A Rose by any other name...

In case you missed our NCAA hoops preview, remember the name Derrick Rose. He is the all-world freshman point guard for the Memphis Grizzlies and he is about to blow up. Remember it now, before his name starts appearing on lists with others like Durant, LeBron, Oden and Wade. Before Dick Vitale suffers a near seizure while singing the praises of this diaper dandy. Before he schools every point guard in Conference USA and beyond with his unique mix of athleticism, handles, lockdown defense, passing skills and high basketball IQ. Before CBS runs a pre-NCAA tournament profile on Rose’s life growing up on the mean streets of Englewood, Chicago. Before the millions in salary and endorsements. Before the bandwagon gets too full and you find yourself roughing it on the roof.

The question coming into the season about which freshman is better, Rose or USC’s OJ Mayo, may have already been answered. With two college games under his belt, Rose has left little doubt that the hype that followed him to Memphis was more than legit. Sure, the Tigers have only played Tennessee-Martin and Richmond, two teams that are about as anonymous as an undercover CIA agent, but Rose was the undisputed star in both contests. Rose scored 17 points to go with 6 boards and 5 assists in the first game, and followed that up tonight with 21 points on 6-8 shooting from the floor. If you’re interested in seeing the future, try to catch Memphis’ semifinal game in the 2K Sports College Hoops Classic tournament on November 15. And then tune into ESPN on December 4, when OJ Mayo and USC take on Rose’s Tigers in Madison Square Garden.

Though nicknamed “pooh” by his grandma (yes, the Winnie kind), Derrick Rose is all grown up. If Rose continues to play as he has these first 2 games of the new NCAA season, and perhaps even improves as expected during the course of the season, the Memphis Tigers could be hoisting the NCAA championship when March 2008 rolls around.

College hoops ready to unleash the madness

Midnight madness, the nocturnal celebration of all things college basketball, took place on campuses from USC to UMD this past weekend, marking the unofficial start of the NCAA season. Lefty Driesell, the legendary Maryland Terrapins basketball coach and founder of the madness that goes down at midnight (or sometimes a bit earlier in the evening), must have been proud – even if, at 75, he isn’t much interested in being party to the madness. So, with the first weekend of October behind us and the rowdy college hoops heads ready to root, root, root for their alma-matter, we thought we’d take a fresh look at the teams and players that will matter in the 2007-2008 NCAA hoops season.

Going into the season, any national championship conversation will need to include the word “Tarheels”, of the North Carolina variety. Despite losing studs Brendan Wright and Reyshawn Terry to the NBA ranks, the ‘Heels return the human blur Ty Lawson at point guard and forward Tyler Hansbrough, who may not become a great NBA prospect, but has a game perfectly suited for the college ranks. If Wayne Ellington at shooting guard and Bobby Fraser off the bench can consistently knock down the 3-ball, North Carolina could easily find themselves snatching the national championship throne away from the Florida Gators.

Along with the Tarheels, here are our picks for the top 5 early favorites to win the 2007-2008 national championship:

1. North Carolina Tarheels – Great point guard play, tough inside play and great coaching leads to a championship recipe.
2. Memphis Tigers – Plays defense and has one of the top, if not the best point guard in the country in Derrick Rose (he could be a top 3 pick in next year’s NBA draft).
3. UCLA Bruins – Despite the loss of Arron Afflalo, the backcourt of Darren Collison and Josh Shipp is top notch. And Bruin fans will find much to like about 6’ 10” freshman forward Kevin Love.
4. USC Trojans – A lot of so-called “pundits” are sleeping on the Trojans, but super freshman OJ Mayo could be their wake-up call. Trojans lose a lot with the departure of Young, Pruitt and Stewart, but Taj Gibson and freshman Davon Jefferson will hold down the front-court.
5. Louisville Cardinals – Coached by Rick Pitino, you know the Cardinals will run on offense and press on defense, and they have the horses and balanced offensive scoring this year to pull off the traditional Pitino gameplan quite effectively.

So, we’ve got our early title favorites, but what about the sleepers? These 5 teams could give the Tarheels and Bruins of the world a lot of headaches.

1. Kentucky Wildcats – It’s tough to categorize the legendary Wildcats as a sleeper, but given their recent lack of success some may have forgotten the team’s storied history. Talented coach Billy Gillespie will change all that. Sure guard play is important, and Kentucky has plenty of that, but in NCAA hoops a good coach can make all the difference.
2. Villanova Wildcats – Villanova had a couple of really great freshman recruits in the two Coreys – no, not the 80s teen idol kind, but Fisher and Stokes instead. Guard Scottie Reynolds will provide the veteran leadership on this perimeter oriented team.
3. Rhode Island Rams – The drive and dish game that the Rams play produces a lot of 3 pointers and players like Will Daniels and Jimmy Baron know what to do with an open look from downtown. If they can get through the A-10, the Rams will give some high-ranked teams fits in the NCAA tournament.
4. Mississippi State Bulldogs – Perhaps you’re picking up on the theme; we like teams with solid point guard play and good coaching. The bulldogs have both in powerful point man Jamont Gordon and coach Rick Stansbury.
5. Southern Illinois Salukis – When does Southern Illinois go from sleeper to favorite? Their 78-26 record over the last 3 seasons make a convincing argument for their considerable talent. The bottom line, however, is that Randall Falker will be tough inside and point guard Bryan Mullins will be one of the best floor generals in Division I, yet some teams will take the Salukis lightly.

Finally, we get to the underachievers. And as an alum of UMCP and fan of the Terrapins, it gives us immense pleasure to be able to objectively place the Dukies and head Devil himself Mike Krzyzewski at the top of the underachievers list.

1. Duke Bluedevils – Will the Blue Devils make the NCAA tournament? Possibly. Will the team led by Greg Paulus and DeMarcus Nelson live up to the “Dukie” tradition of success? Most definitely not. In a down year for the ACC, we foresee a relatively down year for the Blue Devils as well.
2. Washington State Cougars – Led by 14ppg scorer Derrick Low, the Cougars won 26 games last year. Unfortunately, this year they won’t sneak up on the other teams in the Pac-10. Expect a let-down from Tony Bennett’s crew (no, not that Tony Bennett).
3. Georgetown Hoyas – We love Coach John Thompson III, so if he can weave some of his coaching magic we could be eating our words. But, the loss of Jeff Green is too much to overcome for this team, as we don’t see Roy Hibbert stepping up to fill the go-to-guy void. The Hoyas will be hard-pressed to match last year’s Final Four run.
4. Kansas Jayhawks – Given their well documented post-season failures, can we permanently place Bill Self’s Jayhawks on the underachievers list please? Their best player Brandon Rush is coming into the season injured, and the front-court of Darrell Arthur and Sasha Kaun isn’t as solid as some have predicted. Many expect this to be a Final Four team, but we foresee a second round exit.
5. Florida Gators - This is an easy one. They may have one of the best recruting classes coming in, but even the brilliant coaching of Billy Donovan won't make up for the loss of 4/5 of the National Championship team's starting lineup to the glitter and glory of the NBA.

So, that’s our capsule outlook into the upcoming 2007-2008 NCAA basketball season. The road to the Final Four (with all appropriate copyright due to CBS) starts for most teams in a couple of weeks. Make sure you’re stocked up on your team gear and have a good high-def TV lined up to follow all the twists and turns of the madness that is college basketball.

Tiny Appalachian State stuns mighty Michigan

In case you haven’t heard, Appalachian State University pulled off one of the most improbable upsets in the history of NCAA college football by stunningly defeating the Michigan Wolverines 34-32 on Saturday afternoon. The game was as exciting as the score indicates, with Appalachian State blocking a Michigan field goal in the final seconds to preseve the victory.

Appalachian State University was an underdog in every sense of the word when its football team met up with national powerhouse Michigan Wolverines. Tiny Appalachian State with a student population of just over 15,000 is located in nondescript Boone, North Carolina, a town centered almost entirely around the university, while mighty Michigan with 40,000-plus students strong makes its home in equally robust Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The Appalachian State mascot is a happy-go-lucky “mountain folk” named Yosef, while Michigan instills fear in its opponents with its own mascot the mighty Wolverine. The Mountaineers play in the Southern Conference, which is equivalent to the now defunct Division 1AA level, while the Wolverines came into last night’s game ranked number 5 in the entire country. And, to top it all off, Appalachian State is plain weird. The school uses this unsettling, yet oddly hilarious recruitment video, which by the way might explain the low enrollment rate at the public school.

These non-conference games at the start of the college football season are supposed to serve as tune-ups and help pad win totals for the national powerhouses. Unfortunately for Michigan, the Mountaineers decided to ruin the Wolverine’s entire 2007 season in one horrible, horrible September afternoon for the fans of the maize and blue. For the rest of us, it was among one of the most exciting and entertaining college football games in recent memory.

In The News: August 31, 2007

Team USA coasted past what was supposed to be their toughest challenge of the FIBA Americas Tournament. Led by Kobe Bryant’s 27 points, the US squad beat Argentina 91-76. Sports Illustrated’s Chris Mannix looks at four things we learned about Team USA coming out of last night’s game.

Louisville scored on all but one possession of the game, and Heisman hopeful Brian Brohm threw for 375 yards and four touchdowns, mostly by the start of the third quarter, as the Cardinals beat hopelessly overmatched Murray State 73-10. Despite the lopsided score the game was pretty fun to watch, as college football season kicked off last night. Here is the TV schedule for the remainder of this weekend’s college football games.

Speaking of college football, check out the 2007-2008 Maryland Terrapins football schedule.

The buzz around the Google phone continues to build. Will it live up to the hype? The image below is one of the many representations of what it might look like.

If you want one of the 60GB PlayStation 3s at $499, you better act now. Soon, all you’ll find are the new 80GB models at the usual and outrageous $599 price point.

Apparently, some Chinese Shaolin monks are a little peeved about an Internet rumor that they were once beaten in hand-to-hand combat by Japanese Ninjas. We didn’t know Shaolin monks actually surfed the Internet, what with the whole simplicity and zen of life thing. But if they are, what are they actually searching for? The world may never know. What do you think? Who would win in a fight, Ninja vs. Shaolin monk?

Terps finally land top recruit

It was reported recently that Gary Williams and the Maryland Terrapins basketball team got a solid verbal commitment from Terrence Jennings, the 6'10" 225 pound forward from Durham, NC -- plucked him right out of UNC and Duke's backyard. Despite Maryland's general and relative tournament and ACC success in recent years (winning the National Championship in 2002, in fact) they haven't been able to recruit a five-star, blue-chipper like Jennings. Heck, they weren't able to keep top recruits from their own region in-house (see Kevin Durant as the most recent example).

So, the signing of Jennings is a pretty big deal for Terps hoops fans. Rivals.com rates Jennings as a top-15 prospect and reports compare his game to Amare Stoudamire when the Suns star came into the NBA -- raw, but with awesome athleticism and unstoppable finishing ability around the rim. Exactly what the Terps need after really not having a dominant big man since Joe Smith or Lonny Baxter.