10 Consecutive Hours of College Hoops Today!

Well, it ain't a 24 hour marathon, but ESPN is giving college hoops fans another full slate of games to further introduce the 2009-2010 season. Here's the lineup...

1pm - Puerto Rico Tip-Off
(19)Georgia Tech vs George Mason [ESPNU]
3pm - Puerto Rico Tip-Off 
(6)Villanova vs (21)Dayton [ESPNU]
5pm - 2K Sports Coaches vs Cancer Classic 
(12)California vs (15)Ohio State [ESPN2] 
7pm - 2K Sports Coaches vs Cancer Classic 
(4)North Carolina vs (24)Syracuse [ESPN2]
8:30pm - Puerto Rico Tip-Off 
Ole Miss vs Kansas State [ESPNU]

OK, so technically it is nine and a half hours of college hoops, but you get the point. ESPN has put together a great day of college hoops action that features seven ranked teams. The only game of the day that doesn't feature a ranked team is the finale between K-State and Ole Miss, but that game will feature one of the country's top freshman (K-State's Wally Judge) and one of the NBA's top sophomore prospects (Terico White from Ole Miss).

Top Prospect Will Be A Tar Heel

The rich will get richer in college basketball next year. The North Carolina Tar Heels recently received a commitment from Ames, Iowa product Harrison Barnes. Barnes, a 6'8 small forward, is near unanimously considered to be the top prep player in the country this year and holds the top spot in the ESPNU Top 100. He considered Duke, UCLA, Kansas, and Oklahoma before deciding that he would bleed Carolina blue. Barnes will join the currently talented North Carolina as a member of a 2010 recruiting class that also includes highly ranked guards Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall. Barnes' commitment means that the Heels now have pledges from three of the country's top 20 high schoolers.

Here's a look at the top prospect in action....

Heisman Watch (Week 11)

At this point, I'm only including two candidates on my Heisman watch. I refuse to include Tim Tebow and Colt McCoy for their name recognition, and I absolutely will not stand for Jimmy Clausen's fraudulent candidacy that has been based simply upon the fact that he is the starting quarterback for Notre Dame. There are really only two candidates for the award and only one candidate can actually win it. The Heisman race has been a runaway...by default

THE LIKELY WINNER 
Mark Ingram (So.) RB - Alabama
1297 Rushing Yards
10 Rushing Touchdowns
25 Receptions
225 Receiving Yards
3 Receiving Touchdowns

• Ingram hasn't done anything that warrants him being a runaway winner, but he has been the most consistent player on a team that is currently undefeated and controls their destiny in the national championship race. If Ingram can lead the Tide past Florida, there is no one who can take this award away from him. That would make the sophomore the best skill position player on the undefeated and nearly undisputed top ranked team in the country. It would also eliminate the idea of Tim Tebow receiving the award as a lifetime achievement award due to a lack of worthy candidates.
  

THE RUNNER-UP WHO SHOULD BE THE FRONT RUNNER
Case Keenum (Jr.) Quarterback - Houston
4194 Passing Yards
31 Passing Touchdowns (6 Interceptions)
103 Rushing Yards
3 Rushing Touchdowns
155.8 Passer Efficiency Rating
69.7% Completion Percentage

• Case Keenum has posted amazing stats against quality competition all year, and even in his team's two upset losses, Keenum has posted Heisman worthy efforts. Unfortunately for him, it is highly unlikely that a player will receive the Heisman with losses to UTEP and UCF stashed in his otherwise stellar portfolio. Keenum could have one more chance to impress on national TV if Houston can advance to the Conference USA Championship. However, that opportunity is not in Keenum's able hands. The SMU Mustangs lead the C-USA West Division by a game and must lose to either Marshall on the road (possible) or Tulane at home (very unlikely) to vault Case's Cougar's into the spotlight one more time. If Keenum can find his way into the C-USA championship game and give an unbelievable performance...something along the lines of 450 yards and 5 touchdowns (and this is very possible)...He may be able to make this a debate again.
  

Now Showing: College Hoops Marathon on the ESPN Family of Networks

College basketball season is now beginning to press down on the throttle. For the second straight year, ESPN will be broadcasting a 24-hour college hoops marathon that for the entire calender day of Tuesday. The hoop fest will be highlighted by a primetime double header. (2)Michigan State and Gonzaga will play at 7pm, followed by a rematch of the 2006 National Championship when (1)Kansas and Memphis take the court. Here's the rundown of what will take place over the next 24 hours.

• The marathon starts off in Westwood at 9pm PST when UCLA meets Cal State Fullerton. This game is being played as I write this.
  
• At 11pm PST, San Diego State tips off at St. Mary's. This game will feature Matt Dellavedova of St. Mary's. The freshman guard is the next big time Australian import in college basketball. Fans hope that will make the Gaels forget that Patty Mills should still be in a St. Mary's uniform. JUCO transfer Malcolm Thomas is also a big time newcomer that will suit up on the opposite end for the Aztecs.
  
• At 11pm Hawaiian Standard Time, the Rainbow Warriors of Hawaii will host Northern Colorado.
• In one of the days more interesting tip times, St. Peter's (NJ) will tip off against Monmouth at 6am EST in the first game that actually starts on Tuesday in the time zone that it is being played in.
• Drexel tips off against Niagara at 8am EST in what may be a sleeper pick to be the marathon's best games.
• At 10am EST, (23)Clemson will travel to Liberty and will breathe a sigh of relief when they realize that Seth Curry is no longer there. 
• The noon EST game will showcase top mid-major Siena against Northeastern. This will be a great opportunity to see one of the nation's best kept secrets play before march.
• Another NBA lottery prospect takes the court at 2pm. Don't miss the chance to watch dominating center Jerome Jordan suit up for Tulsa at home against UA-Little Rock.






• The marquee games begin at 4pm when Temple goes to (20)Georgetown in a game that will have tournament implications five months from now. Temple will breathe much easier on Selection Sunday with an early win over the Hoyas in their back pocket.
• After over 15 hours of hoops on ESPN, ESPN2 gets into the action when Pittsburgh hosts a depleted Binghamton squad in the College Basketball Experience.
• At 6pm, the Pre-Season NIT kicks off on ESPN from Cameron Indoor Stadium.
• At 6pm CST, ESPNU shows the ladies some love when the Lady Vols of (8)Tennessee go on the road to play the Lady Raiders from Texas Tech.
• At 7:30pm EST, (22)Louisville host Arkansas and their hired gun Rotnei Clarke on ESPN2. If you haven't switched to college basketball mode yet, you already missed Clark's 51 point outburst that included 13 three pointers in the opening game of the season.

• The action gets serious at 8pm on ESPN when (2)Michigan State faces an early test against Gonzaga and their highly touted German import Elias Harris.
• Another Big Ten team takes the floor at the same time one time zone over at 7pm CST as Illinois host in-state opponent Northern Illinois on ESPN360.com 
• Duquesne, a very solid program out of the Atlantic 10, will try to knock off a down Iowa team in Ames. That game tips off at 8pm CST on ESPNU
• More ladies action, this time on ESPN2, when (1)Uconn squares off against (14)Texas at 8:30pm CST on ESPN2.
• In the marathon's headlining matchup, Memphis plays (1)Kansas on a nuetral floor in St. Louis as a part of the Hall of Fame Showcase. This will be a good litmus test for the Memphis program under new coach Josh Pastner. 
• The Marathon will close with a 8:30pm MST Pre-Season NIT matchup that will be played on the campus of Arizona State.

If you think this marathon won't include any quality basketball, UCLA and Cal State Fullerton are playing double overtime at Pauley Pavilion as we speak.

College Football Walkthrough (Week 11)

I haven't done this in a while, but I'm sure you haven't forget how it goes...so let's walk it out.

• (25)West Virginia will try to knock off (5)Cincinnati as a road underdog tonight at 8pm on ESPN. The Big East continues to provide football fans with primetime weeknight matchups that have BCS implications. Bearcat backup quarterback Zach Collaros will start again for Cincinnati and Mountaineer running back Noel Devine will suit up for West Virginia. If the Mounties win this game, they will control their BCS destiny 12 weeks in to the season. No one is talking about them as a BCS team, but Noel Devine could lead them there with wins over both Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
• Watch Michigan continue to free fall under Rich Rodriguez at noon on the Big Ten Network. The (20)Wisconsin Badgers get their turn to beat on the Wolverines this week. Coach Rodriguez needs to finagle a win out of a ending two game slate that includes Wisky and Ohio State if he intends to send the Wolverines bowling this year. I suggest that he better pull out all the stops to beat the Badgers.
• Tennessee and Mississippi meet in Oxford at noon on CBS. This game becomes more intriguing with the news that 3 Volunteer football players were arrested on charges of armed robbery last this week.
• Florida State travels to Wake Forest as both teams try to bounce back from devastating losses. ESPNU has the coverage at noon.
• THE DUKE BLUE DEVILS ARE IN THE HUNT FOR THE ACC TITLE IN WEEK ELEVEN! Duke can tie the (7)Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets in the conference loss column if they can beat them at home in Durham on ESPN2. Kickoff is at noon.
  
• The Ol' Ball Coach gets his old team in his new backyard with the chance to throw a monkey wrench into the national title race. The South Carolina Gamecocks host the (1)Florida Gators at 3:30 on CBS.    
• The Potato Bowl between 7-3 Idaho and undefeated (6)Boise State has lost some of its luster since the Idaho Vandals have recently lost two games (to Fresno State and Nevada) and their starting quarterback (Nate Enderle), but it is still the biggest game in the history of the rivalry and it is a shame that no one could pick up this game for national television coverage. The Vandals and Broncos kickoff on the blue turf at 3:30pm. 
• Stanford plays at (9)USC fresh off of dismantling the Oregon team that dominated the Trojans. The Cardinal have an outside shot at the Rose Bowl in the same way that bruising running back Toby Gerhart has an outside chance at the Heisman. USC also has BCS aspirations to keep alive if they can win out. FSN has the coverage at 3:30pm.
• (10)Iowa will try to salvage their season at the Horseshoe against the (11)Ohio State Buckeyes as a part of ABC's 3:30pm regional coverage. The Hawkeyes will start Iowa high school football legend James Vandenberg in the stead of the injured Ricky Stanzi.
• Fresno State and Nevada clash in Reno for the right to be Boise State's second banana in the WAC. You can watch this one at 4pm on ESPN360.com.  
• (2)Alabama has a tricky game against Mississippi State in Starkville. Bulldogs coach Dan Mullen gets every ounce out of every one of his players. The Dogs could surpise people and keep this game close. Kickoff is at 7pm on ESPN.
• The (17)Arizona Wildcats go to Strawberry Canyon to play Cal.If the Cats continue to win they will find themselves in the Rose Bowl. This game isn't nationally televised, but the opening kick is at 7pm.
• Auburn and Georgia meet between the hedges as the Dawgs try to save their season and the Tigers look to build on their impressive run under first year coach Gene Chizik. ESPN2 has the coverage at 7pm.
• The Versus Network made a great decision when they decided to start broadcasting Mountain West football. They'll be televising the Amateur Status Game of the Week this week when (4)TCU and (16)Utah meet with the conference title hanging in the balance. ESPN's College Gameday will be live from Fort Worth for the occasion. Kickoff is at 7:30pm. 
• Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis will have a chance to make Irish fans quickly forget about his second loss in three years to Navy. If the Golden Domers can knock off (12)Pittsburgh under the bright lights of Heinz Field, Weis may ensure himself another season under the helm in South Bend. Pittsburgh also looks to break into the top ten and stay hot as they get closer to their showdown with undefeated Cincinnati. This 8pm kickoff is a part of ABC's primetime regional coverage.
• (19)Oklahoma State tries to continue towards a possible Cotton Bowl birth when they welcome Mike Leach and his Red Raiders to Stillwater. If you're a betting man, take the over in this one because the scoreboard will change frequently. This is the other half of ABC's primetime regional coverage at 8pm

There are plenty of good games this week, and most importantly, some of the murky conference races will become a little clearer after the day's action. A win by Duke against Georgia Tech however, would throw the ACC into a tailspin. 

Women's College Basketball Pre-Season All-Americans

These are the All-Americans on the women's side...a certain freshman may see her name written twice.

Women's College Basketball All-Americans
C - Brittney Griner (Baylor)
F - Jayne Appel (Stanford)
F - Maya Moore (Connecticut)
G - Monica Wright (Virginia)
C - Tina Charles (Connecticut)
F - Alysha Clark (Middle Tennessee State)
F - Elena Delle Donne (Delaware)
C - Jantel Lavender (Ohio State) 
G - Andrea Riley (Oklahoma State)
G - Courtney Vandersloot (Gonzaga)

F - Deirdre Naughton (DePaul)
G - Danielle Robinson (Oklahoma)
------------------------------------------------------------

Women's College Basketball Freshman All-Americans 
C - Britney Griner (Baylor)
G - China Crosby (Virginia)
G - Skyler Diggins (Notre Dame)
F - Elena Della Donne (Delaware)
C - Kelsey Bone (South Carolina)
F - Destiny Williams (Illinois)
G - Tierra Ruffin-Pratt (North Carolina)
F - Tierra Rogers (California)
C - Monique Oliver (Rutgers)
C - Joslyn Tinkle (Stanford)
F - Markel Walker (UCLA)
C - Cokie Reed (Texas)

Amateur Status Women's College Basketball Pre-Season Top 25

Amateur Status hasn't shown to much love to the women's game so far, but with the ladies tipping off this week along with the men, it's time to let you know who will be the teams to beat in women's college basketball. Here is the Amateur Status Women's College Basketball Pre-Season Top 25. 

1. Connecticut Huskies
2. Baylor Bears
3. Stanford Cardinal
4. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
5. Ohio State Buckeyes 
6. North Carolina Tar Heels 
7. Duke Blue Devils
8. Tennessee Volunteers
9. Michigan State Spartans
10. Virginia Cavaliers
11. Oklahoma Sooners
12. Texas Longhorns
13. Arizona State Sun Devils 
14. Florida State Seminoles
15. California Bears
16. LSU Tigers
17. Louisville Cardinals 
18. Pittsburgh Panthers
19. DePaul Blue Demons
20. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
21. Xavier Musketeers 
22. Kansas Jayhawks
23. Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders
24. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets
25. Maryland Terrapins


After ranking the top eight teams, this ended up being one of the hardest polls I've ever done. After the elite teams, there is a lot of parity in the women's game.

See Which College Basketball Team is Sporting New Threads This Season

College basketball season started today with a full slate of televised games, but until your favorite team takes the court, check out this interesting story from ESPN's Paul Lukas about all of this season's new uniforms and updated court designs. Lukas is the man behind the UniWatch website and blog. He is the czar of everything jersey related in sports.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=lukas/091109&sportCat=ncb

Heisman Watch (Week 10)

Here are the four players (in no particular order) I've deemed to be Heisman worthy so far this season....the list may surprise you.

 
Jordan Shipley (Sr.) Wide Receiver - Texas
64 Receptions
777 Receiving Yards
5 Receiving Touchdowns
2 Punt Returns for Touchdowns





 




Mark Ingram (So.) Running Back - Alabama
1004 Rushing Yards
19 Receptions
186 Receiving Yards
8 Rushing Touchdowns
3 Receiving Touchdowns

 
Golden Tate (Jr.) Wide Receiver - Notre Dame 
56 Receptions
927 Receiving Yards
9 Receiving Touchdowns
155 Rushing Yards
2 Rushing Touchdowns







Kellen Moore (So.) Quarterback - Boise State 
2259 Passing Yards
27 Passing Touchdowns 
3 Interceptions
169.35 Passing Efficiency Rating

Amateur Status College Basketball Mid-Major Preview

Mid-Major basketball is special. Teams fight not just to score more points than their opponent, but also for the respect of the nation. For most of the players at these schools, college basketball isn't a one year stop between high school and the NBA. It is their pinnacle, the highlight of their athletic careers, and they play like it every night. On occasion, some of these schools rise to national prominence, but the elite status of mid-majors is fleeting. The Loyola Marymount Lions, led by Bo Kimble and Hank Gathers, was briefly a national power. After Gathers' tragic death, his LMU Lions went on to the Elite Eight without him. With Gathers and his 29 point per game average, they may have won the national championship. Since Kimble led Loyola Marymount on their inspirational run, other teams have received high rankings, high seeds, and have advance deep into the tournament, but only UNLV in 1990 has won a national title. In the past decade, Gonzaga and Kent State have reached the Elite Eight, George Mason reached the Final Four, and Memphis reached the national championship. Excluding Gonzaga, none of those aforementioned teams were in the 2009 tournament field. The Memphis Tigers have carried the Mid-Major banner as the best non power conference program over the past few years, but the departure of coach John Calipari has the Tigers searching for a way to stay on top in their own conference. Davidson lost the best player in the history of their conference, Stephen Curry, to the NBA draft. The Wildcats will also struggle to win their conference after running through the SoCon for the past three years with Curry in the backcourt. The Mid-Major team to beat in 2009-2010 is Butler. They are ranked in nearly everyone's top 15 this year and they have the talent to make a deep run in this year's tournament. 

Here are the top 25 Mid-Major teams in the country this year along with some standout players to watch outside of the six power conferences.    


Pre-Season Mid-Major Top 25 

1. Butler Bulldogs
2. Siena Saints
3. Tulsa Golden Hurricanes
4. Memphis Tigers
5. Dayton Flyers
6. Xavier Musketeers
7. Gonzaga Bulldogs
8. BYU Cougars
9. Northern Iowa Panthers
10. San Diego State Aztecs
11. UNLV Rebels
12. Creighton Blue Jays
13. Niagara Purple Eagles
14. Utah State Aggies
15. VCU Rams
16. Cornell Big Red

17. Old Dominion Monarchs 
18. Oakland Grizzlies 
19. Southern Illinois Salukis
20. Portland Pilots
21. Richmond Spiders
22. UTEP Miners
23. Illinois State Redbirds
24. Akron Zips
25. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers


The Best Players in Mid-Major Basketball
F - Matt Howard (Butler)
F - Gordon Heyward (Butler)
G - Shelvin Mack (Butler)
F - Edwin Ubiles (Siena)
C - Jerome Jordan (Tulsa)
G - Doneal Mack (Memphis)
F - Chris Wright (Dayton)
G - Matt Bouldin (Gonzaga)
G - Jonathan Tavernari (BYU)
G - P'Allen Stinnett (Creighton)
F - Larry Sanders (VCU)
G - Ryan Wittman (Cornell)
G - Derrick Nelson (Oakland)
F - Arnett Moultrie (UTEP)
G - Osiris Eldridge (Illinois State)
G - AJ Slaughter (Western Kentucky)
F - Luke Babbitt (Nevada)
G-F Marquis Blakely (Vermont)
G - DJ Rivera (Binghamton)
G - Aubrey Coleman (Houston)
G - James Florence (Mercer)
G - Aaron Jackson (Duquesne)
G - Ryan Thomson (Rider)
G - David Kool (Western Michigan)


The Best Players Transferring into Mid-Majors this Year

G - Elliot Williams (Memphis from Duke)
G - Jordan Crawford (Xavier from Indiana)
G - Derrick Jasper (UNLV from Kentucky)
G - Chace Stanback (UNLV from UCLA)
G - Larry Wright (Oakland from St. John's)
F - Shamari Spears (Charlotte from Boston College)
F - Derrick Caracter (UTEP from Louisville) 
G - Armon Bassett (Ohio from Indiana/UAB)
G - Tony Freeman (Southern Illinois from Iowa)
F - Drew Viney (Loyola Marymount from Oregon)


Mid-Major basketball is always full of surprises. There is really no way to tell who will emerge, but the players and teams listed in this preview are guaranteed to impress barring injury. Also, watch out for Derrick Caracter at UTEP and Armon Bassett at Ohio. Both of those kids are former problem cases that are looking to take advantage of their second chances in the NCAA.

 



   

Division II LeMoyne College Upsets (25)Syracuse in a Pre-Season Matchup!

Take a look at this...



LeMoyne College is a small Jesuit school that has an enrollment of just over 2700. No matter what the Dolphins do this season, nothing will compare to them walking out of the Carrier Dome with a win. Surprisingly, this isn't the first time something like this has happened in college exhibition games. Two years ago, a ranked Michigan State squad loss to Division II Grand Valley State in a pre-season tilt. That game went to double overtime.