Florida Storms Back to Beat Vandy

The Florida Gators were tested by upstart Vanderbilt Wednesday night, and they trailed the Commodores by 11 at the half.  However, the Gators came out for the second half on fire, and blew away the Commodores, outscoring them 44-23 in the second half.  Joakim Noah led the Gators with 19 points, and the Gators ran their record to 20-2.

If you’d like to see whether or not the Gators qualify for the Final Four, go ahead and log onto StubHub.com and choose from available Final Four tickets.

Three Top-Five Teams Face Tough Tests Tonight

Tonight is one of those nights when it’s great to be a college basketball fan.  Three of the Top 5 teams will be playing in what could be tough games, as Florida plays host to Vanderbilt, Wisonsin has to travel to Indiana and Ohio State heads to Purdue.

Although Florida appears to have the “easiest” game, Vanderbilt sports a 15-6 record and is known as a giant-killer.  Wisconsin and Ohio State both know very well that any road game in the Big 10 is difficult.  The makeup of the Top 5 could change after this week, much as it did when UCLA fell to Stanford recently, dropping them in the rankings.

If you’d like to see any of these teams if they get to the Final Four, StubHub.com is your source for Final Four tickets.

New ESPN Power Poll Reflects Changes

After a few weeks of relative stability on the college basketball landscape, losses by UCLA to Oregon and Ohio State to Wisconsin have resulted in a shakeup of the ongoing prospective seedings that ESPN publishes in anticipation of March Madness.  Although these “seedings” are informal, they usually provide good insight into how the pairings for the NCAA Tournament will shake out when the invitations are offered in March.

This week’s power poll includes North Carolina, Florida, UCLA and Wisconsin as the number one seeds, and Kansas, Arizona, Pitt and Ohio State as the number two seeds.  UCLA and Ohio State dropped, while Memphis joined the power poll as a number four seed.

If you’d like to see how the season plays out, head on over to StubHub.com and choose from a wide array of college basketball tickets.

An All-Time Final Four Coach - Bob Knight

Although Texas Tech would be considered a bit of a long-shot to advance to the Final Four this season, one thing that’s definitely in their favor is their quality of coaching.  In fact, legendary Bob Knight surpassed Dean Smith today to break the college basketball record for all-time wins with 880 when his Red Raiders defeated New Mexico,70-68.

Although Knight has dealt with his share of controversy during his long and storied career, he’s known for several things, almost all of them positive - he runs a clean program, he graduates his players and he wins.  His temper has given him problems in the past, but almost everyone who’s played for him or rooted for his teams stand by him with the utmost in loyalty.

Fans at Indiana in particular have relished the opportunity to use Final Four tickets several times, and no matter what you think of him, Knight is an all-time great.

Final Four Candidate - Kansas

As the college basketball season began, the Kansas Jayhawks went from an early-season favorite to somewhat of an afterthought after a couple of stumbles against Oral Roberts and DePaul, neither of whom were seen as big-time teams.  However, the Jayhawks have righted their ship, and they recently pushed their record to 12-2 with a solid win over Rhode Island on Saturday.

Kansas is not only deep and talented, but Coach Bill Self is also instilling discipline on his young team.  Star forward Julian Wright was held out of the starting lineup against URI after being late for practice, but he responded with 23 points in an overall strong showing.

The Jayhawks appear to be the class of the Big 12, but their aspirations are much higher than a conference title.  Final Four tickets will be snapped up in minutes in Kansas if the Jayhawks fulfill their tremendous potential.

Final Four Candidate - Duke

It just wouldn’t seem like a legitimate college basketball season if Final Four predictions and possibilities didn’t include the Duke Blue Devils.  Once again, Duke is off to a fast start, posting a 12-1 record thus far this season.  Their latest conquest occurred on Sunday when the Blue Devils crushed San Jose State, 70-51.

The Blue Devils’ only loss was to nationally-ranked Marquette, and that was a game in which seemingly every shot they took was falling, otherwise they’d be undefeated.  Regardless, the Blue Devils, as always, are talented and deep, and Josh McRoberts is a bona fide star.

The way the season is shaping up, it’s quite likely that Blue Devils fans could be snapping up Final Four tickets come spring.

Final Four Candidate - Arizona

Although the Arizona Wildcats came into the college basketball season without the hype that was generated in regards to North Carolina, Florida and Ohio State, among others, the team has been somewhat-quietly climbing the ranks of the nation’s elite during the first portion of their season.

The Wildcats improved their record to 11-1 with their 11th consecutive win as they defeated Stanford 89-75.  The team, led by the legendary Lute Olson, is on a roll as they get into the Pac 10 season.  Sophomore Marcus Williams led the Wildcats with 23 points.  Super-frosh Chase Budinger added 13.

If you’d like to see the ultimate college basketball display, which very well could include the Wildcats, grab yourself some Final Four tickets at StubHub.com.

ESPN Power 16 Poll Reflects General Feelings

ESPN.com periodically puts together a mock seeding for the NCAA Tournament, and their latest edition showed at least one surprise in that Arizona passed Wisconsin to take the final number one seed.  The Wildcats have been somewhat overlooked so far this season, but they have posted a 9-1 record that includes wins over Illinois, Memphis, Louisville and Virginia.

The Wildcats appear to be the team that will most likely challenge top-ranked UCLA for the Pac 10 title, but both of those teams seem to have much bigger aspirations than a conference crown.  Wisconsin, Ohio State, Kansas and Duke round out the field of #2 seeds if the NCAA Tournament started today.

If you’d like to see how all of this unfolds in reality, go to StubHub.com and choose from the available Final Four tickets.