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DEL.ICIO.USMark Bradley’s Friday Fallout
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Mark Bradley
Every Friday until the end of the regular season, we’ll look at who’s up, who’s down and what you should be watching as the countdown continues to the Final Four in Atlanta.
RISING
Georgetown has won eight in a row to draw within a half-game of Pittsburgh for the Big East lead. The Hoyas followed an 18-point thrashing of Marquette with an 18-point dismissal of West Virginia. Center Roy Hibbert (below) and forward Jeff Green are the Big East’s best tandem. Patrick Ewing Jr., who played at Marietta High, averages 3.4 points and wears his famous dad’s old number — 33.
FALLING
Ranked No. 9 in the land five weeks ago, Oklahoma State has lost five of nine. Two of the victories came in multiple overtimes, and only one of the losses has been closer than 10 points. Included in the slide: A 30-point wipeout at Kansas and a 29-point embarrassment at Texas on Monday. Sean Sutton’s team stands sixth in the Big 12 and is fast playing its way down the NCAA seeding grid.
THE TOP SEEDS
If the season ended today, here’s what the top four seeds in each region should look like:
SAN ANTONIO
1: Florida
2: Kansas
3: Memphis
4: Southern Illinois
SAN JOSE
1: UCLA
2: Ohio State
3: Marquette
4: Nevada
EAST RUTHERFORD
1: North Carolina
2: Pittsburgh
3: Washington St.
4: Butler
ST. LOUIS
1: Wisconsin
2: Texas A&M
3: Georgetown
4: Virginia Tech
WHAT WE’RE WATCHING
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS AT BUTLER, 4 p.m. Saturday, ESPN2
It’s the marquee game of the made-for-TV Bracket Buster weekend: Southern Illinois is No. 16 in the Associated Press poll but No. 1 in CollegeInsider.com’s mid-major rankings; Butler is No. 13 according to AP but No. 2 according to the mid-major survey. The Salukis seem the hotter team, having won Tuesday at Missouri State. The Bulldogs lost by 12 to Wright State on Saturday.
MID-MAJOR OF THE WEEK
Akron is 19-5, its losses coming by an aggregate 18 points.
The Zips lead the Mid-American Conference’s East Division and rank among the nation’s top 10 in scoring margin. Akron is coached by Keith Dambrot, who tutored the young LeBron James at Akron’s St. Vincent-St. Mary High. Note to prospective suitors: Dambrot is an Akron grad whose mom taught in the psychology department.
NAME TO KNOW
Andy Kennedy, Ole Miss — Thrust into the Cincinnati job when Bob Huggins was fired in August 2005, Andy Kennedy came within a Gerry McNamara miracle of taking the Bearcats to the 2006 NCAA tournament. When Cincy wouldn’t commit to keeping the interim man, Kennedy left for Ole Miss and has lifted the Rebels into first place in the SEC West. Cincinnati is 1-10 in the Big East under new coach Mick Cronin.
FUN WITH NUMBERS
3 — Games that Huntington (W. Va.) High guard O.J. Mayo will miss during his suspension for bumping a referee in January. Three is also the number of schools — in three different states — Mayo has attended over the past five years. Ranked by some as the nation’s No. 1 recruit, Mayo has signed with Southern Cal.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Post your comment | Categories: Final Four, Mark Bradley
Comments
By Webspinner
February 16, 2007 08:27 AM | Link to this
The referee ought to be the one suspended for flopping so obviously in the O.J. Mayo incident. Check out the video (in slowmo) on YouTube.
By Kieran36
February 16, 2007 09:01 AM | Link to this
Yeah that was worse than a soccer player’s flop…At least they flop after contact.