Rankings, Irrelevant Comments & More (Take 10)

I give you my tenth installment of Rankings and Irrelevant Comments - more so for your entertainment than for your education.

RANKINGS
1.UConn (23-1)
Best Wins: Miami, at Gonzaga, West Virginia, Villanova, at Louisville, SU
Losses: Georgetown

My Irrelevant Comment:
I swear I’ve seen Hasheen Thabeet miss at least three dunks this year. The guy is 7’3”. Him missing a dunk is almost as unfathomable as Rick Majueris missing a meal.

2.Oklahoma (22-1)
Best Wins: Purdue, Davidson, Utah, Texas
Loss: at Arkansas

My Irrelevant Comment:
When you think of Oklahoma you probably don’t think of basketball. Unless maybe you’re from Oklahoma. But, then in that case, you’re probably not thinking at all.

3.North Carolina (20-2)
Best wins: Michigan State, Notre Dame, Clemson, at Duke
Loss: Boston College, Wake Forest

My Irrelevant Comment:
I tried to explain to my 6-year old the difference between North Carolina and NC State. I told her that they are both public schools, but North Carolina is much harder to get into than North Carolina State. And she said, “Oh, so in North Carolina, ‘state’ means dumb.”

4.Pitt (20-2)
Best wins: Florida State, at Georgetown, Syracuse, ND, WV
Loss: at Louisville, at Villanova

My Irrelevant Comment:
Fans of opposing teams have allegedly taken to calling Levance Fields, Sally. That’s just mean. I really hope he hits a game winner some day, then grabs the microphone and yells, “You like me. You really like me.”

5.Louisville (18-4)
Best Wins: at Villanova, Kentucky, Pitt, ND, at SU
Losses: Western Kentucky, UNLV, Minnesota, UConn

My Irrelevant Comment:
Whenever I hear Edgar Sosa’s name I always think of Keyser Soze from “Usual Suspects”. I guess they do kind of sound the same. And then there’s freshman Kyle Kuric. When I hear his name I can’t help but think of – Dan Rather.

6.UCLA (19-4)
Best Wins: USC, Cal, Arizona, ND
Losses: Michigan, Texas, ASU, Washington

My Irrelevant Comment:
Coach Ben Howland came to LA after spending 4 years at Pittsburgh. That’s like moving to paradise after spending 4 years in, well, Pittsburgh.

7.Wake Forest (18-4)
Best Wins; Baylor, BYU, UNC, at Clemson, Duke
Loss: Virginia Tech, Miami, Georgia Tech, NC State

My Irrelevant Comment:
Wake’s sophomore forward James Johnson is a martial arts specialist. He’s also in a bit of a shooting slump. This begs the question: Can he break more bricks than he shoots?

8.Clemson (20-3)
Best Wins: at Illinois, at Miami, South Carolina, Duke
Loss: Wake Forest, UNC, Florida St.

My Irrelevant Comment:
Terrence Oglesby is one of the best 3-point shooters in the country. It’s amazing that he was an un-recruited walk-on. Makes me think I should apply for job as a recruiter. I have no experience, so my resume would simply be one line: I’m not one of the idiots who missed out on Oglesby.

9.Memphis (21-3)
Best wins: at Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Tennessee
Losses: Xavier, Georgetown, SU

My Irrelevant Comment
Forward Pierre Henderson-Niles has lost a staggering 40-plus pounds since September. Though I don’t know if it’s actually “lost” because I can still see it – around the waistline of Coach Calipari.

10. Duke (20-4)
Best Wins: Michigan, Purdue, Xavier, Georgetown
Loss: Michigan, Wake Forest, at Clemson, UNC

My Irrelevant Comment:
The Blue Devils play in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Isn’t the “Indoor” part kind of implied? You know, by the existence of the walls and the roof.

MOST OVERRATED TEAM

Marquette
I sense a pretty hard fall is coming. Check out the end of Marquette’s schedule: UConn, Louisville, Pitt, and SU. Wow! And by “Wow” I don’t mean that’s exciting. No, I mean “Wow” as if I just saw Kathy Griffin without make-up.


MOST UNDERRATED TEAM

Utah State
Only blemish on the record is a 5-point loss to BYU. That’s thanks in large part to 26-year old Gary Wilkinson. He claims he feels old around his teammates. Woe is you Gary. I’m now at the age where I can’t even remember when 26 seemed old.

OTHER OPINIONS
Bill Sullivan – Notre Dame: I cannot take Notre Dame losing 7 in a row, so I am taking drastic measures and I am not going to watch anymore college basketball until the Irish win again. So let me know how this year's March Madness goes and see you all next December.

Ken Robbins - Memphis: The Tigers are overrated. Though Dave’s early season prediction that they’ll make it to the Final 4 with an unfair home court advantage may prove true. Sure hope their coach learns how to take time-outs this post-season so he survives that long.


If you’d like to contribute to next weeks Rankings and Irrelevant Comments just email me your comments by Wednesday night at davebarend@yahoo.com.

Also, please check out collegehoopsnet.com where you will not only find more of me (starting sometime this week), but a whole lot of other info on college hoops as well.

Take it easy,
Dave