SB Nation - Miami Hurricanes

Hayes of the Day: 12/17

MRickman84 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:24:51 -0000

You didn't think I'd forget about Hayes of the Day just because finals put ACC basketball on hiatus did you? We're back and better than ever. So without further ado, who is today's Hayes of the Day?

Poll

Who is today's Hayes of the Day?

Around the ACC: 12.17

MRickman84 — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 19:06:29 -0000

More photos » by Stanley Leary - AP

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We finally got a few ACC teams playing on the same day again. Finals are wrapping up and we're closing in on conference play. All four ACC teams won by double figures yesterday, but none played anyone in the KenPom top 100, so it was to be expected.

Let's recap the action in the ACC...

Miami 69, Stetson 49

Dwayne Collins beasted it with 20 points and 15 rebounds, and the Canes shot 56.5% from the floor. There weren't really any other spectacular performances for Miami, but defensively they held Stetson to 33% shooting and 20% from 3. Miami owned the boards +12. Pretty basic non-con cupcake win there.

Clemson 80, East Carolina 63

Another ho-hum game. Trevor Booker did what Trevor Booker does--13 points, 12 rebounds and a surprising 9 assists, not to mention 3 blocks. I've said it before and I'll probably say it a lot more, but Booker is one of the two most overlooked post players in the ACC. I'd take him and Lawal against just about anybody. Tanner Smith and Andre Young combined for 30 points on 10-19 shooting.

GT 65, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 53

Speaking of Gani Lawal, he only had 15 and 15 yesterday. No big deal. Derrick Favors looked like the ACC Rookie of the Year again with 15 points and 11 rebounds as the Yellow Jackets amped up the D and held the Golden Lions to 29.4% shooting.

Wake Forest 80, UNC-Wilmington 69

We know how this one finished up, but I'm still in awe of L.D. Williams and his career-high 23 points on 6-7 shooting and 11-12 FTs. If L.D. shows those kind of spurts more often, Wake is a much more dangerous team. Ishmael Smith hjad a complete game with 19 points, 5 assists, 3 rebounds and 4 steals and Al-Farouq Aminu overcame some really sloppy play to provide a highlight reel dunk and 17 points/13 rebounds. It didn't look pretty (16 turnovers) and UNC-W had a number of runs in the second half, but the Seahawks only hit 6-23 from deep and were plagued with bad free throw shooting (15-28).

Florida State's December Could Help for Years to Come

FSUncensored — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 13:15:09 -0000

More photos » by Phil Coale - AP

Florida State head coach Jimbo Fisher (AP Photo/Phil Coale)

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[Multiple Tomahawk Nation authors contributed to this article]

[Lunch Update: FSU is close to landing DT Kenneth Kirksey from Daytona Beach. Kirksey is 6'1" 290 and well put together (not obese). The 'Noles most desperate need is defensive line and while Kirksey isn't a stud at this point, he is another badly needed body.]

Many thought it could be disastrous. What would happen if Bowden retired? What would the media's reaction be? How would recruits handle the news. As it turned out, Bowden's retirement kicked off what has to be Florida State's best week of the decade.

Most of the national media didn't rip Florida State for its handling of Bowden's "retirement." Thanks to Tiger Woods, Notre Dame, and ESPN's relationship with the SEC, it didn't anywhere near the coverage that many expected it to receive. Of particular importance for FSU was winning over the ESPN TV crew of Fowler, Kirk Herbstreit, Jessie Palmer, and Brent Musberger. Those four are the most important as they are the most frequently seen college football commentators. They make the public's opinion.

It's very difficult for a college football team to make news during this dead period unless they are playing for their conference championship game or making the other kind of news (Rocky Top anyone?). Florida State though, has managed to make a ton of positive news in the week since Bowden's retirement. They made news with a Gator Bowl invite despite a 6-6 record, a fitting bowl tribute to Bowden's legacy. 'Nole fans sold out the game in two hours. The 'Noles have been going to bowl games for longer than my parents have been out of college (FSU Alums as well). But the main news has come in the land of recruiting.

The national media is a great tool to tell how outsiders view your team. Local media gives a better feel for what is really going on, but sometimes they get too close. This time, however, the local guys nailed it- at least when it comes to recruiting. While some casual college football columnists outside of the Sunshine State wondered if Florida State could recruit without Bobby Bowden, those who cover the team knew better. Not only did Bowden's retirement not slow down Florida State's recruiting efforts- ranked 37th as the time of the announcement, it ignited them. A week later, Florida State sits at 9th (14th in another ranking). Think about that. What if a college football team went from 37th to 9th in the polls in only a week? That would be unheard of. Perhaps the closest thing we've seen recently was Alabama's romp over Clemson in last season's opening game, after which the Tide went from unranked to a spot just outside the top 10. So what caused the jump from 37th to 9th? How did a team go from potential disaster to being a stone-cold lock to end up with one of the handful of elite groups of recruits in just a week? Ask an expert:

The Seminoles have 19 commitments, and the Hurricanes have 24, meaning FSU should breeze past the Hurricanes in the final standings.

"It's amazing how quickly momentum can change in recruiting," Newberg said. "I think the fact that there's finally closure with coach Bowden is really helping. There was such a black cloud over the university. Coach Fisher and his staff have worked really hard and stayed the course. They're just rocking and rolling right now." "They are the hottest team in the country."

It seems that the work done by Jimbo Fisher, James Coley, Lawrence Dawsey, O'Dell Haggins, and Rick Trickett (the 5 coaches who will remain on Florida State's staff under Fisher) was being outdone by the 'Noles competition, simply by telling recruits that they would be stuck playing for Bowden, that he wouldn't retire, or that Fisher would leave. But he finally did the right thing and retired. Recruits stated that they never saw Bowden and that his retirement was actually a plus for the program. Most viewed Fisher as the coach anyhow. The retirement took away the biggest weapon of opposing coaches in the game of recruiting. Florida State was like that pretty girl in a nice ride who kept trying to accelerate but didn't realize she had her parking brake on. Once it's disengaged- zooooooom. And her reaction to the burn-out is very similar to what Florida State fans are feeling like right now. After the "Lost Decade", many Florida State fans didn't realize the potential of their own program. Even the most optimistic FSU fan didn't see his team pulling the top two committed recruits in the country in a single week.

Yes, you read that correctly. As of this article, the top two commitments in the country belong to the 'Noles. A 6-6 team that plays in the ACC, has the top two commitments in the country and a top 10 class. That is a tribute to what Bowden built. No matter what went on during the Lost Decade, people will never be able to forget FSU's 14-year run of dominance from 1987-2001. Without those memories, recruits probably wouldn't come to Florida State. And FSU's top 10 class has only 19 commitments. The only other team in the top 10 with fewer than 20 commitments? The Florida Gators. The only other team to have two 5-star recruits? The Florida Gators. FSU won't catch UF this year, but the first step to putting the fear back in the spear undoubtedly is recruiting. With the ACC's worst defense in more than a half decade, the 'Noles need defensive help. It just so happens that those top two commitments line up on that side of the football.

First came Jeff Luc, the top rated linebacker in the country. His announcement shocked a lot of people, including one of his own coaches. Even those of us who had heard that FSU had a real shot to run him were a bit skeptical. Luc wants to lead Florida State back to the top, and grew up a fan of the Seminole dynasty. And you can bet that Luc was in the ear of another talented defender...

Two nights ago, Lamarcus Joyner, the top rated cornerback in the country, pulled the trigger and declared his recruiting over. Florida State had won. Not surprisingly, Joyner also grew up a big fan of the 'Noles- even though he grew up with with the Canes in his own backyard. These are the type of commitments that turns heads. Joyner declared Florida State "back", and his mentor quickly produced a youtube video as a tribute:

FSU also grabbed the top rated JUCO cornerback and pulled a nice haul of 2011 recruits in the days following the announcement. And not only did Joyner declare Florida State "back", but ESPN did as well. ESPN Radio's Sportscenter update routinely trumpeted the commitments. ESPN.com's recruiting section looked like this (click for picture).

As if losing one of the most legendary coaches of all time and proceeding to grab the two best commitments in the country wasn't a wild enough story, consider that Florida State did this with only 5 coaches actively recruiting! FSU is using only Jimbo Fisher, James Coley, Lawrence Dawsey, O'Dell Haggins, and Rick Trickett. Most fans probably didn't realize that college teams carry 11 coaches. FSU played 5 v. 11 and won in a huge way. Florida State is taking addition by subtraction to the max it seems. Bowden and the also-retiring and probably College Football Hall of Fame-bound defensive coordinator Mickey Andrews weren't much for recruiting in their final years, but the other three departing position coaches (Chuck Amato, Jody Allen, and Dexter Carter) weren't much for recruiting. Particularly disappointing was Amato, who landed a job as a head coach at NC State in the early part of the decade in no small thanks to his ability to recruit South Florida. In his return to Florida State he failed to pull a single full-time starter from South Florida, and managed to rub at least one program that we know of the wrong way. Fisher has picked up the slack. In a recent story, ESPN called FSU's run "Unprecedented", and got Fisher on the record:

On why the recruiting has picked up...

"The biggest thing is clarity now," Fisher said. "[Prospects] see the future of Florida State football is bright. I don't know if I expected any of this because young men are going to make their own decision when they feel comfortable in making it. But we had a good plan in place and we're going to continue to follow that plan and see what we can get done."

On learning from FSU's past mistake of having too national of a recruiting focus and alienating local high-school coaches...

"It's a funny thing that everybody wants us to recruit nationally, but everybody in the world comes down to Florida to recruit," Fisher said. "There is no question there is great talent in this state. There are great high school programs, great high school coaching and football is important here. That's not only in the whole state of Florida, but also over into South Georgia as well [Tallahassee is only 34 miles from Thomasville, Ga., and 89 miles from Valdosta, Ga., which are two big hotbeds for talent.]. I am not saying that we won't ever go any of those other places, but it makes all the sense in the world for us to take care of the kids in our home area." "Recruiting is work, evaluation and relationships,"

While he didn't mention it specifically, there is no denying it: Florida State thinks it can take Miami from UM. It's considered an impossible task, to be the king in another's land. But if FSU is to compete with UF on a consistent basis, they first need to knock out the 'Canes and raid UM's talent pool. And they sense weakness in the Canes. The state of Florida has more talent than any state in the country, but it doesn't have enough to support three great teams. FSU, UF, and Miami all cannot be great for sustained periods. It just does not happen. So taking out the easier target (and conference foe) first makes sense. Luckily for the 'Noles, they have James Coley. The fast-rising cult-figure doubles as FSU's tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator, and if you follow his twitter, seems to forgo sleep in favor of Cuban coffee and might violate FAA policy on cell-phone use during red-eye flights. He recently flew Tallahassee to Atlanta to Palm Beach to Los Angeles and back to Miami in a 24-hour period. Coley is the Cuban Conquistador in the 'Nole's battle to own the fertile recruiting grounds of Miami. He is relentless on the trail and fits the 305's culture perfectly. A scout from another recruiting site recently confided in me that Miami's coaches are scared of Coley and the other FSU coaches on the recruiting trail:

"Instead of being embarrassed by Coley and those guys, they just pull out early and make it appear as if they didn't want the kid. You can't lose if you don't play. But everyone in the country wanted those two. Heck, USC and Texas basically have an entire megastate to themselves and they would have loved either or Lamarcus of Jeff. If the 'Canes had Butch Davis or Jimmy Johnson or even (Dennis) Erickson, they would've fought tooth and nail for Luc and Joyner. And they probably would have won. But those guys aren't at Miami anymore. They get who they go after, but they rarely go after a kid they won't get."

Though Coley is probably the runaway favorite to win the recruiter of the year award given by Rivals.com, owning South Florida is an enormous task. He can't do it himself. But help is on the way in the form of FSU added former Tennessee and Auburn coach Eddie Gran, who recently agreed to join forces with Coley and become Florida State's running back's coach. Gran was Coley before Coley was Coley. With 10+ years of tremendous success forming relationships with coaches in South Florida, Gran knows how to operate in this battlefield. He is widely considered the South Florida best recruiter among coaches not located within the state. And now Fisher, who knows he must quickly improve FSU's talent level, has paired the Sunshine State's best South Florida recruiter with the only out-of-state coach who could consistently pull talent elite from Dade or Broward county. Gran is so good that a confident Tennessee program erected billboards announcing their intention to be a major player in South Florida recruiting. While it is extremely unlikely that a school in the Appalachian mountains could "own" recruiting in Dade or Broward county, Tennessee's bold actions are a testament to Gran's recruiting prowess. It doesn't hurt that Gran is also an excellent coach on the field, having produced the SEC's top rusher in 5 of the last 10 years, including Cadillac Williams, Ronnie Brown, Deuce McAllister, Rudi Johnson, and Montarrio Hardesty. Gran has coached 7 NFL backs and multiple NFL Pro Bowlers. The scout on Gran:

"Eddie's been around Miami since the early 90's and can walk into any high school program down here and command respect. I can count on one hand the guys who can do that, and now FSU has two of them. Every team in the country would kill for Coley or Gran, and Florida State has both of them. Aside from UM, FSU has lapped the field in terms of setting itself up to recruit Miami."

Of course, FSU can't take every kid from South Florida. It looks as if the 'Noles will take 28 kids this year, by asking some recruits to finish high school early and enroll right after Christmas, thus utilizing an unused spot from last year's class. If they do take 28, look for at least 18 of those kids to be on the defensive side. Fisher's offense is already loaded and his crew of Sophomores (6 starters) and freshmen turned was the ACC's best offense in a decade. Scholarships are also opening due to some medical issues. I there is a strong chance that Maurice Harris and Aaron Gresham will not return due to injury. Neither were considered likely to make a significant contribution. There may be a few other current players who will look to transfer because they don't want to put in the work that the new coaching regime will require. With some elite recruits still considering Florida State, and the scholarship numbers favoring FSU, there's a very good chance Fisher's first class at FSU could end up in the top 5.

It also doesn't hurt that as FSU is hitting its stride, other programs are losing key people. Tennessee is under investigation for allegedly sending escorts to players in other stated. And as Jeff Luc mentioned, the Gators have lost two of their best recruiters and coaches. Charlie Strong, arguably the best defensive coordinator in college football, and an excellent recruiter for the Gators, took the head coaching job at Louisville. UF also lost its recruiting coordinator/ wide receivers coach Billy Gonzalez- to rival LSU no less. Add the total curb-stomping at the hands of Alabama in the SEC Championship game, and Tim Tebow failing to receive even 10% of the Heisman vote, and for the first time in a half-decade, the Gators might wish they would trade places with the 'Noles.

While the speed at which this all came together is remarkable, it was also very important that FSU act quickly, as a "quiet period" is coming up for the college football recruiting. In a few days the staff will re-group, focus on the bowl game, and ride the wave of positive momentum until they can again hit the recruiting trail in early January, leading up to National Signing Day in early February.

ACC Power Rankings: 12.8

MRickman84 — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 16:30:14 -0000

So this probably should have been done yesterday, but I really want to get in the habit of doing power rankings throughout the season. UNC occupies the top spot this week, with Duke coming in second, as both are coming off tough losses last week to strong opponents.

Let's take a look at who is where after the jump...

1.) UNC-- [W vs. Michigan State, L vs. Kentucky] UNC is getting better as was expected. The young guys are playing well and Larry Drew II looks a lot more comfortable. I'm still concerned about the Heels' bench, as Strickland looks a little lost out there and Henson just does not know what to do with his body. The Wear twins are eating up a ton of minutes without a lot of productivity. Tyler Zeller is a great player for them though and really makes the perfect sixth man. UNC gets another tough test when they head to Dallas to play Texas at the Cowboys stadium next week.

2.) Duke -- [L vs. Wisconsin, W vs. St. John's] I thought this Duke team was supposed to be able to shoot? Kyle Singler is looking average at best so far this year and is taking a LOT of shots. You know what you're getting out of Jon Scheyer week in and week out and that is a great stabilizer. Andre Dawkins has been spectacular so far and we are going to be seeing a lot more of him as Duke enters ACC play. Duke's big weakness is still down low--Zoubek and Thomas are just bad, but the Plumlees work hard and are good players.

3.) GT [W vs. Siena, W vs. USC] The Jackets were left out of the Challenge this year because of their finish last season, and that really is a shame as I believe they would have won their matchup and turned the tide for the ACC. Instead, Tech put a whooping on Siena and USC last week. GT is stellar in the frontcourt with Lawal, Peacock and Favors, but losing Iman Shumpert is going to be sidelined for 3-6 weeks with a knee injury.

4.) Clemson [L vs. Illinois, W vs. South Carolina] Clemson is looking like bi-polar Clemson again, surprise! This is a good, solid basketball team. They have 5 players averaging at least 9 points per game and Trevor Booker is almost averaging a double-double (13 and 9). Their problem is that they just lose focus (as seen by the terrible collapse against Illinois). I think they are a better team than Georgia Tech, but they just can't pass them until they show some consistency.

5.) Miami [W vs. Minnesota, L vs. BC] Yes, I know they lost their first conference game. But it was very close and came down to the buzzer. They picked up a great non-con win over Minnesota, but still have not really been challenged other than their last two contests. Dwayne Collins is very good, but there's a lot of pressure on him coming into conference play since two of Miami's three strong guards are newcomers (Malcolm Grant from Villinova and freshman Durand Scott.) James Dews can get it done too, but we will see just how much the 'Canes miss Jack McClinton after the 1st of the year.

6.) Wake Forest [L vs. Purdue, W vs. Gonzaga] After a disappointing loss at home to William & Mary, the Deacs took to the road for two very tough tests. After a hard-fought loss to Purdue, the Deacs looked like they finally clicked in a win over Gonzaga at the Kennel. If the Demon Deacons can use this as a momentum builder, they could enter the new year at 10-2. They will be tested by UNC-W, who has played some good teams tough, as well as Richmond, which received votes in the polls this week. Freshmen C.J. Harris and Ari Stewart are looking like the real deal, but the Deacs absolutely need to get consistency from their bigs and from Al-Farouq Aminu.

7.) Virginia Tech [W vs. Iowa, W vs. Georgia] I like VT. They're better than they look on paper, and their loss to Temple is not a bad one--the Owls almost pulled off the upset against Georgetown a few games ago. They easily could finish anywhere between 6th and 10th, but the combo of Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen should be good for at least 6 conference wins.

8.) Maryland [W vs. Indiana, L vs. Villanova] I've seen Maryland play 4 times now this year and I'm sorry, I just don't think they are very good. Greivis Vasquez takes way too many ill-advised shots and he is shooting 32%. Sean Mosley and Landon Milbourne are the strong points to this team and Eric Hayes keeps them calm sometimes, but they aren't deep and I'm not sold on their front court. The Terps were a hot pick to start the season, but they have to prove something to me before they can move up the board.

9.) Boston College [W vs. Michigan, W vs. Miami] Here we go again. It's the same old story every year. BC looks sparse on paper and then Al Skinner does a great job coaching his team to overachieve. It'll probably happen again this year and their last two wins are a big indicator of this. Reggie Jackson could be a great player, and BC gets bumped up a spot just from his nasty dunk against the 'Canes (on a terrible offensive foul call in the last 30 seconds) and his clutch FTs to seal the win. Raji, Jackson, Trapani is a great combo and they get a good effort out of Josh Southern too.

10.) Florida State [L vs. Ohio State, W vs. FIU] Florida State looked downright ugly against Ohio State. And downright ugly against Florida. But that win against Marquette was big, so they have that in them. Alabi, Singleton and Kitchen are a nice 1-2-3, but the 'Noles need to be getting more out of Xavier Gibson and Ryan Reid.

11.) NC State [L vs. Northwestern, W. vs Marquette] After their loss to Northwestern, I didn't think at all that the Wolfpack would beat Marquette. It was the furthest thing from my mind. State is 6-1, but they are a mess and there is just not much there.

12.) Virginia [L vs. Penn State, L vs. Auburn] Hey, at least Virginia has beaten Cleveland State, something Wake wasn't able to do last year. Sylven Landesberg is a heck of a player, but when your next two leading scorers are Mike Scott and Sammy Zeglinski, there's a problem there. Virginia is not very good.

Headlines: Eagles 61, Hurricanes 60

Brian @ BCI — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Michael Dwyer - AP

Reggie Jackson with a downright "offensive" dunk over Miami's Reggie Johnson. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

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Brian: The Eagles have made the most of this tough non-conference stretch of games. The Eagles held on to beat Miami Sunday afternoon to sweep the Providence-Michigan-Miami portion of their schedule. BC now sits alone atop the ACC standings (well, for a few weeks before the rest of the ACC starts league play). There were stretches of this game where the Eagles were brilliant. BC dominated on the offensive glass (46 to 21 in total rebounds and an incredible 23-4 edge in offensive rebounds). For the second straight game, the Eagles came out on fire in the second half after only shooting 23 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes. And yet, the Eagles fell asleep for stretches of the second half and watched a 16 point second half lead evaporate. Let’s start with the likes. What did you see that you liked out of the Eagles?

Jeff: I don't know if you would really say that the Eagles were brilliant on Saturday. They were good at times, maybe even very good for a few short stretches, but they were not brilliant as it is tough to be brilliant and only put up 61 points. The biggest like of the game had to be Reggie Jackson. Jackson made some plays when the Eagles needed someone to step up and most importantly, hit both free throws in the final three seconds of the game to seal the victory. Raji had another big game as well but it seemed to be Jackson who came up with more plays in the second half and late when the game was on the line.

Brian: Jackson played well but parts of his game still seem unpolished. While his dunk that was called an offensive foul was impressive and got the Conte Forum crowd going, he could have tried to go for a layup and pick up the foul. (Jackson, of course, made up for the "foul" by grabbing the rebound on a last second Miami 3-point attempt and icing the game from the free throw line.) Other times it looks like he tries to do too much with the ball. Jackson has the potential to be an outstanding player and I’m guessing he’ll get a better feel for the game as he matures. But he is very fun to watch. Reggie Jackson has seen increased playing time with Rakim Sanders sidelined with his ankle injury. It will be interesting to see what Skinner decides to do when Sanders returns for the Rhode Island game.

Jeff: After watching this game, it was great to see that the team really seems to mesh on the court much more so than some of the teams we've seen the last few years. We all know that Skinner did not bring in any new recruits this season which was criticized by some people, like you, but perhaps we are starting to see the benefits. A few more no look passes like the Jackson to Raji breakout or Paris finding Raji behind the zone is all it will take for Skinner and this team to win me over. But being a home game against a Miami team who we have dominated over the last decade, we can't get too excited about this win, right?

Brian: I think we should be excited about this win given that Miami defeated the Eagles twice last season. You also have to like the huge advantage in rebounding the Eagles have enjoyed in the early season. The Eagles out-rebounded the Hurricanes 46-21 in the game, including a 23-4 edge on the offensive glass. While national statistics still don’t have much meaning this early in the season, BC ranks 19th nationally and 3rd in the ACC in offensive rebounds (122). Nice to see the Eagles dominating on the offensive glass given that rebounding wasn’t exactly a strength of this team a year ago.

What is worrisome is the fact that the Eagles again squandered a big second half lead (16 points at its largest) for the third straight game. I’m not sure how successful the Eagles can continue to be if they follow this pattern over the next few games. You mentioned that you liked seeing the team start to "mesh on the court." Are you at all worried about what the return of Rakim Sanders will do for this team’s chemistry? Or do you expect Sanders to slide back into the starting lineup with the Eagles not missing a beat?

Jeff: The team needs Sanders back on defense as much or more so than they need him back on offense. Sanders has been much more a part of this team than he has sat on the sidelines so him meshing with this group will not be an issue. But for blowing leads, the Eagles have done so against quality competition without Sanders so it does not raise any red flags for me. Basketball is a game of runs and BC will continue to be on the good and bad side of runs as the season goes on. Sanders will ensure that the Eagles wind up on the good side far more often than the bad side because of his play on the defensive end of the court. Sanders is our best defensive player and BC should be able to extend leads much larger once he is back. It will be much more difficult for opposing teams to make runs to get back into games with Sanders on the floor. As Mike Gminski said during the radio broadcast of the game, BC needs ought to feel pretty good about this season since they're 6-2 (1-0) and their best player has only played 4 minutes this season.

Boilermakings for 12/3

BoilerTMill — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 16:40:59 -0000

As we get ready for the Civil War for the Roses tonight (Sorry, I've become an Oregon fan) here is a quick Boilermakings before the weekend.

Volleyball wraps up its season - At least they finished with a win. At one point this year the Volleyball team was ranked in the top 20 nationally. They finished up last week with a five set win over Wisconsin. Purdue finished 14-17 on the year, and just 6-14 in Big Ten play.

Ryan Baker gets the call - This guy was the epitome of being a Boilermaker. He was recently promoted off the practice squad to the Dolphins' 53-man roster. He joins Kory Sheets and Akin Ayodele on that roster.

Women's basketball splits in Cali - I think it is safe to say that the ladies' NCAA Tournament hopes are in serious jeopardy after a very slow start to the year. Injuries are finally catching up with us. The ladies split a pair in California, beating UC Riverside 65-53 before falling to Pepperdine 64-59. They next face Virginia in the women's ACC/Big Ten Challenge tonight.

Men's Swimming and Diving finishes 3rd in Purdue Invite - I don't follow swimming too much, but we do at least know David Boudia is good. It is nice to see the new Aquatics Center Is paying off as we now have a nationally ranked program.

Quickie thoughts on the ACC/Big Ten Challenge - It's about time that the Big Ten came through on this. Unfortunately, It is way too late as we are still way behind in the standings. Here is each game in a brief summary:

Penn State 69, Virginia 66 - A very nice road win for the Nittany Lions after a rough start in the Charleston Tournament. Talor Battle went for 32 in a come from behind win.

Purdue 69, Wake Forest 58 - Wrapped up yesterday here.

North Carolina 89, Michigan State 82 - I think it is safe to say Carolina owns The Spartans. This was much more far fetched than the final score, as the Tar Heels led by double digits for most of the game.

Northwestern 65, North Carolina State 53 - Another impressive road win for the Big Ten. That gives the Wildcats a couple of quality non-conference wins for its potential NCAA portfolio.

Maryland 80, Indiana 68 - The Hoosiers led at home, but were undone by the bigotry of their own students. This was a shameful display. Every IU fan should be embarrassed as they are a better program than this. If I were Maryland I would have run up the score, then set fire to IU's 2002 Runner-up banner in retaliation.

Virginia Tech 70, Iowa 64 - The consensus worst team in the Big Ten fought hard at home and came up just short. This is a good sign for the whole conference.

Illinois 76, Clemson 74 - This is the frontrunner for the next Defend That, Digger! There is absolutely zero excuse for ever blowing a 23 point second half lead in less than 12 minutes. Clemson is a pretend ACC basketball program.

Miami 63, Minnesota 58 - The one ACC I wanted to win stayed undefeated with an impressive home win. This was the first win in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge for the Hurricanes. They were the last winless team in the event among the 23 schools.

Boston College 62, Michigan 58 - That makes three straight losses for the Wolverines. We should take note of their close loss to Alabama, whom we play in about nine days.

Wisconsin 73, Duke 69 - Wisconsin was very impressive and led comfortably throughout. A telling play occurred near the end wing Singler drove, only to miss a layup thanks to some tough Wisconsin D. He came down with a Great look of, "I get that foul called in ACC country, why not here?" Thank you, Ed Hightower!

Ohio State 77, Florida State 64 - Since Mrs. T-Mill hates both schools her comment was, "Can they both lose?" She had the same reaction for that Notre Dame-Ohio State Fiesta Bowl a few years ago.

Big Ten / ACC Challenge - can the B10 finally win the challenge?

GopherNation — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 16:22:32 -0000

We all know that the ACC has dominated this "challenge" going a perfect 10-0 through the challenge's 10 year history. The Big Ten is back to being a heavyweight this year. The question is, are they good enough to finally beat the ACC head-to-head? The strength and depth of each conference is put to the test and each and every year the ACC wins. It becomes harder and harder to come up with appropriate excuses as to why the Big Ten is still better/deeper despite being unable to win more than they lose in this "challenge".

The conventional wisdom (especially in the Midwest) is that the Big Ten is arguably the best conference in the country and could go as deep as getting seven or eight into the NCAA Tournament. But unfortunately that may not translate into a B10/ACC Challenge win. I'll breakdown the match-ups in slightly greater detail below but here is how I see things playing out.

ACC Locks

Duke over Wisconsin
Maryland over Indiana
Virginia Tech over Iowa

Big Ten Locks

Purdue over Wake Forest
Ohio State over Florida State (admittedly this is closer than a lock)
Penn State over Virginia (only because it is over)

The Rest

Michigan State @ North Carolina
Minnesota @ Miami
Northwestern @ NC State
Illinois @ Clemson
Boston College @ Michigan

The Penn State win was huge and makes this much more winable. The Big Ten still needs to snag three of the toss-up five and four of those are on the road so...

Here is a brief look at each match-up with some key tempo-free stats.

Penn State @ Virginia - We kick off the Challenge with Talor Battle vs. Sylven Landesberg. And Battle won the battle, will it be enough for the Big Ten to win the war? (that analogy was awesome) Let's not waste time on this game since it is over.

Wake Forest @ Purdue - Here is a lock for the Big Ten and this may be the biggest lock of the entire challenge. Purdue is at home and so far has been the best looking team in the conference. Wake is 4-1 but has four meaningless wins and then a loss to William & Mary (that is one loss, not two).

	Wake Forest	Purdue
KenPom Rank	90	7
Off Eff	1.034	1.101
Def Eff	0.914	0.792
TO%	21.1%	17.7%
Off Reb %	42.2%	32.6%
Def Reb %	69.3%	71.7%

Wake rebounds on the offensive end of the floor very well but they tend to turn the ball over a bit too much, while Purdue forces turnovers to the tune of 28.3% of their opponents possessions. Wake is lead by Al-Farouq Aminu who is averaging 18.8 ppg and 11.2 rpg, he should be fun to watch but Purue's balance and overall efficiency should carry the Boilermakers to the home win here.

Northwestern @ NC State - NU is coming of a big win over the overrated Notre Dame Irish and NC State really hasn't played anybody yet. They did beat Auburn but that isn't a terribly impressive win. After the loss of Kevin Coble the Wildcats have turned to a the combo of Michael Thompson and John Shurna who are averaging a combined 32.7 ppg (48% of NU's offense), 9.4 rpg and 6.2 apg.

	Northwestern	NC State
KenPom Rank	87	46
Off Eff	1.086	1.068
Def Eff	0.978	0.895
TO%	18.4%	22.0%
Off Reb %	29.2%	35.2%
Def Reb %	64.1%	67.2%

This is one of the more interesting match-ups. The Wolfpack should be favored but Northwestern is a unique team to defend and could pose some problems for NC State. Northwestern has been pretty bad rebounding the ball this year and NC State has had their turnover problems. Whichever team can minimize their problem area the most will win this game. I'm calling the road upset here for Northwestern. I think they force just enough turnovers and then shoot their way to a win here.

Maryland @ Indiana -A lock for the ACC. Indiana is just too young, inexperienced and unimpressive to beat a decent but not great Maryland team. The Terps are on a two-game losing streak and really have not beaten anybody significant in this short season but I just don't see a way that Indiana pulls this one out. The Terps have four players averaging double-figures, three of whom are seniors. On the flip side Indiana is led by three players averaging 12 points or more per game but they include two freshman and a sophomore.

	Maryland	Indiana
KenPom Rank	51	189
Off Eff	1.028	0.945
Def Eff	0.868	0.966
TO%	15.2%	22.6%
Off Reb %	29.4%	33.6%
Def Reb %	66.3%	65.9%

This one will be a turnover fest for the Hoosiers. Maryland forces turnovers and Indiana loves to give it up. Add that to the fact that IU already struggles to score and you see why I have Maryland winning.

Michigan State @ North Carolina - My initial reaction is that this is another ACC win. The Tar Heels are just not a great match-up for Michigan State and the Spartans are on the road. Neither team has lived up to their preseason hype but the rematch of last year's NCAA final is the marquee match-up nonetheless.

	Michigan St	North Carolina
KenPom Rank	45	75
Off Eff	1.123	1.075
Def Eff	0.933	0.930
TO%	19.9%	22.8%
Off Reb %	43.4%	43.3%
Def Reb %	69.9%	69.2%

UNC has a turnover issue and they are not scoring nearly as efficiently as we are used to seeing Roy Williams team score. But Michigan State doesn't force many turnovers so I really don't expect that to be an issues. All other efficiency stats are virtually even. Both teams hold opponents to about .93 points per possession, both teams score right around 1.1 ppp and both teams rebound at near identical percentages. Whichever teams boxes out and keeps the Michigan State is probably a more experienced team but UNC is home and until the Spartans actually beat the Tar Heals I'm going with UNC.

Virginia Tech @ Iowa - I don't know that I need to spend much time on this one, Iowa is pretty bad this year.

	Virginia Tech	Iowa
KenPom Rank	145	207
Off Eff	0.915	0.955
Def Eff	0.886	0.995
TO%	16.3%	23.0%
Off Reb %	38.4%	32.6%
Def Reb %	69.3%	73.9%

On the surface and looking at the numbers I just don't see how Iowa gets this one done. Virginia Tech is also not very good and they struggle offensively more than Iowa does but I'd be surprised if they were to fall to the Hawkeyes.

Illinois @ Clemson - This might be the game I'm most looking forward to. Both teams are balanced with good inside/outside threats. Illinois is led by Demetri McCamey on the perimeter and Mike Davis on the interior. McCamey is averaging 12.7 ppg and 6.0 apg while Davis is averaging a double-double with 11.8 ppg and 10.0 rpg. For Clemson they are led by their senior forward Trevor Booker who is averaging 13.9 ppg and 8.7 rpg, but he's not alone as Tanner Smith is chipping in 11.6 ppg from the perimeter. These guys may not exactly guard each other but their match-ups should be a lot of fun to watch (especially if you like the color orange).

	Illinois	Clemson
KenPom Rank	83	10
Off Eff	1.089	1.125
Def Eff	0.967	0.843
TO%	15.6%	21.0%
Off Reb %	35.1%	39.6%
Def Reb %	74.7%	68.6%

Clemson is more efficient on offense but Illinois takes better care of the ball and their defensive rebounding is better. I want to go with Illinois here but after their losses to Bradley and Utah last week they make it really difficult to make that leap. Clemson will likely get the home W here.

Minnesota @ Miami - This is a Gopher blog so I'm going with a Gopher win. Miami is 7-0 but they have not played anybody of even relative significance.

	Minnesota	Miami
KenPom Rank	8	31
Off Eff	1.018	1.042
Def Eff	0.753	0.842
TO%	18.3%	26.5%
Off Reb %	31.2%	43.7%
Def Reb %	71.0%	71.4%

I think the numbers will back me up here. The Gopher offense struggles but this game comes down to defense and turnovers. Miami turns the ball over at an alarming rate and the Gophers offense thrives when the ball is given to them as much as the Hurricanes have been giving it up this year.

Boston College @ Michigan - A couple weeks ago I would have felt this was a lock for Michigan, but the Wolverines have struggled lately and this is going to be another tough match-up for them.

	Boston College	Michigan
KenPom Rank	82	130
Off Eff	1.174	1.034
Def Eff	1.032	0.979
TO%	18.3%	13.8%
Off Reb %	43.4%	29.9%
Def Reb %	70.7%	61.0%

Boston College is pretty efficient offensively but not so much on the defensive end. Michigan has really struggled with rebounding on both ends. The numbers support a BC win but when the lights get bright and when playing at home I expect Manny Harris to lead Michigan to a big win for the Big Ten. He can't do it alone but I think he'll be the catalyst.

Duke @ Wisconsin - I have great respect for Bo Ryan but Duke is just plain too good. I don't need to spend much time on this one. Wisconsin is experienced and it is at the Kohl Center but Duke is just too good.

	Duke	Wisconsin
KenPom Rank	3	50
Off Eff	1.188	1.096
Def Eff	0.809	0.920
TO%	15.5%	18.3%
Off Reb %	41.3%	32.2%
Def Reb %	67.6%	74.8%

The number support a Duke win. They rebound better, they take care of the ball better, they are are more efficient on both ends and they shoot better. This would be a huge shock if the Badgers were to pull this one out.

Florida State @ Ohio State - This also appears to be a really good match-up. Ohio State has been great in the early part of the season largely because Evan Turner has been outstanding. He is leading the Big Ten in rebounds (12.8) and assists (6.7). And also throwing in a decent 19.8 ppg which is third best in the league. He'll be the man the Seminoles should be most concerned about but they can't lose Jon Diebler who is making nearly four three-pointers per game and averaging 15.7 ppg. Florida State is athletic and lead by their own big time forward, Chris Singleton. He is averaging 12.3 ppg and 8.1 rpg. FSU is also big in the middle with Solomon Alabi and Xavier Gibson measuring out at 7-1 and 6-11 respectively.

	Florida St	Ohio St
KenPom Rank	17	25
Off Eff	0.992	1.132
Def Eff	0.758	0.895
TO%	26.4%	15.5%
Off Reb %	40.0%	34.1%
Def Reb %	68.4%	72.4%

Looking at the numbers FSU is very good defensively. They hold teams to just .758 points per possession which is third best in the country. They also hold teams to a 37.8 eFG% and block 22.9% of their opponents shots; both of which are also third best in the nation. This team will defend and it will be interesting to see if Turner, Diebler and Lighty can find some offense in this game. The Achilles heal of FSU is their turnover rate. When you give up the ball on 26.4% of your possessions you will allow good teams to stay in the game regardless of how good you are on defense. Ohio State is very good offensively scoring 1.132 pnts per possession and recording an eFG% of 59.5 (6th best in the country). If FSU continues to turn the ball over then I think OSU's offense will roll. Rebounding should be an important stat, but I think the key will be the turnovers. OSU wins this game at home.

After all of that (and one game in the books) I am seeing a Big Ten win, finally.

Big Ten -6 (PSU, Pur, Minn, OSU, Mich, NU)

ACC - 5 (Mary, Duke, UNC, VTech, Clem)

ACC/Big Ten Challenge Preview

Adam Hoge — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 05:50:04 -0000

More photos » by Julie Jacobson - AP

21 days ago: Duke's Jon Scheyer drives to the basket against Connecticut's Kemba Walker during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Friday, Nov. 27, 2009, at Madison Square Garden in New York. Duke won 68-59. (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)

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There’s been a lot of discussion that this might finally be the Big Ten’s year in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

I hate to break it to you, but keep dreaming.

Is the Big Ten even better than the stacked conference that sent seven teams to the NCAA Tournament and narrowly lost the Challenge 6-5 to the ACC last year? Yes. Will the ACC still win it again this year? Yes.

The Big Ten catches a break with Georgia Tech being the one ACC team that doesn’t play in the challenge this year, but the matchups were actually better suited for the conference to pull off the upset last season. Michigan State hosted North Carolina in Detroit and Purdue got Duke at home. The ACC won both of those matchups. Now the Spartans head to UNC and it will be up to Wisconsin to top the Blue Devils at home. That’s just one example, but as you take a look at the matchups, you will see that they aren’t exactly pointing towards a Big Ten win:

Monday
Penn State at Virginia
Two mediocre 4-2 teams go head-to-head to tip-off the challenge. Tie goes to the home team.
Pick: Virginia

Tuesday
Maryland at Indiana
The Terps had a rough week in Maui, but they are still better than the Hoosiers who are improving but not quite there.
Pick: Maryland

Michigan State at North Carolina
This is the biggest example of why the matchups favored the Big Ten more last season. MSU now has more experience, but instead of playing in Detroit, the Spartans have to play in Chapel Hill.
Pick: North Carolina

Northwestern at North Carolina State
Tough call because we don’t have a good gauge on how much better Sidney Lowe’s squad is after five relatively easy wins. NU looks good, but this is the kind of game the Cats typically drop on the road.
Pick: North Carolina State

Virginia Tech at Iowa
The Hokies are down, but Iowa is awful. Don’t let that first half against Texas fool you.
Pick: Virginia Tech

Wake Forest at Purdue
Wake has some good talent, but it lost Jeff Teague and now has to go to West Lafayette, where the Boilermakers look very good.
Pick: Purdue

Wednesday
Boston College at Michigan
This is one of three games that looked a lot better for the Big Ten last week. But despite coming off two losses in Orlando, I like the Wolverines at home in a close one.
Pick: Michigan

Duke at Wisconsin
This could be the swing game and no team is better at home than the Badgers who are 61-5 against non-conference foes at the Kohl Center. Still, despite shooting less than 30 percent, the Blue Devils crushed a good UConn team and they should beat the young Badgers.
Pick: Duke

Florida State at Ohio State
The Seminoles have the talent to push the Buckeyes but this is a game the Big Ten can’t afford to lose. Evan Turner will have another huge game.
Pick: Ohio State

Illinois at Clemson
This is another game that looked a lot better for the Big Ten a week ago. The Illini lost two straight to Utah and Bradley, while Clemson is ranked No. 19 after a tough loss to Texas A&M and good win over Butler.
Pick: Clemson

Minnesota at Miami
Yet another game that looked better for the Big Ten a week ago. The Gophers beat Butler, but then lost to Portland and Texas A&M. Meanwhile, Miami is 7-0. I still like the Gophers though and the Hurricanes haven’t faced any tough competition yet.
Pick: Minnesota

ACC wins challenge 7-4.

Big Ten-ACC Challenge: A Back-of-the-Envelope Mathematical Preview

KJ@theonlycolors — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 16:00:29 -0000

A number of college basketball observers have been asking whether this is the year the Big Ten finally wins the Big Ten-ACC Challenge--although the less-than-dominating early-season tournament performances by ranked Big Ten teams this past week has probably reduced some of the national-level enthusiasm for Big Ten basketball.

Still, the Big Ten looks like it's 8 teams deep in terms of potential NCAA Tournament entrants. Is this the year the conference puts the "challenge" in the "Big Ten-ACC Challenge"? (To be fair, as pointed out by Mike Miller, they have come within one game of winning the thing 5 times in 10 attempts.)

To get some sense of the Big Ten's chances I've approximated game-by-game odds based on the still-early-but-fairly-reasonable-looking Sagarin ratings. Here they are:

Visitor	Home	Line	Favored
Penn St	Virginia	(9.0)	ACC
Wake Forest	Purdue	(14.0)	B10
Maryland	Indiana	6.0	ACC
Northwestern	NC State	(8.5)	ACC
Michigan St	North Carolina	(3.0)	ACC
Virginia Tech	Iowa	5.5	ACC
Illinois	Clemson	(13.5)	ACC
Boston College	Michigan	(2.5)	B10
Minnesota	Miami	(4.5)	ACC
Duke	Wisconsin	2.0	ACC
Florida St	Ohio St	(1.0)	B10

The numbers aren't very promising, as the ACC team is favored in 8 of 11 match-ups. And 2 of the 3 Big Ten favorites are favored by very small margins.

The big obstacle is that, of the Big Ten's 6 home games, 2 of them are being played at the venues of the two ~~worst~~ weakest teams in the Big Ten. Unless Indiana and/or Iowa can somehow hold court and win their games, the Big Ten would need to win the other four home games (including Wisconsin over Duke) and pull off two road victories--with MSU and Minnesota being the best hopes. As deep as the Big Ten looks in terms of potential tournament teams, the ACC is deeper through the very bottom of the league, with no team ranked lower than #83 in the Sagarin ratings.

So I'll go on record as predicting the Big Ten loses the challenge for yet another year. But, as the old cliché goes, they play the games on the court, not on paper. Hopefully I'm wrong, and the Big Ten rebounds from its generally disappointing results thus far in the new season.

Game action starts tonight, with Penn State-Virginia on ESPN2 at 7:00.

Hayes of the Day: Nov. 26

MRickman84 — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 19:00:13 -0000

Only four games yesterday, so only a few contenders for the vaunted Hayes of the Day. Mull it over with some cranberry sauce and give thanks for the Eric Hayes in your family.

Poll

Who was yesterday's Hayes of the Day?

Virginia- Sammy Zeglinski vs. Cleveland State: 10 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, 3 TO

0 votes

Duke- Lance Thomas vs. Arizona State: 4 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 TO, 1-2 FG in 23 minutes

2 votes

Maryland- Sean Mosley vs. Wisconsin: 10 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 2 TO, 5 PF

0 votes

Miami- Durand Scott vs. Florida Gulf Coast: 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 0 TO

4 votes

Eric Hayes: 13 points, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 1 block, 2 TO

2 votes

8 votes | Poll has closed