Move over Colonial Athletic Association (George Mason, VCU, etc…) and the Missouri Valley Conference, here comes the Atlantic Sun. On opening weekend the Atlantic Sun Conference went into the houses of three BCS’s schools and came away with impressive victories. I am not talking about buzzer beating shots. I am talking about double digit wins. My hats off to Mercer for taking down Southern Cal, Belmont for beating Cincinnati and most of all to Gardner Webb for blasting nationally ranked Kentucky. As Billy Gillespie said after the game, “the game wasn’t as close as the final score.” Let’s hope all the David’s out there can keep slaying the Goliaths. It sure would make for an interesting season.
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Boston College played their opening game against New Hampshire without the services of two starters. Tyreses Rice and Shamari Spears didn’t suit up. It wasn’t because of injury, violating team poicy, or academic reasons. They were suspended because they played basketball in the summer. That’s right! According to NCAA rules if a player plays in a summer league that they don’t sanction then the player will be penalized. What a croc!! The NCAA rule book is thicker than the New yOrk phone book. Rules are necessary, but when they are put in place to justify someone at the NCAA office having a job, then it becomes absurd. Cut back on the over regulation and staff and send some of that money back to the institutions and players.
Some observations from college football Saturday:
– How can the number one ranked defense in the country not generate one stop in eight minutes with a national championship on the line? People not even watching the game knew Illinois was going to run Juice Williams on that final drive, and Ohio State still couldn’t do anything about it.
– Boy how attractive does that Ohio State-Michigan clash look right about now on a national level? Wisconsin did whatever it wanted against the Wolverine defense Saturday, triggering thoughts of Appalachian State and Oregon for UM fans.
– If you didn’t see highlights of Oklahoma’s DeMarco Murray’s performance against Baylor on Saturday, drop everything you’re doing and get to the nearest television set. His 91 yard kickoff return for a touchdown before halftime was utterly amazing.
– How fun is Kansas’s offense to watch? They can score from anywhere on the field. If it somehow comes to fruition, how great of a match up would LSU’s defense vs. Kansas’s offense be?
– Three things you can always count on in life: Death, taxes, and the teams in the Big East are all going to knock each other off at some point during the college football season. Connecticut looked horrible against Cincinnati, who ironically also knocked Rutgers off their pedestal last year.
– How the hell do voters not have Florida higher in the polls? The Gators being ranked No. 15 is a perfect explain of how screwed up these polls are.
– Hawaii’s Colt Brennan is a bad man (he’ll break the NCAA TD mark very soon), but I worry about how his game is going to transfer to the NFL. Although Brennan seems to have ha more pure talent, does anyone remember Timmy Chang? No? Exactly.
– A week after Kansas racked up 76 points on them, Nebraska turns around Saturday and scores 73 in a beat-down of Kansas State. Think Bill Callahan wants to keep his job or what?
– Navy 46, Notre Dame 44. Air Force 41, Notre Dame 24. Payback’s a b****, huh Notre Shame?
– Speaking of Navy, they racked up 35 points in the second quarter of their game against North Texas. Final score, Navy 74, North Texas 62. Did each offense just line up on the 20-yard line and run plays on air or what?
An estimated 200 million people (most of them in China) tuned in to see Yao Ming battle Yi Jianlian for the first time. Both players finished with good numbers, though Yao dominated the Bucks’ big men, posting 28 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks. Yi got off to a slow start, but finished with 19 points and nine boards. His game has been compared to Dirk Nowitzki’s, and while he’s not on the same level, the similarities are there. He has a terrific jumper, but he doesn’t have Dirk’s ability to penetrate, at least not yet. Defensively, he has a tendency to foul, but he’s very quick for a guy his size. He is off to a good start and looks to be one of the frontrunners for the All-Rookie Team.
But back to the game – it was closer than the final score would suggest. Yi’s three-pointer brought the Bucks within two, 84-82, with 6:16 to play in the fourth quarter before the Rockets went on a 20-6 run to close the game. The Bucks did not have an answer for Bonzi Wells (18 points, seven rebounds), who is playing with serious energy after phoning it in last season.
Houston advanced to 5-1 while the Bucks fell to 2-3.
St. Louis got their first win last night in the Rick Majerus era. Watching him in practice last week showed me why he is one of the best teachers in the profession. His attention to detail will help this Billiken team overachieve all year long. And just wait until next year when he opens a new arena and gets a full recruiting class under his belt.
Also, he added former Wright State coach Paul Biancardi to his staff. One of the good guys in the business his work ethic and recruiting ability will help supply St. Louis with the talent to be a national contender..
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