So BYU, New Mexico and SDSU walk into a bar...

Hey, what happens when a team that swept you gets swept by a team you swept?

Conference Armageddon.

Minnesota's final chapter

Start spreading the news, we're leaving this March
Looks like we're a part of it - the N.I.T
These shiny black shoes, are longing to stray
But first let's get to it - the N.I.T

We wanna wake up in a city, that doesn’t sleep
And find we're king of the hill - top of the heap

These Twin City blues, are melting away
The Gophers will make a new start of it - at The Garden in New York
If we can make it there, could we make it anywhere?
It’s up to you - Madison Square, New York

Villanova's season...

Like this firework the first half of the Wildcats season was a wild geometric ascent to the top of the rankings. And then they came crashing down in breathtakingly spectacular fashion. Sure, most of the losses are coming at the hands of of ranked teams but what about Rutgers and Providence? Notre Dame just put an exclamation point on this train wreck. And just think about what Pitt is going to do to them this Saturday.

We did it to you again!

BYU 80 - SDSU 67

That was eerily similar to last month. We need auto type for this: Once again we were victims of our own poor 3 point shooting and the inability to convert opponent turnovers into points. Add to that the embarrassing way we handled a loss on national television by throwing trash on the court. At this point we have serious doubts if we can win in the 2nd round of the NCAA Tournament.

Alright, we have a bet we need to pay on -

We love you Jimmer. You're the best. Mormons own us. We suck.

Bill Self: This is a beatdown

Kansas State 84 - Kansas 68

They said that KSU would need to play for their tournament lives and boy howdy did they. Kansas State played a perfect game on both offense and defense although guard Jacob Pullen needed to score 50% of the Wildcats total offensive production for them to win the game.

On the Kansas side there were looks of absolute shock. Like "Wow, is this is really happening? Weren't we ranked #1 just 6 hours ago?!" We were actually surprised the Jayhawks allowed themselves to get smacked like that.

And it looks like we may get our wish with Texas being ranked #1 next Monday.

Game 1: Syracuse stumbles (again)

Georgetown 64 - Syracuse 56

First of our double header. Wow, what can we say? This game was a lot closer than we thought it would be (up until the last 3 minutes). We seriously thought that with Georgetown's recent struggles and with Syracuse's recent upswing the Orange would basically run the Hoyas out of the Carrier Dome. Not so much, huh?

2-3 Zone don't matter if you can't score!

Syracuse 72 - USF 49

One thing we noticed is that South Florida properly defended against Syracuse's vaunted 2-3 Zone with aggressive cuts and screens. But none of that matters if you can't put the damn ball into the bucket... Oi vey.

Michigan State loses to Regina High School

There comes a point as players when you have get your team together and scream "C'mon, man!"

And as fans you have to plead with your team "C'mon, man!!"

We think the Spartans are BEYOND that point. Iowa? 8-13 Iowa?

C'mon, man.

Swan song: Michigan State

Korie Lucious is gone. Read here for a rare M2M analysis piece on the Spartans situation we wrote TWO WEEKS AGO:

Ben Hansbrough's yer daddy

Notre Dame 56 - Pittsburgh 51

Well... You allow Notre Dame guard Hansbrough to drive the lane again and again and again (and again) you deserve to lose. Fucking hell it was painful to watch the total lapse of defense against one of the Big East's best players. Let us show you what the conversation was like around here during this game:

"Did Hansbrough just drive the lane and score with little to no hindrance from the Panthers?"

"Yes.

"Hmmm. Ok. Wait, did he just do it again?"

"Uh-huh."

"Hmmm. He is definitely good."

"I don't think it's him more than it's Pitts lack of defense."

"Did he just do it AGAIN? Does Dixon know? I mean is he going to call a time out or something to adjust for this?"

"Guess not. Let's just post now that Pittsburgh lost. I need a drink."

"Get me one too."

Season collapse in slow motion

Nice to meet you, Charlie Brown. My name is Lucy...

TAMU 64 - Kansas State 56

Kansas State fans wish they could quit the Wildcats right now. Since the lofty preseason hype KSU has fallen to earth hard. Without one marqueee win Kansas State is in danger of, well, you know...

Boob tube

Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl admits to ESPN that it's hard to watch his team play on TV...



Yeah, we feel the same way.

Bazinga.

The best laid plans

"(Michigan State is) the team to beat this year. This is the best squad Izzo has had at Michigan State since he bought home the championship back in 2000."
- Jack Jones, Bleacher Report

"...with the talent returning and a stellar recruiting class, there's no reason to believe MSU won't be in contention for a third consecutive Final Four berth. The run put together by Tom Izzo's program since 1999 makes the Spartans, perhaps, the most consistent program in the country."
- Andy Katz, ESPN

Michigan State needed overtime to beat Wisconsin at home and fell to lowly unranked Penn State on the road.

Can the Spartans be fixed? Are they final four material? Or should Izzo have gone to the NBA? There are still some who say MSU is final four material and the Wisconsin game shows it. With a stretch of games that includes Purdue, Ohio State and Illinois we will see just how tournament worthy they are. We'll leave you with a quote from our blog brethren over at Rush The Court:

"The Spartans are the flawed but talented team that they are, and nobody should expect that they’re going to now go on some ten-game winning streak as a result of tonight. They’re just not that kind of a team."

And we're going to Texas

Texas 67 - Michigan State 55

Well, that was a good old fashioned ass kicking by the Longhorns. Texas dominated the boards from beginning to end. And then they added to the pain by being dominant in the takeaways department as well. It was almost like the Spartans were playing with only three guys. Michigan State coach Izzo's face says it all but the fans leaving the game halfway into the second half may tell of a deeper story about what's going on in East Lansing.

Happy Holidays, Spartans!

Wolfer of the night

The University of Arizona Wildcats versus the North Carolina State Wolfpack

Someone had to win. These are two teams that normally would be shoo-ins for March Madness (ok, maybe not NC State) but now are fighting for their lives in December. Oi vey we watched this game but really have nothing to say about it. Good night.

What's eating Gonzaga?

Our compañeros over at Ballin' is a Habit and Rush The Court have already pointed this out but after Saturday's loss against Notre Dame now we are starting to question what the heck. In our fantasy we dreamed that SDSU would get a close victory against the Bulldogs in week 2, and then Gonzaga would go on and terrorize the rest of their schedule. What we didn't expect is what's happening now:

Kansas State 81-64 (L)
Illinois 73-61 (L)
Washington State 81-59 (L)
Notre Dame 83-79 (L)

Wait, is that a loss against Washington State? The Washington State Cougars? Anyways, we first we thought that the injury Bulldogs forward Elias Harris sustained a month ago was contributing to this decline but even message boards that shouldn't even care are saying he is healthy. With the two games we watched (SDSU and Notre Dame) it seemed that the Zags had the game in hand only to fall apart in the final minute with mental lapses. Or it just could be the malaise of compounding loses. Whatever it is they better find some magic soon because Baylor is about ready to tap dat ass.

Take them to another place

So the Vols beat 3rd ranked Pitt 83 to 76 last night. We have an idea for a post! Check this out...

Scene (in b/w): Tennessee players are jumping up and down in excitement after their big win. Pittsburgh players are walking away dejected, heads hanging low. Camera pans in on Panther guards Gibbs and Wanamaker...

Ashton Gibbs: "Lord I've really been real stressed. Down and out, losing ground."
Brad Wanamaker: "Although I am black and proud, problems got me pessimistic."
Jamie Dixon: "All these brothers keep messing up. Why does it have to be so damn tough?"
Pitt fans: "We don't know where were can go to let these ghosts out of our skulls."

We can go on and on with this. All we need now is someone like LSUfreek.

No freedom for Ben Hansbrough

Kentucky 72 - Notre Dame 58

Notre Dame basically fell apart like smoked chicken in this game. With the score 42 Wildcats 40 Irish at the half Notre Dame came out in the second half and did... nothing. Except shoot 36% from the field and 26% from beyond the arc. There were so many missed shots by the Fighting Irish that the word "Really?" started being bandied about by a few of us. It was essentially like watching two different teams. On the other hand Kentucky was the same as a few days ago really. Inexperienced, dumb errors but this time were able to pull it out because of Notre Dame's mental collapse.


San Diego State 77 - UC Berkeley 57

"We've never been ranked, so everything is positive when it happens. We embrace it. We think we deserve to be there. I told our team today, I want to look on December 9 and see if we're still there."
- SDSU coach Steve Fisher

Oh yes, it is December 9th and you are still here. And we are speechless. On the road the Aztecs played an even more complete game than last time. And finally SDSU was on target with their three point shooting. In fact it was that aspect that put the game out of reach for Cal. The Golden Bears played a great game and we were right to fear Gutierrez. But in the end great defense and terrific perimeter shooting (can't believe we are saying that) won the day. Go Aztecs.

Too proud to foul?

I think I'm going to be sick

Hey Badgers?

Always
Be
Closing

You had the game well in hand, then allowed the Irish to outscore you by 18 points. You don't start to foul Notre Dame until the final 30 seconds when the game was well out of reach. The announcers during the game and fans afterward were openly questioning your strategy.

Wisconsin... You win the ABC award of the week. Geez.

Public Enemy No. 1

The conversation started like this -

Steven: "So what do you think about Larry Drew?"
Gabby: "The UNC guard? I dunno, hasn't been a good start to his season so far."
Steven: "People really hate him."
Gabby: "People hate that whole team right now. North Carolina fans are PETRIFIED of a repeat of last year."
Steven: "No. People are starting to blame him for the Tar Heels bad start."

So we looked. And boy howdy it was not a joke. He has a fan page on Fabebook. Dedicated to showing how horrible of a player he is. There is a petition for a Bench Larry Drew website. He is constantly being ridiculed in the press. In fact the most complementary thing we saw was "between the lines" questioning of whether or not he deserves a scholarship.

Go down and say no more!

The team comparison stats don't look so hot either. So the question is why does coach Roy Williams still play him?