Can you believe we are already one-eighth of the way through the College Basketball season?
(take the one and carry the three…)
OK… Yes… math is hard. Especially when it comes to Thanksgiving week. Pretty much the only thing anyone is concerned with right now in college hoops is whether the check is in the mail from the cupcake beat down that (insert your big boy school here) has given to the likes of the Grambling State Tigers (averaging 42.8 points a game through four games… girl’s church league stats right there).
But even though the rankings and the rest of the statistical world is irrelevant right now, there are a few things of note as most teams are around five games in on their campaign. For most, it is all roses (’cause they haven’t played anyone), but for a few there are some trends that will need to be addressed in December if they have any hopes of making it to March.
The Good
The Villanova Wildcats are really, really good at this point in the season. Yes, they have their cupcake wins, but they also have big-time victories against the VCU Rams and the Michigan Wolverines. Head Coach Jay Wright has a deep team that seems like they are having a lot of fun playing together. This looks like a trend that will continue even with Big East play tipping off. I know Brian Finneran is stoked right now, and the rest of Nova Nation should be too.
The Bad
The Missouri Tigers have had about as bad of a start to the season as any Big Five team so far. After dropping their opening against UMKC Kangaroos (really… kangaroos) 69-61, they have proven to be even worse at the Maui Invitational. The Arizona Wildcats put on a clinic against Missouri and the Tigers made the Purdue Boilermakers look like Gene Keady was roaming the sidelines and Glenn “Big Dog” Robinson was ruling the lane. First year Head Coach Kim Anderson has a lot of questions left to answer about his team for sure. But, if Missouri hangs the doughnut in Maui, then it’s going to be a long year for hoops in Columbia.
The Ugly
Well, as far as the ugliest team so far at this point in the season, it has to be the Delaware Blue Hens. At the pace they are going, they are going to be hard pressed to win a game this season. (Sorry Delaware fans… the truth hurts) The Blue Hens are either last or in the last five in every statistical category so far through four games than any team in the country. Yeah. The #351 is not a place you want to be…at all. If there is a silver lining, it has to be that they are No. 97 in rebounds. That’s definitely a confidence booster, until you look and see that they are shooting 22% from the field. Then you realize that a lot of those missed shots are coming from rebounds, and then missing the second shot and then getting a rebound and missing the third shot and… (you know where this is going). So good luck Delaware. I Hope you can cluck out a win somewhere.
What’s On Tap…
Don’t look now but the Butler Bulldogs might just be back! They dominated the fifth-ranked North Carolina Tar Heels in the second half and knocked them off in the opening round of the Battle for Atlantis, 72-66. A big win for a program that everyone left for dead after the departure of Brad Stevens.
*Section Photo credit to Elsa, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Howard Smith, USA Today Sports
