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Showing posts from December, 2018

ACC Breakdown 12/31/18

The ACC is always one of the best basketball conferences, and this year doesn't look any different. It features some of the best teams in the country, including one that is undefeated, and three teams in my top 10 and six in my top 25. (Check out my latest top 25 here ), as well others which have been ranked throughout the year. Give me your own thoughts on the conference on Twitter @ThreePointRange, and check back next week for another rundown of the ACC. Power Rankings 1. Duke Record:  11-1 My Thoughts:  The Blue Devils have been everything they were advertised to be and more. This is the best team in the country if you ask me, and they have the resume to back it up. They embarrassed Kentucky in their opening game, took down Auburn in Maui, drubbed Indiana, and won a hard fought battle with a tough Texas Tech team at Madison Square Garden. Their only loss comes to Gonzaga by 2 on a neutral court, which is certainly nothing to be ashamed of. They are in the top 3 in both offe

The Fast Break 12/31/18

2018 is drawing to a close, and I wanted to thank everyone for their support of this series and all others. With conference play approaching and I'm going to be putting out conference breakdowns with game reviews, this is probably going to be the last edition of The Fast Break of the 2018-19 basketball season. I think it has kind of been limited in what it does and hasn't been the most fulfilling for me, so hopefully it improves the content on the site overall. As always, let me know your thoughts on Twitter @ThreePointRange, and have a Happy New Year. What I Saw - Mississippi State is a legit SEC contender. The Bulldogs are very deep, with 7 players capable of starting on the roster. They put up 100 points in a game where Lamar Peters, who was scoring 14.3 points a game entering the contest against BYU, was held scoreless, and they struggled more than they have been from the three point line. They have five star freshman Reggie Perry struggling to find minutes among the tal

Top 25 Breakdown 12/31/18

The end of the calendar year always brings a light college basketball slate, and we saw that over the last week, with few high level games this week, especially at the top of the rankings. However, with conference play starting up, there are a lot of really intriguing games coming up this week and I think we could see some dramatic changes after the week ahead. Let me know where you agree or disagree in terms of my rankings on Twitter @ThreePointRange and enjoy your new year. Top 25 1. Duke (1) Record:11-1 Last Week: N/A This Week: 1/5 vs Clemson 2. Michigan (2) Record: 13-0 Last Week: W 74-52 vs Binghamton This Week: 1/3 vs Penn State, 1/6 vs Indiana 3. Tennessee (3) Record: 11-1 Last Week: W 96-53 vs Tennessee Tech This Week: 1/5 vs Georgia 4. Virginia (4) Record: 11-0 Last Week: N/A This Week: 12/31 vs Marshall, 1/5 vs Florida State 5. Nevada (5) Record: 13-0 Last Week: W 86-71 @ Utah This Week: 1/2 vs Utah State, 1/5 @ New Mexico 6. Kansas (6) Record: 1

Big East Breakdown 12/29/18

As the new year approaches, so does conference play, and the Big East begins their conference slate today. So, I am introducing my new weekly conference breakdown series, where I will go in depth on each conference once a week. This will essentially be replacing the Fast Break, as I will give breakdowns of games as well as some new things. I will be releasing one conference every day of the week if all goes well, although I may occasionally have to push one back a day or so given my workload at school, which unfortunately has to come first. I'm really excited to bring this to you all, and I hope you enjoy my breakdown of the Big East. The conference will be very competitive once more, and should be exciting to watch every night thanks to the excellent guard play and top quality offenses that exist in the league. Power Rankings 1. Marquette Record:  11-2 My Thoughts:  Marquette was a team I was really high on coming into the year, and they've lived up to my expectations. Th

The Fast Break 12/24/18

Merry Christmas Eve! As previously mentioned, I'm going to be taking the holidays off, but I'll be back with new content at the end of the week. Luckily, there isn't really a lot to watch before this upcoming weekend, outside of the Diamond Head Classic, so it should be a nice breather from all things college basketball. However, I wanted to give my thoughts on this weekend's games before they become obsolete. Let me know your thoughts on Twitter @ThreePointRange, and enjoy your holidays. What I Saw - Furman and Buffalo both lost their first game of the season on Friday night on the road by 18 points, but they were very different losses. Furman quite simply didn't look as talented as LSU. They weren't bad by any means, but they seemed like a typical decent mid-major squad playing against a more talented team. They hung around in the first half, trailing by 4 at the break, but in the end the Tigers were too much for the Paladians. Meanwhile, Buffalo gave Marqu

Top 25 Breakdown 12/24/18

Merry Christmas Eve! Here's my Top 25 for this week. I sort of struggled with how to rank some teams, as it feels like there is a clear top tier, and then after that a bunch of teams that deserve to be in the 18-25 range, so I feel some of these teams are overranked, and then I feel bad for some of the teams near the back and the ones I had to leave out, as they could easily be higher. The battle between resumes and the eye test is one I struggled with when putting this together, but after much deliberation, I've settled on these rankings. Pleads let me know your thoughts on the rankings on Twitter @ThreePointRange, and enjoy your holidays. Top 25 1. Duke (4) Record:11-1 Last Week: W 101-50 vs Princeton, W 69-58 vs Texas Tech(at MSG) This Week: N/A 2. Michigan (2) Record: 12-0 Last Week: W vs Air Force 71-50 This Week: 12/30 vs Binghamton 3. Tennessee (3) Record: 10-1 Last Week: W 83-70 vs Samford, W 83-64 vs Wake Forest This Week: 12/29 vs Tennessee Tech 4. V

The Fast Break 12/21/18

Just a note: after Monday, I'll be shutting down for a few days on here and on Twitter for the holidays. I'll still be keeping an eye on games, but I will be much less active unless there is a huge story that breaks that I need to talk about. That being said, I've got some teams to talk about right now, so let's get into it. As always, let me know your thoughts on Twitter @ThreePointRange. What I Saw - Oklahoma looks like one of the better teams in the Big 12. They beat Creighton by 13 while keeping the Blue Jays offense quiet for most of the game, holding TyShon Alexander to 9 points and keeping Mitch Ballock scoreless. I was really impressed by the balance in their offense, with 5 players scoring 13 or more points. Miles Reynolds, a Pacific transfer, looks really good, and Brady Manek was great, getting 18 points in 17 minutes. However, the best player has been Christian James, who has 14 points and 12 rebounds. He's been leading the Sooners all year, averagin