DANVILLE, Ca--I thought I'd post this edition of the "West of the Rocky Mountain Top-10" in a little differnt way. The ten teams will still be listed as usual, but in addition there'll be a brief description of the team's accomplishments that warrants their lofty position. Got it?
OK, here goes:
1. BYU. (20-1; 5-0) The Cougars seem to have it all going for them...good scoring and leadership from Fredette. Strong rebounding and solid defense. They have already beaten each of their strongest rivals for the conference crown.
2. Gonzaga. (16-3; 5-0) Speaking of beating key rivals, that is just what the Gonzags did in the first week of conference play. They beat Portland by three, and St. Mary's by six, then polished off San Diego, Pepperdine, and LMU since then. Matt Boulding and Elias Harris are the real deal.
3. St. Mary's. (17-3; 4-1) It is too bad that Bay Area rivals don't play each other every year because it would be great to see Cal and St. Mary's square off. The Gaels have Omar Samhan, and a wealth of talent behind him in Aussies Matthew Dellavedova, Ben Allen, and Clint Steindl. "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie! Oi, Oi, Oi!"
4. California. (13-6; 5-2) Because of Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher, Cal is going to be a contender for the Pac-10. Right now, they are the conference leader with no less than five teams one game back with 4-3 marks. This weekend they took care of business against the Oregon schools.
5. New Mexico. (18-3; 4-2) The Lobos have dropped two conference games and some (those myopic Easterners) think the Lobos are slipping. Not so! After two losses to open conference play, they have ripped off 4 straight and are right behind BYU. The team's strength is in its forwards lead by Darington Hobson.
6. UNLV. (16-4; 4-2) Tied with the Lobos for second place in the rugged Mountain West are the Runnin' Rebels of UNLV. The Rebs knocked off two solid MW teams this last week...Colorado State and Texas Christian.
7. Arizona State. (14-6; 4-3). The Sun Devils is one of those five Pac-10 schools tied for second at 4-3. But the Devils are probably the best of those five. They own the Northwest having beaten all four of those Pac-10 schools.
8. Louisiana Tech. (18-3; 6-1). When a team goes on a five time zone, two game, road trip and earns a split it has done a remarkable job. The Bulldogs lost Thursday night to a hot shooting San Jose State team, then flew 3,000 more miles to defeat Hawaii on Saturday. Adding to the lustre of the team is Magnum Rolle and Kyle Gibson, both of whom are getting plenty of NBA scout notices.
9. Pacific. (12-6; 5-1). It is hard to talk about the Tigers without mentioning their head coach, Bob Thomason. The head man has got the Tigers playing at a very high level, and would be undefeated in league play if it weren't for some very questionable officiating at the end of the UCSB game. Demetrece Young seems to have been the solution to the point guard deficencies, plus they are getting consistent and productive play from Terrell Smith and Michael Nunnally. Thomason's system works.
10. Northern Colorado. (17-4; 6-2). Even though the Greeley team is second to Weber State in the Big Sky, the WOTRM pollsters rank the Bears slightly ahead of the Wildcats. Will Figures and Devon Bietzel continue to play superb ball and the team took out Sacramento State and Eastern Washington. Will the Bears be able to overcome the Wildcats? There'll be a showdown February 13 in Ogden.
The next two: Utah State and Weber State.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Conference Whodathunkits!
Danville, Ca--It's what makes college basketball such a wonderful fan sports...the surprise team that somehow rights its ship and emerges as a contender for their conference title.
Take Stanford, for instance. Coach Johnny Dawkins has certainly had his struggles in his season and a half at the helm of the Cardinal. Last year, the Cardinal started by winning their first nine games under the rookie coach, then fell flat in Pac-10 conference play. This season, Stanford got off to a 6-6 non conference mark, and were not picked to finish higher than 8th in the race. Well, guess what? The Cardinal is currently tied for second with two others with 4-3 records.
It seems like the Big Sky Conference is just filled with surprises. Weber State seems to do well in conference every year, so that's not a surprise anymore. Northern Colorado let the rest of the league know it wasn't going to be an "also ran" with its superb non-conference performances. But, the Big Surprise in the Big Sky just has to be Montana State. The Bobcats were just 5 and 6 in non-conference play, but are 6-2 in confernce. Head Coach Brad Huse has his Bobcats in a cat fight with the 7-1 Wildcats of Weber State.
While LaTech has current control of the WAC and are 7-1 league play, their lone loss came at the hands of the San Jose State Spartans. SJSU was just 6-10 last year in the WAC. So far this year, they are 4-3 in conference and 11-8 overalland tied with Nevada for third. The primary reason for their season-to-season turnaround is the absolutely superb play of two-guard Adrian Oliver. Oliver leads the league in scoring and has the NBA scouts shaking their heads, like they did Thursday night when he scored 39 points in every conceivable manner. The Spartans are deep with Chris Oakes averaging a double-double, Mac Peterson and Robert Owens scoring better than 9.3 each, and CJ Webster and Justin Graham 10.5. The confernce tourney should be worth going to.
The absolute biggest surprise on the coast is the play of Cal-Poly. Last season, the Mustangs were a miserable 7-21 overall, and just 3-13 in conference play. They were picked to finish last by the coaches and scribes this year, and their pre-conference 3-8 record made the prognasticators look like geniuses. However, Poly HAS TURNED IT AROUND. They are currently sitting in second with a 5-2 confernce mark, just a half game behind Pacific (5-1). They own impressive road wins over Irvine and Long Beach State. If they continue to improve, Joe Callero should be a shoe-in for BWC Coach of the Year.
Take Stanford, for instance. Coach Johnny Dawkins has certainly had his struggles in his season and a half at the helm of the Cardinal. Last year, the Cardinal started by winning their first nine games under the rookie coach, then fell flat in Pac-10 conference play. This season, Stanford got off to a 6-6 non conference mark, and were not picked to finish higher than 8th in the race. Well, guess what? The Cardinal is currently tied for second with two others with 4-3 records.
It seems like the Big Sky Conference is just filled with surprises. Weber State seems to do well in conference every year, so that's not a surprise anymore. Northern Colorado let the rest of the league know it wasn't going to be an "also ran" with its superb non-conference performances. But, the Big Surprise in the Big Sky just has to be Montana State. The Bobcats were just 5 and 6 in non-conference play, but are 6-2 in confernce. Head Coach Brad Huse has his Bobcats in a cat fight with the 7-1 Wildcats of Weber State.
While LaTech has current control of the WAC and are 7-1 league play, their lone loss came at the hands of the San Jose State Spartans. SJSU was just 6-10 last year in the WAC. So far this year, they are 4-3 in conference and 11-8 overalland tied with Nevada for third. The primary reason for their season-to-season turnaround is the absolutely superb play of two-guard Adrian Oliver. Oliver leads the league in scoring and has the NBA scouts shaking their heads, like they did Thursday night when he scored 39 points in every conceivable manner. The Spartans are deep with Chris Oakes averaging a double-double, Mac Peterson and Robert Owens scoring better than 9.3 each, and CJ Webster and Justin Graham 10.5. The confernce tourney should be worth going to.
The absolute biggest surprise on the coast is the play of Cal-Poly. Last season, the Mustangs were a miserable 7-21 overall, and just 3-13 in conference play. They were picked to finish last by the coaches and scribes this year, and their pre-conference 3-8 record made the prognasticators look like geniuses. However, Poly HAS TURNED IT AROUND. They are currently sitting in second with a 5-2 confernce mark, just a half game behind Pacific (5-1). They own impressive road wins over Irvine and Long Beach State. If they continue to improve, Joe Callero should be a shoe-in for BWC Coach of the Year.
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