My 5 Favorite Things In College Basketball This Week
The week was heavier at its rear-end
Looking ahead at this week, I was a little concerned about finding things that I enjoyed. Nearly every game I was considering watching was either on Saturday or on Peacock. But I need to stop underestimating college basketball—every time you underestimates you, it always shows you how amazing it is. This week was no exception; the stars were out on Saturday, sure, but this list has as many games from other days as it does from Saturday. Alright, I’ll stop this section and get on with it: here are my favorite things from the world of college hoops this week!
1. Non-Conference Rivalry Games
So I do have to start out with some great Saturday games. We were blessed not only with the annual Crosstown Shootout that we love so dearly between Cincinnati and Xavier, but UCLA and Arizona also scheduled a game after the PAC-12 crumbled. Let’s start off with the Crosstown Shootout. The Bearcats have been absolutely owned by Xavier in their rivalry game in recent years. They haven’t won since they were coached by Mick Cronin. To put that in perspective, that game was played in 2018—about six years ago. And it was a battle, but Wes Miller got the monkey off of his back, and beat Sean Miller’s (notably not his brother) Musketeers by three in a great game. Cincy will appreciate getting back in the green for that game, and I’m also appreciating what Mick Cronin decided to do at UCLA. He sat down with Tommy Lloyd and made sure we still got to see the Bruins play Arizona. Look, they agreed on a less fun, slightly cowardly way of doing it; they are playing in NBA arenas instead of on campus, this game was at the Phoenix Suns’ home arena, next year it will be played at the Los Angeles Clippers’ home arena. But we still get to watch UCLA and Arizona, and that’s more than we could’ve hoped for. And it was a great game! UCLA beat the Wildcats by three. Mick Cronin had a very good weekend.
2. The Nerds Are Out For Blood!
Look, just because you care about intellectual pursuits doesn’t mean you have to be bad at basketball. Look at Tuesday! Brown travelled to play an in-state foe, undefeated Rhode Island, and took two overtimes, but took down Archie Miller’s undefeated Rams. I do feel a little bad about that result because I did say to rank Rhody last week on this very newsletter, but whatever, we move. Brown wasn’t the only elite school out for blood on Tuesday, as Cornell travelled to Berkeley to play the California Golden Bears, an elite institution in and of itself. But this isn’t about both academic and athletic powers winning games, it’s about solely brain over brawn. Cornell pulled out a win, just like their brainiac brethren to the east. Perhaps they were empowered by being on a campus full of people just as smart as them. Either way, it’s nice to see these student-athletes fully embody both roles for a change.
3. UD Arena Is Not To Be Taken Lightly
There’s a reason why the First Four is always played in Dayton, Ohio. There’s a reason that the 2020 NCAA Tournament had to be cancelled. There’s a reason why they call the student section the Red Scare. UD Arena is a magical basketball venue. I’ve never had the pleasure to go, but everything about about it should absolutely terrify anyone not affiliated with the Flyers who has to walk in there. Marquette faced that challenge on Saturday, and for 20 minutes it seemed to be going well. But from 13 points down, Dayton rallied back, and won the thing by eight points. As any Flyers fan would say, it was LOWD in that building. I almost feel bad for National Coach of the Year, Anthony Grant. After that performance it’ll be hard to get anyone to agree to come play you.
4. Utah State Keeps Doing Its Thing
In 2018, Utah State hired Craig Smith to be its head men’s basketball coach. He promptly led them to two tournament appearances in three years before accepting a job at power-conference Utah. Their next hire was Ryan Odom, who spent two years at USU and making the tournament in his second before getting an offer from powerhouse VCU. To replace Odom, they brought in Danny Sprinkle, who led the Aggies to a round of 32 appearance before taking off to Seattle to coach Washington. After three home run hires, the college basketball world was watching. Who would their next hire be. Seemingly untethered to geography, prior affiliation with the university, or experience, Utah State has one criterion: win basketball games. This year the Aggies brought in Jerrod Calhoun from Youngstown State. He has won basketball games. This week they beat South Florida. They are 10-0. That’s the best start in school history. As they remain undefeated, they do so alongside just a few teams. Every team that has won 10 games without losing this year is in the SEC, what is universally thought of as the best conference. Florida and Tennessee are both top five or so teams in the country, and USU is probably better than Oklahoma! The only other undefeated team is 9-0 Drake, who has a similar hiring style to Utah State. Pay attention to Logan, Utah next time your favorite team needs a new coach.
5. Tigers and Hunters
This one is just purely me wanting to have fun, but Clemson and Memphis played each other. They’re both called the Tigers. Both teams have players named Hunter getting 30+ minutes per game. Actually, Clemson has two such players. Tyrese Hunter for Memphis, Chase Hunter and Dillon Hunter for Clemson. Hunter starred for the Tigers on Saturday as they took down the Tigers who were led by Viktor Lahkin’s 23 and Hunter’s 17 points, as Hunter came off the bench for them putting in 31 valuable minutes while scoring double figures. I’m mad I didn’t play off Tigers being Hunters in this paragraph but there you go. That’s a nice little play on words. I was just amused by that.
More From Around Sleepers Media: