Welcome to Talking Hoops With Ted Sarandis. We join you in the middle of a wild week of college basketball.
No matter how wild a stretch may be, Tuesday night is a tough one to top. On that night, Kansas, Kentucky and Villanova all went down, marking the first time since 2013 that three of the top four teams in the Associated Press Top 25 all lost on the same day. Add in that we already saw the first time ever that all four North Carolina schools in the ACC lost their conference opener, and you start to realize that this is quite a season, with a lot of unpredictable basketball still left to play.
One result of the madness is that Gonzaga will likely be on top of the polls next week. The Bulldogs will also be well on their way, ultimately, to a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament since it looks unlikely that they will lose a game before the West Coast Conference Tournament. But does their resume of a No. 1 seed? Right now that is an interesting question, but they have six top 50 wins including three top 25 wins, with a chance for one more top 25 win.
The Bulldogs’ best win came against an Arizona team that continues to win in a business-as-usual fashion. Now Arizona has Allonzo Trier back, and if he re-integrates seamlessly into the lineup, they will be very dangerous.
We touch on the plan of the NCAA to unveil the four top seeds for the NCAA Tournament if it were to begin as of an earlier date. It is a move similar to college football showing the top teams in the playoff standings over time, and the latest attempt to give a little more transparency to the process of selecting NCAA Tournament teams.
Later, we touch on some sad news, that of former Old Dominion head coach Jeff Capel Jr. being diagnosed with ALS. The father of Duke associate head coach Jeff Capel, who is currently running the program while Mike Krzyzewski recovers from back surgery, he spent seven years leading Old Dominion, knocking off Villanova in a triple overtime thriller in the 1995 NCAA Tournament.
We close by looking ahead to the weekend, which features the SEC/Big 12 Challenge. The top game there is Kansas at Kentucky, and while that would be the case in most years, this season it is the best matchup by a wide margin. We also look back at a controversial ending to an SEC game last week and the rule that needs a change.
That wraps up this week’s podcast – we hope you enjoy and share with your fellow fans.
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