While it may seem joyless to go 6-for-6 when all 6 were won by picking favorites, Rikey (the defending champ), can at least know that he’s the only one that did so.
OVERALL STANDINGS:
1). Rikey (30)
2). Bry, Primm, Waters (27)
5). Doogan, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, RDoc, RSmith, Scoot, Teddy (24)
13). Alexi, Dave, Gross, Lil Lohse (21)
17). Gersh, J (18)
The first round of the Horizon League tournament is in the books, and the chalk holds again. There have now been 6 CTC games, with the higher-seeded teams winning all 6. But, for those who crave MADNESS, have no fear. With the neutral-court tournaments about to start, we should get a nice dose of madness.
#3 Detroit 80 – #10 Loyola (IL) 71
The Horizon’s hottest team took out the Horizon’s worst team in a game that wasn’t quite as close as the final score may indicate. This win was big for Dave, Gross, and Lohse because it kept alive their champion. No one had Loyola winning this game, so we all got 6 points.
#4 UW-Milwaukee 68 – #9 Illinois-Chicago 55
This game was 29-8 at one point, so it was never in question. And, again, no one picked this upset, so we all got 6 points. Lil Lohse is the happiest with this result, as he has Milwaukee winning the title.
#5 Butler 70 – #8 Wright St. 52
A one-point game at halftime got real ugly, real fast in the second half, as the three-time defending Horizon champs live to fight another day. Doogan, Gersh, J, and Teddy all missed on what would have been a nice upset pick. Doogan took the biggest hit here, as he Wright St. making the semis.
#6 Youngstown St. 77 – #7 Green Bay 60
In the biggest swing game of the CTC thus far (11 people had Green Bay, 7 had YSU), the Penguins of Youngstown St. prevail and move on to the quarters on Friday night to face Detroit. The big losses here are J, Lil Lohse, and Lynch, who had Green Bay in the semis (Lil Lohse actually had them in the finals). Teddy is the happiest with this result, as he has the Penguins winning again on Friday.
DAY TWO and
HORIZON SCORES (with prior titles):
24 – Bry (’11*, ’09), Primm, Rikey, RSmith, Waters (’08)
18 – Alexi, Dave, Doogan (’10*), Gross, Lil Lohse, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, RDoc, Scoot, Teddy (’10*)
12 – Gersh, J
The Day One festivities are over, and the Big South takes a day off to travel, and a couple more tournaments start tomorrow, but for tonight, the Horizon League takes center stage with four opening round games. A truly fascinating year in the Horizon, as the league continues to get better and better and we can probably (finally) officially say that this league (and the MVC) have officially passed the Mid-American as the 2 best mid-majors in the Midwest.
As of writing this, there are 15 Horizon submissions. Here are the championship picks:
As for tonight’s games, no one is going for the really big upsets, as everyone has #3 Detroit and #4 UW-Milwaukee holding serve tonight. However, 4 people (Doogan, Gersh, J, and Teddy) like #8 Wright St. to beat #5 Butler, and the majority (9 people) have #7 Green Bay in the mild upset of #6 Youngstown St. Only Bry, Doogan, Rikey, RSmith, Teddy, and Waters have YSU. Obviously, the games tonight are very important for Gross, Lohse, and RSmith, who put their Horizon champion pick on the line tonight.
As for some Horizon history, this conference has required a perfect bracket to win it in each of the past two years. While the CTC has been around for well over a decade, the “recorded history” goes back four years. Waters won the first Horizon title on record in ’08. Bry took the ’09 title. And, then in each of the past two years, a perfect bracket was required for this title. Doogan and Teddy both ran the table in 2010, while Bry went 9-for-9 last year.
The CTC kicked off last night with two pretty good games, both close wins by the favorites. #7 VMI held off #10 Radford, 55-53, while #8 High Point outlasted #9 Gardner-Webb, 60-53.
10 of the 19 contestants hit both games. Only RSmith hit neither. J and Lohse can breathe a big sigh of relief, as their finalist pick, VMI, survived its first-round game. The Keydets will now move on to the quarterfinals tomorrow night against 2nd-seeded Coastal Carolina. High Point takes tonight off before travelling to #1 UNC-Asheville tomorrow in the quarters.
BIG SOUTH SCORES:
6 – Doogan, Gersh, J, Lohse, Lynch, Mac, Rikey, RDoc, Scoot, Teddy
3 – Alexi, Bry, Dave, Gross, Lil Lohse, Primm, Waters
0 – RSmith
* – these are, obviously, also the Overall Standings and the Day One scores, so congrats to the 10 people who can add a quick and easy Day One championship to their trophy case.
I love the Olympics. There is just something about combining ancient, yet novel sports with intense nationalism that really gets me going. I love them so much that I get inherently excited for the Opening Ceremonies, even though, in a vacuum, the Opening Ceremonies, well, aren’t all that exciting. But, I love them anyway because there are enough allusions to what is to come over the next two or three weeks that the actual pointlessness of the Ceremonies is almost completely obscured.
Well, my friends, tonight is the 2012 CTC’s Opening Ceremonies. There are only two games, and they pit the four worst teams in the irrelevant Big South Conference. Each game tonight is only going to be worth about 0.1% of the final total, so it would be a stretch to say that they even mean anything for the CTC.
BUT…just the fact that someone (realistically, a group of someones) will be in first place in the CTC by about 9:30 tonight makes tonight phenomenal…in a bit of an ostentatious, artsy, Opening Ceremonies kind of way.
As of me writing this, we have 14 entries into the CTC (we do expect a couple more to filter in…) and the first conference is quite chalky, at least as far as a champion goes. 10 people have top-seeded UNC-Asheville winning this tournament. 3 people (Lynch, Primm, and Teddy) have #2-seeded Coastal Carolina, and one lone voice in the wilderness (Mac) is backing the 3rd-seeded Campbell Fightin’ Camels.
As for tonight’s first-round, it is just the 7-10 and 8-9 games tonight. Both underdogs have 3 people backing them tonight. RSmith has both underdogs, while 9th-seeded Gardner-Webb could pull off the minor upset for GrossJr and Primm as well. #10 Radford would provide a slightly larger upset to Alexi and Bry, along with RSmith, if they can beat #8 High Point. But, while upset points are nice, the two people with the most at stake are two people who are riding both favorites. J and Lohse both need VMI to beat Radford tonight because they both picked the Keydets to go to the Big South title game, so to lose a finalist on Day One would be a rather ominous beginning to the 2012 CTC for a couple of veterans.
It’s that time of the year again. The BSB Conference Tournament Challenge. Every year since I can remember, Doogan, J, and I have been picking every conference tournament bracket from the ACC to the Patriot League. Stri joined us about 6 or 7 years ago. Stri was shortly followed by Ina. Then, Alexi, Waters, and Lynch jumped in three or four years ago. We had another wide expansion in 2010, as we added KA, Lynch, Teddy, and a pair of Lohses. And, then the big expansion in 2011, as we added a dozen more. We are hoping to have everyone back.
And, all are welcome. All it takes is filling out a ton of brackets when you get them in your email and sending them back to me before the games start. Then, follow along on BSB and see if your pick of Oral Roberts to win the Summit League takes you to eternal bragging rights (or at least for one year).
The games will be updated and the scores will be tallied on a daily basis, and we’ll try and preview the upcoming action, complete with who has the big upset picks and who needs a favorite to survive. It is pretty much wall-to-wall basketball from all angles. There is no official entry fee, but BSB may be running an official side pool on the action, but that is COMPLETELY optional. Most people just play for bragging rights, and as a good way to get the most out of the best month of basketball you can possibly imagine.
Leave a comment or email me if you want to have some real Madness…
Now that that awful 2011-12 NFL season has drawn to an awful conclusion, everyone can now turn their attention a college hoops season that is much more intriguing than one might think, given the disappoinment of some of the top teams and major conferences. There are, as always, plenty of intriguing storylines all over the country as we enter the meat of the season. The month of February is always fantastic for college hoops, and I am ready to make some random, bold (sure-to-be-wrong) predictions about what we will see in the next month and a half.
So…tell me I’m crazy, but:
1). No more than 10 “Rich Conference” teams will constitute this year’s Sweet Sixteen
In order for this to be true, I am going to have to find six S16 spots for “mid-major” teams. I think I can…
So, call it 4 between those two groups. I still need two more…
So, that puts us at at least 6, right? And, while I’m certainly not banking on it, if we absolutely need another, what about this group?
2). Murray State Will Lose At Least Two Games (Quite Possibly 3) Before Selection Sunday
This kind of flies in the face of my #1 prediction a little bit because if they do lose 2 or 3 games, they will certainly not be a high seed and (depending on whether one of those losses is in the OVC tournament) may not even make the tournament. But, either way, I think this team will have multiple losses before Selection Sunday. St. Mary’s is going to beat them in the BracketBusters matchup, and I can easily see them dropping TWO OVC games down the stretch, as their conference schedule is severely backloaded. They still have road games left against the #2, #3, and #4 teams in the OVC, including the regular season finale at Tennessee Tech, who was picked OVER Murray St. to win the league preseason. And, that game is the second of a two-game road trip to end the season, as they play a pretty good Tennessee State team two days prior to the Tech game. They also go on the road (3 days before BracketBusters) to face a SE Missouri State team that almost beat them in Murray last week.
3). Pittsburgh Will Go Further in the NCAA Tournament Than UConn
This wouldn’t have been all that “bold” to say two months ago, but the Panthers lost their first 7 Big East games. And, while UConn hasn’t exactly lived up to their preseason hype, they were picked by many people to actually repeat as champions this year. But, in the months of February and March, college hoops games are won by leaders (generally, point guards) and Pitt’s troubles came when their leader was hurt and now is back. The leader that UConn is missing is on the Charlotte Bobcats and isn’t coming back. Travon Woodall is not the best player on Pitt (he’s probably 3rd or 4th, at best), but, as was shown when he was sidelined, he is probably the most important. Now that he’s back, this team is ready to roll. UConn lost Kemba Walker to the NBA and, while their overall basketball talent is probably much better than last year’s version with Kemba, they have no “F you” player on the team this year.
4). Despite Getting 9 or 10 Teams in the Field, the Big East Will Rank No Higher Than 5th, as a Conference, in Combined NCAA Tournament Wins
This conference stinks. And, I fully support the inclusion of 9-10 Big East teams. But, these teams are not good. The Big Ten has quality teams that will win in March. The Big XII is top-heavy, but those teams at the top are really, really, really good. And, Kentucky and UNC, by themselves, might win more games than the Big East’s 10 teams, so they won’t even need help from the Floridas or Dukes of the world to help them out.
5). The 2012 NCAA Men’s Basketball Champion Will Be…North Carolina
It’s stupidly early to make a championship prediction, but I’m stupid, so I’m going to do it. Now, for all of those saying “that’s not that bold,” well, you’re probably right, but it’s at least justified by the fact that they will most likely not be a #1-seed, and that there is one team that has seperated itself as the clear #1 team in the country right now (Kentucky). But, to me, the Tar Heels are the best, most balanced, most experienced team in the country and are just waiting for the big stage to really turn it on. They remind me of the second Florida title team that all came back to school to win another title and didn’t really seem to care until tournament time.
6). Northwestern Will Make Their First NCAA Tournament in School History
This was a huge story in each of the past two years because the Wildcats started hot and looked in position to make it. But, in each year, they faded down the stretch and were (justly) left out of the field. This year, there has been no talk about them making it because, well, they haven’t really deserved any discussion with the way they’ve played. But, I think this team has the talent and is starting to put it together. They beat Illinois on the road on Sunday and have some other opportunities to earn themselves the historic inclusion (@Purdue 2/12, @Indiana 2/15, and then Minnesota, Michigan, and Ohio St. at home down the stretch). With a pretty soft bubble (a phrase I am embarrassed to use because of its disgusting overuse during this month) and the 68-team field, I like their chances.
7). The MAC Western Division Will Not Win Another Game Against a MAC Eastern Division Team
I would have made this prediction before they even started playing games, which would have been much bolder (and, ultimately, wrong), so it seems a little less bold now, but this still includes 12 regular season games and a slew of conference tournament games. While that preseason prediction would have been wrong – it wouldn’t have been that crazy, as the East is currently 21-3 against the West, including back-to-back nights where they won all 6 inter-division games. This is more of a statement of opposition against the way the conference tournament is slated, where, not only will two Western Division teams receive byes, but two more will have home games in the first round against far superior Eastern Division teams. For example, there is a chance that Kent State (16-6, 94 RPI) will have their first conference tournament game ON THE ROAD against Toledo (10-13, 283) or Central Michigan (7-15, 249). And, while Kent has that opening round road game, Ball State (12-9, 235) and Eastern Michigan (5-4, 227) will have BYES to the quarterfinals. It’s incredibly unfair and really has never (in my recollection) been exemplified as egregiously as this year in the MAC because the six best teams in the conference and the six Eastern Division teams. It’s a joke…
So, I am a total sucker for sports talk radio. I listen to way too much of it from national perspectives to local talkshow hosts. So, because of that, I seem to always have a decent pulse on the various opinions and takes on the major sporting events. Usually, there is a general consensus, with some dissenting opinions here and there. Not this year…and it might be the single most confounding general, unwavering opinion that I can recall in all my sporting experience.
Every single opinion I can find – from the national media to New York and even Boston – that seems to believe that Patriots are anything but major underdogs in this game. The Vegas line opened at 3 (which was SHOCKINGLY low to me) and has actually been bet down to as low as 1.5 in some places, and never higher than the original 3.
In fact, if you just listened to the so-called “experts,” you would think that the Giants were a double-digit favorite in this game. And, quite frankly, I JUST DON’T GET IT.
Here are some of the comments I have heard (many of them multiple times) in the two-week pregame show that is our mainstream media:
“The Giants are just clearly the better team.”
Really? Has anyone actually watched either of these teams or paid attention to the season in any way?
The Patriots were 13-3 and cruised to the #1-seed in the AFC. They went 5-1 in a division that included a Jets team that had been to back-to-back AFC Championship Games, an upstart Bills team, and a Dolphins team that was one of the better teams in the league after an atrocious start. The Pats won 9 games by double-digits and were within a touchdown in all 3 of their losses.
The Giants were 9-7 and snuck into the playoffs by barely winning the worst NFC East in history, including being swept by the 5-11 Redskins. 5 of their 9 wins were close (within a touchdown), and that doesn’t even include double-digit wins over the Eagles (Week 3) and the Cowboys (Week 17) in which they trailed in the second half before some garbage time points pushed it into double-digits. They had four double-digit losses, including 14- and 13-point losses to the lowly Redskins, an 11-point home loss to the long-travelled Seattle Seahawks, and an embarrassing 35-point loss to New Orleans in the Monday night spotlight.
Oh, and this great Giants team actually GAVE UP MORE POINTS THAN THEY SCORED THIS YEAR. The Patriots? Ya, they outscored their opponents by 171 this year…that’s right, ONE-HUNDRED, SEVENTY-ONE POINTS.
So, how, again, are the Giants “clearly the better team?”
“The Giants are just the hotter team coming into the Super Bowl.”
Again, I don’t understand how this can be said with a straight face. The Giants finished the season 4-4, including a 13-point HOME loss in a must-win Week 15 game to the Redskins. And, the Patriots? They haven’t lost since NOVEMBER 6TH!
Ya, but didn’t the Pats almost lose the AFC Championship Game two weeks ago? Yes, yes, they did. To a very, very good Ravens team. Did we forget what happened in the NFC Championship Game? Two bad San Fran fumbles simply handed the G-men 10 points – and they needed every one of them in an overtime win over a team with Alex Smith at quarterback.
Sure, but the Giants beat the Packers in the Divisional Round. Yes, they did, and it was a very good win. But, how quickly we forget that the Pats absolutely torched the very highly-touted Denver defense for 45 points in an outright laugher. And, that was coming off a Week 17 game against Buffalo where the Pats scored FORTY-NINE unanswered points to clinch the top seed.
Oh, and did I mention that the Pats have won 10 in a row and the Giants have lost 4 games since the last Pats loss.
How, again, are the Giants the “hotter” team?
“Eli Manning might not only be the best quarterback in his family…”
This is just laughable. I’m not going to go too much into this because this isn’t about Peyton (or Archie), but let’s just chalk this up more evidence of the delusion of the media right now.
But, we can look at one that is more relevant this week.
“…but, Eli might be the best quarterback in Super Bowl XLVI.”
Okay, let’s address this because this is even more laughable. Tom Brady might be the greatest quarterback of all-time. And, the one part of the prior argument between Eli and Peyton (Eli is “more clutch”) fall VERY short in this one. Brady has 5 AFC Championships and is one game away from 4 Super Bowls. He has thrown 300 touchdowns and only 115 INTs. He is 21 yards shy of 40,000 yards. He has completed 63.8% of his passes and has a QB rating of 96.4. Oh, and he has a 124-35 career record as a starter (16-5 in the playoffs)
Eli? He has only won a playoff game in one season prior to this year and is a slightly better-than-mediocre 69-50 in the regular season. He has throw 185 TDs (115 fewer than Brady) and 129 INTs (14 MORE than Brady). His completion percentage is 58.4% and QB rating is 82.1 (both lower than the league averages for starting QBs).
Ya, but we’re talking about this year, and Eli has had the best year of his career this year. Right. Eli threw for a career-high 4,933 yards, had a 61.0% completion percentage with 29 TDs and 16 INTs. Way better than the 2011 Tom Brady season, right?
Not even close. Brady threw for 5,235 yards (almost 300 more than Eli), 65.6% completion percentage (4.5 points better than Eli), 39 TDs (10 more than Eli), and 12 INTs (4 FEWER than Eli). You can’t find a measure that you could even use to make the argument that Eli is better than Brady. He’s clutch? Yes, Eli led 3 game-winning drives this year. Well, Tom Brady led the league with 7.
So, how, again, is Eli the better QB in this game?
“Eli is, at least, the hotter quarterback in this game.”
(I’ll resist the temptation to make a sophomoric joke about physical attractiveness differences between these two men.)
Yes, Brady, by his own admission, “sucked” last week. He didn’t throw a TD pass, but did lead an offense that scored 23 points against the best defense in the AFC and was not “gifted” any of those 23 points. How was Eli so much better last week? If not for two bone-headed fumbles by Kyle Williams on punt returns, the Giants would have scored a mere 10 points and would be watching Alex Smith try to outduel Tom Brady today.
Plus, it’s not like Brady has been bad for a while now. He did throw five TD passes in the FIRST HALF against the Broncos. He also led 7 straight touchdown drives against the Bills in the final regular season game.
So, how, again, is Eli playing better right now?
“The Patriots defense is just so much worse than the Giants defense.”
Is it? Really?
Yes, the Pats were ranked 31st in team defense (as far as yards allowed, which is a pretty flawed measure anyway). But, the Giants were 27th, so how much better can the 27th-ranked defense really be than the 31st-ranked D?
Plus, is the game won by the team that gains the most yardage? Or, is it the team that scores the most points? The Patriots were 15th in the league in points allowed, as their “awful” D gave up 342 points this year. What about the Giants? Well, their defense gave up 400 points, which has them ranked 25th in the league.
And, these defenses can only be judged in any individual game by how they match up with the opposing offenses. Well, the Patriots scored 116 more points than the Giants and gained almost 700 more yards.
So, how, again, is this Pats defense so much worse than the Giants defense?
I could go on and on with this, but I think the point has been made. I’m not saying that the Giants can’t win this game. I’m not even saying that they won’t win this game. All I’m saying is that if they do win the game, I, personally, will consider it one of the bigger Super Bowl upsets in my memory.
It’s just bizarre how people feel that the Giants are such overwhelming favorites. I even heard someone say that the general consensus among writers is that the Giants will “win by 3 touchdowns.” Sports Guy talked about how the Pats could benefit from the “nobody-believes-in-us theory.” Huh? Nobody believes in them?
I just don’t get it…
Maybe it was the lockout.
Maybe it is the rule changes.
Maybe it is an over-abundance of youth and inexperience at key positions around the league.
Maybe it is just the dawn of a new era and this is what we are to expect going forward.
Or, maybe it was just one of “those years.”
But, for whatever reason (or combination of reasons) the 2011 NFL season was easily the strangest NFL season I can remember. Think all seasons present “oddities?” Think I’m just finding a reason why the most talented Eagles team of my lifetime didn’t win the worst NFC East of my lifetime? Think I’m just heaping on my usual overdose of hyperbole? You might be right, but let me offer a few quick reasons why this season was simply nuts.
The Bengals, Lions, and Texans All Made the Playoffs
Anyone who has followed the NFL even a little bit knows that the Lions and Bengals are the annual league doormats. The last playoff win for the Bengals came over some team named the Houston Oilers 22 years ago. That means that the Lions fans can’t complain about their team’s 21 years since their last postseason win (which was followed up by getting drubbed 41-10 in the 1991 NFC Championship Game). Then again, at least the Bengals have been there in the past couple of years. The Lions haven’t even made the playoffs since the 20th Century. Oh, and then there is the Texans, who, before this year, not only hadn’t ever made the playoffs, but they hadn’t even ever had a winning record…ever! Now, they are all in the postseason here in 2012, and one of them is going to win a game, considering the Texans host Cincinnati on Saturday.
Tim Tebow, Andy Dalton, and T.J. Yates Will All Start Playoff Games This Weekend
NFL franchises’ fates depend more on the performance of their quarterback than any other sporting franchise depends on any one person. It is, without argument, the most important position in the world of sports. And, this year – the Year of the Quarterback – the importance of a team’s signal-caller is at an all-time high. And, yet, a guy who can’t throw (Tebow), an unheralded rookie who has hit the wall (Dalton), and a third-string, fifth-round draft pick from UNC (Yates) will all be that “most important guy” for playoff teams this weekend. And, two of the four quarterbacks that earned their teams first-round byes are named Alex Smith and Joe Flacco – not exactly Elway and Montana…
There Were Two Teams That Gave Up More Passing Yards Than Any Other Team in History – The Two #1 Seeds
That’s right. The 2011 New England Patriots (the AFC’s top seed) allowed more passing yards than any other team in the history of the sport. And, second-place on that list? The 2011 Green Bay Packers (the NFC’s top seed). Now, I know that when you’re ahead (or even have the threat of a quick-strike offense), teams tend to pass much more often than they throw, but, still, the two WORST pass defenses of ALL-TIME are our two #1 seeds? You can’t make this stuff up…
TWO Quarterbacks Broke the 27-Year-Old Single Season Passing Record…And NEITHER ONE Is Expected to Win the MVP
Dan Marino’s passing record (set in 1984) has been one of the most targeted records in the NFL, yet has stood tall for nearly three decades. Until now, when Drew Brees AND Tom Brady both broke this prestigious record. And, yet, another quarterback (Aaron Rodgers) is the odds-on favorite to take home the Most Valuable Player Award. Crazy.
The League’s Rushing Leader Was on the Worst Passing Team in the League
Maurice Jones-Drew ran away with the rushing title this year, despite playing in on a really bad team with the league’s worst passing attack. That means that teams routinely put 8, or even 9 guys in the box on every play against the Jags because MJD was the only guy who could do anything in that offense.
The League’s Sack Leader Was on a 3-13 Team
When a team in the NFL is leading a game, they usually run the ball to work the clock and hold the lead. And, when they do throw, they are usually quick, conservative passes designed mostly to avoid negative yardage and turnovers. So, the fact that Jared Allen, whose team only won 3 games all year, would lead the league in sacks (and basically tie the “legit” all-time record) is absolutely incredible.
Four of the Top Eight in Receptions Were NOT Wide Receivers, Including the League’s Leader in Receiving TDs
Rob Gronkowski broke out this year with 17 touchdowns to lead the league from a position that, not too long ago, was basically a 6th offensive lineman. Now, in an era of big-play wide receivers and strong-armed quarterbacks, the Pats tight end had nearly 100 receptions to go with his 17 TDs. But, it doesn’t stop there, as Jimmy Graham (99 catches), the Saints tight end, was tied for 4th in the league with 11 touchdowns. Along with Gronk and Graham, Brandon Pettigrew (Lions TE), Darren Sproles (Saints RB), and Tony Gonzalez (Falcons TE) were account for five of the 12 players this year that caught at least 80 balls.
The Chargers and Eagles Did NOT Win Their God-Awful Divisions
Okay, maybe I’m just being a homer on this one, let us really think about this. The Chargers have been one of the best teams in the league and have, objectively, one of the most talented rosters, top to bottom, in the league, yet somehow they couldn’t win a division that was won by the 8-8 Broncos. The Eagles, who were 10-6 and division champs last year, added SIX Pro Bowlers in the offseason. Plus, the division was really, really bad – as shown by the mediocre (and that is kind) Giants winning the division at 9-7. Oh, and neither team can blame injuries, as they were relatively healthy.
15) Herb Pope, SR, Seton Hall: The senior out of Western PA has played his way onto this list over the first six weeks of the season. Not only is his team off to a surprising 11-1 start, but Pope has been dominant, averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds. The Hall hasn’t really played anybody, but Pope’s season highlights include 32 points vs. Northwestern and a 24 point/17 rebound line vs. Mercer.
Baylor has an imposing frontcourt duo with Jones (left) and Acy
14) Quincy Acy, SR, Baylor: Acy has had a quietly excellent career as a rock solid, prototypical college power forward. He’s already played on some good teams, but this year’s edition may be the best they’ve had yet, and he’ll be a big part of that. He’s averaging 13 points, 7 boards, and 2.5 blocks while shooting over 60% from the field. At just 6’7″, he probably doesn’t have much future in the League, but he’s leaving a mark in Waco.
13) Mike Moser, SO, UNLV: This transfer from UCLA announced his presence on the national stage by putting up 16 points, 18 boards, and 6 assists in UNLV’s upset of then-#1 North Carolina. He also had 17 points/11 boards in a win over a ranked Illinois team and he is among the nation’s leaders in rebounding, with over 11 per game.
12) Mike Scott, SR, Virginia: UVA coach Tony Bennett is working on making the Cavaliers relevant again for the first time in a long time and Scott is leading the way. He’s averaging 17 points/10 boards and has posted double-doubles against solid teams like Michigan, Oregon, and Drexel. Last week he put up 33 points/14 rebounds against Seattle, which I didn’t know was a D-1 team, but still an impressive stat line.
11) Mason Plumlee, JR, Duke: The middle of the three Plumlee bros has steadily improved throughout his time at Duke and should probably be considered now among the nation’s best post players. He’s averaging 12.5 points/10 boards/2 blocks this year, and shooting 65% from the field. His season highlight to date was a 17 point/12 rebound effort vs. Kansas.
10) Perry Jones III, SO, Baylor: If this were an NBA prospect list he’d be definitely be close to the top, but Jones still doesn’t dominate on a consistent basis. Maybe part of the reason, though, is because he plays alongside another talented big man in Acy. After missing the start of the season with an injury, Jones is averaging 14 points/7 boards and had his signature game of the year so far in a win at BYU, with 28 points, 8 boards, 4 assists, and 3 steals.
9) Arnett Moultrie, JR, Mississippi St.: Moultrie was a two-year starter at UTEP 
before transferring, and he’s made an immediate impact for 14th-ranked MSU. He’s averaging 17 points and is among the nation’s leaders with 11.5 rebounds per game. Not all that surprising when you consider that he averaged over 8 rebounds a game as a freshman at UTEP three years ago. At nearly 7 feet, it would be nice if he could become more of a factor as a shot-blocker. He has just six blocked shots on the season so far.
8. Kevin Jones, SR, West Virginia: Jones has been a nice enough player in his career at West Virginia, averaging 13 points and 7 rebounds over the last two years, but he’s taken a giant leap this season. He’s averaging 20 points and 11.5 rebounds, which includes games of 30 points/12 boards vs. Kansas St. and 28 points/17 boards vs. Baylor. Those performances are even more impressive when you consider that KSU and Baylor are two fantastic defensive teams. Interestingly, Jones’ 3-point percentage has dropped from 40% as a soph., to 30% as a junior, to 20% this year. It may be time to stop shooting them (even if that hurts his NBA stock), because he’s shooting 67% on 2-point attempts, while taking a lot of shots.
7) Draymond Green, SR, Michigan St.: The Dancing Bear has been one of my favorite players in the college game for a few years now. He looks like a prototypical, banging power forward, but he can do everything. He’s averaging 15 points and 10 boards, but also about 4 assists a game over the last two years. He also picks up blocks and steals at a pretty high rate, and he can step out and knock down 3’s. He dropped 34 points on Gonzaga, grabbed 18 rebounds vs. UNC, had 4 steals vs. Duke, blocked 6 shots vs. Lehigh, and has dished out 6 assists in a game on three separate occasions.
6) Tyler Zeller, SR, North Carolina: It hasn’t been the start I would’ve expected for his senior season, but I still think Zeller is the best pure center in college basketball, so I’m leaving him pretty high on this list. A legit 7-footer with solid athleticism and a soft touch around the basket, Zeller is averaging 14 points/8 boards. He’s had a couple big games vs. weak opponents this year, but has also come up pretty small in a few contests. With all the talent he plays with, the numbers won’t be too big, but he should be better and more consistent going forward than he has been.
Most opponents are outmanned and overwhelmed vs. Jones and Davis
5) Terrence Jones, SO, Kentucky: Even more so than Zeller, it has not been the start to the season that Jones would’ve wanted. After inexplicably disappearing (4 points, 1 rebound, 6 turnovers) in the team’s loss to Indiana, Jones dislocated his finger in the team’s next game and missed a couple games. To his credit, he said all the right things after being benched for the final few minutes of that Indiana game. When he’s right, which should be soon, Jones is one of the premier talents in the college game (as he showed by averaging 16 points/9 boards as a freshman last year). His best game this year was a 26 point/9 rebound/4 blocks line vs. St. John’s. At 6’9″, 250, he can move better than most small forwards, and he’s hit 8 of 17 3-point attempts on the season.
4) Anthony Davis, FR, Kentucky: 6’10”, a bouncy athlete, highly-skilled, with a natural gift for blocking shots: it’s not hard to see why Davis projects as the #1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft. He had 14 points and 7 blocks vs. Kansas (in his 2nd collegiate game) and nearly had a triple-double vs. St. John’s with 15 points, 15 rebounds, and 8 blocks. He’s not yet dominant offensively, but 12 points a game, at over 60% shooting from the field, isn’t too bad. He’s pulling down 10 boards a game and leads the nation in blocks, at 4.5 a game.
3) John Henson, JR, North Carolina: Henson is a guy that has definitely played his way up on this list in the first two months of the season. After a freshman season where either he or the team thought he was a small forward, the freakishly-athletic and long 6’11” forward has learned that his role is to stay around the basket, and he’s become one of the best big men in the country. He started off the season by blocking 9 shots vs. Michigan St. in that aircraft carrier game. He also had 17 rebounds and 5 blocks vs. Wisconsin and 24 points/10 boards/4 blocks vs. Long Beach St. Like he did last year, he’s averaging 10 rebounds and over 3 blocks a game, but he continues to progress offensively, averaging 14.5 points on 55% shooting.
2) Thomas Robinson, JR, Kansas: I know Kansas has been loaded over the last couple years, but I still never understood why they couldn’t find more minutes for Robinson. Most times he came into the game he looked like the best player on the floor, as a powerfully-built, super-athletic 6’9″ post man. There was some talk that his max-effort style couldn’t be sustained as a starter. Well, he seems to be sustaining his production just fine, averaging 17.5 points and ranking 3rd in the nation in rebounds, at just under 12 a game. Season highlights include 20 points/12 boards vs. Georgetown, 16/15 vs. Duke, 26/11 vs. Long Beach St., 21/7 vs. Ohio St., and 21/18 vs. Davidson.
1) Jared Sullinger, SO, Ohio St.: I did this list last year as well and Sullinger was an easy #1 then, so you know he was an easy call at #1 again. He’s had to deal with a couple different injuries already this year, which is part of the reason that his numbers (16 points/10 rebounds) don’t blow you away. Still, like last year, OSU is one of the the 3 or 4 most talented teams, so his numbers won’t do justice to how good he is. He’s the most hard-to-stop low post scorer in the college game and owns the glass. He showed recently that he might be back on track after the injuries, with 17 points/14 boards vs. Northwestern.
Honorable Mentions (alphabetical order): Gorgui Dieng (Louisville), Andre Drummond (UConn), Festus Ezeli (Vanderbilt), Yancy Gates (Cincinnati), Mike Glover (Iona), JaMychal Green (Alabama), Rob Jones (Saint Mary’s), Arsalan Kazemi (Rice), Meyers Leonard (Illinois), Ricardo Ratliffe (Missouri), T. J. Robinson (Long Beach St), Robert Sacre (Gonzaga), Mouphtaou Yarou (Villanova), Patric Young (Florida), Cody Zeller (Indiana)
