Topics

[Offense:]

Kenpom Rankings:

Offense:
1. Purdue
2. Gonzaga
3. Iowa
4. Kansas
5. Baylor
6. Houston
7. Duke
8. Villanova
9. Alabama
10. Illinois

Defense:
1.LSU
2. Tennessee
3. VCU
4. Iowa St.
5. Texas Tech
6. Auburn
7. Indiana
8. San Diego St.
9. Baylor
10. Texas

Baylor is the only team in the top 10 for both offense and defense.

[today 1pm CST]

https://heatcheckcbb.com/ncaa-mid-major-top-25-rankings-north-texas-on-the-rise-abilene-christian-streaking/

12. Murray State Racers (11-2)
Murray State might not be the favorite to win the OVC this season but it is not far behind. The Racers hold a strong overall record and feature a pair of absolute snipers from beyond the arc. Tevin Brown (37-for-82; 45.1 percent) and Justice Hill (25-for-52; 48.1 percent) are leading the charge for a Racers' team that ranks 32nd nationally in 3-point percentage. Brown is putting together a superb season as the team's star. Murray State won its first conference game of the season by 25 over Southeast Missouri State. Their first meeting with Belmont comes on Jan. 15. -LH

6. Belmont Bruins (10-3)
Belmont has not played since our last update to the mid-major Top 25. The Bruins remain 10-3 and have won five straight games. They will begin their quest for the OVC regular-season title this week with a home game against Southeast Missouri State. Head coach Casey Alexander's team ranks 37th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency behind superb interior finishing. Nick Muszynski and Grayson Murphy form an elite duo with lots of help around them. Will Richard has been a welcome addition to the rotation with his elite efficiency. -LH

3. Loyola Chicago Ramblers (9-2)
Loyola Chicago has not played since Dec. 10 when it beat Vanderbilt on the road. The Ramblers are expected to return to the court Thursday when they will challenge a fellow top 5 mid-major team in San Francisco. Head coach Drew Valentine has led a remarkably efficient offensive unit to date in his first season on the sidelines. -LH

Interesting that San Francisco is playing Loyola Chicago today 1pm CST. Here's where they are in the rankings:

4. San Francisco Dons (13-1)
Since taking their first loss of the season to Grand Canyon back on Dec. 18, the Dons are 3-0 (including a win over NAIA Academy of the Arts). Their WCC opener was delayed, but that unfortunate circumstance opened the door for an awesome matchup with Loyola Chicago Thursday at Salt Lake City Community College. No matter how this one plays out, the trio of Jamaree Bouyea, Khalil Shabazz and Yauhen Massalski will make USF a serious contender in the non-Gonzaga WCC ranks. -AD

[Bracketology: Analyzing impact of metrics in NCAA Tournament selection, seeding]

Is the Big Dance about selecting "the best teams" or is it about selecting "the teams that earned it most" in the regular season? That question is at the crux of the debate. Based on the last two NCAA Tournaments, the selection process relies more heavily on resume while seed placement is more dependent on quality.

Bracketology: Analyzing impact of metrics in NCAA Tournament selection, seeding

https://heatcheckcbb.com/bracketology-analyzing-impact-of-metrics-in-ncaa-tournament-selection-seeding/

https://heatcheckcbb.com/ranking-the-10-mid-majors-most-likely-to-receive-march-madness-at-large-bids/

https://twitter.com/CBSSportsCBB/status/1478390901550559247

[Today's Games]

Today's Games

SUNDAY, JANUARY 2
TIME (ET) MATCHUP
Favorite in Bold Per KenPom
   
1:00 PM   Bradley at Indiana State   ESPN+

2:00 PM   St. Xavier at Loyola Chicago   ESPN+

2:00 PM   Illinois State at Valparaiso   ESPN+

2:00 PM   Evansville at Northern Iowa   ESPN+

8:00 PM   Drake at Missouri State   ESPN+

[Current Win Streaks]

Current Win Streaks

UCLA - 88 (1971-1974)

To Date This Season

1 Baylor   18
2 Iowa State   12
2 USC   12
4 Abilene Christian   10
4 Colorado State   10
6 Auburn   9
6 Davidson   9
8 West Virginia   8
9 Boise State   7
9 Providence   7
9 SMU   7
9 TCU   7
13 Kansas   6
13 Miami (FL)   6
13 Michigan State   6
13 New Mexico State   6

It's way too early for any computer ranking to provide statistically significant numbers. Sample size not large enough yet. But here we are.
https://twitter.com/haslametrics/status/1477076702987751425

[A 5'9" beast.]

I watched him when Liberty played Northern Iowa. He's incredible. A 5'9" beast.
He scored 22 points. Had 41 points against Stanford and 29 points against BYU

https://twitter.com/HeatCheckCBB/status/1476613245209169922

[NC State's Dave Doeren gives NCAA new meaning after bowl game drama]

NC State's Dave Doeren gives NCAA new meaning after bowl game drama

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/nc-state-dave-doeren-ncaa-new-meaning

On Wednesday, Doeren had a new acronym for the NCAA.

"Well, the NCAA stands for 'No Clue At All' in my opinion, so I don't really care what they say about it. But our guys, like I said, we took a roster of guys down there with zero COVID issues, practiced every day and did everything right and didn't get a chance to play the game," Doeren said.

"As far as I'm concerned, we did beat them. They couldn't even get to the field, you know? So you can say whatever you want, but if look at the College Football Playoff definition of what's going to happen if that happens in one of their games, that team is forfeiting. So I feel like we're following the same guidelines that those bowl games are going to follow."

https://twitter.com/heatcheckcbb/status/1476272486362714113?s=21

Tuesday, December 28:
Games Played 13
Games Postponed 5
Games Cancelled 12

Conferences should rewrite their Covid policy so as not to cancel and forfeit games. This is stupid plain and simple.

[College basketball freshman rankings: Duke's Paolo Banchero back to No. 1, earns Freshman of the Week honors]

College basketball freshman rankings: Duke's Paolo Banchero back to No. 1, earns Freshman of the Week honors
https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/dribble-handoff-what-bill-self-alabama-bob-huggins-and-illinois-get-from-college-basketballs-santa-claus/

https://twitter.com/AP/status/1475581875800395780

Read the short comment next to each team within the article.
https://twitter.com/JonRothstein/status/1475458949260398597

Many conferences are scrapping the forfeit policy for good reason. MVC passed.

Starts at 17:00

https://link.chtbl.com/EOCBB

https://twitter.com/Stadium/status/1474091486409019406

https://twitter.com/SethOnHoops/status/1474094498082926592

https://twitter.com/jonrothstein/status/1473611523398504451?s=21

Davidson over Alabama 79-78

Wright State over NC State 84-70

https://twitter.com/ClayTravis/status/1473390169948631042

Sorted by AdjEM of all 358 teams

1. Loyola 25
2. Missouri St. 64
3. Drake 91
4. No. Iowa 114
5. So. Ill 124
6. Ind. St. 173
7. Bradley 175
8. Valpo 216
9. Ill. St. 223
10. Evansville 236

https://twitter.com/GoodmanHoops/status/1472709892683317249

5:30pm CST FoxSports1

Pom Prediction:

47 Creighton over 86 DePaul

by 1 point, 51% probablity.

JFL is always fun to watch.

[A professor hid a cash prize on campus. All students had to do was read the syllabus]

A professor hid a cash prize on campus. All students had to do was read the syllabus

https://edition.cnn.com/2021/12/18/us/tennessee-professor-syllabus-money-trnd/index.html?utm_content=2021-12-18T19%3A02%3A37&utm_term=link&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twCNN

With every new college semester, students are faced with multiple syllabuses outlining the subjects in their classes.

But do students read them thoroughly? One Tennessee professor put it to the test.
Kenyon Wilson is the associate head of performing arts at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and decided to put an Easter egg in the syllabus for his music seminar class this past semester.

The hint read: "Thus (free to the first who claims; locker one hundred forty-seven; combination fifteen, twenty-five, thirty-five), students may be ineligible to make up classes and ..."

This would have led students to a locker that contained a $50 bill, free to the first student to claim it.

But at the end of the semester, when he went to check the locker, the bill was still there.

 

Penny likes to do it the hard way and Memphis  beat Alabama. They were running on all cylinders. Another good team to watch come tournament time. Very impressive win.

Watched them play this weekend. Very impressive team made up of players from overseas. One freshman whose first name is on his jersey (Kerr) was unstoppable. He constantly drove to the basket and put up a dagger floater without missing on nearly every drive.  This team is one of the best teams I've seen this year.  They are undefeated and have beat some good teams. Watch them. They are darn good. Fun to watch.

Can't believe Kerr is only a freshman. Such poise and confidence oozes from him.  A killer. 

Per KenPom Rankings of SOS- All Division 1 Teams

Record: Top 10 SOS teams
3-6
1-7
0-8
1-7
2-8
2-5
3-2
1-7
1-9
2-6


Record: Bottom 10 SOS teams
5-4
6-1
7-3
5-4
3-4
7-1
7-1
6-1
5.2
7-2

This actually makes sense. The stiffer the competition, the tougher it is to win and vice-versa. The value of SOS when running a multiple regression to ascertain how much weight to give different variables which contribute to winning games for prediction purposes is negligible. Better to leave it out. It is however intuitive that top-ranked teams with good records and who have tougher schedules are probably much better than other teams with similar W-L records but with average SOS. But using SOS as a dependant variable and including it in a regressiona formula will not be a better predictor of wins than by leaving it out. There rarely is a positive correlation between wins and SOS as the sample above shows.

DePaul undefeated with JFL. 3pm CST On FOX SPORTS 1, DISH channel 150

[No. 9 Baylor vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State (12 p.m. ET Saturday, ABC)]

No. 9 Baylor vs. No. 5 Oklahoma State (12 p.m. ET Saturday, ABC)

SAT 11:00 AM
ABC
9 Baylor Bears
BAYLOR BEARS
+6.5
+190
o45.5

5Oklahoma State Cowboys
OKLAHOMA STATE COWBOYS
-6.5
-227
u45.5


No. 21 Houston @ No. 4 Cincinnati (4 p.m. ET Saturday, ABC)

SAT 3:00 PM
ABC
21Houston Cougars
HOUSTON COUGARS
+10.5
+320
o52

4 Cincinnati Bearcats
CINCINNATI BEARCATS
-10.5
-400
u52

No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 3 Alabama (4 p.m. ET Saturday, CBS)

SAT 3:00 PM
CBS
1 Georgia Bulldogs
GEORGIA BULLDOGS
-6.5
-250
o49

3Alabama Crimson Tide
ALABAMA CRIMSON TIDE
+6.5
+210
u49

No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 13 Iowa (8 p.m. ET Saturday, FOX)

SAT 7:00 PM
2 Michigan Wolverines
MICHIGAN WOLVERINES
-10.5
-455
o43.5

13 Iowa Hawkeyes
IOWA HAWKEYES
+10.5
+350
u43.5

By Jason McIntyre
FOX Sports Betting Analyst

https://twitter.com/CFBONFOX/status/1466890247669628928

https://twitter.com/EHansenNDI/status/1465730658970574852

[USC fans chant 'F--- the Mormons' during game against BYU, school apologizes"It was distasteful and we apologize to the BYU program," USC said]

USC fans chant 'F--- the Mormons' during game against BYU, school apologizes
"It was distasteful and we apologize to the BYU program," USC said

https://www.foxnews.com/sports/usc-fans-chant-f-k-mormons-game-byu-school-apologizes

Tsk, tsk.

Gonzaga vs. Duke 9:30 pm CST  ESPN

Alabama vs. Drake   3:30 pm ESPNU    
   

Loyola Chicago vs. Arizona St.  6pm ESPNews

10am CST on ESPN

Anyone know where I can find the following information for all NCAA teams. This data is found in every box score of every game. But I want the cumulative numbers for every team in each of these categories:

1. Points Off Turnovers
2. 2nd Chance Points
3. Points in Paint
4. Fast Break Points
5. Points Off Bench

The most likely place would be Sports-Reference but I don't find them there. None at KenPom, none at Massey.

At 11am CST

State 2pt favorite according to KenPom


Around the Valley today.

6 years Prior to our new coach:
2011 95
2012 138
2013 65
2014 163
2015 64
2016 42

6 years since new coach
2017 104
2018 150
2019 220
2020 146
2021 193
2022  ?.....(Way too early but the current ranking is 255)   

https://twitter.com/UNImbb/status/1458824552553893893

Perhaps I'm not seeing it and therefore would like to know from others why Matt is a good coach. What did he do against Toledo that proved he is a good coach?  I'm not talking about recruiting but his good qualities during the games played. What are his coaching strengths?  Forget the weaknesses. Seriously interested in what others may be seeing that I'm missing.     

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2021/11/05/aaron-rodgers-covid-pat-mcafee-ivermectin-vaccine/6301377001/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter_SBTribune

"I realize I'm in the crosshairs of the woke mob right now," Rodgers said. "So before my final nail gets put in my cancel culture casket, I'd like to set the record straight on so many of the blatant lies out there right now."

'It wasn't some ruse or lie, it was the truth.'
Rodgers said that he "didn't lie" during his news conference when he said he was immunized. According to NFL.com, he received homeopathic treatment from his personal doctor to raise his antibody levels

"It wasn't some sort of ruse or lie, it was the truth," he said. "Had there been a follow-up to my statement, I would've said, 'Look, I'm not some sort of anti-vaxx flat-earther. I am someone who's a critical thinker. I believe strongly in bodily autonomy, and to not have to acquiesce to some woke culture. Health is not a one-size-fits all for everybody. For me, it involved a lot of study in the offseason. Much like the study I put into Jeopardy or the time I plan for games. I met with a lot of people in the medical field to get the most information about the vaccines before making a decision."

...Rodgers said he is allergic to an ingredient in mRNA vaccines, which he said ruled out getting the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines. However, he was leery of getting the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. When the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was paused in April due to reports of clotting, he said "the options became, 'What can I do to protect myself and my teammates if there's not one of the Big Three options for me and my body?'"

"My desire to immunize myself is what was best for my body," Rodgers said. "My medical team advised me that the danger of an adverse event was greater than the risk of getting COVID and recovering."

The CDC says: If you have had a severe allergic reaction or an immediate allergic reaction — even if it was not severe — to any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, you should not get either of the currently available mRNA COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna)."

Rodgers said that he approached the NFL about "an immunization protocol that I could go to to protect me and my teammates. It was a long-term protocol that involved multiple months and I'm very proud of the research that went into that. We felt like it was what was best for me."

He did not say which protocol he underwent.

However, the league said he would still be considered unvaccinated. The league denied Rodgers' appeal.