Keep Michigan #1:
The Indiana-Michigan game last weekend lived up to its billing as it was probably the best game of the season so far—great offense, tough defense and well-played by both teams. The Wolverines lost for the 15th time in the last 16 tries in Bloomington. I can remember beating them at Assembly Hall in 1985 (73-71 was the final) as that was Michigan’s first win there in 20 years. We followed in 1986 with a win (74-69) and that remains the last time the Wolverines have beaten the Hoosiers in Bloomington when Indiana is ranked. I was teasing Jalen Rose at the game that even the Fab Five couldn’t win there!
My point is this–it’s tough to win in Bloomington and it’s only one loss, so don’t overreact. In my estimation, Michigan should still be #1 as they will beat the Hoosiers in Ann Arbor on March 10th. Add in that come-from-behind overtime win last night over Ohio State and you can see that John Beilein has a special team.
Gimme 5:
As I first wrote this on Tuesday afternoon, my top five was: Michigan, Florida, Indiana, Duke and Kansas. Of course, Florida goes out and gets shellacked by Arkansas last night for the Gators’ first SEC loss of the year. So let’s readjust — with the understanding that playing in Fayetteville is no easy task either. Let’s go: Michigan, Indiana, Duke, Florida, Kansas. Throw in Louisville and Syracuse and in 39 days your four #1 seeds will come from those seven teams.
Loyalty Bonus:
I keep hearing about Shaka Smart, Mark Few and Brad Stevens being so loyal. Now don’t get me wrong, those guys have done great to stay put at their respective schools, but I want to remind everyone that Pittsburgh’s Jamie Dixon might be the most loyal coach of all. I think he has turned down every Pac-12 job by now (some of them twice), and not many times has his name been floated around as he got a big raise. If that did happen, he did it discreetly, which is a credit to him. Pitt is playing a 10-man rotation this year, which is nearly impossible to do in college basketball right now due to influence of AAU coaches, parents and others. All his players are between four and 12 points per game, and all 10 are key contributors. They share the ball, entering this week third in assist-to-turnover ration, sixth in assists and 29th in turnover margin. Sometimes the Panthers win ugly (as in a Monday night win over Seton Hall while shooting 35 percent), but it doesn’t matter. Pitt has won six of the past seven and have 19 wins. He made the NCAAs in his first eight years at Pitt, has more than 250 wins and is still three years shy of 50. Will his name come up for USC? Sure. It should come up for any job, to be honest. The guy is a super coach who deserves a lot of good things because not only has he stayed loyal, he has done it without creating a circus.
A Hurricane on the way:
Miami has won a total of four NCAA Tournament games since the field expanded to 64 in 1985. They might win that many this year on the way to Atlanta. That’s right: a program that has won one NCAA Tournament game in the past 12 seasons will be a sleeper Final Four pick this year. And why not? The Hurricanes rank sixth in the nation in assists and 12th in field goal percentage. Miami lost a great player to injury and it didn’t phase them. The Canes have won eight straight road games!
Not enough? Here’s another one: next time your team loses a November game and you are ready to throw in the towel, remember Florida Gulf Coast beat these guys. By 12, 63-51! Look at their remaining schedule after last night’s 72-50 thrashing of Boston College: five home games against North Carolina, Virginia, Virgina Tech, Georgia Tech and Clemson and only four road games at Florida State, Clemson, Wake and Duke. It is very possible the Hurricanes (currently 18-3) could be a 25-win team entering the ACC Tournament. Of those nine remaining opponents, only Duke is ranked!
If you’re looking for a Coach of the Year, start your list with Jim Larranaga. Miami is the first team not named Duke or North Carolina to start the ACC 8-0 since Virginia in 1981. And oh by the way, Coach Larranaga was an assistant for the Cavaliers then. With wins over three ranked teams (Michigan State, Duke and NC State) and six seniors on the roster, the Hurricanes should be on your radar to make some noise in March.
The Best Little Austin in Texas:
Crazy thought… of the four Texas teams in the 10-team Big 12, only Baylor has a winning record. Texas Tech (9-11), Texas (10-12) and TCU (9-12) are not very good this year for various reasons. Heck, the second-best team in Texas is Stephen F. Austin, who are 18-2, won at Oklahoma early in the year and lead the nation in scoring defense.
Weekend assignments:
Three games to keep an eye on this weekend
- Saturday, Noon ET: Michigan at Wisconsin – Michigan hit 14 threes (42 points) on Tuesday, but the Kohl Center doesn’t give up points easily – Minnesota managed only 44 total in a one-point loss there on January 26th! Wisconsin leads the Big Ten in scoring defense. Michigan is second in scoring. As they say, something’s gotta give.
- Saturday, 9 PM ET: Louisville at Notre Dame – If Rick Pitino’s Cardinals are really a candidate for that #1 seed I mentioned up top, this is the kind of game they need to win. The Irish got pasted by Syracuse on Monday. They’ll be hungry to do better on their home floor, another place where it isn’t easy to win.
- Sunday, 12:45 PM ET on Westwood One Sports: Indiana at Ohio State – It’s not easy being #1 this year! The brutal Big 10 throws up another toughie on the road for a top-ranked team. If you saw the Buckeyes battle at Michigan on Tuesday, you know they’ll give the Hoosiers everything they can handle.
— Bill Frieder
Former Michigan and Arizona State head coach Bill Frieder is an analyst for Westwood One’s coverage of NCAA Basketball. In his weekly blog Boxed Out, Bill scours the box scores to bring you interesting stories from the world of college basketball.
