It’s hard to say exactly when college basketball season starts. On a half-dozen or so campuses, it’s the moment known as Midnight Madness, when practice officially opens. But everyone else seems to be too wrapped up in the World Series and midseason football to notice.
When the actual staged-for-TV games begin, college hoops usually receives “and-in-other-action” mention as the highlight shows focus on decisive college and NFL games. And in January the conference openers are lost in the shuffle of bowl games and NFL playoffs.
But now that Nebraska has finally stopped scoring against Northwestern in the Alamo Bowl and the Super Bowl pairing is set, it doesn’t matter when the college basketball season started. It’s already half over.
Here are the Top 10 story lines to watch in the march to March.
1. Can Stanford go undefeated? Can Georgetown?
Top-ranked Stanford is a quintessential college team. It has talent, to be sure, but it isn’t overendowed with blue-chips. Five different players have led the team in scoring this year, and while Casey Jacobsen has emerged as the main man in the clutch, four starters average double figures. The Cardinal also defends–opponents are shooting only 38 percent–and that’s how it gets by on nights when the offense is sputtering.
Stanford’s non-conference schedule wasn’t as rigorous as some, but the Cardinal has knocked off Duke and Arizona (in Tucson). In the remaining 15 regular-season games, Stanford figures to be tested in four meetings with the Pac-10’s Los Angeles schools. And it may be in trouble Feb. 17, when it travels across San Francisco Bay to face old friend Cal in Haas Pavilion.
Georgetown appears to be a lesser threat to go undefeated. The Hoyas are a solid team, but their only notable victories have come against Seton Hall, which has proven it can stay with just about anyone in the country before losing. The Hoyas don’t seem to mind that few people take them seriously.
“Nobody has to rank us anywhere,” point guard Kevin Braswell said. “We don’t have to be in the Top 10 or anything. That fires us up. We want to go out and prove people wrong.”
2. Can Illinois go to the Final Four?
Two months ago, the Fighting Illini were thrilled to know that they could stay on the same floor as Arizona. Now it’s time for the Illini to upgrade their ambitions.
Illinois has a range of scoring options, depth and a solid backcourt, all of which are critical in the postseason.
But most important, it has adopted new coach Bill Self’s air of self-assurance. He’s not cocky; he’s confident. There’s a difference, and his players have picked up on it.
The Illini will take the same attitude into March and, who knows, maybe even April.
3. Will DePaul make the NCAA tournament?
That seems an absurd question given the embarrassment of recruiting riches Pat Kennedy lured to the North Side. But the Blue Demons are turning into a case study in chemistry, and it looks as if the laboratory may blow up any day now.
The Blue Demons are 91st in the latest RPIs, behind Ohio, Illinois State and Chattanooga. How proud they must be along Belmont Avenue.
DePaul’s aimlessness underscores the widely accepted notion that, when it comes to signing Chicago players, two’s company and three’s a crowd. Is it any wonder that there are as many Canadians as Chicagoans (two apiece) on rosters in the Big Ten, the nation’s top-rated conference? If the Blue Demons aren’t careful, they’re going to become saddled with the most dreaded tag in college ball: underachievers. That’s the price of signing a highly-touted recruiting class. Highly touted in Chicago, that is.
4. If DePaul misses the NCAAs, what other big names might it join in the NIT?
Arkansas, which checks in at 135 in this week’s RPIs, is in trouble, as is Louisville. And Utah, just three years removed from a Final Four appearance, could be at sea without head coach Rick Majerus.
5. Who’s going to get a better job, Bob Knight or Rick Pitino?
The former brought national ridicule upon his school. The latter failed miserably in the NBA and walked out on his team in midseason. No wonder they are the hottest coaching properties in recent memory. The smart money would ride on Pitino, who has had more recent success in college than Knight and doesn’t require a zero-tolerance rider in his contract. Knight is going to require someone to take a huge risk, while Pitino is going to require someone to take out a second mortgage on their basketball arena.
Pitino is said to be desperate to coach again, but his decision last week to back away from the UNLV job revealed that he’s not that desperate. Daydreamers in Bloomington like to think he’s the next Indiana coach, but Pitino is a bright-lights, big-city type who would have a tough time adjusting to wee Bloomington. Not only that, Indiana is wary of hiring another larger-than-the-school coach. Pitino is a better fit at UCLA.
But while we’re warming our speculation around the hot stove, how about a scenario in which Pitino returns to Kentucky and Knight lands across the Ohio River in Cincinnati? Tubby Smith and Kentucky fans are tiring of each other, and Cincinnati’s Bob Huggins last year made noises about giving the NBA a shot. It’s not a stretch to think either might be on his way out.
Knight might seem an odd fit on a campus with virtually no academic standards, but Cincinnati would buy instant graduation-rate credibility by hiring him. And keep in mind that Cincinnati is two hours from Bloomington. Every win there, on his march toward Dean Smith’s all-time record, would echo like a gunshot across the border into southern Indiana.
6. Who’s going to be the next Indiana coach?
University officials have promised a national search. Now that we’ve ruled out Pitino, one guess is that the search will be through the alumni phone directory for Steve Alford’s listing in Iowa City.
Whoa, say Hawkeye fans. Didn’t Alford call a news conference last September to remove himself from consideration? He did. But when it comes to statements about coaching vacancies, all are subject to updating at any given time, especially if one’s alma mater happens to call.
7. How does Steve Lavin do it?
Every year, UCLA’s head coach averts seemingly certain dismissal by pulling a rabbit, or a recruit, out of his gelled helmet of hair. An 80-70 home loss to North Carolina on Dec. 23 brought out the headhunters in Westwood, and when Pitino quit there were rampant rumors that he was already checking out housing prices in the area.
So Lavin installed a pressing defense and the Bruins ripped off five straight wins, including notable triumphs at Purdue and against cross-town rival Southern Cal.
“You can hear players breathing hard, huffing and puffing,” Bruins guard Earl Watson said. “And we still feel like we can go an extra 40 minutes.”
8. Is the Atlantic Coast Conference back?
The ACC has been kicked around in recent years, but it ranks third in this week’s conference RPIs, well off the front-running Big Ten but only a shade behind the Southeastern Conference.
Duke is Duke and North Carolina, Wake Forest and Maryland have the potential to make deep runs in March. But the conference’s strength might best be seen in the surprising revival at Georgia Tech, which last week beat sixth-ranked Wake Forest and No. 10 Virginia for its first consecutive wins over Top 10 teams since the 1985 NCAA tourney. Give credit to coach Paul Hewitt, who quickly banished the losing attitude that had set in during the final years of Bobby Cremins’ reign in Atlanta.
“I can say that Georgia Tech basketball is alive and well,” Wake coach Dave Odom said after the Jackets beat his Demon Deacons.
9. Who’s the best player you’ve never heard of?
Fresno State point guard Tito Maddox. The Bulldogs have won 10 straight, nine since Maddox became eligible in December. He’s averaging 14.4 points, 6.1 rebounds and an astounding 9.9 assists per game. Maddox will be a handful for NCAA tourney opponents.
10. Is this year’s Wisconsin . . . Providence?
Perhaps a better question is, Can a team be Cinderella two years in a row? Wisconsin could be, but . . .
. . . If you’re looking for the next pool-sheet Cinderella–and let’s be honest, who isn’t–take a look at Providence. Coming off an 11-19 season that produced only four wins in the Big East, the Friars (11-4, 2-1) have the togetherness and toughness that carried the Badgers all the way to the Final Four last spring.
“I said it before and I’ll say it again, the team that surprises me most is Providence,” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said after an 81-68 thrashing by the Friars last weekend.
