Welcome New Teams!

Lets welcome our 22 New Teams to the Babbleball Contest!

• The Atlantic 10 got a boost with Temple, Rhode Island and Charlotte all jumping in to join Dayton, Xavier, and Richmond. Temple plays Duquesne on Wed and at Richmond Saturday, Charlotte draws GW and Fordham this week, and Rhode Island gets LaSalle and UMASS.
• New Mexico joins the Mountain West fray by hosting San Diego State on Saturday.
  
• UAB and UTEP jump into the CUSA in a three way tie with Tulsa, and Memphis a game out. UAB is on the road this week against Memphis and Rice. UTEP is at home against two player owned squads, Houston and Tulsa.
  
• Morgan State looks to remain undefeated in the MEAC this week.
  
• Marquette and St. Johns join the other shitload of Big East teams - Marquette draws DePaul and Providence this week, St. Johns will likely get pounded by a hot Rutgers and West Virginia.
  
• Virginia and Miami (FL) join the rest of the floundering ACC looking for some easy points. Virginia gets NC State and and Wake this week. Miami sees Wake and Florida St.
  
• Murray State looks to hold onto their undefeated record in the OVC
• Wichita State enters the MVC already 2 games down on Northern Iowa. They can make that one game down by beating them on Wednesday. Indiana St is on deck for Saturday.
  
• The SOCON gets Charleston and Western Carolina into play and into competition for the conference. Guess what? They've already played each other in their only match up and WC won.
  
• Coastal Carolina starts off 2 games up on Radford in the Big South, they'll face off in two weeks (Radford won the last meeting).
  
• Louisiana Tech joins Utah St and Nevada in the WAC. They will eventually have road games against both, but for this week, San Jose St.
  
• Northeastern and William & Mary were picked up in the Colonial, but no one took George Mason? GM has a 1 game lead over Northeastern and Old D. Northeastern faces Delaware and Hofstra this week. The Tribe are on the road at Old D and Georgia St.
  
• Pacific joins the Big West with a 1.5 game lead. They take on Santa Barbara and Cal Poly this week.
  
• Quinnipiac is in da house, in da NEC, one game back. They play Sacred Heart twice this week.
  
• Finally, Oregon St is no more, and Washington State takes their place in the Pac 10. Can you believe that at 4-5 they are only two games out of first place? They could grab a quick 6 points by hosting Arizona and Arizona St this week.
  

Welcome to the new teams!

Week 12 Recap:

Virtually no change in the leader board by the end of the week. Akaoni extended his first place lead by a half dozen points by going 12-4 for 22 points, leading all players for the week. Boaris hit 17 to stay in second place, 13 for Gunz kept him in third, Jaybird bounced back with 16 points to remain in 4th. Jutdog's 20 points tied him up with NotaTurtle, who hit 15. The CEO remains just a few points back after a fine 19 point week. Babblemur's 15 kept him solidly in 8th place, ahead of Phunmunki (10 pts for the week) and Some Guy from Illinois (10 pts for the week).

Standings After Week 12:

• 1. Akaoni - 225 (127-40)
• 2. Boaris - 206 (130-38)
• 3. Gunz - 201 (123-47)
• 4. Jaybird - 198 (119-47)
• 5. Jutdog - 179 (114-48)
• 6. NotaTurtle - 179 (105-59)
• 7. The CEO - 177 (117-52)
• 8. Babblemur - 169 (117-49)
• 9. Phunmunki - 159 (106-60)
• 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 154 (114-56)

Babblemur Bracket

Based upon an interpretation of the Babblemur Rating Index:

1. Kansas
1. Kentucky
1. Syracuse
1. Duke

2. Villanova
2. Purdue
2. Texas
2. Michigan St

3. Wisconsin
3. Kansas State
3. West Virginia
3. Vanderbilt

4. Gonzaga
4. Florida State
4. Georgetown
4. Ohio State

5. BYU
5. Georgia Tech
5. Florida
5. Clemson

6. New Mexico
6. Temple
6. Tennessee
6. Baylor

7. Northern Iowa
7. Butler
7. Cincinnati
7. Wake Forest

8. UNLV
8. Mississippi St
8. Pittsburgh
8. Virginia Tech

9. Oklahoma St
9. Texas A&M
9. Mississippi
9. Illinois

10. North Carolina
10. Notre Dame
10. Missouri
10. California

11. UCONN
11. Dayton
11. Marquette
11. UAB

12.Northwestern
12. Sienna
12. St Marys
12. Cornell

13. Old Dominion
13. Tulsa
13. Murray State
13. Utah State

14. Akron
14. Weber State
14. Pacific
14. Oakland

15. Jacksonville
15. Western Carolina
15. Middle Tennessee
15. Coastal Carolina

16. Stoney Brook
16. Sam Houston State
16. Quinnipiac
16.5. Morgan State
16.5. Arkansas Pine Bluff

ExpandaDraft Happening

1. SGII - Temple
2. Phun - New Mexico
3. Babs - UAB
4. CEO - Morgan State
5. Jutdog - Marquette
6. Turtle - UTEP
7. Jaybird - Murray State
8. Gunz - Rhode Island
9. Boaris - Wichita St
10. Akaoni - Charleston

11. Akaoni - Coastal Carolina
12. Boaris - Louisiana Tech
13. Gunz - Virginia
14. Jaybird - Northeastern
15. Turtle - Miami (FL)
16. Jutdog - Western Carolina
17. CEO - Pacific
18. Babs - William & Mary
19. Phun - Quinnipiac
20. SGII - St. Johns

Optional Drop / Pick:
21. SGII - No Drops
22. Phun - Drops Oregon St, Adds Washington St
23. Babblemur - No Drops
24. CEO - Drops Arkansas, Adds Charlotte
25. Jutdog - No Drops
26. NotaTurtle - No Drops
27. Jaybird - No Drops
28. Gunz - No Drops
29. Boaris - No Drops
30. Akachoka - YOU'RE UP

Week 11 Recap: Boaris & Gunz Capitalize on Akaoni's Crash

A 30 point lead at the beginning of the week has been slashed to a 14 point lead as Akaoni suffered his worst losses of the season. Lets look closer:

Akaoni won only five of his 15 games this week, with a 2-10 record against other players. #1 Texas took their first two losses of the season. #9 Pittsburgh dropped two games against other players. Washington lost to UCLA. Illinois 0-2. South Carolina 0-2. If there was a bright side for Akaoni it was Syracuse holding out and Virginia Tech winning two to go to 15-3. Akaoni netted nine points total - but this was bound to happen sooner or later.

The very competitive positioning all season between Gunz, Boaris, and Jaybird for second place may now carry over into a skirmish for first place.

Boaris was the big winner this week. He slammed in 29 points off of 13 wins, 7-2 against other players, including 5 points off the Seton Hall win over Pitt. Kansas, BYU, Florida and Seton Hall are all turning it on for Boaris, who slid from fourth place to second.

Gunz held on to third place by taking 26 points, winning 12 games to 3 losses, 6-1 against other players. Wisconsin and UNLV and Oklahoma St are peaking, and even the "big mistake" UCLA is turning into an advantage, whacking Washington and Wash St this week. (Did you know UCLA has more points than 5 of Jutdog's teams...)

Jaybird slipped into fourth place off mediocre 8-7 for 18 points, but NotaTurtle shot up into fifth off 23 points, Purdue and UCONN seem to have turned their games around. Jutdog held onto 6th place, The CEO dropped to seventh thanks to 9 losses and 9 points for the week. Babblemur's 13-2 record for the week netted him a mere 15 points. Phun took 15 and Illinois Guy's 12 kept him in the basement for another week.

Standings after Week 11:

• 1. AKaoni - 203 (115-36)
• 2. Boaris - 189 (119-35)
• 3. Gunz - 188 (116-40)
• 4. Jaybird - 182 (111-39)
• 5. NotaTurtle - 164 (96-53)
• 6. Jutdog - 159 (104-42)
• 7. The CEO - 156 (106-49)
• 8. Babblemur - 154 (106-44)
• 9. Phunmunki - 149 (98-54)
• 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 144 (106-49)

Expanda-Draft Part Two - The Rest

The Expanda-Draft aspect of this contest was put in for several reasons - to allow players to pick up teams that surprised everyone and are marching towards an NCAA birth, to add the possibility of "tweaking" your squad to improve your chances, and to give players a chance to pick up mid and low major conference teams that look like they are going to stomp their way into the Big Dance.

As we think about our draft options, consider these point rules:

- A team that wins a major conference regular season earns 7 points
- A team that wins a non-major conference regular season earns 6 points
- A team that wins a major conference tournament earns 5 points
- A team that wins a non-major conference tournament earns 4 points
- A team that completes the regular conference season undefeated earns +3 points.

This is where a mid or low major team can be worth drafting - they win a dozen games (12 points) plus win their conference (6 pts) and tournament (4 pts). Plus keep in mind...

- Each team that makes the NCAA tourney receives 4 points

So while picking up a major conference team like Marquette or North Carolina St has the advantage of possible points against Duke or Pittsburgh, they won't likely see any of the points above.

So to the Babbanalysis - "Mid-Majors"

• #16 Temple 16-3 (4-0 Atl 10) - I would be shocked if they weren't the first team drafted. They are the only ranked team not owned by a player, their A-10 run includes wins over Rhode Island and Xavier, they have wins over Villanova, Seton Hall, Virginia Tech. Their three losses: Georgetown, St. Johns, and Kansas.
• Rhode Island 15-2 (3-1 Atl 10) - while we are on the Atlantic 10, you can't ignore Rhode Island's success this year. They are 15-2! Those two losses? A two point loss on the road to Virginia Commonwealth, and a four point loss in overtime to Temple. Basically, they've never been blown out. Have they had any significant wins? Oklahoma St, Boston College, Providence. They play Saturday at Xavier, lets see how that turns out.
  
• Other Atlantic 10 teams worth considering: Charlotte 13-5 (3-1) beat the poop out of Louisville back in December, and their five losses are all to pretty decent programs (Duke, Ga Tech, Tennessee, Xavier, Old Dominion). St. Louis 12-6 (3-1) is probably more of a fluke.
• New Mexico 17-3 (3-2 Mountain West) was ranked in the Top 25 for a while, when they were 12-0 it was hard to deny them. A loss to Oral Roberts may have bumped them out, but the Lobos only other two losses were to San Diego State and UNLV. They have quality wins over Louisiana Tech, California, Texas A&M, Creighton, Dayton, and Texas Tech. Their coach is an a-hole, but unless you are from Iowa, you might want to consider picking these guys up.
  
• UAB 16-2 (4-0 Conference USA) UAB is turning into a team to look at. Their only losses are an early tournament loss to Kent State and a road game at Virginia. They haven't gotten to the "tough" part of the CUSA schedule, but they have wins over Georgia, Cincinnati, Butler and Arkansas. Can they win the C-USA?
  
• Marshall 15-3 (4-0 Conference USA) Another surprise, but when you look at the teams they have beat, the 15 wins isn't that impressive. Their three losses are to Old Dominion, North Carolina, and West Virginia. Check the Marshall-UAB game Saturday (1/23) to see if either team is "hot".
  
• UTEP 12-5 (3-1 Conference USA) why not? Good wins over Oklahoma and Memphis. Losses to New Mexico St, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, BYU and Houston. Can they win the CUSA?
  
• Wichita State 17-3 (6-2 Missouri Valley) - The CEO had the smart pick in the MVC with UNI, but could Wichita St make a play for it? Only Pitt, Illinois St and Creighton have beaten them so far. About the best win though is Texas Tech, but they did beat Bradley, Drake and a bunch of other mid and minor teams.
  
• Louisiana Tech 17-3 (5-1 WAC) - Jut took Utah State and Jaybird took Nevada, but Louisiana Tech is the WAC team that has marched to a 17-3 record and top of the WAC. Do they deserve it? Their 10 game winning streak was just snapped by a loss to San Jose St (10-8), their only other two losses were at Arizona and at New Mexico. They have wins over TCU, Houston, and Nevada, but nothing of higher quality than that. The question now is can they win the WAC?
  
• New Mexico State 12-7 (5-1 WAC) - the Aggies had a rough start with a relatively tough schedule but have won 9 of their last 10 games to give them a strong start in the WAC.
  

The Mid-Majors here have a shot at taking their conferences, but also benefit from possible player v. player games in every conference. This is not always the case with the "Low Majors". If they don't win their conference, they weren't worth taking.

Some Low Majors to think about:

• Vermont (14-6, 5-1 AmEast) and Maine (13-6, 5-1 AmEast) are in heavy competition for this conference. Maine took out Boston College earlier in the season, and got creamed by Syracuse and UCONN. Vermont's best win was over, well, Maine.
  
• Campbell (12-6, 7-2 AtlSun) beat Babblemur's Jacksonville (10-8, 7-3 AtlSun) and sits a half game ahead of the Dolphins in the Atlantic Sun. I would say that it would be a risky and foolish gamble to draft Campbell, except for the fact that they are the "Fighting Camels". Dude.
  
• The Big Sky is wide open, but no clear leader. Weber State (12-7, 6-1) sits a half game up on Northern Colorado (17-4, 6-2). NoCol came within one point of knocking off Oklahoma. Weber St lost to BYU by 17 and UNLV by 9. Northern Colorado won the only match up between these two so far.
  
• Coastal Carolina (18-3, 8-1 Big South) - Zing! What a record! Eat your heart out, Radford! Their only losses are to Duke, Cal St. Northridge, and, um, well, Radford. Select at your own risk.
  
• In the Big West, Turtle took a chance with Long Beach St that isn't playing out. Take a chance and try and steal the conference with Pacific (11-6, 4-1) or UC Santa Barbara (9-7, 4-2) but every other team here has a losing record. Pacific has wins over Nevada and San Diego St. Santa B has wins over Weber State and Pacific. Meh.
  
• William & Mary (14-5, 6-3 Colonial) at one point had a 10 game winning streak, with big wins over Richmond, Wake Forest, Maryland and Radford. Now they've hit a two game slide in the Colonial. Can they turn it around? They obviously got the right stuff. But don't write off Northeastern (13-7, 8-1 Colonial) who is riding an 11 game winning streak and tied for first in the conference.
  
• Harvard (13-3, 2-0 Ivy) - the conference without a tournament, best record wins it. Cornell is hot hot hot, is Harvard even worth a shot? They have wins over Boston College, George Washington, William & Mary. Their three losses are to Georgetown, UCONN, and Army. Still, they can't beat Cornell.
  
• Fairfield (14-5, 7-2 MAAC) - I wasn't going to include them at all because Siena is already 9-0 and likely to go undefeated to take the MAAC. However, consider that Niagara is a player team as well in the MAAC, meaning you might actually pick up a few points here.
  
• In the MAC you can take your chances. No clear dominant team here. Jaybird's Akron is probably the best of the bunch. Buffalo (10-6, 3-2) or Kent St (12-7, 3-2) could give them some trouble.
  
• Morgan State (13-7, 5-0 MEAC) is running away here, with Bethune-Cookman (12-7, 5-1 MEAC) hot on their tail. Props to Morgan State for beating Arkansas, for what its worth.
  
• Robert Morris (12-8, 7-1 NEC) have a half game lead over pre-season favorite Quinnipiac (12-6, 6-1 NEC), but keep your eye on Sacred Heart (12-7, 5-3). Ha Ha Ha!
  
• Can Murray State (17-3, 9-0 Ohio Valley) pull off the undefeated conference record? Their 3 losses are to California, Western Kentucky, and Louisiana Tech, all pretty good teams. Morehead State (14-6, 8-1 Ohio Valley) is ready to step in if Murray State stumbles.
  
• Lafayette (13-7, 4-1 Patriot) and LeHigh (13-7, 4-1 Patriot) are duking it out. Note that Lehigh just beat Lafayette 75-57 Saturday, so this will be a barn burner.
  
• College of Charleston (13-6, 8-0 Southern) is shooting for the undefeated conference record, and is at least 2 games up over the competition even if they stumble. Oh, and they beat North Carolina 82-79 in overtime.
  
• The Southland Conference has two undefeated teams in Texas A&M Corpus Christi (9-8, 4-0) and Sam Houston State (11-5, 3-0). Two other teams are going to fight for this conference as well - Stephen F. Austin (13-5, 3-2) and Texas San Antonio (12-4, 2-1). Sam Houston knocked off Auburn, Texas A&M-CC finished 7 points down against Texas. San Anton beat Houston and Iowa, SF Austin lost to Minnesota by 40 points.
  
• Prairie View A&M (9-7, 4-1 SWAC) is the only team in the conference with a winning record. But Texas Southern (9-9, 5-1), Jackson State (7-11, 5-1) and Arkansas Pine Bluff (4-12, 4-1) all are making a play for it. I'd stay far far away from this fluster cluck.
  
• IUPUI (14-7, 7-1 Summit) look like the only challengers to The CEO's Oakland, who are carrying an undefeated conference record.
  
• The Sun Belt is a colossal mess, and I'm not going to try to sort it out. Jaybird's Western Kentucky has their hands full with competition from Denver (13-7, 6-3), North Texas (12-7, 5-4), and a hand full of others. This conference is a huge risk.
  

All in all I don't think there are any really strong picks anywhere in the Mids or Lows. Everyone is a gamble at this point. Who will win the conferences? Who will win the conference tournaments? Who can nab you some quick points, or flame out on you?

The Expanda-Draft begins Monday January 25 at sunrise - last place player picks first, etc.

Expanda Draft Part One - the Big Six

Expanda-Draft Watch - Part One

Believe it or not, we actually drafted most of the best teams out there, with a few exceptions. The Expanda-Draft begins Monday, so in the interest of helping my fellow players pick the best teams, I shall begin my babbanalysis of available teams.

The Big Six (Conferences that is).

Akaoni buttered his bread with teams from the Big Six Conferences, and frankly there isn't much left out there to pick through. But if you must... There are 22 teams in the Big Six that haven't been selected yet, 15 of them with a winning record.

The ACC: There's some potential in these teams.

• Virginia 12-4 (3-0 ACC) - how did this happen? Surely it must be a fluke. The Cavs have beat #19 Georgia Tech and Miami at home, and NC State on the road. The only other significant win might be UAB at home. Losses? Before this 8 game winning streak Virginia lost to Auburn, Stanford, Penn St., and South Florida. This Week: See how they do at Wake Forest on Saturday if you want to know if these punks are worth it.
• Miami (FL) 15-4 (1-4 ACC) - these guys were on my short list until they dropped two games last week on the road at Virginia Tech and Virginia. Their only other loss was on the road at Boston College. Can they win on the road? Does Pepperdine count? Stetson? On the other hand, they've beaten Wake, Minnesota, South Carolina and Tulane. This Week: Miami lost to Boston College in their only game this week. At home.
  
• North Carolina State 12-6 (1-3 ACC) - I don't know, are they worth considering or not? Losses: Clemson, Virginia, Florida, @Arizona, @Wake, Northwestern. No "bad" losses, just a lot of them. Quality wins? @Marquette, @Florida State. This Week: Looking good by beating Duke on Wednesday, they play Saturday at Maryland.

Big 12

• Iowa State 12-6 (1-2 Big 12) - They really don't have a "bad" loss - Northwestern, UNI, California, Duke and Texas. But they really don't have a "great" win either, Houston is about the best they've beat. This Week: they lost to Texas Tech and play Kansas this weekend. I say if they beat Kansas, they might be worth taking (in the second round of expandadraft...)
• Texas Tech 13-5 (1-3 Big 12) - three game losing streak and a loooong conference schedule ahead of them. I don't think they can handle it. Best win: Washington in overtime. This Week: they beat Iowa State and play Oklahoma this weekend.
  
• Nebraska 12-6 (0-3 Big 12) - three game losing streak and a loooong conference schedule ahead of them. I don't think they can handle it. This Week: Saturday at Missouri
• Colorado 10-8 (1-3 Big 12) - Are they any good? They lost to Oregon State. Nuff said. (They did beat Baylor though...)

Big East - this conference is too damn big. Ten of 16 teams are already player owned - are any of the remaining 6 worth it? None are likely to win this beast, but all would likely get a lot of opportunity for points.

• Providence 11-7 (3-3 Big East) - nothing impressive here. They beat bad teams and lose to good ones. They play South Florida Saturday.
  
• St. Johns 12-6 (2-4 Big East) - They beat Cincy and Temple, and no bad losses really. They play Villanova on Saturday.
  
• Marquette 11-7 (2-4 Big East) - They looked good early on, beat Georgetown, Michigan, Xavier, and their worst loss is Depaul. Hmmm. They play Syracuse on Saturday.
  
• South Florida 11-7 (1-5 Big East) - Put it this way, they've lost every game they've played against another player's team. Saturday is at Providence.
  
• Rutgers 9-9 (0-6 Big East) - The 7 game losing streak doesn't inspire confidence.
  
• Depaul 8-10 (1-5 Big East) - Losing record, come on. They are one of the only teams that have beat Northern Iowa though, beat Marquette Wednesday, and take on Notre Dame Saturday.
  

Big 10 - Not only were two many teams taken here (i.e. Penn St) but what's left is hardly worth mentioning.

• Indiana 9-9 (3-3 Big Ten) - Could they actually be worth it? They are coming off wins over Penn St and Minnesota and have wins over Michigan and Pittsburgh. They play Iowa Sunday.
  
• Iowa 7-12 (1-5 Big Ten) - Don't do it.
  

Pac 10 - The Pac 10 is just one messed up conference. The four teams un-picked are playing better than several teams that were picked. The Pac 10 is completely up for grabs, and since they all suck, there are points a poppin' there.

• Washington St 14-5 (4-3 Pac 10) - I think their record is deceiving. The best win they have is over Arizona, but their five losses are against Cal, Arizona St, Oregon, Kansas St, and Gonzaga. They face UCLA Saturday.
  
• USC 11-7 (3-3 Pac 10) - Good wins: Arizona St, Arizona, Tennessee, UNLV, St. Mary's. Bad losses: Loyola Marymount back in November. These guys are worth a look. See how they do against Washington on Saturday.
  
• Stanford 9-9 (3-3 Pac 10) - They've lost every road game they've played, and a few home games as well. They beat Oregon St. Wednesday and play Oregon Saturday.
  
• Oregon 10-8 (2-4 Pac 10) - Their four game losing streak follows a win at Washington and a bunch of other patsy games. But really, a losing record in the Pac-10?
  

SEC - The teams left are completely unbearable. Georgia (8-8, 0-3), Auburn (10-9, 1-3) and LSU (9-9, 0-4) would all be horrible picks at this point. I won't even waste bullets on them.

So there's the Big Six. See anyone you like? Next post - "The Rest", in which the teams that might actually be worth drafting will be listed.

Annual Idol Post

Pants on the Ground Edition.

General Larry Platt


Neil Young



You're welcome!

Edit: It appears that the embed isn't working properly, until I figure it out here's the link.

May Week Eleven Be The One In Which Akaoni Loses More Than He Wins

Week Ten Recap:

Team bringing in the most points:

• Ohio State (Boaris) who joined others in beating up Purdue (NotaTurtle) for five points, and came in Saturday to take out Wisconsin (Gunz) for a total of 8.

Teams bringing in the least points (Zero):

• Notre Dame (Babblemur) lost their only game last week to Cincinnati (The CEO)
• Seton Hall (Boaris) lost their only game last week to Georgetown (Jaybird)
• UCLA (Gunz) lost their only game last week to USC
• Oklahoma St (Gunz) lost both their games against Oklahoma (The CEO) who appears to now have their shit together, and Baylor (Akaoni)
• Minnesota (Jutdog) tanked this week losing two to Michigan St (The CEO) and Indiana
• Boston College (Jutdog) fell to both Duke (Gunz) and Maryland (Babblemur)
• Purdue (NotaTurtle) got a dose of Big Ten reality losing to Ohio St (Boaris) and Northwestern (Jaybird)
• UCONN (NotaTurtle) took damage from Pitt (Akaoni) and Michigan (Phunmunki)
• Penn State (NotaTurtle) proved to be a poor pick, losing to Illinois (Akaoni) and Iowa (and is now tied with Jacksonville with 8 points for the year)
• Texas A&M (Phunmunki) lost two tough games against Kansas St (Jutdog) and Texas (Akaoni)
• Niagara (Phunmunki) has a rocky road in the MAAC, losing to St. Peters and Iona.
  
• Alabama (Phunmunki) was starting to look like a good pick, but fell this week to Vanderbilt (Babblemur) and Arkansas (The CEO)
• North Carolina (Some Guy in Illinois) lost two this week, to Clemson (The CEO) and Georgia Tech (NotaTurtle)
• Louisville (Some Guy in Illinois) was starting to look like bad asses, but just not as good as Villanova (Phunmunki) and Pitt (Akaoni)
• Wright St (Some Guy in Illinois) have written themselves out of contention for the Horizon League, losing to Green Bay and Milwaukee.

Big Winners:

• Akaoni extended his lead to 30 points after nailing 28 this week, going 12-4. Pittsburgh has joined Texas and Syracuse in the AP Top 10 after big wins over UCONN (Turtle) and Louisville (SGII).
  
• The CEO may have put up his strongest performance to date, going 13-3 for 27 points, vaulting from 9th place to 5th place. Oklahoma is finally playing like anticipated, Arkansas actually won a game, and Northern Iowa continues its almost undefeated season.
  

Big Losers:

• Some Guy in Illinois couldn't keep it together this week, going 8-8 for a mere 10 points. His top 2 teams couldn't pull off a single win, but on the bright side Arizona St and Tulsa are starting to looking like conference contenders...
  
• NotaTurtle's Purdue led his week of hell by dropping two (and dropping out of the Top 10), but the rest followed suit and his teams finished 7-9 for 11 points. Everyone took a hit except Memphis and Gonzaga, who could emerge as life savers for this squad.

Standings after Week 10:

• 1. AKaoni - 194 (110-25)
• 2. Jaybird - 164 (103-32)
• 3. Gunz - 162 (104-37)
• 4. Boaris - 160 (106-32)
• 5. The CEO - 147 (99-40)
• 6. Jutdog - 142 (95-37)
• 7. NotaTurtle - 141 (87-48)
• 8. Babblemur - 139 (93-42)
• 9. Phunmunki - 134 (89-46)
• 10. Some Guy in Illinois - 132 (98-45)

Boaris and The CEO Sweep Super Saturday

Super Saturday saw seventy teams in play. Every one had a chance to take advantage of the opportunity, but only Boaris and The CEO managed to win every game.

The CEO went 8-0, including some surprising wins from Arkansas over Alabama, and Oklahoma over Missouri, and two other wins over other players. This 16 point performance launched The CEO past NotaTurtle and Jutdog and into 5th place.

Boaris pulled off a 7-0 day, but with few surprises unless Ohio St over Wisconsin caught you off guard. As most games were not against other players, the 11 points only allowed him to keep up with Jaybird (11 pts, 5-1) and skip past Gunz, whose dismal 2-4 showing landed him 2 points and a fall to fourth place.

The Accursed Akaoni had all 8 of his games against other players, and he won 5 of them, including a very close Syracuse over West Virginia win for 5 points, netting him 17 points and 30 points of breathing room between himself and his closest competition. Damn you, Akaoni! Damn you to HELL!

At the bottom of the board, Jutdog went 4-3 for 6 points, falling to sixth place (142 pts) just a hair above 7th (141 pts) and 8th (139 pts). NotaTurtle suffered another Purdue loss, this time to Northwestern, but Georgia Tech put down the Tar Heels salvaging the day with a 4-3 record and six points. Babblemur climbed closer to the two of them with 9 pts off 5-3 record for the day.

Some Guy in Illinois was crushed, going 3-5 for 5 pts, and Phunmunki's Xavier win over Dayton proved to be all she could take, losing her other four games and holding solidly in last place.

Babs Grabs Wins, Some Guy Flies High

Week Nine was a week of big upsets, and although the top four on the leader board didn't change, there was action in the bottom six.

Babblemur hit the big points this week, scoring 22 points off a 12-3 turnout. This was helped by a big Notre Dame upset over #8 West Virginia, along with Butler, Maryland and Vanderbilt having solid conference weeks. Babs moved from last to 8th place.

Some Guy in Illinois finished second in points with 20, doing it the old fashioned way going 4-2 over other players and 12-4 over all. Notable: Arizona St went 2-0 in the Pac 10, Louisville went 2-0 in the Big East, and Missouri knocked off a hot K-State team in the Big 12.

Teams that took a beatin'

Jutdog and NotaTurtle's squads took a beatin' this week, both went 7-7, worst records for the week. The difference though is that Jutdog took a league low 13 points from his thrashing, but Turtle nabbed 19 off Georgia Tech's upset over #5 Duke and four other wins over other players. Jutdog's Tennessee Gunslingers upset #1 Kansas on Sunday, but was 2-5 against other players for the week.

Props to the Giant Killers

Props to Tennesse (Jut) for knocking off #1 Kansas;
Props to Wisconsin (Gunz) for knocking off #4 Purdue;
Props to Georgia Tech (Turtle) for knocking off #5 Duke;
Props to Notre Dame (Babs) for knocking off #8 West Virginia;

Week Ten Preview:

Look forward to Saturday Jan 16, on which 70 of the 80 teams will be in play.

WAC battle brewing Wed: Nevada (Jaybird) vs. Utah St (Jutdog); Mountain West battle on Wed: UNLV (Gunz) vs. San Diego St (CEO);

Saturday has too many great games to mention them all, what a day! I will note the Pac10 contest California (Babs) vs. Washington (Akaoni) for best of the worst; Georgia Tech (Turtle) gets another shot to prove they are legit against North Carolina (Some Guy); Syracuse (Akaoni) vs. West Virginia (Jutdog) could be a big Top 10 showdown in the Big East; and finally Dayton (Jaybird) vs. Xavier (Phun) could be a conference breaker in the A-10 (look out for Rhode Island, bitches...)

Standings at the end of Week Nine:

# 1. AKaoni - 166 (98-21)
# 2. Jaybird - 144 (93-26)
# 3. Gunz - 143 (95-31)
# 4. Boaris - 140 (94-29)
# 5. NotaTurtle - 130 (80-39)
# 6. Jutdog - 126 (85-31)
# 7. Some Guy in Illinois - 122 (90-37)
# 8. Babblemur - 122 (82-38)
# 9. The CEO - 120 (86-37)
# 10. Phunmunki - 114 (81-38)

Best and Worst

Top 10 Teams to date, based on points earned:

1. Syracuse 34 (14-1) Akaoni
2. Purdue 31 (14-0) NotaTurtle
3. Duke 29 (14-1) Gunz
4. Texas 28 (14-0) Akaoni
4. Kansas 28 (14-0) Boaris
6. Kentucky 27 (15-0) Jaybird
7. West Virginia 25 (12-1) Jutdog
8. BYU 22 (14-1) Boaris
9. Villanova 22 (13-1) Phunmunki
10. Florida St 22 (13-2) Jaybird

Worst 10 Teams to date, based on points earned:

1. Jacksonville 4 (4-8) Babblemur
2. Oregon St 6 (6-8) Phunmunki
3. Radford 6 (6-5) Jutdog
4. Creighton 7 (7-8) Some Guy in Illinois
5. Arkansas 7 (7-8) The CEO
6. Maryland 8 (8-4) Babblemur
7. Penn St 8 (8-7) NotaTurtle
8. Oakland 8 (8-7) The CEO
9. Long Beach St 8 (4-9) NotaTurtle
10. California 9 (9-5) Babblemur

Slow and Steady Wins the Race...?

At this point in the season, every player is looking at 15-20 games a week, many of them against other players, with 25-30 points possible. Lets face it - those who win the big games are going to win the big points.

Take last week for example. Babblemur's teams went 14-5, most wins of anyone. Value = 14 points. Sure, only three games against other players, but all losses.

On the other hand, NotaTurtle suffered 8 losses last week, with only 11 wins, but led the league in scoring last week with 23 points. 5 points for knocking off West Virginia, 3 each for four other wins over other players, and this despite 6 losses to other players!

The top 3 players last week were:
NotaTurtle (23) who rose from the bottom dwellers to the playas division.
Gunz (22) who went 5-1 against other players, 12-4 over all, and passed Boaris to move from 4th place to 3rd in the standings.
Akaoni (21) who claims it was a "miserable week" - he went 11-5, 5-2 against other players.

Least amount of points earned: Some Guy in Illinois, who lost all three games against other players (including a loss to UCLA) but went 10-6 overall for...10 points.

Best W-L record of the week: Jutdog, turned in an 11-3 performance for 17 pts, his only losses to #4 Purdue, New Mexico St, and Maine.

* * *

If we assume that 20+ points is a "good week", and 10 points is about as bad as one can get, any movement on the leader board will involve a slow and steady series of good weeks, average (15) at worst, while other teams turn in a slow and steady series of bad weeks. Am I just trying to make the case that I can catch Akaoni? Sure! But I would have to have 5 good weeks of 20+ points per week while he would need 5 bad weeks. (Note: There are only about 9 more weeks of the regular season...)

So what this is really saying is that while slow and steady wins the race, time is running out for the sleeping rabbits who aren't knocking down the big games. That includes Babblemur, Some Guy in Illinois, Phunmunki, and The CEO.

* * *

Week Nine Preview

Best chance anyone has to knock of a Top Ten Team:
Wisconsin (Gunz) vs. Purdue (Turtle) on Saturday - Purdue is going to a tough road game in Mad-town, where the Badgers knocked off Top 10 Duke earlier (as well as Ohio State and Marquette).

Potentially fun games to watch:
Tuesday: #2 Texas (Akaoni) vs. Arkansas (CEO) - this one is at Arkansas, and I just have a feeling that the Razorbacks just might come out to play ball.
Wednesday: #1 Kansas (Boaris) vs. Cornell (Jutdog) - lets just all admit that Cornell has been playing some pretty good ball this year. Beating Kansas at Kansas? I'm just expecting a fun game!
Friday: Butler (Babs) vs. Wright St (Some Guy) - this is the first of the two match ups between the only two player owned Horizon League teams. OK it might not be fun to watch, but if you do you might see why Butler was ranked in the top 12 in pre-season polls...
Saturday: Gonzaga (Turtle) vs. Portland (Babblemur) - first of two matchups between two very good WAC teams. Gonzaga: beat Wisconsin, Illinois, Oklahoma, & Cincinnati. Portland: beat Minnesota, UCLA, and Oregon.
Saturday: Illinois St (Gunz) vs. UNI (CEO) - Showdown for the Missouri Valley, both teams have exceeded expectations so far...
Saturday: Siena (Boaris) vs. Niagara (Phun) - Showdown for the ______ Conference, Siena comes very highly recommended, Niagara comes with a cool nickname, the Purple Eagles.
Sunday: #1 Kansas (Boaris) vs. Tennessee (Jut) - Gotta love inter-conference play! Tennessee better be packing heat for this game! Ha ha ha!

* * *

Standings after Week Eight

# 1. AKaoni - 147 (87-18)
# 2. Jaybird - 126 (81-22)
# 3. Gunz - 124 (84-25)
# 4. Boaris - 122 (84-24)
# 5. Jutdog - 113 (78-24)
# 6. NotaTurtle - 111 (73-32)
# 7. The CEO - 104 (76-32)
# 8. Some Guy in Illinois - 102 (78-33)
# 9. Phunmunki - 101 (70-34)
# 10. Babblemur - 100 (70-35)

Strength of Non-Conference Schedule

As we enter in-season conference place, here are the top 10+1 non-conference strength of schedule rankings through January 2, 2010 of teams in our league:

2. Long Beach St.
4. Radford
6. Oakland
7. Butler
14. Jacksonville
28. California
40. Arizona
53. Gonzaga
58. Old Dominion
60. West Virginia
63. Xavier