Maui Invitational

Weekend Tourneylicious…

CHN — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 03:36:13 -0500

So the Maui Invitational ends tonight in an early-season blockbuster game - Notre Dame vs. North Carolina - and the CBE Classic and Paradise Jam are already finished, but fear not, hoopheads, there’s plenty more on the way this week..

Continuing tonight in MSG, we have the semifinals of the Preseason NIT. The finals will be on Friday night. Although the marquee teams aren’t as illustrious as some of the other names we’ll see over the next few days, the PNIT still holds a certain aura in terms of its prestige and respect among college fans. We like Purdue to wear down a spirited BC squad in the first game tonight, and Oklahoma to outlast Robert Vaden’s UAB team in the second game (Blake Griffin will have another monster game against UAB’s soft interior), setting up a top 10 showdown on Friday night between teams that you may not get to see much of this year (definitely must-see tv on Black Friday night).

And starting on Thanksgiving Day, two ESPN-sponsored tournaments will get under way, and the fields of these things are fairly impressive.

The Old Spice Classic in Orlando, FL, is a stacked field. Starting with Tennessee v. Siena in the noon game, there’s quality basketball all day here (ok, maybe not Maryland). Our preseason picks in this tourney were Siena v. Gonzaga in the finals, but we’re going to change our tune a little now that we’ve seen some of these teams play. We’re still going with Siena on the top half, but we now like Michigan St. on the bottom half, with the Spartans taking the Old Spice Classic title on Sunday. We would list a few games that we really would like to see from this tourney, but there are no truly worthless iterations possible here (ok, anything involving Maryland, we get it).

The Anaheim 76 Classic is another ESPN property airing during Thanksgiving weekend - the lineup is solid, although not as strong as the Old Spice. Previously we said we thought Wake Forest would meet Baylor in the finals of this tourney, and we’re standing by that prediction. The games to watch for prior to that matchup would be Wake v. St. Mary’s in one semifinal and Arizona St. v. Baylor in the other. These are four NCAA Tournament teams, and every one of them has the chops to go to the Sweet 16 or further. Watching Patty Mills navigate the athletic and long arms of the Wake defense would be special, and that’s why RTC will be ONSITE for that game on Friday afternoon. Expect a postgame report from SoCal.

Checking in on the… Big 10

CHN — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 15:48:55 -0500

Josh & Mike at Big Ten Geeks are the RTC correspondents for the Big Ten Conference.

Looking Back

The team that’s made the most noise in the Big Ten so far this season is Michigan. The Wolverines defeated UCLA 55-52 on their way to the Coaches vs. Cancer final, where Duke ran away in the second half. But it’s a long season, and we still can’t really say if Michigan is that good, or if UCLA is just that bad (probably a bit of both). What is encouraging, however, was the turnover situation for Beilein’s crew. The Wolverines have been forcing TOs while taking care of the ball on their end of the floor in this early part of the season, and what’s more, that trend continued against Duke, which is a difficult thing to do (last year, Duke was among the nation’s elite with respect to TOs on both sides of the ball). This was a staple of Beilein-ball when he was at West Virginia, so it’s more evidence that the players are adjusting to his system.

Oh, and Manny Harris has been unstoppable. He’s been taking about 29% of Michigan’s shots so far this season, and despite that high shot diet, he has maintained a superb efficiency (96 points on 49 shots). He’s also been rebounding like a SF and dishing assists like Mike Conley. He can’t, of course, keep this up. But the Big Ten is on notice - Manny is now MANNY.

Wisconsin has had a rough go of it early in the season. While they haven’t lost, they struggled more than they should have against Long Beach State, and Iona took them to overtime. There hasn’t been a glaring root cause, so this is probably not something to get too worked up over, but this is probably not a 30-win team.

Purdue and Michigan State have coasted in their early season schedules, but things will get more interesting soon.

Illinois posted a road win against Vanderbilt, and while the Commodores likely aren’t an NCAA team, the Illini weren’t exactly flush with road wins last season. One number that has been of great comfort to Illini fans is the 77% free throw shooting so far this season.

Looking Ahead

It’s Tournament Week in the Big 10!

You’re probably reading this on Tuesday, which means that Indiana opened play last night in the Maui Invitational against Notre Dame, and Wisconsin took on Connecticut in the final of the Paradise Jam tournament. Purdue tips off against Boston College in the Preseason NIT on Wednesday, and Michigan State takes on Maryland in the Old Spice Classic on Thursday. Illinois takes on Kent State in the South Padre Invitational, Penn State plays Rhode Island in the Philly Hoop Group Classic, and Iowa takes on West Virginia in the Las Vegas Invitational.

Penn State also has an intriguing matchup with Penn out of the Ivy League. Penn had a very bad year (for them) last season, so Quaker fans are anxious to see their team return back to its Ivy dominance. Penn State is a team hoping to reach the NCAA Tournament, and this game will provide a very good barometer as to whether or not that’s a reasonable goal this season. Talor Battle has been dominant thus far, averaging 20.5 points on 11 shots while running the show with aplomb (17 assists to just 3 turnovers).

A Look at the Numbers

Like the leaves turning from green to an autumn array of colors signals the beginning of the fall season, the start of the college basketball season is signaled by coaches making promises about tempo. The Big Ten has a well-deserved rap for being slow, and while there’s no objective evidence that should change this year, promising a faster pace is all the rage this season. So how have these coaches delivered on these promises so far in the season? Well, here are the pace numbers so far (in adjusted possessions per game):

Illinois: 63.8
Indiana: 70.2
Iowa: 60.3
Michigan: 60.3
Michigan State: 59.1
Minnesota: 66.6
Northwestern: 55.5
Ohio State: 60.4
Penn State: 67.7
Purdue: 71.5
Wisconsin: 62.4

While Purdue and Indiana appear to be fast, at this point in the season, it’s too early to judge. A lot of that could just be the tendencies of these early season opponents. But this is something we’ll be looking at all season.

Oh, and the Big Ten is 35-1 so far on the season (as of this writing) - the best record of any conference in the country. Suck it, ACC! (Hey, only a few more weeks until the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. We have to brag while we can…)

ATB: Fresh Maui Breezes

CHN — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 03:33:02 -0500

Maui Invitational. Texas vs. Notre Dame could be the best game of the first month of the new season. UNC vs. Oregon could be interesting, but won’t be.

Texas 68, St. Joseph’s 50. The Texas defense has been absolutely superb so far this season, holding its three opponents to an average of 46.3 ppg and 29% from the field. St. Joe’s was no different, struggling to find open looks against the long arms and quick feet of the Longhorns. Damion James and AJ Abrams combined for 31/8 for the Horns, who will hook up with Notre Dame tomorrow in a blockbuster contrast of styles (ND is averaging 82.3 ppg).
Notre Dame 88, Indiana 50. This was a complete mismatch from start to finish, as the experienced Golden Domers meticulously picked apart the green Hoosiers in nearly every way possible. Notre Dame shot 51% as it brought back to the fore that Indiana simply isn’t going to be very good this season. Tory Jackson had 21/5/6 assts and Kyle McAlarney contributed 18 (all threes) for the Irish.
UNC 115, Chaminade 70. UNC rode a 67-pt second half to the second-worst loss that host Chaminade has ever suffered in this tournament. Roy Williams kept Tyler Hansbrough on the bench throughout, figuring it best to keep him fresh for what will be a much tougher next two days of games. Danny Green had a career-high 26 pts, while Ty Lawson added 19/6 assts. UNC will play a revived Oregon next, but we guarantee that the Heels will put up more of a fight defensively than Bama did.
Oregon 92, Alabama 69. At times during this game, Alabama appeared to be the least prepared and worst coached team in America. And they were playing a team in Oregon that often appears that way themselves, which should really tell you something. If we had a coconut for every time Bill Raftery or Jay Bilas said the word “terrible,” our living room would smell like Maui right about now. UO hit a blistering 54% from the floor while holding Bama to 36%. In a sidenote, Ronald Steele shot 3-11 from the field and just doesn’t look like the same player he was two years ago (before all of his knee injuries).

CBE Classic. It’ll be Syracuse vs. Kansas in KC tomorrow night for the championship.

Syracuse 89, Florida 83. Florida’s ‘improved’ defense got exposed exploited, giving up 89 points and 52% shooting to the more athletic Orange in an entertaining up-and-down game that featured several nice performances on both sides. Paul Harris contributed 18/11 for the Orange, while Alex Tyus chipped in 24/4 for the Gators.
Kansas 73, Washington 54. KU’s Cole Aldrich dominated the more ballyhooed Jon Brockman by dropping 16/9/6 blks (vs. Brockman’s 7/18 on 2-9 shooting) in the Jayhawks’ blowout victory in the semis of the CBE Classic. The Kansas defense held the Huskies to 29% shooting for the game, and frankly, Washington largely looked out of sorts for much of this game.

Paradise Jammation.

Miami (FL) 80, San Diego 54. The Hurricanes used a 20-0 run from the 18-minute mark of the second half to completely overwhelm San Diego, and their star Jack McClinton didn’t even have a good game (9 pts). We thought this one would be a little closer, but SD came out of this tourney with RPI-booster games against an ACC team and a Big 10 team (Wisconsin), and even though they lost both, it will help their overall resume come March.
Connecticut 76, Wisconsin 57. With 13 minutes to go, UConn was up only two points. The next thing we knew, Wisconsin seemingly turned the ball over about a dozen times in a row (actually, 20 times), and UConn was suddenly ahead by fifteen points. Game over - championship to the Huskies. UConn shot 53% while holding Wisconsin to a mere 37%, led by Jerome Dyson’s 21/4. Tournament MVP Hasheem Thabeet had his moments defensively, altering shots and blocking several others (incl. one utterly ridiculous foul call), but a few of his post moves still looked like a serious work in progress. We’re just not sure that he’s dependable in there yet.

The Stephen Curry Show. Davidson 76, Florida Atlantic 60. Games like this where it was clear Davidson wasn’t completely tuned in are probably going to happen more often as they play an increasing amount of big-time games followed by their “normal” games. FAU hung around for most of this game based on Davidson’s poor shooting (37%), but SuperSteph once again saved the day by drilling nearly everything he put up (13-21 for 39 pts). His tag team partner, Andrew Lovedale, contributed 13/15. We could really be in for a season-long treat in the NPOY race between Psycho-T, Blake Griffin and Stephen Curry.

Upset of the Night. Jacksonville St. 75, UMass 74. Simply an unconscionable loss for Derek Kellogg’s Minutemen. A team like Jacksonville St. who was picked dead last in the OVC by various pundits shouldn’t be able to go into a high mid like UMass and take down the opponent in its home debut. But they did tonight. UMass used a late 15-3 run to take the lead after trailing for much of the game, but JSU’s Jonathan Toles hit a runner with eight seconds remaining to put his team up for good.

Other Games of Little to No Interest.

Arizona 86, Mississippi Valley St. 52. Chase Budinger had 24 and Jordan Hill 19 as Arizona got back on track after last week’s disaster.
Miami (OH) 55, Wright St. 37. Wright St. had three separate 5+ minute scoring droughts in this game.
Wake Forest 62, Winston-Salem St. 31. Can the Deacs guard? Probably not, but they did hold an opponent to its lowest total in 60 years tonight.
Vanderbilt 65, Middle Tennessee St. 57. Vandy held MTSU to only 30% shooting, as AJ Ogilvy led the way with 19/11.
Ohio St. 61, Bowling Green 57. BJ Mullens only had 2/1 in 11 mins of action.
Baylor 76, Jacksonville 68. Baylor struggled a little bit in this one, allowing 52% shooting from Jax. Lacedarius Dunn had 23 pts in the win.
Yale 53, Oregon St. 52. Poor Craig Robinson. Yale beating a Pac-10 team on the west coast is no longer considered an upset.
Towson 61, NJIT 48. Thirty-six Ls in a row now.

On Tap Tuesday (all times EST):

Indiana v. St. Joseph’s (ESPNU) - 1:30pm (Maui Invtl.)
Arizona v. Santa Clara - 5:45pm
Texas v. Notre Dame (ESPN) - 7pm (Maui Invtl.)
Pittsburgh v. Belmont - 7pm
Penn St. (-3.5) @ Penn - 7:30pm
Villanova v. Monmouth - 7:30pm
Florida v. Washington (ESPNU) - 7:45pm (CBE Classic)
Nebraska (-10) v. St. Louis (ESPN FC & 360) - 8pm
Marquette v. Texas Southern (ESPN FC & 360) - 8pm
Davidson v. Loyola (MD) - 8pm
Kansas St. v. Oakland (ESPN FC & 360) - 8pm
UNC v. Oregon (ESPN) - 9:30pm (Maui Invtl.)
Kansas v. Syracuse (ESPN2) - 10pm (CBE Classic)

11.24.08 Fast Breaks

CHN — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 20:59:00 -0500

Feasting on a feastly week of hoops… here’s the news…

Remember 73-yr old Ken Mink’s first game where he scored two points? We wondered who and how he could possibly get fouled?!? Believe it or not, watch the video here of this CBS News report where Mink pump-fakes on the wing and gets hammered by some 19-year old defender (#23) who never learned to properly close out on shooters.

Loyola Marymount head coach Bill Bayno is taking a leave of absence from his position, effective immediately, due to an undisclosed medical condition.
UCLA’s Alfred Aboya didn’t break his hand in Friday’s game against SIU, but SIU’s Nick Evans did (out 4-6 weeks).
Another blow for St. John’s basketball - their best player Anthony Mason, Jr is out for the year with a torn tendon is his foot (ouch).
The 2009 Maui began today, but the 2010 field is already set with: UConn, Kentucky, Washington, Wichita St., Michigan St., Oklahoma, Virginia and Chaminade.
More changes at Arizona - they’re bailing on their home-and-home with UNC starting next year.
Oh, and this. Erin Andrews at the UNC game (h/t Deadspin). Dude must have had RTC up on his cell phone to explain his lack of interest in what was in front of him.

Checking in on the… ACC

CHN — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 16:46:25 -0500

Zach Smith of Old Gold & Blog and DeaconsIllustrated is the RTC correspondent for the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).

Power Rankings (Record):

North Carolina (3-0)
Duke (6-0)
Wake Forest (2-0)
Florida State (4-0)
Clemson (5-0)
Miami (2-1)
Maryland (3-0)
Virginia (3-0)
Georgia Tech (2-0)
NC State (2-0)
Boston College (3-1)
Virginia Tech (3-2)

Impressive Wins

Duke – I’m not convinced this year’s Duke team is going to be all that impressive, but it’s difficult to argue with their early performance. Other than a surprisingly close game with Rhode Island (82-79), Duke cruised through the 2K Sports Classic on their way to this early 6-0 record. Forward Kyle Singler is averaging 17 points and 7 boards a game, guards Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith are both averaging 13, and forward Gerald Henderson is averaging 12. The Blue Devils made the decision early on to bring Greg Paulus off the bench, which seemed to be working well so far. However, he suffered a “right forearm contusion” and did not play Sunday against Montana. His status is currently unknown.

North Carolina – The Tar Heels have looked pretty good to start the season, which is no surprise. Tyler Hansbrough returned to action for the first time on Friday against UCSB and contributed 13 points. It looks like he has recovered fully and is unlikely to be bothered by the injury going forward. Despite that good news, North Carolina received some very bad news in an impressive 77-58 rout of Kentucky. Highly touted freshman Tyler Zeller came down awkwardly on his wrist after going up for a layup in the second half. The wrist is broken and Zeller is likely out for the season.

Wake Forest – Despite the fact that the Demon Deacons have only played two games, they’ve looked very good in both. Through those two games Wake has won by an average of 39 points, and scored 120 against UNC Wilmington. Guard Jeff Teague is averaging 22.5 points, forward James Johnson is averaging 21.5 points and 9.5 rebounds, and freshman Al-Farouq Aminu is averaging 16 points and 11 rebounds. It is clear the Deacs are going to make their presence felt this season.

Early Disappointments

Virginia Tech – After starting the season with three straight wins, the Hokies have dropped back to back games, first on an overtime buzzer-beater against Xavier (62-63) and then against Seton Hall (73-77) in the third place game of the Puerto Rico Tip Off. Both of those losses came against pretty good teams, but the Hokies will need to be able to win those kinds of games to compete in the ACC this season. Forwards Jeff Allen and A.D. Vassalo, as well as guard Malcolm Delaney have looked good early for Virginia Tech, however they are not getting much production from anyone else.

Boston College – Despite a good win against St. John’s, the Eagles looked very poor against St. Louis on Saturday. They managed only 50 points in the 53-50 loss, shooting only 33% from the field. It’s going to take more than that for Boston College to make any noise this season.

Looking Ahead – Thanksgiving Tournaments

Despite the loss to St. Louis, the BC Eagles have a chance to redeem themselves in the Preseason NIT. They face Purdue in the semifinals on Wednesday, and could advance to face Oklahoma in the Championship with a win. A couple of good games could quickly right the ship for Boston College.

North Carolina begins the EA Sports Maui Invitational today against Chaminade, and will have to face some pretty good teams in one of the premier pre-season tournaments. They’re likely to face Alabama in the second round (unless Oregon beats them) and then Texas or Notre Dame in the Championship. It should be a good early barometer for the Tar Heels.

Maryland will also face some solid opponents in the Old Spice Classic at Disney World in Florida. They play Michigan State in their first game, Oklahoma State or Gonzaga in their second, and could potentially play Tennessee or Georgetown in the future. The Terrapins have a chance to make an early statement with a good showing.

Wake Forest gets to face off against some other up-and-coming teams in the 76 Classic, played in Anaheim, CA. They first face Cal State Fullerton before a likely game with St. Mary’s. A good performance in those two games puts them in the championship, likely against Baylor, although other potential opponents include Arizona State, Providence, and Charlotte. Either way these games are sure to provide some much-needed experience for a young Wake Forest team.

Other Matchups This Week

Florida State @ Cincinnati – Friday 11/28 – Florida State has already won two games on the road this season, and a matchup with undefeated Big East team Cincinnati is a good early test for the Seminoles.
Virginia @ Syracuse – Friday 11/28 – Virginia is not expected to have a good season, but this game against Syracuse could prove otherwise, or indicate that the Cavaliers will indeed be bottom-dwellers this season.

We’ll See Your Maui, and Raise You a CBE…

CHN — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 03:02:40 -0500

Yep, Feast Week is here, and that means tons of preseason tournament action this week. And to think that some misguided folks still associate Thanksgiving with the gridiron! Let’s take a quick look at the two tournaments starting tomorrow in Hawaii and Kansas City, and leave a comment if you have a favorite memory from one of these tourneys or a particular game you’re really excited about seeing.

Maui Invitational

This is our favorite annual preseason tournament. The Hawaiian shirts, the late start times, Bill Raftery, the high school gym, the raucousness of the fans, the soothing views of the sea as we go to commercial breaks, all of it. Oh, and it’s usually a loaded field, and this year is no different. If things go as expected (and hoped), we’ll have two good games tomorrow (Texas v. St. Joe’s and Oregon v. Alabama) followed by an absolute blockbuster on Tuesday (Texas v. Notre Dame) and Wednesday (Texas/ND v. UNC). And hey, who knows, there’s always the chance that little Chaminade can re-enact its magic from that fateful evening 26 yrs ago against another #1 team from the ACC with the reigning POY on the team. Right?

CBE Classic

Ed. note: we’ve already written a post on the absurdity of the Gazelle Group’s decision to pre-slot the regional hosts (Florida, Washington, Kansas, Syracuse) into the semifinals. Luckily for GG, all four hosts won their regions, thereby avoiding any possible outcry over the inherent unfairness of not allowing an upset winner to ‘advance’ into the semifinals of this ‘tournament.’

Nevertheless, the matchups in Kansas City are fairly good ones. All four of these teams have a good shot at playing March Madness this year. For our money, Florida’s young guns versus Kansas’ would be the ideal final game on Tuesday night.

Semifinal Doubleheader
(November 24 - 7:30 ET)
Syracuse vs. Florida- ESPN2
Kansas vs Washington- ESPN2

Set Your Tivos: Week 3

CHN — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:09:03 -0500

Our third installment of Set Your Tivos brings us what I consider the first legitimate tournament of the season–the Maui Invitational. It’s your yearly chance to see some of the biggest names in college basketball rocking Hawaiian t-shirts or polos. You could argue that I’m just being nostalgic over the most shocking upset in NCAA history (that barely anybody saw live) except that the famous game actually happened a little less than 3 months before I was born. Anyways, onto our weekly countdown. . .

Courtesy: http://www.gizmodo.com

#10: Boston College vs. #10 Purdue, Wednesday at 7 PM on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com: I’m curious to see how one of the Big 10 co-favorites (along with Michigan State and now Michigan) will do against a middle to bottom of the pack Big East team. This game is about getting some respect for the Big 10. If the Boilermakers don’t win this game easily, it could be a sign that we’re in for another season of really bad Big 10 basketball.

#9: Duquesne at #5 Duke; Friday at 3 PM on ESPN and ESPN360.com: It will still be November when they play this game so the Blue Devils should win this game even though they have struggled at times this year. One of the revelations from last week’s Coaches vs. Cancer was that Brian Zoubek may still be a stiff, but he is a tall one. Look for Coach K to try to get Zoubek involved as he may be a key for Duke if they want to advance deep into the NCAA tournament this year. (Hint: Don’t put Duke too far in your March Madness bracket).

#8: Maryland vs. #7 Michigan State, Thursday at 7 PM on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com: This game seems more interesting on paper (program reputation) than it will be on the court (this year’s teams), but I’ll be tuned in to see what Tom Izzo actually has this season. The Spartans come in with a preseason #7 ranking, but got “UNLV-Duke 1990″ crushed by Memphis in their Sweet 16 match-up and have lost their floor general Drew Neitzel. This year’s Spartan team has the potential to make it to Detroit (for the Final 4–I can’t imagine why you would want to go there for any other reason), but they’ll have to step it up several levels from where they were last week (beating Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne by 11 in a game that was as close as the final margin indicates).

#7: UAB vs. #14 Oklahoma, Wednesday 9 PM on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com: This game will be a match-up of potential All-Americans–Robert Vaden and Blake Griffin–although they won’t match-up against each other outside of the occasional switch off a screen. The Sooners looked like they were still basking in the glow of beating America’s sweetheart Davidson when they almost lost to Gardner-Webb although BIlly Gillispie may disagree. The thought here is that if Oklahoma could hold of Stephen Curry then they can do the same against Vaden.

#6: Saint Joseph’s vs. #8 Texas, Monday at 3 PM on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com: Rick Barnes managed to get to the Elite 8 one year after losing national POY and the greatest freshman ever (I disagree with rtmsf) Kevin Durant. Now the question is how far he can get the Longhorns after losing All-American point guard D. J. Augustin. The early game of ESPN’s tripleheader will give us some insight into that. The Longhorns should win this one easily since Phil Martelli’s crew is in rebuilding mode (see their loss to Holy Cross), but the Hawks could show us some weaknesses that the Longhorns may have.

#5: Syracuse at #19 Florida, Monday at 7:30 PM on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com: Jim Boeheim will need big games out of Jonny Flynn and Eric Devendorf to pull off the upset tonight. Despite struggling to put away Richmond last week, the Orangemen have the potential to pull off the upset against Billy Donovan’s young squad especially after the loss of last year’s starting PG Jai Lucas. I’m assuming that the Gators will return to the NCAA tournament, but if they want to have a successful season (Sweet 16 trip), they will have to be able to beat teams of Syracuse’s caliber.

#4: Indiana vs. #9 Notre Dame, Monday at 5:30 PM on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com: Our first look at Tom Crean’s new squad (Bruce Weber has already told us what he thinks of them). Unfortunately this game isn’t at Alumni Hall. It will be interesting to see how the Hooiser faithful react to Crean and his JV squad. I am imaging the scene out of Hooisers at town hall where they vote Norman Dale out before Jimmy Chitwood shows up and saves the day. Unfortunately, I don’t think Eric Gordon can come back to Bloomington with any eligibility to recreate this. Bottom line: The Golden Domers will have something to look forward to after pelting their football players with snowballs after another embarrassing loss.

#3: #6 Pittsburgh vs. Texas Tech, Friday at 7:30 PM on HDNet: I’m guessing that Pat Knight’s boys won’t be putting up 167 tonight unless this game goes to 6 OTs. So far the Panthers have players compared to Shaq (DeJuan Blair) and Lebron (Sam Young) and that doesn’t even factor in Levance Fields, who may be the most important player on the roster. There is no question that Pittsburgh is the better team in this match-up, but I’ll be following this to see just how good the Panthers are and the Red Raiders have had a tendency to come up with big upsets early in the year.

#2: #3 Louisville vs. Western Kentucky, Sunday at 3 PM on Fox College Sports Atlantic: Our first good look at RTC pre-season bracketology national champion against some real competition. The Hilltoppers lost a lot in the backcourt (Courtney Lee, Ty Rogers, and Tyrone Brazelton), but they return a lot of experience in the frontcourt. If the Hilltoppers want to give Rick Pitino’s Cardinals a game they will need JUCO transfer Sergio Kerusch, Motlow State Community College transfer Anthony Sally, and Dejan Cvoro, a point guard from Serbia, to step up. I’m guessing that Western Kentucky will keep it close for the first 10 minutes before Louisville pulls away, but it should still be interesting to see just how good freshman Samardo Samuels is. If he is as good as advertised, Pitino may have a legitimate title contender.

#1: Oklahoma State vs. #11 Gonzaga, Thursday at 9 PM on ESPN2 and ESPN360.com: Mark Few comes into this year with his 2nd highest ranked team ever (7th in the 2005-2006 preseason poll) and one of the most talented teams he has ever had. While the Zags lack the superstar they had a few years ago in Adam Morrison, they are not lacking in talent (Jeremy Pargo, Matt Bouldin, Austin Daye, and Josh Heytvelt). However, as the Zags have steadily moved up in the national conscience andthe regular season polls, they seem to have underperformed in the NCAA tournament. After losing to Cinderella (Davidson) in the first round last year, the Zags are hoping to bounce back and their first big test of the season will be against Travis Ford’s Cowboys. Ford has been quick to keep expectations realistic for his rookie season, but some experts have picked the Cowboys to be a surprise in the Big 12 despite their lack of interior play.

Maui Invitational Preview: Can Someone Stop UNC?

Kevin McNeill — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 14:21:05 -0500

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EA SPORTS Maui Invitational (Nov 24-26)

Key Games:

- Texas / St. Joseph's winner vs. Indiana / Notre Dame winner

- UNC vs. Alabama / Oregon winner

- Championship game

Once again, Maui showcases a little bit of everything. The country will get a good look at three teams contending for their respective conference titles, two of the most underrated freshmen in the country in Michael Dunigan and JaMychal Green, along with returning stars such as Tyler Hansbrough, Tajuan Porter, Luke Harangody and the great tandem of AJ Abrams and Damion James.

You also have the dueling storylines of a tradition-rich program primed for a run at the national title, along with a tradition-rich program just trying to get through one of their most challenging seasons ever.

North Carolina starts the season the same way they started the last one, as the top ranked team in the nation. This time however, there is a noticeable gap between the Tar Heels and everyone else. Not only do they return the reigning Wooden award winner (not to mention the other five national POY awards), but also feature Wayne Ellington, Danny Green and Ty Lawson - all of whom pulled out of the NBA draft to come back for a title run.

Marcus Ginyard will be in street clothes for the tournament, which is a huge setback, especially on defense, but the Heels still tower over everyone else and should be the favorite to leave the island with the championship. Even though Tyler Hansbrough is still recovering from a stress reaction in his shin, he should be more than effective in Hawaii.

The Maui tournament is also a great test for North Carolina, not only for the high caliber of the field, but for the fact that it also prepares the Heels for a big test at Michigan State. They should be more than ready for the start of ACC play come January.

On the other end of the spectrum sits Indiana. They will field a team with all but two players from last season's roster having either transferred or been booted, a lame duck Athletic Director, an entirely new coaching staff, a self-imposed penalty limiting contact with recruits and a loss of a scholarship - all due to the still-lingering effects of the Kelvin Sampson call scandal.

Better yet, Indiana still awaits word on the NCAA's ruling over the charge of "failure to monitor," indicating that the school didn't do enough to watch Sampson's calls and activities in regard to recruits. Indiana angrily, and repeatedly, denied the charge over the summer, but soon after Sampson helpfully issued a statement saying he never concealed his illegal calls from university officials. Besides, the NCAA rarely likes to admit they were wrong.

So, in a perfect world, the end result would be that Indiana wouldn't have to suffer any more indignities than they already have, and Kelvin Sampson wouldn't be allowed within 100 yards of so much as a NAIA job. Which means of course that it may be safe to predict that Indiana will find itself facing a postseason or television ban, and Sampson will be back in college again by this time next year (following his foray into the NBA as an assistant).

But we move on. The Maui Invitational could well feature back to back matchups of Top 10 teams, should Texas play Notre Dame, with the winner facing the top ranked Tar Heels in the title game. That alone makes it once again the preseason's best tournament.

Another thing to look out for are the two aforementioned freshmen - Michael Dunigan for Oregon and JaMychal Green for Alabama. It wasn't that long ago that we didn't put much stock in freshmen play in November since they are just getting their first glimpse of the college game. No more. Dunigan is already averaging 13 & 8 down low, while Green tries to replace Richard Hendrix by chipping in 15 & 10.

Finally, one last note. The tournament first began on the 20^th anniversary of the greatest upset in sports history, Division II school Chaminade's victory over Ralph Sampson and #1 Virginia in 1982. They play the Tar Heels in the first round this year. If a miracle happens, would this be a bigger upset?

2008 Maui Invitation Bracket Announced

Press Release — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 18:43:20 -0400

MAUI, Hawaii, Aug. 5, 2008 – The EA SPORTS Maui Invitational today announced the official bracket for the 2008 edition of the nation’s premier early-season college basketball tournament. Marking its milestone 25^th year, the eight-team competition will return to Maui’s ocean-front Lahaina Civic Center Nov.24-26.

Battling this year for the coveted Wayne Duke Championship Trophy, will be North Carolina, Notre Dame, Texas, Indiana, Oregon, Saint Joseph’s, Alabama and host Chaminade. Six of the seven Division I teams in the 2008 lineup participated in the 2008 NCAA Tournament, highlighted by North Carolina’s Final Four appearance and Texas’ run to the Elite Eight. The field also includes three former national champions – North Carolina, Indiana and Oregon – with 10 NCAA titles between them.

The ESPN networks will combine once again to offer live television coverage of all 12 tournament games. In addition, ESPN360.com will provide live simulcasts of the games televised on ESPN and ESPN2.

“Throughout its history the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational has become synonymous with the kickoff of the college basketball season,” said Tournament Chairman Dave Gavitt. “We look forward to commemorating the tournament’s 25^th year with another impressive field vying for Maui glory. Fans from across the nation can look forward to a memorable experience, on and off the court.”

First-round action tips off Thanksgiving week on Monday, Nov. 24, with Game One featuring Atlantic 10 team and Maui newcomer, Saint Joseph’s, led by coach Phil Martelli, against 2008 Elite Eight participant and three-time Maui team, Texas, under head coach Rick Barnes. The winner of this game will take on the winner of Game Two, pitting in-state rivals for battle as five-time national champion and 2002 Maui champ, Indiana, guided by new coach Tom Crean, will face head coach Mike Brey and Notre Dame, a growing BIG EAST force returning for a second appearance at the Lahaina Civic Center. Four-time national champion and two-time Maui titleholder, North Carolina, will hit the hardwood in Game Three, as Hall of Famer Roy Williams pilots his highly touted Tar Heels in a contest with 2008 PacWest Conference champion and tournament host Chaminade, which pulled off an upset over Princeton in Maui last year. The winner of that game will square off with the winner of Game Four, which pairs two teams making their Maui debut: head coach Ernie Kent will call the shots when former national champion and 2007 Pac-10 Conference titleholder, Oregon, plays against the Crimson Tide of Alabama, a Mark Gottfried-led team looking to make its mark in paradise.

The semifinals will take place Tuesday, Nov. 25 at 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN, with the winners advancing to the championship game Wednesday, Nov. 26 at 10 p.m. Eastern (also on ESPN).