First of all, bad scouting by us. Glen "Big Baby" Davis has not played for LSU for several games (including today) because of an injury. Nevertheless, we still would have never in our wildest imagination have picked LSU to beat Florida. Let us tell you about it:
3. Florida: at LSU. Remember when LSU was ranked? Remember Glen "Big Baby" Davis? Oh, those were the days. Forward-wind to now and LSU is 14-13 and will not see any post-season play. Davis is still working hard, but his supporting cast stands around and watches. Gators win this one big. We like statistics. The details of a game are where the most interesting analysis can be found. Forget dunks and rallies--give us percentages. However, this game can be broken down as one team just wanting to win more than the other team. LSU, without their big-name player, Glen Davis, hustled and played hard for 40 minutes. That's it. No big news. Just a team on the mend going hard as hell against a defending national champion team that thinks they can waltz into any arena and show everyone their 2006 National Championship hats and be handed a win. We have seen bits and pieces of this type of attitude from the Gators all this season (SEE: slacking off on late game leads). Folks, this Gator team should not be in the top-10. Good? Yes, they are good. All THAT good? No. Congrats LSU.
4. UCLA: host Stanford. While the Cardinals did beat the Bruins a month ago, they are struggling as of late and will have a hard time with UCLA. Quality depth will be the key in this game as UCLA will win. BUT, it will be close. No upset, though. Close in the first half, but UCLA pulled away in the second half to beat Stanford.
6. Kansas: play host to Iowa State. No need to pontificate. Jayhawks win this one at home. And again, no need to expound. Kansas should pop into the top 4 next week.
8. Pitt: at #12 Georgetown. We have been waiting for this one. This is the game of the day. Battle of the two teams tied for first in the Big East. The Hoyas have won 10 straight, while the Panthers are struggling, having won their last 2 games against unranked and not-good teams by an average of only 3.5 points. We have said all year that Pitt is over-rated, and we still believe it. So, the Hoyas win this game. Hoyas prove once again that they are going to be hard to beat in the post-season as they also prove that Pitt is over-ranked. Of course, we have been saying that for many weeks now. Georgetown wins by 8.
9. Texas A&M: host Baylor. Baylor is 13-13 and have lost 4 of their last 5 games. Aggies roll. Baylor did a good job trying to run with the Aggies, and they may have succeeded if they had connected on just a couple of more 3-pointers. Credit the Bears for not backing down to A&M. The Aggies' lead was never more than 12, and hovered in the single digits for most of the game.
10. Nevada: at Boise State. Nevada has lost just 1 out of its last 19 games, BUT, they only beat Boise State by 4 in their last meeting. The Broncos have won 5 straight, and they are no joke. What happens? Upset. Boise State wins by less than 10. This game will rely on guard play. We were wrong. Nevada was challenged by Boise State in the first half, but pulled away after the break to beat the Broncos by 14. We were completely surprised by this game.
11. Washington State: at Oregon State. Yes, the Cougars just lost to Oregon, but they are still strong, and will rebound with a win over bottom-of-the-barrel OSU. Washington State back on track with a win at Oregon State.
13. Air Force: at TCU. The basic call is that the Falcons are very good and the Horned Frogs (what the heck?) are not. The Frogs have lost 11 straight, by-the-way. One of those losses was a 36-point slaughter by Air Force. Enough said? We think so. Falcons fly! Actually, the Falcons get shot down by the hot-shooting Frogs, who went 56% from the field to stun AF.
14. Southern Illinois: play host to Evansville. The Salukis' last loss was to Evansville, and it was a fluke. The hound dogs are going as far as the Sweet Sixteen this season, and the Aces (what kind of a team name is that?) will have 16 losses this season. No contest. Southern Illinois wins. Aces low as Southern Illinois wins. Yawn.
15. Butler: hosts Detroit. Butler is sucking wind, and sits a half game behind Wright State (not ranked) in the no-talent Horizon League. The Bulldogs have lost 3 of their last 5. So, what are they doing with a #15 ranking? That's what we want to know. Butler is bad. BUT, they will win this game. Does anyone care? We don't, since they won't see the second round of the Big Dance. They are a non-factor. Butler won. We said they would. They are still not good.
16. Marquette: at #23 Notre Dame. The Irish have just hung around the rankings this year, but they look like they are peaking. Marquette has lost 3 of their last 4. Lack of experience is what is killing the Golden Eagles. We think upset on this one. Notre Dame wins. And upset it is. ND is looking strong. Marquette played a very good game, though. This was a classic grind-it-out game which stayed close for 40 minutes. The Irish have won 4 in a row, and will need to bring that momentum to the Big East Tourney, where the team to beat, Georgetown, looks unbeatable at the moment.
19. Virginia: play host to Georgia Tech. Good game to watch. This is a battle of the guards. But, experience will prevail as the Cavaliers win. It was indeed a battle of the guards, but the Cavaliers guards, with their experience, outscored the Tech guards 49-19 to get a win. No surprise for us.
20. Texas: at Oklahoma. Texas is peaking. Oklahoma is not. Longhorns win. And, as we said, Texas wins.
22. BYU: at San Diego State. The Mormons are rolling with 8-straight wins. The Aztecs, however, have won 6 of their last 7. This game deserves a close look. Our call? Unless BYU starts hitting 3-pointers, San Diego State will win, especially if the Mormons start racking up the fouls. AND, the Aztecs have only lost 2 games at home this season, with one of them being to then-#15 Arizona. Aztecs win. We were right about the outcome, but the Mormons rained down the 3's, although they still lost. Another upset.
24. Oregon: host Washington. We wish someone would tell us how Oregon is even ranked. They have lost 5 of their last 7 games for goodness sakes! Washington is no better, entering this game with a 3-game losing streak. But, we really think the Huskies will win. Upset! We're not staying awake for the end of this game, but with 6 minutes to go, Oregon is up by 8. Don't count out the Huskies, though. We'll let you know tomorrow how it turned out.
25. Alabama: play host to Auburn. Both teams suck. The Tigers pounded Bama by 24 a month ago. Not much has changed since then. Bama loses and hopefully falls out of the rankings for good. We plead again to the Coaches' poll to put Bama out of the rankings as they lost, as we said they would.
EXTRA: Just for the sake of our friends from Wisconsin--where pretty much all they do is make cheese and shovel snow--there was quite a battle tonight between Wis-Milwaukee and Wis-Green Bay. Wis-Milwaukee, sporting a woeful 9-21 record, pulls an upset, beating a very bad Wis-Green Bay (16-14) by 1 point. Playing basketball in cold weather is no fun. Your hands get numb.
Sunday?
1. Ohio State: hosts #2 Wisconsin. OSU has won 12 straight. The Badgers have lost 2 of their last 7 games. Greg Oden is a force to be reckoned with, so Win-consin will have their hands full. Both teams have a quality 8-deep roster. Team stats are about even. Sorry to our Badger friends (who also have the most impressive collection of straws we have ever seen) but Wisconsin will not win this game. Oden will step it up in this big-time showdown. Don't count out the cheese-lovers, though. We still like them for the Final Four.
5. UNC: at Maryland. Must-win game for the Heels going into their last week of regular-season ACC play. The Terps are getting confident wins, and Carolina is looking vulnerable. We're going with the depth and outstanding guard play (SEE: Ty Lawson) of the Tar Heels. It won't be a blowout, but Ol' Roy and his team will eke out a win.
7. Memphis: play host to Houston. Not a difficult game to call. Memphis wins at home.
17. Duke: at St. John's. The Blue Satans look like they may have found their desire to win, which is not good news for SJU. Duke wins.
21. Vandy: hosts Kentucky. The Commodores win.
Vederla domani.
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