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I know it’s not even February, but it’s difficult to
imagine a scenario in which Texas, Kansas and Kentucky don’t
earn No. 1 seeds come March.
However, the final No. 1 seed is
wide open, with seven teams fighting for it.
It’ll almost certainly go to either the Big East, Big
Ten champion or Duke since the Pac-10 will be fortunate just to get
multiple bids into the Big Dance at this rate.
The Big East has several possibilities. Villanova and
Syracuse have moved into the upper echelon, while Pittsburgh and
West Virginia are still in the mix.
Purdue will have to turn things around quickly, while
Michigan State still has a legitimate shot, even if the Spartans
lack any impressive road wins to this point.
Duke also has an outside shot, but the Blue Devils would have
to dominate what is a somewhat mediocre ACC.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Jamie Dixon continues to work
his magic with this Pittsburgh squad. The Panthers got a third
consecutive road victory to begin the week, this time against
UConn, and then came back to avoid a home loss against Louisville.
Pittsburgh is 15-2 overall and 5-0 in Big East play despite having
three of their first four games on the road. Dixon is the clubhouse
leader at this point in time for National Coach of the Year and the
Panthers have been the biggest surprise in the country thus far.
STUD (PLAYER OF WEEK): None other than
Villanova’s senior guard Scottie Reynolds. I watched him
explode for 30 points in the second half to start the week Monday
in a come-from-behind win at Louisville and then he finished it
with 27 points in a home victory against Georgetown. Reynolds has
been Jay Wright’s best player on a team that is 16-1 overall
and a perfect 5-0 in Big East play.
BEST PERFORMANCE: One night after watching
Reynolds, I had a chance to see Ohio State junior Evan Turner -- a
little more than a month removed from a nasty fall in which he
fractured two bones in his back -- go for a career-high 32 points
and also grab nine rebounds in a huge road win in West Lafayette
against Purdue. Turner was sensational -- especially down the
stretch when he took over in the final four minutes.
DUD: We’re going to share it three ways
between Purdue, North Carolina and UConn. The trio each lost twice
this past week -- Purdue blew a lead at home to Ohio State and then
lost at Northwestern, North Carolina was blown out at Clemson and
then dropped one at home to Georgia Tech. UConn lost at home to
Pittsburgh and then came up short in Ann Arbor against Michigan.
WEEK TO FORGET: Oregon -- The Ducks had finally
gotten healthy and were looking as though they could contend for
Pac-10 supremacy (which isn’t exactly saying much), but then
Ernie Kent’s team goes out and is swept in Eugene by Arizona
State and Arizona. It wasn’t long ago that Oregon was 10-4
and swept the Washington schools on the road to start Pac-10 play
with two quality wins; now the Ducks are 10-7, have lost three
straight and are under the .500 mark in league play.
MID-MAJOR TEAM OF THE WEEK: Dana Altman’s
Creighton Bluejays. Not only did Creighton knock off Southern
Illinois and Wichita State to get to .500 overall and 4-3 in
Missouri Valley play, but they also got one of the top transfers on
the board -- Rutgers big man Gregory Echenique, who averaged 12.6
points and 7.7 rebounds per game in the Big East this season.
WORST LOSS: We’ll hand it to Florida State
after the Seminoles dropped one in Tallahassee to N.C. State. At
one point, Florida State was a legitimate Top 25 team, but not any
longer. Leonard Hamilton’s team watched Scott Wood go off for
31 points and seven 3-pointers and also saw his team -- one of the
tallest in the country -- get outrebounded 32-25.
SHOT OF THE WEEK: Xavier guard Jordan Crawford
made a clutch off-balance 18-footer in London Warren’s face
with 13.5 seconds left to give the Musketeers a win against Dayton,
the 25th consecutive in Cincinnati over the Flyers.
WELCOME BACK: Georgia Tech’s Iman Shumpert.
The Yellow Jackets sophomore point guard has been injured and a
non-factor all year long until he broke out for 30 points at the
Dean Dome in a road victory over North Carolina.
WELCOME: To Duke freshman Mason Plumlee, who
missed the first six games of the season with a wrist injury. The
skilled frosh is averaging 8.3 points and 6 rebounds over his last
three games. He and his older brother, Miles, combined for 30
points and 21 rebounds in a win over Duke on Sunday night.
WEEK’S TOP MATCHUPS:
1. Texas at Kansas State, Monday at 9 p.m. ET: My
guess is we’ll have just one unbeaten team left on the board
by midnight on Monday night. The top-ranked Longhorns will have
their most difficult task of the season when they travel to
Manhattan.
2. Texas at UConn, Saturday at 4 p.m.: Brutal week
for Rick Barnes & Co., having to travel to K-State and then
across the country to play UConn. This game is huge for the
Huskies, who are desperately searching for a résumé win.
3. Duke at Clemson, Saturday at 9 p.m.: North
Carolina got drilled at Clemson. Let’s see how the Blue
Devils do at Littlejohn.
4. Ohio State at West Virginia, Saturday at 2
p.m.: The Buckeyes are a completely different team with
Evan Turner. Can they get a huge road win in Morgantown?
5. Purdue at Illinois, Tuesday at 9 p.m.:
We’ll see if the Boilermakers can stop the bleeding against
an Illini team that needs this one.
6. Xavier at Temple, Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET: Xavier
got a huge home victory against Dayton this past weekend. Can the
Musketeers go on the road and beat a Top 25 Temple squad?
