Week 2: The Cream Rises to the Top
The top teams in the league were able to pull themselves to the top of the ratings
this week in the MRI. Illinois made a big jump with an impressive win over Oregon. This should quiet those who felt that last week's rating was too low for them. However, Illinois does not lead. That honor goes to the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech this week. Many believe that this team is playing better than they were at the end of last season when they went to the championship game.
With 18 teams still without a loss, and 24 teams still without a Division 1 victory, a lot could change on a daily basis in the ratings. A loss or win by any of these 42 teams could change a number of teams' standings. Look for changes to be small over the next few weeks as a number of teams have finals and will not play as often as you would expect. This could lead to many changes in the rankings for those teams who have played a great deal to this point to get in the games they can before taking a break.
Quick Hits:
- Kentucky's game against Indiana took place on Louisville's home floor. This may be Kentucky's way of trying to gain an advantage when they take on the Cardinals on December 18th. Seeing the highlights from the Kentucky-Indiana game, is there a more good looking super-tall man than Sophomore Shagari Alleyne. Alleyne doesn't even need to jump more than 2 inches off the floor to dunk the ball, and he put some powerful baskets home on Saturday. He will be one to watch in SEC play to see if he can keep his power a force inside against opponents with imposing centers of their own.
- Congratulations to both Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski and Arizona Coach Lute Olson. Coach K reached 700 Division 1 coaching wins on Sunday with a win over MAC conference opponent Toledo, becoming the second youngest to reach the mark. The only one to reach it faster was Krzyzewski's old West Point coach, Robert Montgomery Knight. While this milestone number didn't come in a game with as much meaning as wins #500 (against UNC) and #600 (ACC tournament), it was still an impressive plateau to reach. All that makes Coach Olson's achievement even more amazing. Olson reached 1000 victories at any level with his team's win over Utah on Saturday. Olson's career started at a small high school in Minnesota and has taken him to the big time of the National Championship. Congrats again to both coaches. Not only are they great role models for their players on the court, but also off the court in the way that they run their programs. With all the bad news that goes on in college athletics, think about how you have never heard these two coaches' names associated with it. These guys win the right way, with class making their achievement of these numbers a great thing for college sports.
- The best game I didn't watch this weekend was Utah-Arizona. Utah led the entire way until the last two minutes of the game. As I said, this ended up being Olson's 1000th win which would have been interesting to see. The game was on FOX Sports Net. It is a good thing I didn't know or I would have had three games to flip between early in the day.
- They say you can't go home again. Someone should tell that to Iowa guard Adam Haluska who faced his old team Iowa State on Friday night. Haluska transfered last season after starting for Iowa State as a freshman in 2002-3. He led the Hawkeyes with 20 points and shot 50% from 3 point range to help lead his team to a hard fought victory, 70-63 over the Cyclones. These are the victories that Steve Alford is going to need to get his team where everyone is expecting this season.
- I was going to write something about the UMass player who hit the go ahead basket against Connecticut and then practically ran into the stands with 4 seconds still remaining in the game. However, the subject has been run into the ground this week by the rest of the media, so I will let it go. I just wish that someone on UConn had been able to hit that final three for the win.
- The MRI predicted 178 of 240 games this week for a percentage of 74.17%. It correctly predicted the winner of both games I discussed earlier in the week when responding to the question about George Washington, who incidentally moved into the Top 25 this week at #25. If the MRI can keep up this performance level all season, it will surpass last year's numbers which finished at 72.57%.
Enjoy this week's ratings and
mail me if you want to argue.
