CBB Stock Market: February 14-16

Looking for something else on Sports News on Tap, I found a gem called 'CBB Stock Market' which highlighted what happened on the weekend of college hoops. Sometimes I will use this space for a longer form recap, but mostly, it will be a subheading. 

BUY BUY BUY 

UConn Huskies - People really should take a look at the Huskies' resume right now. They have only lost four games in conference with UConn winning the last seven of eight. Shabazz Napier had 34 points in an overtime win against Memphis on Saturday putting them in position to have a chance at taking the AAC crown. Huskies still have home games against SMU and Cincinnati with a road trip to Louisville in the final weekend of the season. This is a team that can make a run into the tournament with their guard play and solid interior play as well. Keep an eye on these Huskies.

Florida Gators - Even though they are number two in the nation, it is pretty clear this is the number one team in the nation. Florida won both at Tennessee and Kentucky this week including holding their guard against the Wildcats in the second half. In another year of parity, this is the best team in the nation without question. They have the leadership, size and guard play to get Billy Donovan his third National Championship. Just because they play in the weak SEC means virtually nothing to me. They can play with everyone in the league. I would be interested to see what their record would look like if they were at full strength for the year.

Nebraska Cornhuskers - How about Tim Miles? He has made people believers in Nebraska basketball for maybe the first time ever. They earned a road win against Michigan State on Sunday making the Huskers 6-6 in Big Ten conference with some people thinking they might have NCAA Tournament aspirations. It is not unrealistic at this point with them playing five of their last seven at home with their only difficult game being against Wisconsin in the final game of the season. They have road games against Illinois and Indiana. I mean Nebraska does have a chance here. It is probably unrealistic but as JP said from Angels in the Outfield, 'It could happen.'

HOLD HOLD HOLD

Close calls at home - Three teams in the top 15 nearly lost at home this week. One of them did with Michigan State. Duke beat Maryland by two points with a bad call at the end of the game. St. Louis escaped VCU at home but granted, that would not have been a bad home loss. Syracuse needed a game-winning steal at the end of the game to beat NC State. It is that time of the year when teams are desperate needing a win meaning home upsets are going to happen every now and again.

Michigan State Spartans - Everyone is pointing out the fact they are 3-4 in their last seven games, but this team is not healthy at all. This feels like the classic team that gets hot at the right time and makes its way to the Final Four. Tom Izzo did this before with teams, and let's not forgot, this is a real good team unit when they are all at full strength. Keith Appling and Branden Dawson will be back for the month of March and if the injury bug is done with Michigan State, they are dangerous as anyone. Not that you care my power rankings for March right now would be... Florida, Michigan State (IF healthy), Syracuse, Kansas and Arizona.

SELL SELL SELL 

Pac-12 officials - Just a horrible display of officiating in the Arizona-Arizona State game. Jim Burr would be proud. Jahii Carson put an exclamation point on Arizona State's double-overtime win, but he hung at the rim for at least five or six seconds. Fans also rushed the court early, but technically that was not a technical which I have no idea why. Carson should have gotten the technical meaning Arizona getting two shots and the ball back with under one second left. Wildcats might not have won the game, but they still got screwed overall. Kind of hoping we get a rematch of these two teams in the Pac-12 Tournament so Arizona can give them a 'Ball Don't Lie.'  

Pittsburgh Panthers - A dirty little secret about this team is they have not beat anyone this year worth a dam. They had close losses to Syracuse and North Carolina, but close losses only count in horseshoes. Looking at Pitt, their best win might be their road win against NC State... YIKES. That's not good at all. They honestly do not play a tough team for the rest of the season unless you call Florida State at home a tough game. Pitt will need to do some work in the ACC Tournament to get a better seed because when it all comes down to it, Pitt could be looking at an eight to ten seed.  

GAMES TO WATCH THIS WEEK 
Tuesday: 9. Villanova at Providence 6:00 pm FOX Sports 1, 19. Texas at 17. Iowa State 6:00 pm ESPN2
              18. Kentucky at Ole Miss 6:00 pm ESPN

Wednesday: 11. Creighton at Marquette 7:00 pm FOX Sports 1,
                      4. Arizona at Utah 9:00 pm FOX Sports 1,
                    23. UCLA at California 9:30 pm Pac-12 Network 

Thursday: 5. Duke at North Carolina 8:00 pm ESPN, 25. Gonzaga at BYU 10:00 pm ESPN2

Charlie. 

Better Game Winner? - Tyler Ennis or LeBron James

There were two great game-winners in both college basketball and the NBA.  Let's start in college where Tyler Ennis kept Syracuse undefeated by hitting about a 35 to 40 footer for the win. This looks a lot like Ben Brust's game-tyer to force overtime from last year when he drilled Michigan. For whatever reason, Pittsburgh's head coach Jamie Dixon called a timeout to let Cuse set a play and Ennis nailed it as a second option. The best part was probably Jim Boeheim telling ESPN's Doris Burke, 'Well the thing is Tyler played his worst game of the season before that.'  Do you Jimmy B. Do you. Syracuse continues their undefeated season.



Now we have LeBron James. Dare I say he made a little bit of a statement. I know I have called Kevin Durant MVP as well as a bunch of others. In a big game that should have been televised somewhere (Actually it was on NBAtv, why it was not on at the bar last night is beyond me), James went for 36 points, 13 rebounds and nine assists netting a near triple-double against Golden State. This game featured a classic showdown between James and Stephen Curry.  It came down to the last shot and James delivered with a deep three with only .01 seconds left in the game. I wish Golden State was a little bit better because a Miami-Golden State NBA Finals would be absolutely fantastic. It is too bad they can only play twice this season.  

Charlie.

CBB Picks: Ranked on the Road - Always Dangerous

Since college football and basically National Football League is done, we have been making picks for college basketball. Let's have some fun with it and see what happens. I should probably record my record, but I will say this is the hardest sport to pick without question.

FIRST TIER  
17. Duke at 2. Syracuse 5:30 pm ESPN -This should be an electric atmosphere. 35 to 36,000 people are expected to be at this basketball game. That's crazy to think about honestly.  Duke rounded themselves back in the form in the last couple weeks with Rodney Hood playing like a manbeast, Andre Dawkins finding his three stroke again and oh yeah, Jabari Parker is not bad either. Syracuse just keeps winning games with the combination of C.J. Fair and Tyler Ennis. This is a tough game to predict with Duke's ability to shoot lights out against the patented 2-3 zone, and Blue Devils lack of defensive prowess. I cannot bet against the Cuse in the dome, but man, it will be close. SYR 73-71

6. Kansas at 25. Texas 3:00 pm ESPN - Remember when this game used to mean the world to the Big 12? This might be the most anticipated one in awhile. Kansas seems like the best team in the country right now, and Andrew Wiggins' big performance did not go unnoticed Wednesday against Iowa State. I guess no one is talking about Texas because they are Texas, they are supposed to be good. Isiah Taylor had 27 points in their win against Baylor and it will be interesting to see what the encore will be like this Saturday. I think Texas is good enough to beat above-average teams, but they are not beating great teams. It is a close game, but Kansas takes control late with another strong performance from Wiggins and Naadir Tharpe. KU 81-75

Virginia at 18. Pittsburgh (Played on Sunday) 12:30 pm ESPNU - Some of you might not realize both of these teams are near the top of the ACC right now especially Virginia with only one ACC loss and honestly deserving of a ranking. They head up to Pittsburgh in what could be a rock fight. Both teams are strong defensively meaning first to 55 could win this game. I like Pittsburgh though. Lamar Patterson can become a problem if he gets going from deep, and Panthers usually do not lose two straight at the Oakland Zoo.
PITT 57-51

11. Kentucky at Missouri 12:00 pm CBS - I could not believe Kentucky is ranked eleventh. They did not look that good against LSU. Somehow I watched the whole game, and their effort was horrible. You want to believe this team will respond in a major way in a national televised game and blow out Missouri yet it is not a given. Willie Cauley-Stein and Andrew Harrison need to step up in this one. Both have drifted in and out from being bad to good players all season. For Missouri, they need this win with three losses already in the SEC and a win against Kentucky could help their resume in major way. Jabari Brown and Jordan Clarkson are probably the most unheralded one-two punch in college basketball. It is a must-win and Kentucky's first visit to Columbia as an SEC foe. Lock it up, Mizzou. MIZZ 83-75

SECOND TIER
1. Arizona at California 9:30 pm Pac-12 Network - In their first test in awhile, Arizona showed great grit on Wednesday night holding Stanford's offense to barely any points in the last nine minutes as they came back from the dead. Nick Johnson is a Player of the Year front-runner if he played at Duke. He is so damn good, and can take control of any game. They head to Berkeley where Cal suffered three straight losses including a heartbreaker to Arizona State on Thursday night in overtime. How does a team respond to losing when number one is in town? I am going out on a limb and saying very well. Justin Cobbs has a big night, and the Bears stun number one. CAL 64-60

10. Michigan at Indiana (Played Sunday) 12:00 pm CBS - Since their win against Wisconsin, Indiana dropped their last three of four games. It does not appear the Hoosiers are even close to the bubble right now as they are near the bottom of the B1G standings. This all being said, they NEED this win badly which is always dangerous for the ranked team. Michigan is a complete fire beast right now. I cannot see how they would let an inconsistent Hoosiers team beat them honestly. Even though college basketball is weird sometimes, there is no way this happens on Sunday. MICH 78-63

22. UMass at St. Joesph's 5:00 pm CBS Sports Network - It looks like UMass streak of good fortune is starting to come apart. They have lost three of two of their last three including this week to St. Bonaventure. These two teams met early this season with the Minuteman getting a four-point victory.  Chaz Williams took over late for UMass as they trailed nine with six minutes left to play in the game. This Hawks team knows how to beat this team, they just did not close last time. They will play a full 40 at home and win this game.
ST JOES 69-63

23. Oklahoma at 16. Iowa State 3:00 pm ESPN3 - I feel like these rankings should be reversed. Oklahoma scored another big win this week as they took care of rival Oklahoma State at home with a big performance from Ryan Spangler whom had 15 points and 17 rebounds. Iowa State fallen in four of their last five games including a loss to the Sooners, the second team they are facing twice already this conference season. In game one, Iowa State gave up 22 second-chance points and only had two of their own. That will not win games. Everything in my bones says 'Take the hot team against the struggling team', but then there is a Hilton Magic meaning Iowa State is the pick. ISU 75-69

THIRD TIER 
24. Ohio State at 14. Wisconsin 11:00 am ESPN - Could this be the worst ranked game of the season thus far? Both teams are in complete flux. In one corner, Ohio State has lost five of their last six games while in the other corner, Wisconsin fallen in four of their last five. Who can tame their dumpster fire more? I am going with Wisconsin. Sam Dekker seems like he is ready to have about a 25-14 performance on Saturday, and I think Traevon Jackson can keep his composure against Aaron Craft's style. UW 73-66

22. Memphis at SMU 1:00 pm CBS Sports Network - Would like to send out a 'Been There Bro' to SMU and their fanbase as they looked ahead when traveling to the Sun Dome against South Florida and lost ending their five-game winning streak. Memphis has won four straight, but not really beaten anyone in the process although Joe Jackson is playing pretty well. I like the Mustangs in this one. They need the win, and Memphis is due for a good ole brain fart of a game. SMU 76-67

Baylor at 8. Oklahoma State 1:00 pm ESPN - Man, Baylor. They are 1-5 for the season including a home loss to West Virginia this week and now head to Stillwater with a pissed off Cowboys team. In my best 'Taken' Liam Neeson voice, 'Good luck.'  OSU 79-64

Charlie.

CBB Picks: Mid-Afternoon Madness

This is probably the first big weekend in college basketball. There were some good games last weekend, but this one is much better. I decided to make all sorts of picks here breaking them down in three different tiers. I picked all sorts of Top 25 games and I included a quick pick with Marquette because I am a homer.  

First Tier Games 
9. Oklahoma State at 15. Kansas 3:00 pm CBS - First of all, I cannot believe how many good games are on in the middle of the day which is infuriating and a surefire way to find me into the bar by the mid-afternoon. I love this matchup. Marcus Smart, Le'Bryan Nash, Markel Brown can get Joel Embiid into foul trouble by attacking the rim yet I do not know if anyone can stop Embiid on Oklahoma State's team. Andrew Wiggins-Marcus Smart matchup will be must-see television. While I think Smart will get the edge in this one, I still think Kansas is playing too well right. KU 86-83

22. Pittsburgh at 2. Syracuse 3:00 pm ESPN - Naturally, the first thing I checked was how well Pittsburgh shoots the three playing against the tough 2-3 Cuse zone. Well they shoot 34 percent which is pretty average, but their star Lamar Patterson shoots over 42 percent. At some point, Syracuse hits a wall with their season, but it is not starting at home against a former Big East rival who is now an ACC rival. I think the game will be close, but Orange win this one. I am very interested to see how this is officiated too.
SYR 70-65

Indiana State at 5. Wichita State 3:00 pm ESPN2 - Sneaky good game. If there is going to be another Missouri Valley team in the NCAA Tournament, it would be Indiana State. Sycamores have won their last seven games led by Manny Arop and Jake Odum. They are a balanced attack that can compete with the Shockers yet I cannot see them pulling off the road upset. That's a little too difficult of a task for this team. WSU 78-71

Second Tier Games
Michigan at 3. Wisconsin 5:00 pm ESPN - Badgers attempt to bounce back against Michigan on Saturday. These two played a hell of a game at the Kohl Center last season, and I assume they will show Ben Brust's three at least 8,234 times. Michigan has won six straight games, but the only one quality team they have beat is Minnesota in the six-game stretch. Glenn Robinson III needs to be a factor as we saw Wisconsin struggle with guys attacking the rim. I think Sam Dekker bounces back though in this one with a big performance and leads Wisconsin to victory. A nugget that causes me concern, Michigan is 133rd in defending the three.
UW 79-67

25. Oklahoma at 12. Baylor 1:00 pm ESPN2 - Two of the top 50 scoring offenses playing in this one meaning we could have quite the game on our hands here. Both teams are also coming off a loss with the Bears loss to Texas Tech being much worse than Oklahoma's road loss to Kansas State. I feel like this is one of those games where Baylor just has to have being 1-2 in the Big 12 right now, and they will power their way through in this one. BAY 81-67

19. Louisville at UConn 8:00 pm ESPN - Another former Big East matchup taking place in primetime. UConn has been wildly inconsistent this season with some bad losses mixed in with some strong wins. Louisville bounced back after a home loss to Memphis last week. It comes down to guard play and who stays more in control, Russ Smith or Shabazz Napier, both are high-volume shooting, and if one is on, the other need not compete with him. I like Louisville to get the road win. I cannot really trust the Huskies at this point, and want to see them do it against another good team. UL 73-65

Third Tier Games 
Marquette at Butler 1:00 pm CBS Sports Network - This game makes me nervous with Butler being 0-5 in Big East play. They need a win and nothing is worse than a team needing a win. Kellen Dunham makes me very nervous with how Marquette guards against the three, but I feel like they will do just enough to win. MARQ 68-67

Minnesota at 14. Iowa (Played on Sunday) 12:00 pm Big Ten Network - Golden Gophers play their third straight game against a ranked opponent. I cannot see them going on the road and winning at Hawkeye-Carver basically judging on how they close out at Michigan State.. IOWA 72-65

Tennessee at 13. Kentucky 11:00 am CBS - First half is important for Kentucky to get off on the right foot after their loss. Jerrone Maymon and Julius Randle will be an absolute war. No way the Vols go into Lexington and win. UK 75-66

8. Iowa State at Texas 3:00 pm ESPN3 - And here's your upset of the day, people are not really talking about how good the Longhorns have been and the coaching job Rick Barnes is pulling off right now. Texas gets the home win as Iowa State goes cold from three again. TEXAS 69-65

4. Michigan State at Illinois 7:00 pm Big Ten Network - We are going with a double-up on the upsets. I understand how bad Fightin' Illini looked when they played Wisconsin, but they are at home, Michigan State has been sort of on the ropes, sets up perfectly for an Illinois win. ILL 76-74

Charlie.

CBB Stock Market: January 11th-12th

Looking for something else on Sports News on Tap, I found a gem called 'CBB Stock Market' which highlighted what happened on the weekend of college hoops. Sometimes I will use this space for a longer form recap, but mostly, it will be a subheading. 

BUY BUY BUY 

Wichita State Shockers - They might play in a weaker than usual Missouri Valley Conference, but they were trailing by 18 points at halftime on the road to Missouri State, and came back to beat them in overtime. That takes a great deal of mental fortitude. Wichita State is the real deal no matter what conference they are playing in this season. I am no Jerry Palm or Joe Lunardi, but I would think if Wichita State lost one or two games like St. Joesph did with that Jameer Nelson, Delonte West team did, I think this could be a two seed, borderline one seed. Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker is a great one-two punch for this team.

Iowa Hawkeyes - We criticize their coach last weekend, but Iowa got their first signature win in a long while by winning on the road against Ohio State. Hawkeyes show they are indeed legit, and deserve to be in the discussion when it comes to the top four in the Big Ten. Roy Deyvn Marble continued to get better and averaging over 16 points a game plus Aaron White is a beast inside. If they can beat Ohio State on the road, they can win anywhere in the Big Ten.  Even when their coach Fran McCaffery got ejected last Sunday, this team still hung tough with Wisconsin on the road.

Pittsburgh Panthers - I could not be happier Syracuse and Pittsburgh are now in the ACC this season. Both are head and shoulders better this season.  Lamar Patterson and Talib Zanna are two guys whom have been there forever yet they are finally coming together like coach Jamie Dixon had wanted when he recruited them. Patterson was an underachieving recruit until this season where he is averaging nearly 18 points a game.  They have not had a true test yet this season, but it comes this Saturday heading to Syracuse, a place they know well then they welcome Duke to the Oakland Zoo in late January.

Arizona Wildcats - This team just keeps winning basketball games. They notched a Los Angeles sweep over the weekend by beating UCLA and USC. Arizona now heads home for three straight games over basically two weeks. There is a good chance this team might be undefeated heading into February which I feel like no one saw coming. I thought this team looked good on paper, but the question was would they come together? The latter had been a problem for former Cats team. The development of Nick Johnson is the most impressive thing about this team. Johnson's scoring is up five points and one thing forgotten this year is his free-throw percentage is up 10 percent from last season which is a huge deal with the way Johnson plays basketball. 

HOLD HOLD HOLD

Ohio State Buckeyes - I hyped up Ohio State last week only to have them lose to Michigan State and Iowa this week. For most of the game against the Spartans, they were getting their ass kicked yet they found a way to battle back to victory. You wonder if that had something to do with their poor play against Iowa. Further, I think the Iowa game is more of a reminder that no team is really safe playing at home in the Big Ten. That has not been in the case in years past. It does not get easier as they head to Minnesota this Thursday.

SELL SELL SELL 

Illinois Fightin' Illini - Sometimes when teams get ranked, they do not take it well. Illinois is one of those teams. They were absolutely boat raced by Wisconsin and then only scored 43 points in a loss to Northwestern, arguably the worst B1G team. Not ready for primetime or just an average team?  I would probably say the latter in this case. Being average in this B1G might be above average in other conferences, but they do not seem to be a team that can knock off the elite ones on the road.  

Oregon Ducks - What the hell is going on in Eugene? The Ducks have lost three straight games including two at home in the last eight days. They are not losing to the powers of the Pac-12. Now it could mean this conference is a dogfight every game out, but at the same time, Oregon should beat California and Stanford at home. They are better than that. The worrisome thing is this squad giving up 100, 96 and 82 in their last three losses. That needs to be turned around for them to start winning games again.

Duke Blue Devils - Really the same question for Duke. This team started off in the top five, and now they have hit rock bottom by losing to Clemson on Saturday. Duke really cannot play defense this season, and people are starting to figure that out. How does Coach K change things? He might be stuck in a bad spot with a bad defensive team where they can only outscore teams to win games. They play the next three of four at Cameron Indoor which could be the perfect recipe for this team to get right again.

GAMES TO WATCH THIS WEEK 
Monday: 15. Kansas at 8. Iowa State 8:00 pm ESPN

Tuesday: 3. Wisconsin at Indiana 6:00 pm ESPN, Butler at 20. Creighton 6:00 pm FOX Sports 1,
               25. Oklahoma at Kansas State 6:00 pm ESPN2

Thursday: UConn at 17. Memphis 6:00 pm ESPN, 25. UCLA at 21. Colorado 7:00 pm Pac-12 Network,
                Arizona State at 1. Arizona 8:00 pm FOX Sports 1
                11. Ohio State at Minnesota 8:00 pm ESPN2

Sportandfashion-news Bowl Projections: Cheap Pizza and Christmas Flowers

Little Caesars Bowl
Pittsburgh vs. Bowling Green 5:00 pm ESPN - Besides their loss to top-ranked Florida State, Pittsburgh did not really get blown out this season. Panthers have some pieces that make them a good team. Tom Savage has been serviceable at quarterback coming over from Rutgers this season with a pair of good wide receivers with freshman Tyler Boyd and Devin Street. They also have the best defensive lineman if not the best defensive player in the county with Aaron Donald. He is a complete space eater inside, and Donald would be the player to watch if you are thinking from an NFL Draft perspective. Bowling Green lost their coach, but this is a good football team despite losing their head coach. Bowling Green could definitely stop their passing attack as they are a top five pass defense. I would keep an eye for running back Travis Greene of the Falcons. The last time Greene did not have at least 95 yards was September 14th. I think this is a close game, but I like Pittsburgh here. Giving Paul Chryst three to prepare is something that would scare me. PITT 21-17

San Diego Credit Union Poinsettia Bowl
Utah State vs. Northern Illinois 8:30 pm ESPN - This might be the best matchup until Saturday so I would watch this game if you enjoy good football. On one side, we feature a top five rushing attack from Northern Illinois led by Jordan Lynch. I will be interested to see if Northern Illinois tries to show off his arm more because Lynch says he wants to be an NFL quarterback and right now, only people who believe that will happen is his immediate family.  Remember Florida did this when Tim Tebow took on Cincinnati in the Sugar Bowl, and everyone believed him to be a quarterback. Utah State has not missed a beat since Gary Andersen left the program for Wisconsin. They also lost Chuckie Keeton for the season, but Darell Garretson has done an adequate job filling in at quarterback since October. Their offense does not really have one game-breaker, but they are good enough to beat Northern Illinois. This will be a very close game, and I think I will take a good defense over a good offense. USU 28-24

Bowl Record: 5-2

Charlie.