Looking Back - The Things That I Regret Saying About Kentucky Before The 2014 NCAA Tournament

Note: This is a post that I began to write after the brackets for the 2014 NCAA Tournament came out in March and Kentucky was placed as a 8 seed in the extraordinarily difficult Midwest Regional with Wichita St., Louisville, Duke, and Michigan. Thankfully, I did not post it and forgot about the article (kinda like how everybody in the world has forgotten about Jimmer and his shooting ability, which I am still holding onto), but it is pretty funny to look back at and see how ridiculously wrong I was about Kentucky (never become skeptical of Big Blue Nation, Kevin Love's capacity to miss out on the playoffs, Chris Bosh's three point shooting capabilities, the power of Game of Thrones to shock you, or Jack Bauer's ability to escape certain death every episode). I was making fun of the Wildcats for having such a bad season after such high expectations (they had the worst regular season for a team ranked pre-season number 1 since either the UConn team in 1999-2000 with Khalid El-Amin that finished 25-10 and lost in the second round to Tennessee or the 1979-1980 Indiana team with Isiah Thomas, Butch Carter, and Mike Woodson that is the only club other then this Kentucky squad to fall out of the top 25 after being the pre-season number 1) and then they of course made a run to their second NCAA Championship Game in the last three years and their third Final Four under John Calipari since 2009-2010. Kentucky also became just the fifth 8 seed to reach the Final Four along with North Carolina and Wisconsin in 2000 (lost in the National Semifinals to Jason Richardson, Mateen Cleaves, and Michigan St. and Mike Miller, Udonis Haslem, and Florida respectively), Butler in 2011 (lost to Kemba Walker and UConn in a very poorly played title game), and Villanova in 1985 (beat Georgetown and Patrick Ewing in the famous championship upset by Rollie Massimino). The Wildcats are also now only behind North Carolina and UCLA in terms of Final Fours by school (Tar Heels have 18, Bruins have 17, UK has 16) and are tied with the Bruins for the most National Championship game appearances in college basketball history (both teams have 12). To summarize, I couldn't have been more wrong (this is a statement that Billy King, Ernie Grunfeld, and Reggie McKenzie must have felt like saying over and over).

It seems like yesterday that the college basketball season was just about to begin and some people actually thought that Kentucky could become the first team since the 1975-1976 Indiana Hoosiers team of Scott May, Kent Benson, and Tom Abernethy to go undefeated. Across the Bluegrass state, fans everywhere outside of Louisville and the KFC Yum Center were buying 40-0 t-shirts in honor of the Wildcats (people also thought that the Falcons could finally break through and win their first Super Bowl in franchise history after three straight seasons with more than 10 wins and yet they finished 4-12 in 2013, their fewest wins since 1996, so don't ever listen to pre-season predictions). Obviously, the Wildcats had a really strong recruiting class coming into the season with the likes of Julius Randle (a mix of Zach Randolph and Chris Webber), James Young, Darkari Johnson, the Harrison twins, and Marcus Lee. In the history of college basketball, there have been a lot of really great recruiting classes that have changed the course of the game for the next couple of seasons. In 1965, UCLA brought in Lew Alcindor, Lucius Allen, Ken Heitz, and Lynn Shackelford (a class so good that they beat the varsity team that went 18-8 by 15 in a scrimmage at Pauley Pavilion when freshmen were not allowed to play in their first year in college) and in 1979, Isiah Thomas, Jim Thomas, and Randy Whittman all came to Indiana to play for Bob Knight. Cincinnati's recruiting class when they brought in Oscar Robertson in 1956 or LSU's class when they got Pete Maravich in 1967 are right up there with the best of all-time because those two guards were just that good on their own. Other great classes in the modern era include Michigan's Fab Five of Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson from 1991, the 1999 Duke class of Carlos Boozer, Jay Williams, and Mike Dunleavy, Jr., the 2002 North Carolina class of Sean May, Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, and David Noel, Florida's group of Corey Brewer, Al Horford, Taurean Green, and Joakim Noah from 2004, Ohio State's class of 2006 of Greg Oden, Mike Conley, David Lighty, and Daequan Cook, and finally Calipari's own class of Anthony Davis, Michael-Kidd Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, and Kyle Wiltjer from 2011. No matter how good Kentucky's 2013 recruiting class was made out to be by the high school recruiting experts or the pressure that would be taken off their backs by the return of the super athletic Alex Poythress and the shot-blocking Willie Cauley-Stein, to put them in that conversation without even stepping foot on the floor in Lexington was more absurd than The Plague by Albert Camus. In fact, Kentucky's pursuit of perfection lasted as long as Billy Donovan's coaching career with the Magic, or more aptly, Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries's marriage.

(You can't even feel bad for Kris Humphries. Why didn't he look at Reggie Bush? From 2007 to 2010 when the USC Heisman Trophy winner - excuse me, the 5-year Heisman Trophy winner before he gave it back - was with Kim Kardashian, Bush never even reached 600 rushing yards in a season with the Saints despite being just the second running back along with Ronnie Brown to go in the first two picks of the NFL draft since 1996. Without the Kardashian syndrome in the last three years, Bush has finished each season with more than 975 rushing yards, one of only six running backs to do so along with Adrian Peterson, Matt Forte, Marshawn Lynch, Frank Gore, and Chris Johnson. I'm calling this the Kardashian effect, which is the adverse repercussions that an athlete can face from dating a high profile celebrity, a list that includes Tony Romo, Amar'e Stoudemire, Lleyton Hewitt, Andre Agassi, and Diego Forlan. Bush's improvement likely has more to do with the fact that he left the Saints and their group of running backs that is as big as the Spanish Armada and has gotten more than 215 carries every year since then with the Dolphins and Lions, but I refuse to believe that Kim doesn't factor into this equation. However, you can feel bad for Kris Humphries for getting completely Mozgoved by Blake Griffin earlier this season in January, which is a list that now pretty much includes Humphries, Mozgov, Gasol, Perkins, Ibaka, and is expending as fast as the NFL playoffs. The best part about watching Blake's dunk over Humphries over and over is looking at DeAndre Jordan's reaction to the dunk because he looks like he just saw Lincoln get shot by John Wilkes Booth).

Anyway, not only did Kentucky lose in their third game of the season to Michigan St. in the Champions Classic, and end their very short flirt with perfection that so many fans predicted, but they then lost 9 more times after that game in Chicago in the regular season. Their defeats included two losses to Arkansas (the first time Calipari has lost to one team twice in a season at Kentucky before the Wildcats fell three times to Florida later on in the season), once to a team in South Carolina that may have finished six games under .500 because their coach is so scary that they are probably afraid to do anything on the floor, and finally to a LSU team that the Wildcats had not lost to since they had Billy Gillispie as their head coach in 2008-2009 (any Kentucky stat that comes with the line since Billy Gillispie is just destined to not end well unless you consider their most losses in one season since 1989-1990 a step in the right direction). To make matters worse, the Wildcats were 1-6 against ranked opponents with losses to Michigan St., Baylor, North Carolina, and Florida three teams, had only one victory over a team inside the RPI top 40, which came against Louisville at Rupp Arena in December, and were a dismal 5-6 in true road games with their first loss in Columbia, South Carolina since the 2009-2010 season. Even after the Wildcats knocked off Pitino's Cardinals for the 5th time in their last 6 meetings, which is sometimes viewed as more important than the season itself (just ask Bill Curry about the importance of rivalries to a head coach, as the former Alabama coach had to leave Tuscaloosa to coach at Kentucky because despite having a 26-10 record with the Crimson Tide in three seasons and leading them to their first SEC title since Bear Bryant was the coach of the team in 1981, Curry was 0-3 against Auburn in the Iron Bowl, the worst streak against the Tigers since they lost 5 games in a row all the way back from 1954 to 1958), there was a vibe of dissatisfaction and almost sulking coming out of the Kentucky team.

You can look at so many different reasons why this Kentucky squad became just the 15th Wildcats team in the last 83 years dating back to when Adolph Rupp took over the program in 1930 to lose at least 10 regular season games in a season (just for fun, in comparison, Northwestern has had 73 regular seasons with at least 10 losses since 1930 including every year since 1958-1959. I'm not sure what is worse for the Collins family: Doug losing the Gold Medal to the USSR in that very controversial 1972 Olympic Game in Munich or Chris having to coach Northwestern).  Obviously, this season was the year of the freshmen with everybody falling in love with the standout first year players from across the nation including Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, and Wayne Selden from Kansas, Jabari Parker of Duke, Aaron Gordon and Rondae-Hollis Jefferson from Arizona, Tyler Ennis at Syracuse, and Noah Vonleh from Indiana, which may have factored into people overrating just how good Kentucky's freshmen really were from the start of the season (other freshmen classes that can compete with this year include the 1979 class of Isiah Thomas, James Worthy, Ralph Sampson, Dominique Wilkins, Byron Scott, and Quintin Dailey, the 1981 class of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, Chris Mullin, Ed Pinckney, and Sam Vincent and the 2007 class of Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, Blake Griffin, James Harden, Eric Gordon, DeAndre Jordan, and Michael Beasley).

Aside from Julius Randle, whose college basketball leading 24 double-doubles as a freshmen has only been surpassed by a first year player once since 1980 when Michael Beasley had a NCAA record 28 double-doubles for Kansas St. and Bob Huggins in 2007-2008, Kentucky's freshmen class was nowhere near what most people expected from it. For as much hype as the Harrisons got for being the best twin combination since the Sedins, the Barbers, or the Bryans, Andrew and Aaron played much more like the Morris or Collins twins than the Arsdale brothers with Kentucky this season. Andrew does more of the ball handling for the Wildcats at point while Aaron plays more so on the wing, but the Wildcats back-court pairing was often exploited by top guards like Keith Appling and Gary Harris from Michigan St. (scored a combined 42 points against the Wildcats), Marcus Paige from North Carolina (scored 23 points versus the Harrisons), and Scottie Wilbekin and Michael Frazier II from Florida (held the Harrisons to 18 combined points in their game in Gainesville). Andrew had the lowest assist-to-turnover ration among any player in a major college basketball conference and averaged nearly 3 turnovers per contest, and Aaron was not very assertive and refused to attack the rim in becoming purely an outside shooter, as in the 11 games where he scored 10 points or less, he shot a terrible 8-44 (18.1%) from three. Although the Harrisons both possess tremendous size for perimeters players and their 6-6 frame allows them to be disruptive defensively when they set their minds to it, they were often times not explosive enough to get by players and make plays offensively. Meanwhile, James Young is a good three point shooter for the Wildcats, but only Marshall Henderson from Ole Miss, Sean Kilpatrick from Cincinnati, Michael Frazier from Florida, Brady Heslip from Baylor, Ben Brust from Wisconsin, and Trevor Cooney from Syracuse took more threes than Young this season from teams in major conferences, which is somewhat concerning because Young morphed into solely a jump shooter, much like Aaron. Although Young does have a quick release to get his smooth looking jump shot off before defenders can close down on him, he can't really create his own shot, which hurts the Wildcats because Andrew often struggles to put his teammates into good positions to make plays. Marcus Lee dunks everything he can get his hands on off the backboard, but he has not seen a lot of action this season and Darkari Johnson is a big 7-footer that does have a basis for a good post game, but he is still developing and is only 18 years old.

It also seemed as if the Kentucky players thought that they would just roll through teams during the season and that when that didn't happen, they lost confidence because the Wildcats did not have the same fight that Calipari's 2011-2012 team so often showed and that was more reminiscent of the disaster that happened in Lexington last season with the unreliable Archie Goodwin leading the way. The thing that made the Anthony Davis team just so good, aside from the fact that they had Davis and everybody else didn't (there were some real good teams that year if you remember with Scoop Jardine, MCW, Dion Waiters, C.J. Fair, and Kris Joseph on Cuse, Kendall Marshall, John Henson, Reggie Bullock, Harrison Barnes, James McAdoo, and Tyler Zeller down in North Carolina, Aaron Craft, Deshaun Thomas, Jared Sullinger on Ohio St., and the Kansas team of Thomas Robinson, Tyshawn Taylor, and Jeff Withey), was that everybody in that UK group worked so hard defensively for one another. Whether it was defensive rotations, MKG switching onto a big man and having to guard him in the post, or Darius Miller taking on the opposing teams best player every night, that Kentucky team did whatever it had to do. However, this year's Wildcats squad has some real defensive deficiencies, as James Young is not particularly quick on the perimeter or strong enough to guard players inside at the four position and for as good as Julius Randle is offensively and in his mid-range game, he does not have real good ball awareness and he is not the best interior defender. The Wildcats rely to much on Willie-Cauley Stein and their length to block and change shots around the lane, which can work on occasion because Kentucky is just flat out more athletic than every team they play (the Wildcats are 10th in the nation in blocks per game with almost 6 each contest), but constantly letting guys into the paint is not a recipe for success no matter what. LSU is the only team in the SEC that allows more points from 2-pointers than Kentucky and despite their unmatched athleticism and size, Kentucky is 300th in the nation in forcing their opponents to turn over the ball, ahead of only Tennessee and Missouri in the SEC.

It has been an incredible college basketball season, one of the best in recent memory (I feel like I say this every year, but I actually mean it this time. Nonetheless, I guarantee you I will say the same thing next season when Coach K has his best Duke team since the days of Jay Williams and Carlos Boozer with his recruiting class of Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, Justise Winslow, and Grayson Allen, Kansas brings in Cliff Alexander and Kelly Oubre to go with Wayne Selden and Perry Ellis, Kentucky reloads with whatever freshmen come back along with recruits Trey Lyles, Karl Towns, Devin Booker, and Tyler Ulis, SMU brings in a player that is better than anybody Larry Brown coached with the Bobcats from 2008-2010 with 6-5 point guard Emmanuel Mudiay, and Arizona and Wisconsin return loaded cores). We were able to see the individual greatness of players across the nation, including Doug McDermott, who now ranks behind only Pete Maravich of LSU, Freeman Williams from Portland St., La Salle's Lionel Simmons, and Alphonso Ford of Mississippi Valley State in career points in division I history, and also the outstanding play of freshmen like Jabari Parker, Andrew Wiggins, Joel Embiid, and Tyler Ennis. We were also fortunate enough to watch a team like Virginia win the ACC regular season and post-season titles and have their best year since the days of Ralph Sampson and Wichita St. become the first team since the 1990-1991 UNLV squad of Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony, and Elmore Spencer to enter the NCAA tournament with an undefeated record. It was a great year for college basketball fans across the nation, except for in Lexington, where pre-season expectations of a 40-0 season have changed to people not being surprised if the Wildcats lose to Kansas St. in their first game of the tourney, and Calipari falling for the first time in the big dance since his Brandon Knight, Terrence Jones, and Doron Lamb squad lost in the Final Four to Kemba Walker and UConn back in 2011.

Note: After spending around 2,500 words bashing Kentucky for their disappointment of a season in going 24-10, they of course proved me wrong and taught me to never count out a team that has a starting line-up where every player is at least 6-6 and a McDonald's All-American. I should have known better then to think that Kansas St. could actually beat UK because the Wildcats have only won more than one game in the tournament once since 1989 when they made the Elite Eight with Jacob Pullen in 2010 (even the Mets, Jets, White Sox, and Michigan St. think that Kansas St. is a pretty obvious little brother to Kansas). I'm still not sure how Kentucky beat Wichita St. in their second game of the tourney in the 1-8 match-up, a game that was undoubtedly one of the best played NCAA tournament contests over the past few decades (Kentucky's win marked the fourth year out of the last five that a one seed has lost before the Sweet 16 with the others being when Northern Iowa knocked off Kansas in 2010, when Butler beat Pittsburgh in 2011, and when Gonzaga fell to Wichita St. in 2013). UK somehow knocked off the undefeated Shockers despite the fact that Wichita St. shot 55.1 percent from the floor, the 4th highest for any opponent against Calipari since he came to Lexington in 2009-2010, made 10 of 21 three pointers, averaged a ridiculously high 1.215 points per possession, the 2nd highest rate against Kentucky's defense all season long, and had Cleanthony Early score a season high 31 points on 12 of 17 shooting. Kentucky then turned to Aaron Harrison, who somehow morphed into Bryce Drew/Christian Laettner/Kenton Paulino/Drew Nicholas overnight and not once, not twice, but three times saved Kentucky with late three point clutch jump shots, all of which came from nearly the identical spot on the left side of the floor. Against Louisville in the Midwest Regional semifinals, down by one point with under a minute left, Russ Smith left Harrison open in the corner and he took a pass from Randle and knocked down the three to give UK the victory. In the elite eight against Michigan, with the game tied at 72, Aaron took a hand-off from his brother and hit a three over Caris LeVert with 2 seconds left to send the Wildcats to the Final Four. Finally, in the National Semifinals versus Wisconsin and with Kentucky down by two with 5 seconds left, Aaron hit literally the exact same three pointer to give the Wildcats the lead and the eventual win (if you want to see deja vu, don't watch the movie with Denzel Washington, but watch the final minute of Kentucky's games against Louisville, Michigan, and Wisconsin). The Wildcats run did come to an end when they were not able to get enough offense in the title game against a deserved National Champion in Shabazz Napier, Ryan Boatright, DeAndre Daniels and UConn, but they proved to never count a team out until they have been knocked out. With that knowledge in mind, I think the Pacers growing dysfunction will be the reason why they will lose in the winner-take-all game 7 against the undermatched Atlanta Hawks in the Eastern Conference first round, but there is a pretty good chance that I will be writing a piece in June with the title, "Looking Back - The Things I Regret Saying About The Indiana Pacers Before The Eastern Conference Semifinals Even Began."

NCAA March Madness - West Regional Podcast

Cory's West Regional Bracket:

Round of 64:
1. Arizona
16. Weber St.
8. Gonzaga
9. Oklahoma St.
5. Oklahoma
12. North Dakota St.
4. San Diego St.
13. New Mexico St.
6. Baylor
11. Nebraska
3. Creighton
14. LA Lafayette
7. Oregon
10. BYU
2. Wisconsin
15. American

Round of 32: 
1. Arizona
9. Oklahoma St.
5. Oklahoma
4. San Diego St.
11. Nebraska
3. Creighton
7. Oregon
2. Wisconsin

West Regional Semifinals:
1. Oklahoma St.
4. San Diego St.
3. Creighton
2. Wisconsin

West Regional Finals:
9. Oklahoma St.
2. Wisconsin

Rory's West Regional Bracket:

Round of 64:
1. Arizona
16. Weber St.
8. Gonzaga
9. Oklahoma St.
5. Oklahoma
12. North Dakota St.
4. San Diego St.
13. New Mexico St.
6. Baylor
11. Nebraska
3. Creighton
14. LA Lafayette
7. Oregon
10. BYU
2. Wisconsin
15. American

Round of 32: 
1. Arizona
9. Oklahoma St.
12. North Dakota St.
4. San Diego St.
11. Nebraska
3. Creighton
7. Oregon
2. Wisconsin

West Regional Semifinals:
1. Arizona
4. San Diego St.
3. Creighton
2. Wisconsin

West Regional Finals:
1. Arizona
3. Creighton

Marshall Henderson Is Good For The NCAA Tournament

Sports are notorious for creating immortal legends, exalted superstars, and sublime leaders. Names like Montana, Jordan, Mays, Robinson, Orr, and Nicklaus have become glorified for their immeasurable impact in the world of sports. While these renowned and celebrated figures have become the model for legendary status, much like a movie or a book, sports are also synonymous with villains. Every fan has an envisage in their head of an athlete that just gets under their skin with their antics, attitude, and behavior. Whether it is Bill Laimbeer, Christian Laettner, Michael Vick, Barry Bonds, Alex Rodriguez, or Art Modell in Cleveland, sports certainly have their fair share of vilified characters. In fact, look no further than Marshall Henderson at Ole Miss to find college basketball's new antihero.

College basketball has provided an unprecedented amount of excitement this season due to the myriad of upsets amongst the top teams. TCU had a 2-16 record in the Big 12, but the Horn Frogs miraculous beat the Big 12 regular season and tournament champion Kansas Jayhawks. South Florida began their Big East campaign with a conference record of 1-14, but their sole win came over Big East regular season champion Georgetown. Penn St. lost their first 14 Big Ten conference games until they knocked off Michigan and put a dent in the Wolverines chances at a regular season Big Ten title. However, while the shocking results have certainly been thrilling, fans have become petulant with the lack of quality players and teams in the college game. Due to the one and done rule, teams are constantly having to recycle their squads because so many underclassmen are leaving for the NBA after just one season. In last year's draft, 5 of the top 10 picks were freshman, leaving a huge talent void at several schools. With so many young players still maturing and developing (see Perry Ellis at Kansas), the parity in college basketball is readily apparent, as many of the top teams lack real star power. Without high end superstars like in years past, college basketball is lucky to have an vivacious and sprightly player like Marshall Henderson in the big dance.

The adjectives often used to delineate Henderson may not seem to have the most positive connotations. The junior guard is often described as arrogant, audacious, insolent, and impetuous, and his on-the-court behavior is subject to much attention, as experts often vituperate the fact that he plays with such much emotion and flare. However, Henderson's in-your-face attitude and fiery playing style makes him one of the most exciting players to watch in the country. His unpredictability turns every Ole Miss game into a unique and riveting experience.

Mississippi's slim victory over Auburn at the end of January began the country's fascination with Henderson. With Ole Miss in the top 25 for the first time in nearly 3 years, their battle with the Tigers was a heated affair, which undoubtedly meant that Henderson would be at the center of the tight contest. With 6.4 seconds left and the game tied at 61, Henderson, an 88 percent free throw shooter, drained both of his foul shots and the Rebels went on to survive 63-61. Following the game, the always spontaneous Henderson ran over to the Auburn fans and began to taunt the student section. Holding his Rebels jersey out and mocking the fans, Henderson began to show his passionate, yet impulsive nature. The polarizing guard had a simple response when asked about the incident, "That was me. That was my heart just going out. Just going over there. We are Ole Miss, take that. You just came here for two-and-a-half hours just to yell and scream for no reason because you just lost the game." And thus, college basketball found a player that was so appealing, and yet so provocative at the same time.

The excitement that comes along with Henderson continued throughout SEC play. The flamboyant and theatrical guard had a game against Kentucky in which he had a heated confrontation with his head coach, and threw ice at his own student section all in the first half. There was the SEC tournament final against Florida where Henderson did the gator chomp all the way up the floor after nailing a fade away three pointer to cap off a 33-15 Ole Miss run to begin the second half. While Henderson's antics are certainly extravagant, it would not be prudent to doubt his passion for the game or his intensity.

Often times in sports, the in-your-face and over ebullient player on a team is not the star, but rather a role player that provides a spark and added intensity. However, the fact that Henderson is Mississippi's best player and is one of the most prolific shooters in the country makes his entire act that much more fascinating. The Utah transfer led the SEC in scoring at more than 20 points per game and was also second in the nation in three point makes at nearly 4 per game. With his quick release and ability to find openings on the floor off screens, Henderson shot nearly 40 percent from behind the arc in Mississippi's 5-game win streak at the end of the season. While at times Henderson's shot selection is not always the best, as evidenced by his poor game against Mississippi St., where he made just 3 of 18 threes, the sharp shooter has the ability to catch fire at any time.

Ole Miss head coach Andy Kennedy also deserves a lot of credit for allowing Henderson the freedom he needs on the court. Kennedy, who led the Rebels to their first SEC tournament title since 1981 and the program's first NCAA tournament appearance since 2002, has allowed Henderson to play with his unique passion and fervor, which makes the guard flourish and gives the team their identity. Kennedy said, "I think he's [Henderson] been readily open with the fact that if he didn't play with that edge, he wouldn't be a guy that could lead the SEC in scoring... His passion comes from a good place, it really does."

#12 Ole Miss opens up the NCAA tournament in Kansas City against the #5 Wisconsin Badgers in the west region with the winner taking on #4 Kansas St. or #13 Boise St/#13 La Salle. The stifling Wisconsin defense, which ranked 9th in the country in points allowed at just under 56 per game, will be geared to slow down Henderson and will be focused around chasing him off the three point line. However, the entertaining and compelling Henderson will certainly provide some magical tournament moments, and his radiant and resplendent personality are a must watch for college basketball fans.

Murderers' Row Continues In The Big Ten This Week

The Big East has by far been the best conference from top to bottom in college basketball for years, especially since 2005 when Cincinnati, DePaul, Louisville, Marquette, and South Florida all joined the conference from Conference-USA, which significantly improved the league as a whole. The Big East has dominated in terms of number of bids to the tournament as well, while other conferences, such as the Big Ten, have struggled in recent years to get a lot of teams into the big dance.

The last time the Big Ten received more bids to the tourney than any other conference was back in 2001. In the last four NCAA tournaments, the Big Ten has had 24 bids into the tourney, while the Big East has sent 34 teams to the big dance. Since 1990, just one NCAA champion has come from the Big Ten, which was Michigan St. in 2000. This is an extremely low number considering the ACC has had 8 champions, the SEC has had 5 champions, and the Big East has had 4 champions since 1990.

However, the tides have turned this season, as the Big Ten is far and away the best conference in all of college basketball. 5 Big Ten teams are ranked inside the top 25, which is more than any other conference and it looks like at least 8 Big Ten teams (Ohio St, Michigan St., Wisconsin, Michigan, Purdue, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota) will make the tourney.

This week continues the excitement of the highly competitive league, as there are a great slate of games.

On Tuesday, #9 Michigan St. (17-4, 6-2) travels to play Illinois (15-6, 4-4) in Champagne at Assembly Hall. Sparty, who have won 17 of their last 19 games after starting out 0-2 with two early losses to North Carolina and Duke, will attempt to knock off the Illini in a hostile atmosphere. Illinois has already knocked off Big Ten favorite Ohio St. at home this year but they have lost three tight games in a row by a combined 11 points including an overtime lose to Minnesota in their last outing.

The following day, the Spartans arch rival, #22 Michigan (18-6, 6-3), is playing host to #17 Indiana (17-5, 5-5). Like Illinois, Michigan has been very difficult to beat at home, as they have wins over Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan St. at the Crisler Center. However, Michigan has struggled of late due largely to the fact that they are settling for so many three point shots. The Wolverines took 25 threes against Ohio St. in their 64-49 loss on Sunday and 28 threes in their 66-64 road loss to Arkansas last week. Although Indiana has extremely impressive home wins over Kentucky, Ohio St., and Michigan in Bloomington, they have severely struggled the road in Big Ten play. The Hoosiers are 1-4 away from Assembly Hall including 0-3 against ranked opponents. Indiana, led by freshman forward Cody Zeller, who had a career high 26 points in the Hoosiers 103-89 victory over Iowa on Sunday, will have a chance to get a big road win on Wednesday when they travel to take on the Wolverines.

Ohio St. (19-3, 7-2) may be the most complete team in college basketball. The Buckeyes have arguably the best defensive point guard in the country with Aaron Craft, the best big man in the country with Jared Sullinger, who is averaging 17.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, and one of the best seniors in the country with William Buford. All three of these stars will be looking for revenge on Saturday when the #3 Buckeyes travel to Madison to play #25 Wisconsin (17-5, 6-3), who knocked off Ohio St. last season at home when the Buckeyes were undefeated at 24-0. Preseason 1st team All-American point guard Jordan Taylor, who has struggled this year shooting the ball, will try to have a repeat performance of his game last year when he had 27 points, which led to the Badgers huge upset. Taylor has played much better since Big Ten play began, as he is averaging over 16 points in Wisconsin's 9 league games.

The great week of Big Ten basketball concludes with two great in-state rivalry games on Saturday and Sunday.

#17 Indiana continues their difficult week on the road, as they take on Purdue (15-7, 5-4). Purude has been on the short end of several close games this season. They fell to Xavier on the road by 3, to Butler on a neutral court by 2, as well as two Big Ten home losses by 5 points to Wisconsin and 2 points to Michigan. The Boilermakers are led by forward Robbie Hummel, who is one of the most versatile players in the country.

On Sunday, #22 Michigan and #11 Michigan St. rekindle their growingly intense rivalry when the Wolverines travel to East Lansing to take on Sparty. Fuel has been added to this in-state rivalry since Michigan has greatly improved as a program under the leadership of John Beilein and since Tom Izzo said, "Do i respect Michigan? Tremendously. Do I like 'em? Not one bit." Michigan beat Michigan St. in Ann Arbor in a great game earlier this year by 1 point after both Keith Appling and Draymond Green missed shots for the Spartans in the final 11 seconds of the game.

To illustrate how difficult the Big Ten has been this year, just look at the stretches of games some teams in the conference have had to play or are going to have to play. Penn St. is currently in a 6 game stretch where they have had to play Illinois at home, #17 Indiana and #3 Ohio St. on the road, #25 Wisconsin at home, before returning on the road to play Iowa and #9 Michigan St. Iowa had a four game stretch where they had to play #3 Ohio St. at home, #9 Michigan St. in East Lansing, #22 Michigan at home, before going on the road again to play Purdue in West Lafayette.

An Overview Of The BCS Bowl Games

Obviously, every college football fan looks forward to the BCS bowl games including the BCS National Championship and this year features an incredible slate of BCS games, which fans should be very intrigued about.

In the Rose Bowl, two of the best running backs in the country, Montee Ball of Wisconsin and LaMichael James of Oregon, will meet in a game that features two of the top 4 scoring teams in the FBS. Wisconsin is playing in the grandaddy of them all for the second consecutive year, while Oregon is playing in its second Rose Bowl in three years. However, Wisconsin hasn't won a Rose Bowl since 1994 when they beat UCLA 21-16 and Oregon hasn't won a rose bowl game in almost 100 years since 1917 when the Ducks beat Pennsylvania 14-0.

For fans that love to watch great offenses and teams that score a lot of points, the Fiesta Bowl and definitely not the BCS National Championship is the game to watch. Oklahoma St., led by the lethal aerial connection of Brandon Weeden and all-American Justin Blackmon, will be playing in their first BCS bowl against the Stanford Cardinals, who are led by Heisman runner-up and future number 1 pick, Andrew Luck. Both teams have potent offenses that ranked within the top 5 in scoring in the FBS.

For the first time since 2000, the sugar bowl will be a matchup where neither team is from the SEC. However, the matchup of Michigan and Virginia Tech, two of the most high profile schools in the country with two of the largest fan bases in the country, is going to be a huge attraction. While Virginia Tech has dominated the ACC and is in its sixth BCS game and its fourth since 2008, Michigan is appearing in its first BCS game since the 2007 Rose Bowl.

Although the Orange Bowl is once again the least attractive of the BCS games, it does feature two teams that can score a lot of points. Clemson quarterback Tajh Boyd is in the top 10 of the FBS in passing yards and touchdowns, many of which go to his big time freshman receiver Sammy Watkins. The Mountaineers can also score some points and rack up a ton of yards, which they showed even against the incredible defense of LSU. West Virginia ranked 6th in the FBS in passing yards per game. Clemson is just playing in its fourth Orange Bowl and its first since 1982 when they beat Nebraska 22-15. West Virginia is playing in its first BCS bowl game since 2008 when they beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl 48-28.

The BCS National Championship is a rematch of the "Game of the Century" played earlier this year when the LSU Tigers beat the Alabama Crimson Tide in Tuscaloosa in a defense battle 9-6. The last rematch in a college football National Championship game was back in 1996 when the Florida Gators lost to Florida St. 24-21 in Tallahassee and then went on to beat Florida St. in the National Championship 52-20. The National title game features arguably two of the best defenses in college football history. Alabama ranked 1st in the FBS in points allowed at an incredible 8.8, while LSU finished 2nd allowing 10.5 points per game. Through Alabama's first 10 games, they were allowing just an average of 7.1 points per game including holding 6 of those opponents, Kent St., North Texas, Vanderbilt, Ole Miss, Tennessee, and LSU, to under 10 points. LSU's defense wasn't too far behind. In 8 SEC games and the SEC championship game, LSU allowed an average of less than 10 points per game and held everybody beside Arkansas to less than 11 points. Although the Alabama and LSU offenses should manage to put some more points on the board than in their previous meeting, don't expect an offense shootout with defenses like LSU and Alabama that have so many talented and NFL caliber players.

Montee Ball and Tyrann Mathieu Are Going To Make This Heisman Trophy Race Historically Close

It is very difficult to find an unprecedented circumstance when it comes to college football's most prestigious award, the Heisman Trophy. The trophy has been around since 1935 when Chicago halfback Jay Berwanger won the inaugural award and has seen everything from USC halfback O.J. Simpson winning the award by the largest margin of victory in the 1968 Heisman race to running back Reggie Bush's 2005 Heisman Trophy being vacated because of NCAA violations when he was at USC. The Heisman has also seen its fair share of close calls and narrow margin of victory. In 1985, Auburn running back Bo Jackson narrowly defeated Iowa quarterback Chuck Long by 45 points to win the Heisman. In 2009, running back Mark Ingram won the closest Heisman in history over Stanford running back Toby Gerhart by a slim 28 points. This year's Heisman is not only going to be tight at the top of the list, but it is going to be close all the way down to number 5 because of the fantastic seasons that Montee Ball and Tyrann Mathieu have both had.

It is incredible to look at the numbers that Wisconsin running back Montee Ball has put up, and think that he is probably going to finish in 4th in the Heisman trophy voting. By now, everybody has probably seen the stat that 45 teams in the FBS have scored less touchdowns than Montee Ball this season including high profile schools like Florida, Ohio St., Auburn, Tennessee, and Penn St. Ball has had one of the best statistical seasons for a running back in college football history. He leads the FBS with 1,759 rushing yards and an incredible 32 rushing touchdowns. Ball also has been effective out of the backfield as a reciever, as he has had 6 receiving touchdowns, which is 2nd in the FBS amongst running backs, who have had at least 14 carries this season. Montee has even thrown a touchdown pass against Inidana this season. Ball now holds the Big Ten Conference record for touchdowns in a single season and is just the 5th player in college football history to score 30 touchdowns in a season. His 38 total touchdowns are just one behind the FBS record for tochdowns in a season, which was set in 1988 when Oklahoma St. running back Barry Sanders scored 39 touchdowns. Obviously, Ball has been a scoring machine this season. Ball has reached the end zone at least 3 times in 8 of the Badgers' 13 games this season and he has had a multiple touchdown game in the other 5 as well.

If you look back at previous Heisman Trophy winners and runners-ups at the running back position, their numbers don't compare to the incredible stats of Montee Ball. In 2005, Reggie Bush won the Heisman trophy and received the 2nd most votes in Heisman history with 2,541. In 2006 and 2007 Darren McFadden finished as the runner-up in the Heisman trophy race to Troy Smith and then Tim Tebow the following year. In 2009 Alabama running back Mark Ingram won the Heisman Trophy becoming the first Alabama player to win the prestigious award. However, while it may seem surprising, Ball's stats are far more impressive than Bush's, McFadden's, and Ingram's. In 2005, when the Heisman was awarded to Reggie, he had rushed for 1,1658 yards and just 15 touchdowns. When McFadden lost the Heisman in 2006, he had rushed for 1,558 yards and 14 touchdowns and the next year when he lost the race, he had rushed for 1,725 and 15 touchdowns. When the Heisman was awarded to Ingram in 2009, he had just 1,542 rushing yards and only 15 touchdowns. Ball has rushed for more yards than Bush, McFadden, and Ingram, and while none of them had more than 15 touchdowns, Ball has more than doubled their rushing touchdowns with his 32. With this in mind, voters are going to look at Ball's incredible numbers and the Wisconsn back is going to get a lot of votes even if he does finish in 4th place.

There is no player in college football that makes more big plays than LSU cornerback Tyrann Mathieu, or more commonly known to his teammates as Honey Badger. The Chuck Bednarik award winner, as the nation's best defensive player, has made play after play to keep the Tigers undefeated this season, especially against top ranked opponents.

In the Tiger's huge 40-27 victory over #3 Oregon in their opening game of the season, Mathieu was all over the field, as he made 11 tackles, 6 of them being solo. In the second quarter, with the LSU offense struggling and the Tigers punting the ball back to the Ducks already down by 3 points, Mathieu made a huge play for his team. After Kenjon Barner fielded the punt from LSU punter Brad Wing he tried to spin around Mathieu, but Tyrann wasn't fooled and striped the ball away from Barner and took the ball into the end zone. The play changed the course of the game, as the Tigers took a 9-6 lead and stopped the Duck's offense momentum.

The Tigers can thank the Honey Badger for their big 47-21 victory over #16 West Virginia as well. In the first quarter of that game, Mathieu stripped West Virginia wide receiver Brad Starks and then recovered the football to halt a West Virginia drive. Mathieu sealed the victory for the Tigers during the end of the second quarter. With LSU up 20-7 and the Mountaineers looking to make the game a one score contest, Mathieu intercepted Geno Smith's pass and returned it to the West Virginia 1 yard line, which set up the LSU touchdown and their 27-7 lead at halftime.

Mathieu is also a huge reason that the Tigers were able to beat #3 Arkansas 41-17 and secure a spot in the SEC Championship game. Not only did the Honey Badger have 8 solo tackles during the game, but his big plays helped the Tigers jump out of an early 14-0 hole and outscore the Razorbacks 41-3 for the rest of the game. With Arkansas up 14-7 and expecting to pin the Tigers back deep into their own territory, they punted the ball to Mathieu. What a mistake. The Honey Badger took the punt back 92 yards to the house for the longest punt return for a touchdown all season and tied the game up at 14. Mathieu said, "I could hear my teammates in my ear saying, 'Man, we need you to go make a play.' I was able to help the momentum really go in our favor. You have no idea how bad I just wanted to go out there and make a big play for our team. I was fortunate enough to be able to do that." The Honey Badger wasn't done just yet however. With Arkansas looking to go up before halftime, Mathieu stripped Arkansas running back Dennis Johnson, which set up a LSU touchdown. In the blink of an eye, Mathieu's punt return and forced fumble gave the Tigers a 7 point lead and totally changed the momentum of the game.

Mathieu had his Heisman moments against Georgia in the SEC Championship game. The Bulldogs came out firing against the Tigers and took a 10-0 lead, while the LSU offense remained non-existent. They had just 12 yards of total offense on 5 possessions and were struggling to move the ball on the Georgia defense. With Georgia punting the ball back to LSU, the Tigers needed a play and guess who made it for them? Yes, the Honey Badger. He took the punt from Drew Butler and returned it 62 yards for an LSU touchdown and cut the Bulldogs lead to 3 points. After halftime, Mathieu recovered a fumble at the Georgia 27 yard line, which set up a LSU touchdown and gave them a 14-10 lead. After a three and out on the Bulldogs next possession, Mathieu had his signature Heisman moment. He took a punt 47 yards back to the Georgia 17 yard line after faking out and alluding at least 9 Georgia tacklers. Mathieu's fantastic return set up another Tiger touchdown and gave LSU a 21-10 lead. The LSU offense had mustarded a total of just 51 yards and yet the Tigers were leading 21-10 because of the great punt returns and a fumble recovery by Mathieu.

If you look back at the previous Heisman Trophy winners, many of them have won the Heisman trophy because of the great plays that they have made to lead their team to the National Championship game. Since 2000, of the 10 Heisman trophy winners (not including Reggie Bush), 8 of them have played on teams who played in the BCS National Championship Game. With this in mind, voters are going to look at all of the plays that Mathieu has made and his importance to LSU's Championships run and the LSU cornerback is going to get a lot of votes even if he does finish in 5th place.

What We Learned From Week 3 In College Football

Marcus Lattimore's Performance Against Navy Puts Him Near the Top of the Heisman Trophy Race: When discussing the preseason Heisman Trophy candidates, Andrew Luck, Kellen Moore, and Landry Jones were always the three quarterbacks thrown around and then everybody seemed to be high on Alabama running back Trent Richardson as the tailback who could win the award. Through week 3, another running back in the SEC has stood out as a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender. Marcus Lattimore has been unbelievable in South Carolina's first three games and the Gamecocks have narrowly escaped from East Carolina, Georgia, and Navy because of Lattimore's performance. The sophmore running back had 112 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns to help the Gamecocks outlast the ECU Pirates 56-37 in week 1. After East Carolina scored in the third quarter to cut South Carolina's lead to 35-31, Lattimore had two straight rushing touchdowns to put the game away for the Gamecocks by giving them a 49-31 lead. In week 2 on the road in Athens against Georgia, Lattimore rushed for 176 yards and 1 touchdown in South Carolina's huge 45-42 conference win. In the fourth quarter, Lattimore ran for a touchdown to give the Gamecocks a 35-31 lead and then ran out the clock with a first down in the final 2 minutes of the game. These two outstanding performances were outdone by his record-breaking week 3 game against Navy. In a very tight and highly contested game, Lattimore ran for an almost unimaginable 246 yards and 3 touchdowns on 37 carries. It was the most rushing yards by a single player in one game under Steve Spurrier, more than Errict Rhett and Fred Taylor ever ran for at Florida when the old ball coach was at the helm. His 246 yards were also a South Carolina school record. If Lattimore continues to run this well, he may become just the second running back to officially (Reggie Bush's Heisman Trophy in 2005 was vacated) win the Heisman Trophy since 2000 and just the 6th since 1989 to win the award.

The Top College Football Quaterbacks All Look Very Good: Kellen Moore's huge game on Friday night was just the beginning of a great display from the top college football quarterbacks in week 3. Moore, who never looks like he is phased by anything, meticulously and surgically picked apart a Toledo defense that nearly helped the Rockets pull off an upset a week earlier against the Ohio St. Buckeyes in Columbus. Moore may of had his best statistical game in college as he tied his career high in passing touchdowns with 5 and set a career high with 32 completions in the Broncos 40 to 15 win on the road. He also threw for 455 yards and is now just 6 wins away from becoming the all-time wins leader in college football history. Wisconsin quarterback Russell Wilson also looked great in the Badgers 49-7 win over Northern Illinois. The senior transfer from NCST has added a dangerous passing and running threat under center for Wisconsin. His 347 passing yards were the most by a Wisconsin quarterback in more than 4 years since 2007 when Tyler Donovan threw for 392 yards against Illinois. Wilson has also thrown more than 2 touchdowns in each of his first three games, as he threw for 3 on Saturday. Lastly, Andrew Luck showed why he is considered the top college football quarterback and the eventual number 1 pick in the NFL draft. Luck had his normal, precise game, as he threw for 325 yards and 2 touchdowns in Stanford's 37-10 win over Arizona on the road. Luck uses his array of tight ends so beautifully, as Levine Toilolo and Zach Ertz both had touchdown catches in the Caridnals victory to improve to 3-0.

Notre Dame Really Needed Their Win Over Michigan St: The last time Notre Dame began a season 0-2 was back in 2007 when they lost to Georgia Tech and Penn St. and ended up finishing the season 3-9. After beginning 2011 with a loss to South Florida and a crushing loss to Michigan, the Fighting Irish were once again facing a 0-2 hole and a huge amount of pressure from the faithful in South Bend. After Notre Dame got out to an early 7-0 lead, the Irish fans were forced to cringe at what must have seemed like deja vu to them. Tommy Rees, who had replaced Dayne Crist after halftime of Notre Dame's first game, was sacked and fumbled the ball over to Michigan St. After getting the ball back, Rees forced a ball in the middle of the field and was picked off for the Fighting Irish's second turnover in two possessions. In Notre Dame's 23-20 loss to South Florida, the Fighting Irish had 5 turnovers including 3 in the red zone. In their next game against Michigan, Notre Dame once again had 5 turnovers including 2 in the red zone and lost to the Wolverines 35-31. However, unlike their previous two losses, the Irish rebounded from their turnovers. Cierre Wood had 2 touchdown runs and Tommy Rees managed the game very well after his early turnovers by throwing for 161 yards and a touchdown. The 31-13 win over the 15th ranked Spartans will take some of the pressure off of the shoulders of Brian Kelly, who has been getting a tremendous amount of heat in South Bend.

Oklahoma Proved A Lot From Their Road Win Over Florida St: Bob Stoops has had an unbelievable amount of success at Oklahoma since he took over the job in 1999, but there are some doubters out there who believe that he can't win the big game, especially when his Sooners are on the road. Stoops and his Sooners quieted those doubters just for now after top ranked Oklahoma went into Tallahassee and beat the Florida St. Seminoles 23 to 13. Oklahoma has struggled on the road in recent memory. In 2009 the Sooners were 1-4 on the road and last year Oklahoma suffered their only two losses in their 12-2 campaign to Missouri and Texas A&M on the road. The Sooners didn't let their previous road woes stop them from knocking off the Noles in front of a record-breaking crowd at Doak Campbell Stadium. Oklahoma also proved that they can win ugly and that they can win with defensive. Landry Jones didn't have his typical game at quarterback. He was held under 200 yards passing for the first time since he came in for Sam Bradford on September 5, 2009 against BYU in his first career game for Oklahoma and threw 2 interceptions as well. Oklahoma's star receiver Ryan Broyles was held under 100 yards for just the 5th time in his last 19 games and didn't have a touchdown catch. However, the Oklahoma defense made a countless number of big plays and forced 3 Florida St. turnovers and held the Seminoles to just 27 rushing yards.

Butler advances to the elite eight by topping Wisconsin

Butler just knows how to get it down. They are one game away from reaching the final four for the second year in a row after knocking off the 4th seeded Wisconsin Badgers 61 to 54. Butler center Andrew Smith said, "A lot of people just ignored us and said, Aw, they'll probably lose in the first or second round. Here we are again, trying to prove everybody wrong. We'll try to win three more."

The Bulldogs were led by their first team all conference center Matt Howard. Howard was able to stay out of foul trouble and was on the court for 37 minutes, which allowed him to have a great game with 20 points and 12 rebounds. Shelvin Mack added 13 points although he struggled from the field only making 4 of the 13 shots he attempted.

Butler was very fortunate, as Wisconsin had their worst shooting game of the season. They only went 17 for 56 from the field, which is 30.4 percent and is well below their average of 44.5 percent from the field. The Badgers also went 7 for 29 from behind the arc, which is only 24.1 percent. That includes Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer, who combined went 4 for 16 from three. Jon Leuer, the Badgers leading scorer at more than 18 points a game, went 1 for 12 from the field and only scored 3 points. Leuer said after the game, "We made plays that were uncharacteristic of us. We tried to force some things, and Butler did some good things defensively... They're just tough kids who are all-around good players, and they play to their strengths." Even though Jordan Taylor had 22 points, he struggled as well, going 6 for 19 from the field. Jordan Taylor said, "It was just kinda one of those nights. The ball just wasn't going through the hoop. It's frustrating. They're scrappy and relentless. I don't know, they're just tough kids. They never quit, and that's what makes them winners."

After an Andrew Smith layup with 11:34 remaining in the second half, Butler took a 20 point lead at 47 to 27 and the Badgers looked to be all but done. With 37 seconds remaining, Jordan Taylor hit a three pointer to bring the Badgers all the way back to a four point deficit. However, four clutch free throws from Matt Howard and two more missed threes from Wisconsin sealed the victory for the Bulldogs. Brad Stevens said about his team nearly losing their lead at the game of the game, "That's human nature, a little bit. I really, in the moment, was disappointed in the way we played, and now I don't care. Let's move on. That's the way I feel about it now... I'm not worried about it."

Butler coach Brad Stevens said, "Obviously, we're thrilled to still be playing. I don't think that this group goes into games not believing, and I don't think that this group came here not believing. And so we're going to see if we can't try to get one on Saturday and move on." The Bulldogs will take on the Florida Gators in the regional finals for the right to go to Houston.

A Key to Wisconsin vs Butler

Matt Howard staying out of foul trouble: After Butler's one point win over number one seed Pittsburgh in the third round, Butler head coach Brad Stevens said, "We're just fortunate to advance because one thing these guys do is they play through the horn, and they'll always play through the horn. And I think that happens because of 54 [the number of Matt Howard]. I think that that's Matt Howard imprint on our program is you're going to give everything you have as long as you're out there every single day." Butler has been able to play very hard and very well for the entire 40 minutes of their first two tournament games because Howard has been able to stay on the floor. Howard has always had a tendency to get into a lot of foul trouble. In 12 games this season, Howard either fouled out or had 4 fouls, which limited his minutes on the court. Obviously, any time a team has to play long stretches without their all conference center, who scores nearly 17 points per game and averages nearly 8 rebounds per game, they struggle on both ends of the court. When Butler lost three games in a row in conference play, Howard fouled out in one of those games and had four fouls in the other two. However, Howard has been able to remain on the floor in Butler's two NCAA tournament games, which has been the key to the Bulldogs two victories. In Butler's first game, Matt had 15 points and 5 rebounds including the game winning tip-in at the buzzer. Howard played 33 minutes and only picked up 3 fouls. In the Bulldogs second game, Matt had 16 points and 6 rebounds including the game winning free throw. Howard played 38 minutes and picked up only 1 foul the entire game. The next challenge for Howard is to stay on the floor for Butler's sweet sixteen game against the Wisconsin Badgers.