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College basketball players have been toiling for nearly three months in relative obscurity. But King Football has, at long last, exited from the main stage.
It’s time to get caught up on college hoops!
Dickie V is back, baybee!
Before we cover the men’s and women’s college basketball season, it’s time to welcome back college basketball’s favorite hype man, Dick Vitale.
After more than two years away from the ESPN microphone, the 85-year old legendary broadcaster was finally cleared to resume his college basketball analyst duties.
Dick Vitale returned courtside at Clemson on Saturday afternoon to a rousing ovation as the home court Tigers took down ACC rival Duke 77-71.
A mainstay of ESPN’s college basketball coverage since 1979, the former college basketball coach has battled cancer in numerous forms over the past few years.
In 2021, Vitale announced he had been diagnosed with lymphoma while he was already being treated for melanoma (skin cancer).
Two years later, he acknowledged that he had vocal chord cancer which required surgery and months of radiation treatment.
This past summer, Dick Vitale had one more setback as a lymph node returned to his vocal chords. After a delicate successful surgery and follow-up treatment, he was finally cleared to return to his first love – calling college basketball games for ESPN.
Dickie V. (who is known for such phrases as “You better get a big T.O., baybee!” or “This kid is a Diaper Dandy!’) was as happy to return to the basketball court as the college students (and all college basketball fans) were to see him, too.
It was awesome, baybee!
Don’t look now, but has the SEC taken over college basketball?
This week’s Associated Press men’s basketball rankings showed four of the top five teams being from the Southeastern Conference.
Auburn (21-2) is the number one team. They are followed by in-state rival Alabama (20-3) in the second spot, Florida (20-3) at #3, and Tennessee (20-4) is #5 this week.
Duke (20-3) was ranked #4 this week to keep it from being a top four SEC sweep.
In addition to those four teams, five more SEC teams occupied spots in the AP Top 25. Texas A&M came in at #8, Kentucky was at #15 followed by #19 Ole Miss, #21 Missouri, and #22 Mississippi State.
Having 36% of this week’s top 25 (9 of 25) may help SEC fans get over the sting of being shut-out of college football’s title game in each of the past two seasons.
The SEC women are rolling this season, too!
The nearly invincible South Carolina Gamecock women’s basketball team had their incredible 57-game SEC regular season winning streak come to an end last week at the hands of SEC newcomer Texas.
The Longhorns beat Carolina 66-62 and moved into #3 in this week’s AP rankings.
The AP placed Texas (24-2) at #3, South Carolina (22-2) as #4, and LSU (25-1) at the #5 spot. LSU travels to Texas on Sunday (2PM on ABC) to stay near the top of the SEC.
Additionally, Kentucky’s women (21-5) were ranked #8, Tennessee (17-6) came in #15, Oklahoma (17-6) at #16, and Alabama (20-5) was ranked at #21.
That’s seven SEC women’s teams (28%) ranked in this week’s top 25 grouping.
The “Iron Bowl of Basketball” will be played this Saturday in Tuscaloosa
If you have nearly $300, you might be able to scrounge an upper deck basketball ticket to see this Saturday afternoon’s men’s basketball game in Tuscaloosa.
At Alabama’s Coleman Coliseum, #1 Auburn (21-2) visits #2 Alabama (20-3) for the first time when the two teams have been #1 and #2 in the country.
These intrastate rival SEC schools don’t care much for each other no matter what the sport or intensity of the spotlight.
Auburn men’s basketball coach Bruce Pearl loves the pressure of big time games like this.
His Tigers feature five players scoring in double figures with a sixth averaging 9.8 points per game. Auburn is #8 nationally in scoring at 85 points per outing.
Alabama coach Nate Oats has turned the Crimson Tide into consistent winners on the basketball court during his five years at the school.
Senior guard Mark Sears averages nearly 18 points and five assists per game for a Bama team which leads the nation in scoring at 90 points per game.
Saturday’s game (3PM CST on ESPN) might turn into a track meet given the way these two teams light up the scoreboard. First team to 100 should win!
Quick – Can you name the only unbeaten major college team in all of college basketball?
If you answered the UCLA women, you win!
Out of the 700 men’s and women’s major college basketball teams, only the 23-0 UCLA Bruins women’s hoops team remains undefeated as of this week.
They’ll need to keep winning to reach the women’s record of 111 straight wins by the University of Connecticut Huskies between 2014 and 2017.
On Thursday night, the #1 Bruins will be happy just to secure win #24. They travel across town to face long-time rival and #6 rated USC (21-2).
These two teams now compete in the Big Ten Conference. Thursday’s night’s game will be televised at 9PM CST on (ugh) Peacock.
Men’s college basketball top teams entering mid-February
Most college basketball teams have less than ten regular season games remaining plus their conference basketball tournaments to be played in early March.
Let’s review the current leaders of men’s basketball:
The SEC has nine top 25 men’s teams followed by the Big Ten and Big 12 (five teams apiece), the Big East (three), ACC (two), and the American (Memphis).
If there was ever a men’s college basketball team which is “due” to claim another NCAA title in March, it would be the Houston Cougars.
The Big 12 leaders are 20-4 and, as usual, play suffocating team defense. If the Coogs’ shooting continues to sparkle, this really might be their year.
The biggest surprise I noticed this week was that the West Coast Conference had no teams in the AP Top 25.
Long-time NCAA stalwart Gonzaga is having an “OK” year by most standards.
The Zags are currently 17-6. They have lost three overtime games and their six losses have been by a combined 34 points.
I was also surprised to see that the West Coast Conference leader (St. Mary’s Gaels) was not included in the AP Top 25 despite a 21-4 record and a sparkling 11-1 conference mark.
My underdog watch also says to keep your eyes on Missouri Valley leader Drake (22-2).
Other teams to consider as first-round March Madness spoilers include Atlantic-10 leader George Mason (19-5), Mid-American leader Akron (18-5), and two great “nickname” teams from the Big West.
The UC-Irvine Anteaters and the UC-San Diego Tritons are both 20-4 and could become March Madness spoilers.
Women’s college basketball top teams are quite familiar names
No one wants to face South Carolina’s tenacious defense and ten-deep roster in March.
The defending champs will be a tough out.
Surprising Notre Dame (21-2 overall) is unbeaten (12-0) in ACC play. This Irish team hasn’t (yet) needed their usual lucky charm.
Here are the leaders in each conference for women’s major college basketball as of this week:
The two-time national runner-up Iowa Hawkeyes are struggling a bit this year (17-7 overall but only 7-6 in the Big Ten). The Hawkeyes lost five in a row in January but have turned it around into their current five-game winning streak.
With no Caitlyn Clark available this year, the Hawkeyes will be a long shot just to make the March Madness field.
Speaking of surprises, former Louisiana Tech assistant coach Nell Fortner has turned around the fortunes of Georgia Tech.
Fortner’s Yellow Jackets are now 20-4 and nationally ranked at #19 this week.
Other “surprise” teams to watch down the stretch include the Atlantic-10’s Richmond Spiders (20-5), AAC leader UT-San Antonio Roadrunners (20-3), James Madison (21-4) from the Sunbelt Conference, and Southland Conference leader Southeastern Louisiana (20-3).
The race is on!
Over the next four weeks, the top teams in men’s and women’s college basketball will begin to separate from the pack.
As March Madness approaches, we will check in again to see which of these teams has moved to the top or faded into the background.