Sports InsideOut

There have been many surprises in college basketball, and I have separated them into two major categories. Upsets by small schools over powerhouses This season has seen small schools steal the show with some big upsets.  Here are the top five small school upsets this year.  One thing that surprised me about this list: 4 of the 5 teams are Big 10 teams! 1. Michigan is upset by NJIT 72-70 at Home When I first read this headline on the day of the game, I thought that it must be a mistake.  "NJIT wasn't even a school, was it?" I thought.  I clicked on the article and saw that it was New Jersey Institute of Technology, and realized that I had never even known that New Jersey had an Institute of Technology, and that I definitely never knew them as a D-1 school.  As I sit writing this blog, I see that NJIT just lost to LIU-Brooklyn by 16 points, and that LIU Brooklyn's only other win is against 1-8 Maine.  I also remember that Michigan is one of the best coll...

PG Isaiah Taylor, Texas, So. I have trouble doing this because of the fact that he is out indefinitely.  But, he recently said he is hoping to play their Big-12 opener.  Taylor reminds me of Chris Paul, as he can get to the rim any time he wants.  He averaged almost 13 points per game last year, and 4 assists per game, but he is ready to step into a new role and become the top player on a top 5 team.  Texas just beat UConn without Taylor,  which makes me wonder how good they can be with him.  He gives them confidence, poise, quickness, defense and offense out on the floor, and they seem to be a top 10 team without him.  I am looking forward to seeing him back on the floor, as he has become one of my favorite young guards in college basketball. PG Delon Wright, Utah, Sr. Delon Wright has become the definition of a stat-sheet stuffer, as he is a guy that fills out every portion of the box score.  He accumulates blocks, steals, points, rebounds, ...

2nd Team: PG Juwan Staten, West Virginia, Sr. Staten is a do-it-all point guard on a team that could be really good this year.  West Virginia is 7-0 with wins over Boston College and UConn.  Staten became their best player last year, averaging over 18 ppg and about 6 rpg and 6 apg.  He can rebound pass, drive and shoot the three.  West Virginia could push Texas and Kansas for the Big 12 title, and they will definitely need Staten if they want to contend for a Big 12 title. PF Georges Niang, Iowa State, Jr. Niang was the third best player on Iowa State last year, after Melvin Ejim and DeAndre Kane, but still managed to average 16.7 ppg, as well as 4.5 rebounds per game and 3.6 assists per game.  His production has only gotten better this year, as Ejim and Kane have graduated.  Niang may be the best shooting big man in the country.  He can shoot from anywhere on the floor, and he also is a great passer.  Although he is labeled as a power forwar...

First Team: PG Fred Van Vleet, Wichita State, Jr. There is no doubt in my mind that Van Vleet is the number one point guard in the country.  Although he is not a big scorer (only about 12 ppg last year), he can pass (over 5 apg last year) and rebound (about 4 rpg last year).  The thing that makes him so great is his ability as a floor leader, or coach on the floor.  He seems to always know what to do and how aggressive to be.  Also, at the end of the shot clock, he is the guy who creates, not only for himself, but for teammates as well.  To add on, he may be one of the top 5 defensive PGs in the country PG/SG Marcus Paige, North Carolina, Jr. Paige can light it up on the basketball court.  He may be the best in the country at getting good shots.  He comes off screens and shoots, he sets screens for others, he drives and shoots, he has a great step back, the list goes on and on.  The big question for Paige is if he can lead this Carolina team ...

1. Kentucky May I say most talented team ever? Let's start with Aaron Harrison, a top 10 recruit SG last year and one of the top players in the NCAA tournament last year, hitting a few incredibly clutch shots.  They also have PG Andrew Harrison, his twin brother, who came up key in their run to the final game last year.  Both are McDonald's All Americans and could have been 1st round picks last year.  Then they have Karl-Anthony Towns, a top 5 freshman recruit this year and the projected number 2 pick in the draft by nbadraft.net.  And I'm forgetting their two 7 foot centers, Willie Cauley-Stein and Dakari Johnson, both projected 1st rounders.  Not to mention they have Trey Lyles, Devin Booker and Chicago kid Tyler Ulis, all Freshman McDonald's All Americans.  Oh yeah, and I forgot they return two of the most athletic players in the country: Marcus Lee, an incredible dunker (quick video below) and another projected 1st round pick, as well as Alex Poythres...

The tournament has lived up so far.  The Uconn and Kentucky runs are nice, but those teams have been there before, and although they are 7 and 8 seeds, respectively, they are two of the best programs in NCAA tournament history.  The best part of this tournament has been Mercer, who took down Jabari Parker and Duke, Harvard, who upset Cincinnati and then gave Michigan St a run for its money,  and North Dakota St, who took down Oklahoma with a game tying three with just seconds to go.  Teams like Stephen F. Austin, who down four with 5 seconds left, completed a 4 point play (3 and a foul) to beat favorite VCU, and Tennessee, who as a 11 seed beat Iowa in the First Four and then suddenly became one of the best teams in the country, crushing Mercer and UMass before barely falling to 2 seed Michigan in a game that could have gone either way.  The definition of the madness is lowly 11 seed Dayton, lucky to make the tournament, as many thought they would be out.  ...

Here are my picks for the conference championship games, winners and MVPs for the 7 major conference tournaments. BIG 10 Final: Michigan St vs. Nebraska Winner: Michigan St MVP: Gary Harris Michigan St is beginning to get fully healthy, which means we are just beginning to see what they can do.  Recently, they have not played very well, and are nearly out of the rankings, down to 22.  But the injuries they have had are just unbelievable.  Each of their top 4 players has missed significant time (and by significant, I don't mean one or two).  Gary Harris missed the least, at just a couple weeks, but Payne missed even more time, and Keith Appling missed time, and was hindered in many of the recent games he has played.  Brandon Dawson, arguably their best rebounder, missed the most time, sitting for about a month for (wait for it) breaking his hand after slamming on the table in the film room.  With all of these guys back, I think they can make a run and ...

The Syracuse vs. Duke game this past weekend lived up to the hype.  I feel everyone is focusing on the charge call and the Jim Boeheim ejection, while instead they should be focusing on how well both teams played, and how it was such a great game until the final 15 or so seconds.  This game even further entrenched Florida into the number one spot, and there is really no team you can put there.  Florida looks like far and away the best at this point, and why shouldn't they, they've been phenomenal lately, winning 19 in a row.  In this stretch, they've beaten Kansas, Memphis, Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee twice.  The only real close call has been Arkansas on the road, and they have beaten South Carolina by 16, Georgia by 22, Tennessee by 26, and Texas A&M by 33.  The talent on this team surpasses every other team in the country.  Easily.  Billy Donnovan is a great coach, turning this team around after starting 6-2 (if you call that...

1. Nebraska Nebraska has won 5 of 6, with the only loss on the road against Michigan.  Next 4: Penn St, Purdue, Illinois, Northwestern (in my opinion the 4 worst in the Big Ten).  Terran Petteway is first team all Big Ten.  He can score in so many ways.  I hope he doesn't go pro after the year, but don't know why he wouldn't.  There really is no way to improve his draft stock past his first round position by staying a year.  Ray Gallegos is a great three point shooter, making this a very solid offense.  The key is their defense.  Tai Webster is a big guard who can really defend, as can Petteway and swingman Shavon Shields.  Nebraska needs to do well the rest of the way to pull out a tournament win, but I think they are playing great, and should finish well.  The real tough loss holding them back is UAB, but other than that, they have been solid. 2. Providence Last year, Providence had two of the top young freshman in the country going...

Top 10 (includes top 3 players with stats, and comments on team) 1. Syracuse Tyler Ennis 11.6 PPG 5.7 APG, Jerami Grant 12.3 PPG, 6.5 RPG, CJ Fair 17.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG This is the easiest choice, they are far and away the best team in the country right now.  Jerami Grant is phenomenal, he is a great defender, and can shoot from anywhere, and is also a huge post presence.  Tyler Ennis is one of the three best PGs in the country, along with Aaron Craft, and Marcus Smart.  CJ Fair is an all-american.  Behind that, they have 3 other athletic big men who also have awesome names: Baye-Moussa Keita, Dajuan Coleman, and Rakeem Christmas (so does Duke transfer guard Michael Gbinije).  Anyways, Keita, Coleman, and Christmas could start on almost any team in the country, and lead the team (and maybe the league) in blocks.  In Syracuse's famous 2-3 zone, it is critical to have these big, strong and athletic big men. 2. Michigan St Keith Appling 16.4 PPG, 4.6 APG, Gar...

College basketball truly began this past weekend with the first weekend of conference play.  Oregon lost its first game of the season to number 24 Colorado.  Michigan St took down Indiana.  Undefeated Wisconsin came back to beat ranked Iowa after Fran McCaffery was ejected.   Kansas lost at home to a very talented 21st ranked San Diego St team.  It was an exciting weekend and showed me why college basketball is so great.  Here is a video of the college basketball highlights since 2010. I am going to answer two big questions for this post. Question 1: Duke, Kansas, North Carolina and Indiana are four of the best programs in the country.  Recently, they haven't done very well.  All four of these programs are not in the top 15 of this week's poll, and have struggled lately.  Two are unranked.  Will this be a trend for the rest of the year or is this just a slow start? In my opinion, the answer is different for all of these ...

For this blog post, I would like to do something called a blind resume.  Here are the resumes of two teams.  They include SOS (strength of schedule rank in the country), RPI (a computerized ranking of each team), and record (W-L).  It is your job to decide which two of these four teams should be a number one seed. Team 1                    Team 2                 Team 3                Team 4 Record: 9-3            Record: 12-1        Record: 11-1        Record: 11-2 RPI: 4                     RPI: 13                RPI: 1                   RPI: 35 SOS: 2                   SOS: 79     ...