In the latest Get More Sports College Basketball Weekly Podcast, we’re left to pick up the ashes from the chaotic week that saw five top 10 teams go up in flames with losses. Overall, 25 of the top 36 vote-getters in last week’s AP poll suffered at least one loss since our last podcast. Analyst Will Whelan explains what is at the root of this pervasive parity that we’re seeing nowadays in the world of college hoops. Should we really be pointing fingers at the AAU system? Or, are there higher factors at play that stretch into the owner boxes at the NBA level?
And with such chaos, we’re often confronted with some under-performing programs and their coaches who may be in trouble. Last week, Will’s hot seat watch explained why Tom Crean at Indiana and Josh Pastner at Memphis are two guys who need to do well come tournament time to salvage their jobs. What other big-time jobs could open up at the end of the season? Is Rick Barnes, who has been perpetually seated on the hot seat for the last five years, a candidate to get fired and open up a brand name job in Texas?
Will also takes us through his Wooden Award watch list, as we sort through college basketball’s biggest names, like Jahlil Okafor, Frank Kaminsky, and Justin Anderson. Who are some of the other names we should be paying attention to? Is Georges Niang of Iowa State a legitimate contender for Player of the Year honors?
And in going through the games of the week, Will makes his picks for some of the marquee matchups. Saturday’s lineup includes huge conference battles, as Duke and Louisville go at it for positioning in the ACC, while out west, Utah and Arizona will fight for the Pac-12 lead.
