Your Home For College Hoops
Thursday, December 26, 2024
Just over a week ago, UCLA was losing to Wake Forest in the Maui Invitational for its second loss in two days. Just under three weeks ago, the Bruins lost at home to Monmouth in their season opener. After last night, though, UCLA now holds one of the true trump cards that likely any team will hold all season.
The 38th annual Great Alaska Shootout wrapped up Saturday night. The event is not what it used to be, and that’s too bad for Anchorage-and for college basketball.
Contrary to prevailing wisdom for some, George Washington’s win over Virginia Monday was a win for both teams-and for college basketball.
Continuing our look at our favorite games for every day of the season, our ultimate dream road trip, if you will. We started on Monday with November, and today we continue with December.
Collectively, the 2015 NCAA Tournament was a roller coaster. There was the high of the first few days before the tourney slipped into mediocrity in its middle rounds, only to rise high again for a big finish at the end, worthy of all the history of such a splendid event.
The opening games of the NCAA Tournament showed yet again that college basketball is not a sport in crisis, just one with some rough edges that can be softened.
The NCAA Tournament opened last night with its First Four games. For entertainment value, the night could not have gone much better.
Officially, the NCAA Tournament begins Tuesday night with a pair of games, part of the “First Four” as it is known. Manhattan and Hampton square off first in a tussle between two 16 seeds, followed by Mississippi and BYU in a tilt of 11 seeds. Unofficially, these are still the games that a lot of brackets are going to let you slide on picking, in order to have a little more time to get your picks ready for your office pool or friendly competition with friends.
In a sport where home teams win a full two-thirds of the time, road wins at any time of year in college basketball are extraordinary, no matter the competition. Road wins at the end of February against very good teams are like gold, pure treasures.
Barely over two weeks ago, Oklahoma State and Oklahoma both were on the brink of seeing promising seasons go far downhill, on the kind of negative role that has paralyzed the campaigns of teams like Minnesota and California this year. There are no such concerns anymore.
