North Carolina is for Real

I have always made it apparent that I do not have a love for the ACC, but I have to say it - #1 North Carolina is really good. I do not expect UNC to lose more than one or two games in their ACC conference season. If they were in the Big East, they'd likely have a few more losses, but they still would be the best or second best in the conference.A big test will occur when they play #5 Michigan State in front of a packed Ford Field (a warmup for the facility as they will have the National Championship this year).

What I've been most impressed with is not Ty Lawson's speed, Wayne Ellington's threes, or Tyler Hansborough's domination (including jumpers going as far back as the 3-point line), but it is the team defense. The D has far improved from last year, when they were put in a HUGE hole in the National Semifinal against eventual National Champion Kansas last year. Even though they gave up ten threes to Notre Dame guard Kyle McAlarney, the game was never in doubt. For a team to beat UNC, they will need to play good defense, be able to drive inside, get easy fast break baskets against a speedy UNC team, and force Hansborough into foul trouble. This is a tough task to ask of any team.

Notre Dame Eeks Out an 81-80 Victory over Texas

In the semis of the Maui Invitational, #8 Notre Dame squeaked out an 81-80, as J.J. Abrams of #6 Texas almost made a last-second three pointer from 3/4 of the length of the floor after Notre Dame standout and Big East preseason Player of the Year Luke Harangody missed 2 free throws with approximately 4 seconds left. As Abrams' shot missed, Notre Dame's head coach Mike Brey doubled over with a smile on his face and Texas coach Rick Barnes also could not contain his laughter, as this was just a flat-out, well-played game on both sides. Once again, for Notre Dame, it was the Harangody/Kyle McAlarney show, as Harangody had 29 points and 13 boards, while McAlarney chipped in w/ 5 more threes. With the win, Notre Dame likely has a date with #1 North Carolina who will be playing Oregon in the second semifinal of the tournament.

The Big East continues its domination early on in the basketball season. In other games, Villanova and Pittsburgh also logged in with victories.

UConn wins Paradise Jam

UConn started out the season on the right foot by defeating #25 Wisconsin 76-57 and winning the Virgin Island's Paradise Jam. With the victory, UConn is now 5-0 and takes a 4-day break before playing Bryant University on Saturday. Hasheem Thabeet was the MVP of the tournament - although he had only 3 blocks tonight, he re-directed many errant Wisconsin shots. UConn's defense was extraordinary tonight...countless steals and they just put so much pressure on the Badgers that their fundamentally sound team just could not handle it. AJ Price still does not look like himself, but I expect that to change by mid-season when he gets over the ACL injury mentally. All in all, great victory by UConn and expect to see them in the Top 5 of the PPI next weekend.

Big East Continues Its Domination

Once again, a Big East team knocks down a ranked team. In this case, Syracuse has just upset #18 Florida 89-83. Early on, the Big East has just taken down ranked team after ranked team. In other Big East games, Notre Dame just pasted Tom Crean's Indiana team. Crean will have a lot of work to clean up after former coach Kelvin Sampson left the program amid NCAA violations. Kyle McAlerney, possibly the best 3-point shooter in the Big East, drilled 6 threes in the 38 point blowout.

PPI Top 25: 11/24/08

Here is the preliminary PPI Top 25...note, these won't be official until Dec 8th when the first official PPI gets released.

#1 Duke
#2 Clemson
#3 Xavier
#4 UAB
#5 Memphis
#6 North Carolina
#7 Connecticut
#8 Missouri
#9 Oklahoma
#10 Oklahoma State
#11 Seton Hall
#12 UNLV
#13 Tennessee
#14 Pittsburgh
#15 Illinois
#16 Creighton
#17 Florida
#18 Illinois State
#19 Siena
#20 Temple
#21 Arizona State
#22 Villanova
#23 Florida State
#24 Kent State
#25 Butler