Feb. 26, 2008

By Brian Curtis

Senior Writer, CSTV.com

BRIAN CURTIS
Curtis is CSTV.com's Senior Writer and CSTV's football and basketball insider.
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        ---   Column Archive   --- M. BASKETBALL 4/11: Fits Like A Glove...Or Not 3/30: First Final Four Thoughts 3/28: The Other Four 3/20: Loser's Lament 3/17: RPI Becoming After Thought For Selection Committee 3/16: Quick Look Ahead 3/10: Mediocre Make-Or-Break 3/5: All Over The Map 2/26: Don't Count Out Kentucky Yet 2/19: Notre Dame Looking To Play In March Again 1/28: On The Rebound 1/20: Dropping Like Flies 7/26: Prosser Respected By All 6/29: Odds & Ends 6/1: Donovan - Good For Him 4/25: Wednesday Thoughts 4/13: Afflalo's Journey Continues 4/6: Gillispie Good Fit For Kentucky 4/4: Final Final Four Thoughts 3/24: Intermission: Act III 3/22: Smith's Move To Big Ten, Surprising 3/17: Intermission 3/10: T-Minus 36 Hours 2/24: Bigger Isn't Better 2/17: The Commonwealth 2/2: Howland Liking His Bruins 1/28: What I'm Thinking 7/07: The ABCs of ABCD: Day Two 7/07: The ABCs of ABCD: Day Two 7/06: The ABCs of ABCD: Day One 4/26: And the Seatch Continues... 4/5: And So the Season Is Done 3/28: What You Need to Know... 3/27: Enough About the Parity 3/26: One of the Shockers of My Lifetime 3/24: Atlanta: The Day After 3/20: Tuesday Morning QB (Point Guard) 3/16: Nine Thoughts From Day One 3/13: Selection Afterthoughts 3/09: Thursday Nine-Point Shot 3/08: Wednesday Three-Point Shot 3/04: What I Am Hearing 2/28: The Tuesday Eight 2/21: Trials and Tribulations 2/15: In The Nation's Capitol 2/08: Holy War: On the Wildcat Trail 1/20: Hoops Blitz: Rocky Top Rivalry 1/14: The Jury Is Still Out FOOTBALL 2/12: LSU To Promote Two Assts. To Def. Coordinator 1/20: The Three C's 1/14: Assistants In The Spotlight 1/9: Tomey On Hawai'i Wish List 1/8: LSU Impresses Like Never Before 1/3: Source: Caravantes Loses Ruling 1/3: The Right Man For The Job 12/29: The Coordinator Carousel 12/29: Bruins Get Much Needed Bravado 12/28: No Formal Interview For Locksley 12/26: Three Schools Still Searching 12/19: Football News & Notes 12/14: Updating The Carousel 12/8: Heisman Voters Got It Right 12/8: Michigan Coaching Search A Mess 12/4: Sizing Up The BCS 12/1: Summing Up The Searches 11/24: Black Saturday 11/19: Out With Carr, In With Miles? 11/18: Falling Down, Rising Up 11/11: When An Upset's Not An Upset 11/4: Where's The Outrage? 10/27: Coach Speak 10/21: What You're Not Hearing 10/14: Assume Nothing 10/7: Down On The Bayou 9/30: A Quick Read On Wild Week 5 9/23: The Heroes and Zeros of the Zeros 9/19: Crystal Ball Blitz 9/16: Sunday Morning Thoughts 9/9: Still No Answers 9/1: Some Things You Just Can't Explain 8/24: USC's Plethora of RBs Dwindling 8/14: Maryland, Illinois May Surprise Some 8/08: College Football News And Notes 7/30: Remembering Bill Walsh 07/15: Sooners, Carr and More 01/09: The Day After 01/03: Unbelievable 11/26: They Get It Right 11/3: An Unexpected Reaction 10/30: A Legacy Like No Other 9/30: Quick Replay 9/24: Will We Have Any Unbeatens? 9/10: The Rest of the Story 9/4: Lessons Learned From Week 1 8/28: The Insider 8/13: College Football Kicks Off 1/6: A Rose By Any Other Game 1/3: Home Game Feel For USC 1/3: Point/Counterpoint - Round 14 1/2: The Rose Bowl Blitz 1/1: The Making of Pete Carroll BASEBALL 6/4: Time's Ticking For Porcello KINGMAKERS 1/29: The West Virginia Saga 1/30: The Agents 1/30: The Donors

Eight Top 25 teams lost this weekend and some losses, like Butler's and Texas A&M's, meant more than others. Yes, Tennessee and Memphis was a classic, but both Bruce Pearl and John Calipari are headed for at least No. 2, probably No. 1 seeds, in the NCAA Tournament. This week has Tennessee at Vanderbilt, Notre Dame at Louisville and Michigan State at Wisconsin. 

One game of note from this weekend that hasn't gotten much play: Kentucky's victory over Arkansas. The Kentucky win means that Billy Gillispie and his boys have won eight of their last nine games.  Of course, that one loss was a 41-point blowout at Vanderbilt. Still, for a team that lost to Gardner Webb and San Diego early in the season, UK is poised to make the NCAAs if it can win down the stretch. With Ole Miss, Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida left before the SEC Tournament, there is still work to be done.

"I like where we are as a team," Gillispie told me Tuesday, "and we still can improve." 

As the coach points out, his teams at UTEP and Texas A&M got better as the season progressed and peaked in February and March. What's different this year, however, have been the injuries. There was Joe Crawford recovering from summer surgery; Derrick Jasper missing double-digit games; Jodie Meeks is still not back yet, which could come in the next week or so. There's more: Ramel Bradley had concussion and a viral infection, Patrick Patterson had a bum ankle, Ramon Harris had a stress fracture in his left foot and a hip pointer.

Besides the obvious detriment of injuries in games, for Gillispie, a coach who goes hard in practice, there's a secondary blow. 

"With our injuries, we can't practice the way we want to," he said, which has led to some disappointing performances. "We've played hard all year and have played good defense." 

The offense has taken some time, though it has remained efficient.

Still, for a guy who loves basketball and horse racing, it is hard to beat Kentucky. Gillispie tells me that despite what outsiders may think, he is happy in Lexington and hasn't been down at all during the difficult early times. 

"Tough times don't last," he said.

So about that NCAA Tournament?  Kentucky has an RPI of 65 and an SOS of 19.  Big wins against Vanderbilt and Tennessee and bad losses against Gardner Webb, San Diego and an early four-game losing streak. A strong finish and a semifinal or final appearance in the SEC Tournament should get them in.

-- It has not been the best year for Oklahoma State head coach Sean Sutton. Yes, he had a head start when his father stepped aside midseason last year, but more was expected of the Cowboys than 13-12 with four games remaining.  They have losses to North Texas and Illinois and Iowa State. But they have wins against Baylor, Texas A&M and the big one on Saturday, over Kansas. Sutton still insists that KU is his pick to win the national title because of their balance. He also acknowledges to me that OSU playing at home on Saturday had a lot to do with the upset. But how did they win 61-60 over a superior team?  In addition to the home court advantage, Sutton points out three key factors:

1) They "shortened the length of the court".  OSU went into the game knowing that the Jayhawks can run in transition and didn't want a "ping pong" match.  In fact, KU didn't score a single point in transition. 

2) Oklahoma State mixed up defenses throughout to keep KU off balance.

3) There are a few experienced players at Oklahoma State who had never beaten Kansas and Sutton believes they wanted it bad.

It is a great win for a program under .500 in the Big 12, but what does it really mean? Well, OSU has won four of their last five, with the lone loss coming on the road to Kansas State. Of course, the recent success comes on the heels of a six-game losing streak.  Doesn't look like the NCAAs are possible, but with games against Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Texas left, it is very possible to salvage the season by finishing 8-8 in league and making a mini run in the Big 12 Tournament.

-- On the flip side of the win-loss column is Texas A&M, which has now lost three in a row to Oklahoma State, Texas and surprisingly, Nebraska. The last one is crushing. With an RPI of 47 and an SOS of 78, the Aggies still look good for the NCAAs but nothing is certain. Coach Mark Turgeon said "our backs are against the wall" and indicates that there is a real "sense of urgency" among the players and coaches. Of course, there should have been urgency three losses ago.  Still, A&M just might go 2-2 down the stretch against Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Baylor and Kansas, it should be enough for the Tourney.

-- Went down to the Wachovia Center in Philadelphia Monday for Villanova-Marquette. Wow, did Nova play two different halves. Up by nine at the break, they had relinquished the lead just 2:30 into the second half.  I know, Dominic James & Co. were on fire from inside and out, but Nova looked sloppy and sluggish down the stretch. Perhaps that's due to emotional wins over West Virginia and UConn in the past week. There is a still an outside shot at the NCAAs, but they better beat Providence, Louisville and South Florida to help their case. As for Tom Crean's side, they looked like a Top 10 team, which they haven't always looked like this season. 

-- Finally, the national media made mention over the last few days of the record set by New Jersey Institute of Technology, a record no one hopes to break. The Highlanders finished 0-29 setting a futility mark in college hoops. For all the jokes about rocket scientists and basketball, this is a program that can--and will--do better than 0-29. Two main difficulties that NJIT faces:

First, they are an independent with no conference affiliation.  That means no set schedule, no automatic bid to the NCAA, no postseason conference tournament. Athletic Director Lenny Kaplan says they have been, and will continue to, explore conference options.  The closest they came was last year with the NEC when they selected Bryant College, a private school that plays football, over NJIT, a public school with only intramural football.  NJIT is in the middle of reclassifying as a full Division I institution, a five-year process, which will be complete in fall of 2009.  As an independent, scheduling and finding games is not an easy task.  Among their games: Washington, Vermont, American, Lehigh, Rider, Rutgers, Navy, Penn and Cornell.  Ten opponents in the Top 200 RPI and one in the Top 100 and included teams from the Pac-10, Big East and C-USA.

Second, though all schools proclaim that academics set the tone, they really mean it at NJIT. That means they have to "knock on a lot more doors" as Kaplan acknowledges, to find the players who can handle the academics and who are good enough to play D-I hoops.

Situated in Newark, NJIT hopes to play more games next season at the newly constructed Prudential Center downtown, which will help attract recruits. 

On Feb. 20, head coach Jim Casciano announced his resignation effective the end of the season after seven years at NJIT and you might be surprised at the interest Kaplan has received. 

"We have probably had 50 or 60 people reach out by email or phone," Kaplan said.

Now, as you might expect, some of them see a 0-29 team and believe anybody could coach them. Kaplan, who aided searches while an assistant athletic director at Manhattan, is heading a search committee comprised of himself, two faculty members, a school vice-president and a member of the academic advising staff. Kaplan hopes to hire a coach before the Final Four in early April. So who may still apply?

`We don't know that yet," the longtime AD said, "we don't know if it is a Big East assistant or another guy." 

Based on a conversation with Kaplan, here's what NJIT is looking for: Division I experience, head coaching experience (though that is not a must), someone who has been through rebuilding before and who can recruit at a strong academic institution. Now, before you snicker, keep in mind that NJIT pays a competitive salary, is in the middle of the pack for comparable schools in terms of funding and sits just minutes from New York City. Interested now? I thought so. 

Despite what you may have been reading or hearing about NJIT, trust me, the future is bright.