The Hi-Lo: Into December We Go
Georgetown is rolling as the region's last remaining
undefeated college basketball team. Photo by michael starghill.
The Hi:
- Speaking of the CAA: it's going to be a real battle this season, so if you aren't paying attention, get on it. Virginia Commonwealth, who was probably the conference favorite after its big win against Oklahoma, hit a bit of a snag in a fantastic game against William and Mary. Outside specialist Ed Nixon missed a three at the buzzer, after the Tribe fought back from a 13-point deficit at the half with six threes, shooting 56.5 percent in the second twenty minutes. If you really like college hoops, but tire of big-conference monotony, this is the league for you.
- VMI Century Watch: The defense-optional Keydets pushed the number of times they have scored or allowed 100 points to 6, but still managed a split in four games since our last check-in. Big boys Virginia Tech and Seton Hall get their cracks this week; a similar split would be a massive success for VMI.
- I gave Virginia Tech some grief a couple of weeks ago about their schedule. But you can only beat the teams you have on the slate, and the Hokies, for the most part, have. Despite a stumble on the road against Temple (always a tough team to play in North Philadelphia), Tech have since taken care of business against Iowa and Georgia. Seth Greenberg is a solid coach who always seems to get the most out of his players, and with guard Malcolm Delaney (21.2 PPG) leading the way, the Hokies are going to be a tough team to deal with in the ACC and beyond.
- Howard won a game! Paul Kirkpatrick dunked home the winner with five seconds left to lift the now 1-8 Bison to a two-point win over Hampton. At Madison Square Garden, no less! We're just glad that we were able to put Hampton in the Hi section at least once this season -- good on ya, Bison.
The Lo:
- Oh, Old Dominion, we had such high hopes for you. The Monarchs, who started the season a surprising 4-0, dropped three straight games to come crashing back down to Earth. Granted, they were never going to be favorites against Missouri, Mississippi State, or even Richmond -- but losing three straight will land you in this writer's doghouse all the time. Dominion did manage to rebound and beat Delaware in their CAA conference opener, so perhaps there is hope still -- the Monarchs have two more chances to make a good impression in the coming weeks -- on the road against Dayton on the 11th, and in a tasty nonconference matchup on Georgetown's campus on December 19th.
- The EA Sports Maui Invitational was no luau for Maryland. After walking over Chaminade in the tournament's annual "hey, thanks for hosting us, here's a beating!" game, the Terps dropped two games to then-unranked Cincinnati and Wisconsin to finish a disappointing fourth. A road win over a down Indiana was almost a must-win for a team who couldn't afford to drop three straight, especially after losing twice against teams which might be vying for similar seeds come March. Maryland can certainly redeem themselves with a good game against #3 Villanova at the BB&T Classic tonight, and has five cupcakes before ACC play begins -- but the attitude in College Park is understandably much more pessimistic than it was in preseason.
- If anyone in Charlottesville was hoping that basketball season could help Virginia erase the memories of a terrible football season, uh, it's not going to happen. The Cavaliers lost against Stanford and Penn State -- power conference members, yes, but hardly two teams that would strike fear into too many major teams -- and strikes us as a perfectly forgettable team, with no real highlights to speak of, team-wise or individually. Here's to numbing mediocrity.
Setting the Pick:
- The second largest enigma in local hoops has to be George Washington. The Colonials lost to Oregon State with President Obama in the house, but they are 5-1. Of course, GW has yet to play a team with an RPI over 125...and that was the Beavers, who controlled the game, despite the slightly flattering seven-point margin. So does the Colonials' good record mean anything? The fact is, we won't know for another month. Starting tonight with Navy in the appetizer of the BB&T Classic, George Washington has six games against teams with triple-digit RPI rankings until they open Atlantic 10 play on January 6 against St. Bonaventure. The Colonials could easily find themselves at 11-1 going into conference play, and we'd still have no idea about how good they really are.Georgetown is now finished with the patsy part of its schedule, rolling over Lafayette, Mount Saint Mary's, and American to move to 6-0. The Hoyas' competition gets much harder very quickly, though -- Butler at Madison Square Garden, and Washington in Los Angeles will provide stiff tests for the 16th-ranked Hoyas.
- Morgan State had the definition of an up-and-down couple of weeks. After a good showing against #20 Louisville on November 22, the Bears went on the road and beat Arkansas two days later, the first win against an SEC team in school history. Reggie Holmes really impressed with 34 points in the thrilling 97-94 game, the kind of early-season game for which you curse for not being on television somewhere. Of course, I'm sure that Holmes and crew's enthusiasm was somewhat tempered by the follow-up: consecutive losses to Appalachian State and Loyola (MD). But to cap it off, Holmes had 24 to ruin the opening of Coppin State's new gym on Saturday.
Riding the Pine: Richmond now 2-1 against other teams which we consider, with a big city game against VCU upcoming on Saturday...Mount St. Mary's starts with two straight losses in Northeast Conference play, but is at least a bastion of consistency, starting the same five every game...Navy and Liberty both won three of four, moving them off the nomination list for worst area team...From the "way too early for statistical analysis" file: the aforementioned William and Mary has an RPI of 14. Also notable: Radford at 69...This week's Bottom Five: Maryland-Baltimore County, Norfolk State, American, Howard, and Longwood, a combined 4-38. Yuck.
All RPI data from RealTimeRPI. Rankings are from the most up-to-date Associated Press Top 25 poll.