College Basketball Round-up

We are in the midst of ESPN’s Rivalry Week for college basketball, so we are seeing plenty of great basketball, and last night was no exception. Here are some quick thoughts about last night’s games.

“The King stay the King” (explicit): (2) Kentucky Wildcats cruised yesterday to a 66-55 victory over the Alabama Crimson Tide. Kentucky is in a 3 horse race with Kansas and Syracuse for the top spot in the nation. While they’ve been a little streaky and rely too much on their freshman, they are a team to be reckoned with. They remain the top team in the SEC, and barring some major setback, should be a lock for a number 1 seed in the tournament. As for the Kentucky freshman, John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins last night showed once again why they are projected top 5 lottery picks in next year’s draft. They each posted a double-double in the score sheet and combined for 38 of the 66 total points. While it might be hard to win the National Championship on the backs of freshman, Kentucky could be the team to do it.

“A Change Is Gonna Come”: Two big time match-ups last night left the Big Ten standings a mess. (6) Purdue might have been higher ranked that (10) Michigan State, but the Spartans were atop the Big Ten. Well that changed after Purdue crushed the Spartans 76-64 and Illinois beat (13) Wisconsin. Now Illinois and the Spartans are tied for the conference lead, with Ohio State, Purdue, and Wisconsin right behind them. As if getting beat by the Boilermakers wasn’t bad enough, the Spartans are in the midst of a three game losing streak, and were undefeated in the Big Ten when the month started. Now is not the time you want to be struggling, (Purdue on the other hand are playing their best basketball). While there are 5 quality teams in the conference, it looks like Purdue is going to make a run for the Big Ten title and they should win it easy.

“Ain’t No Mountain High Enough”: The (24) Vanderbilt Commodores destroyed (12) Tennessee Volunteers last night 90-71. This game wasn’t even close and Vanderbilt had it pretty much had this game won from the get-go. They scored the first 6 points of the game and never looked back. The win not only will give them a nice boost in the rankings, but also moves them up to 2nd place in the SEC.