Through Sammy, Big Mac, John Elway, and the flawed college football ranking system, basketball has finally arrived. No, Shaq and Michael Jordan are still playing pickup ball while the NBA tries to decide who is more greedy - the players or the owners. What's here is untainted basketball with some zone defense and a 36-second shot clock. And at the end of the month, with a few surprises, UConn and Maryland are the kings of NCAA basketball.
When the season began, Duke was flying high at #1, with teams like Stanford and Kentucky looking to contend for the championship. With all three teams falling, the formerly #2 Connecticut Huskies easily picked up the pieces and moved up to #1 after breezing through victories at home. Then they went to Chicago and blew out #16 Washington in the battle of the Huskies. They will be tested, however, against the tough Michigan State. The Maryland Terrapins, led by Laron Profit, have definitely been the most impressive team so far, after dazzling opponents in the Puerto Rico Shootout. The Terps are now second-best, showing signs of greatness. UConn and Maryland are the lucky teams. Michigan State, although there have been no disasters, has not played at the level they had hoped to play at. The team which beat the Spartans, Temple, was #7 after the game, but since then has dropped three stunners to Pennsylvania, Penn State, and #16 Indiana. #12 Syracuse, after running over opponents in the Maui Invitational, lost in a heartbreaking defeat against unranked Ohio, in their own Carrier Dome. But that's not the end. UCLA, St. John's, Utah, and Rhode Island have all fallen victim in the first month of action. On the other hand, who needs Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, and Shammond Williams when you've got Jason Capel and Ed Cota? That's the story for the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are #3 while their former stars are waiting for the darn lockout to end. Beyond the Top 25, Miami of Ohio, led by Wally Szcerbiak, has been a pleasant surprise, as well as Pittsburgh and Rutgers.
It is only a month into the season, so it is hard to make a definite outlook on the season. For Maryland, it is starting to seem like they can beat anyone, anytime, and anywhere. For the UConn Huskies, Richard Hamilton, Khalid El-Amin, and Co. have not played their best ball yet, so the rest of the nation better watch out. For teams like Duke and Temple, it was a hard fall as they were wounded in battle. As the season wears on, things should get interesting on the road to St. Petersburg.
Go To Page: 1 2
| Here's the follow-up discussion on this article: | View all related messages |
For a complete listing of article comments, questions, and other discussions related to Chris Lin's NCAA Basketball topic, please visit the Discussions page.