Out of all of the weird stuff that's happened in sports this week, one that didn't get nearly enough attention, or credit for how bizarre it was, is John Calipari calling out Coach K indirectly, for recruiting practices (his comments here, READ: https://www.sbnation.com/college-basketball/2018/1/23/16920854/kentucky-duke-recruiting-basketball-john-calipari-zion-williamson ). I am not going to be one of those people who chastises Cal for blasphemy, or for committing some sort of mortal sin by attempting to defame the omnipotent coach. What I will say, is that in a weird way, I applaud Cal for speaking his mind. Is the way he did it admirable? Is the content of his overall statement correct? That can all certainly be debated. I personally feel, that as long as what you are promising a kid when you recruit him is all true, you should be able to confidently rest your head on the pillow at night.
But essentially what Calipari has done, is bring the attention of the one-and-done scoffers back on him. Cal gets credit as the original one-and-done recruiter, after the NBA instituted their age restriction in 2006. His one-and-done guys include Derrick Rose, Demarcus Cousins, John Wall and Anthony Davis, just to name a few, and has been widely criticized for his attitude regarding these kinds of recruits. He stresses looking out for what's best for the individual first, instead of selling the program and what it would mean to be a part of it. With this, he mostly dominated the market for well over half a decade. Naturally, other blue-blood programs around the country began to dip into that market. 12 years after it began, Calipari is no longer the king of the one-and-done recruit. Coach K is. He's already won as many national titles with a team full of them as Cal has (one each), and with a legit national title contender again this year, full of them, has secured the top 3 recruits in next year's class, all expected to enter the NBA Draft after one year at Duke. Losing out on Zion Williamson seems to be what sent Cal over the edge. He's tired of losing out, he's tired of coming up short, but mostly, he's furious that the plan he first set forward, has been hijacked by a coach, and a program, with more to offer. His comments bear just that, desperation. He's trying to restart a fire, and if it enhances one of college basketball's oldest, and most high profile rivalries, so be it.
Purdue Floating the B1G
There shouldn't be any debate, this is one of the worst years the Big Ten has seen in a long time. For the conference's sake, thankfully Ohio State has emerged as a team that has potential to compete in March. But the bottom half of this conference flat out stinks. I have five B1G teams in my current bracket (below), but after that, there isn't a single B1G team even close to the bubble right now. But one team that isn't getting enough attention, maybe because the conference as a whole is so poor, is Purdue. Most figured, including myself, that losing Caleb Swanigan would mean taking a step back from last season when the Boilermakers made a run to the Sweet 16. But the returning players have gotten better. With Vincent and Carsen Edwards (not related) leading the way offensively, and senior Isaac Haas as one of the best defensive players in the B1G, the way Purdue has kept it together is something to keep in mind heading into the tournament. They're big, they're tough, and they've got enough experience to not get overwhelmed in a big spot. I think they are going to win the conference, all-be-it a weak one, and if they do that, they might just keep a 1 seed.
Rising Mid-Majors
I think it's really worth noting how many perceived "mid-major" conference teams are relevant this year. The gap between conferences like the Atlantic 10, Mountain West and Missouri Valley (prior to this year) and the "Power 7" has been narrowing for a decade, and while two of the conferences above are having poor years, there are a number of schools scattered throughout the bottom 25 conferences that are legit contenders. For example, we are in a position where we could have multiple teams from Conference USA, the Colonial and the Mountain West, which has not happened since 2011, which went down as one of the weirdest year's in the history of college basketball. You see a pattern yet? In fact, out of the top 75 RPI teams, 22 of them are from mid-major conferences. Conference USA has more teams in the RPI top 100 than the A-10 does. We are definitely setting ourselves up for one of the toughest and deepest brackets in a long time.
BRACKETOLOGY
1/15 1/25
#1 seeds #1 seeds
Villanova Villanova
Virginia Duke
Duke Virginia
Oklahoma Purdue
Last 4 In Last 4 In
UCLA Texas A&M
St.Bonaventure Alabama
Florida St. Maryland
Boise St. Boise St.
First 4 Out First 4 Out
Notre Dame SMU
Maryland Notre Dame
South Carolina UCLA
Washington St.Bonaventure
Next 4 Out Next 4 Out
Utah Colorado
Georgia South Carolina
Houston Georgia
Central Florida Utah
EAST REGION (Boston, MA)
1. Villanova
2. Clemson
3. Michigan State
4. Arizona
5. Rhode Island
6. Texas Tech
7. Nevada
8. Michigan
9. Arkansas
10. Western Kentucky
11. Missouri
12. Texas A&M
13. Wright State
14. South Dakota State
15. Montana
16. Nicholls State / Arkansas- Pine Bluff (play-in)
SOUTH REGION (Atlanta, GA)
1. Duke
2. Auburn
3. Kansas
4. Cincinnati
5. Kentucky
6. Creighton
7. Miami (FL)
8. Butler
9. Buffalo
10. Marquette
11. Washington
12. Vermont
13. Old Dominion
14. Canisius
15. Radford
16. Pennsylvania / Bethune-Cookman (play-in)
MID-WEST REGION (Omaha, NE)
1. Virginia
2. Xavier
3. Tennessee
4. Ohio State
5. TCU
6. Louisville
7. Arizona State
8. Middle Tennessee
9. Providence
10. Florida State
11. Texas
12. Boise State / Maryland (play-in)
13. Loyola (IL)
14. East Tennessee State
15. Hawaii
16. Florida Gulf Coast
WEST REGION (Los Angeles, CA)
1. Purdue
2. North Carolina
3. Oklahoma
4. Seton Hall
5. Florida
6. Saint Mary's (CA)
7. Wichita State
8. West Virginia
9. USC
10. New Mexico State
11. Alabama / Syracuse (play-in)
12. Belmont
13. William & Mary
14. Louisiana-Lafayette
15. Bucknell
16. Wagner
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