Welp…
The College Basketball season is officially a month old. And so far things have run to script when it comes to the historical standard for excellence that is pseudo-amateur hoops.
Pretty much 75% of the teams everyone thought would be good are. A solid 15% are good, but probably will be nothing more than that this season. Then there are 5% who no one thought would be any good but who are. And then there’s the other 5% who were suppose to be a contender but are nothing but grease fires.
So the frame work is there for sure. Every season pretty much plays out to this point in early December.
But it’s pretty safe to say there are three teams head and shoulders above everyone right now. The Arizona Wildcats, the Kentucky Wildcats and the Duke Blue Devils have played just enough of the 15% to make a statement they are here to stay until April. This trio have proven they are already mentally tough enough to survive and advance against anyone.
With that in mind, there were a lot of big moments last week involving more than just the big three. So buckle up and get ready to voice your opinion about all that was The Good, The Bad and The Ugly from College Basketball in week four.
The Good
Let’s start by staying put in Durham and talk about the Blue Devils.
Coach Krzyzewski might be doing his best coaching job in his amazing career so far this season. He’s like the magical little basketball elf who just knows he and his team is better than you. Duke is a young team with some solid senior leaders. Yes, they might have the best player in the country in Jahlil Okafor, but he is just a freshman. And all teams at this point in the season are supposed to have things they need to polish. Not Duke.
After what Coach K, Duke and Okafor did to the Wisconsin Badgers last week on the road was like nothing this guy has seen in his 30-plus years of following college basketball. For the Blue Devils to walk into that environment and play that kind of game and to come away with a ten-point victory was true perfection. That is a result you expect to see in late January or February. Not in the first few days of December.
Knowing what history has taught us about the boys from Durham, it’s going to be hard for anyone in the ACC to win against Coach K and his team this year. (The thought pains this guy… but it’s the truth)
The Bad
There is no lie that this guy loves some ACC. But after the ACC/Big Ten Challenge last week, the conference that was the king of hoops has lost it’s title as the best group in the land.
Yes, folks have argued this for a number of years as they try and claim how much better their league is than the ACC only to have the ACC win when it counted. But with the level of underachievement so far by the Florida State Seminoles and the bottom half of the conference, the ACC just isn’t good. Or at least as good as it needs to be.
The ACC collectively has 32 losses which puts it at fourth just in front of the SEC with 34. (Big 12 has 13; Pac-12 has 23; B1G has 27). That is just unacceptable. Especially for a conference that boasts Duke, the Louisville Cardinals, North Carolina Tar Heels, Syracuse Orange and the resurgent Virginia Cavaliers.
But the reason that makes this so bad is that the number is going to climb because beyond the Blue Devils there is not another team in the league that is really head and shoulders above any other team in the conference or nation.
College basketball is a better place when the ACC is stout and hated for its greatness.
And right now they are not bad in the right way but in the stinky way.
The Ugly
First of all, let’s just stand up and give a huge hand for what the NJIT Highlanders did to the Michigan Wolverines last Saturday. Words cannot begin to describe just how amazing NJIT played on that level in Ann Arbor. One of the best games in the first month of ANY season.
But let’s get down to business here…
Michigan…
You are the mighty Michigan Wolverines. The Fab Five. Glenn Rice. B1G Powerhouse. The Maize and Blue.
The only crushing moment you are allowed to have that is ugly is that image burned in your head of Chris Webber traveling and then calling the timeout they didn’t have in the National Title game against UNC…
THAT’S IT!!!
There is no way a program that is not in a conference and an athletic department the NCAA would rather just go back to being a technical school can beat you!
Words cannot describe just how ugly that loss was.
Get it together Wolverines… Get… it… together!
On Tap
Not the sexiest of games for the week as most schools are still trying to work out the kinks before conference play starts. But the big on of the week will be the Tar Heels traveling to take their shot at Kentucky on Saturday at noon. Should be a fun game and one where UNC needs to figure out how to be aggressive and confident if they play on keeping the Wildcats close.
*Section Photo credit to Grant Halverson, Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to Mary Langenfeld, USA Today Sports.
