CBB Stock Market: February 7th-9th

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 

St. John's Red Storm - Here comes the Johnnies! After starting out the Big East season with losing their first
six of their last eight games, Red Storm have won six of their last seven games with their only loss being a close road loss to Creighton where Doug McDermott dominated the whole game. They rectify this defeat last night in a win against the Bluejays putting them into the mix of the Big East. There are six teams including St. John's are two games within third place in the Big East. Red Storm are definitely in the mix as well as play two of the six teams in the clusterf--- of the Big East so they could make some waves.

SMU Mustangs - Larry Brown is doing the damn thing. He does not even really have many of his recruits, and he is getting guys to win. Is it about the time where Brown goes to the NBA? Or is that the following year? They routed Cincinnati on Saturday with a 20 point victory and only two back of first place in the American Conference. Brown gave life to SMU's basketball program who is ranked for the first time in the last three decades plus they have not been able to rebuild their football program after the death penalty, this might be the second-best thing.

HOLD HOLD HOLD

Iowa Hawkeyes - We have talked a lot about Iowa on here for whatever reason. They needed a big win against Michigan to finally have the signature Big Ten win, and people believe they have arrived with this victory. I would say pump the breaks on that one. I want to see if Iowa can get a couple more wins against some of the better teams in the Big Ten. I get the whole idea they could be a Final Four team, but I just need to see a little bit more from them.

SELL SELL SELL 

Missouri Tigers - They were not expected to be very good, but I do not think people saw them losing six games in the SEC this season. Missouri had a disappointing week losing to Florida on the road which is not that bad of a defeat, but they followed it up with a loss to Ole Miss on the road. Tigers have lost four of their last six games, and probably not even anywhere near the bubble right now. They need a big push if they want anything to happen in the month of March.

Notre Dame Fightin' Irish - You think this team wants to be the Big East? Notre Dame is 3-8 in the ACC and overall 12-12. Unless something happens, Notre Dame is clearly out of the tournament. They are losing at home where the Irish did not lose very often when they played at the Big East. Do I feel bad for Notre Dame? Not really honestly. A team in Indiana really does not belong in the Atlantic Coast Conference and they deserve everything they are getting in this conference right now. Easily, one of the most disappointing teams of the season.   

GAMES TO WATCH THIS WEEK 
Monday: 11. Iowa State at West Virginia 6:00 pm ESPNU 7. Kansas at Kansas State 8:00 pm ESPN

Tuesday: 3. Florida at Tennessee 6:00 pm ESPN, Oklahoma State at 19. Texas 6:00 pm ESPN2
              15. Michigan at 22. Ohio State 8:00 pm ESPN

Wednesday: 1. Syracuse at 25. Pittsburgh 6:00 pm ESPN, 8. Duke at North Carolina 8:00 pm ESPN 

Thursday: Minnesota at 21. Wisconsin 8:00 pm ESPN

Charlie. 

Marquette's Big Apple Appearance is Spoiled Rotten

Marquette grasped for NCAA Tournament life after beating Providence on Thursday night. It seemed like the table could be set for a February run. Golden Eagles headed to Madison Square Garden in a place where they have yielded inconsistent results. Marquette fell to St. Johns, 74-59, meaning they have flip-flopped in the last 12 games with wins and losses. As Golden Eagles were down by 20 or more in this game, they officially hit rock bottom. Marquette's lackluster effort by seniors, D'Angelo Harrison taking over and the bizzaro world Buzz Williams is living in right now.

Marquette did not play well at all. There is not really one thing we could point to and say 'Hey! Well at least this happened!'  I mean this is a dumpster fire of epic proportions with the Golden Eagles getting dominated by a team whose lost seven of their nine Big East games. Sure, they could be better than their record, but at the same time, that is not an excuse for the effort shown by Marquette throughout the entire game. It felt like a team that had lost six straight games rather than one beating the hottest team in the Big East.

Jamil Wilson is probably one player where the finger points to although most of the Marquette team is at fault for this season as well as this game. Wilson only played 13 minutes, one of his lowest totals of the season, and this had nothing to do with foul trouble. I am hard on Buzz Williams, but I give him credit for sitting Wilson in the second half. He deserved it, and frequently, I do not expect him to respond well to it. I cannot believe I fell for the rouse that Wilson would be the next Marquette player to take a leap as a senior like many of the other players have before him. It is too bad Jamil could never put it together. He might be the greatest 'what if' player with Williams.

Although Wilson is not the only one at fault as Harrison, St. John's star, had a massive game against Marquette. I am not trying to rain on Harrison's parade, but he spent most of the time wide open. Harrison made six three pointers as well as shooting 43 percent from the field. This seems to be a trend of Marquette struggling against a team's number one player. Bryce Cotton is the only one in recent memory where the Golden Eagles found a way to stop him. I shudder to think what Doug McDermott might do when he comes to Milwaukee.

THERE IT IS, Buzz blamed this loss on playing on Thursday. Fun. #mubb
— Anonymous Eagle (@AnonymousEagle) February 1, 2014

I have no idea what Williams is saying here. Can he just admit they lost the game? I do not really like Jim Boeheim, but at least the guy will admit the team got their asses kicked. Jim Calhoun does the same. John Calipari just blames his players, but he does not find excuses. Williams putting a loss on playing two nights before is not something I would expect out of Williams. It is a horseshit response. I would kill for Williams to go on a complete rant that gets a million YouTube hits setting fire to everything and everyone. He loves his players, but I am starting to wonder if he cares too much about them without enough separation.

The season is officially lost. Basically, the only way Marquette gets in is if they win the Big East conference tournament. Other than that, Golden Eagles are probably heading to the NIT or heaven forbid, a CBI bid. Maybe they can put together a few wins, an upset here or there, but all in all, Marquette is just a hopeless wanderer in college basketball.

Charlie.