The Best College Basketball Moments of 2008

Since it’s New Year’s Eve, we might as well do a nice year-in-review blog for all the nostalgia of the day. No doubt there will be plenty of great news stories about the past year, tons of lists about what was the most important this, the biggest that. In college basketball, things aren’t really separated by the New Year, though, as it happens right in the middle of the season, with the fist half in 2008 and the second in 2009. So, for the sake of simplicity, we’re just going to talk about what happened last season, even if it wasn’t technically last year.

In order to get a good refresher in the highlights of last season (and maybe a few goosebumps), you might be interested in looking at last season’s “One Shining Moment” video from the NCAA Tournament. Bring back some memories? So what do you think were the most important people, events and stories of the past season? Kansas’ miracle comeback? Curry and Davidson’s run? Could be a good conversation starter tonight if you find yourself in a bow tie and a top hat with nothing to remark about. Have a happy and (most importantly) safe new year out there sports fans. We’ll see you back here on Friday.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on December 31, 2008 - Post a comment

FOX Sports’ Jeff Goodman Gives Hoops X-Mass Presents

FOX Sports’ Jeff Goodman Gives Hoops X-Mass Presents

The Final Four Blog is a sucker for creative sports articles, and today we have a nice one- a Jeff Goodman piece about the Christmas gifts he’d like to give the various famous people and teams in college hoops. There are a lot of gifts to give, even with the season just coming up on the halfway point. If you’re a fan of Blake Griffin, the Tar Heels, Indiana, Jimmy Patsos, Lute Olsen, or Kentucky, you’re going to hear your name mentioned in the article.

This gets the Final Four Blog writers thinking. What would we like to give our audience this Christmas season. I know Christmas is over. But it’s better late than never, right? So in a fantasy world, one where we could just give Christmas gifts out all willy-nilly, here are the gifts we’d give:

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on December 30, 2008 - Post a comment

AP Top 25 After the Christmas Break

As we told you all before the Christmas Break, there wasn’t too much in the way of basketball on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. However, there still were some interesting games, and some moves within the AP Top 25 Poll. If you’re looking to get a quick refresh in the hoops word after a week of listening to pure family talk, you mnight want to step on over to the CBSSports.com Top 25 Breakdown. Here are a few of the highlights from the highlights page.

  • Oklahoma has moved into the No. 4 position with an undefeated 12-0 record.
  • 9-2 Michigan is now on the board with a couple of quality wins- at No. 24.
  • UNC keeps right on rolling, and remains the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation.
  • Gonzaga is the top mid-major right now, at No. 7, and Davidson is out of the poll.
  • There are a number of good games to see on TV (or go to) tonight, with one of the best being the Oklahoma-Georgetown game.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on December 29, 2008 - Post a comment

Christmas is Bad News for Hoops Fans

Unless you’re getting some sweet Final Four tickets, or tickets to some other pretty sweet college hoops games this Christmas, the Holiday season can seem like a real bummer for college basketball fans. Why? Well, unlike football, college basketball almost shuts down for Christmas. There are no games scheduled for Christmas Eve or Christmas Day. There will be some nice NBA, NFL and college football games though.

When hoops resumes on the day after Christmas, December 26th, you’ve got UConn versus Fairfield. The Huskies should win this one easily, considering the fine showing they had in beating a very complete Gonzaga squad this past weekend. At 8-3 Fairfield is no pushover, but it seems like it will take more than the Stags to throw Connecticut off its game.

When Saturday rolls around things will be back to normal in the college basketball world. But until then, you’re going to have to hunker down for some hard living. We’ll catch back up with you Final Four Blog readers on Monday after the holidays and review the carnage of the after-Christmas weekend.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on December 23, 2008 - Post a comment

Weekend Hoops Recap

In case you were out Christmas shopping, watching the first few bowl games, some increasingly important NFL games, or just couldn’t get out to a game for whatever reason- here’s a recap of some of the best hoops games from across the nation this post weekend:

  • Minnesota improved to 10-0 after beating No. 9 Louisville
  • Michigan State beat Texas and Duke blasted Xavier in two high-profile games.
  • Tennessee barely survived Belmont.
  • Davidson’s Curry was slowed by Purdue.
  • UConn topped Gonzaga in overtime.
  • The Palouse Rivalry ended with Washington State edging out Idaho.
  • No. 25 Clemson rallied to beat Miami (FL),
  • No. 3 Pitt rolled versus Florida State
  • In a military battle West Point fell to VMI
  • Virginia Tech took care of business in the Big Apple, beating St. Johns. Look out for the Hokies.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on December 22, 2008 - Post a comment

Psycho-T Becomes All-Time Heels Scorer

Tyler Hansbrough just became the All-Time scoring leader in North Carolina Tar Heels basketball history, notching his 2,290th career point as a North Carolina basketball player. He surpasses Phil Ford, who used to be a point guard for some of the best Tar Heel seasons under Dean Smith. Tyler got to such a career mark by being on the team for a full four seasons, which has been a hard feat to accomplish for most of the best North Carolina players. Speaking of great North Carolina players, who do you think the top ten of all time are?

Here’s a list of FOX Sports’ Top Ten North Carolina Tar Heels of All-Time. They are basing their list on two basic criterion, the first being the player’s contribution to North Carolina, and the second, less important, being their contribution to basketball in general, including NBA career.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on December 19, 2008 - Post a comment

Pulling Out All The Stats: Rebounding

This isn’t the first time that the Final Four Blog is going to ESPN.com for some good, raw stats data. And it’s not going to be the last. Today we bring you some good old fashioned rebounding. Which teams are playing the best defense in the land? Who keeps on the boards the best, on a per-game basis? ESPN has some excellent numbers to document at the stats page if you click on the Rebounding column title. Although there are some pretty standard teams in the rebounding department, some programs might be a surprise. Here are the top ranked rebounding teams in the nation:

LSU
Northwestern State
Wake Forest
Hofstra
Washington
Cincinnati
North Carolina
Mississippi State
Western Carolina
Georgia Tech
Appalachian State
Memphis
Drexel
Kansas
Saint Mary’s
Arkansas
Mercer
Virginia
South Carolina
Miami (FL)
Tennessee

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on December 18, 2008 - Post a comment

‘Zona Stock Rising, ‘Zona St. Stock Hesitant

Arizona State began the season with high expectations, a high AP Poll ranking, and a clear vision of what it wanted to accomplish. Barely scraping by to eek out a win over lowly IUPUI was not part of that plan. However, last weekend the Sun Devils were given quite a scare by a mid-to-low level mid major, and that has people wondering if they have the goods to be an elite in the Pac-10 Conference. Meanwhile, the Arizona Wildcats showed guts and a flash of defensive potential that had until now been latent in their beating of No. 4 Gonzaga. Is Arizona the best team in the state? Or was it a flash in the pan from the Olsen-less Wildcats?

Also, as Luke Winn points out in his article this week, December 20th is looking like one of the best days in the hoop calendar. If you don’t already have tickets, make sure to check out the StubHub listings for the following games:

Michigan State - Texas
Duke – Xavier
UConn – Gonzaga
Davidson – Purdue
BYU – Arizona State
Syracuse – Memphis

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on December 17, 2008 - Post a comment

Syracuse Shocked by last-Second 60-ft Shot

Syracuse entered their game with the Cleveland State Vikings as the No. 11 team in the nation, but they will probably see a fall in their poll numbers after losing on a last-second, miracle lop in the game last night. If you watched Sports Center last night or have been to any of the sports media outlets you’re sure to have seen this play. The Orange gather up a rebound and score to tie the game at 69 all with 2.2 seconds left. No timeouts remain, so Cleveland State inbounds to their point guard, who dribbles a few steps and then launches a three pointer from about three quarters of the way down the court, a full 60 ft. Off the back of the rim and right through. Game over, the crowd goes wild, the Vikings win and the replay is shown over and over. According to the story about the game by the AP, Syracuse’s Andy Rautins had this to say:

“It tears your heart out when you see the ball up in the air and you know it’s good. I kind of stopped looking at it because I knew it had a pretty good chance. Then I heard the crowd and I knew the game was over.”

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on December 16, 2008 - Post a comment

Top Three Hoops Teams Remain There

The AP Poll for college football seemed to change every time you looked up, but so far this season the college basketball AP Poll is keeping mighty consistent. North Carolina, Connecticut and Pittsburgh remain the top 1, 2, and 3 in the nation, respectively, after about a quarter of the season has passed.

Of course, that’s not to say that the polls can’t change sometime soon. North Carolina could falter versus Evansville or Valparaiso before the season begins. UConn must play Gonzaga before XMass, and Pittsburgh faces both Sienna and Florida State.

As the weeks pass and the polls remain the same, or very similar at least, at the very top, one begins to wonder- will the Tar Heels go wire to wire as the nation’s number on team? Many sports commentators have stated that they think this current Tar Heel team has the right players to become the best college basketball team of all time. There are lots of games yet to be played, though. But this is an interesting trend to keep your eye on.

To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on December 15, 2008 - Post a comment


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