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Sunday, December 22, 2024
Saturday’s college basketball day had all kind of major storylines featuring many of the sport’s biggest name schools. Would like to take a moment, though, to recognize a league at the other end of the spectrum, maybe as far from the biggies as can be in NCAA Division I.
We’re down to nine unbeaten teams after Saturday, though the 10th undefeated left this season did not go quietly. Northern Iowa made the trip to VCU for the second time in four seasons, and the game between the Panthers and Rams was the best of the day Saturday. Virginia Commonwealth got a cold-blooded three-pointer from Treveon Graham in the second overtime and went on to a 93-87 win for a much-needed bounce back after the Rams’ loss at home to Virginia a week ago.
Doubleheaders at Madison Square Garden are as much a part of the fabric of college basketball as the ball itself or Bill Raftery. There is nothing better, and only a few things that even compare.
What looked like it should’ve been the game of the night wasn’t much of a game at all. Iowa State sometimes gets on those offensive runs at home when it looks like one of the top five teams in the country, and the Cyclones did it Thursday night in a 95-77 win over Arkansas. A game that looked to have a ton of promise coming in was never really close, and the Razorbacks were tagged with their first loss in seven games.
As part of this weekend’s big kick off to the Christmas shopping season, yesterday was dubbed Small Business Saturday across the country. The basketball schedule for the day might have qualified under that designation, as few of the biggest names were in action, in part because the big holiday tourneys ended a few days ago. What the day may have lacked in big names, though, it did not lack for stories.
Happy Thanksgiving to all. One of college basketball’s true Thanksgiving traditions got underway once again last night, as the 37th annual Great Alaska Shootout got underway.
For all the of the bad TV ESPN has thrown at us in recent years (think ‘First Take’) it’s 24-hour college hoops marathon remains pure ESPN at its best.
When it comes to overall depth, the Big 12 this season may have been one of the strongest leagues in a long time. The conference sent seven of its 10 teams to the NCAA Tournament, the first time in 21 years and just the fifth time ever that a league sent 70% or more of its teams to the tourney.
With TCU’s defection from the Mountain West Conference to the Big East Conference, realignment has officially entered the realm of insanity.
The view from the Mountain is about what you would expect at this point in the season. Collectively the Mountain West Conference is 52-20 as of December 7.
