Oregon Ducks are the RPI team of the week

Congratulations to the teams who moved up in RPI this week. Oregon is the team of the week with two PAC-12 wins, including a 69-58 edge against No. 9 Utah. The wins have to secure a NCAA Tournament spot for the Ducks as they improved them to 20-8 on the year.

Tulsa is also building quite a case for a decent seed with a win over Temple to rise up 11 spots in the RPI. Non-conference play was a mixed bag for Tulsa but it made up for it with a 12-2 mark in the American Athletic Conference.

Here are notable risers in both men’s and women’s RPI.

5 Mid-Major Games to Watch

There are quite a few intriguing games going on Saturday that are outside the Top 25. Here are some mid-major contests with plenty at stake.

2 p.m. – Western Michigan at Central Michigan
Toledo may be in first place in the MAC West at 6-3 but these two directional Michigan schools are right behind at 5-4. Both the Broncos and Chippewas are hovering near the RPI top 100 and did I forget to mention they hate each other. Buckle up for a pure rivalry in the MAC.

4 p.m. – UNLV at Colorado State
UNLV is 13-9 and still has a chance at the tournament thanks to a quality win at Arizona, but the Rebels need this one. A win at Colorado State, No. 29 RPI, will rocket UNLV up. A loss means UNLV is running out of chances to make its move.

7 p.m. – Vermont at Stony Brook
Vermont is currently second in the American East and Stony Brook is third. First place Albany appears unreachable at a perfect 10-0 but this battle for second place is important. Stony Brook is a game and a half back of Vermont and needs this one to catch up.

7:30 p.m. – Louisiana Monroe at Georgia Southern
The No. 2 team in the Sun Belt at the No. 1 team in the Sun Belt. Yeah it’s a kind of a big game here. Especially for ULM who lost the first meeting at home 57-53.

8 p.m. – Louisiana Tech at Middle Tennessee State
Among mid-major conferences, Conference USA is extremely competitive. Louisiana Tech is 17-6 but with a No. 92 RPI is a bit of a stretch for the NCAA Tournament. A win a Middle Tennessee State should be a boost though as the Blue Raiders are 13-10. A loss will put any at-large dreams to bed and damage NIT hopes too for the Bulldogs.

RPI jumps for February 2, 2015

Not many changes occurred in the top 100 of the men’s rating percentage index this week so the biggest jumper with the best ranking was actually California.

The Golden Bears came into the week 1-6 in PAC-12 play and was expected to end the week 1-8 with two road games. Yet California came away with wins at Washington State and Washington. The latter was far more unexpected. We’ll see if this was the week Cal needed to turn its season around who have a salvageable 13-9 record. The Bears have a ways to go to get back into NCAA tournament conversation but at least they are still alive for it.

On the women’s side Seton Hall moved up to No. 32 thanks to a home win against St. John’s, another team who moved up. The Pirates scored their 20th victory of the season tying the program record for fastest to ever reach that mark in a season. Look for Seton Hall to crack the top 25 in the coming weeks.

Climbing to the Summit League

The only place where a Bison could ever meet a Jaguar.

Life in the Summit League is not luxurious nor is it respected by the national media. Teams are scattered across the middle of the country from Indiana to Colorado, making it tough to form a regional identity. None of the nine teams are in the RPI top 100 and only one is in the top 150 (South Dakota State). That doesn’t mean there are not quality teams here. North Dakota State knocked off Oklahoma in the first round of the tournament last year and that NDSU team is looking good this season.

Nice looking court.

I knew  that traveling to IUPUI, here in Indianapolis, was going to be a battle for them. And this past Thursday ended up being an overtime affair. Thank you to IUPUI SID Edgar Holdaway for the photographer credential to the game this past Thursday.

Meet a DJ with eyes on the back of his shirt.

IUPUI in its first season of playing in Pepsi Coliseum at the state fairgrounds and it appears to be a good fit. The first thing I noticed is that IUPUI students are the ones who sit courtside here. How many other schools can say that about their student body? This is partly because the Pepsi Coliseum is built more for hockey, leaving space for the band and student body behind the baskets. The cheerleaders also stand by the sidelines like a football game while most schools have them positioned along the baseline. Little things like this make an IUPUI game unique and it gives the Jags support having the young spirited fans close to the court. They also have this type of DJ yelling “Lets go JAAAAGs,” every 10 minutes to keep people awake.

North Dakota State was the favorite and I got the impression they were the better team. The Jaguars were pressing a full-court defense most of the night trying to force turnovers. IUPUI got some but also let NDSU score easy baskets once their guards broke through the initial pressure. The Bison had more blocks and rebounds as the Jaguars had to settle  for jumpers in its half-court offense.

At the same time though the Bison seemed to struggle to finish their drives to basket. Quite a few misses came at point-blank range from offensive rebounds. NDSU also only made 10 out of their 18 free throws.

IUPUI had a chance to win the game in regulation as guard Mason Archie had an open 3 with .8 seconds left but the shot went long. North Dakota State would outscore IUPUI 16-8 in overtime to put the game to bed.

No. 2 for three and the win is guarded by No. 2. This ended up being IUPUI’s best chance for victory.

NDSU would lose two days later to IPFW, who came in 1-5 in Summit League play. That’s how hard it is to win back-to-back road games in any conference within a 48 hour span. IUPUI would win against South Dakota Saturday to move to 4-3 in conference; just a game back from NDSU and 1.5 back from South Dakota State.

The Summit League bid is up in the air but don’t be surprised if these meet again in the conference tournament. Here are more pictures from Thursday.

College Volleyball Tournament Preview 2014: Happy Huskies

Can Colorado State be the mid-major that breaks through in this year’s tournament?

The D-1 women’s volleyball tournament is here, and I’m a little late making my picks.

The bracket was not kind to Big Ten powerhouses Penn State and Wisconsin placing them in the same region. This means a rematch of last year’s championship match will most likely occur in the regional final.

Overall, Stanford is the top seed but Texas and Washington are right behind.

Through the RPI, the matches I was able to catch, and the college volleyball social media guide I did in August, I have to pick Washington to win it all over Stanford in the final. The Huskies gave the Cardinal its only loss and can do so again. Plus, Washington was one of the best schools in promoting volleyball over social media.

As far as upsets I think Nebraska is vulnerable to Kansas State, Creighton should have a good chance over Kansas and my big upset special is Long Beach State making it to the Sweet Sixteen through UCLA. My round one upset is Lipscomb over Ohio State.

I really wanted to pick Colorado State over Texas as the Rams have been the best mid-major this season. Just couldn’t do it so prove me wrong Rams. The selection committee did the Rams no favors with a likely meeting with rival Colorado in round 2.

Here are all my picks.

Fighting the Critics of College Basketball

I take it UConn fans are having a good time.

Kentucky and UConn, two teams that couldn’t do any better than an eight and a seven seed respectively, are in the title game tonight.

For many, this game symbolizes everything wrong with college basketball. Connecticut is just coming off some recruiting scandals. Kentucky is a lightning rod for critics as the Wildcats go through recruiting classes the way car insurance companies go through advertising campaigns.

Tweets I’ve seen go as far as calling Kentucky “the Devil of college basketball.”

Kentucky went 4-6 against the RPI Top 50 in the regular season. Three of those losses were to Florida.

Connecticut went 7-5 against the RPI Top 50 in the regular season and has now defeated Florida twice if you count the tournament. But three of those losses came to Louisville. A team Kentucky has now beaten twice.

So both teams have taken out each others nemesis. Both have loss games to squads that failed to make the tournament. Kentucky had the embarrassing defeat to 14-20 South Carolina.

This game tonight is telling many people that the regular season does not matter. That’s a perception fans will have to get over.

Watching the women’s tournament explains why the men’s tournament should be rejoiced. There is a huge lack of parity in the women’s basketball. Parity that has made the men’s tournament so exciting.

Parity is why Mercer can beat Duke. Why Dayton can make it to the Elite Eight as bubble team. Why UConn and Kentucky can make it to the title game.

On the women’s side it was a foregone conclusion that UConn would meet Notre Dame. The two undefeated teams will meet Tuesday night. I’m happy for them and the women’s tournament should be respected. Just read some of the blog posts from the players themselves to see how important it is.

But while the women’s tournament values juggernauts, I like how open the men’s tournament is more. This is not a condemnation on the regular season. It’s just how deep the talent pool is in the men’s game right now. Soon, we will see a 16 seed take down a one. The parity of the sport is reaching that level.

So instead of whining about tonight’s game as a funeral for the good old days of college basketball, look at it as two teams that earned their way through tough competition to get here. The Huskies and Wildcats were challenged greatly on their way to the title game and persevered.

Isn’t that what we want in a national champion?

Nine Overlooked Details of March

Here are some things you might have missed while paying attention to all of the March Madness awesomeness.

No. 9: The Big-12 fails to boast
It’s very common for conferences to talk themselves up with postseason success and here is the Big-12’s attempt.

The more you know.

On the surface, this is impressive. However, the Big-12 has fewer teams than the other leagues on this list with only 10. Everyone else has 12 or more, hurting their percentage.

With that taken into account the chart doesn’t really say much at all. It doesn’t help that none of the seven Big-12 teams made it to the Elite Eight.

No. 8: NIT upsets

While there were several upsets in the NCAA tournament, there were quite a few in the NIT too. Robert Morris took down a No. 1 seed for the second straight year in St. John’s. Conference USA was able claim success having Southern Miss and Louisiana Tech reach the quarterfinals. Belmont was the victim of a court storming at Clemson. I guess beating Belmont is like beating Duke in the eyes of Clemson fans.

No. 7: Best fan photo ever
There have been some amazing photos of fans and players celebrating in the tournament. The best has to go to two rival coaches eating popcorn together. I’m biased being born in Kentucky, but Denny Crum and Joe B. Hall is just too good to pass up. Hard to believe they host a radio show together now.

Photo from last night's game: pic.twitter.com/3VDADtXKCm

— Kentucky #BBN (@BBN) March 29, 2014

No. 6: Year of the Bison
North Dakota State has to have the happiest athletic department this year. With a FCS championship and a basketball team that won its first ever NCAA tournament game, things are pretty darn good.

Incredible photo, per @NDSUathletics. Make sure you check out our "Year of the Bison" article next month! pic.twitter.com/WPvOnB1xBO

— Bison Illustrated (@bisonmag) March 24, 2014

No. 5: Women’s NIT
There actually is a women’s NIT and unlike the men’s it is 64 teams. That’s a lot of postseason basketball that receives little to no media attention. This tweet confirms that.

UTEP had the largest announced attendance in round two with 4,703 fans.

— WNIT (@WomensNIT) March 25, 2014

That’s the best crowd for round 2? That’s 10 percent of the attendance for some of these men’s NCAA Tournament games.

No. 4: CBI team with a losing record

If you can’t get into the NCAA Tournament or the NIT there is always the College Basketball Invitational. The CBI has attracted some power conference teams in the past and got Penn State and Texas A&M in this year. So it’s sort of legit.

Problem is Siena is in the championship final. The Saints were the only team in the field to have a losing record and they might win it all. Kind of looks bad for the CBI but it’s not its fault. Other teams turned down their CBI bid like Indiana, allowing lesser schools to get in. Siena is making the most of their opportunity as it should. Postseason basketball should never be taken for granted.

No. 3: A women’s CBI exists too.

The Women’s Basketball Invitational has already crowned their champion as Illinois-Chicago defeated Stephen F. Austin in the title game. While attention is scarce, it is still a meaningful event to the team’s fans.

Thank you to our wonderful fans for the welcome home from the #WBI. You guys are the best! #AxeEm #ToughAndTogether pic.twitter.com/Bh4Etz0kQO

— Ladyjacks Basketball (@SFA_WBB) March 30, 2014

No. 2: CIT is still meaningless
Meaningful is the opposite of the College Insider.com Tournament or CIT. Unlike the CBI, the CIT field is composed of nothing but mid-majors, most of which are from conferences with low RPIs. The CIT does not have a set bracket making it a tournament that’s constantly in flux and difficult to follow. Check out how many people attended a game at Eastern Michigan. Less than 400!

So what does the CIT do to validate themselves?

Rookie of the Year from CollegeInsider.com 4 on Vimeo.

Because claiming Damian Lillard is going to make people care? Sorry, but finding the one or two guys from small schools who made it big in the NBA is not compelling enough. The other tournaments have more NBA prospects. Good luck with that.

No. 1: Central Missouri shows dedication

The University of Central Missouri won the division II basketball title Saturday and congratulations. UCM goes with the Mules for its men’s teams and Jennies for its women’s. I guess the Philadelphia Phillies are a softball team then.
The main story here though is how UCM reacted to the championship title. Whoever runs their Twitter account was updating a softball game for the “Jennies” while the “Mules” won the championship game on the hardwood.

Mules call a :30 timeout to set up their defense. UCM leads 80-75 after two Dillon Deck FTs with 35.4 to play. #teamUCM

— UCM Mules & Jennies (@UCMMULES) March 29, 2014

Lucas hits a bloop single to center, driving in Rogers. Jennies trail, 4-1 #teamUCM

— UCM Mules & Jennies (@UCMMULES) March 29, 2014

Pinch-hitter Leonhart grounds out to short w/ bases loaded to end the 5th inning. Jennies trail, 4-1 to UCO. #teamUCM

— UCM Mules & Jennies (@UCMMULES) March 29, 2014

The Mules are National Champions!!! UCM beats West Liberty 84-77 to claim the crown! Daylen Robinson had a game-high 21 pts. #teamUCM

— UCM Mules & Jennies (@UCMMULES) March 29, 2014

After 5 1/2 innings, Jennies trail, 4-1. Nally, Mabe, Rogers due to hit. #teamUCM

— UCM Mules & Jennies (@UCMMULES) March 29, 2014

This has to be the most dedication to a job I’ve seen by an athletic department. Most would have solely focused on the basketball game but here is UCM weaving it in and out with regular season softball coverage.

Props to Central Missouri to making sure the Jennies get the same amount of respect as the Mules. Feminists better rejoice.