It wasn’t really that surprising to see North Carolina yet again sitting at the top in the preseason poll. What was surprising, though, was Kansas’ tumble in the polls to start the year, going from national champion to #23. Heck, even cinderella from last year, Davidson, is ranked higher.

As far as the Big Ten goes, Michigan State, with great depth but a very challenging nonconference schedule, starts the season as the 7th ranked team, and the upstart Purdue Boilermakers cracked the top 10, which is a coup considering just a few short years ago this program was in disarray. Wisconsin is the other Big Ten team to be ranked, with Bo Ryan’s squad tied with SoCal for #21. Ohio State got almost enough votes to jump in but sits in 27th currently.

I didn’t expect the Big Ten to place many teams in there–although I am pleasantly surprised to see the Boilermakers given that much respect to start the season. The problem I think the league will have again this year is that top to bottom they aren’t that great, and these three teams are top heavy, which could again spell trouble NCAA tourney time when the degree of competition they’ve faced isn’t comparable to conferences like the Big East and ACC. Still, you can’t be too unhappy with two teams in the top ten to start the season.

Ahhh, the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Such history.

Such a ridiculous pairing of two conferences.

Sorry guys, but this is heads and above my least favorite thing that the Big 10 does. Not because I feel like they shouldn’t play against tough teams, but the fact that this is a “match up” of two conferences battling against each other, there’s never much to the overall scheme of things–the ACC usually kicks the crap out of the Big 10, much in part because normally the Big 10 has 1-3 very good teams, while the ACC generally has a deeper conference that can compete from top to bottom, which makes all the difference in the world when you consider the cavernous difference from top to bottom in Big 10 basketball.

So, enough of my soapboxing, here are the games:

Monday, Dec. 1: Wisconsin at Virginia Tech

Wednesday, Dec. 3: North Carolina vs. Michigan State (from Ford Field), Indiana at Wake Forest, Michigan at Maryland, Florida State at Northwestern, Penn State at Georgia Tech 

Actually, I am not reaaaaaaally going to complain too much about these games, even though the Penn State-Georgia Tech and the Illinois-Clemson games are mismatches overall. But the Duke-Purdue and MSU-North Carolina matchups will be awesome.

The “Baby Boilers”, which the Purdue Boilermakers have been dubbed with the frosh phenoms leading the way for the team, come into the NCAA tournaments as a six seed, and while they had hoped for better (who doesn’t?), the fact remains that Matt Painter is very happy with what the team has accomplished thus far. The question is: can they do more? Read the rest of this entry »

The Big 10 conference has been taking all kinds of hits this week in the media and also across forums from facebook all the way to ESPN team boards. And maybe they are right–maybe it’s just time to ‘fess up that this conference is just a mediocre pool of talent that is a throwback model of basketball that simply cannot compete on a national level. Read the rest of this entry »

I know that everyone will probbbbbbbbbably think that one of the only reasons Duke was able to beat UNC in Chapel Hill was because of Ty Lawson’s absence. And there is some truth to that, but let’s call a spade a spade: the Blue Devils marched into the Smith Center, dropped 89 points on the Tarheels, and marched out victors. Read the rest of this entry »

I was perusing some of my older posts (since no one else seems to read them) and noticed that I really don’t talk too much about the ACC. And perhaps that is a subconscious thing going on because of having to hear years of Dicky V proclaiming the ACC the rulers of the college basketball world. But maybe it’s also because…well, they are that good…and perhaps I am just a little sore about it. I look at Duke this year and actually, I have to say I am more than impressed. I mean, consider that Read the rest of this entry »

Trevor Booker exploded. There’s really nothing else to say.  Trevor Booker exploded.Even though Clemson finished the week at 1-1, Booker averaged 30 points a game, 8 boards and almost 4 blocked shots a game (that’s the most phenomenal number in my opinion).  In the double OT win over Florida St., Booker was a sizzling 10-12 from the field. For the entire week, he was 20-26 shooting overall including 4 of 5 from three-point range. To say he was in a zone is a huge understatement.

This is especially huge considering for the year he’s only averaging 12.5 points for the 14-3 team and is not even the top scorer (that honor belongs to K.C. Rivers).  The Tigers are deep, with 5 guys averaging in double figures and another that is close to being in double figures. However, if super soph Booker continues his “explosion”, it could be just what the Tigers need in a floor leader and to push them over the top against conference heavies North Carolina and Duke.

As of this writing, the Tigers beat up on NC State and Booker scored 13, so maybe his hot streak is over.  One thing that I’d like to see Booker do more is draw more contact and get to the line a lot more (he is playing center even though he is out of position really at 6′7″), because I think by doing that he will up his “value” to the team and also get the other team in potential foul trouble. It’s a win-win. Take it to the rack, Trevor! With authority!!!

The ACC hasn’t always been a hotbed for women’s basketball. For the most part, women’s basketball has been ruled by the SEC or Big East for what seems like eons. However, the first one in the race to 20 wins is indeed from the ACC, and that honor belongs to Maryland, whose win over #10 Duke made them 20-1 on the year.

The Terps are ranked #4 and have beaten 5 ranked teams this year. They are lead by Kristi Toliver, who is averaging almost 18 points a game and is shotting 44% from long distance. But perhaps the team’s most valuable player is Marissa Coleman, who is averaging more than 16 points a game and 8 boards, along with being able to shoot the three at a 42% clip. Maryland is deep and is averaging a gaudy 82 points a game compared to giving up 58 points a game.

While they haven’t eclipsed the #1 ranking, don’t rule them out. Still, they have already dispatched Duke handingly, but even so, the big bad #3 North Carolina women stand in their way for a conference championship. I think by looking at these two teams that the Terps have the better overall squad and deep into the year that could be huge come crunch time.

I think in order to make things more streamlined and formative, I am going to start doing some frequent posting that encapsulates different items on certain days in order for fluidity to the site. That being said, here is what my schedule will be going forward per conference:

Monday-Big Ten

Tuesday-Pac 10

Wednesday-ACC

Thursday-Big East

Friday-Big 12

Saturday-SEC

Sunday-All others

In these daily capsules, I will have different posts discussing the previous week’s events, news, and future discussions about the teams and conferences themselves (not limiting to specific sports). I will also post on news events as they transpire with my two, or three cents, maybe even a dollar’s worth. For those of you out there that would like to have a discussion on a certain topic, shoot an email my way and I’ll be happy to give it a shot.

Thanks for your support of the site and I look forward to getting started on this!

Tim AKA “The Athletic Supporter”

Miami has always been one of those schools that has basically all of their eggs in one basket, where they are dominant in one sport, but lethargic or basically bottom feeders in others. For years, the “U” was basically a football powerhouse, the go-to team for dominance and dynasty. However, after scandals and coaching changes, The ‘Canes have slipped incredibly in the football world.

However, their is a new dawn.

But not for the gridiron-now it’s basketball. For the first time in five years, the basketball program has peeked its head into the top 25. At 10-0, the Hurricanes have balance and depth (10 players average at least 4 points or more) and are lead by sharp shooter Jack McClinton, who is 47% from the field, 56% from the arc, and 91% from the charity stripe. You can’t ask for much more when you are talking about backcourt players.

McClinton is the McMan. 

Sure, some of the wins have not been pretty (they beat Morgan St. by 4 and Va Commonwealth by 6), but they’ve also posted decent wins over Providence, St. John’s, and Mississippi St. The RPI has them at #18.

However, will they come back to earth when the ACC schedule starts? More than likely, yes. As they are within the #1 conference in the country, the team probably won’t be able to compete on a high level with UNC, Duke, and Clemson–but don’t rule out that they won’t pull a few upsets along the way.  I can see this team finishing in the top four in the conference, and when you consider the top three will more than likely be ranked in the top 15 in the nation, that ain’t half bad.

(Now, let’s see how much they go up though–they have a pretty looking cupcake schedule until the ACC schedule starts–be cautious that the voters may fall in love with this team…)

Picture Source: AP