It wasn’t the most thrilling weekend of college hoops, I’ll admit. The Saturday lineup featured only one Top 25 matchup–though it was a rivalry game–and even that one turned into a bit of a dud.
All I want to know is, why? Why is college basketball trapped in a spell of mediocrity at the top, middle, and bottom of almost every league? For as good as the likes of Michigan State and Xavier have been, title contenders like North Carolina have yet to find any sort of true dominance over the course of the young season.
In this week’s podcast, we recap the weekend’s top tilts, like showdowns between Kentucky-Arizona State and Xavier-Cincinnati, looking at whether or not there’s anything to take from the results of either. In particular, we ask whether or not players like Kentucky’s Skal Labbisiere can be trusted as a consistent threat for the top-five Wildcats, or if other freshman Jamal Murray is the only one ready to shine for head coach John Calipari. Xavier may have dominated their contest with the Bearcats, it did so without even a whimper from stud sophomore Trevon Bluiett. Games like this continue to underscore the point that there are no true stars this season, anywhere in the country.
Sticking with the theme of unrest over the weekend, several upsets shook up the polls coming into this week. North Carolina went down against Texas in controversial fashion, further bringing questions to Roy Williams’ group. Are they tough enough? Are they good enough? The Pac-12 had an up and down weekend, watching Utah go into Wichita State and get smacked, while short-handed Oregon fell at Boise State. On the bright side of things, UCLA went up to Spokane and controlled the game against Gonzaga for nearly 40 minutes, solidifying themselves as a real Pac-12 contender.
Finally, with a somewhat underwhelming slate of games for the week, we found five sneaky good tilts that should capture everyone’s viewing attention, including an SEC-ACC rivalry that’s normally reserved for the gridiron–but thanks to Frank Martin, South Carolina walks in Clemson as a border-line Top 25 team.
Get inside for all of the details on this week’s podcast!
