UC knocks off Oklahoma (9-2) at US Bank Arena. Bearcats undefeated since the Brawl. Pitt up next, Gates, Mbodj and Ellis still on suspension.

Little Danny;1030920 wrote:UC knocks off Oklahoma (9-2) at US Bank Arena. Bearcats undefeated since the Brawl. Pitt up next, Gates, Mbodj and Ellis still on suspension.

Pitt is playing pretty bad right now.

Not sure why I noticed this at all, but it somehow caught my attention looking at Butler's box scores over the last few weeks. Outside of their 1st three games, Butler has been a much better 2nd half team than 1st, and it isn't even close.

Pretty much useless information that nobody will care about, but if you're a gambler you might want to start taking Butler if you're offered a spread on the 2nd half.

Starting with game 4, Butler 1st half/2nd half splits (differential)

-3/+18 (+21)
-15/+17 (+32)
-3/-13 (-10)
-7/+7 (+14)
-16/+4 (+20)
-8/+5 (+13)
-11/+13 (+24)
-10/-6 (+4)
-5/+10 (+15)
-4/+8 (+12)

Total: -82/+63

Cincinnati beat Pitt last night, 66-63.

Gates and Mbodj back... not sure how they will fit in with the 'Cats have been doing since they have been gone.

UConn and Harvard both went down and it looks like MSU will beat Wisky. UK struggle mightily today with Arkansas-Little Rock, losing at the half before winning by 22. Darius Miller also became the 58th player to score 1,000 points for the Cats.

Dickie Vs midseason awards:

http://espn.go.com/espn/dickvitale/story/_/id/7423376/dick-vitale-picks-top-midseason-awards-candidates

POY:
1. Thomas Robinson
3. Jared Sullinger
5. Anthony Davis

FOY:
1. Anthony Davis
2. Michael Kidd-Gilchrest
3. Tyler Zeller

COY:
2. Tom Crean

Xavier has sucked hardcore since the fight, and Cincy keeps winning. Very odd.

chicago510;1039136 wrote:Xavier has sucked hardcore since the fight, and Cincy keeps winning. Very odd.

I blame it on the reactions to the fight. The UC fans didn't give a shit. Whereas, many people in the Xavier community condemned the players and thought it was the most disgusting thing ever. People were actually calling for Holloway to be thrown out of school for his comments in the presser after the fight. It was absolutely ridiculous. But I really believe that those reactions have completely taken the swagger out of this team.

They went from a team that had a legit shot at making a really deep run in the tourney, to a team hoping they even get into the tourney.

UC downs Notre Dame tonight 71-55. It was Gates first game back, he scored six. This brawl has re-energized this club and they are playing like a different ball club right now. St. John's up next.

John Thompson would get my COY vote as of now. Georgetown won again tonight, coming from 14 down at half to beat Marquette.

Mulva;1039235 wrote:John Thompson would get my COY vote as of now. Georgetown won again tonight, coming from 14 down at half to beat Marquette.

Tom Crean?

I'd probably go

1.Haith(Mizzou)
2/3 Crean/Thompson

Haith is a solid choice as well. Maybe I am biased more than I realize.

But a team starting 25th in the country being 14-0 with wins over Illinois? Cal? Nova? isnt as impressive as...

...a team picked to finish as low as 9th in the B1G and at the very best like 6th..maybe???...being 14-1 with wins over UK and OSU imo.

Again, maybe I am more biased than I realize, but I dont see how as a midseason pick this is a contest. End of the year sure, cause I love Mizzou and IU will not win the Big 10. But right now? Why would it be Haith or Thompson over Crean?

Laley23;1039418 wrote:Tom Crean?

Numero dos for me.

Indiana is much better than expected, but they were obviously going to be much improved with Zeller and I thought they could win around 20 and reach the NCAA. I thought Georgetown was going to be way down without Freeman and Wright.

Can't go wrong either way. Louisville/Marquette/Alabama/Memphis x 2 and OSU/Kentucky/NC State are both impressive collections of wins.

And Georgetown was picked something like 10th in the BE. I think most people had IU around 6th-7th in the B1G.

Mulva;1039448 wrote:I think most people had IU around 6th-7th in the B1G.

I didnt see any higher than 8th. AP had them 9th and I think coaches did as well. Some individual journalists had them higher, but I dont remember any higher than 8th. Could be wrong though.

GTown does have a tremendous resume for what we thought they would be. But projecting forward now what do you see them at? Its too late for me to look at schedule, but I have Indianas memorized lol. Im thinking 25-6 regular season finish. That is going undefeated at home, and losing to Purdue, OSU, Wisky, Michigan and Minny on the road. Win a few of the road games and possibly finish better. Lose to Purdue/MSU/Mich at home and a little worse. Do both, and finish on my projection. JT3 is gonna really have to keep up a heck of a run in the BE to get to that level lmo.

I could see Georgetown at something like 23-6 (13-5), but who knows. For my money Louisville and Marquette are 2 of the top 5 teams in the Big East, and they already beat both of them (Louisville on the road).

1) Thompson
2) Crean (close)
3) Haith

G'town was picked 10-12 in the Big East, and they have one of the better resume's in the country. Very impressive.

Obviously IU has some great wins, but they have played what? 3 games away from home...and lost one of them. Like I said, it's close..but G'town's wins @ Louisville and @ Alabama = COY so far

Oh and I told yalls Thomas Robinson was gonna be a beast w/out the Morrii.

Also, KU's OOC schedule turned out to be incredibly hard lol
#2 UK, #5 Duke, #6 OSU, #9 Georgetown
No road games though..3 of the 4 neutral sites

Laley23;1039447 wrote:Haith is a solid choice as well. Maybe I am biased more than I realize.

But a team starting 25th in the country being 14-0 with wins over Illinois? Cal? Nova? isnt as impressive as...

...a team picked to finish as low as 9th in the B1G and at the very best like 6th..maybe???...being 14-1 with wins over UK and OSU imo.

Again, maybe I am more biased than I realize, but I dont see how as a midseason pick this is a contest. End of the year sure, cause I love Mizzou and IU will not win the Big 10. But right now? Why would it be Haith or Thompson over Crean?

Haith has 7 scholarship players available now and his 8th man just transferred, his best(or maybe 2nd best) player is out for the year. You knew this was coming with Crean, it was just a matter of time of when. If Watford doesn't hit that buzzer beater, does that make Crean any less of a coach(and out of consideration for COY at this point)?

sportswizuhrd;1039749 wrote:Haith has 7 scholarship players available now and his 8th man just transferred, his best(or maybe 2nd best) player is out for the year. You knew this was coming with Crean, it was just a matter of time of when. If Watford doesn't hit that buzzer beater, does that make Crean any less of a coach(and out of consideration for COY at this point)?

No, but you guys are fooling yourselves if you saw this coming this season with IU. People were saying Crean should be on the hot seat before the year, etc etc. 20 wins was about the ceiling for them, and people were hoping to be fighting for a middle of the spot B1G finish with aspirations of the NIT. JT3 and Haith are both solid choices, but neither have the 2 wins IU has...the two best in the country so far. Crean added 1 player to a team who went 12-20. Nobody thought Zeller would be a top 3 freshman. He was ranked closer to 20 than he was to 5.

Everyone pointed to next year as the turnaround, as it happens, next year will simply be even better.

I think we can agree that the expectations of JT3 and Crean were both very low (I cant add Haith...I had him in my Final Four and they were ranked to start the year) but I like these wins:

-UK, OSU, @NCST more than these wins:

-Memphis (2), @Alabama, @Marquette, @Louisville

I like them more, because OSU and UK havent dropped off the face of the earth like Bama and Memphis did (and Marquette might not be ranked next week). LVille is still a solid win as well, and in time Marquette will be back up there. Then the loss, @MSU is probably a little better than in Maui vs Kansas.

btw, here are some more picks from the CBS guys on the midseason awards.

http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/34202786

Laley23;1039447 wrote:Haith is a solid choice as well. Maybe I am biased more than I realize.<br>
<br>
But a team starting 25th in the country being 14-0 with wins over Illinois? Cal? Nova? isnt as impressive as...<br>
<br>
...a team picked to finish as low as 9th in the B1G and at the very best like 6th..maybe???...being 14-1 with wins over UK and OSU imo. <br>
<br>
Again, maybe I am more biased than I realize, but I dont see how as a midseason pick this is a contest. End of the year sure, cause I love Mizzou and IU will not win the Big 10. But right now? Why would it be Haith or Thompson over Crean?

<br><br>Haith has 7 scholarship players available now and his 8th man just transferred, his best(or maybe 2nd best) player is out for the year. You knew this was coming with Crean, it was just a matter of time of when. If Watford doesn't hit that buzzer beater, does that make Crean any less of a coach(and out of consideration for COY at this point)?

Laley23;1039774 wrote:No, but you guys are fooling yourselves if you saw this coming this season with IU. People were saying Crean should be on the hot seat before the year, etc etc. 20 wins was about the ceiling for them, and people were hoping to be fighting for a middle of the spot B1G finish with aspirations of the NIT. JT3 and Haith are both solid choices, but neither have the 2 wins IU has...the two best in the country so far. Crean added 1 player to a team who went 12-20. Nobody thought Zeller would be a top 3 freshman. He was ranked closer to 20 than he was to 5.

Everyone pointed to next year as the turnaround, as it happens, next year will simply be even better.

I think we can agree that the expectations of JT3 and Crean were both very low (I cant add Haith...I had him in my Final Four and they were ranked to start the year) but I like these wins:

-UK, OSU, @NCST more than these wins:

-Memphis (2), @Alabama, @Marquette, @Louisville

I like them more, because OSU and UK havent dropped off the face of the earth like Bama and Memphis did (and Marquette might not be ranked next week). LVille is still a solid win as well, and in time Marquette will be back up there. Then the loss, @MSU is probably a little better than in Maui vs Kansas.

You really had Mizzou in your Final Four? Wow.

Laley23;1039776 wrote:btw, here are some more picks from the CBS guys on the midseason awards.

http://eye-on-college-basketball.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/26283066/34202786

Two votes for Crean and a vote for Indiana for overrated! 2 guys say UF in the Final Four? Not happening.

sportswizuhrd;1039789 wrote:Two votes for Crean and a vote for Indiana for overrated! 2 guys say UF in the Final Four? Not happening.

Well, the vote for Indiana as overrated was saying they deserve the current ranking. Thus, as a midseason award, they really arent. But projecting forward, probably. Also, Goodman also voted Crean COY.

I really wasnt bringing that link to the table for this discussion, just to the thread in general anyway.