Welcome to the latest edition of Talking Hoops With Ted Sarandis. Next week, we’ll be talking about conference tournaments as the first of those get going, so we know the regular season is winding down.
We start by looking at the race for National Player of the Year, where a few players appear to have distinguished themselves but no one player has separated from the pack. Three players lead the way, and one comes to mind for a possible fourth.
From there, we move on to the ACC, where there are always storylines to follow. The latest: Miami boosts their NCAA Tournament resume once again and keeps Virginia reeling, as the Cavaliers continue to struggle to score. Clemson lost another tough one on Tuesday night as well, their eighth loss by five points or less, and at this point it’s hard to see them as an at-large team.
One team that is not playing well at all is LSU, who on Tuesday lost their 14th straight game as Auburn blasted them 98-75 in Baton Rouge. It’s their ninth double-digit loss at home on the season and third by at least 20 points, and they are 1-14 in the SEC. Clearly, the bottom is falling out and Johnny Jones may be on borrowed time. The SEC as a whole has not had quite the year they had hoped for.
We look at the CAA race, which has UNCW and College of Charleston just a game apart and Towson two games back. UNCW and College of Charleston are at home, while Towson has two tough road games (the first one in Wilmington), so a good finish is ahead.
The CAA is one of a number of mid-majors that have not produced great at-large candidates for the NCAA Tournament this year, something that has benefited teams in conferences like the ACC. We talk about that, as well as a showdown in the Mountain West on Wednesday night that is nowhere to be found on TV – you have to go to ESPN3 for Boise State-Nevada. (On a related note, after the podcast Colorado State finished off a win at New Mexico, which is never easy to do, to take sole possession of first place, which is tremendous considering they lost three key reserves to academics and have faced other adversity.)
That covers this week’s podcast. Make sure you share it with your fellow fans as well, and stay tuned for next week when we talk about conference tournaments.
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