Around the Hoops World: Three Important Stories

—Seventh-graders are now classified as “prospects” according to NCAA basketball rules. This will only could for men’s basketball, though. The story here is that coaches and trainers have been going younger and younger in their search for talent. However, with the current rule book set only to regulate contact with ninth grade students, those who are younger are, in a way, more susceptible to quasi-dubious recruiting tactics. Now that younger players are under regulation, the industry of recruiting should be more controlled… or so is the stated intent.

—North Carolina got its first ACC win, beating Virginia 83-61. The Tar Heels, who had been reeling from a couple of ACC losses (Wake Forest and Boston College), were falling in the Polls and losing some of their glimmer. This win was classic UNC, though, as Psycho-T and Ty Lawson were their usual, dominating selves.

—UCLA is on fire right now. They’ve won 10 in a row overall, and 15 in a row at home, with their latest win coming in a blowout versus their former rivals, the Arizona Wildcats. UCLA, although dismantled over the offseason due to players leaving for the NBA, is proving to be a legit contender to reach the Final Four again this year. If they do, it will be their fourth time to the Final Four in a row.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 16, 2009 - Post a comment

Michigan State Still Rolling With Win Over Penn St.

Michigan State has been on fire lately, and they’re starting to catch the attention of the national media. Likewise, they’ve grabbed the attention of yours truly, the Final Four Blog. Last night the Spartans took Penn State on the road and came out on top, winning 78-73, notching their tenth straight victory. Their run of ten wins has included games versus some pretty decent teams, including Texas, Minnesota, Ohio State, Kansas, and now the Nittany Lions of Penn State. Not bad at all. In terms of overall efficiency at Kenpom.com’s stats ratings, Michigan State is ranked No. 24 in the nation with a 14-2 overall record.

Michigan has a few very good stats going for them, most of which are on offense. The Spartans have the 16th best offensive efficiency rating in the country at 116.0. They rebound on offense with some of the best teams in the country, and they are extremely efficient from beyond the free throw line. Their weakness is defense, especially around the perimeter. They can’t generate steals, and they are sometimes prone to sending teams to the line. Other than those things, Michigan State is looking like a contender to make the Final Four. Keep your eyes on the Spartans.
To get NCAA basketball tickets, go to StubHub.com.

Permalink - Posted in General on January 15, 2009 - Post a comment

Jodie Meeks Breaks Kentucky Record with 54 Points

Jodie Meeks scored 54 points in an effort to help his Kentucky Wildcats defeat the Tennessee Volunteers last night. Meeks’ point total eclipsed a previous school record, 53 points, set by Dan Issel 39 years ago. Everything was falling for Meeks, even the contested shots. Kentucky ran away with the game, winning 90-72 mainly because the Vols had no real answer for or to Jodie Meeks.

So in light of this major accomplishment, do we have to consider Jodie Meeks a Player of the Year candidate? Who else is on the list? Last year’s titleholder Tyler Hansbrough is still in contention, presumably. Media darling Stephen Curry is leading the nation in scoring, and Oklahoma’s Blake Griffin has more than enough talent to win the honor. I suppose we’ll have to see where Meeks and the Wildcats go this season, but for now, at the very least he’s on the national radar.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 14, 2009 - Post a comment

The Rules for Storming the Floor

For college basketball fans there are few joys more savory than rushing the court, storming the floor, running out onto the field of play after a monumental, satisfying home win. However, as a great man once said, “This is not ‘Nam, there are rules.” So what are the rules of proper court storming etiquette? Is it polite to rush the court when you’re at another team’s gym? Is it okay to linger on the floor for a while? In what kind of situation would a ranked team have the right to storm the court? Thankfully there is a whole blog dedicated to storming the floor and all the stuff such a moment entails.

The Final Four Blog would like to agree whole heartedly with the rules set forth by the blog “Storming the Court.” As a fan of the WCC, this blogger used to absolutely hate it when the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who travel very well and good for them, used to come to some other team’s gym for the WCC Tournament, win every game by a million points, end the tourney ranked in the AP (while no other WCC team came close) and then, as they have for the past few decades, win the conference title with little problem. What would the Zags do? Storm the court.  It’s just plain bad karma to rush the court in those situations.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 13, 2009 - Post a comment

Check Out CBS’ College Hoops Score Predictor

CBS has a nice little feature within their college hoops section which seeks to determine not just the winner of every college basketball games in the nation, but the exact score of those games. How good are they at predicting the winner? They show you the stats right on the page- and apparently they’re pretty good at getting the winner right. In the past five or so years they’ve been over 70% accurate at determining the winner. So far this season they’re predicting games with about 75% accuracy, the best to date. Possibly they’ve been getting more games correct because the beginning of the season often pits some of the stinky teams against the best teams; The conference schedule will be harder to predict.

What do they think about tonight’s best games? Here is a little sampling:

Oklahoma over Texas, 73-68
Davidson over Appalachian State, 79-71
Louisville over Notre Dame, 76-70

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 12, 2009 - Post a comment

Brigham Young: The Best Team You Never Saw Coming

Right now BYU is 12-2 and 0-0 in their Mountain West Conference. They sit below UNLV, San Diego St., TCU and Utah in their conference standings. They are not ranked nationally, and they did not go to the NCAA Tournament last season. So why are we writing a blog about them? Numbers. The Cougars got attention because they finally lost their home game winning streak when they were beaten by No. 4-ranked Wake Forest last week. Other than that you haven’t heard much about them because, well, they’ve been quietly racking up some awesome stats. Let’s checkout what the boys in Provo have been up to.

Ken Pomeroy (KenPom, to those in the biz) has a nice breakdown of the BYU efficiency stats. The brighter green the highlight, the better they are, the brighter the red, the worse they are. As you can see, there are few weaknesses on this team’s stat sheet. The best thing that BYU has done so far is shoot well from inside the arc. They get a lot of points in the paint, and they never get blocked. They hold onto the ball, they keep their opponents off the glass, an they really aren’t bad at shooting the long ball, either. The only thing the Cougars are bad at doing is rebounding on offense. However, if you’re the No. 2 team in the nation at making your shots, there aren’t a lot of offensive boards to grab, right?

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 9, 2009 - Post a comment

BC: They’re Hot Then They’re Cold, They’re Yes Then They’re No

Boston College had its moment in the limelight when the Eagles beat then-top ranked North Carolina just a few days ago. However, the honeymoon is over, as they say. The Eagles, who were on the up-and-up, lost one to the Harvard Crimson last night 82-70.

According to the AP article on the game, Harvard coach Tommy Amaker had this to say: ”Obviously it’s a special night for us and for our basketball program. To be able to come across town and play against an outstanding basketball team, especially after what they experienced in their previous game.”

The Boston College Eagles and the Harvard Crimson are cross-town rivals, which might have had something to do with their beating of the Eagles. You always get your game face extra stern looking when you play the boys next door. Add that in with the fact that the BC team was probably feeling pretty confident after upsetting UNC, and you have yourself the perfect upset scenario.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 8, 2009 - Post a comment

Hoops Teams With Good 2009 Outlooks

Stocks are taking the spotlight in many news stories around the country, and usually the news is not so good. 2008 was a pretty bad year for most investors overall, but unlike in the world of securities, in sports there is an even keel, a happy balance where there are never more losers than winners. When somebody wins, somebody else loses, and vise versa, such that there is always somewhere worth investing (your time, your ticket dollar, your emotions).

Where are we going with this? At Sports Illustrated.com there’s a Seth Davis article out that talks about teams in terms of their stock price. Which teams have good earnings potential for 2009? Which teams have the most risk of falling in value? Davis takes a look at some of the most popular and powerful teams, the UNCs, the UConns, the Kansases, the equivalent of the S&P 500. However, as good investors know, there are oftentimes real gems in the smaller stocks, the ones that sometimes bound high when they’re on the move. We’d like to see some articles on that!

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 7, 2009 - Post a comment

Top Games to See Tonight

Hope you already went to StubHub to get some college basketball tickets for tonight, because there are some great games taking place across the nation. Last night the Notre Dame Fighting Irish beat the Georgetown Hoyas in another huge Big East matchup. That conference is really getting interesting. More action will come your way from the Big East if you got tickets to the UConn-West Virginia game. Here are some of the most interesting games for Tuesday, January 6th:

  • Classic Non-Conference Rivalry:

Georgia-Georgia Tech

  • Big East:

UConn-West Virginia

  • Big Ten:

Purdue-Penn State
Michigan State-Ohio State

  • Random Non-Conference:

Utah-LSU

  • Regional Interest:

Texas-Arkansas
Clemson-Alabama
Texas Tech-TCU

  • -nell:

Cornell-Bucknell

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 6, 2009 - Post a comment

UNC Out as No. 1!

The new AP Top 25 Poll has some foundation-shaking changes to discuss. Here are some of the highlights:

  • North Carolina lost at home to Boston College, sending the Tar Heels out of first place and into third for the first time since the preseason poll came out.
  • Pittsburgh, which was previously the No. 3 team in the nation, moved into the No. 1 spot after UNC and UConn (previously No. 2) lost this past week.
  • Duke moved into No. 2, securing their spot due to the aforementioned losses. Wake Forest, still undefeated, is the No. 4 team.
  • The Big East now has nine teams (a record) in the AP Top 25 Poll.
  • Gonzaga was knocked out of the poll after their slide this past week, leaving No. 16 Xavier as the highest ranked “mid-major.”
  • Only two Pac-10 teams are in the latest poll, No. 10 UCLA and No. 20 Arizona State.

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

Permalink - Posted in General on January 5, 2009 - Post a comment


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