The Fadeaway: What you’ve missed the last 3 days in college hoops

Everyone here at Gossip Sports has a full-time job, so posting daily is harder than one might think.  Nonetheless, we will try and do daily updates on college hoops games from the prior day. 

Monday

Win of the Night: Don’t let the 18-point margin fool you. While Kansas dispatched Baylor 92-74 at home, and much more comfortably than most predicted, Baylor is still a very talented, but young, team. Still, this was the first time this season that Kansas looked like a threat to win the national championship. If Thomas Robinson and company can play like that, then Kansas joins the ranks of Syracuse, Kentucky, Ohio State (and maybe North Carolina) as title contenders.

Loss of the Night: Texas Southern had been perfect in conference play in the SWAC, but dropped their conference game 54-51 at Jackson State.

Eye on First Round Upset Teams: Belmont was dangerous last year, and they are dangerous this year. With their 95-53 mauling of Florida Gulf Coast, Belmont improved to 6-1 in Atlantic Sun play.

What Else You Should Know: BYU, after winning at San Diego 82-63, is now 5-1 in the WCC. Will BYU have enough to get an at-large bid? I say yes.

In Other News: Watching the Louisville-Marquette day game at work gave me a feeling of March Madness. Felt like March Madness too, as U of L gulped up another hideous loss.

Tuesday

Win of the Night: As inpatient as Michigan was with football coach Rich Rodriguez, the patience shown to the other former West Virginia coach, John Beilein is starting to pay off. Their 60-59 nail-biter win over in-state rival Michigan State put the Wolverines in contention to win the conference at 5-2. (Long, long way to go still, though.) And this is without Michigan’s best player from last season, Manny Harris, who foolishly declared for the draft (and went undrafted). Beilein’s system works, and with that tricky 1-3-1 zone, Michigan will have the defense to keep them in most games to give them a chance.

Loss of the Night: Hard to knock a team for losing on the road in conference, but Iowa failed to capitalize on its momentum from the weekend in losing at Purdue 75-68. Like in most conferences, the teams that can break through a win on the road are going to get a leg up in conference rankings (and potentially NCAA seedings).

Eye on First Round Upset Teams:  UNC-Asheville took command of the Big South Conference with an 88-81 win over Coastal Carolina. At 8-0 in conference play, the Bulldogs now have a two-game lead in the conference which they very well may not relinquish. UNC-Asheville ranks an impressive 15^th in the country in field goal percentage (49.0%). Why? Because they also rank 15^th nationally in assists per game (16.7). Good passing leads to good shots.

What Else You Should Know: Florida State rebounded from their upset win over North Carolina by taking care of business at home against Maryland, 84-70. The Seminoles are now 3-1 in ACC play.

In Other News: The hits keep coming for Louisville. Forward Rakeem Buckles is out for the year with an ACL injury (and next season, too). For a team that was anxious to thrive on its depth, these injuries are killing Louisville’s chances to right its ship.

California lost forward Richard Solomon for the year due to academics. He only averaged 6.0 points a game, but the Bears had a chance to compete for a Pac-12 title. Losing key contributors is a major blow.

And things have gotten worse at Utah, who is suffering through a horrendous season. Point guard and leading scorer Josh Watkins was kicked off the team for undisclosed reasons. You must have done something pretty bad to get kicked off a team that is 4-12.

Wednesday

Win of the Night: Yes, UConn was without Ryan Boatright, who is a key cog in making the Huskies run, but for Cincinnati to win at UConn 70-67 is very impressive. Book Mick Cronin down for Big East Coach of the Year. It’s possible the Bearcats could finish second in the Big East, yet currently they are unranked. That needs to change, starting next week.

Loss of the Night: There are a few options here, like Mississippi State losing to Ole Miss 75-68. But Indiana, come on. Nebraska? Everyone knew the Hoosiers would struggles when they went on the road, but Nebraska? If ever there was a winnable road game for Indiana, that was it.

Eye on First Round Upset Teams:  Will it be an upset if #10 Murray State, who won a tight game at Morehead State 66-60 to remain undefeated, wins their first round game? I guess it depends what seed they eventually get, which will depend on whether or not they lose a game (which I think they will). But, let’s say they do enter the tournament undefeated, wind up getting a 4 or 5 seed…can you think of a team more likely to be upset that an undefeated team over-seeded playing with all that pressure?

What Else You Should Know: #18 Creighton held on to win by one at Missouri State, moving them to 7-1 in Missouri Valley Conference. Missouri State is 4-4; they are better than that. Elsewhere, Wichita State won at Northern Iowa 71-68 to also move to 7-1 in conference play. I looked it up for you: Creighton plays at Wichita State on Feb. 11 in a game on ESPN2. Don’t miss it.

Still think the log-jam at the top of the Colonial Athletic Conference is the best conference race in the country. George Mason, Old Dominion, Georgia State, Drexel and Northeastern are all one game within each other for the lead. My money is on Old Dominion.

For all their troubles after the brawl against Cincinnati, Xavier, after a home win against St. Joseph’s, is 4-1 in Atlantic 10 play.

Central Florida knocked off Memphis 68-67 for their first ever win against the Tigers. UCF now leads C-USA. Would be awfully tough on Memphis to not win C-USA, but they can’t win it every year.

The lumps that the Texas freshmen are taking this year, like last night’s 84-80 loss at Kansas State. Remember them next year when the Longhorns are formidable and deep.

In Other News: After two nights without a TV, I finally get my new one delivered today. Now I know how the cavemen felt. A few more days of that and I probably would have started drawing pictures of my wife and dog on the living room walls.