Best Super Bowl Weekend College Hoops Matchups

Yes, we know this is Super Bowl weekend, but there are some really, truly great matchups coming up in college basketball. And besides, the good Lord invented TiVo for a reason.  So here they are, our picks for the best college basketball games to see over the weekend, including tonight.  Enjoy the Super Bowl and all the college basketball games safely and responsibly, and we’ll be here to recap things on Monday.

Fridays’ Top Three

  • Butler vs. Valparaiso
  • Rider vs. Loyola-Maryland
  • Princeton vs. Dartmouth

Saturday’s Top Three

  • Pittsburgh vs. Notre Dame
  • Georgetown vs. Marquette
  • Washington vs. Arizona State

Sunday’s Top Three

  • Villanova vs. Cincinnati
  • Michigan State vs. Penn State
  • Virginia vs. Duke

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 30, 2009 - Post a comment

Shakeups Due in the Polls as No. 1 Duke, No. 3 Pitt Fall

Duke lost to Wake Forest and Pittsburgh lost to Villanova last night in a couple of games that will shake up some of the top ranked teams in the nation.  Duke was the No. 1 team in the nation entering their matchup with Wake last night, and Pittsburgh was No. 3.  Clearly the opening is there for Uconn to step into the No. 1 spot, as they are the No. 2 right now.  The Huskies played DePaul last night and won convincingly. They play Providence this Saturday at home, a game they ought to win.

Here are a few of the Thursday games you ought to get tickets to see.

St. Mary’s-Gonzaga
Stanford-USC
Boise State-Idaho
Arkansas-Alabama
Arizona State-Washington State
Michigan State-Iowa
Illinois-Minnesota
San Diego-Portland
Clemson-Virginia Tech

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 29, 2009 - Post a comment

North Dakota State Earning Major Mid Major Respect

The Summit League has a new powerhouse: North Dakota State. Just five season’s ago the North Dakota State team was in Division II, struggling to get any sort of attention. But due to an extremely strong recruiting class, they lobbied the NCAA to move the team into Division I in five years.  The NCAA allowed it, and now that the players in that class (who red shirted their freshmen seasons) are seniors, NDSU is really going to town on their competition. According to the Bill Trocchi article about the team, NDSU coach Saul Phillips had this to say about making the Tourney, possibly:

“It would be a dream come true for everyone around this program, a dream that was thought to be unreachable when we started this. The victory is in the fact that we can even talk about it without being laughed out of the conversation.”

So if you’re looking for a mid major to support this season, a good bet might be North Dakota State, a team tied for first in their conference.  Gonzaga and Butler are safe picks, but if you’re truly looking for a Cinderella mid major, it’s North Dakota State.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 28, 2009 - Post a comment

Duke the New No. 1, and a New Postseason Tournament

The Duke Blue Devils moved into the No. 1 spot in the latest AP Poll, riding a wave of support after throttling Maryland in a blowout. It also helped that the old No. 1, ACC competitor Wake Forest, slipped recently, opening up a spot at the top. Duke is 18-1, and playing some very good hoops right now. However, fortune for the team at the top of the poll has been bad this season. North Carolina went down earlier than expected, Pitt only lasted a short time, and Wake was gone before you knew it. Will Duke last long at the summit of the college basketball world?

In other news, a new postseason college basketball tournament has been devised. Apparently in addition to the NCAA Tournament, the NIT and the one year-old College Basketball Invitational, there will be a fourth tournament after the regular season. This new tourney will feature teams with winning records in D-1 play, and might be designed to cater to mid-major schools. Another postseason tourney sounds good to the Final Four Blog. This might help make smaller teams better, and give them a chance to play in the postseason when they otherwise wouldn’t.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 27, 2009 - Post a comment

Top Ten Hoops Games Tonight and Tomorrow

The college basketball season is really getting intense, as the conference part of the schedule is producing some amazing games.  It’s really too bad that they’re only a little more than a month left in the season before March starts. Here are some of the best games in the nation. Many of them are already sold-out, so you might want to check with you-know-who, achem! StubHub cough! to see if there are any available tickets.

Top Tickets Tonight

Oklahoma-Oklahoma State
Marquette-Notre Dame
Mercer-Belmont
Iona-Siena
Fairfield Manhattan

Top Tickets Tomorrow

Brigham Young-Utah
Kentucky-Mississippi
Texas-Baylor
Perdue-Wisconsin
Boston College-Maryland

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 26, 2009 - Post a comment

Three Point Line Movement Aftermath

Over the offseason the NCAA moved the 3-point line for men’s college basketball back 12 inches from its previous position. The move was generally accepted and in many instances welcomed with open arms. The paint was too crowded and the three point shot was becoming something not especially significant, being that almost every player can shoot one with decent accuracy. So has the movement of the three point line helped to solve any of college basketball’s issues?

Apparently there are some changes, but they’re not as dramatic as some would think. Sharpshooters are still draining threes with the best of them, and for most guards with a nice jump shot, percentage-wise the movement has only helped their shooting ability. Marginally, moving the three point line has been effective in keeping some players from taking threes. Last year the NCAA saw the highest number of three point shots taken in the history of college hoops. This year, the number started to drop, and its back at about a late 1990s level. Some people speculate that there won’t be a real drastic change in NCAA three point shooting until they move the line out to the NBA-range.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 23, 2009 - Post a comment

The Size Myth in College Hoops

Traditional, back-to-the-basket centers have little to no effect on a team when it comes to winning the NCAA Basketball National Championship Game, according to Jacob E. Osterhout, whose Mythbusters article suggested that having good guards and forwards is a much better advantage in the later stages of the Tournament.

This is not to say that having an inside presence means nothing. Far from it. Just look at all the games guys like Tyler Hansbrough, Hasheem Thabeet, Luke Harangody and Blake Griffin are winning these days. Certainly there are exceptions to be found in the Tourney as well. However, when it comes to winning the national title, you’re better off having the Curry brothers than the Lopez twins. Jacob E. Osterhout explains the theory well in his article, but you could see the notion put into practice last year in the Final Four, where Kansas and Memphis, two team who relied on guards and forwards, vied for the title. UCLA and North Carolina, with Kevin Love and Tyler Hansbrough respectively, were ousted before the championship game. This year we’ll see if this theory works again. You might want to organize your bracket accordingly.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 22, 2009 - Post a comment

Give The Kids More Time to Think!

ACC coaches are getting ball rolling (or dribbling, as it were) in an effort to move up the NBA Draft declaration deadline. This is a huge mistake, according to Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis. The current deadline (about two months after the NCAA Tournament championship) might be tough on coaches who are trying to reorganize their teams for the next season and the summer training, but it gives the players a good deal of time to make the best possible decision. If the proposed deadline is pushed up, a player who plays in the Final Four would have roughly a week and a half to make a decision- to stay in college or to go pro.

The Final Four Blog agrees with Seth Davis on this one. The stance is brilliantly argued by Davis, who, unlike the ACC coaches, is looking out for the well being on people, not programs. When the players have a chance to play in NBA recruiting camps and hear arguments on both sides, when they get adequate time for personal reflection on the matter, they probably make better decisions. Give the kids some time to think.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 21, 2009 - Post a comment

Top Games to Watch this Week; Who’s A Tourney Lock?

Sports Illustrated is going to cover the subjects of this blog post. First up, the SI guys are practically doing my job for me, as they have a nice little slide show about the top six gamest to see this week. There have already been a few good games, but if you’re a fan of the Big East, ACC, Pac-10, or the Big Ten, there are a few more you should check out. With each picture comes a little blurb about why the game is important. Check it out and then see if you can scrounge up some tickets from the No. 1 ticket reseller marketplace.

Next on the agenda: Who can you count on to be in the NCAA Tournament? Is it too early to call a team a lock? For teams like UConn, Pitt, North Carolina and Duke, have they spend enough time near the top of the polls to get an at-large bid no matter what happens in the final weeks and conference tournaments? Check out this Andy Glockner article from the Bubble Watch.

Also, in a only partially related note, the Final Four Blog would like to congratulate Barack Obama on his inauguration day today. Obama is a fan of college sports and still plays some pickup basketball. I wouldn’t be surprised if the new commander in chief didn’t come out to the NCAA Final Four or something during his term in office.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 20, 2009 - Post a comment

Wake Forest the New No. 1 after Winning Battle of Unbeaten Teams

Probably the biggest college hoops matchup of the weekend was Clemson-Wake Forest, a matchup between two unbeaten ACC teams. Fans who got tickets and went to the game got to see an excellent show, as the Demon Deacons outlasted the Tigers to win 78-68. As a result of the game the Demon Deacons moved up the poll to occupy the new AP No. 1 spot. North Carolina and Pitt had previously been No. 1s this year. In honor of Wake’s rise to the top, let’s take a look at their scouting report, courtesy of Kenpom.com.

Wake is ranked No. 6 in overall efficiency in the country, with a No. 3 defensive efficiency rating (82.9), and a No. 37 offensive efficiency rating (111.1). There are no glaring statistical deficiencies with Wake Forest, as they not only shoot well from inside the arc and out, but their team doesn’t fall into the usual traps of elite teams- they shoot a good free throw percentage (70.4) and hang onto the ball decently well. Wake has key wins over teams like Baylor, Brigham Young, North Carolina, Boston College and Clemson. They await some challenging matchups. Duke, Kenpom.com’s No. 1 team, will play Wake on January 28th.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 19, 2009 - Post a comment


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