College Roundup: Big Upsets Are The Talk Of The Town

While many people count unpredictability as one of college football's most appealing traits, there are some things that you can rely upon as certainties each season. As sure as the leaves changing colors and Brent Musberger referencing point spreads, you can depend on an overhyped Cal Bears team to collapse as soon as they're placed in a showcase game. They are the Pac-10's version of the Clemson Tigers- a team that is perenially listed among the 'sleepers' that are ready for a breakout season and is given a boost by those same writers into the AP top 10. And yet, just as soon as their fans start thinking that maybe this year will be different than other years, the team falls apart in epic fashion. This year, it was the Oregon Ducks that had the honors, demolishing Cal, 42-3, in a game that the Bears had given up on by halftime. Now, their exposure as a fraud will somehow be used to indict the entire Pac-10 as being overrated, even tho it was another Pac-10 team that took Cal down. Ahhh, such are the joys of investing so much emotion in a sport that determines its champion via popularity contest.

Cal wasn't the only highly ranked team to go down in defeat this weekend. College fans around the country once again owe Iowa a huge debt of gratitude for sparing a weary nation from a Penn State appearance in a National Championship game. Hopefully, we can go another year without having to watch a Big 10 team roll over in a BCS title game. Unfortunately, fans can't rest too easily just yet, as so many top 10 teams already have a "1" in the loss column that a team that lost early, Ohio State, could sneak back into things.

Another one loss team whose BCS dreams have been revitalized is the Notre Dame Fighting Holtzes, who rallied to beat Purdue in a rare game in which Charlie Weis wasn't the worst coach in the stadium. That honor went to Purdue head man Danny Hope who upon seeing a frenzied Notre Dame scurrying to the line to spike the ball, opted to call a timeout to save their opponent a down and give them an opportunity to draw up two plays to win the game. When Notre Dame is cashing their BCS check for 17 mil, they should be sure to send something nice over to West Lafayette.

Miami went into Blacksburg and showed that they aren't quite back to being "Tha U" just yet. But it wasn't really much of a shocker, because I don't think people really expected them to return to elite status in one year. This kind of thing is a process. To put it in terms that Miami fans will understand: it's like when your players are runnin' trains on coeds. At first, maybe they can snag a coed in a quad somewhere. Start playing better, and they might just get one will go into the lobby with you. That's about where they're at right now. But they'll get to that 7th floor. Just give them time.

Elsewhere in the state of Florida, Gator fans briefly feared the worst when football Messiah, Tim Tebow, was laying motionless on the turf after receiving a blow to the back of his head at the end of a vicious sack. Tebow now finds himself in a hospital bed, but football announcers across the country expect him to rise again in three days.

Why Is Everyone Acting Surprised That Pac-10 Officials Are Terrible?

In the aftermath of UCLA's 77-67 overtime victory over Stanford to clinch the Pac-10 championship, most of the focus from the game has been on the questionable foul called on Lawrence Hill which gave Darren Collison two free throw attempts to tie the game. While it was probably a foul by the strictest interpretation of the rules (Hill was jumping forward rather than straight up when body contact was made), most sports fans would agree that the contact was incidental to the block and probably shouldn't have been whistled; and UCLA should have just been given the ball out of bounds with 2.5 seconds left and a chance to tie or win. If Stanford fans (or UCLA detractors) want to be upset about that particular foul, that's understandable. But to suggest that the officials somehow "gave" UCLA the victory -as talking heads such as Fran Fraschilla are doing - is both foolish and misinformed. The truth of the matter is that the Pac-10 officials are easily the worst amongst the major conferences and make so many bad calls in each game that it's impossible to single out any one call as being the difference maker. The best fans can hope for is that all of the bad calls will eventually even out in the long run. Perhaps in this case, they did.

For those that only saw the highlights, the reason UCLA was trailing by two points at the end of the game was because of a Lawrence Hill basket after breaking UCLA's full court press. Here's how Stanford's own paper, The Stanford Daily, describes that play:

"With the game tied at 61 and seven seconds left in regulation, Stanford (24-5, 13-4 Pac-10) junior forward Lawrence Hill drove right into the paint and banked in a running right-handed hook off the backboard. He looked to have either travelled or charged, but there was no whistle on the play."

These were but two of many questionable judgments by the refs during the game. Brook Lopez' pivot foot looked like it was on a roller skate all game long, but only a few early travels were called. Kevin Love drew a key phantom foul on Robin Lopez during an out of control spin move. Rebounders for both teams were allowed to go over the back, but aggressively blocking out with the backside was a foul. There really is no rhyme or reason to what a Pac-10 ref will do at any moment.

Also, for those that believe in karma, it should be noted that a little over two weeks ago, Stanford was "given" two go-ahead foul shots near the end of regulation at Arizona when Chase Budinger was whistled for a foul on what looked to be a very clean block on Robin Lopez's shot attempt. Had that call not been made, Arizona would have likely held onto the victory and last night's Stanford-UCLA game wouldn't have been for the Pac-10 title anyway.

Finally on a related note, I have to give Stanford credit for the class they demonstrated both during and after the game. (Honestly, I wish they'd cut it out. It's making it really hard for me to root against them.) Both Lopez twins were seen repeatedly helping opposing players up and making sure they were ok after fouls or loose ball scrambles. Despite the bad calls that went both ways, nobody other than Stanford coach Trent Johnson was very demonstrative in their disagreement (on the last play of regulation, Johnson could be heard echoing the sentiments of Pac-10 fans for years, "Oh my God! Unbelievable!). After the game, Lawrence Hill refused to criticize the officiating ("No, if I fouled him, I fouled him," he said), even while in the opposing locker room, Darren Collison was admitting that it was all ball: "That was a complete block," Collison said. "We were fortunate to get a call on that."

Over the past month, the Pac-10 may have lost their status as the best conference in the country, but nobody is ever going to dare wrest the claim of worst officiating away from them. Such will be the legacy of Pac-10 commissioner Tom Hansen. Well that, and getting rich while refusing to give football fans a playoff system. Geez, no wonder there's an east coast bias in sports.

College Hoops Cram Session

Stanford lost to Gonzaga in double overtime, 90-86. Of course, that loss just shows how much depth there is in the Pac 10. Oh wait, that doesn't work this time, does it? I was just so used to spouting the company line that I forgot to check if there was any truth to the matter.

All the mid-level Pac-10 teams would like to kindly request that coaches and writers no longer vote them into the top 25, because anytime they do, a loss is sure to follow. USC crept into the top 25 and was beaten by Stanford. Washington State's first week in the rankings was followed by a loss to Oregon. Now Stanford has this Gonzaga defeat on their record. It looks like Washington was the smart school- getting bumped out of the rankings early, so they wouldn't have to worry about any losses in the stretch run. Very shrewd, Mr. Romar.

Indiana beat Wisconsin 71-66, and Indiana students were so excited about the victory that they stormed the court. C'mon now Hoosiers fans, let's get some perspective. I know Wisconsin was ranked #2 in the country at the moment, but these are still just the Badgers. Which school has five banners hanging from their arena? Who was just in the championship game in 2002? If you want to be a national powerhouse again, act like one. I'll bet if Duke beats North Carolina next week, you won't see them storming the court.

Oh who am I kidding? Duke's going to get killed by UNC. This isn't a slight against Duke, who has surprised me with their record thus far, but the Tar Heels are peaking and looking rather unstoppable. As good as Wisconsin, UCLA, Kansas, and Ohio State are right now, a Florida-UNC matchup has a "game for the ages" potential. Of course, since it's the final that everyone is expecting and hoping for, it's never actually going to come to fruition.

Despite a slow start, Florida displayed their explosiveness Wednesday night in a 74-64 victory over Vanderbilt. It's been tough for me to watch Florida play this year. Not because watching them play reminds me of the beating they gave UCLA, but because my hairline has been running about a year or so behind Billy Donovan; and I'm getting really depressed by what 2008 holds for me. Donovan's team definitely has the best starting five in the country, but they did show a few weaknesses. They don't have much depth this year, so if they ever were to get into foul trouble it could hurt them. Also, Vanderbilt showed that you can successfully attack their press with crisp passing and get easy baskets. Donovan actually called off the press for most of the second half. (Wait, you mean a coach is allowed to adjust his defensive strategy in the middle of the game? Ok, I guess I'm still a little bitter over last year's championship game.)

As an aside, Tom Hammond was announcing the Vanderbilt-Florida game. I had no idea he announced basketball. I thought he was just called in for events where horses were involved- like the Kentucky Derby, or any Notre Dame game with Laura Quinn in the stands.

Finally, as a college basketball fan, I would just like to thank David Stern for allowing us to borrow Kevin Durant and Greg Oden for a year.

Tar Heels Show No Mercy

Arizona is getting an absolute spanking from the Tar Heels today, and North Carolina doesn't even have Brandan Wright available today.

North Carolina has been quicker and more aggressive all game. Maybe the 10 AM start hurt them, but Arizona has to come to terms with the fact that they just aren't that good right now.

This is now five losses in the last seven games for Arizona. Lute Olsen, to his credit, is responding to this latest embarrassment with class and dignity. Oh who am I kidding? He's screaming and stomping around like always.

(One thing I will give Arizona credit for. Even down 27 points, the McKale Center crowd is making a decent amount of noise. I'm impressed.)

At 14-6 overall, but 5-4 in the Pac-10, Arizona is now creeping into bubble territory. Hard to imagine from a team that's been in the top 15 for most of the season. But with the way the Wildcats are playing, a 19-11 finish to the regular season seems very plausible. Will that be good enough?

West Coast Bias

If you're going to have a coming-out party, ya might as well make it a block party. Stanford freshman Brook Lopez set a school record by blocking 12 shots en route to his first career triple double (18 points, 11 rebounds). USC kept driving into the paint, and Stanford defenders kept swatting it away. When the final seconds had ticked off the clock in the Stanford 65-52 victory, the Cardinal had amassed a grand total of 19 blocked shots. The Trojans had 67 field goal attempts in all, so that translates into nearly 30% of SC's shots not ever making it to the rim. You'd think at some point, the Trojans would have learned that trying to score from the low block was a bad idea. But this is Southern Cal we're talking about, and learning isn't really that high on the priority list over there.

The depth of young players in the Pac-10 is astounding. One week, it looks like Spencer Hawes is the best freshman in the league. Then it's Chase Budinger who starts to dominate with his play. A few weeks later, Ryan Anderson puts a few good games together, and his name starts to get mentioned as a Freshman of the Year candidate. Now, the Lopez twins have announced their presence in the conference. You could put together a team of just the best freshmen in the Pac-10, and they would be a top 10 team in the country. I just hope they decide to stick around for a couple years.

The headline at Yahoo Sports reads, "Torrid Huskies Upset Ducks." Obviously, the headline writer doesn't also read the Yahoo odds page, or he would have known that by tipoff, Washington was a 4.5 point favorite in the game. (By the way, if you ever do encounter a torrid husky...well, you don't want him around if you're wearing short pants- if you know what I mean. A word of warning though: If he does lay into you, it's best to just let him finish.) Still it was a much-needed win for the Huskies, as any hopes they had for making the Big Dance (save for winning the Pac-10 tournament) would have been pretty much eliminated with a loss Thursday. As it is, Washington is 2-6 in the Pac-10 with 10 conference games remaining. They probably need to go 7-3 in those games to have a shot at an invitation. One of those games will be a visit to Eugene, Oregon for a rematch against the Ducks, where I'm sure the team will remember the "overrated" chant that came from the Huskies faithful tonight. That may have been a miscalculation on the part of HuskyFan.

UCLA now stands alone atop the Pac-10 after overcoming a slow start (boy, does that sound familiar) to beat Cal 62-46. Once Arron Afflalo began to heat up and the UCLA defense tightened up, Cal lost any hope they had for an upset bid. The Bruins now go to Palo Alto, which over the last decade, has been a nightmare game for UCLA. The Bruins will have to play 40 minutes of energetic basketball if they hope to escape Maples Pavilion with a win. I'm not so sure that they'll win, but I do feel pretty confidant that they won't get swatted 19 times. That's just the type of preparation you can expect from Ben Howland. Well that, and the Bruins don't have a single reliable scorer in the low block. Thank heaven for small favors.