Saturday, of course, is the day of college sports. Nearly every team in division I basketball played yesterday, with the absence of #1 Arizona Wildcats only barely noted given the spread of intriguing matchups. Four thoughts from the weekend's games:
4. Duke wins big. By all perceptions, the Blue Devils had struggled in their last two, losing by 13 to an underrated Clemson team (by record anyways) and barely beating an equally competitive Virginia squad. A loss in either of their last two would have locked them out of the top 25. A loss next game probably does the same. A big, in conference win like yesterday maybe means they really are a top 10 team like their preseason rank assumed. Jabari Parker also broke out of his slump with 23 points.
3. Kansas wins four of their last five against ranked opponents. Technically, Oklahoma wasn't ranked when the Jayhawks beat them, 90-83, on Jan. 8 in Norman, OK. Now, the Sooners are #25 and climbing after their upset at #12 Baylor on Saturday. It wasn't easy against #9 Oklahoma State yesterday, but it was perhaps more of a team effort than usual, with the individual exceptions of Joel Embiid's eight blocks and Naadir Tharpe's 21points. Wiggins had just three points in 21 minutes -- not exactly a bad sign when your leading scorer nets three points in an "upset" win. The Jayhawks play #12 Baylor next.
2. What's with all the high ranked teams/great matchups at 4:00? Oklahoma State-Kansas, Villanova-Depaul, Syracuse-Pittsburg, Wichita State-Indiana State, Florida-Auburn, Iowa State-Texas all played during the so called hottest hour of the day.
1. Wichita State cruises. Indiana State had been undefeated in the conference prior to their twenty point loss to the Shockers on their home floor. When all the major college programs lose their first game (only Arizona has a chance to go undefeated), will the Shockers climb to number one if they stay unbeaten? Even in a weak conference, winning every game is never easy; doing so, however, is always easy when you limit the amount of close games played. Keep the big wins coming.