You sat around, waited patiently and won all but one of your games. You did while pretenders like those other two schools in your state and Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh?) held the top ranking this season.

So here you are at the top of both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today polls. And it’s the first time in three seasons you’ve held the top spot.

And to add insult to injury, you solidified the number one ranking by clobbering an Atlantic Coast Conference cream puff in Maryland by 41 points over the weekend.

Didn’t Maryland used to be good?

But lets be honest here Duke fans, does this really mean anything?

What has more meaning? Being number one on January 26 or being number one at the end of the season? Your standards are too high to be celebrating a number one spot this time of the year. Leave that to others like Wake Forest and Pittsburgh (again, Pittsburgh?).

If anyone tells you how great of a feat this is, tell them to talk to you in April when it will really mean something.

Washington is making a fool out of me and anyone else who said that UCLA was a Final Four team. The Huskies beat this Bruins this weekend for something like the fifth straight time in Seattle and climbed to the top of the Pac-10 rankings. They check in at No. 23 in the AP poll, but not the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll. UCLA dropped to 16th in one poll and 17th in another.

But you never know how these things will play out. UCLA is notorious for getting hot at the end of the season and making a run. That’s why the Bruins have been to three straight Final Fours. But losses like the one to Washington and Arizona State may be the reason why they haven’t cashed one in.

Not to get all cryptic or anything, but last week’s number one Wake Forest DEMON DEACONS got 666 points in the ESPN/USA Today poll this week as they dropped to fourth.

Here’s the top 25.

AP Top 25
1. Duke (62) 18-1
2. Connecticut (6) 18-1
3. Pittsburgh (3) 18-1
4. Oklahoma (1) 19-1
5. North Carolina 17-2
6. Wake Forest 16-1
7. Louisville 15-3
8. Marquette 17-2
9. Michigan State 16-3
10. Xavier 17-2
11. Texas 14-4
12. Clemson 17-2
13. Butler 18-1
14. Arizona State 16-3
15. Syracuse 17-4
16. Purdue 15-4
17. UCLA 15-4
18. Memphis 16-3
19. Illinois 17-3
20. Gonzaga 14-4
21. Villanova 15-4
22. Saint Mary’s 18-1
23. Washington 15-4
24. Kentucky 16-4
25. Georgetown 12-6

Others Receiving Votes
Notre Dame 154, Minnesota 138, Kansas 84, Florida 65, Missouri 52, Virginia Tech 37, Baylor 34, West Virginia 32, Davidson 27, Utah State 23, Dayton 14, California 13, UNLV 4, Florida State 3, Ohio State 1, Virginia Commonwealth 1.

Dropped From Rankings
Notre Dame 19, Minnesota 21, Florida 24.

ESPN/USA Today Poll
1. Duke (30) 18-1
2. Connecticut (1) 18-1
3. Pittsburgh 18-1
4. Wake Forest 16-1
5. Oklahoma 19-1
6. North Carolina 17-2
7. Louisville 15-3
8. Marquette 17-2
9. Michigan State 16-3
10. Xavier 17-2
11. Clemson 17-2
12. Texas 14-4
13. Butler 18-1
14. Arizona State 16-3
15. Syracuse 17-4
16. UCLA 15-4
17. Purdue 15-4
18. Saint Mary’s 18-1
19. Memphis 16-3
20. Illinois 17-3
21. Villanova 15-4
22. Notre Dame 12-6
23. Georgetown 12-6
24. Minnesota 17-3
25. Gonzaga 14-4

Others Receiving Votes
Florida 59, Utah State 56, Kentucky 50, Baylor 42, Washington 41, California 31, Missouri 22, Dayton 18, Davidson 14, Kansas 13, Brigham Young 6, Florida State 3, UNLV 2, Virginia Tech 1, West Virginia 1.

Post from: EveryJoe

Latest Division I Polls For January 26

After 10 straight days of 80-plus degree weather things have returned to normal here in Southern California. We’re back in the 60’s with some rain. That just means that I’m not emailing Ryan Pravato on by Blackberry from the beach or my favorite coffeehouse wondering if he’s finished shoveling snow in Michigan.

That also means I have plenty of time to sit and watch some big time college basketball today (or at least until it’s time to take my son to a birthday party at his best friend’s house in a few hours).

There should be some big games on today, right? I mean, college basketball has the sports world all to itself, right? Let’s get some Duke, some UCLA, a big Big 12, Big East or Big 10 (plus one) match up. Anything big!

But really, is there such a thing as a big Big 10 (plus one) match up?

And sadly, UCLA, Duke and the other big games were played on Saturday when many of us had other things to do.

Checking out the local listings, this is what we’re being treated today.

As I write this I see that Navy is playing at Army.

I thought they only played each other in football.

Also on is Minnesota at Indiana.

Again, I asked for a big match up from that conference!

Ooh! The Florida at Vanderbilt game just started as did Duquesne at Fordham!

No need for me to leave the couch!

Later Michigan State plays at Ohio State. That’s not even a good football game anymore. What makes the genius schedulers think it’s a good basketball game to televise?

Virgina Tech is at Miami, Northern Iowa is at Missouri State, and we close out the day with the thrilling Georgia Tech at Clemson.

There are a ton of women’s games on too, but they couldn’t even get that right.

Where’s Tennessee? Pat Summit is a couple of games away from 1,000 wins and what do we get?

North Carolina at Maryland. Hopefully the Maryland women will do better than the men did against Duke yesterday.

This is the first weekend of the season where there is no football of any kind on. The Super Bowl is a week away and I think they played the last college football game yesterday. Nearly 40,000 showed up to see the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Nearly 40,000 to see a useless college football all-star game? Get a life Mobile!

Speaking of useless all-star games, The NHL plays it’s all-star game today on Verses!? Who gets Verses? NBC has the “network contract” for the NHL and they turned down this game to show men’s figure skating and freestyle skiing?

The Winter X Games are on too and you know how well that goes over here in Southern California. I can see the ratings going through the roof!

The Los Angeles Lakers play at home against the San Antonio Spurs in a little more than an hour. A fine match up for my friends in the Midwest and east coast looking for something to watch.

So this is what college basketball fans treated to on the first non-football Sunday of the season.

No wonder sports fans can’t wait for pitchers and catcher to report for Spring Training this time of the year.

Post from: EveryJoe

A Big Day For Some Big Games? Think Again!

Both divisions II and III deserve some love here. We plan to bring you rankings and whatever news is going on whenever I can’t find anything to write about Tyler Hansbrough (or any player named Tyler), North Carolina or UCLA, or when Ryan Pravato can’t find anything on Mississippi Valley State, the Big 10 (plus one) or the Summit League.

So for your infotainment, here’s the latest Division II rankings released today by the National Association of Basketball Coaches.

All records are through games of Sunday, Nov. 30. The next poll will be released on Tuesday, Dec. 9.

Division III rankings and news to follow.

NABC/Division II Men’s Basketball Poll
(Tuesday, December 2, 2008 — Regular Season Poll #2)
The weekly poll is being conducted by eight members of the NABC Division II Congress, one representing each of the eight NCAA Division II regions.

Team Record This week
1. Findlay 2-0
2. South Carolina Aiken 3-0
3. Central Oklahoma 7-0
4. Augusta State 1-0
5. Southwest Baptist 5-0
6. Gannon 3-0
7. Grand Valley State 3-0
8. Minnesota State 7-1
9. Brigham Young-Hawaii 3-0
10. LIU-C.W. Post 2-0
11. North Alabama 4-1
12. Kentucky Wesleyan 6-0
13. Bentley 6-2
14. Catawba 5-0
15. Pittsburgh-Johnstown 5-0
16. Winona State 4-2
17. Florida Southern 6-3
18. Drury 4-1
19. Central Washington 2-1
20. Northern Kentucky 4-2
21. Northwest Missouri State 3-1
22. Central Missouri 5-0
23. Arkansas-Monticello 5-0
24. Southwest Minnesota State 5-1
25. Saint Martin’s 8-2

Others receiving votes: Northern State (S.D.) 16, Johnson C. Smith (N.C.) 14, Edinboro (Pa.) 12, Elizabeth City State (N.C.) 12, Rollins (Fla.) 12, Southern Indiana 10, Merrimack (Mass.) 7, San Francisco State (Calif.) 7, Augustana (S.D.) 6, St. Edward’s (Texas) 6, Belmont Abbey (N.C.) 5, Cal State-Dominguez Hills 5, Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 5, West Chester (Pa.) 5, Benedict (S.C.) 4, Western Washington 4, Fairmont State (W.Va.) 3, West Liberty State (W.Va.) 2, Ashland (Ohio) 1, Francis Marion (S.C.) 1, Missouri Southern 1.

Post from: EveryJoe

Latest Division II Poll

Not to worry. ESPN and CBS has you covered!

Last week both networks announced signings of insane deals to bring you the best in Southeastern Conference sports.

ESPN announced that it signed a 15-year deal worth more than $2 billion starting in the 2009-10 season and ending sometime near the end of the world. More than 5,500 SEC events will be carried during that time span.

For college basketball fans, than means three nights of SEC basketball games on the ESPN networks that include ESPN2, ESPN Classic and ABC. The deal includes the SEC tournament semifinals and championship games.

Over at CBS, the eye announced a 15-year contract extension on Thursday for broadcast rights to SEC football and basketball games beginning in 2009-10. CBS will continue to cover basketball games with a conference “Game of the Week.”

According to reports, In addition to the broadcast rights, the CBS deal includes certain digital, Internet, wireless, video-on-demand and enhanced highlight rights.

Why doesn’t the SEC just create its own network like the Big 10 (plus one) did and let the networks give us a variety of conference games from around the country?

Post from: EveryJoe

All SEC All The Time

After all, Packer has been covering college basketball for CBS and NBC since 1975 and was on board for 34 consecutive Final Fours.

The 68-year-old Packer, who without a doubt was one of the smartest people to ever cover college basketball, he was opinionated and could break down a team or game like no one else in the business. Put him alongside with Dick Enberg, Jim Nance or the late Al McGuire and you were in for a great show.

But my second reaction was – good riddance!

As entertaining as his shtick was, Packer was a smarmy, arrogant know-it-all. He belittled any team not from a major conference such as the Pacific 10, the Big East, Big 10, or Big 12, and he never met a team from the ACC that he didn’t like no matter how bad they were (he did play basketball for Wake Forest in the early 1960’s).

As the years went on, Packer started losing some of his arrogant swagger (and sometimes his mind) and became older, bitter, way off base in some of his analysis and just plain annoying.

He was old grump who practically had a hissy fit one year when too many “mid-major” teams were let into the NCAA tournament. As far as he was concerned no mid-major teams belonged in the tournament – Ever! I thought he was going to walk out of the room!

During the 2000 season, Packer insulted and belittled a Duke University female student after the student asked for his press credential telling her, “You need to get a life. Since when do we let women control who gets into a college basketball game? Why don’t you go find a women’s game to let people into.”

There was also the famous incident in 1996 where Packer referred to then Georgetown star Alan Iverson as a “tough money” during a nationally televised game. Packer later apologized for the remark.

It’s been reported that Packer will pursue “other basketball projects.” What that means I don’t know, but I’ll bet it will have something to do with the ACC.

Kellogg, the former Ohio State and Indiana Pacers star in the 1980’s went to broadcasting after his playing career was cut short due to knee injuries. He’s been a studio analyst for CBS College Basketball for 16 years.

Kellogg will be a breath of fresh air. I certainly wish him the best of luck in his new role alongside Nance next season.

Post from: EveryJoe

Billy Packer Will Not Be Missed

Many of you will remember Davidson as the little engine that could in last season’s NCAA tournament. The tiny Charlotte, North Carolina school had a run that caused basketball brackets to be torn and shredded at jobs all over the nation.

The Wildcats came within a three-point shot of reaching the Final Four in a 59-57 loss to eventual champion Kansas.

But if anyone thinks that McKillop is actually going to stay at Davidson through 2015-16 is sadly mistaken. Well, you’re nuts!

McKillop, who has a career record of 340-225 at Davidson in 19 years is now a hot commodity. If he has another great season and another great run at the Big Dance, rest assured he will not be around for a 20th season.

He will get offers from some of the big schools. Schools that will be looking for a new start, a fresh face and someone with a solid track record of winning.

McKillop fits that profile.

McKillop said in a press conference last week that he is at peace where he is, loves the school, great fit for he and his family, blah, blah, blah.

But let someone out of the Pacific 10, ACC, SEC, Big 10, Big 12 or Big East come calling with an offer and see how much McKillop still thinks he’s in the best place at Davidson.

This is not a jab at McKillop or the fine folks at Davidson. I just find it hard to believe that someone of McKillop’s talent would not take advantage of some of the coaching opportunities that will no doubt come his way.

Post from: EveryJoe

We’ll See How Long This Lasts

Here are the schedules for the bigger conference tournaments:

ACC Tournament
March 13-16, 2008
Championship Game: March 16 @ 1 pm
Charlotte Bobcats Arena
Charlotte, North Carolina

Atlantic 10 Tournament
March 12-15, 2008
Championship Game: March 15 @ 6 pm
Boardwalk Hall
Atlantic City, New Jersey

Big 12 Tournament
March 13-16
Championship Game: March 16 @ 2 pm ESPN
Sprint Center
Kansas City, Missouri

Big East Tournament
March 12-15
Championship Game: March 15 @ 9 pm
Madison Square Garden
New York, New York

Mountain West Conference Tournament
March 11-15
Championship Game: March 15 @ 4 pm
Thomas & Mack Center
Las Vegas, Nevada

Pac-10 Conference Tournament
March 12-15
Championship Game: March 15 @ 3 pm
Staples Center
Los Angeles, California

Big Ten Tournament
March 13-16, 2008
Championship Game: March 16
Conseco Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, Indiana

Conference USA Tournament
March 12-15, 2008
Championship Game: March 15
FedEx Forum
Memphis, Tennessee

SEC Tournament
March 13-16
Championship Game: March 16 @ 1 pm
Georgia Dome
Atlanta, Georgia

Post from: EveryJoe

Conference tournament schedules