SB Nation - Oregon St. Beavers

Big 12 Pac-10 Hardwood Series Tally - Game 11

Evan Pfaff — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 15:36:50 -0000

Big 12 Pac 10 Hardwood Series (Photo courtesy big12sports.com)

This count will be updated at the completion of each game of the Big 12 / Pac-10 Hardwood Series this weekend. Feel free to comment on any game.

Official Tally

Big 12 - 9

Pac 10 - 2

UPDATE: Big XII Wins Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series!

Game dates, times and recaps listed below the Jump

(All times Central)

Sunday, November 29

Nebraska - 51
USC - 48
Recap

Thursday's Games

Texas Tech - 99
(12) Washington - 92
OVERTIME
Recap

(2) Texas - 69
USC - 50
Recap

Baylor - 64
Arizona State - 61
Recap

Friday's Games

Oregon State - 74
Colorado - 69
Recap

Saturday's Games

Missouri - 106
Oregon - 69
Recap

Kansas St.- 86
Washington State - 69
Recap

California - 82
Iowa St. - 63
Recap

Sunday's Games

Kansas - 73
UCLA - 61
Recap

Oklahoma 79
Arizona 62
Recap

Wednesday, December 16 Games

Oklahoma St - 71
Stanford - 70
Recap

Tuesday, December 22 Games

Texas A&M at Washington - 10pm

In a Perfect World (Conference Realignment)

Evan Pfaff — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 21:30:13 -0000

by Tony Gutierrez - AP

Could a University of Houston QB be soon hoisting the Big 12 Championship trophy? (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez)

View full size photo »

Today the Big Ten conference issued a statement that they are exploring the possibility of expanding.

Every few years we hear the same rumblings and every few years there are articles published about what realignment would look like. But not since Penn State was admitted into the Big Ten has anything official been released. With that, below is the definitive article on the topic.

And even though this is a basketball blog, I will focus on the BCS aspect of realignment to argue my points. I will discuss basketball, though, and all points held for football can loosely translate over to hoops as well.

Currently there are six BCS conferences and those 6 all get automatic BCS-bowl bids. Those conferences are Big East, SEC, Big 10, Big 12, Pac-10, ACC. Of those six, three of the conferences have enough football teams to have a conference championship game (the Big East would have enough if more of their charter schools had D1 football programs).

Part of the BCS issue is that you have some conferences without 12 schools, who don't currently have conference championship games. Adding conference championship games will ultimately help the BCS by crowing, on a field, a true conference champ. This will help with BCS bowl bids, and especially the BCS championship game. (Think of a rule where you have to at least win your division to get a BCS bid.

The other BCS issue is of the non-BCS schools and where they should lie. My realignment program take that into account.

Without further ado, after The Jump is the Big12Hoops.com Realignment plan.

MIZZOU MOVES TO THE BIG 10.

Why is this good for the Big 10? By admitting Mizzou into the Big 10, the Big 10 would secure a coveted TV market, namely St Louis. They would also get a share of the Kansas City TV market. By expanding westward, revenues from the Big 10 Network and apparel sales would grow. The Big 10 would also secure a 12^th team and legitimize a conference championship game. The divisions would be as follow:

Big 10 East: Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, Indiana, Purdue, Penn State

Big 10 West: Mizzou, Illinois, Northwestern, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa

Under this scenario all regional rivalries remain in tact

Why is this good for Mizzou? The Big 12 seems to forget about schools not named Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska and Kansas (basketball). There is no television network, so Mizzou's games are generally only regionally shown. There is Big Monday for basketball, but that is mainly reserved for Texas and KU. Under this, Mizzou's football games could be carried on the Big 10 Network and basketball games will be tied into the Big 10 ESPN deal. All this leads to a major recruiting advantage in both revenue generating sports.

Mizzou also has a rival in Illinois that would heat up instantly and the heated rivalry with Kansas will replace the Illinois basketball and football games on the schedules. Instead of St Louis, though, the KU games will be played at the Sprint Center and Arrowhead in KC.

But what about... Iowa State? The Cyclones seem to also be a natural fit and could easily add fuel to the rivalry with in-state foe Iowa Hawkeyes. The problem is that the Big 10 gains little from that arrangement. They are already pretty entrenched in the Hawkeye State and the addition of ISU wouldn't help their regional or national reputation.

THE UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON JOINS THE BIG XII

Why is this good for the Big 12? The University of Houston is a large campus, in a region of Texas that is currently underdeveloped with college sports. Houston is the 4^th largest city in the country, and by planting a team there, the Big 12 will get even more Texas viewership.

The big question would be on alignment, since there will now be 5 Texas schools. My proposal is for

Big 12 "North": Nebraska, Kansas, Kansas State, Iowa State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State

Big 12 "South": Texas, Houston, Texas Tech, Texas A&M, Baylor, Colorado

The division names will have to be rebranded, but adding Colorado to the South is acceptable because Coloradoans joke that there are more Texans in the state than natives.

Why is this good for Houston? Historically, the Cougars have had a good football team, and have won a basketball national championship. Having a Big XII logo on their court will increase their recruiting presence in the city and state and potentially turn them into powerhouse.

But what about... TCU? TCU would be a good choice, if they were bigger. Their 8000 student just wouldn't cut it if the conference wishes to remain the BIG 12. Houston's enrollment is approximately 30,000 students. Commuter school or not, Houston would help retain the "Big" in Big 12.

BYU AND UTAH GO TO THE PAC-10

Why is this good for the Pac-10? By including Utah and BYU into the Pac-10, the conference will have the 12 schools needed for an automatic conference championship games. Both programs have historically legitimate football and basketball programs, and they will bring their rivalry with them. Geographically, they are far enough West to warrant admission into the conference.

The division would be as follows

Pac-10 North: Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, BYU, Utah

Pac-10 South: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Stanford, UCLA, USC

Why is this good for BYU and Utah? Both recruit well from the West, and inclusion into the conference will aid that. And by coming over as a pair (and as rivals) they bring legitimacy to the expansion eastward.

But what about... geography? The state of Utah doesn't border any states of current Pac-10 members, and that may cause some issues, but distance isn't really something the conference has ever regarded. Consider that Tucson, AZ to Seattle, WA is 1100 miles, or 400 miles farther than Tucson to Provo, UT.

ADD MORE TEAMS TO THE MOUNTAIN WEST

Why is this good for the Mountain West? As it stands under this scenario, the Mountain West is down to 7 members (the current 9, minus BYU and Utah). To get up with the big boys, the MWC needs to add 5 schools. The 5 that should move to the MWC should be: Boise State, Nevada, New Mexico State, Rice, SMU.

There is already talk of Boise coming over to the MWC, so that is a no brainer. The others are coming over as "rivals" to existing MWC schools. Nevada will face UNLV, New Mexico State will pair with New Mexico, Rice and SMU will pit against TCU is a three-way battle for Texas.

Having 12 schools will allow the conference to host a championship game, matching the winners of each division, which would be as follows:

MWC North: UNLV, Nevada, Air Force, Wyoming, Colorado State, Boise State

MWC South: San Diego State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, TCU, Rice, SMU

Why is this good for the 5 programs? The shift from either the C-USA or WAC will legitimize the programs (see the next point). All will also enter the new MWC with a foe. Everyone wins.

But what about... the MWC still remaining relatively minute as compared to their BCS brethren? Why would these schools shift from one conference to another, just for shits and giggles? See next point.

ADMIT THE MOUNTAIN WEST INTO THE BCS

Why is this good for the BCS? Controversy will mainly be avoided. By admitting the redesigned MWC into the BCS you are accepting the current BCS gate crashers. You are bringing in the current at-large schools causing heartache and giving yourself another conference champion that the country can latch onto.

Why is this good for the MWC? Why isn't it good for the MWC?

But what about... the C-USA and WAC? These two conferences are now in shambles. What to do? See next item.

MERGE THE C-USA AND WAC

Why is this good for the two conferences? Because of the success of some of their schools, and regional ability to move, the Conference USA and WAC are currently left in shambles (under this proposal). Essentially afterthoughts as they are, now they are left with 15 schools between them. They could either split them up 8 and 7 or combine forces and form a 15 league mega conference. In terms of basketball, as we have seen with the Big East, and their 16 school hoops conference, too many schools doesn't water down the pool.

But what about... regionality? The C-USA is currently a conglomerate of throw-ins from around the country. Under this plan, that would just increase to a truly national conference. The members of it would be: Fresno St, Hawaii, Idaho, La Tech, San Jose St, Utah St, UTEP, Tulane, Tulsa, UAB, Cent Florida, ECU, Marshall, Memphis, Southern Miss

Using the scenario outlined above, 18 schools will change conferences. This sounds like a lot, but as you can see many will be moving as groups and either with or to a rival.

But what about the Big East? Well, the Big East is the one conference I am leaving alone. In their football world, they are lacking the 12 members to create a championship game. But when you include their basketball members, they are a 16-team powerhouse.

One final thought. I reserve the right to claim this entire scenario null and void if Notre Dame ever decides to join the Big 10. If that were to happen, I would still endorse some shifting, but nothing to the extent of this proposal. More on that if a Notre Dame to the Big 10 rumor starts getting some legitimate traction.

Pac-10 Basketball Looks Thoroughly Mediocre This Year

ragnarok — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 12:00:18 -0000

by Marcio Jose Sanchez - AP

Is this the Pac-10's signature win so far this season?

View full size photo »

Quick, can you name the marquee non-conference win by a Pac-10 team so far this basketball season? No?

That's because there isn't one.

In fact, looking for a 'best' win so far by a Pac-10 team (I'm using the term 'best' very loosely here), and you might come up with Cal's season-opening five-point win over Murray State. Murray State? No, that can't be right, can it? Well, since losing at Cal to open the season, Murray State has raced (HA! Get it? "Raced"? Because they're the Racers? What's that, you didn't know that? Oh, some of you had never even heard of Murray State? Oh...) to an 8-1 record. Yes, it's been a nothing schedule, and Tuesday's game at Louisiana Tech may be the toughest remaining game on their slate, but this is poised to being a win the Bears can look to in March with pride, something not many Pac-10 teams have right now.

Through the first half of December, the Pac-10 has been, well, not exactly dreadful, but certainly not good in any sense of the word. Collectively, they've mostly avoided truly embarrassing loses, but at the same time, they've achieved basically zero wins of note. They are firmly the wost of the six BCS conferences, and may not even be as good as 6th overall out of all the conferences. Yes, it's been that bad.

Let's go ahead and take a look at the Pac-10's collective record at this point. Overall, the 10 teams are 50-36, but when we start to break that down, we start to see how thoroughly undistinguished that record is.

To get a better handle on all these teams, I used both Ken Pomeroy's rankings (based on his super-secret formula looking at a number of statistical correlations) and Jeff Sagarin's 'Predictor' ratings (based on margin-of-victory). Generally, these ratings agreed with each other, and most teams were rated by both rankings within about 5-10 places, and no more than 15 that I found, but using both gives me a little more confidence in this analysis. In listing a team's ranking, Pomeroy's ranking is first, followed by Sagarin's, in parentheses.

Generally, we should expect that good teams can beat everyone, mediocre teams can beat bad ones but lose to good ones, and bad teams will lose to most everyone. Well, by that standard, the Pac-10 is the very definition of mediocre.

Pac-10 Non-Conference Record (games through Sunday, December 13)
Overall - 50-36
vs. Top 25 - 0-12
vs. Top 50 - 1-19
vs. Top 100 - 8-31
vs. everyone else - 42-5

With a few exceptions, Pac-10 teams have managed to beat up on (or at least get past) the little guys, but they've been mostly impotent against teams with a pulse. 0-12 vs. Top 25 teams? A losing record is no shame, but getting shut out sure hurts the league's credibility. Worse is the 1-19 mark against the Top 50. That one win? Cal over Murray State (46,49), a team barely in the Top 50. Oy.

Things get a little better with lower-rated teams, but it's still a 7-12 mark vs. teams rated between 51-100, and of those seven wins (Cal @ Pacific (67,74), Cal vs. Iowa State (80,67), Stanford vs. Virginia (98,103), Washington vs. Wright State (88,89), Washington vs. Belmont (75,79), Washington vs. Montana (96,93), and Oregon State @ George Washington (92,97)), none stand out as a basketball power. And the less said about the conference's 2-8 mark (so far) in the Pac-10 / Big 12 Hardwood Series, the better.

With regards to the NCAA tournament, the Pac-10 traditionally tends to be a four-to-six bid league, but at this point, even four sounds like a stretch to me. We might be looking at a three-bid year, and that's provided that three teams can distinguish themselves in conference play. There's a few more chances at the league picking up some marquee wins to help win an at-large bid or two, but on the whole, Pac-10 teams are going to have to stand on their own in front of the selection committee -- they won't be able to draw on their league's strength as in years' past.

Here's how each team stands from this point forward. Good wins are those over teams rated in the Top 100; bad losses are to those to teams outside the Top 100.

California (6-3)
Good Wins: Murray State (46, 49), @Pacific (67, 74), Iowa State (80, 67)
Bad Losses:
Tough Opponents Remaining: @Kansas (2, 4)

Three good (though not great) wins, and three very acceptable losses to teams in the Top 25 (Syracuse, Ohio State and New Mexico have a combined 26-2 record so far) mean the Bears are in (relatively) decent shape so far. Getting a win at Kansas would be HUGE, though it's neither expected nor necessary. Still, Sagarin's Predictor would put the Bears at just a six-point dog in Lawrence right now -- amazingly, his system would actually favor Cal if the game were played in Haas -- so they must be doing something right. Still not enough margin of error to feel complacent heading into conference play, where the Bears will face far more opportunities for bad losses than for good wins.

Stanford (5-3)
Good Wins: Virginia (98, 103)
Bad Losses: @San Diego (142, 132), Oral Roberts (150, 162)
Tough Opponents Remaining: Oklahoma State (55, 50), @Northwestern (63, 77), @Texas Tech (45, 44)

Plenty of juice left on the Cardinal's schedule, though it's going to take more than one good win to balance out the shame of losing at home to Oral Roberts. Hanging tough with Kentucky was a surprise, but college basketball is neither horseshoes nor hand grenades. Stanford has plenty of work to do if they want to get to any kind of tournament this year.

UCLA (2-6)
Good Wins:
Bad Losses: Cal St. Fullerton (219, 220)
Tough Opponents Remaining: @Notre Dame (95, 88)

We all knew the Bruins would take a step back this year, considering all the talent they lost to the NBA and graduation, but losing at home to Cal State - Fullerton?!?? For the most part, the rest of their losses have been at least respectable (well, the opponents have been, if not their performances), but considering they lost both ends of a tournament in their own backyard (Anaheim) and have yet to either leave Southern California or beat an opponent in the Top 200, one can understand how Bruins fans might be in panic mode just a year and a half removed from their third consecutive Final Four appearance. At some point, UCLA is going to have to start winning games, and a visit to Notre Dame (their first trip this year not on a bus) this Saturday would be an advisable place to start.

USC (4-4)
Good Wins:
Bad Losses: Loyola Marymount (151, 146)
Tough Opponents Remaining: Tennessee (8, 5), *UNLV (89, 81), *St. Mary's (15, 12)

USC's overall record is better than UCLA's, but that may have more to do with their light scheduling -- they've beaten no one of note and lost to Loyola Marymount at home. The Tennessee Volunteers come to town on Saturday, and the Trojans might get a couple of good opponents at the Diamond Head Classic in Hawai'i. Without beating at least a couple of those teams, the Trojans may very well have to repeat their feat from last year -- winning the Pac-10 Tournament and its automatic bid to the NCAAs.

Washington State (8-2)
Good Wins:
Bad Losses:
Tough Opponents Remaining:

Talk about unremarkable -- Wazzu has managed to get 10 games into their schedule without putting a single mark on their résumé. No shame in losing at Gonzaga or Kansas State, but at some point, the NCAA tournament committee does expect at-large teams to beat someone with a pulse.

Washington (6-2)
Good Wins: Wright State (88, 89), Belmont (75, 79), Montana (96, 93)
Bad Losses:
Tough Opponents Remaining: Texas A&M (41, 33), Portland (84, 99)

Other than Cal, Washington is probably in the best shape in the Pac-10, and considering their best wins are at home over Wright State, Belmont and Montana, that's not saying much. The losses (neutral floor vs. Georgetown, in overtime at Texas Tech) are both acceptable, but like the Bears, the Huskies are still searching for a win that they can really hang their hat on.

Oregon (4-4)
Good Wins:
Bad Losses:
Tough Opponents Remaining:

A résumé as ordinary as Washington State's, though a 4-4 record isn't a great start, especially with a couple of those losses coming at home. Losing to Montana at home might not be the worst thing in the world, but it's certainly not great. Like the Cougars, the Ducks will have to wait for conference play to make a mark, and they're really going to have to get it done within the league if they want a postseason bid.

Oregon State (4-4)
Good Wins: @George Washington (92, 97)
Bad Losses: Sacramento State (281, 280)
Tough Opponents Remaining:

Winning at George Washington? That's good! Losing at home to Sacramento State? That's bad. Terrible, in fact. The worst loss suffered by a Pac-10 team so far, and that's saying something. The fightin' Craig Robinsons have a bit of work to do if they want to make something of this season.

Arizona State (7-3)
Good Wins:
Bad Losses:
Tough Opponents Remaining: San Diego State (32, 28)

ASU is another team without a good or bad mark to their name so far. Losses to Duke and BYU are totally acceptable, Baylor at home a little less so, but once again, you're eventually going to get a good win on the docket, and San Diego State next Saturday is the last shot they've got before they host Washington in January.

Arizona (4-5)
Good Wins:
Bad Losses:
Tough Opponents Remaining: Brigham Young (14, 14), North Carolina State (73, 76)

Arizona has played its typical bruising non-conference schedule, but usually they manage to get a win or two out of that. So far this year? Not so much. Their best win so far? Take your pick between Louisiana Tech at home or Colorado on a neutral court in overtime. I'm not impressed, and neither will be the selection committee.

Poll

How many teams will the Pac-10 get into the NCAA tournament?

RPI WATCH: 12/13/09

BracketCat — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:00:31 -0000

More photos » by Laura Rauch - AP

The circle is complete: By beating the brains out of Lon Kruger's team, perhaps we finally have erased the demons that have plagued K-State basketball for 20 years — roughly ever since he ditched us for Florida. (AP Photo/Laura Rauch)

Browse more photos »

Sorry, guys. I accidentally set this to publish at 11:45 p.m. tonight when I meant for it to go last night. My bad.

Wow, what a Saturday.

I guess I'll start with us. I've adding a ranking indicator, because now that Xavier beat Cincinnati today (likely knocking them out of the Top 25), it's a 99-percent certainty that we will be ranked at this time tomorrow.

Meanwhile, our RPI is an eye-popping TWO. I don't think we're likely to top Duke anytime soon, so this basically is the pinnacle for our resume this year, at least from a numbers standpoint. Kudos to Frank Martin for drawing up a PERFECT non-conference schedule, one that now is ranked fourth, after briefly spiking at second last night.

UNLV was added to the ledger of Top 50 wins, and Wazzu's win over Air Force, coupled with playing us, moved the Cougars into the Top 100. That gives us six quality wins so far, and to that you can add Fort Hays State's movement into the Division II Top 25 last week. We've beaten some damn good teams.

What does all this mean? Barring an absolute collapse in Big 12 play, we're going to be in the NCAA Tournament. And if things keep up like this, we'll have a pretty high seed, too. We almost don't need this feature anymore — the resume speaks for itself. But I'll keep tracking everything, nonetheless.

Here's a little trivia for you: Four teams in the country have three RPI Top 50 wins. Who are they? Answers after the jump. Oh, and be sure to vote in my poll.

Answer: Georgetown, Kansas State, Texas, Villanova

Bonus Answer: Kansas has ZERO Top 50 wins. LOL!

Current Kansas State Ranking = TBD

Current Kansas State Record = 9-1

Current Kansas State RPI = 2

Current Kansas State SOS = 4

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton, UNLV

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI, Washington State, Xavier

Bad Losses (RPI 101 or greater) = none

Loyola (6-2, 1-1) | RPI = 40: Win over San Francisco (66-63)
Western Illinois (4-6, 0-2) | RPI = 320: Loss to Eastern Illinois (44-41)
Boston (4-6) | RPI = 146: Win at Marist (88-72)
No. 25 Ole Miss (8-1) | RPI = 34: Win over McNeese State (83-67)
Dayton (7-2) | RPI = 24
IUPUI (8-3, 2-0) | RPI = 60: Win over Indiana-South Bend (92-56)
No. 22* FHSU (7-1): Win over Missouri Western (67-54)
Washington State (8-2) | RPI = 88: Win over Air Force (75-68)
Xavier (5-3) | RPI = 68
No. 18 UNLV (7-1) | RPI = 29: Loss to Kansas State (95-80)
Alabama (6-3) | RPI = 91: Loss to No. 5 Purdue (73-65)
UAPB (0-6) | RPI = 273
Cleveland State (4-6, 0-2) | RPI = 232: Win over Wilberforce (113-61)
South Dakota (5-4) | RPI = 119
Missouri (6-3) | RPI = 161: Win over Fairleigh Dickinson (87-36)
No. 16 Texas A&M (8-2) | RPI = 18: Loss to New Mexico (84-81)
Colorado (6-4) | RPI = 229
No. 2 Texas (8-0) | RPI = 5: Win over Texas State (87-54)
Oklahoma State (7-1) | RPI = 26
Baylor (7-1) | RPI = 105
No. 1 Kansas (9-0) | RPI = 21: Win over La Salle (90-65)
Nebraska (7-2) | RPI = 151: Win over Oregon State (50-44)
Iowa State (7-3) | RPI = 155
Oklahoma (7-3) | RPI = 142: Win at Utah (78-73 in overtime)
No. 23 Texas Tech (9-0) | RPI = 18

*Division II Top 25

Future Buff QB Nick Hirschman Leads High School Team to Coast Section Division II Title

irish1611 — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:33:59 -0000

Congratulations to Buff commit QB Nick Hirschman, who capped off an amazing high school season with a section championship Saturday night. His Los Gatos team beat Wilcox 20 - 19 in overtime as Hirschman completed a pass on 4th down in the extra period for the go ahead score. Wilcox missed an extra point on their first overtime possession which allowed Los Gatos to win the game.

This game sounded pretty crazy. Here is the recap of the missed extra point:

On the first extra point attempt Cesar Duenas’s kick was good, but the play was waved off because it had been blown dead when Los Gatos went offsides. On the next attempt, Wilcox was called for illegal motion setting the kick back 5 yards. The next snap was high forcing Duenas to make an unsuccessful desperation pass.

But Hirschman's team wouldn't have been there without a successful hook 'n ladder play with 2:04 seconds remaining for 70 yard score:

Los Gatos trailed 13-6 and was at its own 30 yard line with 2:04 left when Cattolico made the call of the game.

Hirschman threw a strike to Hackman-Salazar over the middle going right to left about 15 yards downfield Hackman-Salazar pitched to Andrew Berg who burst to the right sideline for the remaining 55 yards of a 70-yard touchdown getting a key block from Sam Bowers. Heimer’s extra point tied the game.

"We’ve been practicing that play every day waiting for that exact type of situation," said Hirschman who was 14 of 25 for 192 yards. "For it to work like that with two minutes left that was unreal."

In other news:

-It looks like the Nebraska vs. Colorado game played a week ago no longer has any interest on a national level. In fact, the game received the lowest ratings of any football game ABC put on its station this entire season. Todd Henrichs of HuskerExtra.com wonders how long ABC will stay committed to the game:

This is purely speculation on my part, but I wonder how long the Big 12 and television partner ABC will stay committed to having the NU-Colorado game on Black Friday. The overnight TV rating of 1.9 for this year’s game from Boulder was the lowest of the season for any college football game on ABC, and it marked the third time in four years that the NU-CU game drew the lowest ranking of any college football played on network television that day. Predictably, NU-Colorado was crushed in the ratings by Alabama-Auburn, which drew a 4.8 rating on CBS. But the Illinois-Cincinnati lead-in on ABC drew a 2.5.

On a positive note, last night's game between Texas and Nebraska turned into a defensive slug fest. Colorado's offense a week before put up 406 yards on Nebraska while Texas could only muster 222. But the more amazing thing was Colorado's ability to limit All-World Nebraska DT Ndamukong Suh. Against Texas, Suh destroyed the Longhorn offensive line to the tune of 12 total tackles, 7 for loss and 4.5 sacks. It was an amazing performance. Against Ryan Miller and the Colorado offensive line, Suh had a rather pedestrian day, only accounting for five tackles and a phantom sack on a bad intentional grounding call.

-Moving on to the hardwood, the men's basketball team lost a bad one this past Friday night as Colorado failed to do the little things on the defensive end to stop Oregon State. The Boulder Daily Camera has the story:

The offensive fireworks have been present throughout the season. But the more aggressive and determined Beavers outscored CU 10-2 in crunch time, despite making just one field goal in the final four minutes. "We can`t have certain guys go without defensive rebounds the entire game," Bzdelik lamented. Higgins, the team`s leading rebounder last season, had two defensive rebounds in 39 minutes. Relphorde had one rebound in 29 minutes. CU out-rebounded Oregon State 32-30 thanks to 15 offensive rebounds, including six by Burks. However, the Buffs allowed 12 costly second-chance points and sent the Beavers to the foul line 34 times. "It`s real simple: We need to rebound and defend," Relphorde admitted. "We gave them a lot of free points off offensive rebounds. I know I did a terrible job on the defensive glass. We`re scoring the ball. We need to rebound."

RPI WATCH: 12/05/09

BracketCat — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 04:00:15 -0000

Not too much action last night. Only three of our opponents played, but unfortunately, one of them embarrassed our conference by losing to the worst team in the Pac-10 and costing us an undefeated Hardwood Series record.

Results and new numbers are after the jump.

If for some reason you absolutely need to know up-to-date numbers, I get them here.

Current Kansas State RPI = 18

Current Kansas State SOS = 31

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI

Bad Losses (RPI 100 or greater) = none

Loyola (4-2, 0-1) | RPI = 28
Western Illinois (3-4, 0-1) | RPI = 205
Boston (2-6) | RPI = 162
Ole Miss (6-1) | RPI = 39
Dayton (4-2) | RPI = 46
IUPUI (6-2, 1-0) | RPI = 63
FHSU (4-1)
Washington State (6-1) | RPI = 112
Xavier (5-2) | RPI = 77: Win over Kent State (77-61)
No. 24 UNLV (6-0) | RPI = 5
Alabama (5-2) | RPI = 52
UAPB (0-5) | RPI = 229
Cleveland State (3-5, 0-1) | RPI = 208
South Dakota (5-3) | RPI = 143
Missouri (4-2) | RPI = 107
No. 19 Texas A&M (7-1) | RPI = 19: Win over Akron (74-62)
Colorado (5-3) | RPI = 226: Loss at Oregon State (74-69)
No. 2 Texas (6-0) | RPI = 2
Oklahoma State (6-1) | RPI = 18
Baylor (7-1) | RPI = 105
No. 1 Kansas (6-0) | RPI = 38
Nebraska (5-1) | RPI = 81
Iowa State (6-2) | RPI = 148
Oklahoma (4-3) | RPI = 206
Texas Tech (8-0) | RPI = 42

Big 12 / Pac-10 Hardwood Series Tally - Weekend Edition

Evan Pfaff — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 19:15:09 -0000

Big 12 Pac-10 Hardwood Series (Photo courtesy big12sports.com)

View full size photo »

This count will be updated at the completion of each game of the Big 12 / Pac-10 Hardwood Series this weekend. Feel free to comment on any game.

Official Tally

Big 12 - 9

Pac 10 - 2

UPDATE: Big XII Wins Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series!

Game dates, times and recaps listed below the Jump

(All times Central)

Sunday, November 29

Nebraska - 51
USC - 48
Recap

Thursday's Games

Texas Tech - 99
(12) Washington - 92
OVERTIME
Recap

(2) Texas - 69
USC - 50
Recap

Baylor - 64
Arizona State - 61
Recap

Friday's Games

Oregon State - 74
Colorado - 69
Recap

Saturday's Games

Missouri - 106
Oregon - 69
Recap

Kansas St.- 86
Washington State - 69
Recap

California - 82
Iowa St. - 63
Recap

Sunday's Games

Kansas - 73
UCLA - 61
Recap

Oklahoma 79
Arizona 62
Recap

Wednesday, December 16 Games

Oklahoma St - 71
Stanford - 70
Recap

Tuesday, December 22 Games

Texas A&M at Washington - 10pm

Poll

Which is true?

The Big 12 is up

15 votes

The Pac-10 is down

7 votes

Both the Big 12 is up and the Pac-10 is down

31 votes

53 votes | Poll has closed

Saturday Buff Bites - Why Can't Colorado Teams Win on the Road?

irish1611 — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 16:33:53 -0000

Buffs falter down stretch at Oregon State - Boulder Daily Camera

The Buffs have lost 19 consecutive road games against Division I opponents. The program`s last such victory was on Dec. 22, 2007, at Colorado State (73-70). CU returns to Moby Arena next Thursday to face the rival Rams.

Cory Higgins -- who entered the game second in the Big 12 in scoring (20.7 ppg) behind Oklahoma State`s James Anderson (21.0 ppg) -- finished with 15 points. Super freshman Alec Burks led the way for the Buffs with a team-high 19 points. It wasn`t enough as Nate Tomlinson missed a pair of free throws that could have given CU the lead in the final minute trailing 70-69. Oregon State went 4-for-4 at the stripe in the final 17.2 seconds to pull out the victory in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series matchup.

"It`s extremely disappointing. We did a horrific job of containing the ball and on defensive rebounding and fouling people," CU head coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "Toughness is containing the ball. Toughness is defensive rebounding. Toughness is finishing at the rim, we had opportunities at the rim and we just flipped it up there. Toughness is defending without fouling." CU out-rebounded the Beavers 32-30, but Oregon State was 26-for-34 from the line and shot 51.1 percent from the field for the game.

Buffs Fall to Oregon State - CUBuffs.com

"It was very disappointing; we certainly had our opportunity to win this game," said CU Head Coach Jeff Bzdelik. "We had a wide-open look at a three and we had a couple free throws; we missed some timely opportunities to score and put some pressure on them."

CU-Boulder Chancellor Phil DiStefano: Let's support Dan Hawkins - Colorado Daily

Five years ago, when the athletic department at the University of Colorado at Boulder was in its darkest days, we made a decision that we were going to reintegrate athletics into the academic mission of the university.

Shmuck of the Week: CU Athletic Director Mike Bohn - Denver News - The Latest Word

Sure, three million is a lot of coin to pay a guy to go away, especially when you're going to have to come up with even more cash to pay someone new to take over. But why did they give him the extension in the first place? At the time athletic director Mike Bohn extended Hawkins' contract last fall, the coach had produced nothing more than a big, heaping pile of mediocrity, leading the Buffs to 11 wins in his first 30 games. What was it about a .330 winning percentage that made Bohn say, "We better guarantee this guy more money before he gets swooped up by Sacramento State"? So, yeah: That was not very smart. Nor was the university's inability to drum up the $3 million to make Hawkins go away. So for that, Mr. Bohn, you are our Shmuck of the Week.

Hawkins, CU staff hit road to recruit - Boulder Daily Camera

Hawkins understands he will probably have to answer questions about his future beyond next season when visiting with recruits and their parents. He said he is accustomed to discussing the topic. It comes up every year because coaches come and go through every program even when things are going well. Hawkins said he advises recruits to choose a school because of the academics and the environment as much as the football. "I counsel them about that all the time," Hawkins said this week. "I think you`re very honest with those guys. ... Is a part of it the head coach? Is a part of it the position coach? Isa part of it the coordinator? Yeah. That is all part of it, but that other stuff should be part of it, too. No head coach is going to change that town or that weather or where it is, distance from home, the academic ranking of the majors. No coach is going to change that."

Another area of uncertainty is whether coaches will sign another running back to go with Littleton High School star Mister Jones. Jones has told recruiting services he is firmly committed to CU, but he is slated to visit Texas A&M next weekend and is contemplating a visit to Nebraska.

KU receiver Briscoe declares for NFL draft - KansasCity.com

KU junior receiver Dezmon Briscoe announced Friday afternoon that he will skip his senior season and declare for the 2010 NFL draft.

Cowboy Altitude: Danny Spond to visit UW on December 11th

Thanks to the huge mess that Dan Hawkins has created at Colorado the Pokes might have a chance to pick up a big time recruit. QB/LB Danny Spond has opened up his recruiting after deciding that Boulder is in a downward spiral. On December 11th Spond will head up to Laramie to meet with the Coaches and checkout the facilities on campus.

Stevens Placed On Scholarship - CUBuffs.com

University of Colorado football head coach Dan Hawkins announced Friday afternoon that junior center Keenan Stevens has been placed on scholarship.

Scout.com: 3* LB Nigel Terrell will visit Buffs

Nigel Terrell gave his oral commitment to Florida State coaches back in August and has second-guessed the decision on several occasions since. Now the 40th-ranked outside linebacker in the 2010 class is scheduling other visits, including one to Boulder.

RPI WATCH: 12/04/09

BracketCat — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 06:00:22 -0000

by Charlie Riedel - AP

On Saturday, the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series comes to Manhattan. Are the Wildcats ready to battle for victory? (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

View full size photo »

The Big 12 finished Thursday night with a 4-0 advantage in the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series.

Of course, it's more like an unofficial 5-0 advantage since Texas Tech beat Oregon State earlier this year.

Meanwhile, several of our non-cons did us no favors by losing their conference openers — some by fairly large margins.

To see how everyone fared, click the jump.

If for some reason you absolutely need to know up-to-date numbers, I get them here.

Current Kansas State RPI = 11

Current Kansas State SOS = 14

Great Wins (RPI 1-50) = Loyola, Dayton

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI

Bad Losses (RPI 100 or greater) = none

Loyola (4-2, 0-1) | RPI = 28: Loss at UWGB (90-69)
Western Illinois (3-4, 0-1) | RPI = 205: Loss to NDSU (60-55)
Boston (2-6) | RPI = 162
Ole Miss (6-1) | RPI = 39
Dayton (4-2) | RPI = 46
IUPUI (6-2, 1-0) | RPI = 63: Win over SDSU (79-57)
FHSU (4-1)
Washington State (6-1) | RPI = 112
Xavier (4-2) | RPI = 114
No. 24 UNLV (6-0) | RPI = 5
Alabama (5-2) | RPI = 52
UAPB (0-5) | RPI = 229
Cleveland State (3-5, 0-1) | RPI = 208: Loss at Wright State (73-64)
South Dakota (5-3) | RPI = 143
Missouri (4-2) | RPI = 107
No. 19 Texas A&M (6-1) | RPI = 8
Colorado (5-2) | RPI = 181
No. 2 Texas (6-0) | RPI = 2: Win over USC (69-50)
Oklahoma State (6-1) | RPI = 18
Baylor (7-1) | RPI = 105: Win at Arizona State (64-61)
No. 1 Kansas (6-0) | RPI = 38
Nebraska (5-1) | RPI = 81
Iowa State (6-2) | RPI = 148
Oklahoma (4-3) | RPI = 206
Texas Tech (8-0) | RPI = 42: Win over No. 12 Washington (99-92 in overtime)

Big 12 / Pac-10 Hardwood Series Tally - Friday Edition

Evan Pfaff — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 21:15:08 -0000

Big 12 Pac 10 Hardwood Series (Photo courtesy big12sports.com)

View full size photo »

This count will be updated at the completion of each game of the Big 12 / Pac-10 Hardwood Series this weekend. Feel free to comment on any game.

Official Tally

Big 12 - 9

Pac 10 - 2

Game dates, times and recaps listed below the Jump

(All times Central)

Sunday, November 29

Nebraska - 51
USC - 48
Recap

Thursday's Games

Texas Tech - 99
(12) Washington - 92
OVERTIME
Recap

(2) Texas - 69
USC - 50
Recap

Baylor - 64
Arizona State - 61
Recap

Friday's Games

Oregon State - 74
Colorado - 69
Recap

Saturday's Games

Missouri - 106
Oregon - 69
Recap

Kansas St.- 86
Washington State - 69
Recap

California - 82
Iowa St. - 63
Recap

Sunday's Games

Kansas - 73
UCLA - 61
Recap

Oklahoma 79
Arizona 62
Recap

Wednesday, December 16 Games

Oklahoma St - 71
Stanford - 70
Recap

Tuesday, December 22 Games

Texas A&M at Washington - 10pm

Poll

When will the Pac 10 win their first game of the Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series?

Friday

7 votes

Saturday

5 votes

Sunday

4 votes

They won't win a game in the series

6 votes

22 votes | Poll has closed

SB Nation - Oregon St. Beavers

Big 12 Pac-10 Hardwood Series Tally - Game 11

Official Tally

Big 12 - 9

Pac 10 - 2

Sunday, November 29

Thursday's Games

Friday's Games

Saturday's Games

Sunday's Games

Wednesday, December 16 Games

Tuesday, December 22 Games

In a Perfect World (Conference Realignment)

Pac-10 Basketball Looks Thoroughly Mediocre This Year

How many teams will the Pac-10 get into the NCAA tournament?

RPI WATCH: 12/13/09

What will K-State be ranked in today's AP poll?

Future Buff QB Nick Hirschman Leads High School Team to Coast Section Division II Title

RPI WATCH: 12/05/09

Big 12 / Pac-10 Hardwood Series Tally - Weekend Edition

Official Tally

Big 12 - 9

Pac 10 - 2

Sunday, November 29

Thursday's Games

Friday's Games

Saturday's Games

Sunday's Games

Wednesday, December 16 Games

Tuesday, December 22 Games

Which is true?

The Big 12 is up

The Pac-10 is down

Both the Big 12 is up and the Pac-10 is down

Saturday Buff Bites - Why Can't Colorado Teams Win on the Road?

RPI WATCH: 12/04/09

Big 12 / Pac-10 Hardwood Series Tally - Friday Edition

Official Tally

Big 12 - 9

Pac 10 - 2

Sunday, November 29

Thursday's Games

Friday's Games

Saturday's Games

Sunday's Games

Wednesday, December 16 Games

Tuesday, December 22 Games

When will the Pac 10 win their first game of the Big 12/Pac 10 Hardwood Series?

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

They won't win a game in the series