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| NCAA Basketball Power Rankings |
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I was browsing the list of NCAA tournament sites this week (partly just to scout out where I might be traveling in March) and ended up plotting out the projected No. 1 seeds' paths to Atlanta. The Selection Committee takes geography into consideration for No. 1 seeds' regions and Nos. 1-4 seeds' pod locations. And so, with each No. 1 playing as close to home as possible, here's how the mileage broke down:
UNC: Winston-Salem/East Rutherford (total miles: 576.6)
Florida: New Orleans/San Antonio (1,582)
Wisconsin: Chicago/St. Louis (509)
UCLA: Sacramento/San Jose (724)
Wisconsin and UNC get relatively short (500-mile) itineraries, UCLA gets to stay in its home state the whole time, and Florida -- the No. 1 overall seed -- gets somewhat screwed in the early part of the bracket. But the Gators will have an obvious edge at the Final Four, given that they'll have played the SEC tournament at the Georgia Dome three weeks earlier, and have a massive fan base in Atlanta.
Next three: 1/17 at Boston College, 2/21 vs. N.C. State, 2/25 at Maryland. |
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This San Antonio Express-News story on Acie Law contained some quality nuggets. If you're wondering why Law's shot -- which seems to go in a LOT for something with no spin -- is a knuckleball, coach Billy Gillispie believes it's because Law's right thumb gets in the way. ("I can't explain it," Law told the paper. "Coach G. has his own theories ... but as long as it's going in the hole, it's fine.") It's a flaw in the clutch guard's form, but becomes more understandable when you find out that Law is not even a natural lefty. He actually switched shooting hands in junior high after breaking his right hand.
Next three: 2/17 at Oklahoma, 2/21 at Oklahoma State, 2/24 vs. Baylor. |
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Optimus Primal |
It seems that every time Julian Wright has a big game, such as his 33-point, 12-rebound tour de force against Mizzou last Saturday, we hear that Jules was going into "Beast Mode." It's become part of the basketball lexicon in Lawrence, but what are its origins? Here's what our research staff revealed: the main use of "Beast Mode" is from the Transformers cartoon series Beast Wars, in which every machine has a beastly alter ego -- Optimus Primal, for example, can turn into a Silverback Gorilla. And in the hip-hop world, there are two rappers with songs entitled Beast Mode -- the Boston artist Akrobatik as well as Baton Rouge's Lil' Boosie, a personal fave of LSU's Big Baby.
Next three: 2/17 vs. Nebraska, 2/19 at Kansas State, 2/24 vs. Iowa State. |
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Wow. This is really not the same Hoyas team I saw lose to Old Dominion at home in November. Not even close. West Virginia coach John Beilein, considered the college game's top tactician, called Georgetown's 71-53 win over his team "a clinic."
"I can't wait to watch the film and learn what they're doing, because they're terrific," Beilein told the Washington Times.
During their eight-game Big East winning streak the Hoyas' offense has become a well-oiled machine, surging to No. 1 in the nation in Ken Pomeroy's efficiency rankings. Their top six players in minutes all have personal efficiency ratings of 110 or higher (including Roy Hibbert's absurd 131.1), and as a team they're scoring 1.267 points per possession.
Next three: 2/17 at Villanova, 2/21 at Cincinnati, 2/24 vs. Pittsburgh. |
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Apparently in a basketball game that's classified as a dogfight, there are different rules than the standard most-points-wins business. Salukis forward Randal Falker explained them to us after his team's 51-47 win over Missouri State on Tuesday. "It was a dogfight, and in a dogfight, the first one to 50 wins," he said. "We got there first. Thankfully, we won." SIU has now won eight straight heading into Saturday's BracketBuster duel with Butler, which, based on a number of factors (both teams' slow tempos and strong defenses, as well as the mascots being Bulldogs and Salukis) should be another dogfight.
Next three: 2/17 at Butler, 2/21 at Indiana State, 2/24 vs. Evansville. |
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