NCAA Hoops Recap: Finally Ranked!
This past weekend my wife and I got the chance to drive down state and watch two of our nephews play basketball. It was actually a pretty hazardous drive with about a tenth an inch of ice having formed on the roadways overnight. There was a brief moment when I thought it might be wise to call off the trip, but after we got about ten miles down the road, things started to clear up pretty significantly.
Where the past games we have went to were all teams made up of students from the same school district, these games have teams facing off against other teams from the region. As you can see from the scoreboard in the opening photo, that leads to some pretty lopsided games at times.
They play the games in the same style as universities with two twenty minute halves. Unlike NCAA basketball, they tend to keep a running clock until the last two minutes of the game. Then they have more stoppages.
Unfortunately, my nephews team was on the losing end of this 65 to 8 beat down. I think the final score was 70 something to a score somewhere in the teens.
Their other games went much better and we got to see a total of three or four games before we turned the car north to head back home. It was really good watching them play and I can tell they have been practicing and improving their game.
My older nephew is concerned that he isn't going to make the school team this year because there are something like 75 kids that are trying out. He is going to have to put in some work to rise above the rest and show he belongs on the team. I have faith he can do it.
Meanwhile, there was a ton of action in the NCAA over the past week. We got started a week ago on Thursday night with (3) Iowa State taking down Iowa 89 to 80.
On Friday there were no games in the top 25, but on Saturday, we had a ton of them to watch. I've gotta be honest, there were some absolutely amazing games on Saturday. My wife and I sat on the couch and enjoyed several of them. I also put some money down on a few of them and made back at least what I bet, plus a small amount of profit. That's not something I can usually say.
We started off on Saturday with an amazing overtime game between Memphis and (16) Clemson. Memphis pulled out the 87 to 82 upset victory. We then had (17)Texas A&M take down (11) Purdue 70 to 66. You might remember last week I said there were going to be some amazing games this past weekend. Occasionally I get it right, sometimes I get it wrong, this time I really got it right!
(22) Cincinnati had a close game against Xavier, but came away with the win 68 to 65. (24) UCLA also struggled against Arizona, but snagged the 57 to 54 win. (1) Tennessee kept their top ranking against a tough Illinois team that only fell short by one bucket losing 66 to 64. (25) Mississippi State also had a close game beating McNeese 66 to 63.
Dayton upset (6) Marquette 71 to 63, and (18) UConn upset (8) Gonzaga 77 to 71. That was just Saturday!
Sunday there were only two games in the top 25 and neither one of them were an upset.
Monday gave us zero games in the top 25, but Tuesday we had nine games in the top 25. (22) Dayton had a close game against UNLV just edging them out 66 to 65. It's also nice to see (20) Michigan State in the top 25 finally. I knew it was only a matter of time. They had a nice 77 to 58 win over Oakland University. Oakland is one of those teams that isn't in a power conference, but they always give MSU fits when they play each year.
Thankfully this year was a bit smoother than other ones.
South Carolina beat (25) Clemson 91 to 88 in overtime. It's safe to say it has been a tough week for Clemson.
Wednesday night gave us seven games in the top 25. Xavier took (11) UConn to overtime, but fell short 94 to 89. I actually watched the first half of that game this morning on the treadmill and Xavier was looking really good. I'm not shocked it was this close.
(21) Memphis had a tough game against Virginia, but snagged the win 64 to 62, and (24) Michigan had a close loss to (14) Oklahoma 87 to 86. I still don't quite understand how Michigan is a ranked team right now. They haven't played anyone significant. It feels a bit artificial to me.
Tonight you get a break as there are no games in the top 25, but there are probably a few college bowl games on if you want to catch one of those!
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65-8. Just. Wow.
It was brutal. While my nephews school is in one of the suburbs of Flint, these kids were from in the city. Better coaching, better skills, it was just a massacre.