Why is Kansas #1?

January 2, 2010June 15, 2012Danny Vinik Leave a comment

Photo Courtesy of UPI

As I look at the Top 25 College Basketball Standings, they seem to make a lot of sense. The remaining undefeated teams are all at the top followed by teams with 1-loss. Except I still cannot figure out why Kansas deserves to be number one. The Jayhawks are playing at Temple right now, the #19 team in the nation, but this is their first game against anyone in the Top 25. Meanwhile, Texas has beaten Iowa, Pittsburgh, USC, UNC, and Michigan State. Specifically the last two wins, which were both by double digits, are much more impressive than anything Kansas has done. Every one of Texas’s wins has been by double digits.

How about Kentucky? To be fair, I think Kentucky is way overrated and has gotten very lucky this season. Nevertheless, Kentucky has beaten Stanford, UNC, Connecticut, and Indiana.

Purdue proved themselves this week by overwhelming West Virginia, who was undefeated up until that point. Syracuse suffered its first defeat today, but still has wins over UNC, California, and Florida.

So what does Kansas have?

They have a two-point victory over Memphis that was technically a neutral site game, but it was effectively a home game since it was in St. Louis. The Jayhawks won at UCLA, but UCLA is 6-8 on the season including losses to Portland, Long Beach State, and Cal-State Fullerton. Portland defeated the Bruins by 24 points while Kansas won by just 12. Kansas also has an 11-point victory over Michigan, but like UCLA, this is a down year for the Wolverine program. Michigan is 6-6 and also has losses to Boston College and Utah. Continue reading “Why is Kansas #1?” →

Calipari Off To Kentucky

April 1, 2009June 15, 2012Danny Vinik Leave a comment

John Calipari is officially off to the bluegrass state where he will take over as head coach of Kentucky’s basketball team. Calipari accepted an 8 year, $31.65 million offer, making him the highest p calipari1 aid coach in college basketball. Was it the right move for him though? For Kentucky? And what about Memphis?

Calipari was at Memphis for 9 years and had a remarkably successful run there. His Memphis team lost in the National Championship last year and have won a remarkable 137 games over the past four seasons. Memphis has dominated their conference like John Calipari is officially off to the bluegrass state where he will take over as head coach of Kentucky’s basketball team. Calipari accepted an 8 year, $31.65 million offer, making him the highest paid coach in college basketball. Was it the right move for him though? For Kentucky? And what about Memphis.

That all sounds well and good, but Calipari is leaving behind the chance to create a new Kentucky. Memphis has quickly become a perennial championship contender, a team to be feared. With10 more years of this success, Memphis will have created a basketball program with the prestige necessary to gain status as one of the historic programs in the country. Of course, 20 years of success doesn’t equal the lifetimes of success for teams like Kentucky, Kansas, Duke, or Indiana, but its a start. Maybe 10 more years of success after that and a few national championships under his belt, Calipari would be considered the founder of one of the greatest college basketball programs of all-time. Maybe his name would be mentioned with the likes of Bobby Knight and John Wooden. He would leave behind a legacy at Memphis that no one could top. Continue reading “Calipari Off To Kentucky” →

Daily Sports Roundup 1/8/08

January 8, 2008June 15, 2012Danny Vinik 3 Comments

After a lot of news yesterday, today has been much less eventful. Here is a recap of the few stories that made headlines today:

LSU 38, Ohio State 24: The BCS National Championship was eventful though I would not consider it a “close” game. Just like last year’s championship game, Ohio State jumped out on top with a 65-yard touchdown run from Chris “Beanie” Wells to lead 7-0. They added a field goal to that before everything fell apart. After being down 10-3 after the first quarter, the Tigers outscored Ohio State 21-0 in the second quarter to go into half time with a 24-10 lead. Each team added a touchdown in each quarter, but the game was never in doubt. The closest moment came when the Buckeyes had the ball at midfield down 31-17 with 10 minutes left in the 4th quarter. It was 4th down and Ohio State needed 7 yards for a first down and a chance to get back in the game. Unfortunately, LSU hit Buckeye quarterback Todd Boeckman and knocked the ball loose. LSU gained possession at Ohio State’s 30 yard line and effectively ended the game. LSU played a solid game and deserved to win, but do they deserve to be National Champions? It is impossible to answer that question without a better playoff system. Is Georgia or USC better than LSU? Who knows, but LSU looked a like a championship-caliber team Monday night. I have no problem declaring them the 2008 Champions. Continue reading “Daily Sports Roundup 1/8/08” →