Here’s Charlie’s latest projection through games as of Feb. 21. Scroll over a team name for more analysis. Records reflect Division I competition only.
Automatic bids are in CAPS.
This is the absolute best time of the year for talking basketball with everyone.
Bids by Conference is going to make some people edgy…
- Big 12 (8)
- ACC (7)
- Big East (7)
- SEC (6)
- Big Ten (3)
- Atlantic 10 (3)
- Pac-10 (3)
- America East (2)
- Sun Belt (2)
- Colonial (2)
I love the ACC, was part of it for 4 years. It is arguably one of the Top 2 Conferences in the country year after year… but, 7 bids is high! I say 5. UNC and Maryland are all questions and NC State is on the cusp. Each of those teams are currently 5-7 or 6-6 in the ACC. If you allow all of them in, how then do you say no to Wake Forest and maybe Boston College? Both are either 5-7 or 6-6 and Wake Forest is a head of UNC and Maryland in the ACC standings. don’t go to the RPI and Strength of Schedule… it’s all comparable.
Why not give the Atlantic 10, Colonial or Mountain West a 4th, 3rd or 2nd team in, respectively. Maybe give one or two of the MAAC, MAC, America East or Missouri Valley and 2nd team in.
Everyone screams for more parity in Women’s Basketball. You can’t have parity if the Top 5 Conferences hold 31 of the 64 spots in the NCAA tournament every year. Those coaches will never be able to consistently convince (recruit) top prospects to play in conferences where only one team goes to the NCAA’s year in and year out.
We’ll see…
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Posted 2 weeks, 1 day ago. Add a comment
Amazing man… coach and career. Congratulations Coach Meyer. I was privileged to see two of his recent clinics (Richmond, VA and Las Vegas) this year. Outstanding. As I have said before, if you have not heard him – do it. You will be a better person for it.
Thank you for everything you have done for your student-athletes and our profession.
Coach Don Meyer
from CBSSports.com wire reports
One of the winningest men’s basketball coaches in history is retiring.
Northern State coach Don Meyer said Monday he no longer has the physical or mental energy to run the basketball program at its “highest possible level.” He will retire at the end of the season.
Meyer, 65, was critically injured in a car accident in September 2008 that later resulted in the amputation of his left leg below the knee. Doctors then discovered he had an inoperable form of cancer.
“It is time for someone with more energy and time available to deal with the unique challenges of a basketball program like Northern State,” Meyer said.
Meyer has continued to coach despite his health problems, with 922 wins and 323 losses headed into the final week of this season. In January 2009, he broke Bob Knight’s NCAA record of 902 wins, coaching from the sidelines in a wheelchair.
Meyer’s record includes wins at NAIA schools, though he broke Knight’s record while with the NCAA Division II Wolves. Philadelphia University basketball coach Herb Magee won his 902nd game — all at NCAA schools — on Saturday. He can surpass Knight on Tuesday when the Rams play Goldey-Beacom College in Philadelphia.
Earlier this season, McKendree University coach Harry Statham notched his 1000th win at the NAIA powerhouse in Lebanon, Ill. The only other member of the 1,000-win club is Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summitt.
Last July, Meyer received the ESPN Jimmy V. Perseverance Award. In April, he is to receive the Legends of the Hardwood Award at the NCAA Final Four. The court at Northern State is named in his honor.
“Don is a legendary coach but, more importantly, a legendary person,” Northern State president James Smith said. “His passion for developing young men into extremely successful adults is and always has been his true key to success. I look forward to working more closely with him but am saddened by the thought of not seeing him walking the floor that so proudly carries his name.”
Smith said Meyer will remain on staff at Northern State helping promote the northern South Dakota school. A national search for a new head men’s basketball coach is to begin immediately.
Meyer, a native of Wayne, Neb., coached at Hamline University and Lipscomb University before taking the Northern State job in 1999. Before becoming a head coach he was an assistant at Western State and at Utah.
Meyer plans to address the crowd from center court following Northern State’s final regular season game on Saturday night against Southwest Minnesota State.
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Posted 2 weeks, 2 days ago. Add a comment
There is major changes coming in Youth Basketball. We’ve watched the establishment of iHoops and YB21 and the development of those philosophies. We’ve seen the NCAA begin to develop new legislation to further regulate and monitor non-scholastic youth basketball. No matter what “side” you are on, here is a good resource for following some of the discussions.
Major Grassroots Changes Coming (UPDATED)
Continue Reading…
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Posted 3 weeks, 1 day ago. Add a comment
By Andy Johnston For the AJC
Some folks say it’s parity. Others are beginning to worry that this is a down season for the ACC.
The ACC continues to be the top-rated conference in the Sagarin and Pomeroy rankings, but only Duke and Georgia Tech are ranked in the AP Top 25, and the Blue Devils might have knocked the Yellow Jackets out of next week’s poll with their 86-67 victory on Thursday night.
Every team has at least four losses, and Duke, which is considered the ACC’s best team, was crushed by Big East-power Georgetown on Sunday. One thing is for certain: The conference doesn’t have a dominant force like last season’s North Carolina team that won the national championship.
“It’s where we are now. It’s where this conference is at,” North Carolina State coach Sidney Lowe said. “Any given night, you don’t know who is going to win. One team can knock off a nationally ranked team and then play another team that’s not ranked and lose to them. One thing you do know is that this league has a lot of talented players. If those talented players decide they’re going to be better and they’re going to get after it, they’re going to win.”
The fall of North Carolina (13-9, 2-5 ACC) has corresponded with the rise of both Maryland (15-6, 5-2) and Virginia (14-6, 5-2), which are tied for second behind Duke (18-4, 6-2). The parity is evidenced by the fact that 22 of ACC’s 46 games have been decided by eight points or less, including 13 by fewer than four points.
The balance might lead to only six ACC teams making the NCAA tournament, but all 12 entered this week in the top 110 of the RPI.
“It’s become a night-in and night-out grinder,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said. “It’s a challenge of every team to be at their best.”
Out of his shell
Freshman Jordan Williams is providing Maryland with an inside boost.
He posted his third double-double of the season in Maryland’s loss at Clemson on Sunday. The 6-foot-10 Williams then added 14 points in a win at Florida State on Thursday, reaching double-figures for the seventh time. His 13 rebounds Sunday were a career-high.
“[He provides] what we didn’t have last year, [which] is an inside presence,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said. “This year, when we’re playing well, we can throw the ball into Jordan and expect something good to happen.”
Possible return
Clemson guard Demontez Stitt has missed the past two games with a sprained foot, but coach Oliver Purnell hopes to have him back for Saturday’s game at Virginia Tech. Stitt had started 52 consecutive games before the injury.
On the ball
Malcolm Delaney, who scored 21 points in Virginia Tech’s 74-70 victory over North Carolina on Thursday, leads the ACC in scoring (19.8) and 20-point games (11).
N.C. State’s Julius Mays has made 20 consecutive free throws and is shooting 89.5 percent from the line (51-for-57).
Trevor Booker needs 19 rebounds to become the second player in Clemson history with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds. With 1,584 career points, he would join Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody and Texas’ Damion James as the only active players with 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Kyle Singler, playing with an injured right wrist, had career highs with 30 points and eight 3-pointers in Duke’s victory over Georgia Tech.
Must-see TV
Don’t sleep in, or you might miss Wake Forest’s game at Virginia, which begins at noon Saturday (WATL). On Wednesday, Duke plays at North Carolina at 9 p.m. (ESPN) in the first game of the season in that heated rivalry. They’ll also meet at Duke on March 6.
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Here are the links to the Arizona Men’s Basketball Newsletters: November through February.
A lot of good stuff… articles, sets, BOB’s.
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