Comparing college hoops teams to characters on Entourage

By Ty Hildenbrandt

This college basketball season has been a game of musical chairs with the same handful of teams fighting for their share of the limelight, despite recognizable flaws. In other words, it's been the same old entourage all year long.

What does college basketball have to do with the crew from Entourage? SIOC has the answer. Courtesy of HBO

Coincidentally, there happens to be a popular show these days named Entourage. Go figure. After some careful thought, I was surprised to see just how much the current AP Top 5 resembles the hit HBO series. See for youself:

Vincent Chase - North Carolina

By most accounts, the Tar Heels are absolutely, positively the stars of the show. That being said, they seem conflicted. Often times it feels as if Carolina is content merely being a celebrity (i.e., games against Clemson) than a well-polished artist on the court of play. The question headed into March Madness remains: Can the Tar Heels find a higher source of motivation and deliver a box office hit like Aquaman or are they merely bluffing with a trailer of Medellin?

Eric Murphy - Memphis

The Tigers have all the pieces in place to be a real player in the national championship market, and you just know that the talent is there to succeed in a big way. The problem: They have minimal credibility. Indeed, some feel their experience in Conference USA translates poorly to a title run in the same way that managing a Sbarro's didn't make Eric a legitimate representative. And when they failed to stand tall in the face of their most formidable opponent (Tennessee), it got a whole lot harder for people to take them seriously.

Johnny Drama - Tennessee

Just when the Volunteers completed their quest to the top of the mountain, well, they fell on their own sword against Vanderbilt. And while Tennessee might be the first to tell you about its balanced resume of skills, the bottom line is that it'll be characterized, at least in the short-term, as a team that couldn't stay out of its own way.

Ari Gold - UCLA

The Bruins live among the stars and try to fit in, but they just can't do it. Why? They're a different kind of team that uses its aggressiveness to its advantage, winning with heart and cleverly-conceived tactics. Sharks in the purest quintessence of the word, UCLA knows all the right angles and is a master of execution.

Turtle - Kansas

Despite showing signs of brilliance, Kansas leaves you with the feeling that it plays some of its biggest games on cruise control, content simply going along for the ride. And with a bumpy array of tournament results over the last few years, this season has the makings of Turtle's failed business venture with an upstart rapper named Saigon.

WELL, I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS WORKOUT

It made for a fun little news item when Texas Tech coach Pat Knight reacted to his team's 44-point loss to Texas A&M by punishing it with old school drills laden with weights and tractor tires. And it sort of worked for a while. So, it should be exciting to see what Knight brews up this time, on the heels of a 109-51 loss at Kansas on Monday night. Uh, not good. My guess: a set of full-on, Magnús Ver Magnússon-style physical challenges better suited for a World's Strongest Man competition than any right-minded basketball squad -- you know, with Sequoia logs and 18-wheelers somehow involved.

And more to the point, you have to figure it's only a matter of time before Pat starts throwing chairs like his father.