Let's be honest, ALL the games are of interest for the next month. This entry actually marks the end of our season-long Friday posting of Cindy's Games of Interest. In honor of that, we've got a few parting words of wisdom to offer to all our potential dance partners who will emerge over the coming days.
Consider it warning, consider it recommendation and consider it the ONLY way you get to take off my party dress.
Herewith, Cindy's Sweet 16 Rules for Courting Me:
1. It all starts in the conference Tournament. Win a squeaker. Go to overtime. Make a crazy shot. Do whatever it takes to get everybody believing.
2. Also, try and have one simply dominant performance in the league tourney. Momentum then begins to pick up. Not to mention attention from the opponent that is likely a heavy favorite and now starting to get shrunken sphinctor disease.
3. Lift your coach. Literally. Hampton's back-up forward David Johnson grabbed his coach, Steve Merfeld in 2001 when the No. 15 seed took out No. 2 seed Iowa State in a West region first round game. Merfeld took the ride, raised his fists, splayed his legs and simply smiled. The moment is famous yes, but the moment is fabulous too.
Make more moments like that
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
Cindy's Player of the Week, Cyborg Robert, Conference USA
Our very first Cyborg honor, where we create a perfect Player of the Week. It just happens that both of our Roberts play in C-USA and both are in the running for the league's Player of the Year honors. (they also shared C-USA co-Player of the Week honors this week.)
Robert "Fluff" McKiver, Houston's senior guard notched the best offensive performance in NCAA Division I play this season following his 52-point output in the Cougars win over Southern Miss, setting the Conference USA single-game record on 17-of-34 shooting. He became only the fourth player in school history to score at least 50 points in a game, and broke the Hofheinz Pavilion-record of 44 points which had been held by Indiana State's Larry Bird (3/9/77) and UNLV's Bob Florence (3/27/73). He followed that up with a 29-point effort on the road at East Carolina, when he also led the Cougars with eight rebounds and added three assists.
Robert Vaden, UAB's junior guard led the surging Blazers to a pair of league wins, averaging 35.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game this week. He shot 52.7 percent from the floor (56.0 percent from beyond the arc). In the process, he broke or tied nearly every single-game school record. In the 88-81 victory at UTEP Feb. 27, he connected on 12-of-21 shots from the floor and 9-of-14 from beyond the arc for a career-high 41 points. Vaden broke the school records for 3s made in a game (9), road points (41) and single-game points (tied with 41). He followed up with 30 points in the 69-44 win over Tulane on March 1. He hit 11-of-11 free throws against Tulane, which tied for the fourth-best performance in school history.
To say that Cindy is psyched to see those two in the same buidling next week in Memphis would be an understatement.
Continue reading "Cindy's Player and Team of the Week" »
The Seven Faves has been retired for the season, now that we have a daily update of pertinent Cindy Scores courtesy of the fine-smelling folks at Old Spice.
Instead, we're going to use this space for the next couple of weeks to call out the Cindy teams that are making themselves destined for the NIT - or, worse yet, The Other NIT. For every team that continues to win and improve its seeding (Xavier, Gonzaga), there are others who are shooting themselves in the foot.
For instance. . .
Houston
The Cougars of Tom Penders were starting to get some looks as a "last one in" kind of team. They had won three of four after losing to Memphis (falling by only two at UAB) and had a winnable road ahead to the C-USA Tourney with East Carolina, Central Florida and UTEP to finish the regular season. Not an easy road, mind you, but one that would do a lot to boost Fluff McKiver and the boys' hopes for an at-large bid (should Memphis get the league's auto as expected).
But on Saturday, Houston went to ECU (which had lost five of six) and fell by a point. That's not a forgivable loss in the committee's eyes and now it looks like Houston will need to knock out Memphis and win the C-USA title to get in.
Interestingly, UAB was probably the more defendable choice for those looking for a C-USA No. 2 - they have a 50 RPI now and are in the midst of a four-game win streak and a stretch of wins in six of their last seven. They go at Tulsa and at Memphis to finish the regular season. Even with another loss to Memphis, UAB could remain in the discussion if they run to the C-USA title game.
Continue reading "Cindy's Seven Faves" »
Let's face it, all the games are interesting this time of year and Cindy is too busy enjoying all of them to list the key ones at length. Anyway, our new page-mate Mr. Karimi, is doing a great job of updating the pertinent games on a daily basis.
And let's face it, with our new sponsor for this page, Cindy has a whole of sniffing to do to find the Old Spice men in our midst. As you know, Cindy only hangs with an Old Spice Man.
Ahoy!
So here, are our Three Most Interesting Games of Interest for the week (times are EST):
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
Cindy's Team and Player of the Week
Cindy's Team of the Week: Northern Illinois Huskies
The Huskies played their first game in nearly two weeks on Tuesday night and lost it to Western Michigan. But the sign outside the Huskies' gym said all you needed to know: "Forward, Together Forward."
The excerpt from the school fight song is a fitting tribute to the students who lost their lives on Valentine's Day and a poignant reminder of just how insignificant sports can be, yet how unifying they can also be.
First year Head Coach Ricardo Patton has been a rock and a symbol of strength in very difficult times and his team's return to the floor was an important step in the healing at Northern Illinois.
Continue reading "Team and Player of the Week: Northern Illinois and Diamon Simpson" »
MEMPHIS -- Cindy has once again hit the road and we find ourselves in the middle of the weekend's biggest game between No. 1 Memphis and No. 2 Tennessee. Because of our reporting duties down here - and in an effort to fully get a feel for the ensuing madness on Beale Street - we're going to go a bit unconventional with this week's GOI.
First, we will selfishly urge you to check out our preview column for Tigers-Vols.
Second, we know that a certain network is offering up a plethora of Cindy match-ups under the moniker Bracket Busters. Since you have been following along with us all year, these teams will be both familiar and fascinating to you. You can't go wrong with just about any of the games but our most intriguing one is Davidson and Winthrop, so be sure to check that one out.
Enjoy the weekend and we'll see you again next week.
Cindy's Team and Player of the Week
Player of the Week: Stephen Curry, Davidson
Our second repeat winner and the current leader for the coveted Cindy Player of the Year Honor which is awarded during the first week of the tournament. Curry is storming into the post-season at a whole new level and on Tuesday night he notched his seventh 30-point game of the season. In the win over UNC Greensboro, Curry reached double figures in scoring for the 53rd consecutive contest, scored 20 or more for the 40th time in his career and netted 30 or more for the 11th time. His last five games have been 36, 26, 41, 26 and 30 and he's led his team in scoring in 23 of 26 games.
You will laugh (or cringe) when I say this, but Davidson should be given free entry into the NCAA Tournament for as long as Curry remains a Wildcat (he's a sophomore now and the NBA has to be getting more and more tempting). They're likely to get in by winning the SoCon, but if they don't - and if they beat Winthrop this weekend - Davidson would be my one sentimental pick for the field.
Continue reading "Team and Player of the Week: Western Kentucky and Stephen Curry" »
1. Morgan State 81, South Carolina State 55
Todd Bozeman's Bears followed this early week win with a late-week loss, but Morgan State is still first in the MEAC and it sure would be sweet vindication if Boze can return to the NCAA Tournament.
2. Duquesne 63, Dayton 61
Dayton sags, the Dukes surge and the A-10 is a jumbled mess at the top.
Continue reading "Cindy's Seven Faves" »
Once again it's time to offer up the scintillating sampling of Cinderella-relevant action (all times EST) over the next few days, such as:
Brown at Penn, Friday 7 p.m.
The second and third place teams in the Ivy square off and try to catch Cornell, which stands at 6-0 in conference play.
Memphis at UAB, Saturday 8 p.m.
If UAB can pull off this upset, they might start opening discussion for an at-large bid. If they can't, the perfect regular season of the Tigers will have only one true test remaining (next week vs. Tennessee).
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
Cindy's Team of the Week and Player of the Week
Player of the Week - J.R. Giddens, New Mexico
Happy Birthday, J.R.
The former Kansas Jayhawk, born Feb. 13, 1985, is making the most of his senior season for first-year Lobo head coach, Steve Alford. Giddens was honored as the Mountain West Conference Men's Basketball Co-Player of the Week (his third time this season) after leading the Lobos to a 2-0 conference record last week with victories over Colorado State (91-51) and Wyoming (100-55). Against Wyoming, Giddens scored a career-high 36 points (15-of-24 shooting) and added 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season and 10th of his career. He also added a career-high six steals, three assists and a blocked shot vs. the Cowboys. On the week, he averaged 27.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 4.0 steals, 3.5 assists and 1.5 blocks per game, while shooting 68.6 percent (24-for-35) from the field and 42.9 percent (3-for-7) from three-point range.
Arguably, had Giddens (who averages 13 points and 8 rebounds on the year) stayed at Kansas, he would have had huge NBA Draft buzz surrounding him last year (in what would have been his senior season). Remember the name as the 2008 Draft draws nearer - he's the kind of guy who could impress at the Pre-Draft camp.
The Lobos (18-6, 5-4 MWC) take their show on the road Wednesday for a key game at San Diego State (16-7, 6-3 MWC).
Continue reading "Team and Player of the Week: Oral Roberts and JR Giddens, New Mexixco" »
1. St. Mary's 89, Gonzaga 85 OT
A late night Monday game that was worth the lost sleep to see. Both teams proved to whatever national audience chose to watching that both West Coast Conference teams are NCAA-worthy and NCAA-ready.
2. St. Joseph's 77, Villanova 55
Wow, go figure both of these teams this year. 'Nova, of course, is the bigger enigma because of the expectations put upon Jay Wright's program annually. Phil Martelli's Hawks may be a year ahead of schedule and even with two straight losses, Hawk Hill dwellers can legitimately expect to be in the NCAA Tournament. (Don't forget that Ahmad Nivins missed the Duquesne game and fouled out in 15 minutes of play against Xavier.)
But the Wildcats? Losers of 5 of 6, 'Nova needs a big win on Big Monday at Georgetown or its tailspin could turn into a full-on wreck.
Continue reading "Cindy's Seven Faves" »
We'd be lying if we didn't say that the 14-hour Mock Selection party in Indy on Thursday didn't completely wipe us out. We've got RPIs, SOSs and S-Curves encrusting our eyelids.
Still, before we can put our mock brackets away and grab some shut eye, it's our weekly duty to offer up the scintillating sampling of Cinderella-relevant action (all times EST) over the next few days, such as:
Harvard at Yale, Friday 7 p.m.
Bottom feeders in the Ivy meet for the game (lower case "T" and lower case "G"). It reminds us that we sure could have used that brain power of these two institutions in our mock selection exercise. Not that Jerry Palm isn't a genius and all, but geez are those numbers and permutations overwhelming.
CSTV's C-USA Saturday Doubleheader
East Carolina at Marshall, 2 p.m.
Central Florida at No. 1 Memphis, 4 p.m.
Two of the Mockomittee members - Pete Gillen and Steve Lappas - will work these games as color commentators and it should be noted that the Gillen/Lappas pairing during the selection process was one of the most well-informed and insightful. It will be no difference on these two games.
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
1. Gonzaga 87, Santa Clara 82 2OT
A standout performance from freshman Austin Daye who scored 13 of his career-high 22 points in overtime, to give the Zags (17-5, 6-0 WCC) a hard-fought win over Santa Clara (11-10, 3-3).
2. George Mason 63, VCU 51
Mason won the teams' only regular season meeting of the CAA's top two teams. Methinks they could meet again in the CAA tournament.
Continue reading "Cindy's Seven Faves" »
Because of Cindy's Newbury Street address in the posh part of Boston, there is really only one true Game of Interest this weekend and it involves two east coast NFL teams.
But in between runs to Whole Foods for more brie and wine, we realize that everyone else needs something to watch between now and kickoff of the most over-hyped Super Bowl in history.
That in mind, here is your weekly, scintillating sampling of Cinderella-relevant action (all times EST) over the next few days, such as:
Loyola (MD) at Niagara, Friday 7 p.m.
A MAAC-daddy match-up as two 7-3 in-conference teams square off to try and emerge from the muddled middle of the tight MAAC. Loyola has rattled off five wins in a row and the Purple Eagles come in as winners of two straight.
UMBC at Vermont, Saturday 1 p.m.
Two of the three teams atop the America East standings square off and Cindy is starting to like the spunk of the Catamounts, who could emerge froma very mediocre AE this season.
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
Cindy's Team of the Week and Player of the Week
Team of the Week - South Alabama
Undefeated in the Sun Belt at 8-0, 17-3 overall and riding a 13-game win streak, Ronnie Arrow's Jaguars are simply on fire.
The Jags three losses have come by a combined 11 points, including two by 3 points each to SEC members Ole Miss and Vanderbilt (in double overtime). The 13 wins in a row represents the fourth longest win streak in the nation behind Kansas, Memphis and last week's TOW Drake.
Senior guard Demetric Bennett leads USA in scoring with 20 ppg and 6 rpg and last week averaged 20.0 points and 5.5 rebounds in the Jaguars’ two. He scored 24 points against Denver, including outscoring Pioneers 20-14 in the opening period, which was his 10th game this season over 20 points and the third time this year he had hit the 20-point mark by intermission.
Continue reading "Team and Player of the Week: South Alabama and Stephen Curry" »
MEMPHIS -- Cindy is on-location this weekend for a battle of two teams - No. 1 Memphis and Gonzaga - that used to epitomize what Cindy is all about. The Tigers and the Bulldogs have since gone onto bigger and better things (witness a Cal's Pals No. 1 ranking), but in our heart of hearts, we still consider them both Cindy sweethearts.
Even with us buzzing on Beale Street, we still realize there is, as always, a scintillating sampling of Cinderella-relevant action (all times EST) over the next few days, such as:
Northern Arizona at Weber State, Friday 9 p.m.
A battle for first place in the Big Sky as both clubs enter at 5-1 in league play. This is a re-match of last season's Big Sky title game that Weber State won. Weber's Dezmon Harris is coming off a co-Player of the Week honor from the Big Sky and NAU is paced by 17 ppg/9 rpg senior Kyle Landry.
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
1. Cornell 64, NJIT 33
NJIT continued winless in this one (then 0-19, now 0-20), but what's most disconcerting for the Highlanders is that they managed just nine first half points against Cornell. They hit 3 of 20 field goal attempts for 15 percent. The bright side? NJIT led 2-0 for 25 seconds.
2. VCU 60, Delaware 39
The Blue Hens entered the game at 5-0 in CAA and had even garnered the prestigious Cindy Team of the Week honors. They proceeded to get dumped by the Rams and committed 21 turnovers in the process. They followed that up with an overtime loss at spunky Northeastern on Saturday.
Consider us Hen Haters for the moment.
Continue reading "Cindy's Seven Faves" »
Well, this has already been an eventful week for several Cindy teams that have taken it upon themselves to shake the Cindex Rankings to its very core. Xavier, Butler, Dayton, Rhode Island - they've all been involved in games of marginal interest and, because of shocking losses, made them games of major interest. Conference basketball is here in full force, folks and the only thing certain is that nobody knows anything.
Just the way we like it. As always, there is a scintillating sampling of Cinderella-relevant action (all times EST), such as:
Bucknell at Holy Cross, Friday 9 p.m.
This one goes against our better judgment because of who's on color commentary for the game, but the de facto power of the Patriot League, Holy Cross is on a three-game losing skid. This is a re-match of last year's league title game that The Cross won 74-66 in the Hart Center and it will be vital for the Crusaders (9-6, 0-2) to notch a conference win over Bucknell (7-9, 2-0).
UTEP at Houston, Saturday 2 p.m.
As a prominent Cowboy might say, "Getcha popcorn ready!" for this one between two undefeated C-USA teams as they square off on CSTV. Tony Barbee's Miners (11-4, 2-0) are one of the surprises of the conference and Tom Pender's Cougars (12-3, 1-0) have everyone believing they may be the best bet to deal Memphis a conference loss. If you haven't seen UTEP's Stefon Jackson, here's your chance. He averages 23.7 ppg and has had some great outings against the Cougs, including 21 points and 17!! rebounds in one game last year. Both teams are going to want to run as they average nearly 80 points per contest.
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
Cindy's Team of the Week and Player of the Week
Player of the Week - Stephen McDowell, Junior guard UT-Chattanooga
McDowell was named the Southern Conference player of the week after averaging 20 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.0 steals in the Mocs two wins last week for the 12-5 (7-0, 1st in the North Division) SoCon leaders. (Davidson is 6-0 in the South.)
The 5-11 junior from Indianapolis is a transfer from South Carolina where he played on the Gamecocks' back-to-back NIT Champion teams for Dave Odom. More impressively, McDowell was a member of the President's List (4.0) in the fall of 2004, and the Dean's List (3.5 or higher) in the spring of 2005 and had the highest GPA on the team both years at USC.
He leads coach John Shulman's team in scoring at 16.2 points per game and has led the team in scoring on 10 occasions.
Continue reading "Player of the Week: Stephen McDowell, UT-Chattanooga" »
We're going to need your help for this Saturday's slate of Cindy Games of Interest: Can someone please keep an eye on the action for us and present Cindy with a highlight summary of the pertinent contests?
We're going to be a little pre-occupied as the greater-New England region goes gaga for Gisele's guy: Tom Brady.
Cindy herself is a season-ticket holder and as such, we will be quite busy with tailgating duties most of Saturday. Any help you can provide in the Comments section will be appreciated because as always, there is a scintillating sampling of Cinderella-relevant action (all times EST), such as:
Siena at Niagara, Friday at 9 p.m.
A MAAC-yard battle as 3-1 Siena heads upstate to Buffalo looking to knock off the 4-0 in-conference Purple Eagles. Lots of congestion early at the top of the MAAC, including Fairfield and Marist, who face off on Sunday.
Arizona at Houston, Saturday 3 p.m.
The good road win that Houston let slip away at UMass a couple of Wednesdays ago would be long forgotten if Houston could manage to take out the Wildcats at home. If nothing else, we'd expect some running and funning in this one.
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
1. URI 94, FDU 63
Yep, we're Ramlievers and we are anxiously awaiting this Wednesday's game at Dayton. However, this score from last Wednesday got our attention because of Fairleigh Dickinson's senior Manny Ubilla, who set a Ryan Center record with a career-high 39 points (including 8 of 15 from 3-point range) in the loss.
2. Sam Houston 60, Central Florida 58, OT
Okay, first off, the Bearkats moved to 12-1 with the win and are two points from perfect on the season. More impressively, Sam Houston State extended its non-conference home court winning streak to 44 games, the second longest such streak in the nation (Duke 58 games).
3A. Xavier 103, Kansas State 77
3B. Xavier 108, Virginia 70
3C. Xavier 80, Auburn 57
Big 12 win? Check. ACC win? Check. SEC win? Check.
That, folks, is a pretty nice week for Sean Miller's A-10 X-Men.
Continue reading "Cindy's Seven Faves" »
Conference play is underway in earnest and that can lead to some less obvious gems to focus on over the next few days.
Fortunately Cindy has been scouring the schedules for you.
As always, there is a scintillating sampling of Cinderella-relevant action (all times EST), such as:
Saint Mary's at Texas, Saturday 6 p.m.
The first meeting ever between the two schools, which can always have some special meaning. Especially with a curious national media wondering just how good Saint Mary's is. This just in from Texas Sports Info: "A.J. Abrams (left foot) has been cleared to play in Saturday’s game against Saint Mary’s." Bad news for the visitors.
New Orleans at Louisiana-Lafayette, Saturday 8 p.m.
UNO comes out of the non-conference slate at 11-3, so this intrastate battle is worthwhile for that alone. But we're actually providing this game as a service to our media brethren who are covering the BCS Title Game in New Orleans this weekend. I actually heard from a Cindy Chum who was complaining that he needed something to do on Saturday and Sunday besides just watch football and drink beer.
My goodness, Cindy's peers are getting old! Since when is beer, Bourbon Street and football something to run from?
But here you go, a perfectly fine alternative within the state limits.
There's also a game at Northwestern State (vs. Texas-Arlington) but that's not as car friendly.
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
Cindy's Player of the Week and Team of the Week
Player of the Week - Lester Hudson, UT-Martin
Hudson is Cindy and the Sneaker's first repeat Player of the Week in 2007-08 and really, how can we not honor the high-scoring junior guard from Memphis? Hudson had his second 36-point outing of the season in UT-M's loss to Vandy last week and continues to lead the nation in scoring at 27.4 ppg (half a point better than last week's PoW, Charron Fisher of Niagara).
Hudson has stepped up in virtually all of the Skyhawks' biggest games with 35 against Memphis in the season-opener, 27 vs. Mississippi State, 26 at UNLV and the 35 vs. Vandy. Look for him to win a few Ohio Valley games for UT-M all by himself.
"I told our team (before the game) that he'll be an NBA player," said Commodore coach Kevin Stallings. "He's quite good. He's not the (leading) scorer in the nation for nothing. He's capable of making a lot of baskets."
Continue reading "Player of the Week" »
1. Butler 57, Southern Illinois 55
AJ Graves connected from deep to down the Salukis in what had the makings of an all-time Cinderella Classic. Even at .500, Southern Illinois is still a threat come March and we all know that Butler is a legit Top 20 program at this point.
2. Weber State 62, San Francisco 54
The return of Eddie Sutton gave us newfound reasons to seek out obscure west coast results. For that, we thank you, Eddie. But we still don't get the arrangement and we still don't like the smell of it all.
Continue reading "Cindy's Seven Faves" »
Cindy lives in a penthouse on Newbury Street in the city of Boston - as if you couldn't tell. Because of that location, we are being overwhelmed this week with an unending run-up to the New England Patriots quest for a perfect regular season.
How absolutely drab.
Cindy's got bigger things to focus on, not the least of which will be the second consecutive Saturday with a monster showdown at the FedEx Forum when the Tigers host Arizona at 10 p.m. (EST). A win in that one, and John Calipari's crew could be in for an extended stay in the Top 2.
As always, there is a scintillating sampling of Cinderella-relevant action (all times EST), such as:
Butler at Southern Illinois, Friday 9 p.m.
The Salukis are at .500 and a win over Top 20 Butler would set things straight for Southern Illinois and possibly kick off a spurt of winning.
San Francisco at Weber State, Friday 9 p.m.
We never would have known about this match-up if not for Eddie Sutton. Now it becomes a "Must GameTrack" as Sutton returns to the sideline in search of win No. 799.
Southern Miss vs. Ole Miss, Friday 8 p.m. (Southaven, MS)
Swiss Miss, Miss Manners and Ms. Magazine are the presenting sponsors for this one. Larry Eustachy's club will frustrate the Rebels to no end, but the newly-minted Top 25 Rebs of Andy Kennedy should pull this one out and not miss their chance to stay in the rankings.
Continue reading "Cindy's Games Of Interest" »
Cindy's Player of the Week and Team of the Week
Team of the Week:
Houston
Tom Terrific has the Cougars one basket shy of being 11-0 and with an expected win over Arkansas Pine Bluff on Saturday, Pender's Peeps will head into Amherst at 11-1 on Jan. 2 for a monster CSTV-aired game against UMass.
"This team is 10-1 and our only loss is to Virginia Commonwealth by one point, and that is a very good team with four key guys back from their NCAA Tournament team that should have been a Sweet 16 team. We led that game almost all the way and the game almost went into overtime," said Penders after his team's convincing win over Kentucky last week. "We finished a third of our season with a 10-1 record and that is a whole lot better than last year when we were 5-6 and playing a brutal schedule. This year, our schedule is not quite as tough, but we are not playing the dregs of the NCAA either. We beat a Toledo team that won the MAC Championship last year, and we didn't know they were going to struggle this year. . . .We have done what we were supposed to do and are still doing it."
Robert McKiver is averaging 20 points a game, the Cougars are plus-15 in points score/points allowed and shoot 38 percent from behind the arc.
It's not too early to circle Houston's home C-USA game against Memphis on Jan. 30 as a must-see. John Calipari and his staff are already getting a tad bit antsy about the free-wheeling Cougars, who could put an end to the Tigers' win streaks (both in-conference and perhaps on the year). The Cougs also host Arizona on Jan. 12 at 2:00 p.m. in another RPI-helper for Penders' program.
Continue reading "Team of the Week: Houston" »
1A. Sam Houston 61, UC-Irvine 54
1B. Illinois State 65, Ball State 49
We give you the Sam Houston score as representation of one of the nation's nine remaining unbeaten teams (as of Sunday). And we give you the Ball State score as the sample group for the 11 winless teams still in existence for the 2007-08 season.
Continue reading "Cindy's Seven Faves" »
Cindy's Player of the Week and Team of the Week
Player of the Week:
Gary Forbes, UMass
The 6-7 senior from Brooklyn, N.Y/ (Benjamin Banneker Academy) averaged 23.5 points, 6.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in two UMass wins last week (Boston College and Toledo). On the week, he was 15-of-28 from the field and 18-for-19 from the line to bring home his second A-10 Player of the Week honors.
If not for a very bad loss at IUPUI, 8-2 UMass would be closer to the Top 25 then No. 37, but even with that loss, the Minutemen are part of what appears to be a resurgent and competitive top of Atlantic 10. There will be a super test for the Travis Ford's Umies when Houston (who pummeled Kentucky on Wednesday night) visits the Mullins Center on January 2.
Continue reading "Player of the Week" »
Cindy's Seven Favorite Results of the Past Seven Days:
1. Niagara 77, St John's 73
The 5-3 Purple Eagles out of the MAAC took down the Big East's Johnnies and in doing so marked the first time in 44 years that a Niagara team defeated St. John's inside Carnesecca Arena (formerly Alumni Hall). ""This was a great win for our team," head coach Joe Mihalich said. "This is not just another game for us. It is a special rivalry between two Vincentian schools meeting for the 98th time. This is not just another win for us." Niagara also boasts the nation's leading scorer in Charron Fisher (27.4 ppg).
Any time a coach pulls out the Vincentian thing, you know it's a big win. Viva, Vincent!
Continue reading "Cindy's Seven Faves" »
Welcome to a steroid-free zone as we unveil the weekly Cindy games that we'll be DVRing and/or following closely with CSTV.com's outstanding GameTracker feature.
Without further ado, our guide to help you follow along with a sampling of the scintillating Cinderella-relevant action (all times EST) on a very light weekend of college hoops:
Drake at Iowa, Friday 8 p.m.
Drake is off to an 8-1 start, equalling its best start in school history for first-year head man Keno Davis. Three Bulldog starters average in double figures scoring. Iowa is 6-5 for its first-year head coach Todd Lickliter and has never lost to Drake at Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Iowa also holds a 53-8 advantage in the all-time series against Drake.
UAB at Kentucky, Saturday 2 p.m.
This will be the first regular-season meeting since a 61-53 UK victory on Dec. 20, 1980, but the two teams have met three times in NCAA Tournament play with the Blazers having won two of those contests. UAB is 7-4 and starting to show signs of why they were highly touted in C-USA coming out, with five wins in its last six games. Kentucky is 4-3 and coming off two straight losses to UNC and Indiana.
Saturday's matchup is only the second time the two teams have met during regular-season play dating back to Dec. 20, 1980. The other three meetings occurred in the NCAA Tournament, with UAB winning two of those three matchups.
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
Apologies for neglecting our Team and Player of the week duties - Cindy got a little banged up on the NYC trip and we lost a full day to travel and recuperation. But we're back and ready to offer the weekly Cindy games that we'll be DVRing and/or following closely with CSTV.com's outstanding GameTracker feature.
Without further ado, our guide to help you follow along with a sampling of the scintillating Cinderella-relevant action (all times EST):
Texas at Rice, Saturday 8 p.m.
Not only a CSTV game featuring the red-hot texas Longhorns, but a halftime treat for all of you when Jerry "Read My" Palm and Cindy himself (me) offer up some Big 12 big picture analysis. (Not suitable for young children not accustomed to seeing pasty white men on-camera.)
Dayton at Louisville, Saturday 2 p.m.
Dayton (6-1) beat the Cards last season, 68-64 in Cincy. Louisville (5-1) should exact revenge but there's no telling what Chris Wright's wrath may mean for the upstart Flyers.
Davidson vs. UCLA (Anaheim), Saturday 5:30 p.m.
Spunky and spirited, Davidson could use a quality non-conference win, especially if they were to somehow slip in the SoCon for any reason.
St. Joseph's at Creighton, Sunday 3 p.m.
The Hawks (4-3) are showing signs of promise and Creighton (5-1) is once again no joke. First trip to the state of Nebraska for St. Joe's since 1981. It's a homecoming for Saint Joseph's University president Timothy R. Lannon, S.J. who is an alumnus of Creighton.
St. Mary's at Southern Illinois, Tuesday 8 p.m.
Salukis have had back-to-back explainable losses to USC and Indiana but will need to get wins at Charlotte (5-2) on Saturday and home for St. Mary's (6-0 and at San Diego State Saturday) on Tuesday. No easy task, for sure, but important for Southern Illinois' post-season resume.
Cindy will be heading over to the TD BankNorth Garden in Boston on Saturday afternoon to see our sweetheart of sweethearts, Gonzaga as they face off against UConn (followed by Boston College and Providence College). [Both games with be live-blogged at Posting Up.]
But there are still a handful of Cindy games that we'll be DVRing and/or following closely with CSTV.com's outstanding GameTracker feature. Here's our weekly guide to help you follow along as well (all times EST):
Duke vs. Davidson, Saturday Noon
Davidson put a scare into North Carolina in the same building (Bobcat Arena) a couple of weeks ago. Lets see how they fare against Duke and use that as a gauge for just how good this young Blue Devils team is
Radford at Presbyterian College, Saturday 7 p.m.
The 0-8 Blue Hose (not to be confused with the Garden Hose or the Fire Hose) host their first-ever Division I home game at the Templeton Center. PC is still in search of its first D-I win and will play 19 of its first 20 games on the road for head coach Gregg Nibert. Radford, by the way, is coached by CSTV fave, Seth Greenberg's brother, Brad Greenberg, who is in his first year with the Highlanders.
Continue reading "Cindy's Games Of Interest" »
The crane just came in to lift Cindy from the Thanksgiving table and place us in front of the computer. As you can imagine, the fingers aren't quite working the way we'd like and we're all sorts of Turkey Tired, but hopefully we can rattle off some games of interest for the weekend before we need to have the crane place us gently into our bed for the annual Thanksgiving Overload Recovery Period (TORP).
Enjoy the end of Feast Week and the slow roll into December and, eventually, conference play:
George Mason vs. Villanova, 5 p.m. Friday
Mason was absolutely impressive with its win over Kansas State on Thursday night. Cindy had underestimated teh returning players for the Patriots and for that we are sorry. We shall never doubt Jim Larranaga again. We like Mason's experience over 'Nova's youth in this one.
Bradley at Iowa, 7:30 p.m Friday CSTV
The teams haven't faced each other since 1976. Bradley beat Iowa State last week and is a force to be reckoned with.
New Mexico State vs. Texas, 7 p.m. Friday
The Aggies were a popular pick to make some early-season non-conference noise, but have mostly been silent. This one, in the new Newark, NJ building, would amp up the noise meter just a bit.
Continue reading "Cindy's Games of Interest" »
We had to be neglectful of our Games to Watch duties, but our visit to New York City has been jam-packed with a whole lot of NYC hustle and bustle. We promise to return next week with a full feast of Thanksgiving weekend games.
In the meantime, we invite to take a look at this piece we did on tonight's Memphis-UConn match-up and we'll couch it under the fact that at one time, UMass (where Calipari was) was one of the all-time Cinderellas.
Thanks for your patience and understanding.
Glass Sneaker Team of the Week: Gardner-Webb
In this space's debut last week we were thanking our lucky stars that Gardner-Webb was able to provide an early upset and afford us the opportunity to have a legit Cinderella Team of the Week for Week One. Even though there have been other upsets since (chiefly from fellow Atlantic Sun hombres), we have to go with G-W again, almost entirely because of the imminently likable head coach of the Fightin' Bulldogs, Rick Scruggs.
Scruggs, a self-admitted memorabilia collector, is looking forward to his team's trip to New York City this week for the semifinals of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.
"I've never been there and I don't think anyone on the team has either," said Scruggs. "I went once and tried to sneak in just to get a look around, but they wouldn't let me in. I hope they let me in on Thursday!"
The week-plus since the upset win over Kentucky at Rupp Arena has been a total whirlwind for Scruggs and his team.
"It's been the most fun I've had coaching in the past 25 years," said Scruggs, in his 12th season at G-W. "I'm seeing things on campus I thought I'd never see. We had kids camping out on Friday night to get tickets for New York that went on sale Monday morning. Me and my wife brought them pizzas every night.
"We've had media coverage from everywhere - the New York Times, ESPN - it's been beyond my wildest belief," Scruggs said. "We actually talked about if we could have gotten more covearge if we made the NCAA tournament and in terms of 'bang for the buck,' I'm not sure this game didn't do more than if we'd made the (NCAAs). Beating Kentucky in Rupp doesn't happen very often. I want the team to be able to smell the roses and know what they have accomplished."
The only downside, if you can call it that, is that Gardner-Webb is now in the midst of a crazy schedule that saw them play a Division II team on Tuesday night, followed by games on Thursday and Friday at MSG and a 7 p.m. tilt at Radford in Virginia on Saturday night. Then, to cap off a hectic two week run, the Runnin' Bulldogs face UConn again on Tuesday at the Hartford Civic Center. (The game was scheduled in the off-season and could give G-W honorary status in the Big East this season!)
"We're playing an NBA schedule all of the sudden." laughed Scruggs. "But it will be an honor and a privilege to be on the same sideline as Jim Calhoun."
Continue reading "Team and Player of the Week" »
Most of college basketball's non-BCS conferences have to wait until March for their chance at making some noise, raising their profiles and going from "Who Dey?" to "Star of the Day."
The Atlantic Sun conference (which the Associated Press dared to call a "low major") has decided to make its madness matter most even before the Macy's Day parade has been launched. In the course of four days The ASun confirmed its bold motto of "Building Winners for Life" - and wins to last a lifetime.
The Sun's scintillating stroking began on Wednesday with Gardner-Webb's shocker at Lexington over Kentucky, 84-68; continued on Friday with Belmont's 86-75 win at Cincinnati; and culminated on Saturday with Mercer's 96-81 takedown of OJ Mayo and USC.
For those tallying at home, that adds up to wins over the SEC, the Big East and the Pac-10. Low Major leagues wouldn't get three wins over those three conefernce in a full season, never mind in less than a week.
"The Kentucky result was on our mind," USC's Taj Gibson said after his team was upset on Saturday night. "We knew this was a dangerous team."
And a dangerous league, it would appear. Despite having no current league members that have ever advanced past the first round of the NCAA Tournament (and just three teams who have made it to the second round), the 2007-08 Atlantic Sun can already claim this season as a success.
"When you are a mid major, you have to beat people and its almost always on the road," said Belmont head coach Rick Byrd. "You have to beat people like Cincinnati, and it's a big win for the team and the program."
Continue reading "Atlantic Sun Stuns" »
If it's Friday at the Glass Sneaker, that means it's time to highlight some of the myriad games that will be popping up on the Cinderella Castle HDTV over the weekend. Of course, when the games can't be brought down on the Cindy Dish, we simply head over to the ever-helpful CSTV GameTracker and get our fill the way our ancestors did - through their transistor computer-radioes.
The slow trickle of games that started off this first week of "real" games transforms into a full-on gush this weekend and here are some of the contests that we'll be seeking out, even if they might be a bit off radar, for one reason or another.
The GPA Game - Friday, Harvard at Stanford 10 p.m. EST
Tommy Amaker Era begins at Harvard and instead of box scores, officials will distribute SAT scores at half-time. The Crimson could be in trouble as the Cardinal return all five starters.
The Big Five and a Half Game - Friday, Drexel at Penn, 7 p.m. EST
Not technically a member of the Big 5, Drexel might have been the city's best team last year and were unceremoniously left out of the NCAA Tournament. Penn's a Top 3 pick in the Ivy League and the Dragons are Top 3 in the CAA - should be a dandy.
No Strangers to March Madness Games - All on Friday, Butler at Ball State, 7 p.m. EST; Vermont at George Mason, 7 p.m. EST; DePaul at Creighton, 8 p.m. EST
All six of these teams have had marvelous March Moments and the Vermont/Mason match-up gives us two of the most celebrated Cinderellas in recent memory.
Welcome Back, Rick Game - Sunday, St. Louis at Pittsburgh, 6 p.m. EST
Debut weekend for Rick Majerus and his Billikens, who gave Memphis all they could handle in closed door scrimmages a couple of weeks back. They're probably not ready to take down a Big East power, but Majerus should never be doubted. And never interfered with in a buffet line.
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