Inside the College Game | Weak in the WestBy: Adi Joseph

For one moment, the woes of the pasttwo-plus months seemed forgiven. Mustafa Abdul-Hamid flew to the top of the key. Suddenly, slow motion. The UCLA Bruin, with the poise of Bill Walton or Gail Goodrich, simply stopped.

Mid-Major Evaluations

There are years when a conference like the Pac-10 can be a bully. This year, the bully took a pretty hard punch to the gut, and now all the nerds inthe front of the class can go back and spit on him. Remember how Smokey (Chris Tucker) took the wad of money from Dee-Bo in Friday?

Right now, Brigham Young and Gonzaga are lording over teams like UCLA and Arizona with a grin, saying, “YOU GOT KNOCKED THE **** OUT!”

Even as Memphis suffers a similar fate, the Tigers taking their first Conference USA loss since March 2006 against UTEP on Wednesday, the elite mid-majors are a powerful, deep group this season, from Loudonville, N.Y., to Albuquerque, N.M., and everywhere in between. In that spirit, let’s take a glance at five of the top mid-major squads and discuss their realistic NCAA Tournament chances.

School: Brigham Young University
Record: 19-1 overall; 4-0 in the Mountain West Conference
RPI/SOS: 22/137
Top Players: G Jimmer Fredette (19.4 ppg, 5 apg), G Jackson Emery (13 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
Evaluation:There’s no stopping the Cougars when Fredette is hot, and there might not be much stopping them when he’s not. Fredette has dealt with acase of mono essentially since the day he grabbed the nation’s attention with a 49-point, nine-assist effort at Arizona. Still, Emery and guard Tyler Haws have been able to pick up some of the slack as Fredette recovers. The crazy part of it all is that the Cougars have been able to run off such an impressive start with so little help from perhaps their most decorated player, Jonathan Tavernari. Tavernari, who averaged 15.7 points and 7.2 rebounds per game last year, is coming off the bench this season for the guard-heavy Cougars. The frontcourt is unimpressive, but the backcourt is as good as any in the nation.
Outlook: This team has in it enough to make a solid run at the Elite Eight,provided it gets hot enough at the right time. The last post-season win of any kind for the Cougars was in 2002, in the NIT against UC Irvine. Having clearly established themselves as the dominant team inthe Mountain West, the Cougars should be in for a good enough seeding in the Big Dance this year to end that losing streak. This team has Sweet Sixteen written all over it.

School:Temple University
Record: 16-3 overall; 4-0 in the Atlantic-10 Conference
RPI/SOS:12/19
Top Players: G Ryan Brooks (16.4 ppg, 5.4 rpg), F Lavoy Allen (11.2 ppg, 10.2 rpg)
Evaluation: No one saw this coming. Temple was supposed to be rebuilding this season. Dionte Christmas, the star of the show last year and perhaps the A-10’s best player, graduated, taking with him nearly 30 percent of the Owls’ scoring. Alas, Bill Simmons’ Ewing Theory took full effect, and several Owls took flight without the hindrance of a needy star. The shots were there for the taking, and Brooks and Juan Fernandez gladly helped themselves. Of course, it helps when your defense is down-right smothering. Fran Dunphy is as good a coach as there is in this country, and he’s finally found a Temple team willing to buy into the principles that made him the Ivy League’s best.
Outlook: Dunphy’s problem with Penn remains here at Temple: There’s simply not enough talent. Beyond Brooks, Fernandez and Allen, the Owls have struggled to find a reliable fourth scorer. The team shoots just 42.2 percent from the field, instead predicating itself on low turnover rate. I like this team, in the regular season. Is there a chance they move past that and make some moves in the NCAA Tournament? Sure. But I wouldn’t be so quick to push them through to the Sweet Sixteen. One win in the Big Dance seems to be the limit for this team, and that’s a heck of an accomplishment for a team not expected to do anything this year. The offense just isn’t there.

School: University of Tulsa
Record: 15-3 overall; 4-0 in Conference USA
RPI/SOS: 76/183
Top Players: G Ben Uzoh (16.3 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 4.3 apg), G Justin Hurtt (15.3 ppg, 44 percent 3-point shooting)
Evaluation: The computers don’t like Tulsa. I’m normally a computers guy. The reasoning is understandable: The Golden Hurricanes have barely played anyone, and they’ve lost to a few teams that aren’t all that good. Good enough reason not to like Tulsa, for sure. But I can’t help enjoying this team. Ken Pomeroy’s rankings (at kenpom.com) put this team as the second-best behind Memphis in C-USA, ahead of UAB and Marshall, both of whom look better to the RPI. Pomeroy’s system is one based on how good a team actually is, rather than what they’ve done to prove it. My gut tells me that’s the only way to evaluate Tulsa – based on how good they can be. Hurtt is a great off-guard, a whispy 6-foot-4 gunner with great athleticism. Uzoh and center Jerome Jordan are established senior stars, the types of players who don’t go out without a fight. This team can rebound and shoot, and while a playmaker would be a big help, those are pretty important facets down the stretch.
Outlook: With all that said, it should surprise no one that I predict Tulsa to win C-USA. Will they be a real NCAA Tournament threat, though? A lot of that depends on matchups. Give them an opponent such as, say, Northern Iowa in an 7-10 first-round matchup, and on they will move. The second weekend is a stretch, but one win is certainly reasonable.

School: Siena College
Record: 16-4 overall; 8-0 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference
RPI/SOS: 32/81
Top Players: F Alex Franklin (15.6 ppg, 7.9 rpg), G Edwin Ubiles (15.8 ppg, 4.1rpg)
Evaluation: The Saints boast one of the nation’s finest starting lineups. They’ve got a big-man who hogs the boards, 10.4 rpg-man Ryan Rossiter, and a point guard who can’t stop passing, Ronald Moore and his nation-leading 8.3 apg. They’ve got two studs in Franklin and Ubiles and a marksman in Clarence Jackson, who has more than adequately replaced Kenny Hasbrouck, the one departed starter from last year’s NCAA Tournament second-rounders. There’s a lot to like about the Saints. Three of those four losses came to currently ranked opponents(Temple, Georgia Tech and Northern Iowa). They’ve reeled off 10 straight wins. And I’m not sure any team can match their chemistry,with such a strong returning corps. The bench is thin, though. An injury would devestate this team, as sophomore guard Kyle Downey is seemingly the only good reserve. But it hasn’t happened yet.
Outlook: The Saints may roll through the MAAC in such a manner that they can keep those starters rested and establish themselves as a clear-cut at-large team. After all, their toughest remaining game is probably a road trip to Niagara. Depth doesn’t win in the NCAA Tournament. It helps, sure, but having the best five is generally the way to win.The Saints will likely have the best five for their first round game,and another first-round win is certainly well within the realm ofpossibility. Anything beyond that depends on seeding. This is a team that could easily pull a 3-10 upset to make the Sweet Sixteen.

School: Cornell University
Record: 15-3 overall; 1-0 in the Ivy League
RPI/SOS: 37/134
Top Players: F Ryan Wittman (18.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg), C Jeff Foote (12.9 ppg, 8.8 rpg)
Evaluation: The third-best 3-point shooting team in the country has put togethera fairly impressive résumé, highlighted by wins at Alabama and St. John’s. It shouldn’t surprise anyone. Wittman is an elite player regardless of league, a marksman who has proven capable this season of scoring in more ways than simply knocking down jumper after jumper. Meanwhile, Foote gives this team a 7-footer to hang its hat on. The guard play is solid, if quiet, led by Louis Dale and Chris Wroblewski. The Big Red are playing at a slower tempo this season than in years’ past, but it’s working for them. This is a team that has made the NCAA Tournament each of the past two seasons, and this year’s incarnate might be the best. Penn and Princeton have struggle in recent years, and Cornell has inherited the Ivy League crown.
Outlook: In just about any year, the Ivy League inherently will only produce one bid for the NCAA Tournament, a byproduct of its unique no-league tournament system. Still, should Harvard and Cornell manage to dominate the league as many expect, and should those two teams split their regular season matchups, we may actually see both make it to the NCAA Tournament. But of the pair, Cornell clearly has a better chance to knock off a higher seed in the first round. It’s a matter of matchups, but the Big Red can flat out shoot.

Game Notes

I’ve got a lot of respect for Jim Calhoun. Always have. He rubs some people the wrong way, but the man is gritty. That he would come back at a time when it would be so easy to leave is a bit nonsensical, but it’s perfectly within his personality. Bobby Knight might be the only tougher coach. Too bad the Huskies haven’t adopted their coach’s fortitude. …Wisconsin is playing at one of the slowest tempos in the entire country, and it’s working. Bo Ryan is a brilliant coach who regularly overcomes a lack of talent by dominating time of possession like Barry Alvarez used to on the gridiron. … Best team in the ACC? I still think it’s Duke. But don’t look past Maryland or Virginia, the only teams without two losses in the league. As far as North Carolina goes, look past them all you want. Roy Williams may not have an NCAA Tournament team on his hands. … Some people expect Kentucky to drop one of its next four games. I’m not so sure. There’s a pretty wide gap between the Wildcats and the rest of the Southeastern Conference.… A pair of nonconference games couldn’t have come at a better time for West Virginia. If the Mountaineers beat Ohio State, they should be back on track to re-enter Big East play. … But I don’t thinkthey will. In fact, I take back what I said about Ohio State last week. Evan Turner is a great player – the most valuable player in the nation. With him, the Buckeyes are a top-10 team. … LaceDarius Dunn should have had the ball for Baylor in the closing minutes against Kansas, instead of teammate Tweety Carter. Dunn reminds me alot of Gilbert Arenas, in both his fearlessness and his quickness and strength. I seriously would consider him in the first round. …Scott Martin might be the single most missed player in college basketball, as both Purdue, where he transferred from, and Notre Dame, where he transferred to, could sorely use the injured swingman.… In watching South Florida, you can’t help but get the feeling that if Gus Gilchrist were healthy, they might actually have won a few of these Big East games. … I chose not to include Gonzaga in the above segment because they hardly qualify as a mid-major these days. Still, the Bulldogs warrant mentioning because Mark Few never goes through rebuilding. Elias Harris has impressed me more everytime I’ve watched him. … Remember how everyone would talk about, “What if LeBron went to college?” and stuff like that? We’ve reached the point where the last of the high school early entrantswould be graduated, barring redshirts. I guess we can talk about one-and-dones now. … That’s all for this week. Send any comments, questions or death threats to [email protected]. See you next time.