Zane Safrit

Three Problems with The Boeheim-Syracuse-NCAA Deal

#1 - When Did the NCAA Know?

The NCAA says ineligible played games in the years 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2010-11 and 2011-12.  My math’s a little rusty. But 2004 was 11 years ago, 2005 was ten years ago. 2006 was nine years ago.

So, when did the NCAA realize that ineligible players played those years?

If the answer is Gosh-darnit we just found out, then ... you, NCAA, are guilty of lack of organizational control. Okay, you’re guilty of ineptitude.

If you knew 6-7-8 years ago, then what were you waiting for all these years?

#2 - This Year’s Players Were Thrown Under the Bus

The players on this year’s team had nothing to do with those offenses. Yet, Coach Boeheim in an effort to appease the NCAA threw them under the bus by saying they would forfeit the opportunity to play in any postseason tournaments. Innocent players. In effect, he suspended them for the tournaments and they had nothing to do with these infractions. It was a pre-emptive strike and it struck only the players on this year's team.

And the NCAA and Syracuse University let him. Matter of fact the ACC did, too.

Maybe it was the NCAA's plan to bait and switch him. But they ended up baiting and switching innocent players. Shame on you all, Coach Boeheim and his University and the NCAA.

#3 - Coach Boeheim’s Response.

... I acknowledge that violations occurred within the Men's Basketball Program, and as the Head Coach of the Program, I take those violations very seriously.

"That being said, I am disappointed with many of the findings and conclusions as stated in the Infractions Report. The Committee chose to ignore the efforts which I have undertaken over the past 37 years to promote an atmosphere of compliance within the Men's Basketball Program.

Really? That reads like he's claiming he's the victim, that no one appreciated his efforts to promote an atmosphere of compliance.

You're saying your job is to promote atmosphere of compliance? Does that include burning incense and playing sounds of falling rain in the background?

Sorry, Coach. Your job is to comply with the rules. Your job as coach is to insure everyone associated with the program complies with those rules.  Wedding organizers create an atmosphere. Rave party organizers create an atmosphere.  Basketball coaches comply with the NCAA rules about recruiting and player eligibility. You get paid a lot of money to do that, too, as well as win games.

He goes on to blame, I’m not kidding you, the rogue and secretive actions of a former employee of the local YMCA and my former Director of Basketball Operations.

WTH? You’re blaming ... the YMCA? You’re blaming an employee, claiming that employee was ... secretive? Your job is to know what that employee is doing. Period.

Imagine a CEO saying Yeah, that employee ... kinda secretive. Oh wait, they do. Bankers do that when their traders lose billions in bad trades. Oh yeah, and they call that employee a rogue trader.

Last but not least, Coach Boeheim said it all, everything he hadn’t said to date, when he failed to appear for the post-game press conference after the loss to NCSU on their final game of the season.

Yeah. Wow.

Links:

Orange Basketball

CBS Sports 

ESPN 

Final Four - Week 16

If the Final Four were held today here’s the lineup:

Kentucky

After that does it matter? The issue isn’t who will win. It’ll be Kentucky. The issue is which team’s players will have their souls rattled by Kentucky’s overwhelming defense, offense, depth ...

It’s really up to Kentucky and their coach and players how bad they want to destroy the opponent in the final game.

Sure, sure, it’s life and life’s full of surprises. On the other hand when you have a team as deep as Kentucky whose every player plays defense with as much passion on a single play as Duke players put into an entire game ... game and a half life’s surprises stop right there. In fact, that’s a surprise itself, that there are no surprises left for Kentucky’s team.

But let’s fill out the form.

Virginia? Sure, why not. Good defense, okay offense, disciplined, senior classmen.

Villanova. Same thing. Big bodies, too. Excellent, seasoned coach.

Duke. Nah. Here’s why. First, they don’t play defense. Second they have an 8-man team. Period. I expect them to go out in the 2nd game of the first round depending on the seed. They won’t make the Final Four. God help them if they face Kentucky.

Arizona ... maybe. Good defense. Offense is coming on. Big bodies.

Gonzaga? C’mon. They haven’t played defense all year, they play no one all year, okay they played Arizona ...and they lost. Big deal. UPDATE: Gonzaga loses to who ... at home? Here's the two quotes that tell it all:

• "They came in here and, again, were just far more aggressive than we were," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said.
• "We didn't put up too much of a fight," McClellan said.

Kansas. Maybe. It depends on that absurd eligibility issue with Alexander. Really, NCAA? One week before the end of the regular season and you have a question about his eligibility? Jeez.

DARK HORSES

Iowa State. I’d say yes before they gave up the game at K-State.

Northern Iowa? Hmmm. Good, but not big enough.

Baylor. What about Baylor? Defense, good shooting, big bodies.

Maryland. Now, there’s a team set for a run. Good guard, good bigs, Bonzi Wells, a bench, a tenacious coach, they like playing together. Defense, threes, rebounding.

Utah. Hard to say after last-night’s loss to Arizona on their home court. Won’t surprise anyone.

Wichita State? I'd love to say yes to these guys for how tough they rebound and play defense. But they have no bigs. Still, defense wins ...LOST THEIR STEED

Texas. Anyone seen the team that wore the same uniform earlier in the year? Or is the BIG 12 so good that a very good team like Texas looks suspect.

 

Final Four - Week 13

If the Final Four were held this weekend, here’s the lineup:

Kentucky

Virginia

Duke

Villanova

Gonzaga ... c’mon. Look at their schedule. To date, they’ve never been known as a defensive powerhouse. This year’s no different on either point.

Winner: Ah, who knows?

Kentucky ... ? Sure they’re undefeated and at time dominating. But then look at their schedule. They haven’t played a quality team since well, last night and before that ... Louisville, back in December. Bah. They play to their competition ... I’m not convinced.

Virginia. Sure, but they lost a key player with a broken finger. And they lost to Duke at home. Still, Duke’s a great team that had been playing soft and slow, then they woke up. At Virginia.

Duke. Playing like a Duke team with a little passion and some defense. They shot the lights out Saturday against Notre Dame but c’mon here. Notre Dame’s lineup was 4 guys no taller than 6’5’’ and a guard 6’1’’. And their rotation goes only 8 deep with Rasheed Sulaimon gone. A second game in a tournament could expose that rotation.

Villanova. Maybe, if they play the way they played yesterday against Georgetown. Tough, physical, fast.

DARK HORSES

Utah. Sure, their two losses are to Arizona. But, they’re big, physical, have a solid guard. Upper classmen, too.

Wisconsin. Definitely. They’re playing stronger now than any time this year. That’s with their starting guard out, a senior, too.

Louisville. Hahahahaha. They can’t shoot. Defense wins championships but only if you can shoot. And they can’t. It’s the coach’s rep that keeps them rated this high.

Kansas. Maybe. But they’re young, not very big or physical. But they play hard, fast, shoot well. The right matchups ... they could make the Final Four.

LOST THEIR STEEDS

West Virginia and Texas. I’d love to throw West Virginia or Texas up there in the Dark Horse category. But the former can’t shoot from outside and the latter ... who knows what happened to them.

Iowa State. Same as above. But they don’t play defense. When they do, they’re pretty impressive.

Related articles

Weekend Predictions: Duke finds its swagger

College Basketball Power Rankings

Final Four - Week 11

The Final Four: Week 12

If the Final Four were to happen this weekend, here’s the lineup:

Kentucky.

Virginia? Yeah, even if they were outcoached by a current legend. They’re still tough and they’ll learn from this.

Duke? Too soon to tell. They let Notre Dame take control late in the second half, after they had 10-point lead. But against a stronger Virginia team, they asserted control after Virginia had a ten-point lead and I tweeted that the rout was commencing. If Duke plays defense ... with half-as-much passion as they play offense ... they’re pretty unstoppable. The trick remains ... why does CoachK let them get away with playing such soft defense?

Arizona? Maybe. If they can score.

Villanova?

WINNER: Kentucky. Hard to imagine any team being able to overcome their depth and their commitment to ... wait for it ... playing defense.

DARK HORSES

Lots.

Kansas? They’re coming on strong, pieces fitting together.

Georgetown. Why? They play defense. And they have a few scorers. Big bodies. Their Center is a good example.

West Virginia? Ditto. Hall of Fame coach, the kind the players love.

UNI? They delivered a beatdown on Wichita State. Out hustled, out defensed, outscored them ... all day. Granted, it was at home. But still. On the other hand, see Notre Dame.

Iowa State? If they play defense.

Notre Dame? They have a great guard, good ball movement, play defense. I don’t think they have the talent or athletes,though, to make the Final Four.

LOST THEIR STEEDS

VCU. For goodness sakes, you lose to Richmond at home? The stats showed you gave up in the second half. UPDATE: I just saw the news that one of their key players suffered a career-ending injury. Okay, that might take the wind out of anyone's sails.

Texas. Who are you? I think it’ll all come together for you by the end of the year. Hard to say. Looks like there’s dissent among the ranks.

EARLIER WEEKS

My thoughts from the earlier weeks of this great season. 

Final Four - Week 11

If the Final Four were held this weekend, here’s the lineup:

Kentucky

Virginia

Who else?

Gonzaga? Mmmm, no. Why? No Defense. And their schedule is ... getting tougher but it’s like a BIG 12 or BIG 10 or ACC schedule.

Villanova. Maybe, but you got blown out by Georgetown. I know that was over a week ago, but still ...

Arizona? Maybe. You’re playing defense now. See, you’re sorta like Duke. You play one aspect of the game really well, when you’re of the mind to do so. You play defense. Duke plays offense.

Wisconsin? Maybe. But you have a star player, Traevon Jackson, injured.

Of these four, I’d go with Arizona and Villanova.

CHAMPIONSHIP GAME

Virginia. Kentucky loses to Virginia, in a close one.

Technically, I think that’s accurate. But Coach Cal has more experience in these kinds of close games. On the other hand, Virginia’s players are older, seen more games. That’s why it’s a close one.

DARK HORSES

Duke. Down by 10 and playing this season’s version of Matador Defense ... I saw another first round exit coming up if they even made it to the tournament. Seriously, up until then that was a soft, soft team on defense and rebounding. Then Coach K inserts Plumlee and he grabs a huge rebound and the team ignites. Course, it helped that St. John’s self-incinerated, too. Still, could this be a turning point for their season when the kids realize they have to play hard every game, both halves and both offense AND defense (Quinn Cook?)? If they do, then they’ll be very tough. If they don’t and the kids decide in that first round game to mail it in, f’it I’m outta here ... it’ll be another first round exit.

Duke’s next game is at Notre Dame, then Syracuse, Virginia and UNC.

Maryland. Your horse came up hobbled against Indiana. But from what I saw, your defense was good, not great. But good enough that Indiana’s hot shooting was beautiful to see but a classic one and done. Sure enough Indiana lost to ... Ohio State.

Utah. I’m staying with them despite their big loss to Arizona.

Kansas. Looked very good against Texas. Some new players are stepping up. Perry Ellis is so smooth. Alexander's a bruiser. We’ll see.

Texas. They’re coming on, Isaiah Taylor plays better every game and so does the rest of the team: Ridley's a beast and plays with a bit of attitude, Miles Turner is more confident, Javan Felix and Jonathan Holmes, too. Their run through the tourney will be dependent on their seed.

West Virginia. Sure, you needed overtime and poor free-throw shooting by TCU to beat them. But you’re defense is crazy and what’s won with defense? Championships. That assumes you can score and WVU has scorers, unlike Alabama and VCU ...

LOST THEIR STEEDS

Iowa. Losing by 30 and their center poking the eyes of the opponent. Yeah.

Iowa State? Maybe, probably not. You had a let-down at Texas Tech. It happens. It happens again, then you have a problem.

Oklahoma. You looked so indomitable against Texas. What have you done since then? You’re and 4 with losses to WVU (blowout), K-State (really?), Kansas and B-B-Baylor. Baylor. Not good.

Final Four: Week 10

If the Final Four was played this weekend, here's the lineup

Kentucky - Back to its old soul-crushing defense and overwhelming offense.

Virginia - Solid, solid, solid. Great defense (Take note, Duke), very good offense.

Utah Arizona -  Okay, they crushed my favorite dark horse: Utah. They did it on Defense. (Duke?) And what does defense do? Defense wins championships. I don’t know if they have enough offense ... but their defense shows grit and determination (Duke?)

Villanova - Same ol’ goodness.

WINNER: Virginia in a close one. Their player's experience would make the difference.

What a crazy week.

DARK HORSES

Texas wakes up, shows up, acts like they knew each other, play like a basketball team - a very good basketball team against West Virginia whose strengths exploit every weakness Texas showed against Oklahoma. Amazing.

Iowa State beats West Virginia at West Virginia and Kansas at Ames in an 8-day period. Two different opponents, West Virginia is brutal and constant pressing defense and Kansas is run, run, run. Pretty impressive.

Wisconsin. Even without Kaminsky, losing to Rutgers was a stunner. Now, Trayvon Jackson is hurt. They're a blip above the next category.

Maryland. They keep looking better and better. They ended this week with a big win against a revived and motivated Michigan State.

LOST THEIR STEEDS

Duke. It's hard to stink up a week like Duke stunk up last week, at least until Saturday.

NC State and Miami  JUST.EXPOSED. Duke’s weakness: Defense and footspeed. They could not figure out how to play pick’n roll defense.  I’m scratching my head wondering about that. I was a gym rat, not very fast and not very big, but even I could figure out how to play pick’n roll. Even if they could, I'm not sure their players could be  in position in time or wold make the effort to be there in time. Hard to tell. Their body language says 'yeah, yeah. hurry up and give me the ball so I can launch a three.'

But Coach K isn’t 2 wins away from 1000 for nothing. He realizes that A. Duke can’t play man defense even with the best recruiting class and four or five top 20 picks on his roster. Go figure but they haven’t; B. Louisville cannot score. Just can’t. Imagine a game with them and VCU. Might get to 30 points, each, in overtime. I digress.

So Coach K has them play ... zone. Z.O.N.E. Sure enough, Louisville can’t score. inside or out. Duke’s guards can’t either but that’s okay because Okafor is 8 of 10, Amile Jefferson who plays with passion and smarts was 6 of 7 and a double-double with rebounds.

Is Duke back? Hell no. They can’t depend on an opponent’s horrific shooting to bail them out every game. Zone defense is not going to work against a NCSU or Miami or Virginia or Syracuse (whose coach taught Coach K how to play zone). The question is whether Duke’s players want to get scrappy and dig down deep on defense. They sure do on offense, though.

I know Okafor is the consensus player of the year. Amazing offensive machine. Double, double, points and rebounds every night. But his effort on defense ... well, he looks bored or unsure of himself. Never holds his hands up, never shows much passion. I don’t know, that’s what I see.

Louisville. Ummm ... yeah. How many open shots did you miss? Oh my goodness. Had you hit a mere 30% of your shots you would have won. 30%. And that's against a very soft zone defense. For the rest of the year you should have shooting drills every practice.

The Final Four - Week 8

 Note: I’ll be back to writing about business Monday, January fifth.

FINAL FOUR

If the Final Four was held this weekend here’s the lineup:

Kentucky - Same old dominance.

Duke - Same old dominance.

Texas - You have Isaiah Taylor back. Miles Turner is playing stronger every game. You’re looking stronger every game. Your coach played at Lenoir-Rhyne! What's not to like.

Virginia - I’m sticking with you despite your needing OT to win at Miami. You squandered an 18-point halftime lead ... and rallied to win. So, lesson learned, right? Right?

Winner: Kentucky over Duke by 10. I'm not sure if that's a 'going-away' 10 or a 'coasting-compassionate' 10.

DARK HORSES

Seton Hall - You beat St. John's and Villanova, back-to-back.

Maryland - As I mentioned last week, you faced a major test at Michigan State and you passed it. Aced it, really. You keep playing like this ... I might have to add you in the Fina Four.

UConn? - You had a comeback win at Florida. But it’s not the strongest Florida team, either. Awright, I like the way they play, I admire their coach and his career and how he followed a Hall of Fame coach. Plus, he's so demonstrative on the sideline. I hope he's not a poker player. On the other hand, maybe he's so disciplined he does that for his players only. Off-court he's stoic. Nah.

Wisconsin - You’re still there. You have senior leadership and a great coach. You’ll be knocking on the Final Four door, especially since you play in the BIg 10 - a little weak this year it looks like so far.

Utah - I’m still seeing Utah on the doorstep. You rolled over USC and your next opponent is, yawn, UCLA and Coach Steve I’m-An-All-American Alford.

LOST THEIR STEEDS

Iowa State - You lost to South Carolina at a neutral site? Maybe it was the holiday, you stayed out late in Crooklyn. Maybe this was a learning experience.

St. John’s - I get on your bandwagon and you lose to Seton Hall and Butler. It’s still early, you can still get back in the race.

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The Final Four - Week 7

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The Final Four - Week 7

If the Final Four was last weekend, here’s the lineup:

Kentucky - You looked as dominant as you wanted to look against Louisville last Saturday. On the other hand, Louisville hits a few shots and you’re not so invincible.

Duke - Steady. You have a tough game this week against Wofford. No laugh. They have all their players back from last year's NCAA team.

Virginia - You have a big test this week against Davidson, the nation’s highest scoring team.

Villanova - You showed toughness and grit against Syracuse. Granted it’s not the usual Syracuse team and you played at home. But you scored five points in eleven seconds to force overtime. Then you went and won in overtime.

WINNER: An undefeated Kentucky beats an undefeated Duke by ... ten.

DARK HORSES

Texas - You lost to Stanford at home, in overtime. See the difference? Villanova won; you lost. Ergo, you’re not in the Final Four this week. You are however in the dark horse category. I look forward to Isaiah Taylor showing up in January and Miles Turner continuing to show improvement. You play Kentucky again ... who knows?

Louisville - Kentucky got in your head more than their hands got above your shot.

Utah - You have a big coming back, I think.

St. Johns - You’re looking strong.

Maryland - You look very strong. Your test this week against MSU will tell everything.

LOST THEIR STEED

Arizona - You lost to an unranked UNLV. The game sounded worse than the final score.

Wichita State - I hate to do this to you. You played hard, crazy hard on defense. But you have no bigs, nobody taller than 6’7’’ in your starting lineup. That’s gonna catch up with you ... against UNI?

Final Four - Week 6

If the Final Four was held this, now past, weekend, here’s the lineup:

• Kentucky

• Duke

• Texas

• Virginia

WINNER

Kentucky. Kentucky devastated UCLA.

1. 24 - 0 start,
2. a 7-point UCLA first half,
3. a final score one point away from a double-up: 83-42. T

The only question in the mind of UCLA’s Coach Alford is: “How do I wipe my hands clean of this debacle and blame it all on the players?”

The only question on the mind of UCLA’s hiring committee is “What do we do, now?”

THE OTHERS

Duke played well enough against a UConn team that’s better than their record offers. When they played defense, they looked very good. When they didn't ... they looked mediocre especially without their usual parade of 3-pointers.

Can they beat Kentucky? No. Okay, in a universe of infinite possibilities there's one or more where they could. Think NC State over Houston - '83, Villanova over Georgetown - '85 and Butler ... almost over Duke 2010. But they have to play much better defense.

Texas. They rolled. Once they have Isaiah Taylor back and this Mile Turner plays to expectations.

Virginia. They rolled, too. Smooth and steady, with no drama, just like their coach. Got big men, skilled guards, good defense and good shooters. What’s not to like?

DARK HORSES

• Villanova. Sure, they needed an overtime to win at home against a sub-standard Syracuse team. But, that’s the nature of their rivalry. And they came back, tied it, won it.

• Utah. They have a player out, a big. Once they get him back, look out.

• Wichita State. Defense wins championships and they have a strong one. Wichita’s only loss this year is to Utah, at Utah. In overtime.

• Wisconsin. Their one loss was to Duke, granted it was at home. But their schedule is very favorable for making it through the Big Ten with minimum damage. When Michigan State loses to Texas Southern ... Texas who? ... a 2-8 Texas Southern that’s who and Michigan gives NJIT it’s first Division 1 win which started a four-game losing streak ending with yesterday’s loss to SMU, at SMU, ( which circles us back to MSU’s loss to Texas Southern ... it was at home ) and Ohio State can’t beat UNC ... well, Wisconsin should make it through with ABSOLUTELY no more than 2 conference losses. I’m seeing them undefeated, really.

PALE RIDERS

• Ohio State? They couldn’t stop UNC on a neutral court for goodness sakes. And UNC lost to Iowa on its home court. So ...

• Arizona. They don't deserve a Final Four listing. I'm not seeing their dominance, yet. They look like they have the athletes and the talent but they struggle nearly every time they play a ranked opponent.

• Gonzaga? They're very good. But historically they never play defense.

NIGHTMARE GAME

You know, it's the opposite scenario of your dream game - a matchup of evenly and very talented teams and coaches. This year that would be Louisville - Kentucky this Saturday or Duke - Louisville on January 17.

No, the Nightmare Game is one where the strengths and weaknesses, player's size and speed, magnify against each other into an interminable match of futilities.

VCU vs Arkansas.

Long and tall and rangy and fast athletes, relentless and frenzied defense, play hard all game and ... and ... can't shoot a lick. Dunks, 15-footers, tear-drops, three's, breakaway layups ... they'd miss them all. It would be a contest of futility. They should change the scoring for who can miss the most shots because that would credit them for their strengths: defense. Those shots would come from their defenses, see?

Easy. I'm having fun. Both coaches, Mike Anderson for Arkansas and Shaka Smart for VCU, run great programs and sell their athletes on the value of relentless pressure defense. That's a tough sell in today's I need my minutes, I need my points, I'm going to the NBA mentality for today's college players or a lot of them.

Still, it's been painful to watch their games.

* Where was Final Four - Week 5? Nowhere. Nothing happened that week.

Final Four - Week Four

Awright, enough about college ... football.

Let’s talk about college basketball, you know the sport with a real playoff system, one that goes beyond a mere two games. Yawn.

FINAL FOUR - if it was held this weekend.

• Kentucky. They didn’t so much win their game against Texas as Texas lost that game. Granted, some credit goes to Kentucky for their start of the second half. But Texas came back and had their guard Isaiah Taylor played ... the game would have been different, especially had they played on a neutral court.

• Duke. Duke played very well in their game against Wisconsin at Wisconsin. Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook, Sulaimon outplayed their Wisconsin counterparts. That being said Traevon Jackson almost made the difference singlehandedly. Duke had a better game plan for Kaminsky and Dekker than Wisconsin had against Okafor, Plumlee, Jefferson, etal.

• Louisville. I hate having to say this. But their defense is overwhelming, just ask Ohio State. They have depth, leadership, big men, big guards, a deep bench and yeah, Rick Pitino. Their game against Kentucky ... whew, gonna be wild.

• Villanova/Texas/Virginia

Villanova. They continue to dominate. They have solid guards, big and plentiful big men, a seasoned lineup with Junior and Seniors and a great coach - Jay Wright.

Texas. Texas will be a beast. Texas will win the Big 12 - season and tournament, breaking KU’s 10-year reign.

Virginia. Went to VCU’s home and won, big. Big and easy. Course, VCU can’t shoot - layups, 15-footers, three’s. Can’t shoot. Have no shooters. And their defense is predicated on them scoring... sometime in a game.

DARK HORSES - Without a Steed

Most of them lost their steed.

• UNC? Lost to Iowa at home while Iowa shot 25% or less?

• Arizona? You need overtime to win against Gonzaga, at home?

DARK HORSES - Maybe

• Ohio State? Probably not enough to run this race, this year, but they did come back in the second half against Louisville, at Louisville. They showed some heart and toughness and the ability to score.

• San Diego State? Maybe. Only their free-throw shooting against Arizona cost them that game.

• Utah. Where is Utah? 25th? No; that ain't right. They might make a run at the end of the year.

• Wisconsin. Still in the mix.

Also Rans

Butler, Georgetown, Florida before the year's over, Miami - maybe.

 

Final Four - Week 3

The season’s not even three weeks old and already it’s excellent. Good games are happening every week, sometimes every night, sometimes more than once a night.

Here we go with this week’s Final Four if the Final Four happened this week.

Kentucky

Wisconsin - Big wins against everyone except a very tough Georgetown team, which they still won. Then again, Georgetown follows that very good game with a loss to Butler.

Duke - The usual crushing wins against overwhelmed teams.

Villanova. With wins against Michigan and VCU (crushed them) and a solid guard and big bodies, skilled big bodies, inside who knows how far they can go?

Wisconsin and Villanova earned their spots with tough wins against quality opponents.

This week Duke plays Wisconsin at Wisconsin. Duke lost there the last time they played Wisconsin at Wisconsin. They also went on to win a national championship in the same season. Go figure.

Dropping Out: Arizona finally played a few quality teams, K-State and San Diego State.

• San Diego State lost the game with poor free-throw shooting, Arizona didn’t win it.
• K-State lost with bad execution in the last two minutes.

They have the athletes. They just don’t look like they have the execution or the shooting. We’ll see.

NATIONAL CHAMPION? It’s still Kentucky.

Dark Horses

Louisville. Maybe I should rank them in the Final Four. I just can’t yet. Here’s why. It’s a personal thing. I just dislike their coach.

Wichita State. They still haven’t lost a regular season game since ... I forget, since March 2013 are very strong, very physical, experienced, great coach.

VCU? Nah, I don’t think so. That thing called ‘offense’ continues to challenge them, just as it challenged them last year. Do they play defense? Hell, yeah. Do they press and create chaos? Double that. Do they rebound? All game. But they cannot shoot worth a darn. Until that changes ... Even now as I write this post, they trail Old Dominion - Old Dominion! - by 12. Update: They lost by six but they did score 49 points in the second half. But, ODU scored 41, so now VCU can't play defense.

North Carolina? - Hard to say. They let Butler, a very solid Butler but it’s still Butler, grab 29 offensive rebounds. 29. Offensive rebounds. Marcus Paige, their #1 point guard in all the land, shot about 30% from the field. And Butler went long periods without scoring. And still UNC lost.

Then again, they whipped UCLA, a recent and very temporary arrival to the Top 25, and followed that with a solid win against a depleted Florida team.

Who knows? Ol’ Roy Williams teams have similar personalities as their coach. Temperamental, volatile.

Iowa State? No, they lost to Maryland.

Dark Delight of the Week. UCLA, under it's Coach Steve, I Swear I'll Win a First-Round Game Before I Retire ... but if I don't it's the players fault, Alford entered the top 25 for the first time. After that rush of good news they lost to Georgetown and ... wait for it ... a 22-point loss to UNC. Here's a great sumup. I like this one's title: UCLA Basketball Gets Slaughtered on Thanksgiving.

Here's my favorite quote from Coach Alford:

“We’re not changing our offense or changing our defense overnight,” Alford said.

And Coach, why should you?

WEEK 4 GAMES to WATCH

Sunday: Kansas vs. Michigan State

Tuesday: Ohio State vs Louisville; Syracuse at Michigan

Wednesday: Iowa at UNC; Duke at Wisconsin; Virginia at Maryland; Wichita State at Utah,

Thursday: Arkansas at Iowa State

Friday: Texas at Kentucky - Texas won't have it's star guard Isaiah Taylor; Florida at Kansas; Missouri at Oklahoma.

Final Four - Week 2

If the men’s NCAA Final Four were held this weekend, here are its four teams.

• Kentucky

• Duke

• Arizona

• Wisconsin

No change from Week 1.

CHAMPION

Kentucky.

Last week I chose Wisconsin to win over Kentucky in the Championship Game.

That’s not gonna happen. Based on Kentucky’s overwhelming dominance against the then fifth-ranked Kansas Jayhawks ... not only will Kentucky be crowned champions they will win every game this season.

Ah. But this is college basketball. Yes, you say, but this is the 2014-2015 Kentucky Wildcats who play in platoons. Each platoon plays 4-5 minutes. While they’re playing they’re not really competing against the other team, they’re competing against their teammates sitting on the bench, watching. Their performance determines future playing time.

Still, this is college basketball. The tournament is a one-and-done format. Fail to show up for one game and you’re done. Think about over the years to Georgetown vs Villanova in ’85, Houston vs NC State in ’83, Butler (who?) vs Duke in 2010, Duke vs Lehigh and Mercer for that matter. Every year there’s the overwhelming favorite that fails to show up for a game and their bounced to the offseason.

Kentucky carried extra motivations for this week’s game. Their coach, Coach Cal Calipari, coached University of Memphis in 2008’s national championship game when it was defeated by ... wait for it ... Kansas coached by Bill Self. The other motivation was their coming out party on a national stage. They wanted to show the world what this ‘platooning’ thing was all about. Show them they did.

Still, they have so much depth and talent that not only could they stumble but they could lie down for 30 minutes of every game and still go undefeated.

Still. It’s college basketball and teenage players and it’s a long season. Lots can happen.

DARK HORSES

• VCU. They have offense this year on top of their veracious defense.

• Texas. They’re not really a dark horse at number 10. But they have size and depth and two excellent point guards. The star, Isaiah Taylor is out for 4-6 weeks with a broken hand. That's okay. This gives playing time for his backup before the conference games begin in January when he returns.

• Miami. They’re not a championship contender. But after beating Florida at Florida, coming back from fifteen points down, then they’re someone to watch.

• Gonzaga? They always look good playing in West Coast Conference games ... But defense not only wins championships it wins first and second round games (Duke's been reminded of that recently). And Gonzaga never plays defense. Ever.