at The Pete.
Michigan�s start to the 2009-10 season was disappointing to say the least. The Wolverines haven�t shot or defended well, but they stifled Connecticut yesterday at home to pick up a key non-conference victory. Michigan held UConn to 1-11 from three-point land and pulled away late after leading comfortably for much of the game. If Michigan wins at Wisconsin on Wednesday, I�ll be convinced that its early-season swoon is over.
You probably missed this game when glossing over this week�s schedule, but it�s an interesting in-state rivalry game. Led by former Florida assistant Donnie Jones, Marshall is off to a 15-2 start and has won its first four Conference USA games. The Thundering Herd�s two losses came to good teams: Old Dominion and North Carolina. Of course, Marshall hasn�t beaten a single quality team this season and lost to UNC by 31 points. So I�m not saying Wednesday night�s match-up will be close with West Virginia. I�m just saying it�s interesting.
