Archive for November, 2014

UNC Basketball: Biggest Takeaways from 2014 Battle for 4 Atlantis

Posted by Brian Pedersen on November 30 2014 Add Comments
The floppy hats and sunscreen have been put away after a week in the tropics, as North Carolina returned Saturday from the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in the Bahamas with some souvenirs as well as its first loss of the season. The Tar Heels also got some answers to questions that their earlier games couldn't provide, particularly related to how they would handle a team willing to fight harder than them and how the supporting cast ...

Ranking the 10 Best Must-See College Basketball Games of December

Posted by Brian Pedersen on November 30 2014 Add Comments
After a heck of a first month of college basketball this season, there's some very good news to chew on: December is going to be even better. While November's schedule was heavily populated by intriguing matchups that came as part of a variety of preseason tournaments, the upcoming month leans more toward high-profile pairings set up by the schools...often with the help of TV people and their deep programming budgets. Many of December's most notable games are ...

Kansas Adopting Defense as the Best Way to Play to Its Potential

Posted by C.J. Moore on November 30 2014 Add Comments
Watching Kansas corral, spook and intimidate Michigan State over the final 20 minutes of Sunday's Orlando Classic was strangely surreal. It was a role reversal from 12 days prior, when Kentucky—much more emphatically—did the same to Kansas and had the general basketball population questioning if Bill Self was finally going to have a down year in Lawrence. Three wins at the Orlando Classic—finished off by the gritty 61-56 victory over Michigan State in the championship game—proved any ...

Ohio State Basketball: Preview and Prediction for Showdown with Louisville

Posted by Scott Polacek on November 30 2014 Add Comments
If the 2014-15 Ohio State basketball team wants to add a marquee nonconference road victory to its resume, it only has one chance—Tuesday against Louisville. Clearly, winning at Louisville is not a make-or-break situation for the Buckeyes’ NCAA tournament hopes, but it is critical when you start talking about Ohio State finding itself in a possible top-three seed range on Selection Sunday. It’s not like Dwyane Wade was still lacing it up for that very pedestrian Marquette ...

Kansas vs. Michigan State: Score and Twitter Reaction from Orlando Classic 2014

Posted by Tyler Conway on November 30 2014 Add Comments
Kansas and Michigan State each failed the first major test of their season. The Jayhawks wouldn't allow that to happen again.    Perry Ellis scored a game-high 17 points, Frank Mason had a double-double and Kansas' defense zeroed in down the stretch to earn a hard-fought 61-56 victory over Michigan State to take the 2014 Orlando Classic on Sunday. The Jayhawks held Michigan State to just 20 points in the second half, as the Spartans consistently failed to create ...

Texas vs. UConn: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2014 Regular Season

Posted by Matt Fitzgerald on November 30 2014 Add Comments
The Connecticut Huskies faced a big, early test as reigning national champions in Sunday's matchup with Texas. Coming off its first loss of the young season, UConn was heartbroken seconds before the final buzzer in a 55-54 loss to the AP No. 7 Longhorns.      Texas standout Jonathan Holmes hit his fourth and last three-pointer of the game with just over two ticks remaining to lift the visitors at Gampel Pavilion in Storrs. Holmes led three Longhorns ...

Ranking the NCAA Title-Winning Teams of the 2000s

Posted by Brendan O'Meara on November 30 2014 Add Comments
Now that the turkey has settled and you've no doubt been in a tryptophan-induced food coma for the past few days, why not add one more heaping plate full of college basketball? Fifteen champions have been crowned since 2000, and not all of them are created equal. Many have similar records, but that doesn't necessarily tell the entire story. So, how does this near-Sweet 16 of champions rank? Is the team with the best overall record, the ...

Duke Basketball: Preview and Prediction for Showdown with Wisconsin

Posted by Scott Polacek on November 30 2014 Add Comments
The Madness may have to wait until March, but one of the best games in the entire 2014-15 college basketball season takes place Wednesday when the red-hot Duke Blue Devils travel to the Kohl Center in Madison to take on the Wisconsin Badgers. Not only is it a matchup between two Top Five teams, but it is the anchor game in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Don’t underestimate the importance of conference pride in this one, as ...

Oregon vs. Oregon State: 2014 Civil War Score, Platypus Trophy Winner and More

Posted by Nate Loop on November 30 2014 Add Comments
 Make no mistake, Marcus Mariota rules the Beaver State. The Oregon Ducks (11-1, 8-1 Pac-12) trounced the Oregon State Beavers (5-7, 2-7 Pac-12) by a score of in the 2014 Civil War matchup, taking home bragging rights and the Platypus Trophy to go along with their berth in the Pac-12 title game against Arizona. Oregon coach Mark Helfrich's squad was in control of the contest throughout, but it was a 21-point explosion in the second quarter that ...

Dalvin Cook Saves Florida State from Worst Game of Jameis Winston’s Career

Posted by Bob Ferrante on November 29 2014 Add Comments
Jameis Winston had two interceptions in the first four minutes. And he added a third interception before the first quarter was over. Florida State University has dug itself out of deficits before this season—but never with Winston playing this poorly, finishing with a career-high four interceptions and a career-low 125 passing yards. That's when FSU coach Jimbo Fisher went with Plan B: Dalvin Cook to the right, Dalvin Cook to the left and Dalvin Cook up the ...