The Morning Dish – Wednesday, February 23trd Chaos Atop the Big XII: After Kansas faltered Monday night against Oklahoma, Oklahoma State appeared poised to stake its claim atop the Big XII standings. Then the Cowboys laid an egg at Nebraska, falling back into a tie with the Jayhawks at 10-3 […]
Author: Michael Protos
Morning Dish
The Morning Dish – Saturday, February 19th Funky Tigers: After a solid non-conference performannce, Princeton appeared ready to run away with the Ivy League. But the rest of the league has caught up to Princeton, and the Tigers appeared destined for – heaven forbid – last place. Yale continued the […]
NCAA Crystal Ball
NCAA Tournament Crystal Ball by Michael Protos In the sixth edition of the Crystal Ball, Illinois returns to the top as NCAA champion while several other teams make their move in seeding, including Arizona, Pittsburgh and Maryland. For the first time in the Crystal Ball, I foresee Kentucky reaching the […]
Morning Dish
The Morning Dish – Wednesday, February 16th South Carolina Smothers Kentucky: Behind suffocating defense, South Carolina upset Kentucky 73-61 for the Gamecocks’ first win against the Wildcats in more than seven years. The Gamecocks forced 21 turnovers and held the Wildcats to 38 percent shooting from the field. Junior guard […]
ACC Notebook
Atlantic Coast Conference Notebook by Michael Protos Dissecting the Middle of the Pack At first glance, it’s hard to differentiate Maryland, Georgia Tech, Miami and Virginia Tech because each team is 5-5. Three of them have 14-7 records. The most apparent differences are that the Terrapins and Yellow Jackets had […]
NCAA Crystal Ball
NCAA Tournament Crystal Ball by Michael Protos Changes abound in this week’s Crystal Ball, with a new prediction for the championship and a shakeup among the top seeds. By virtue of Duke slipping past North Carolina, the Blue Devils proved they belong as a No. 1 seed and are a […]
Morning Dish
The Morning Dish – Wednesday, February 9th And Then There Was One: Digger Phelps must have known what he was talking about. The ESPN analyst predicted this past weekend that Boston College would lose to Notre Dame tonight, leaving Illinois as the only undefeated team in the nation. Less than […]
ACC Notebook
Atlantic Coast Conference Notebook by Michael Protos We’ve reached the midway point in the ACC season, and painfully few teams have emerged as contenders. Only three teams are guaranteed to appear in the NCAA Tournament: North Carolina, Duke and Wake Forest. These power brokers hold a combined 51-7 overall record. […]
NCAA Crystal Ball
NCAA Tournament Crystal Ball by Michael Protos In the fourth installment of the Crystal Ball, a few trends are emerging. Illinois and North Carolina appear destined to meet for the national championship based on my projections. A month ago, I liked North Carolina to upset Illinois for the championship. But […]
Morning Dish
The Morning Dish – Wednesday, February 2nd Illini Win in the Izzone: Many believed Illinois’ road game at Michigan State was the last major hurdle for the Illini to jump over before hitting a clear path for an undefeated regular season. Although that talk ignores that any Big Ten team […]
