February Fever is in full force. Yes, I so overdo alliteration... but February is a phenomenal time to be following college hoops-as teams get in position to be in position for their conference tournaments. My favorite term outside of "body of work" when examining bubble teams is "signature wins"... reducing schools to frantic autograph seekers. Get your sharpies out...
Georgetown nearly had a comeback for the ages... rallying from 23 down in the second have to more than scare #5 Syracuse. The Orange held on, 75-71, but the Hoyas know full well they can stay with the conference leaders should they meet in Madison Square Garden (as they often do) during the Big East Tournament. Neither the huge deficit nor the comeback was too much of a stretch-- given the Hoyas streaky shooting/lack of rebounding combined with Syracuse's adherence to its 2-3 zone. BET seed--currently #7 (Hoyas lose tiebreaker with Marquette) with a second round matchup against the winner of #10 Cincinnati and #15 Rutgers. Major caveat: there are five teams tied for 8th place... so the Hoyas likely opponent will hinge on what Notre Dame, South Florida, Seton Hall, UConn and Cincinnati all do these last few weeks. Next up-- at Tuesday trip to 5th place Louisville-- a team they beat by five in January...but a club that's won five of six (including a victory at Syracuse).
Alma Mater Update-- Syracuse stumbled against Louisville... the Orange were due to slip after a few sloppy performances- and Rick Pitino's Cardinals have owned SU as of late. A near collapse against Georgetown avoided thanks to clutch play by Andy Rautins. Road games with Providence and Louisville loom-- as well as a Saturday night showdown with second place Villanova.
Maryland after a tough loss at Duke had to slug its way through three ACC games in six days and responded by taking all three in different ways: a comfortable crushing of Virginia (18 point halftime lead), a crazy comeback past NC State (down 10 at intermission) and a fantastic finish against Georgia Tech (not one but two buzzer beating shots). No truth to the rumor the Maryland bench was calling the play "DIME SPOUT" during Greivis' coast-to-coast. Cliff Tucker's three capped an incredible and crucial week for the Terps.
More milestones met-- against the Yellowjackets Greivis Vasquez reached the 2,000 point plateau, making him the only player in ACC history with 2,000 points, 700 assists and 600 rebounds. Lost in the shuffle was a big effort from senior Eric Hayes-- 15 points and 5 assists for the silent partner in the senior backcourt. ACC Seed-- #2 with a quarterfinal matchup against #7 Georgia Tech or #10 North Carolina. Next up-- Wednesday against a 5th place Clemson team that's won three straight.
Commonwealth contrast-- how huge was Maryland's week? Just look at Virginia... the Cavaliers lost all three of their games and are now 5-7 in the conference needing a monster run to enter the postseason discussion. Virginia Tech was unable to come up with a signature win at Duke; but 21 wins should have coach Seth Greenberg's team in line for an NCAA berth-- a second trip to the dance in four years-- barring a major collapse.
George Washington came up short at Richmond 74-70 despite outrebounding and outshooting the Spiders... 16 turnovers ruining a 25 point effort by Lasan Kromah and ending a two game winning streak. A10 Seed-- #9 (thanks to their tiebreaking win over St. Bonaventure) with a first round game against Duquesne. GW needs a win or two to wrap up a trip to Atlantic City-- and has games with 3-conference win schools La Salle and Saint Josephs on the horizon.
What is it with the ACC this season? Duke is the lone conference school ranked in the top 25... now there are more than a few squads in the "also receiving votes" category, but this is the first time since 1977 only one school has been in the rankings. That's one fewer (or is it one less) than the Mountain West-- a league that's been around barely a decade. North Carolina's collapse obviously takes a major player out of the mix, while teams like Maryland and Virginia Tech have yet to post the signature win (there's that phrase again) to make them players while Georgia Tech, Florida State and Wake Forest reside in the land of Underachievement. The conference tournament shapes up as a bubble-berth-knockout round... at least until the Blue Devils or Tar Heels take the title.
George Mason lost a Bracket Buster game with the College of Charleston 85-83... and gets to reset itself for a final week of league play. CAA Seed-- #4 with a quarterfinal clash against #5 VCU or 12th seed Delaware. Next up: games at Delaware and against Northeastern.
24 thoughts... this season has given us a mole, a CTU employee with bad judgement, shouting and shooting, CTU being run by yet another bumbling mid-level bureaucrat, plus the thespian skills of Freddie Prinze Jr... the clock is ticking quickly on what was my favorite show last decade-- and it feels like it's on fumes.
American has seen it's midseason momentum dry up... a 64-51 loss at Holy Cross drops the Eagles to 5-7 in the conference. Patriot Seed-- #5 with a quarterfinal date against Navy.
Olympic hockey saw the US team beat Canada-- and immediately have the game be referred to as a Miracle on Ice sequel. While the 5-3 result was technically an upset and the US was outshot in a similar manner back in 1980 (39-16; the 2010 team was outshot 45-23) that's where my similarities lie. The Soviet team (I watch today's Russian team and still expect to see "CCCP" on their sweaters) was a veteran unit of 25-to-30 year old proven pros... while the US team was comprised primarily by collegians in an era when American players rarely got even as much as a whiff of the NHL. Today's team? Although it's young, everybody's getting an NHL paycheck. Plus, Al Michaels doesn't have a perm now (watch the Youtube-- you'll be shocked).
Howard is another school to fade in February-- the team's 72-67 loss at Florida A&M was the Bison's seventh in eight games. MEAC Seed-- #10 with a first round matchup against #7 Winston-Salem State.
Most people have seen "Miracle" with Kurt Russell... but I dare you to watch the original TV movie: 68-year old Karl Malden playing Herb Brooks (43 when the movie took place)? Andrew Stevens as Mike Eruzione? Marcia Brady's husband as "Les Auge", a composite character cut from the roster? Steve Guttenberg as Jim Craig? Do you believe in comedic casting miracles?
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