What’s in the corn in Iowa?
Do you know what North Carolina, Michigan State and Oklahoma all have in common? They all lost in the state of Iowa whilst being ranked number one. UNC losing to an unranked Northern Iowa, Michigan State to a then unranked Iowa, and Oklahoma to a 19th ranked Iowa State. Iowa has since climbed to number 3 in the country, and Iowa State jumped up to 13, but still, that state is a nightmare for top ranked teams to travel to. Over the last decade, basketball in Iowa has been competitive, but never considered a real threat to make a deep run in the big dance. Iowa and Iowa State have been the most consistent throughout the years, but recently Northern Iowa has shown the ability to compete with the big boys. Sprinkle in some competitive teams from Drake University over the years and suddenly you are looking at a state with four competitive programs that could take out a ranked opponent at any time.
The Curious Case of Southern Methodist University
With a 2nd round, 1
point upset at the hands of UCLA in last year’s tournament, this program was
looking to build off their 27-7 record. Then in the month of September the
program was hit with sanctions due to multiple rule violations, the biggest of
which was academic fraud. The penalties were the loss of 9 scholarships over
the next 3 years, Head Coach Larry Brown was suspend for the first 9 games of
the 2015-16 season, and the team was banned from competing in the 2016 postseason.
With all that, this team could have just gone through the motions this year,
but they didn’t. They came out of the gates swinging, starting the season 18-1,
with their first loss coming this past Sunday against Temple. It’s a shame that
one of the best teams in the country will not be allowed to compete for a
national championship.
The Blue Bloods
are looking Gray
Kentucky - John Calipari has
become the preeminent coach for producing teams comprised of one and done
players. This season was no different as there is no starter left over from
last season’s final four team. All four of the Wildcats losses have come
against unranked teams, without much to take away from the wins, Calipari’s run
might finally come back to earth a little bit. The big saving grace for
Kentucky is the conference in which they play, the SEC. It is still a
conference that lacks enough talent to challenge an even less talented Kentucky
team for the top spot. In a couple of years the league could become more competitive
with Bruce Pearl down in Auburn, LSU’s ability to recruit talent, and Texas
A&M building a foundation for strong future. Currently A&M is ranked 5th
in the country, but until they take out Kentucky in a big show down next month,
its Kentucky’s conference to win.
Duke – Coach K has a lot of
work to do. After Monday’s lost to Miami, Duke has lost 4 of its last 5
including back to back losses at Cameron Indoor. A season after cutting down
the nets with a group of engaging freshmen, this season’s freshman class needs
the Mike Krzyzewski of old. Some floor slapping, high intensity focus on the
defense end of the court. This team made a complete 160 degree turn when power
forward and senior leader Amile Jefferson went down with a foot injury.
Jefferson wasn’t just a bit player from last season’s championship roster, he
was a defensive presence when someone tried to drive the lane. Without
Jefferson out there this season, the defense is nonexistent. He recently shed
his walking boot and is rehabbing, but it looks like he may not be back for a
while.
It’s crazy to think that when
discussing Kentucky and Duke this season we are talking about two teams who are
ranked 20th and 24th. We could realistically be looking
at two teams who have cut down the nets 3 out of the last five years being
bounced in the opening round. Of course, both could turn it around and get hot
at the right time to advance in the dance.
March will be
Madness
This season has been, and will
continue to be, unpredictable. In January alone, teams ranked in the top 10
have lost 14 times. For the first time since 1949, five different teams ranked
number one have lost in the same season. And then look at the top 10, every team
one through ten has at least two losses. Oklahoma is the only team we can
objectively look at as possibly separating from the pack. Both of their losses came
on the road against high quality Kansas and Iowa State teams. They have a true
player of the year candidate in Buddy Hield, and have the components to make a
deep run in the tournament. Even then, no team should be considered safe this
season. The way this season has been playing out, a 12 seed beating a 5 seed
isn’t going to be that big of an upset come tourney time. It could be a year we
see multiple 2 and 3 seeds losing in the first round, and maybe (and it’s a
huge maybe) a 16 actually takes out a number 1 seed. Last year’s tournament was
wild and crazy, it’s wild and crazy to think that this year’s conquest could be
wilder and crazier! Buckle up, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
