SB Nation - Rice Owls

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)

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.

Texas vs. Rice Gameflow (Updated)

GhostofBigRoy — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 15:36:59 -0000

Gameflow from the Texas/Rice game on Sunday. I haven't worked much with Excel, so I wasn't able to use +/- symbols because I couldn't get the program to stop adding and subtracting. If anyone knows how to get that to turn off, I would appreciate it. Otherwise, hopefully it's readable and provides some insights. Also, if anyone has any thoughts on the best way to determine the best five-man groups for the team, that would also be helpful.

Previous Gameflows:

UC-Irvine

Western Carolina

A few thoughts:

In a game that the Longhorns won by 18 points, any player with a negative +/- in the game didn't add much to the team. Throwing out Matt Hill, who ended up with a -2 after one minute, and Shawn Williams, who played two minutes, the three players who come out looking poorly in this metric are Jordan Hamilton at even, Justin Mason at +1, and Gary Johnson at +2. It's difficult to make direct correlations between the play of an individual to the results of the team, but the first two players listed aren't a huge surprise -- Hamilton shot 3-9 from the field and still failed to make entry passes to the big guy down low, while Mason missed both of his field goals and three of his four free-throw attempts. It's a broken record now -- he just doesn't add anything offensively. For Johnson, it's harder to figure, though he did only have one rebound in his 16 minutes and turned the ball over twice.
James (+21), Bradley (+18), and Balbay (+17) all had the best games by this metric. Most surprising of these three is James, who shot poorly from the field, but rebounded well and didn't turn the ball over. For Bradley, it was probably about playing good defense and playing efficiently, as he shot 3-7 from the field, 2-2 from the line and had four assists and no turnovers. Balbay is interesting as well, as he didn't score much and only had one assist, but rebounded extremely well and probably helped the team by pushing the ball in transition and playing good defense.
Despite what is seemingly a bad combination in Balbay and Mason, the two played five different stretches together and finished +4, with only one of those stretches a net negative for the team at -1. Something to keep an eye on, although the fact that neither can shoot and the amount that tangibly affects the spacing on the court probably trumps this data.
The amount of substituting that Rick Barnes does may also affect the data, as the longest that any group was on the floor together was the nearly three minutes that Brown/James/Pittman/Hamilton/Mason were on the court and registered a -5, by far the worst stretch of basketball during the game, when Rice climbed back into it, cutting the lead 12 to seven and then to five when Bradley replaced Mason. Does substituting so frequently hurt the rhythm of the team because the players on the court don't have time to establish a good dynamic and decide where they want to go with the ball? There's certainly accountability, but there may be side effects as well.
It's not surprising in some ways that the group of Brown/Bradley/James/Pittman/Hamilton registered a +4 in the first half, as that's probably the best combination on paper right now for the Longhorns, although that group also registered -2 in their appearance together in the second half, when Hamilton earned himself a spot on the bench for the rest of the game by jacking a step-back three pointer after making a three the previous trip down the court.
Context plays a factor here, as the needless fouling by Rice at the end of the game resulted in a +5 and +4 for the players on the court at the end of the game, despite not having to do anything offensively other than hold onto the ball long enough to get fouled and make free throws, which James and Brown did at a high rate -- 7-8 in the last minute. However, those two groups did also help hold Rice scoreless over the last 4:17 of the game.

[Update]: Here are some other charts from StatSheet for the Rice game. I'll try to post them after every game.

NCAA Basketball Stats

As a note, the last chart has J'Covan Brown's numbers listed as Varez Ward, hopefully they will get that changed.

RPI WATCH: 11/30/09

BracketCat — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 07:00:14 -0000

by Charlie Riedel - AP

Frank's ready to tear the Pac-10 a new one, but first we must get past mighty Fort Hays State. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

View full size photo »

So, is anyone actually reading these?

Just wondering, because I haven't had any comments on them recently. But don't worry — I'll keep doing them regardless.

Anyhow, you can see how our opponents fared Sunday after the jump. Two future opponents even played each other. The Old Spice Classic has been very useful in evaluating future opponents versus each other, in fact.

Also, the Big 12/Pac-10 Hardwood Series kicked off in Los Angeles. Or should I say, the Big 12/Pac-10 Beatdown, since the latter conference looks to be just woeful this season?

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

Current Kansas State RPI = 15

Current Kansas State SOS = 24

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

Solid Wins (RPI 51-100) = IUPUI

Bad Losses (RPI 100 or greater) = none

Loyola (4-1) | RPI = 27
Western Illinois (3-3) | RPI = 207
Boston (2-5) | RPI = 142: Loss to Harvard (78-70)
Ole Miss (5-1) | RPI = 49: Win over TAMUCC (73-58)
Dayton (3-2) | RPI = 42
IUPUI (5-2) | RPI = 84
Fort Hays State (3-0)
Washington State (6-0) | RPI = 146
Xavier (4-2) | RPI = 114: Loss to Baylor (69-64)
UNLV (5-0) | RPI = 8
Alabama (4-2) | RPI = 109: Win over No. 15 Michigan (68-66)
UAPB (0-4) | RPI = 249
Cleveland State (3-4) | RPI = 191
South Dakota (4-3) | RPI = 95: Win over Midland Lutheran (104-71)
Missouri (4-1) | RPI = 96
Texas A&M (5-1) | RPI = 21: Win over No. 22 Minnesota (66-65)
Colorado (4-2) | RPI = 127
No. 3 Texas (5-0) | RPI = 3: Win at Rice (77-59)
Oklahoma State (5-0) | RPI = 16
Baylor (6-1) | RPI = 160: Win over Xavier (69-64)
No. 1 Kansas (5-0) | RPI = 52
Nebraska (4-1) | RPI = 178: Win at USC (51-48)
Iowa State (6-1) | RPI = 161
No. 25 Oklahoma (3-3) | RPI = 214
Texas Tech (7-0) | RPI = 48

BtB 2009-10 Conference USA Preview

Chris Dobbertean — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:00:33 -0000

From Huntington, West Virginia to El Paso, Texas, cheers of celebration went up when John Calipari left Memphis for Kentucky. The Tigers' could be in a world of hurt this season, as a roster that was already decimated by graduation and the NBA Draft lost a load of new talent when Calipari headed to Lexington. Josh Pastner inherits a team that's low on bodies and thin on experience, which could result in an atypical down season at the FedEx Forum.

The other 11 teams in the league, led by Tulsa, Houston, and UTEP, now have an excellent chance to break the Tigers' monopoly at the top. Now, Calipari's departure doesn't solve Conference USA's biggest problem, earning multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament, it does open up the title race considerably. While all of the main contenders lost key pieces from teams that didn't break throuhg last year, they all bring back veteran leaders and have a bit more experience and depth than their former tormentors.

More on the 12 teams who will compete in a suddenly competitive C-USA after the jump.

Let's first take a look at the 2008-09 Conference USA standings.

Conference USA Standings

(updated 4.4.2009 at 12:56 AM EDT)

	Conf		Overall
	W	L	W	L
Memphis Tigers	16	0	33	4
Tulsa Golden Hurricane	12	4	25	11
UAB Blazers	11	5	22	12
UTEP Miners	10	6	23	14
Houston Cougars	10	6	21	12
Central Florida Golden Knights	7	9	17	14
Marshall Thundering Herd	7	9	15	17
Tulane Green Wave	7	9	14	17
East Carolina Pirates	5	11	13	17
Southern Miss. Golden Eagles	4	12	15	17
Rice Owls	4	12	10	22
SMU Mustangs	3	13	9	21

Now, here are my picks for 2009-10, presented in reverse order.

Rice (last NCAA: 1970) Ben Braun's team struggled at both ends of the court last season, and things may not get much better this year. Leading scorer Rodney Foster, the only Owl to average in double figure last season at 12 points a contest, graduated. The top scorer of the returnees, 6-8 F Lucas Kuipers, only averaged 8.8 ppg in the games he played in 2008-09. He should provide more this season; however, as he missed half of last year with a broken wrist. Rice visits Arizona and LSU, but Texas comes to Autry Court. The Owls also host Sacramento State, Houston Baptist, and South Alabama in a round-robin tournament.

East Carolina (last NCAA: 1993) The Pirates struggled to five wins last season, but should return to their traditional place at the bottom of the C-USA standings thanks to the departure of their two leading scorers from 2008-09. But there is hope for Mack McCarthy's squad, as 6-8 sophomore Darrius Morrow (9.7 ppg, 6.7 rpg) and 6-10 C Chad Wynn (7.1 ppg, 4 rpg) are back to lead the frontcourt and the nation's second best assist man, junior PG Brock Young (10.6 ppg, 7.6 apg), will again run the offense. 6-6 3-point specialist Jamar Abrams, who averaged 10.5 points a game off the bench, is ready for a bigger role and 6-7 DaQuan Joyner (7 ppg, 3.4 rpg) will provide Morrow and Wynn more help this year now that he's recovered from a foot injury. The Pirates will travel to the Virgin Islands for the Paradise Jam, where they'll open with Tennessee.

SMU (last NCAA: 1993) Matt Doherty is hoping for serious improvement in his fourth season at the helm. Then again, it would be difficult to be any worse than the Ponies were in 2008-09. SMU lost all of their road games and claimed only three league wins. The Mustangs strength will continue to be their backcourt, as 6-1 senior PG Derek Williams (12.7 ppg, 3.5 apg), a JC transfer last season, and 5-11 sophomore SG Paul McCoy (13.4 ppg, 1.6 spg) should continue to grow in their second year in Doherty's system. 6-1 JC transfer Rodney Clinkscales comes aboard to provide them more support from the bench. Doherty needs more out of his frontcourt, led by mistake-prone big man Mouhammad Faye (9.2 ppg, 5.2 rpg, 2.3 TO per game), especially now that 7-1 C Bamba Fall graduated. SMU visits Texas A&M this season and will take part in the Diamond Head Classic, where they'll open with UNLV.

Southern Mississippi (last NCAA: 1991) It's hard to believe that Larry Eustachy is entering his sixth season in Hattiesburg. However, you can't help but think season 6 will go better than a season 5 that resulted in only four league wins, thanks to the loss of three of the top four leading scorers from a team that ranked 8th in the C-USA scoring table. The team's leading returning scorer, junior PG R.L. Horton (12.7 ppg), should be more prolific this season, as he moves over to the two spot. USC transfer Angelo Johnson, a 6-foot sophomore will take over playmaking duties this season. In the frontcourt, Eustachy will need more from 6-8 senior Andre Stephens, who only averaged a little more than 6 points a contest this year. 6-8 JC transfer Gary Flowers will see immediate minutes for the Eagles, as will his teammate from Chipola CC, 6-6 G Torye Pelham, who could've gone to the Big 12 instead. USM visits Mississippi and Vanderbilt this season, and welcomes Canisius, New Orleans, and North Florida for a tournament over the holidays.

Tulane (last NCAA: 1995) Dave Dickerson needs more offense out of a team that held its own on the defensive end last season. The frontcourt will be a concern for the Green Wave after the graduation of Robinson Louisme and Daniel Puckett. 6-7 senior Asim McQueen (7.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg) is back, but he'll need support from 6-7 senior David Booker (3.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg) and 6-5 Johnny Mayhane (3.3 ppg, 1.4 rpg). On the other hand, Tulane's backcourt--led by 5-10 Kevin Smith (13.4 ppg, 4 apg) and 6-5 junior Kris Richard (10.7 ppg, 4 rpg, 1.9 spg)--should keep them in a lot of games. 6-5 Kendall Timmons, who missed time last year with a back injury, and former FSU signee Aaron Holmes, a 6-5 swingman who is a JC transfer, will also be key contributors. The Green Wave welcome Georgetown, George Mason, and VCU to New Orleans. They'll also participate in the Charleston Classic before Thanksgiving, where they'll open with Miami.

UCF (last NCAA: 2005) Kirk Speraw's squad won the Atlantic Sun twice in a row before moving to C-USA, where they've found the road considerably more difficult. The Golden Knights will struggle to repeat an average season this season, even with three starters back and a big name recruit on board. That's because they'll have a hard time replacing Jermaine Taylor's 26+ points per contest and 6-9 C Kenrick Zonervan's presence in the paint. The backcourt will continue to be a strength, even without Taylor. Speraw has two capable players to run the point--5-9 soph A.J. Rompza (4.5 ppg, 5.2 apg) and 6-1 junior Taylor Young (3.4 ppg, 3.5 apg). Rompza's high school teammate, Marcus Jordan, son of Michael and owner of the mmost famous pair of sneakers in the country will see minutes at the 2 spot, along with 3-point specialist Issac Sosa (8.2 ppg, 45.2% from 3). In the frontcourt, 6-9 A.J. Tyler (7.1 ppg, 4.4 rpg) and 7-4 Jakub Kusmier (2.2 ppg, 1.0 rpg in 5 mpg) will have to attempt to replace Zondervan. The Knights will participate in the Glenn Wilkes Classic in nearby Daytona Beach. They'll open the tournament at home against Howard before traveling up I-4 to face Niagara, Auburn, and Drake. UCF also seems to be preparing for an oft-rumored life in the Big East, as they visit Connecticut, USF, and Notre Dame.

UAB (last NCAA: 2006) The Blazers were the last C-USA team to earn a bid other than Memphis, back in 2006. Hopes were high for Mike Davis' squad last season, but the team that stunned Arizona (after one of the classic brain freezes of all time) to reach the NIT Season Tip-Off semifinals only managed a 22-12 mark and a first round loss to Notre Dame in the postseason version of the same tournament. Now, the group that was supposed to lead UAB back to the Dance--Robert Vaden, Paul Delaney III, Lawrence Kinnard, and Channing Toney are gone, and so are the 56.5 points and 22.5 boards they averaged each game. The two returning starters 5-8 PG Aaron Johnson (3.6 ppg, 3.6 apg) and 6-8 F/C Howard Crawford (7.9 ppg, 3.5 rpg) will see a lot of new faces around them, all of whom will have to contribute immediately for the Blazers to be competitive. Davis has brought in some good ones though, including SEC target Dexter Field, a 6-2 point guard, and Australian guard Heath Gameren. UAB will also suit up two transfers who'll be impactful--6-4 JC transfer Jamarr Sanders and 6-6 Louisiana-Lafayette transfer Elijah Millsap, Paul's younger brother. Fittingly, for a team with a dragon for its mascot, the Blazers get a baptism by fire during their non-conference schedule. They host Butler and Cincinnati, visit Arkansas and Virginia, and travel to Kent State for round-robin featuring Green Bay and Samford.

Marshall (last NCAA: 1987) While Donnie Jones will have to do without the graduated Markel Humphrey, last season's leading scorer (12.5 ppg, 5.3 rpg), the Herd has plenty of offensive options. Marshall's four returning starters all averaged in the neighborhood of 10 points a game, and that includes 3-point specialist Chris Lutz (10.7 ppg, 37.4 % from 3) and 6-8 senior F Tyler Wilkerson (10.4 ppg, 6.2 rpg) who missed the last ten games of last season with a broken jaw. The Herd's newcomers include Western Carolina transfer Cam Miller, another perimeter shooter, freshman scorer DeAndre Kane and JC transfer Antonio Hayman. All of the scoring is great, but Jones really needs his team to play better defense to rise up the standings. Marshall's two most challenging games this season are trips to Old Dominion and North Carolina.

Memphis (last NCAA: 2009) I'm sure John Calipari is still on Josh Pastner's holiday card list, but the first year Tiger coach should probably drop him with all of the roster turnover and lost recruits that resulted from Calipari's move to Lexington. 6-5 senior Doneal Mack is Memphis' leading returning scorer, and he didn't even average 9 points a game last year. 6-6 Robert Sallie should improve on his 5.8 ppg with more minutes, especially as he made nearly half (47%) of his three-point attempts. In the frontcourt, 6-8 Wesley Witherspoon (4.2 ppg, 2 rpg) and 6-11 Angel Garcia are the only returnees. Memphis fans should expect to see a lot of new faces. The two most prominent of thesea re 6-4 Duke transfer Elliot Williams and 6-9 JC transfer Will Coleman. The Tigers will face Kansas in St. Louis, in a rematch of the 2008 National Championship game, and UMass in Boston. They'll also host Tennessee on New Year's Eve and visit Syracuse.

Houston (last NCAA: 1992) The Cougars tournament chances took a hit when 6-8 F Qa'rraan Calhoun left for the professional game during the offseason. That's because Tom Penders already had one giant hole to fill in the frontcourt thanks to the graduation of 6-11 C Marcus Cousin. There will now be more pressure on little used 6-8 senior Sean Coleman and freshmen Kendrick Walsh and Kirk Van Slyke (a natural small forward) to take some pressure off the great crop of guards Penders has coming back. Seniors Aubrey Coleman (19.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and Kelvin Lewis (18 ppg, 3.2 rpg) will again be key producers for Penders, with junior PG Zamal Nixon (5.5 ppg, 1.6 apg) ready to make the point his own. The Cougars will travel to Anchorage for the Great Alaska Shootout, where they'll face Oklahoma and San Diego. Houston also travels to Nevada and hosts Mississippi State.

UTEP (last NCAA: 2005) Don't expect the Miners to struggle too much after the graduation of Stefon Jackson, Conference USA's all-time leading scorer (24.5 ppg). The CBI runners-up return 6-foot junior Randy Culpepper, a 3-point specialist who averaged 17.5 ppg last season. He'll see the ball even more during this go round with Jackson gone. It will be the job of 6-6 junior Julyan Stone (5.6 ppg, 6.4 apg) to get him--and Tony Barbee's other offensive performers--the ball. Those weapons include two transfers who showed they can score in their previous D-I stops, 6-3 Arizona State transfer Christian Polk (12 ppg in '07-08) and 6-2 JC transfer Myron Strong (10 ppg at San Francisco in '07-08). While 7-footer Kareem Cooper and 6-8 Travis Watts are gone from the frontcourt, 6-11 sophomore Arnett Moultrie (8.8 ppg, 8.2 rpg) will be even more a force this season, and 6-9 Louisville transfer Derrick Caracter has a lot to prove after a stormy time with the Cards. Looking at the schedule, the Miners will host BYU and Mississippi, along with the Sun Bowl Classic. They'll take on Oklahoma in the All-College Classic in Oklahoma City and face New Mexico State in their traditional home-and-home.

Tulsa (last NCAA: 2003) The Golden Hurricane will look to go two better after a season that ended with 1) a 25-point loss to Memphis in the C-USA Championship and 2) a 19-point loss to Auburn in the second round of the NIT. While 10.3 ppg performer Ray Reese is gone, the bulk of last season's team is back and ready to replace the Tigers at the top of the C-USA heap. 7-foot senior C Jerome Jordan is back, and should improve on his already impressive numbers of 13.8 ppg and 8.6 rpg. The supporting frontcourt cast, led by 6-6 senior Bishop Wheatley (4.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and 6-10 soph Steve Idlet (3.9 ppg, 3.1 rpg), needs to do more though. In the backcourt, 6-3 senior Ben Uzoh (14 ppg, 4.9 rpg) should also be better this year, thanks to the arrival of 6-1 frosh Donte Meddler to play the point. Justin Hurtt, a 6-4 junior who averaged more than 9 ppg last season, is an outside threat who could really explode by penetrating more. 6-2 junior Glenn Andrews, who averaged more than 7 ppg in '08-09, is a big question mark, as he'll at least miss the first month of the season with a knee injury. Schedule-wise, the Golden Hurricane visit Duke in a rare February non-conference game. They also host Oklahoma State and take on Nebraska, followed by either BYU or Nevada in the Las Vegas Classic.

So the Golden Hurricane will hold C-USA's auto bid in my 2009-10 Final Preseason Bracket, which I will release on November 9. The main question for 2009-10 is, can the league do what it couldn't when Memphis distanced itself from its 11 conference-mates and grab multiple bids?

To wrap up this preview, here is my preseason All-C-USA team, featuring the best returning players from last season.

Preseason All-C-USA Team

Player of the Year: Jerome Jordan, 7-0 C, Sr. (Tulsa)

Remainder of the Team
Aubrey Coleman, 6-4 G, Sr. (Houston)
Randy Culpepper, 6-0 G, Jr. (UTEP)
Kelvin Lewis, 6-4 G, Sr. (Houston)
Ben Uzoh, 6-3 G, Sr. (Tulsa)

Poll

Who is your pick to win Conference USA this season?

UAB

0 votes

UCF

4 votes

East Carolina

1 votes

Houston

1 votes

Marshall

0 votes

Memphis

3 votes

Rice

0 votes

SMU

1 votes

Southern Mississippi

0 votes

UTEP

3 votes

Tulane

1 votes

Tulsa

3 votes

17 votes | Poll has closed

KNOW THY ENEMY: Texas A&M Aggies

BracketCat — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:30:13 -0000

This week's preview probably is one of the more distasteful I will compose, perhaps only to be topped by the one for the Flaw on the Kaw. When it comes to Aggie basketball, the word "enemy" well and truly applies.

I don't know if it's because of Mark Turgeon, the Kellis Robinett of basketball coaches, or Billy Clyde Gillispie, angry drunk that he is, but something about Texas A&M actually being halfway decent in basketball just pisses me off. I don't know — maybe it's just the grudge I've been holding against the 12th Man since December 1998.

At any rate, I'm still basking in the afterglow of the absolute pwning administered to the Aggies on Saturday, so I'll strive to be as magnanimous as possible in this preview. If you're looking for more information, feel free to hop over to I Am The 12th Man, where basketball season almost certainly is under way. Anything to distract from a likely 0-3 start, right?

Otherwise, click the jump for all you need to know about Ags-ketball.

The Coach

Mark Turgeon
Third Season

49-21 (17-15) at Texas A&M
202-140 (103-89) overall

Turgeon has a 49-21 record at A&M, the most wins by a Big 12 coach in his first two seasons at a league school. He is only the second coach ever to lead the Aggies to consecutive NCAA Tournaments and has led his teams to five 20-win seasons in the last six years.

Last season, the Aggies went 24-10 and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight year.

Turgeon led the Aggies to a 25-11 record in his first season, the third-most wins in school history. The Aggies lost in the final seconds to top-seeded UCLA in the second round of the NCAAs.

The Departures

Starters

Josh Carter (30.6 minutes per game, 13.8 points per game, 4.3 rebounds per game)
Chinemelu Elonu (23.8 minutes per game, 9.8 points per game, 7.3 rebounds per game)

Reserves

Denzel Bowles (5.4 minutes per game, 2.4 points per game, 1.2 rebounds per game)
Bryson Graham (2 minutes per game, 0.8 point per game, 0.3 rebound per game)

The Veterans

		#0 Bryan Davis Senior Forward 6-9 \| 250 Dallas, Texas Big 12 All-Reserve Team (2009) The Aggies are 27-7 when Davis scores in double figures in his career. He averaged 16.5 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in two NCAA Tournament games, earning CBS Sports player of the game honors in both contests. Davis scored a season-high 21 points with nine rebounds and three blocks in a first-round win against BYU. He scored 12 points with a game-high 10 rebounds in a win against Missouri. Davis scored 15 points with eight rebounds in a win against Texas, and just missed double-doubles at No. 2 Oklahoma (13 points, nine rebounds), at Baylor (13 points, nine rebounds) and at Colorado (nine points and nine rebounds). He matched his season high with 18 points in a win against Oklahoma State, making 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Davis had 13 points and eight rebounds in a win against Texas Tech; scored a season-high 18 points with 10 rebounds in a win at Rice; had 17 points against Baylor and 16 points against LSU; came off the bench to score 15 points with a season-high 13 rebounds against Kent State, earning SPI Invitational all-tournament honors; returned to the starting lineup against Arizona and had 10 points, making 5 of 6 from the field; scored 15 points with nine rebounds in a win at Alabama; had 11 rebounds vs. SMU; had at least five rebounds in all but four games; ranked third on the team in scoring (10.8), and second in rebounding (6.5) and blocks (46); ranked fifth in the Big 12 in blocks and ninth in rebounding; ranked fourth in the Big 12 in offensive rebounding (2.9) in league play; scored 14 points with seven rebounds against Jackson State and tied his career best with four blocks; and ranks seventh in school history with 96 career blocks.

		#2 Derrek Lewis Junior Guard 6-5 \| 195 Tulsa, Okla. Lewis appeared in five games, averaging 0.6 point per game. He scored a season-high two points against UNC Wilmington, played a season-best five minutes against Jackson State, and also saw action against BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

		#3 Derrick Roland Senior Guard 6-4 \| 190 Dallas, Texas Big 12 All-Defense Team (2009) Roland scored 10 points in a first-round NCAA Tournament win against BYU, making a pair of three-pointers. He was named to Big 12 All-Defense Team by league coaches and media panel, and usually guarded the opponent's top scoring guard and in Big 12 play held all but two under his scoring average. League players he guarded made just 38 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3-point range. Roland helped limit Arizona All-American Chase Budinger to just three points on 1 of 6 shooting in the second half of A&M's come-from-behind win. Texas' A.J. Abrams averaged just eight points (6 of 22 shooting, 1 of 9 3-pointers) in two games against Roland. Roland scored 11 points in the first win against Texas Tech and held John Roberson to four second-half points (2 of 10 from field, 0 of 5 3-pointers). Oklahoma State's James Anderson averaged just 9.5 points in two games against Roland. Roland matched his season best with 13 points in a loss at Baylor, scoring 11 in the second half to rally the Aggies from a 14-point deficit. He scored 12 points with four assists in a win at Colorado (8-8 FT); made 25 of his last 29 free throw attempts; played just 10 minutes against McNeese State, after leaving the game early with a bruised elbow, and did not play against North Dakota; scored six points with a season-high six rebounds against Arizona; missed the Kent State game after suffering a sprained foot against Tulsa; and averaged 8.5 points in the last six games. The Aggies are 11-2 in his career when he scores in double figures, and 8-1 on the season.

		#5 Dash Harris Sophomore Guard 6-1 \| 175 Los Angeles, Calif. Harris played in all 34 games and earned a start against Kent State. He ranked second on the team in assists (2.0) and was third in steals (0.7); scored a career-high seven points with three assists against Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament; had six points and made 2 of 2 from 3-point range against Iowa State, his first career 3-pointers; had a monster dunk and made a free throw to complete a key 3-point play and spark a comeback win at Nebraska; scored six points with three assists and two steals in a big win against Missouri; dished out a career-high five assists in consecutive games against Rice and McNeese State; matched his career best with five assists in wins against Texas (zero turnovers) and Texas Tech; scored a career-high six points with four assists and a career-best three steals against North Dakota; handed out at least four assists in seven games; and scored four points against Tulsa. The Aggies were 9-1 when he had at least three assists, with the only loss being to UConn.

		#10 David Loubeau Sophomore Forward 6-8 \| 230 Miami, Fla. Loubeau scored 11 points, making 5 of 5 from the field, against Connecticut in the second round of NCAA Tournament; ranked third on the team in offensive rebounds (58); ranked second among Big 12 freshmen in offensive rebounds in league play (1.9); scored eight points in a win against Missouri; had nine points, all in the second half, with six rebounds in a narrow loss at No. 2 Oklahoma; scored 11 points with eight rebounds in a win against Texas Tech; had 10 points, all in the first half, in a win against Oklahoma State; scored a career-high 12 points with eight rebounds against Kent State in his first career start; also started against Iowa State; had seven points with five rebounds at Kansas, including a game-high four offensive boards; scored six points with a career-best nine rebounds against Tulsa; had eight points at Alabama, helping the Aggies rally from 14-point deficit; scored eight points with eight rebounds against SMU; had eight points and six rebounds against Jackson State, making 6 of 8 from the free-throw line; and tallied six points with six boards against UNC Wilmington. The Aggies were 7-2 when he scored at least eight points, losing only at Oklahoma and to UConn.

		#11 B.J. Holmes Junior Guard 5-11 \| 175 Houston, Texas Big 12 All-Reserve Team (2009) In Big 12 play, Holmes led the league in 3-point percentage (.470) and ranked second in free-throw percentage (.860). He ranked among the top bench players in the Big 12 with an 9.1 scoring average in conference play; had 10 points in a first-round NCAA Tournament win against BYU; scored 11 points (3 of 3 treys) in a win against Texas; scored 10 of his 16 points in the last six minutes in a comeback win at Colorado; had 13 points in a win vs. Missouri; had a career-high 24 points in the first win against Texas Tech, making 6 of 7 (.857) from 3-point range, the fourth-best percentage in school history; made six straight 3s against Tech, tying a Big 12 record; scored 19 points at Oklahoma State, making 4 of 9 3-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws; earned his first career start against Arizona and had a team-high 14 points (3 of 6 3-pointers); made a pair of key free throws in the final minute of the Arizona game and also drew a charge that fouled out Wildcat point guard Nic Wise late in game; scored 16 points with a career-best seven rebounds in a win at Alabama and made a rainbow 3-pointer with two seconds left to send the game to overtime; scored 15 points against Kent State, making 3 of 6 3-pointers and dropping a pair of free throws in the final seconds that helped ice the game; started in place of the injured Derrick Roland against North Dakota and scored 14 points (4-8 3-pointers); missed his first 12 shots of the season; led the team in steals (30); and had only 18 turnovers in 757 minutes (one every 42.1 minutes).

		#14 Andrew Darko Junior Guard 6-1 \| 175 Conroe, Texas Darko appeared in nine games, including three Big 12 games and an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He scored two points against Jackson State and at Kansas.

		#15 Donald Sloan Senior Guard 6-3 \| 205 Dallas, Texas The Aggies are 39-8 in Sloan's career when he hands out at least three assists, including a 16-3 mark as a junior, and the team is 33-13 when he scores in double figures. He averaged 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in two NCAA Tournament games; scored 14 points with six rebounds and a season-high seven assists in a first-round win vs. BYU; added 12 points in the second round against Connecticut; had a career-high 22 points against Texas Tech in Big 12 Tournament; scored a team-high 16 points in a win against Missouri; averaged 15.6 points in the last five games; had 14 points and five assists with only one turnover, scoring seven points in the final four minutes of a comeback win at Colorado; had 14 points in a win against Texas; scored 17 points (3 of 4 3-pointers) in a loss at Texas; had 15 points in a win against Oklahoma State; tied his career high with 21 points against Florida A&M, making 10 of 10 free throws; ranked second on the team in scoring (11.8) and led in assists (3.2); scored at least eight points in all but three games; had 13 points and five assists with only one turnover in 35 minutes against Arizona; handed out a season-high seven assists against Kent State with only one turnover; had 16 points with three assists and six rebounds against Stephen F. Austin; made .743 (107-144) from the free-throw line; and had only 56 turnovers in 1,030 minutes this season (one every 18.4 minutes), a marked improvement over his sophomore season, when he averaged one turnover every 13.3 minutes.

		#24 Shawn Schepel Junior Guard 6-3 \| 205 Dallas, Texas Schepel played in six games, including two Big 12 games and an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He scored one point against Jackson State.

		#31 Chris Chapman Senior Guard 5-11 \| 175 Houston, Texas Chapman appeared in three games, including the Iowa State game in Big 12 play. He scored two points with one rebound against Jackson State.

		#33 Marshall Carrell Junior Forward 6-9 \| 230 Paris, Texas Carrell appeared in four games, including an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He pulled down two rebounds against Jackson State.

		#45 Nathan Walkup Junior Forward 6-7 \| 210 Houston, Texas Walkup played in all 34 games, starting against UNC Wilmington and Iowa State. He averaged 14 minutes in two NCAA Tournament games; scored a career-high 12 points (3 of 4 3-pointers) in a win against Missouri; had eight points (2 of 2 3-pointers) against Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament; had seven points, making 3 of 3 from the field (including a key second-half 3-pointer) in a win against Texas; also added seven points in a win at Nebraska and had a breakaway dunk that helped spark a comeback; scored six points with three rebounds in just 11 minutes in a narrow loss at No. 2 Oklahoma, including a breakaway dunk; made a game-winning 3-pointer with 20 seconds left against Arizona, his only points of the game; scored seven points in a win at Alabama and made a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to pull the Aggies within two points, before teammate B.J. Holmes sent the game into overtime with two seconds left; scored a season-high nine points with a career-best 12 rebounds against UNC Wilmington; averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds; scored seven points with 11 rebounds against Stephen F. Austin and made a key long-range 3-pointer as the shot clock expired in the final minute; scored eight points against Jackson State; and made a 3-pointer with 7:32 left to give A&M a six-point lead at Rice, and it never was a one-possession game again. The Aggies are 14-2 in his career when he scores at least five points.

The Redshirt

#12 James Blasczyk
Freshman Center
7-0 | 230
Houston, Texas

Blasczyk was named his high school district's defensive player of the year in 2008. He averaged 14.6 points and 9.7 rebounds as a senior; was rated among the top 50 prospects in the state by TexasHoops.com; averaged 8.3 points, 7.1 rebounds and 4.1 blocks as a junior; earned three varsity letters; scored a career-best 27 points with a career-high 17 rebounds against the Dallas Mustangs in 2007 as a member of Houston Select, one the top AAU programs in the nation; and played for Houston Swoosh in 2008.

The Newcomers

		#21 Ray Turner Freshman Forward 6-8 \| 220 Houston, Texas Turner was ranked No. 144 nationally and No. 6 in Texas by Rivals.com; averaged 16.5 points and earned district MVP honors as a senior; was named to all-state and all-region teams; played in the THSCA All-Star Game; led his team to a 29-7 record and a district title; posted career game-highs of 35 points, 25 rebounds and 12 blocks; averaged 16 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks as a junior; and also was recruited by Baylor, Marquette, Memphis, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma State.

		#22 Khris Middleton Freshman Forward 6-7 \| 215 North Charleston, S.C. Middleton was rated No. 64 by ESPN.com, which also ranked him as the best shooter among the nation's small forward prospects; averaged 22.4 points and 8.6 rebounds as a prep senior, earning all-state honors and leading his team to the state title game; averaged 21.0 points and 8.6 rebounds as a junior; twice earned state player-of-the-year honors; posted a career-high scoring game of 39 points; and also was recruited by Michigan, South Carolina, St. Joseph's and Virginia Tech.

		#23 Naji Hibbert Freshman Guard 6-5 \| 200 Baltimore, Md. Hibbert was ranked No. 59 nationally by ESPN.com and was rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com; named to all-league and all-metro teams for the second straight year after averaging 15.7 points at storied DeMatha Catholic High School; and scored with 1.8 seconds left to lift DeMatha to the state championship. The team finished 31-4 and was ranked No. 4 nationally by ESPN. Hibbert averaged 15.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game as a junior; scored 44 points in an AAU game; and also was recruited by Clemson, Marquette, Maryland, Miami, Syracuse and Xavier.

		#25 Jeremy Adams Freshman Guard 6-5 \| 195 Madison, Miss. Adams was rated as the No. 2 player in Mississippi by ESPN after averaging 27.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.2 steals as a senior at Madison Central; earned all-state honors; had three 40-point scoring games and earned all-division, all-metro and all-state honors; twice scored 43 points in a game; led his team to three straight district titles; and also was recruited by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Kentucky, Miami, Notre Dame and Wake Forest.

My thanks to the Texas A&M sports information department for the photos and most of the information for the bios.

The Analysis

As much as I dislike the Aggies, it's hard to discount them as a force in Big 12 basketball. Over the past five years, they have been to four consecutive NCAA tournaments, made five consecutive postseason appearances and finished in the top half of the conference every year. Other than Kansas and Texas, Texas A&M is the only Big 12 team to win 20+ games during that stretch.

But while Texas A&M has been a consistent winner, it hasn't yet been a serious challenger for a Big 12 championship. The Aggies regularly have lost to powers such as Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas; own a two-game, regular-season losing streak to Kansas State, despite being favored in both games; and occasionally are upset by less-talented programs such as Baylor and Texas Tech. They even struggled with Colorado last year, before pulling away late.

I don't think anything will change in 2009-2010, either. In fact, I think it is more likely that Texas A&M will decline, rather than rise up, despite adding a recruiting class that hovered in and out of Rivals' Class of 2009 rankings, before finishing just outside the Top 25.

Although the Aggies lost only two significant players off last year's team, only Oklahoma lost two more significant starters. Josh Carter and Chinemelu Elonu by far were A&M's two best players in 2008-2009. Carter, a four-year starter and the Aggies' leading scorer last year, graduated, while Elonu, the team's leading rebounder who already had earned his bachelor's degree, tested the NBA draft waters and was selected in the second round by the Los Angeles Lakers.

Luckily for A&M, Donald Sloan and Bryan Davis did not follow Elonu's lead, and instead pulled out of the draft to return for their senior seasons. Good thing, too, or the Aggies would have lost four starters and been totally decimated. Sloan is one of the league's better point guards and Davis should step up to fill Elonu's void as the team's leader in rebounding.

The other returning starter is Derrick Roland, who rivals Dominique Sutton and J.T. Tiller in terms of defensive intensity. He has been bothered by injuries the past few seasons, but assuming he stays healthy, he should lock up the off-guard position all year.

Projecting the other two starters is trickier. I'm pretty sure that Nathan Walkup, who played in all 32 games last season, will figure into the equation, though. At 6-7, Walkup offers nice size at the wing position, and he probably can also hold his own in the post, in a smaller lineup.

The fifth starter probably will be situational. My projections use a traditional PG-SG-SF-PF-C lineup, so I went with James Blasczyk, a 7-footer who is the tallest player left on the roster. But Blasczyk is coming off a redshirt season and hasn't yet played a game in Division I, so it's a stretch to say he will be a consistent starter.

It's more likely that the Aggies will go with a smaller lineup when the opponent's makeup presents the opportunity. In that case, Davis would shift to the 5 and Walkup to the 4, and B.J. Holmes probably would come in as a third guard. Holmes was the Aggies' "sixth man" last season and replaced Roland as a starter whenever the latter was out with an injury.

Dash Harris (what a great name for a point guard!) was one of the conference's most impressive freshmen last year. He is a solid backup for Sloan and will continue to play understudy to the senior, in preparation for next year when he will be counted upon to fill Sloan's considerable shoes. David Loubeau rounds out the 7-8 players I see making up the Aggies' primary player rotation. He's a solid reliever in the frontcourt with some size (6-8, 230).

Marshall Carrell as primary backup at center is a stretch. I mainly picked him there because at 6-9, he's the tallest player (other than Blasczyk and Davis) on the roster. But he is a role player who has played sparingly in years past, and that highlights one of the primary problems the Aggies face this season. Other than Davis and maybe Loubeau, there are no experienced centers on the roster. When A&M faces frontcourts such as those of Kansas, Kansas State or Texas, they are going to be challenged and they probably won't be able to measure up, due to a lack of depth. When Davis gets into foul trouble (and he does that a lot), the Aggies will lose games.

Other than Mark Turgeon, nobody knows much about Chris Chapman, Andrew Darko, Derrek Lewis or Shawn Schepel, because they have played next to no minutes. One or more could surprise, I suppose, but there's nothing there in the track record to make you think it's imminent.

Khris Middleton doesn't really stand above the other incoming freshmen, but I liked the unconventional spelling of his name, so he rounds out the projected two-deep. Jeremy Adams, Naji Hibbert and Ray Turner complete a solid, but not heralded, recruiting class. How they develop in the years to come could indicate whether Turgeon really is a great coach, or merely is coasting with players inherited from Billy Gillispie.

Projected Starting Lineup


Donald Sloan	Derrick Roland	Nathan Walkup	Bryan Davis	James Blasczyk
1	2	3	4	5

Projected Top Reserves


Dash Harris	B.J. Holmes	Khris Middleton	David Loubeau	Marshall Carrell
1	2	3	4	5

The Final Verdict

Texas A&M's track record demands that I pick them in the upper half of the Big 12. That much, at least, the Aggies have earned.

But losing Elonu was a huge blow that basically halved the frontcourt, in terms of high-level, star talent. When Bryan Davis squares off with Cole Aldrich, Craig Brackins, Andrew Fitzgerald, Keith Gallon, Damion James, Wally Judge, Curtis Kelly, Marcus Morris, Dexter Pittman and so forth, he's going to wish Elonu still was there to back him up.

Upper division? Yes. NCAA Tournament? Most likely. First-day bye in the Big 12 Tournament? I highly doubt it.

Predicted finish: 6th

Best-case scenario: 4th

Previously on KNOW THY ENEMY...

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Iowa State
Texas Tech
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Best Years in Purdue Sports History #5: 1998-99

BoilerTMill — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 17:59:20 -0000

Just a few housekeeping notes before getting into today's article.

The game time for the Oregon game time has been announced. It is a 7:15pm kickoff local time, so 10:15pm back in Indiana. The game will be televised by Fox Sports Newt, and they usually do a pretty good job of showing the late west coast games in Indiana even when a local team is not involved. I'd say with 95% certainty people back in Indiana will be able to watch it.
I am starting a new temp job tomorrow, making the rest of this week's publishing schedule a little hectic. I also have a potential interview coming up for a job that I am very much interested in. This place is part of my unofficial audition for that job, so thank you to everyone who has helped me get this far.
CFN's Northwestern preview went up today. Not much in there relates to Purdue, as in a rare turn of events we're expected to be an easy win for the Wildcats. After the awful game we played against them last year (easily our worst of the season except the second half against Notre Dame) you can't expect much else. For us, it is homecoming and at Ross-Ade. If we're going to get to a bowl, this is a must-win. I am aiming for Toledo, Northern Illinois, Indiana, Illinois, Northwestern, and Minnesota as must-win games, with Oregon, Michigan State, and Notre Dame as our best upset possibilities.
CFN also has previews for Wisconsin and Indiana now posted as well. With Indiana, they are saying the Hoosiers should expect a bowl because of their experience. Really? You mean experience getting run over by everyone in the Big Ten last year? I think they may have stumbled into Kellen Lewis' stash when they made that prediction. CFN is about the only source I have found that has Indiana ahead of us in the Big Ten in 2009, and very few have us higher than 10^th.
The Quad is continuing its countdown of all 120 Division 1-A teams and has Purdue as #94. Well, nowhere to go but up. According to them, the only team on our schedule we are ranked ahead of Indiana. Of course the coolest thing is that I and the BoiledSports guys were mentioned in the NEW YORK FREAKIN' TIMES, BABY!!!!!

The Best Years in Purdue Sports History #5: 1998-99

I find this next entry in our countdown to be a very personal one. It is the first one of three that will be featured as a year when I was a student at Purdue. 1998-99 in particular was my freshman year. It is memorable because it had just Purdue's second team NCAA National Championship in school history, as well as a sweet 16 appearance for men's basketball, a huge bowl win in football, and the national debut of perhaps the greatest quarterback in Big Ten history.

Football highlights:

The 1998 football season had a strange beginning. For the first time in more than a decade, there was hope in the program. After 1997's surprising 9-3 finish with an Alamo Bowl win, people were actually predicting that Purdue was going to be relevant nationally. There was so much promise in the program, in fact, that a last minute game was added to the schedule.

This was in the days before the 12-game schedule was the norm. There were still 3-4 "preseason bowl games" as they were called, and they were used as an extra game on the schedule to showcase some of the better teams in the country. As a result of our 1997 season, Purdue was invited to play USC in Los Angeles to open the 1998 season in the Pigskin Classic.

ABC televised the insanely early 9:35am west coast kickoff, which was a more normal 11:35am back in West Lafayette. This would be the first of 37 consecutive starts for Drew Brees as a Boilermaker. What I remember about the game is that Coach Joe Tiller took the team on a tour of the Rose Bowl while they were out in Southern California. Seeing Purdue play in a Rose Bowl was still a dream at the time, but Tiller planned the tour as motivation. As it turned out, Drew's 37^th and final start would be in the Rose Bowl against Washington.

This game featured two quarterbacks that are now making a lot of money playing on Sunday's. Carson Palmer came off the bench for the first time in what would be a Heisman-winning career and helped lead the Trojans to a 27-17 win. Purdue actually led 17-10 at the half and had really only given up a 98-yard kickoff return for a score by Chad Morton. A late Brees interception and game-sealing touchdown run by Morton sealed the win for USC, but Brees made quite an impression on Purdue fans in his first extensive action.

Purdue then came home for a pair of home games against Rice and Central Florida. The game with the Owls was surprisingly close. Michael Hawthorne broke up a two-point conversion pass with less than four minutes remaining that would have tied the game for the Owls. Instead, it gave Purdue a 21-19 win. The next week was another quarterback showdown as Daunte Culpepper and Central Florida came to town. Purdue was much more dominant in this one. Hawthorne and Billy Gustin combined (via lateral) on a 104 yard interception return for a score and fellow KHS alum Dondre Johnson had a touchdown on 75 yards rushing in a 35-7 win.

One of the best returns in Ross-Ade history

Purdue then went to Notre Dame and lost the first of three straight games they should have won in South Bend. Two late Brees interceptions, the first setting up a game-winning field goal and the second sealing the win, gave Notre Dame a lucky 31-30 win. Just thinking about this game makes me angry, so let's move on.

The following week against Minnesota was our first real taste of what exactly Drew Brees could do. I remember Minnesota head coach Glen Mason making a comment during the 2000 season that he was glad he didn't have to face Drew Brees anymore after being torched for three straight games. Brees' 1998 effort against the Golden Gophers may have been the best of his career. He threw for a school record 522 yards (since topped by Curtis Painter's 546 yard Motor City Bowl performance). He also tossed 6 touchdown passes and the offense as a whole racked up a then school record 692 yards.

By the way, Brees didn't even play in the fourth quarter, while Painter's record had a frantic 4^th quarter comeback. It was a thing of beauty to watch as Purdue won 56-21

A rough road trip followed where Purdue lost both games to Wisconsin (31-24) and Penn State (31-13) to fall to 3-4 on the year. In the Wisconsin game Brees set an NCAA record by throwing 83 times and tied the NCAA mark for completions with 55. Unfortunately, he also threw four interceptions in the loss. Purdue's season appeared to be going down in flames, but the Boilers rallied to win the final five regular season games against Illinois (42-9), Iowa (36-14), Northwestern (56-21), Michigan State (25-24 in another dramatic 2-TD deficit comeback), and Indiana (52-7). Our reward was another trip to San Antonio and the Alamo Bowl to face #4 Kansas State. The Wildcats were heavily favored and angry at getting snubbed by the BCS, but we all fondly remember how that turned out.

Men's Basketball highlights:

The 1998-99 basketball season was a weird one. As a lowly freshman, it was my first year to have season tickets. I sat near the top of Mackey Arena all year with some guys on my floor at Cary Quad and watched the Boilers have a very up and down campaign. The previous year we had appeared in the Big Ten Tournament final and went to the sweet 16, but Brad Miller was gone. We were a team with plenty of junior talent in Jaraan Cornell and Brian Cardinal, but they struggled against national competition. Purdue won the first games of the year, including two in preseason NIT, against lesser teams.

Ironically, one of the teams Purdue beat in the preseason NIT that year was Gonzaga. Purdue beat the Zags 83-68 in the second round in Mackey Arena. I didn't think much of it until months later when the Zags made their first surprising NCAA Tournament run to the Elite 8. Purdue then lost to North Carolina in New York, but earned a third place finish with a one point win over St. John's. The win over St. John's was the first in an 8 game winning streak. Providence earned an 87-82 win over Purdue to finish the non-conference season and break the streak. Purdue carried a 12-2 record into the Big Ten schedule.

The slipper fits, but we made sure early that it didn't find its way to New York

For lack of a better term, the Big Ten season sucked. Purdue couldn't string together more than two consecutive victories and lost four of their last five games in conference play. That gave Purdue a final record of 19-11, and only 7-9 in conference play. An opening round loss to Michigan in the Big Ten Tournament appeared to send Purdue to the NIT, but the committee gave the Boilers a very surprising #10 seed in the East Region.

Honestly, we didn't deserve it. At 19-12 we were considered the "last team in" and guys like Billy Packer were howling that we didn't deserve the bid. To Purdue's credit, we did earn our place. The Boilers squeezed out a 58-54 win over Texas on a late jumper from Cameron Stephens. That win kept our current streak of NCAA first round wins going, but Purdue was not done. The Boilers shocked #2 seed Miami (FL) in the second round 73-63 to go to the sweet 16 for the second year in a row. The Canes were one of the best teams in the Big East that season with a 23-6 record, but it wasn't enough to stop 20 points from Cardinal and 14 points from Greg McQuay.

Purdue's run ended the next week when Temple stomped the Boilers 77-55, but it still set the stage for a near Final Four appearance in 2000. Like many of Gene Keady's teams, this is one that over performed when it had a lower seed, but struggled when it was the higher seed.

Other highlights:

Women's basketball - You cannot talk about the 1998-99 school year without mentioning the women's basketball team. The season started with a 78-68 win over three-time defending national champion Tennessee and ended with Purdue winning just its second NCAA National Championship in school history. The Tennessee win was completely unexpected. Even though it was played at Mackey Arena, the Volunteers came in with a 46 game winning streak and were heavily favored to win their fourth straight title. Purdue actually led comfortably throughout and left a message that they would be the favorites for the title.

Purdue actually lost just once all season long, dropping a 73-72 decision at Stanford in the third game of the season. Purdue finished the year on a 32 game winning streak and a 34-1 final record.

The NCAA championship game win over Duke had plenty of intrigue coming in. Duke's Michelle VanGorp and Nicole Erickson played with Purdue All-Americans Stephanie White and Ukari Figgs as freshmen, but transferred from Purdue after Lin Dunn was fired in 1996. White and Figgs were among three players that stayed after the scandal-ridden departure of Dunn, and it paid off for them. White actually sprained her ankle with 4:01 remaining in the game and was forced to sit. Purdue held a 47-42 lead at the time, but closed the game on a 15-3 run.

I remember watching this game with some friends who lived over in Shreve. Once it was we started to hear a bunch of noise outside. Slowly, student filed out of the dorms and walked towards the engineering fountain. On the steps of Hovde Hall an impromptu celebration was going on, and it eventually spilled over into a bonfire right in the middle of Stadium Avenue in front of Cary Quad. The bonfire went well into the night before police dispersed everything via teargas around 2:30am.

Not to incriminate myself, but I was part of a small group of students that broke into the football stadium in a strange attempt to tear down the goalposts. I quickly left, however, when I realize it would be very easy for the cops to catch us in the stadium.

Women's Track and Field (Outdoor) - 1999 was the last team Big Ten championship for the women's track team. Purdue scored 143 points as the host of the event, besting Wisconsin in second place with 122. The Boilers actually did not have an individual champion, but place consistently in the top 5 of several events to take home the title.

		#0 Bryan Davis Senior Forward 6-9 \| 250 Dallas, Texas Big 12 All-Reserve Team (2009) The Aggies are 27-7 when Davis scores in double figures in his career. He averaged 16.5 points, nine rebounds and three blocks in two NCAA Tournament games, earning CBS Sports player of the game honors in both contests. Davis scored a season-high 21 points with nine rebounds and three blocks in a first-round win against BYU. He scored 12 points with a game-high 10 rebounds in a win against Missouri. Davis scored 15 points with eight rebounds in a win against Texas, and just missed double-doubles at No. 2 Oklahoma (13 points, nine rebounds), at Baylor (13 points, nine rebounds) and at Colorado (nine points and nine rebounds). He matched his season high with 18 points in a win against Oklahoma State, making 6 of 6 from the free-throw line. Davis had 13 points and eight rebounds in a win against Texas Tech; scored a season-high 18 points with 10 rebounds in a win at Rice; had 17 points against Baylor and 16 points against LSU; came off the bench to score 15 points with a season-high 13 rebounds against Kent State, earning SPI Invitational all-tournament honors; returned to the starting lineup against Arizona and had 10 points, making 5 of 6 from the field; scored 15 points with nine rebounds in a win at Alabama; had 11 rebounds vs. SMU; had at least five rebounds in all but four games; ranked third on the team in scoring (10.8), and second in rebounding (6.5) and blocks (46); ranked fifth in the Big 12 in blocks and ninth in rebounding; ranked fourth in the Big 12 in offensive rebounding (2.9) in league play; scored 14 points with seven rebounds against Jackson State and tied his career best with four blocks; and ranks seventh in school history with 96 career blocks.

		#2 Derrek Lewis Junior Guard 6-5 \| 195 Tulsa, Okla. Lewis appeared in five games, averaging 0.6 point per game. He scored a season-high two points against UNC Wilmington, played a season-best five minutes against Jackson State, and also saw action against BYU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

		#3 Derrick Roland Senior Guard 6-4 \| 190 Dallas, Texas Big 12 All-Defense Team (2009) Roland scored 10 points in a first-round NCAA Tournament win against BYU, making a pair of three-pointers. He was named to Big 12 All-Defense Team by league coaches and media panel, and usually guarded the opponent's top scoring guard and in Big 12 play held all but two under his scoring average. League players he guarded made just 38 percent from the field and 32 percent from 3-point range. Roland helped limit Arizona All-American Chase Budinger to just three points on 1 of 6 shooting in the second half of A&M's come-from-behind win. Texas' A.J. Abrams averaged just eight points (6 of 22 shooting, 1 of 9 3-pointers) in two games against Roland. Roland scored 11 points in the first win against Texas Tech and held John Roberson to four second-half points (2 of 10 from field, 0 of 5 3-pointers). Oklahoma State's James Anderson averaged just 9.5 points in two games against Roland. Roland matched his season best with 13 points in a loss at Baylor, scoring 11 in the second half to rally the Aggies from a 14-point deficit. He scored 12 points with four assists in a win at Colorado (8-8 FT); made 25 of his last 29 free throw attempts; played just 10 minutes against McNeese State, after leaving the game early with a bruised elbow, and did not play against North Dakota; scored six points with a season-high six rebounds against Arizona; missed the Kent State game after suffering a sprained foot against Tulsa; and averaged 8.5 points in the last six games. The Aggies are 11-2 in his career when he scores in double figures, and 8-1 on the season.

		#5 Dash Harris Sophomore Guard 6-1 \| 175 Los Angeles, Calif. Harris played in all 34 games and earned a start against Kent State. He ranked second on the team in assists (2.0) and was third in steals (0.7); scored a career-high seven points with three assists against Connecticut in the NCAA Tournament; had six points and made 2 of 2 from 3-point range against Iowa State, his first career 3-pointers; had a monster dunk and made a free throw to complete a key 3-point play and spark a comeback win at Nebraska; scored six points with three assists and two steals in a big win against Missouri; dished out a career-high five assists in consecutive games against Rice and McNeese State; matched his career best with five assists in wins against Texas (zero turnovers) and Texas Tech; scored a career-high six points with four assists and a career-best three steals against North Dakota; handed out at least four assists in seven games; and scored four points against Tulsa. The Aggies were 9-1 when he had at least three assists, with the only loss being to UConn.

		#10 David Loubeau Sophomore Forward 6-8 \| 230 Miami, Fla. Loubeau scored 11 points, making 5 of 5 from the field, against Connecticut in the second round of NCAA Tournament; ranked third on the team in offensive rebounds (58); ranked second among Big 12 freshmen in offensive rebounds in league play (1.9); scored eight points in a win against Missouri; had nine points, all in the second half, with six rebounds in a narrow loss at No. 2 Oklahoma; scored 11 points with eight rebounds in a win against Texas Tech; had 10 points, all in the first half, in a win against Oklahoma State; scored a career-high 12 points with eight rebounds against Kent State in his first career start; also started against Iowa State; had seven points with five rebounds at Kansas, including a game-high four offensive boards; scored six points with a career-best nine rebounds against Tulsa; had eight points at Alabama, helping the Aggies rally from 14-point deficit; scored eight points with eight rebounds against SMU; had eight points and six rebounds against Jackson State, making 6 of 8 from the free-throw line; and tallied six points with six boards against UNC Wilmington. The Aggies were 7-2 when he scored at least eight points, losing only at Oklahoma and to UConn.

		#11 B.J. Holmes Junior Guard 5-11 \| 175 Houston, Texas Big 12 All-Reserve Team (2009) In Big 12 play, Holmes led the league in 3-point percentage (.470) and ranked second in free-throw percentage (.860). He ranked among the top bench players in the Big 12 with an 9.1 scoring average in conference play; had 10 points in a first-round NCAA Tournament win against BYU; scored 11 points (3 of 3 treys) in a win against Texas; scored 10 of his 16 points in the last six minutes in a comeback win at Colorado; had 13 points in a win vs. Missouri; had a career-high 24 points in the first win against Texas Tech, making 6 of 7 (.857) from 3-point range, the fourth-best percentage in school history; made six straight 3s against Tech, tying a Big 12 record; scored 19 points at Oklahoma State, making 4 of 9 3-pointers and 7 of 7 free throws; earned his first career start against Arizona and had a team-high 14 points (3 of 6 3-pointers); made a pair of key free throws in the final minute of the Arizona game and also drew a charge that fouled out Wildcat point guard Nic Wise late in game; scored 16 points with a career-best seven rebounds in a win at Alabama and made a rainbow 3-pointer with two seconds left to send the game to overtime; scored 15 points against Kent State, making 3 of 6 3-pointers and dropping a pair of free throws in the final seconds that helped ice the game; started in place of the injured Derrick Roland against North Dakota and scored 14 points (4-8 3-pointers); missed his first 12 shots of the season; led the team in steals (30); and had only 18 turnovers in 757 minutes (one every 42.1 minutes).

		#14 Andrew Darko Junior Guard 6-1 \| 175 Conroe, Texas Darko appeared in nine games, including three Big 12 games and an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He scored two points against Jackson State and at Kansas.

		#15 Donald Sloan Senior Guard 6-3 \| 205 Dallas, Texas The Aggies are 39-8 in Sloan's career when he hands out at least three assists, including a 16-3 mark as a junior, and the team is 33-13 when he scores in double figures. He averaged 13.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 6.0 assists in two NCAA Tournament games; scored 14 points with six rebounds and a season-high seven assists in a first-round win vs. BYU; added 12 points in the second round against Connecticut; had a career-high 22 points against Texas Tech in Big 12 Tournament; scored a team-high 16 points in a win against Missouri; averaged 15.6 points in the last five games; had 14 points and five assists with only one turnover, scoring seven points in the final four minutes of a comeback win at Colorado; had 14 points in a win against Texas; scored 17 points (3 of 4 3-pointers) in a loss at Texas; had 15 points in a win against Oklahoma State; tied his career high with 21 points against Florida A&M, making 10 of 10 free throws; ranked second on the team in scoring (11.8) and led in assists (3.2); scored at least eight points in all but three games; had 13 points and five assists with only one turnover in 35 minutes against Arizona; handed out a season-high seven assists against Kent State with only one turnover; had 16 points with three assists and six rebounds against Stephen F. Austin; made .743 (107-144) from the free-throw line; and had only 56 turnovers in 1,030 minutes this season (one every 18.4 minutes), a marked improvement over his sophomore season, when he averaged one turnover every 13.3 minutes.

		#24 Shawn Schepel Junior Guard 6-3 \| 205 Dallas, Texas Schepel played in six games, including two Big 12 games and an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He scored one point against Jackson State.

		#31 Chris Chapman Senior Guard 5-11 \| 175 Houston, Texas Chapman appeared in three games, including the Iowa State game in Big 12 play. He scored two points with one rebound against Jackson State.

		#33 Marshall Carrell Junior Forward 6-9 \| 230 Paris, Texas Carrell appeared in four games, including an NCAA Tournament game against BYU. He pulled down two rebounds against Jackson State.

		#45 Nathan Walkup Junior Forward 6-7 \| 210 Houston, Texas Walkup played in all 34 games, starting against UNC Wilmington and Iowa State. He averaged 14 minutes in two NCAA Tournament games; scored a career-high 12 points (3 of 4 3-pointers) in a win against Missouri; had eight points (2 of 2 3-pointers) against Texas Tech in the Big 12 Tournament; had seven points, making 3 of 3 from the field (including a key second-half 3-pointer) in a win against Texas; also added seven points in a win at Nebraska and had a breakaway dunk that helped spark a comeback; scored six points with three rebounds in just 11 minutes in a narrow loss at No. 2 Oklahoma, including a breakaway dunk; made a game-winning 3-pointer with 20 seconds left against Arizona, his only points of the game; scored seven points in a win at Alabama and made a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left to pull the Aggies within two points, before teammate B.J. Holmes sent the game into overtime with two seconds left; scored a season-high nine points with a career-best 12 rebounds against UNC Wilmington; averaged 3.5 points and 2.5 rebounds; scored seven points with 11 rebounds against Stephen F. Austin and made a key long-range 3-pointer as the shot clock expired in the final minute; scored eight points against Jackson State; and made a 3-pointer with 7:32 left to give A&M a six-point lead at Rice, and it never was a one-possession game again. The Aggies are 14-2 in his career when he scores at least five points.

		#21 Ray Turner Freshman Forward 6-8 \| 220 Houston, Texas Turner was ranked No. 144 nationally and No. 6 in Texas by Rivals.com; averaged 16.5 points and earned district MVP honors as a senior; was named to all-state and all-region teams; played in the THSCA All-Star Game; led his team to a 29-7 record and a district title; posted career game-highs of 35 points, 25 rebounds and 12 blocks; averaged 16 points, 9.5 rebounds and 4.5 blocks as a junior; and also was recruited by Baylor, Marquette, Memphis, Missouri, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma State.

		#22 Khris Middleton Freshman Forward 6-7 \| 215 North Charleston, S.C. Middleton was rated No. 64 by ESPN.com, which also ranked him as the best shooter among the nation's small forward prospects; averaged 22.4 points and 8.6 rebounds as a prep senior, earning all-state honors and leading his team to the state title game; averaged 21.0 points and 8.6 rebounds as a junior; twice earned state player-of-the-year honors; posted a career-high scoring game of 39 points; and also was recruited by Michigan, South Carolina, St. Joseph's and Virginia Tech.

		#23 Naji Hibbert Freshman Guard 6-5 \| 200 Baltimore, Md. Hibbert was ranked No. 59 nationally by ESPN.com and was rated as a four-star recruit by Rivals.com; named to all-league and all-metro teams for the second straight year after averaging 15.7 points at storied DeMatha Catholic High School; and scored with 1.8 seconds left to lift DeMatha to the state championship. The team finished 31-4 and was ranked No. 4 nationally by ESPN. Hibbert averaged 15.7 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game as a junior; scored 44 points in an AAU game; and also was recruited by Clemson, Marquette, Maryland, Miami, Syracuse and Xavier.

		#25 Jeremy Adams Freshman Guard 6-5 \| 195 Madison, Miss. Adams was rated as the No. 2 player in Mississippi by ESPN after averaging 27.2 points, 7.3 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 4.2 steals as a senior at Madison Central; earned all-state honors; had three 40-point scoring games and earned all-division, all-metro and all-state honors; twice scored 43 points in a game; led his team to three straight district titles; and also was recruited by Alabama, Arkansas, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Kentucky, Miami, Notre Dame and Wake Forest.