January 24, 2005 8:00 am ET by Kyle Whelliston |
Patriot: Army 63, Navy 43 (story) - I've been talking so much about the Academies lately, might as well share the biggest upset of the day. Having observed the wide gulf of talent between Army (3-14, 1-4 PL) and Navy (3-15, 0-5 PL) within the past week, I'm in slackjawed disbelief at a result that shows the USMA's first win over USNA in their last nine tries. Most folks were kept away from West Point's Christl Arena by the blizzard, and the television coverage was "scrapped," so I'm wondering if this really occurred as reported. I mean, how difficult is it for the government to brainwash two thousand people, fabricate game recaps, and pay off feature writers? Mulder, Scully and Sydney Bristow may be unavailable, but the truth is out there.
Shootaround!
Patriot: All-Mid-Majority point guard Abe Badmus dropped a trey with eight ticks left to rescue division-leading Bucknell (14-4, 5-0 PL) from Lehigh, 65-63 - despite any possible distraction stemming from coach Pat Flannery's medical leave of absence. It was BU's 10th win in a row. Holy Cross and American are both at 3-1 after their Academy blowouts on Friday; they were scheduled to jostle over prime Bison-sniping territory yesterday, but were snowed out and will play a rare Monday 3 p.m. makeup game. As soon as I finish these Dribblings, I'm grabbing a snowshovel.
Ivy: But of course the season is still young, the Ancient Eight haven't even really started their schedule yet. Four teams sport pristine zero-zero records heading into the first travel-partner weekend, but there's been a smattering of action. On Friday, a Columbia squad (8-5, 1-1 Ivy) that had been tabbed as upper-division candidates stumbled hard - the Lions were held to 30% shooting in a 77-47 shocker at Cornell. Lab-coated statisticians at both schools are still trying to figure out how this happened.
Atlantic Sun: It's not all about Gardner-Webb (11-6, 8-2 ASun) here - there's a thick band of teams three-pointing each other to death in the .500 range. Belmont might be gearing up for a run at the top; they're 6-3 after a 67-52 rope-a-dope romp over Central Florida (they shot 25% and had 22 points at the break), and their three league losses have been by a combined nine.
Game! Of! The! Night!
It's a intradivision tilt in the Southern Conference that will go a long way towards polishing the league's complexion going into February. College Of Charleston (10-7, 4-3 SoCon), arguably the most stacked club in the conference, has underperformed and lags far behind a streaking 7-0 Davidson team in the SoCon South. A win for North Carolina-Greensboro (11-5, 5-1 SoCon) over the Cougars would begin to legitimize the Spartans' run at North leaders (and tourney hosts) Chattanooga, as well as their league-leading RPI ranking of 84. Tip time is 7:00 Eastern, you can listen along for free here or pay 40 clams to hear the game via Teamline's 800 number. Yowch!
It's never too early to start thinking about Bracket Buster Saturday, and Ken Pomeroy plays matchmaker. There are limbs and organs I'd give up to see Vermont versus Nevada.
Old Dominion leads the Colonial by two games, and seats in the Ted Constant Convocation Center are getting mighty scarce. Side note: if 7'3" Australian freshman Sam Harris (the tallest player in the history of the CAA) starts contributing in any meaningful way, the rest of the league - and an unlucky first round Tournament opponent - should duck, cover and start prayin'.
The Big West's Idaho (6-10, 5-2 BWC) might lead the Gem State in national headlines (mostly because its upset win over Utah State last month came at a time when ESPN was starved for stories), but Boise State (8-7, 3-4 WAC) is the best team in Famous Potatoland and they're improving game-to-game. A good weekend has them believing that they might be poised to make some March noise at the Western Athletic tournament.
Division II North Dakota is in an odd spot - they're considering becoming a fully-fledged D1 in all sports, but the closest conference fit (the Big Sky) isn't interested in expanding to their area, they don't own the buildings they play in, and their athletic director is leaving. Who wants this job?
Finally, a personal note. I've been getting a few friendly e-mails in the past 18 hours "congratulating" me just for being from Philadelphia, and gee-I-must-be-so-thrilled. I would like to make it clear that I don't give a rat's ass about American football, and I'd like these letters to stop. Because my block was almost burned to the ground after the 76ers' single victory during the 2001 NBA Finals series, I will be nowhere near the Philly metro area on February 6. Me, I'll be hiding out at the backup Official Wife™ homestead/bunker in... umm, err... Boston. Great. Wonderful. For me, this will be the only Big Game I need that week, no matter what this guy says.
Shootaround!
Patriot: All-Mid-Majority point guard Abe Badmus dropped a trey with eight ticks left to rescue division-leading Bucknell (14-4, 5-0 PL) from Lehigh, 65-63 - despite any possible distraction stemming from coach Pat Flannery's medical leave of absence. It was BU's 10th win in a row. Holy Cross and American are both at 3-1 after their Academy blowouts on Friday; they were scheduled to jostle over prime Bison-sniping territory yesterday, but were snowed out and will play a rare Monday 3 p.m. makeup game. As soon as I finish these Dribblings, I'm grabbing a snowshovel.
Ivy: But of course the season is still young, the Ancient Eight haven't even really started their schedule yet. Four teams sport pristine zero-zero records heading into the first travel-partner weekend, but there's been a smattering of action. On Friday, a Columbia squad (8-5, 1-1 Ivy) that had been tabbed as upper-division candidates stumbled hard - the Lions were held to 30% shooting in a 77-47 shocker at Cornell. Lab-coated statisticians at both schools are still trying to figure out how this happened.
Atlantic Sun: It's not all about Gardner-Webb (11-6, 8-2 ASun) here - there's a thick band of teams three-pointing each other to death in the .500 range. Belmont might be gearing up for a run at the top; they're 6-3 after a 67-52 rope-a-dope romp over Central Florida (they shot 25% and had 22 points at the break), and their three league losses have been by a combined nine.
Game! Of! The! Night!
It's a intradivision tilt in the Southern Conference that will go a long way towards polishing the league's complexion going into February. College Of Charleston (10-7, 4-3 SoCon), arguably the most stacked club in the conference, has underperformed and lags far behind a streaking 7-0 Davidson team in the SoCon South. A win for North Carolina-Greensboro (11-5, 5-1 SoCon) over the Cougars would begin to legitimize the Spartans' run at North leaders (and tourney hosts) Chattanooga, as well as their league-leading RPI ranking of 84. Tip time is 7:00 Eastern, you can listen along for free here or pay 40 clams to hear the game via Teamline's 800 number. Yowch!
It's never too early to start thinking about Bracket Buster Saturday, and Ken Pomeroy plays matchmaker. There are limbs and organs I'd give up to see Vermont versus Nevada.
Old Dominion leads the Colonial by two games, and seats in the Ted Constant Convocation Center are getting mighty scarce. Side note: if 7'3" Australian freshman Sam Harris (the tallest player in the history of the CAA) starts contributing in any meaningful way, the rest of the league - and an unlucky first round Tournament opponent - should duck, cover and start prayin'.
The Big West's Idaho (6-10, 5-2 BWC) might lead the Gem State in national headlines (mostly because its upset win over Utah State last month came at a time when ESPN was starved for stories), but Boise State (8-7, 3-4 WAC) is the best team in Famous Potatoland and they're improving game-to-game. A good weekend has them believing that they might be poised to make some March noise at the Western Athletic tournament.
Division II North Dakota is in an odd spot - they're considering becoming a fully-fledged D1 in all sports, but the closest conference fit (the Big Sky) isn't interested in expanding to their area, they don't own the buildings they play in, and their athletic director is leaving. Who wants this job?
Finally, a personal note. I've been getting a few friendly e-mails in the past 18 hours "congratulating" me just for being from Philadelphia, and gee-I-must-be-so-thrilled. I would like to make it clear that I don't give a rat's ass about American football, and I'd like these letters to stop. Because my block was almost burned to the ground after the 76ers' single victory during the 2001 NBA Finals series, I will be nowhere near the Philly metro area on February 6. Me, I'll be hiding out at the backup Official Wife™ homestead/bunker in... umm, err... Boston. Great. Wonderful. For me, this will be the only Big Game I need that week, no matter what this guy says.
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