Yearly Memphis Overreaction
Can we make a deal - just between you, me and Daisuke Matsuzaka who they won't stop showing on my t.v.?
Can we both agree to not overreact to Memphis's record this year? Seriously, it's getting old. Ever since the Big East lost BC, Miami and Virgina Tech and decided it wanted to be the size of the National League, Memphis' conference has been weaker than your average mid-major. Consider that the Big East grabbed Cincinatti, Louisville, Marquette and Depaul from the Conference USA. (They took South Florida too but, honestly, who cares?). The defection of those traditional basketball schools to the Big East has left C-USA looking more like the Ivy League.
Actually, worse than the Ivy League. Rice lost to Princeton 51-28. Yes, you read that right. Rice scored 28 points against an Ivy League team. What's more depressing as that their 8-6 in Conference USA. So they're above .500 in Memphis' conference but couldn't break the thirty-point barrier against the smartest of smart kid schools. How much do you think I would be willing to bet that Kevin Durant could beat Rice. If you guessed "a lot," keep up the good work.
(Maybe the craziest thing about the Rice-Princeton game, though, was that Rice has a kid named Morris Almond who averages 26.4 points a game. How did they only score 28? This makes no sense. They should start an spinoff of Instant Classics called "Did that really just happen?" It would show games that nobody saw in which weird, overly-pathetic stuff like this happens. Trust me, college kids would set their DVRs to record every episode.)
Not to rub in how bad the C-USA is - actually, entirely to rub in how bad it is - Marshall lost to Princeton as well, 61-45. First of all, kudos to the Thundering Herd for putting up a respectable score. Second, I have a question about this game: Marshall is in Conference USA? Where was I when they didn't bother announcing this on ESPNNEWS? Congrats to the C-USA bigshots - the Big East took all but one of your national television-worthy teams and you brought in the mighty Thundering Herd of Marshall. It's basketball heaven down there. It's really surprising the conference isn't included in the annual discussion of top basketball leagues.
I don't have a personal vendetta against Conference USA. They have never done anything to me. I only bring up how bad these teams are to show that Memphis' 14-0 conference record means absolutely nothing. The Tigers are the only team in the league with a coach, John Calipari, that can recruit good players and make them better. This does not mean, however, that Memphis is any good when faced with even decent competition. They squeaked out a one-point win at Gonzaga against a Zags team that was the weakest in years even before it lost Josh Heytvelt, lost to Arizona earlier in the year and got creamed by Tennessee. Their only quality win is over Kentucky at the beginning of the season when the Wildcats were as inconsistent as they come.
Their record is seductive, of course, and has led them to a sixth ranking in the country. But do you actually think they could compete with anyone in the top ten. Texas A&M is ranked seventh. Raise your hand if you think an Aggies-Tigers match-up would be even remotely close at the half. No one? Thought so.
So write a letter to Vitale, your congressman, whoever. Tell them Memphis is overrated again and should be a five or six seed. Look at their resume. That's the most they've earned.
Can we both agree to not overreact to Memphis's record this year? Seriously, it's getting old. Ever since the Big East lost BC, Miami and Virgina Tech and decided it wanted to be the size of the National League, Memphis' conference has been weaker than your average mid-major. Consider that the Big East grabbed Cincinatti, Louisville, Marquette and Depaul from the Conference USA. (They took South Florida too but, honestly, who cares?). The defection of those traditional basketball schools to the Big East has left C-USA looking more like the Ivy League.
Actually, worse than the Ivy League. Rice lost to Princeton 51-28. Yes, you read that right. Rice scored 28 points against an Ivy League team. What's more depressing as that their 8-6 in Conference USA. So they're above .500 in Memphis' conference but couldn't break the thirty-point barrier against the smartest of smart kid schools. How much do you think I would be willing to bet that Kevin Durant could beat Rice. If you guessed "a lot," keep up the good work.
(Maybe the craziest thing about the Rice-Princeton game, though, was that Rice has a kid named Morris Almond who averages 26.4 points a game. How did they only score 28? This makes no sense. They should start an spinoff of Instant Classics called "Did that really just happen?" It would show games that nobody saw in which weird, overly-pathetic stuff like this happens. Trust me, college kids would set their DVRs to record every episode.)
Not to rub in how bad the C-USA is - actually, entirely to rub in how bad it is - Marshall lost to Princeton as well, 61-45. First of all, kudos to the Thundering Herd for putting up a respectable score. Second, I have a question about this game: Marshall is in Conference USA? Where was I when they didn't bother announcing this on ESPNNEWS? Congrats to the C-USA bigshots - the Big East took all but one of your national television-worthy teams and you brought in the mighty Thundering Herd of Marshall. It's basketball heaven down there. It's really surprising the conference isn't included in the annual discussion of top basketball leagues.
I don't have a personal vendetta against Conference USA. They have never done anything to me. I only bring up how bad these teams are to show that Memphis' 14-0 conference record means absolutely nothing. The Tigers are the only team in the league with a coach, John Calipari, that can recruit good players and make them better. This does not mean, however, that Memphis is any good when faced with even decent competition. They squeaked out a one-point win at Gonzaga against a Zags team that was the weakest in years even before it lost Josh Heytvelt, lost to Arizona earlier in the year and got creamed by Tennessee. Their only quality win is over Kentucky at the beginning of the season when the Wildcats were as inconsistent as they come.
Their record is seductive, of course, and has led them to a sixth ranking in the country. But do you actually think they could compete with anyone in the top ten. Texas A&M is ranked seventh. Raise your hand if you think an Aggies-Tigers match-up would be even remotely close at the half. No one? Thought so.
So write a letter to Vitale, your congressman, whoever. Tell them Memphis is overrated again and should be a five or six seed. Look at their resume. That's the most they've earned.
Labels: Conference USA, Memphis
posted by jcanzo at 4:16 PM
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