Poll Watching for Week 13

Notes are based on numeric ranking -

1) Until Ohio State loses they deserve to have da numba one spot!
4) Based on wins against quality opponents Pittsburgh should be ranked second. You telling us that the Big 12 has tougher opponents than the Big East? No? And Texas has more loses than Pitt. At the very least it should be Kansas at 2nd and Pitt at 3rd.
5) Dang, talk about name brand loyalty! Two loses, one in horrifying fashion and Duke is still in the top 5?
7) BYU losing to New Mexico keeps San Diego State above them even though we lost to the Cougars.
8) Beating SDSU moves BYU up 2 spots even though they lost to UNM.
17) Behold the power of 7! Pittsburgh and Villanova were mulligans but the voters are now starting to penalize Syracuse 7 spots for every lose thereafter (7 spot drop after Seton Hall and another 7 after Marquette).
20) Really? Over Penn State?
21) Really?! Over Penn State?!
22) Really... oh, you get the message.

Yes, we are on the Penn State bandwagon.

Ummm, would you like to retract that?

"I felt like we played like women. We didn't play hard at all. Every single one of us just played like women."
- USC forward Nikola Vucevic after the the Trojans lose to Arizona

Hey, some of those women (namely the UConn or Baylor female basketball teams) could literally kick yer ass.

(HT: The Dagger)

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

Best played simultaneously:

   

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep


Welcome to conference play in the Mountain West. Woot!

We saw Duke naked and it wasn't pretty

St. John's 93 - Duke 78

The Red Reign returns and the top 25 carnage continues. In a week that saw 12 ranked teams lose this was the icing on the cake. The Blue Devils were absolutely pantsed in this game by the Red Storm's stifling defense, at one point trailing by 20 point. Duke's horrible beyond the arc shooting didn't help matters either. But you have to hand it to St. John's Lavin, he had something left in the coaching tank after sitting behind a desk at ESPN. Or maybe it's Gene Keady.

So hey Duke, go back to the ACC. You're not ready for the Big East yet.

BATTLE!!!

Wisconsin students drown sorrows in beer after losing to Penn State 52 to 56


Seriously. We need to start calling Penn State the ranked team assassins. Wisconsin had the game in hand but credit Nittany Lion guard Talor Battle. He single handedly beat the Badgers with a barrage of threes in the second half and this was the THIRD time he has done this. But we're assuming you guys have already saw or read all this elsewhere...

Here is what you will NOT see: We now are predicting Penn State will be in March Madness as a 12-16 seed. Deal with it.

So New Mexico beats Jimmer Fredette

Ain't this a bitch...

Bye Bye Birdie

Louisville 79 - Connecticut 78 (OT)

Gray skies are gonna clear up
Put on a happy face
Brush off the clouds and cheer up
Put on a happy face

Take off the gloomy mask of tragedy
It's not your style
You'll look so good that you'll be glad
You decided to smile

So the 6 game Big East win streak is over for the Huskies. The strange thing, the really strange thing is that Kemba Walker had a chance to beat the Cardinals in overtime with a three point jumper...

And he missed. We know, that usually doesn't happen.

The Big East continues their battle royal towards the conference championship.

Wait a second...

"On Saturday, (SDSU) host Mountain West punching bag Wyoming, then after an interesting mid-week game at Colorado State next Wednesday, they have home dates with two more struggling league foes in TCU and Utah before a trip to UNLV on Feb. 12."
- The Dagger

Whoa whoa whoa... "Punching bag"? We know that they are trying to make a point that the Aztecs may have some easy games before facing BYU again but we wouldn't go so far as to say that the Cowboys are "punching bags". Yes we know they are 8-12 but on any given night any team can become a star.

Just ask Seton Hall and Providence.

Towson pays for their insolence

Poor little girl. She doesn't deserve all this.

Towson took their sweet ass time getting to their game with George Mason. Tom Yeager, Colonial Athletic Association Commissioner was so angry at this lack of respect he publicly admonished the Tigers.

Shamed, Towson finally took the court against George Mason. The Patriots decided to finish the job that Yeager started and ran the Tigers out of the building to the tune of 84 to 58. As a final slap the schools could only get people to show up by giving away tickets.

CAA basketball. Catch it!

We really really really want...

...to see the St. Mary's / Gonzaga game. The Bulldogs must win in order to stay in the March Madness discussion. But there is no way we can survive that 11 pm start time with everything that goes on around here:



Let us know what happened tomorrow.

Jimmer Fredette owns the night

BYU 71 - SDSU 58

Somewhere Spenser is laughing. So first, to all the Mormons out there. Chanting overrated to the opposing team actually insults your team. Your basically saying that the team wasn't good enough for that ranking and you beat a not so good team.

Anyways, we know that's a pot-kettle thing. Fredette was Fredette, torching us for 43+ points. And our problems came back to haunt us: poor 3 point shooting, missed shots in the paint. We knew that once the crowd got behind the Cougars when they made a run it could be over. Kawhi Leonard was fantastic as usual, but we needed near perfect performances by Gay and White. 20 and 1 is not so bad. Come Monday we'll probably be ranked #15 which isn't so bad either.

So congrats BYU. For one night we were the center of the college basketball universe. See you Feb 26 and in the tournament (MWC and NCAA).


(Credit: CBSSports.com)

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:

Know your enemy

Introducing the Brigham Young University Cougars...

Attack of the clones!

The one and only key to this game?

Stopping Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette

We have no answer. We will never have an answer. As good as D.J. Gay, Billy White and Kawhi Leonard are they do not come close. If all three brought their 'A' games and James Rahon was shooting lights out from 3 point land then maybe. If this game was at home we would say it will be a close one but we would lose. But this being at the Marriott Center we are going to get destroyed.

Yes, we are Aztec fans and alumni. But we are also realists. Give us any shred of statistical proof that we will be victorious. If we are wrong then great. We are still a great team but we know our limits. Wonder what Vegas has for the line on this game?

Go Aztecs anyway.

Your Punch-Out game of the night

Seton Hall 90 - Syracuse PNWDED

Ummmm... Can we just start with this first? The Pirates were 8-12 overall and 2-6 in Big East action. Seton Hall had previously lost to Clemson, Arkansas, Dayton and Rutgers (if the Jersey boys sick together). They played this game at Syracuse. At the Carrier Dome. And they go in there and DESTROY the 10th ranked Orange by 22 fucking points!

This was as epic of a collapse as we have seen happen to a team. It was almost like Syracuse was HIGH out there. They really should piss test those guys immediately to see. The folks over at Troy Nunes are having full blown kiniption fits right now (really, wait a few hours before you click on that link). Some of them are actually counting down the days until the FOOTBALL season begins.

Wow. At Syracuse.

Hindsight is 20/20

John Adams, head of NCAA Officiating and Coordination has recommended to the Basketball Rules Committee that they should begin using monitors to review close out of bounds calls.

Too little too late for Penn State, don't you think?



I'm sure Mr. Adams would say lo siento.

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."

Amazing

San Diego State on the front page of ESPN? This still weirds us out (and also makes us proud). If you would had told us this a mere 5 months ago we would have said "Quit smoking that rock!"

We deservedly don't get any respect yet where it matters most (coaching salaries, private flights and practice facilities). But if we can make a semi-deep run in the tournament that would change. Coach Fisher should demand it.

Go Aztecs.

Down goes "Da U"

Miami gets out-toughed again, this time by NC State losing 70 to 72 to the Wolfpack. Not that it matters much to Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe. He's a dead man walking.

Weekend game in review

On the Cardinals side they are gnashing their teeth and beating their breasts. One the Friars side men, women and even babies are celebrating their win over 15th ranked Louisville 72 to 67.

This ends a six game losing streak by Providence and gives them a "marquee" win to boot. Very NIT worthy indeed.

And our lead story (in case you haven't heard)

Kansas loses to Texas. Does it matter the score?

It was a not so happy night for Rock Chalk Nation. Despite being down 15 points at times, Texas did not get rattled at the Phog. Instead they concentrated on what got them the number 11th ranking in the country: Defense.

So, where does that leave us. There are now only two undefeated teams in the country, #1 Ohio State and us, #6 SDSU and come Friday there will only be one remaining undefeated team...

More on that Wednesday.

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...

That's our coach!

"We know that we need to keep winning because we will be the quickest to drop and the furthest to drop once we lose."
- SDSU coach Steve Fisher on being ranked too high in the polls.

Easy on the sugar, Georgia Tech parents

As seen during the Yellow Jackets / Tar Heels fiasco.

SEC Hoops!

Was this a football game? Jimminy Christmas we can't stand Southeastern Conference basketball sometimes. Congrats Florida. We guess.

This was the only good thing that happened in Vegas last night

Lorena Peril, star of the semi-nude Fantasy show at the Luxor prepares to sing to UNLV fans.

Then those fans quickly lost their erections as that powerhouse Colorado State demolished the Rebels on their home floor. Ouch.

So the question is where does UNLV go from here? It only gets worse with remaining games at New Mexico, at Brigham Young and vs. San Diego State (maybe). If they can't notch a quality win from one of these three then they might just need to win the MWC tournament outright to get into the Madness.

Almost only counts in...

We have to hand it to Penn State. Beating the 18th and 22nd ranked teams in the country is impressive. Then they go up to #1 ranked Ohio State and lose 66 to 69 on a last second 3 point shot by Buckeyes forward Jared Sullinger. Last night they go into 13th ranked Purdue and once again lose on a last second shot by Boilermaker forward JaJuan Johnson, 62 to 63.

If effort counted the Nittany Lions would be ranked 25th in the country!

But it doesn't.

Sad.

And another turnover

Louisville 88 - St. John's 63

The Red Reign is officially over coach Lavin. And when you turn the ball over 25 times you will get blown out.

Well feel like Betty White

But we are on the Twitter as well. Check us out here!

Shut up!

Yes, yes, we hear the talk. SDSU may be a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament blah blah blah. Look, as far as we are concerned the four #1 seeds right now are Duke, Kansas, Ohio State and Pitt. The four #2 seeds are UConn, Kentucky, Syracuse and Villanova. The four #3 seeds are Missouri, Texas A&M, West Virginia and BYU...

We can go on with this. Where do we think the Aztecs will wind up? Right now either a 4 or 5 seed. This is based on the simple fact that all those other teams we mentioned are better than SDSU in one or many aspects. This is not to say that a 4 seed is something to sneeze at. We would get a 13th seed pairing which would increase our odds of wining a March Madness tournament game for the FIRST TIME EVER.

So, this does of reality brought to you by the true fans of Aztec basketball. Deal.

They won't say it but we will

Illinois 71 - Michigan State 62

This game marks the beginnings of dissension in East Lansing. Sure, the Spartans only lost by 9 points to the 22nd ranked school in the country. On it's own that is not too bad at all. But if you look at the whole body of work you get an entirely different picture:

* Lost to 8th ranked Connecticut
* Lost to 4th ranked Duke
* Lost to 3rd ranked Syracuse
* Lost to 10th ranked Texas
* Lost to unranked Penn State

* Needed overtime to win against 21st ranked Wisconsin
* Needed overtime to win against unranked Northwestern

Here you see a team that had gotten consistently beaten up by ranked opponents. Things are not as bad as they are over in Manhattan, KS but they are getting close, folks. And why on earth would a team like this stay ranked is anybody's guess. More than likely MSU will get into the dance but hell if they will stay.

Sexy Erin Andrews

College Game Day's Erin Andrews became the newest endorser for Reebok's ZigTech sneakers, joining Peyton Manning and Chad Ochocinco.

That's it. We only did this for page hits. You guys are the ones who like her. You already know who we think is sexier.

And they were who we thought they were

30 Second Knockout
The Great White Hype at MOVIECLIPS.com

The Great White Hype featuring Syracuse as Terry Conklin and Pittsburgh as James "The Grim Reaper" Roper...

Pittsburgh came out strong to show who's boss with a 19 to 0 run. Syracuse came back and tied the score 41 all to show why they are the 3rd ranked team in the country. And Pitt coach Jamie Dixon was given a technical. Dixon responded "You trying to embarrass me on TV?!!" The Panthers fans screamed "The champ is pissed off now!". Final score 74 to 66. And Boeheim was right.

Game of the week of the year of the century

#3 Syracuse University Orange at #4 University of Pittsburgh Panthers

We have been unofficially, now officially on record in saying that Syracuse is overrated. Even Orange coach Jim Boeheim said so. Out of all the elite teams we feel Syracuse had the weakest schedule with the most unimpressive wins wins against powerhouses like Canisius, Detroit, William & Mary and Iona. Tonight will show one of three things:

1) A Pitt win will show the Panthers continuing to demonstrate good road victories
2) An Orange win will show they deserves to be ranked this high
3) An Orange loss will show they are who we thought they were

May the spirit of Carmelo be with them.

Not so fast my friend

San Diego St. 87 - New Mexico 77

This was a dream come true. We played our mythical complete game when it mattered the most. We actually were fantastic in rebounds, free throws, field goals and especially lights out three point shooting! Kawhi Leonard kept us in the game until he fouled out with 2 minutes left in the second half. New Mexico fans were so angry they were screaming at Leonard to declare for the NBA Draft after this season. D.J. Gay turned into an arc roaming monster sinking 11 three point shots.

So, did we mention we were unstoppable from the three point line? We did? Oh. But did we show you? It was quite breathtaking...



Today we really looked like an elite team for the first time.

Owl crash

Duquesne 78 - Temple 66

Now that was a "fuck you" statement by the Dukes. Temple has been maddeningly inconsistent. And to get caned like that at the hands of the 71st ranked team in the country is stunning to say the least. The Owls have bounced in and out of the polls all season and after this performance they might be out for good (and possibly NIT bound).

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.

No more love

Meanwhile, over at Ballin' is a Habit...

Wow, thanks guys. Not saying it can't happen, but ouch.

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."

For the love of Pete, no...

ESPN’s premiere college basketball analyst, Dick Vitale, has signed a contract extension through the 2014-2015 season.

Sigh.

What the hell was that?!

Seen during the Georgia / Vanderbilt match...



(HT: Ballin' is a Habit)

Something's burning

Too much at stake
Ground beneath me shake
And the news is breaking

Shock!

Watch the monkey get hurt, monkey

Shock!


Pittsburgh 72 - Georgetown 57

Wow, that was some ass pounding the Panthers gave the Hoyas. From beginning to end in almost every statistical category Pitt dominated. They really proved their ranking this time around. Or was it that Georgetown is not top 25 material?

History (repeats itself)

Florida State 66 - Duke not so much

Well, that's all we have to say about that.

We are: Penn State

Not Michigan State. PWND.

And not Illinois. PWND^2.

This is Sparta, Nittany Lions. Congrats.

Hazy shade of East Lansing

Time, time, time, see what's become of me
While I looked around
For my possibilities
I was so hard to please
But look around, leaves are brown
And the sky is a hazy shade of winter

Hang on to your hopes, my friend
That's an easy thing to say, but if your hope should pass away
Simply pretend
That you can build them again

Look around,
Leaves are brown,
There's a patch of snow on the ground.


Michigan St 64 - Wisconsin 61 (OT)

We'll have more to say about this on Thursday. For now it is a wonderful win for a program in desperate need of one. Kalin Lucas was clutch, just like he said he would be and the Spartans battled back when it seemed that the Badgers had the game all lock up.

The BS Bowl

Hey, where is the 'C' in that title?

We took the night off last night to watch the Oregon / Auburn "National Championship" game. One because we genuinely do like college football. And two because we love to be reminded that our sport has a true playoff and national championship game. Regular content to return tonight (or tomorrow AM). God bless March Madness.

Kent Clark

Those whom are familiar with us know how much we loathe the NBA. Like really. Absolute mess of a sport with a bunch of me-first criminals. We really hope there is a lockout next year.

Anyways, imagine our surprise when we saw this site. It was like when Superman met Bizarro Superman for the first time. These folks are the exact opposite of us:

Ok. Time to join and send the hate comments.

Our thoughts and prayers are with the families

Sometimes it's not all about basketball. The shooting that happened in Arizona was understandably tragic and we wanted take a moment for the ones who were needlessly killed at a political event this Saturday:

John Roll
Dorothy Morris
Dorwin Stoddard
Phyllis Schneck
Christina Green (9 years old)

We also wish for the speedy recovery of congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords. We hope this was random and isolated with the sick rhetoric going on between the political left and right.

About last night, part two

SDSU 71 - Utah 62 (final)

Ok. Better. After our near heart attack earlier we got our mojo going with better free throw and three point shots. And only one turnover compared to 10 in the first half. We don't like the fact that we are a second half team. We need to be complete. But it is what it is and we'll take it. Kawhi Leonard had flashes of John Wall with that quick step he has to the inside. D.J. Gay hit a couple of critical 3 point shots late to salt the game. And we feasted off of rebounds, offensive and defensive. We are still a little nervous that Utah gave us this scare. Now comes UNLV.

About last night, part one

Utah 34 - SDSU 33 (half)

What type of crap first half was that? SDSU had 10 turnovers, 29% from the free throw line. Sigh, same old Aztecs. We were at it again over here, screaming "NOOOOOOOO!" whenever SDSU took a three point shot. Why? How about being 23% from the three point line. And the traveling. We must have set some sort of record for most traveling calls in a game. This is why we keep on saying that SDSU could not win against a top team (any team in the top 15 really). They say our strength is that we come out in the second half and pour it on...

...why can't we come out in the FIRST HALF and do that. There will be a team who will pound us so much that we won't have the time to come back. Grrrrrrr...

Screen of the day

We here at M2M have always been fans of ball screens. Other sites have dunk of the day and three point shot of the day. Not us. Give us that good old vicious ball screen executed perfectly:

West Virginia 65 - Georgetown 59

Georgetown lost this game more than West Virginia won it. Sloppy, sloppy pass play by the Hoyas virtually gave the Mountaineers this present. And that devastating screen on Georgetown guard Jason Clark by West Virginia forward Cam Thoroughman says it all...

Wazzu Chronic

Looks like Washington State point guard Reggie Moore is doing his best Afroman impression in the great Northwest:

Moore was arrested and cited for possession of marijuana less than 40 grams and use of drug paraphernalia. The charges each carry mandatory minimums of one day in jail and a fine that usually ranges between $250 and $500. Despite the pending charges, Moore will continue to play for the Cougars with coach Ken Bone's blessings.

Nice. I guess it's just a little pot, right?

Murderer's Row

Hey Seton Hall, now is not the time to cry uncle when your upcoming schedule includes Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Villanova and Notre Dame...

...and Syracuse, UConn and Louisville. With everything the Pirates have been through now is the time to rally around the school, not want the coach's head on a pike.

It could be worse. You could be South Florida.

Losing makes you sad and hungry

Seen during the BYU/UNLV liveblog:

That's right, stuff the hole in your soul with food you little piggy you.

Liveblog: BYU @ UNLV

Welcome to... THUNDERDOME!!!

The first M2M Liveblog of the season!

We will be liveblogging the BYU/UNLV game tonight at 10 pm eastern. Come join us! It will be sexy times.

(Note: Image only representation of March to Madness liveblog participation. Actual liveblog participation may vary)

Tighter than an 18 year old virgin

(A) Notre Dame 73 - Connecticut 70
(B) Pittsburgh 83 - Providence 79

These were two very close very exciting games. Not bad for a Tuesday.

Game A - What will forever mark this game was UConn guard Shabazz Napier's time out call with 3.8 seconds left. The refs seemed to ignore his cries so he had to make an off balanced 3 point shot. Napier was seen begging with the refs even after the game was over. The Huskies could not catch up with the Irish even with Kemba Walker's 19 points. The wheels have not fallen off the UConn wagon yet, but some of the shine has faded.

Game B - Note to Pitt coach Jamie Dixon: Only use center Gary McGhee in the second half of games. Through a series of blunders and fouls the Panthers let Providence back into this game with 1 minute left. Why? For the drama! Friars fans were thinking back to 2009 but the McGhee/Woodall combo quickly snapped Providence back to reality.

Red Reign part II

"Those Red Storm fuckers were just lucky against West Virginia. That ESPN talking bobblehead in a cheap suit can't pull that shit against us. We're the damn Hoyas!"
- Coach John Thompson, Georgetown

"Yes we can."
- Coach Steve Lavin, St. John's

St. John's 61 - Georgetown 58

Is St. John's a top 25 powerhouse in Lavin's first season? Hell no, but they do look good right now. Prediction: They'll get chewed up by mid Big East conference play.

Poll Watch

We would like to pose 3 questions to you:

1) Is SDSU the best team in the Mountain West? Yes, right now.
2) Is SDSU the best team in the state of California and the four main Pacific conferences? Yes, right now.
3) Is SDSU the 6th best team in the nation?



Mrs. March to Madness said we are never satisfied. Maybe. Yes, we are happy to be ranked. But we feel we are possibly the 15th-20th best team in the country. This is too high for that inevitable fall. Why can't we embraced this ranking? Are we afraid of being hurt when we start to descend? That could be. Maybe this is part of being a fan of a decent basketball school. If Ohio State loses do you think the fans will say "Well, we were ranked too high anyways"? Hell no, if they fell they would scream bloody murder saying they STILL deserve to be ranked 2nd! Why can't we be like that? Are we realists? Are we masochists? Are we Eeyore? Will it be schadenfreude city when we lose?

Truth is this is still all very new to us. We are so used to bashing the Aztecs (as demonstrated here, here and here) that we don't know how to handle success as fans. So we downplay it. This is what we've dreamed about and when given that dream we violate it like that drunk girl at the party. But it is what it is right now. At least we are on record admitting as such.

Go Aztecs.

Say what?

What? Are you fucking kidding us, Mississippi State?

Renardo Sidney was "suspended" for a whole year by the NCAA for alleged improper benefits. Meh.

Renardo Sidney was suspended for one game for a near fight during practice. Whatever.

Renardo Sidney was suspended for one week for a real fight during pre-game warmups. Blah blah.

Now MSU coach Rick Stansbury has decided to reinstate Sidney and push Elgin Bailey (the second person in the fight) to transfer even though Bailey prior to that point had been a model player. All this for a guy with "potential"? You want to win that badly, huh coach. Unbelievable.

Welcome to the club

Welcome UCF to the world of the Top 25! With your shiny new ranking you are now afforded exclusive benefits not available to those who hold rankings outside the best college teams in the country. Like recruiting. You whip out that ranking baby and elite talent is yours. Like Michael Chandler. He is the 4th best high school center in the country and 47th best player overall. And he just committed to the Knights:

"They made me feel comfortable with going to UCF. There is no reason for me to look anywhere else."



Membership has it's privileges indeed.

Stage one: Complete

Good job Aztecs on going undefeated in non conference play. Now Utah, New Mexico, UNLV and BYU are going to be gunning for us con gusto. Hell, the way we've played close games against opponents that should not have been we may even be tripped up by Wyoming or Colorado State. We thought the stress would be surviving non conference and getting some good quality wins. We can now check that off the list. Now the stress is trying to survive one of the most brutal conferences in the nation with only one or two loses.

Go Aztecs.

The downward spiral continues

College of Charleston 91 - Tennessee 78

Diagram of a basketball team in free fall:

A) Coach is sanctioned for breaking NCAA rules and then lying about it? Check.
B) Team then goes out and loses against inferior schools? Check.
C) Coach explodes during a game, is ejected and team goes on to lose said game? Check.

The Dude would take a look at the Vols and say "Look, nothing is fucked here, man." However...