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| Tuesday, February 29 | ||||||
ESPN.com | |||||||
Editor's note: Every Sunday, ESPN.com's Andy Katz will break down the week that was and what's coming up in the Weekly Watch. Be sure to check out the Weekly Watch segment Sunday nights on ESPN2's College Hoops2Night with Karl Ravech and Jay Bilas.
Last week's storyline The week was dominated by upset stomachs off the court and plenty of upsets on it. Both were hard to figure.
Alabama beats Auburn and Tennessee, St. John's wins at Duke, bubbles burst among the mid-majors and Vanderbilt and Missouri suddenly don't look so strong. The off-court news was just as befuddling. Michigan's Jamal Crawford was hit with another suspension (eight games), but this time for declaring for the draft ... or more precisely, not declaring properly. As a senior at Seattle's Rainier Beach H.S. last spring, Crawford sent in his letter declaring for the draft, but he missed the deadline. The NBA never recognized the letter and didn't put him on its early-entry list. Crawford later sent a letter to the NBA, pulling his name off the list. But the NBA never acknowledged that letter either, and didn't put his name on the list of players who withdrew. How can the NCAA penalize a player for intending to declare for the draft, but not really doing it? Plus, how can the NCAA penalize Crawford in February for something he did last May? Hello? This was reported last year; why wait until now to act on it? The rule for high school seniors and junior college players is supposed to be clear: declare for the draft and college eligibility expires before it starts. College of Sequoias forward DeeAndre Hulett suffered the penalty when he declared -- officially -- and then took his name out of the draft -- officially -- and chose the IBL because he couldn't go to a four-year school. Elsewhere, Cincinnati's DerMarr Johnson was suspended for one game for having a portion of his prep school tuition paid for by his AAU coach. This was common knowledge. The same is true for a number of other players in the nation. But Johnson was suspended for just one game. Oklahoma State's Andre Williams sat for five for the same offense. And then on Sunday, Auburn had to hold Chris Porter out of its game against Florida because of alleged contact with an agent. Who's next? It's anyone's guess. But don't be surprised if a team loses a player on the day of a NCAA Tournament game for the same reason. And, now, to the games...
Team of the week The team's defense and quickness make the Red Storm the favorite (yes, even over Syracuse) to win the Big East Conference tournament at Madison Square Garden. The Garden should have a frenzied atmosphere with the Red Storm in the final. All this talk of Syracuse as a No. 1 or 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament should be replaced by St. John's being a legitimate candidate for a No. 3 seed (who knows, maybe even a 2). At 20-6, St. John's shows no signs of slowing down.
Player of the week Granted, both games were at home, but the Tide are doing a remarkable impression of last year's Illinois. The Illini reached the Big Ten tournament title game after a mediocre regular season. Don't be shocked to see Alabama as a spoiler in the SEC tournament.
Climbing up Maryland has won eight straight ACC games and locked up the No. 2 seed in the ACC tournament. Two months ago, the Terps looked like they were going to be a bubble team. The maturity and development of sophomores Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter isn't a fluke. Coaching and hard work has made these two players all-ACC material this year, and potential all-Americans next season. Point guard Steve Blake may be one of the most underrated freshman in a star-studded national freshman classes.
Falling down Have the Commodores hit a wall? Perhaps, but they need to refocus this week and once again be the team that swept Tennessee and looked like an SEC title contender, not a NCAA pretender.
Five worth tracking Temple: The Owls haven't lost since Jan. 15 at St. Bonaventure (that was 13 games ago), with five of those wins coming in road games -- including wins at Dayton and Cincinnati. With Duke and Michigan State losing and either Arizona or Stanford having to lose at least one more game (when they play each other March 9), why can't Temple be a candidate for a No. 1 seed? The Owls need to beat St. Joseph's and win at George Washington, as well as sweep the A-10 tournament, to have a chance. Illinois: The Illini have moved from bubble to lock status in the past few weeks, and their humbling victory over Indiana should serve notice to the committee. Illinois should be in the five- or six-seed range with a chance for a No. 4 if they keep winning. Playing Ohio State on Sunday could make it dicey, but the Illini finish with Northwestern before the Big Ten tournament. Utah State: OK, enough already, put the Aggies in the field of 64 if they win their final two home games against Idaho and Boise State. Utah State (23-5, 14-0 Big West) is one of three teams (Cincinnati and Penn are the others) that has a chance to go undefeated in its conference. If the Aggies finish 25-5 and 16-0 and don't win the Big West tournament title, they should still get a bid. If they don't, it will be a crime, regardless of their final RPI. Villanova: The Wildcats' upset win over Seton Hall on Saturday put them back on the bubble with a 17-10 record, 7-7 in the Big East. But the Wildcats still have plenty of work to do, beginning with beating Providence and Boston College this week. It would be hard to take the Wildcats with 12 or more losses. Selection committee chair Craig Thompson didn't sound too sympathetic to Villanova's claim that extra consideration should be given to its loss to Miami. The buzzer-beating win for the Hurricanes occurred before the rule change was instituted allowing officials to look at the monitor.
Question these five N.C. State: The Wolfpack dropped to 1-8 on the road this season with a loss at Georgia Tech. But what's even worse is they fell to 15-10 overall and 5-9 in the ACC (sixth place). N.C. State must beat Clemson on Sunday and win at Florida State next Sunday. If they don't, the Wolfpack's only hope of making the Big Dance will be to win the ACC tournament title. Missouri: Do you remember all that talk about the Tigers being a lock in the Big 12? Yes, you even heard it here. But Missouri dropped games to Oklahoma State at home and at Oklahoma this week to fall to 16-10 overall, 9-5 in the Big 12 and 1-5 against the top four teams in the league (Iowa State, Oklahoma State, Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas). The Tigers need to beat Nebraska and put on a good showing at Kansas before the Big 12 tournament. A second bid from the Missouri Valley: Even though the MVC shouldn't be penalized for having a high level of parity, the selection committee will have a hard time giving it two bids. Indiana State's loss to Southern Illinois (18-10) dropped the Sycamores to 20-8. Then Southern Illinois may have taken itself out of the mix by losing to Bradley. Southwest Missouri State (19-9) and Creighton (19-9) are in similar positions. The selection committee would likely be setting a precedent if it chose a mid-major at-large team with double-digit losses. Connecticut: The Huskies survived another embarrassment by beating West Virginia on a last-second basket. That win probably ensured that the defending national champions will get an NCAA Tournament bid. The Huskies (19-8, 8-6) travel to Rutgers and then host Syracuse this week. Losing both could push them as low as a double-digit seed in the NCAA Tournament. Even if they sweep, they could have a hard time getting higher than a seven or eight seed.
What worked last week Anthony Stacey's buzzer-beater: The Bowling Green forward buried a 15-foot jumper with 1.1 seconds left to beat Akron last week. He finished with 20 points, scoring eight in the final five minutes. The victory gave the Falcons a share of the MAC East title and a NCAA-worthy 22-6 record. Mark Karcher's 3-point shooting: Every time a Temple highlight comes up, Karcher seems to be making a 3-pointer. The junior forward's perimeter touch has been an offensive lift for the supposedly too defensive-minded Owls. Karcher's touch makes him even more marketable as a potential NBA first-round choice if family financial pressure drives him out a year early. Lynn Washington's timing: The Indiana forward scored two points Saturday, but they were the most important two of the game. His follow shot on A.J. Guyton's miss at the end of overtime lifted the Hoosiers over Michigan State. The victory gave the Hoosiers new faith in their quest to be a factor in the NCAA Tournament and become a Sweet 16 team under Bob Knight once again. South Alabama's Sun Belt dominance: The Jaguars clinched their third Sun Belt title in four years by beating Louisiana-Lafayette and Louisiana Tech last week. This was a team picked to finish in the bottom third in the conference.
And what didn't work Arizona State's upset hopes: No Loren Woods (back injury), no Richard Jefferson (stress fracture) for Arizona, but still no upset for Arizona State. The Sun Devils couldn't stop Luke Walton and failed to capitalize on a golden opportunity to pull off an upset of their rival. A win would have potentially locked up a bid. Now the Sun Devils must at least earn a split on road trip to Oregon and Oregon State. Troy Bell's knee: The favorite to win Big East rookie of the year suffered a torn meniscus in his knee and is out for the rest of the season. Boston College's top scorer was having a banner season before the injury and his loss canceled out hopes of the Eagles picking up a win against Pittsburgh and now jeopardizes their chances of beating Providence and Villanova to close out the season. Rick Stansbury's technical: The Mississippi State coach lost his cool late in the game against LSU on Saturday. The technical was costly, putting the Tigers at the line when the game was still within the Bulldogs' reach. Instead, the Tigers went on to another win and stayed on course for a SEC West title. Meanwhile, Mississippi State's best chance to get noticed this season was lost. Headbands at Michigan: The gesture was meant as a sign of unity for suspended guard Jamal Crawford, but the absences of Crawford and the injured LaVell Blanchard were too much to overcome against Purdue. The Wolverines simply need this season to be over and start fresh in 2000-01.
Andy Katz is a senior writer for ESPN.com. His Weekly Watch appears every Sunday. | ALSO SEE Who's on the bubble? Katz: Bursting the bubble Cinderella Watch Ratings Percentage Index Video Dunks of the Week AUDIO/VIDEO ESPN.com's Andy Katz gives his Weekly Watch. RealVideo: | 28.8 Jay Bilas and Karl Ravech gives this week's rundown. RealVideo: | 28.8 |