Haven’t done this in awhile.
So remember, read these and then consider yourself more in the know as a result. Plus, make sure to leave the poor sick monkeys alone, they’ve got more problems than Utah State’s strength of schedule (172).

[Are teams finally realizing how to contain Wake Forest hybrid guard Jeff Teague?]
[I share the frustration of March to Madness on this one. Damn Houston Baptist University]
[ k.u.chebag's doing k.u.chebag kinds of things. March 1st should be a blast]
[ Some interesting notes from A Sea of Blue on Kentucky’s lackluster contest against Vanderbilt on Wednesday,
“In …read more

Watching Tuesday’s Michigan State @ Michigan affair was pure poetry in the read it and then forget it kind of sense.
Beilein put a penetrating point guard into the game,
can it be too much to ask
no more former walk-ons making you lame
there’s just but one guy up to the task,
But he has now fallen to third in line,
why all of the Wolvie fans wonder
could it be he needs to refine
or is this just solely Beilein’s blunder
Kelvin Grady, sophomore point guard for the Wolverines, has apparently fallen out of favor with Coach Beilein. It has gotten to the point where Grady, …read more

College basketball action was light this week– so was my posting.
The blame rests at the margins of exams.
But it’s over, so all is good.
In an attempt to catch up, I have found these links to share. It’s a bit Big Ten heavy.
But it’s about time the Big Ten got some love.
*The Hooker theory, brought to you by Off The Tracks.
It would behoove you to read this fine post from a Purdue fan with clearly too much time on his hands, because, like everything in life, there will be a quiz later.
*Before the season even started, I even said that …read more

Can you really call it a challenge if one conference just annihilates the other year after year?
Here is my preview of all 11 games from August 15th. It’s so good I figured I wouldn’t revise it at all.
—-
The Atlantic Coast Conference has dominated the Big Ten in each of the 9 years of this yearly Challenge. The last two years the ACC has recorded 16 wins versus just 6 losses. The ACC’s total record is 56-30.
The Challenge tips off on the first of December with Wisconsin visiting Virginia Tech.
After the opening day game, 5 games on each of the …read more

I’m sure the 2K Sports Classic people didn’t expect the Michigan Wolverines to, dare I say, dominate the UCLA Bruins when setting up the brackets for this tourney.
Yeah I said it, DOMINATE.
– 17 UCLA turnovers mostly caused by Michigan’s feisty 1-3-1 zone defense
– DeShawn Sims abused the UCLA bigs all game long (by the way, keep Sims coming off the bench Beilein, it’s working)
– 8th grader Stu Douglass had his coming out party with 10 points and 5 feeds
– Darren Collison and Josh Shipp combined for 10 turnovers and only 1 three pointer
– Nikola Dragovic felt compelled to launch shots …read more

Who knew that both USC and UCLA would both suffer upsets on the same night?
The fourth ranked Bruins were shown up by the Michigan Wolverines 55-52 in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden in New York City a few minutes ago.
Junior forward DeShawn Sims led all scorers with 18 points for Michigan and teammate Manny Harris was held to just 15.
Darren Collison and freshman Jrue Holiday had 13 points each for UCLA. Collison missed a three-pointer with five seconds to go that sealed the win for the Wolverines.
Michigan will play Duke …read more

In a few hours, UCLA and Michigan will face off in the first semifinal of 2K Sports Classic benefiting Coaches vs. Cancer at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Bruins are ranked fourth in the nation in both the ESPN/Coaches and Associated Press polls, while Michigan is unranked.
UCLA is being touted for having the best recruiting class in the nation, lead by McDonald’s All-American Jrue Holiday.
But don’t let the youth fool you. The Bruins are also a solid veteran team led by Preseason All-American Darren Collison, Josh Shipp, James Keefe and Alfred Aboya.
UCLA reached the semis by defeating Prairie …read more

– Even though Michigan was favored against Northeastern, many in the blogosphere said they wouldn’t have been surprised if Michigan lost this one. It looked a little rough at the beginning, actually, most of the first half was rough. Michigan’s lack of size really showed on the glass. But the 2nd half was an entirely different story as Michigan put up 47. Manny Harris finished with 26 points to go along with 10 boards and 8 feeds. The offense is utterly unwatchable without him in there.
Part of the reason is the less …read more

Sunday, October 26 was Big Ten Media Day.
No surprises on the top three picks (Big Ten only releases top three teams). For 1-11, click here.
2008-09 Top Three Preseason Picks
Team, 2007-08 Final Records (Finish)
1. Purdue …read more

The Atlantic Coast Conference has dominated the Big Ten in each of the 9 years of this yearly Challenge. The last two years the ACC has recorded 16 wins versus just 6 losses. The ACC’s total record is 56-30.
The Challenge tips off on the first of December with Wisconsin visiting Virginia Tech.
After the opening day 5 games on each of the next 2 days will take place. There are some salivating matchups for sure.
Duke at Purdue
UNC vs. MSU at Ford Field– ok, UNC at MSU
Ohio St. at Miami
Eh, I guess know “salivating” is more of …read more