Higher Post: Ready Player 1 ...and 2?
...and get your Power Fuchsia ready because March is almost here!!
Congregation, please stand up….
…because the matchups are ‘Top’ heavy this week!!
This is a special weekend. After all it’s not often you get #1 versus #2 in the regular season. But, the basketball gods are giving it to us this weekend.
And, here is how weird this season is. It’s actually #1 Auburn vs. #2 Alabama. In football, this is the Iron Bowl, so does this make it the ‘Iron Hoop’?
For two schools known for a crazy and intense football rivalry, it’s wild to think they are on top of the hoops world.
This is the first time the SEC has hosted an in-conference #1 vs #2 game. It just shows how far the good ole’ conference has come in basketball over the past few years. For decades, the SEC was Kentucky’s nuclear testing ground. Florida was the only other school to represent the SEC with postseason numbers.
The SEC has won a collective 11 National Titles, but only one was not won by either Kentucky (8) or Florida (2). That was the ‘40 Minutes of Hell’ Arkansas team in 1994.
Since then, we have seen constant quality growth in the SEC as Tennessee, Alabama, and Auburn have all risen up as these programs have invested in quality coaching. Since then, other coaches have made the jump the past few years:
Buzz Williams from Virginia Tech to Texas A&M (2019)
Chris Beard from Texas to Ole’ Miss (2023)
Chris Jans from New Mexico to Mississippi State (2022)
Two things that has really helped the SEC take over college hoops: Conference growth and realignment, and with that, football money.
Conference realignment and the birth of the super-conference has grown the SEC to 16 teams after bringing over Texas A&M, Mizzou, Oklahoma and Texas from the BigXII. With that came football money, lots of it. This season, the conference distributed a whopping $808.4M in revenue, averaging $52.5M, to its members. With the NCAA loosening NIL and player pay restrictions, it is easy to invest heavily in the other revenue sports to keep that bar going higher.
A large 16-member conference that is well funded can easily get half of its conference in the Dance. That said, they will likely shatter that number this season.
Am I complaining? To be the voice of mid-majors everywhere, yes - but when we get #1 vs. #2? Not really.
The crazy thing is it's quite possible this could happen again this season even with only a handful of games left. Whoever wins will likely be #1 followed by the other team at #2. and these two teams meet again to end the season in Auburn on March 8th.
But, there is also #4 Florida or #5 Tennessee who could pop into the #1 or #2 spots…and there are some games left on the schedule between these teams. Watch the fun this weekend, but stay tuned since this story is far from over!
Juju’s #1 Hit: There She Goes!
I hope you stayed up to watch Thursday’s absolute barn burner of a game between #1 ranked and undefeated UCLA against cross-city (and cross-conference) rival the #6 USC Fightin’ Watkins! It had everything! Top stars, shifting leads, undefeated records to defend, top of the conference standings on the line. Everything. Well, everything except teammates for Juju Watkins, but turns out, she didn’t need them.
Juju stole the show with a crazy 38pts, 11 rebounds, 5 assists, and 8 (count um 8!) blocks, making her the only D1 player (men’s or women’s) to best 35pts, 5 blocks, and 5 assists in a game in the past 20 seasons! She made more blocks than UCLA had shot attempts in the 4th. Insane.
With a show of force like that, she has now reentered the Player of the Year conversation as the main competitor to Hannah Hidalgo, especially as Hannah was on the other side of the country having an uncharacteristic off night offensively (well, for her.)
Week Reset
The upsets keep on coming down the stretch and not just in the SEC.
#9 St. John’s 71 - Villanova 73: Kyle Neptune’s Wildcats might be starting to right the ship as they showed the #9 St. Giovanni Red Sauce some Philly love handing them their second Big East loss of the season.
#2 South Carolina 62 - #4 Texas 66: The Longhorns handed Dawn Staley her first SEC loss since 2021, snapping the Gamecocks 55-game conference win streak.
Indiana 71 - #11 Michigan State 67: It was Indiana who deprived #11 Michigan State coach Tom Izzo of getting his 354th B1G win this week, because that win would have given Izzo the record over former Indiana coach Bob Knight. Izzo will try again today against Illinois.
#2 Duke 71 - Clemson 77: Dick Vitale was treated to a beautiful night on his return to the sidelines last Saturday as the Clemson faithful shower the legendary broadcaster with love and cheers. He also got to call an amazing game as the Tigers bested the #2 Duke Blue Devils.
K-State is Purple-Hot!: Will the real K-State Wildcats stand up? After starting the season going 7-11 (1-6 in the BigXII), Coach Jerome Tang has his team rolling on a 6-game win streak. In that streak they have taken wins from #23 West Virginia, #3 Iowa State, #16 Kansas and #13 Arizona. They face BYU today. I would not want to be on their schedule right now.
The ACC is the SEC of WBB: Upsets galore in the All Coast Conference this week as 12-13 Clemson beat #19 Georgia Tech, Louisville beat #23 Florida State on the road. Undefeated Notre Dame welcomes #13 Duke this week!
We Got Next: Games to watch this week! (all times EST)
Down the stretch of conference play, matchups get more brutal! Who wins? We do!
CoB Men’s Games of note:
#16 Wisconsin at #5 Purdue (Saturday, 1p, CBS) While we were all watching the SEC, these two B1G teams have risen up.
Army at Navy (Saturday, 1:30p, CBSSN) This is a conference realignment fail. Both should be in the Patriot League.
#6 Houston at #13 Arizona (Saturday, 2p, ESPN) Remember when we thought Arizona’s season was lost?
#1 Auburn at #2 Alabama (Saturday, 4p, ESPN) The Iron ‘Classic’?
#22 Mississippi State at #19 Ole Miss (Saturday, 6p, ESPN2) Love a cross-state rival
North Carolina at Syracuse (Saturday, 6p, ESPN) Oh, back in the day…
#20 Michigan at Ohio State (Sunday, 1p, CBS) THEE Ohio State should have Ryan Day coach against Dusty May. #justsayin’
KendrickBradley at Drake (Sunday, 2p, ESPN2) Drake is not like us here either.#24 Creighton at #9 St. John’s (Sunday, 3p, FS1) Creighton has reentered the chat.
#5 Purdue at #11 Michigan State (Tuesday, 7p, Peacock) Don’t forget the B1G (until the second round)
#8 Texas A&M at #22 Mississippi State (Tuesday, 7p, SEC) Its easy to have all 10 ranked teams when you have all the teams.
#2 Alabama at #21 Mizzou (Wednesday, 9p, SEC) Case in point.
WCoB’s Women’s Games of note:
Huge Matchups this weekend! And if you don’t have Monday as a company holiday, call in sick! You have my permission.
#7 UConn at #4 South Carolina (Sunday, 1p, ABC) Yesssssss!!! Non-con game because the Hoops Gods love us.
#10 NC State at #12 North Carolina (Sunday, 2p. ESPN) …me looking at flights…
#5 LSU at #3 Texas (Sunday 3p, ABC) Congrats Texas on beating SC, here is your prize.
Massachusetts at George Mason (Sunday, 3p, ESPN) The Minutewomen are surging into a top-heavy A10.
#22 Michigan State at #1 UCLA (Sunday, 9p, BTN) The Spartans run the LA gauntlet.
Iowa at #9 Ohio State (Monday, 12p, FOX) The Hawkeyes have recovered from their 5-game losing streak and have new confidence after beating USC. They could really use this one!
#14 Kansas State at #18 West Virginia (Monday, 2p, FOX)
#13 Duke at #2 Notre Dame (Monday, 6p, ESPN) The homestretch for ‘undefeated in the ACC’ Irish starts now…and its not easy.
#21 Alabama at #15 Tennessee (Thursday, 6:30p, SEC)
#22 Michigan State at #6 USC (Wednesday, 9:30p. Peacock) The Spartan vs. Trojan match up we have all waited for since middle school social studies class!
#10 NC State at #19 Georgia Tech (Thursday, 7p, SEC) Tech has stumbled and could use this win. The Pack want to stay within one of the Irish.
Illinois at #1 UCLA (Thursday, 9:30p, BTN) Oh, you gotta feel sorry for the Illini today.
Keeping up with the Hannahs
Two of my favorite players are not only incredibly fun to watch…but are both named Hannah! I dedicate this section to them. We try and keep up with them during a pivotal season!
Hannah Stuelke (Junior / Forward / Iowa):
Hannah is in a bit of a scoring slump, but with the power of talented guards, these Hawkeyes keep rolling - and it’s a full team effort.
Iowa 81 - Nebraska 66:
It was just a little under a month ago when the Nebraska Cornhuskers came into Carver-Hawkeye Arena and stole one from the Hawkeyes. That was the low point in Iowa’s 5-game losing streak since all other losses had been against quality opponents. That match up with Nebraska was not a ‘must win’ but more like a ‘mustn’t lose’.
Jumping back to now, Iowa reversed the streak, having won 4 in a row, including the big upset of then #4 USC and one over a quality Minnesota team on the road.
In the revenge game, the Huskers were ready to take on Hannah, who was the star of the last game, but they forgot about Lucy Olsen who has been on fire during this win streak.
Hannah didn’t have much of an offensive game tonight as she found herself in foul trouble relegating her to the bench for half of the game. Her scoring was off, only going 2-10 without getting to the line once, which is a talent of hers. Defensively, she was no challenge for Nebraska as she pulled down 10 rebounds setting up shop in the paint.
Despite that, this night belonged to Olsen, Taylor McCabe and Sydney Affolter who shot the husks off going at total 62pts (32 for Olsen alone) while going 12-22 from 3.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Well, the temps in Lincoln, Nebraska dropped 20 degrees after the Hawkeyes left town.
Rutgers 43 - Iowa 55:
Thursday night’s matchup against the Rutger’s Scarlet Knights started with a pre-game ceremony to award Hannah with her game ball for hitting her 1000 point milestone as a Hawkeye!
The game itself was a lower output for Hannah offensively due to early foul trouble forcing her to the bench for extended times early in the game.
While stats tell one story, the eye test says something else. Hannah is clearly a force inside. Earlier in the season, she was experimenting at playing the 4 much more than late. This part of her game will come around and it’s exciting to see it in action. However, when she is in the Post Office down low, you see Hannah come alive. She does not give up much space and makes life miserable for others in her office.
The fact that she has been racking up more earlier fouls as of late shows her intensity. It’s really fun to watch. So, while I always root for Hannah to kill it on the scoreboard, some of the most fun of her game is at the defensive side of the court.
Also, with hot guard play, especially from Olsen, during this streak, Hannah is an option to get the ball down low in order to kick it back out to the perimeter for easier jump shots. Sharpshooter Taylor McCabe was cold from the 3pt line, but Olsen was not. She hit 4 out of 5 from 3, with a total of 27 points. This Iowa team is cruising through this streak due to outstanding guard play, but that success also comes from a resilient Hannah Stuelke owning the court down low to give the shooters better looks.
The next two matchups will be tough ones, but if the shooters keep hitting, the Hawkeyes may pull some quality upsets.
Up Next (all times EST):
Monday 2/17 - Iowa at #9 Ohio State (12p, FOX)
Thursday 2/23 - #1 UCLA at Iowa (2p, Peacock)
Hannah Hidalgo (Sophomore / Guard / Notre Dame):
As we enter the homestretch of the regular season, The Fighting Irish have a mini-gauntlet of the ACC to run in hopes of an undefeated conference run.
#21 California 52 - #2 Notre Dame 91:
First up, a ranked Berkley team making their first conference trip to South Bend. We have heard from many coaches from former Pac12 teams about the ridiculous traveling now needed in conference play. For example, this is Cal’s third trip east for ACC play, with one more to go. In comparison, all other ACC teams go west only once.
Despite that, they have put together the best season of head coach Charmin Smith’s tenure. Their reward? Facing an Irish squad who is blowing out all competition on their undefeated conference run to the Dance.
Cal came out ready for the fight and hung on for about…eh, 7mins, as the South Bend Sirens of Hidalgo, Miles and Citron projected their song of hot shooting and tenacious defense to force Cal to crash on the rocks. The trio scored a total 56 of the total 91 Irish points, Hannah did Hannah things shooting 50% (4-5 from 3) over 33 mins for a total of 24pts.
And at the 1:12 mark in the 4th, Coach Ivey made the call for #CernugelTime to begin, resulting in the usual loving roar from the crowd for the senior walk-on and fan favorite.
As this was Notre Dame’s “Kay Yow Game”, Coach Ivey brought out the “Power Fuchsia” for flex her sideline authority. If Pantone gets a color of the year, The Church of Bracketology officially adopts ‘Power Fuchsia’ as our Color of 2025.
#2 Notre Dame 88 - Pitt 57:
On to the next challenge that is a road trip to Pittsburgh to face the Pitt Panthers. Pitt is coached by Tory Verdi, who built a strong program out of not much in Amherst before for moving on from ZooMass to the Oakland Zoo.
In his second year heading this Pitt program, they are clearly not at the level he wants to be at…yet. That is not a criticism. You can see his stamp on the effort and never die attitude of his squad. They are not winning a lot yet, but they won’t make it easy to roll over them either.
As a result, they pushed hard on the undefeated Irish and actually forced Hannah into a lousy offensive night (well, for her) with a season low of just 11pts. She was able to pull off 7 steals just as way to tell Duquesne’s Megan McConnell (the nation’s steals leader) that she was in town.
So, with Hannah off, how did the Irish respond? Just fine. After all, you have Olivia Miles and Sonia Citron who pulled in 50pts themselves. Coach Ivey has a short bench due to injuries, but the weapons in her arsenal are potent.
There are only 5 games left for the Irish in the ACC regular season. Three of them are against ranked teams, as well as, a rematch with Louisville to end the season. Buckle up.
Up Next (all times EST):
Monday 2/17 - #13 Duke at #2 Notre Dame (6p, ESPN)
Thursday 2/20 - #2 Notre Dame at Miami (7p, ACCN)
Five Touches: Passing around the hoops world
Brad Stevens is NOT going to Indiana: Sorry Hoosier fans. ‘Brad the Handsome’ is not bored enough winning in the NBA to leave the Boston Celtics to go back to college and clean up your mess. David Letterman is available, but we learned a couple of weeks back, he is an Iowa Hawkeye fan.
Staley on Top: How Dawn Staley turned South Carolina into a powerhouse of women’s hoops.
How is the Doug Gottlieb Coaching Experiment going? The Athletic goes down the ice hole.
If this is what it takes to get a national title in Massachusetts: here’s the crossover sport we deserve and the one we need right now: Introducing Ice Hockey Basketball!
And finally, it’s the NBA All-Star Weekend! Excited?? Not any more. Movin’ on!
Final Seconds
Ok, folks! Tons of special matchups on this 3-day weekend!
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Also, feel free to join the conversation - just keep it upbeat!
Always live One Shining Moment at a time. Never be boring.