Friday Look Ahead: Monroe might try, try again when Hoyas meet Huskies
Mark Ingram or Colt McCoy?
Toby Gerhart or Ndamukong Suh?
Best I can tell, few believe anybody really deserves the Heisman Trophy this year. That's why I'm shocked nobody thought to transport John Wall from Madison Square Garden to the Nokia Theater after Wednesday's performance against Connecticut, buy him a suit, let him stay in New York a couple of more nights and accept the award this weekend. Yeah, I know the honor is supposed to go to the most outstanding player in collegiate football. But I think we could overlook that one minor detail, especially in this case.
Anyway, let's do the Friday Look Ahead ...
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| Georgetown center Greg Monroe should strive for 20-10 on a nightly basis. (AP) |
Another interesting matchup: I pushed Kansas State into the Top 25 (and one) last Sunday, but the AP poll and Coaches poll did not follow suit, this despite KSU owning a 7-1 record featuring a win over Dayton, a blowout of Washington State and lone loss to No. 25 Ole Miss. The Wildcats have since added a 71-56 victory over Xavier, meaning they're now 8-1 heading into Saturday's game against No. 18 UNLV. A win there, and the AP and Coaches polls won't be able to ignore Frank Martin's team any longer.
Yet another interesting matchup: It's rare, especially in this era, that a junior college transfer makes an immediate impact at the Division I level, even more rare for his numbers to be similar or better. So what Darington Hobson is doing at New Mexico is rare. The 6-foot-7 wing averaged 15.2 points, 8.7 rebounds and 3.1 assists last season at College of Eastern Utah. He's averaging 17.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists this season for the Lobos, who are 9-0 and headed for the national rankings if they beat No. 16 Texas A&M on Saturday.
Guaranteed to be a blowout: Indiana recorded a notable victory over Pittsburgh this week, the type of nationally televised win over a Big East opponent the rebuilding program needed, if only because it allowed the Hoosiers to celebrate and feel good about themselves. It was a nice night. But barring a miracle, those good feelings won't last through Saturday. That's when No. 4 Kentucky visits Assembly Hall. If you think Kelvin Sampson messed things up at IU, wait till you see what John Wall does.
Guaranteed to be an upset: You have no idea how badly I want to take unranked Temple over No. 3 Villanova, because Temple isn't bad and crosstown rivalries often produce upsets, particularly when the favorite is on the road (like Villanova is Sunday). But I promised I wouldn't pick against Villanova anymore, so I can't do that. Which leaves me with unranked Xavier over No. 19 Cincinnati, primarily because the home team has won the Crosstown Shootout each of the past five seasons. Sunday's game is at Cintas Center. That's Xavier's home, in case you didn't know.
Player trying to keep rolling: JaJuan Johnson has been posting bigger-than-normal numbers lately, averaging 17.3 points and 6.7 rebounds in No. 5 Purdue's past three games (wins over Wake Forest, Buffalo and Valparaiso). Up next is Saturday night's tilt at Alabama. It'll be interesting to see how many Crimson Tide fans show up, given that the Heisman Trophy ceremony is also Saturday night.
Player trying to get rolling: Gordon Hayward gets most of the attention, particularly from NBA scouts. But the key to Butler's success the past two seasons has been Matt Howard, who is not having a great junior year. That's at least partially why the Bulldogs already have three losses. Howard was 1 of 9 from the field in Tuesday's loss to Georgetown, and he fouled out for the fifth time in nine games. On the season, his points, rebounds and assists are down on average, and his turnovers are up. So I guess what I'm saying is that No. 22 Butler won't get on track until Howard gets on track, and it's crucial that he does so in time for Saturday's game against No. 13 Ohio State.
Three things you need to know
1. Reeves Nelson's eye swelled shut when he suffered a corneal abrasion in last Sunday's loss to Kansas. But the UCLA forward returned to practice Wednesday, and he's expected to play Saturday against Mississippi State. Nelson is averaging 7.6 points and 5.3 rebounds.
2. As usual, the SWAC is off to a terrible start. None of the league's 10 members has a winning record, and four remain winless. But there are seven other schools/non-SWAC members also entering this weekend still in search of their first victories. They are UMBC (0-8), Penn (0-6), Marist (0-6), Florida A&M (0-10), Wagner (0-7), Bryant University (0-9) and Colgate (0-8). Somewhere, Adonal Foyle weeps.
3. Iowa coach Todd Lickliter met with his team Thursday, but he will not coach them Friday night at Iowa State. Lickliter is still recovering after doctors repaired a tear in his left carotid artery last Saturday. He's expected to return for next week's game against Drake.
Final thought: I'm so consumed with being right that while watching John Wall dominate Connecticut, I started wishing I had kept all the e-mail from those who called me an idiot for naming the Kentucky freshman the CBSSports.com Preseason National Player of the Year "before he ever even played a game." I wanted to send a mass e-mail to them all, just to ask if they wanted to apologize. And if that sounds petty, well, that's because I am petty. If you didn't know that already, you haven't been spending enough time around here.
Anyway, with that in mind, I went and looked at the feedback under that column.
Classic stuff.
Click this link and check it out.
Then learn to laugh with me, not at me.
