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?” →

Daily Sports Roundup 1/5/08

January 5, 2008June 15, 2012Danny Vinik 3 Comments

Besides actual games today, there hasn’t been much news in the world of sports, but let’s look at some stories anyways:

Brady Named NFL MVP: Not surprisingly, Tom Brady was named NFL MVP for the first time in his career. Brady had one of the greatest seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. He had a single-season NFL record 50 touchdown passes, a league-leading 4806 yards passing, and only 8 interceptions. He also led the league in completion percentage and passer rating at 68.9% and 117.2 respectively. He received 49 of 50 votes with Brett Farve receiving the other vote (likely from a Green Bay reporter). Brady led the Patriots to a perfect regular season and hopes to continue into he playoffs

Wild Card Weekend: The Redskins visited the Seahawks and Jacksonville travelled to Pittsburgh in the two wild card games today. In the first game, the Seahawks led the Redskins 13-0 entering the fourth quarter when the game became a circus. 2:22 into the 4th quarter, the Redskins had taken a 14-13 lead and recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. After Washington kicker missed a 30 yard field goal, Seattle drove down the field, scored, and completed a 2-point conversion to take a 21-14 lead. When Redskins QB Todd Collins threw his first interception of the year, Marcus Trufant took it 78 yards back for a touchdown. Another interception by Collins with 30 seconds left in the game ended it. The Seahawks defeat the Redskins 35-14. In the other Wild Card game today, the Jaguars have used an interception return for a touchdown and a 96 yard kickoff return to give themselves a 21-7 lead at the half. Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw 3 interceptions in the first half and he is going to need to have a great second half for Pittsburgh to stay in this game. Continue reading “Daily Sports Roundup 1/5/08” →

Daily Sports Roundup 12/31/07

December 31, 2007June 15, 2012Danny Vinik Leave a comment

Happy New Years Eve to all of my readers. This New Years Eve has also seen a fair amount of sports news, so let’s get to it:

Ravens Fire Billick:The Baltimore Ravens fired head coach Brian Billick today, after the Ravens finished the year at 5-11. After a 13-3 season last year, the Ravens underachieved this year and Billick has taken a lot of the blame. The team even lost nine consecutive games before finishing with a 27-21 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers yesterday. Since the Ravens won the Super Bowl in 2000, they have won only one playoff game. Less than a year ago, Billick received a contract extension through the 2010 season and stated a couple weeks ago that he would be back for 2008. Owner Steve Bisciotti had other ideas. “I just changed my mind. I can’t explain it to you. It’s the toughest decision I’ve had to make” the owner said Monday. The Ravens were a disappointment this year and someone had to take the fall. Unfortunately, it was Billick’s turn.

McGrady Out For A Few Weeks:Though it looked like the injury would only need a couple days to heal, Tracy McGrady’s left knee has not gotten any better. The Houston Rockets are coming to a tough stretch in their schedule playing at both Boston and Orlando this week. It looks like McGrady will miss those games and more as he could be out as many as three weeks. Continue reading “Daily Sports Roundup 12/31/07” →