Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Questions from the College Basketball World

Will Eddie Sutton win 800 soon and how many more than that does he get?

Spent a lot of time around Jim Phelan and he was all class. His winning all the games he won was about coaching and what was best for his players. Selfless act by Sutton to come back in this fashion just to get to the plateau number. The Dons are going to get him the win, but hopefully, it's always remembered how Sutton accomplished the feat. He might win it at home against Santa Clara, but I'm guessing on the road at Loyola-Marymount seems like the best bet.

How much will the injury to Blake Griffin hurt the Sooners?

The Sooners are reeling a bit as it is. This won't help. He's gone for four weeks and by the time he's back, OU could find themselves on the outside of the bracket.

Is Texas A&M the only threat to Kansas in the Big 12?

The Aggies and Jayhawks play on the last Saturday of the regular season. Wouldn't it be something if both were unbeaten in conference play at that point? I don't think it will happen but that would be fun. The Jayhawks seem to be on a different level right now, but I think the Big 12 has more depth than normal. Everyone was sweet on the Longhorns not too long ago. I think A&M, Texas, Missouri and Oklahoma State all have the right makeup to maybe beat Kansas.

Is there any hope for USC to dance?

They certainly have the talent. But youth doesn't regulary fare extremely well in tough conference play. Remember Jim Boeheim told his team the other week, that his goal was 9-9 in the Big East. So even though USC was very good at the end of last year, they lost a lot and the youth has been exposed. Plus the Pac-10 might just be the best conference in the country right now.

Can Indiana contend in the Big 10?

That's what they're doing. Takes a lot for me to compliment the Big Red. But it gets easier the longer Knight is gone. I guess you're really saying can Indiana win the Big Ten? I really liked the way both Michigan State and Wisconsin were developing and would have put the Hoosiers a rung behind them. But then Iowa happened. The Hoosiers are playing well and seem to be blending into a very good team. I like Wisconsin best right now, so I'll go with them.

How far will Dayton go in the NCAA tournament?

The Flyers are good, maybe even very good. I'm interested to see how the A-10 shakes out, because there are quite a few good teams. I'm already on the record as saying Xavier could be a second weekend team in the tournament. At this point, it looks like Dayton will be a favorite in their tourney opener and then maybe even wear the white jerseys in game two. However, with that said, I think its a huge accomplishment if they make the second weekend.

3 comments:

  1. Eddie Sutton is clearly the teflon coach. Paying players at Kentucky didn't slow him down, drinking and driving at Okie State didn't slow him down - I'm sure nobody will care that he got his 800th in an illegitimate way.

    But wouldn't it be hilarious if the Dons were so bad he got stuck at 899?

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  2. Stupid fingers! I meant 799.

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  3. That would seem to be the proper justification for all this. I've always admired Sutton for being a good basketball coach. He's shown that he can do that. He's won at a lot of different places. But adding everything up, it just leaves a sour taste in your mouth about how he's going about it. Getting stuck at 799 would seem to be the perfect irony. But I don't think its going to happen.

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