Watching Notre Dame lose yet again made the Maniac's mind rattle for the most dissapointing teams so far this season. It is difficult to find one much more so than the Irish. Yes, the Big East is tough, but if you want to be considered among the nation's elite (or even a tourney team) you have to beat at least one of them. The Irish have now dropped four in a row, seven in all, and the early Texas win is seeming less and less relevant...
Three Most Dissapointing Teams:
1. Notre Dame
2. Tennessee
3. Gonzaga
The Maniac hasn't given up on Gonzaga quite yet, but considering many were calling this year's Zags the best squad in school history, their lengthy stay outside the Top 25 (just moved back in today at #25) is a little disappointing.
Three Most Pleasant Surprise Teams:
1. Washington - The Huskies entered the season lightly regarded, after this weekend's win over UCLA they moved to 6-1 in the Pac-10 and 15-4 overall.
2. Kentucky - It seems odd to consider a Kentucky team that is barely ranked a pleasant surprise, but the Cats appear to be the class of the SEC and a possible party crasher come March. We knew Patick Patterson was good. Jodie Meeks has been a revelation.
3. Missouri - Not sure why the nation hasn't caught up with it yet, but the Tigers are 17-3 and becoming a near lock to return to the Big Dance.
Three Teams That Might Not Dance, but Have Reason to be Proud:
1. Northwestern - My affinity for the 'Cats is long documented this season, but the strides they have taken this season are admirable. We shall see if they can snag a few more conference wins and keep postseason hopes alive.
2. Providence - Yes, their foes haven't been the toughest, but at 5-2 in the Big East even a collapse would seem to leave the Friars NIT-safe.
3. Northern Iowa - Off to an 8-1 MVC start, the Panthers have staked an early conference lead. Thir 5-losses pre-conference do damage their at-large profile, but finshing ahead of Creighton, Evansville, Drake, and Illinois State would be hard for the committee to ignore.
Three Players That Have Lived Up to the Hype:
1. Luke Harangody
2. Stephen Curry
3. Blake Griffin
Three Players That Earned NEW Hype:
1. Jodie Meeks
2. Jeff Teague
3. James Harden
Three Most Overrated Teams:
1. Villanova
2. Georgetown
3. Purdue
Three Teams Who Are Not in Top-10 Conferences To Fear: (BCS+A10, MVC, Mountain West, WCC, C-USA...or obvious Butler/Davidson)
1. Virginia Commenwealth
2. Siena
3. VMI
Three Best Conferences Top to Bottom:
1. ACC
2. Big Ten
3. Big East
Next Three...
1. Big 12
2. Pac-10
3. SEC
On Their Heels...
1. Mountain West
2. Um...not really any other league
Three Worst Conferences in America:
1. Southwestern Athletic
2. Atlantic Sun
3. Mideastern
Three for National POY Ballot:
1. Blake Griffin
2. Jodie Meeks
3. James Harden
Next Three:
1. Luke Harangody
2. Stephen Curry
3. Tyler Hansbrough
Three Sleeper Candidates:
1. Terrance Williams
2. Jeff Teague
3. Jerel McNeal
Three for Coach of Year:
1. Coach K
2. Jamie Dixon
3. Tom Izzo
Three Teams Playing in April:
1. Louisville
2. North Carolina
3. Michigan State
Three Teams Done Surprisingly Early:
1. UConn
2. Pitt
3. Wake Forest
Three Teams to NOT Sleep on:
1. Oklahoma
2. UCLA
3. Gonzaga
Got three better?? Disagree with any? Care to put YOUR predictions on file? Leave 'em on this post and put it on record!!
Can't disagree much with what you put out there but you have to have Dino G from Wake as a coach of the year candidate (if not the winner). We all knew they had a top 5 recruiting class this year but nobody expected them to be as good as they have been. They still got a tough road ahead of them (2 games vs Duke) but what they've done already this season should be enough to garner votes for Dino...and that's not even talking about the fact that he took over the team in the circumstances that he did.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I'd say the job he has done is phenomenal. Most people didn't have Wake ranked preseason, and if they did it was in the high teens or twenties.
ReplyDeleteI STILL think they will fade a little down the stretch, but even if they do, it seems hard to imagine they fall much lower than a #4 seed.
That would make him a definite front runner for C.O.Y.
- Also as a long time X fan I have a huge soft spot for the job he's done coming in for Coach Prosser. Good coach and a real good guy. Really sad he passed. Just look at his NBA guys he coached - Chris Paul, David West and James Posey. Don't get much better intangibles than those guys...