First we start with the most recent team to fall from the top, Kentucky. With the sensational freshman class they have it's easy to see why they were number 1, that, and they were 21-0 at the time when they were picked number 1. Then came a seemingly easy task of traveling to SEC opponent South Carolina and playing there. But of course, our President wants to be Jay Bilas so he gave his 2-cents to the Wildcats. Although he was calling them and thanking them for raising money for the disaster in Haiti, I'm not hating, that was a great moment for both the Kentucky team for fundraising and for President Obama for noticing when something special is happening. Now, the President called to wish good luck and spoke of how when teams get to the top they seem to get complacent. They all clearly voted for McCain because not one of them, not even Calipari, took any of what he said to heart. They went out and got beat by a sub-par GameCocks team who was brewing up a upset special. Kentucky lost at South Carolina 68-62 and the courts were stormed by drunken college students excited by the fact that they just took down the best team in the country.
Kansas may well be the best team in the country. They have it all. Lightning fast guards who know had to distribute and score, a solid defense, and a farm boy under the hoop at all times getting rebounds and altering shots. Kansas was the team picked number 1 this year and they showed it in the beginning beating teams by 30 the way the 2007-2008 Patriots did. But them came a big out of conference game at "The Summit" (you think Bruce Pearl is embarrassed by that name?). Tennessee has a great squad this year with a good group of veterans and another solid recruiting class brought in by Mr. Pearl. When Kansas traveled to UT it almost seemed obvious for a great game but I wasn't thinking upset. That afternoon the Vols beat the Jawhawks 76-68 playing in a great game. These two teams went at eachother hard for all 40 minutes and as a basketball fan you couldn't ask for anything else, well maybe for the NBA to play this way.
Now we get to Texas. What happened? Texas was ranked number 1 going into a Big 12 ranked match up against a recently rejuvenated program in Kansas State (K-State, love those jerseys). They fell 71-62, OK not too bad for the Longhorns playing on the road, but they were number 1 for only a week, tough luck right? No, just bad basketball for Texas in general. Next, they lost to a Jim Calhoun-less UCONN 88-74 on the road again. UCONN is a great team in the best conference in the country so this was a tough battle of Texas regardless, but if they want to get that prominent recognition they're going to have to win those games the way big time teams do. Then they play Texas Tech and win, honestly no big deal to me. The loss home against Baylor in OT is frightening for those "Burnt Orange" faithful. Yes, Baylor has been steadily getting better, but for Texas to let them win at home in OT is nothing short of embarrassing. This is not just a conference game, its an in-state rivalry that should be played with an uncanny amount of enthusiasm. But they fell again, terribly.
Who is the next number 1 team to fall, probably Kansas again because I can see them getting the top spot again after Kentucky lost. So, I am a huge Big East fan just for the record, so I think teams like Villanova, throw your V's up, and Syracuse ('Cuse) should be in the talk for number 1 overall teams in the country. It's going to be great to watch that game because they're neck and neck in the Big East as well as the country. Also, how about BYU, those Mormons are doing something right with their basketball and football teams excelling so much. Now good luck to the next number 1 team and I hope they can hold their own and not fall fast.
No comments:
Post a Comment