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Roundball Chatter
Dick VitaleSPECIAL TO ESPN.COM
Every Friday I will give my thoughts on the game I love, college basketball.
We have a leading candidate for Game of the Year! What a wild contest in College Station, Texas on Wednesday night. Baylor was ranked for the first time in nearly four decades, and the Bears proved the rating was right. It took FIVE overtimes, but Scott Drew's team came away with a big W over Texas A&M. It was an amazing game, with the Bears winning 116-110. Think about some of the numbers from that contest: Baylor went 11-for-11 from the foul line in the fifth overtime. The two teams combined for 17 ties and 20 lead changes. Baylor snapped a streak of 29 straight losses to ranked opponents. Four players logged 50-plus minutes. It was the longest game in Big 12 history.
It has not been an easy season for several college coaches. Lute Olson took a leave of absence from Arizona, with Kevin O'Neill stepping in. Jessie Evans of San Francisco took a leave of absence and was replaced by Eddie Sutton (who is still looking for career win number 800). Larry Eustachy of Southern Mississippi took a leave of absence from personal reasons. Detroit coach Perry Watson took a leave of absence for medical reasons. Pepperdine coach Vance Walberg decided to resign. The latest move on the coaching carousel came recently as Oregon State dismissed Jay John after the Beavers opened 0-6 in Pac-10 play. It seems like there are so many coaching moves each year now. Job security in college basketball doesn't really exist. It is pressure, pressure, pressure baby!
Another coaching move announced recently: South Carolina's Dave Odom will retire after this season. Odom is a class act who had great success at Wake Forest during the Tim Duncan era. He has meant a lot to college basketball and I wish him the best in the future.
When looking at the Big Ten, most people talk about Indiana and Michigan State as the frontrunners. Pay attention to the Badgers of Wisconsin, a squad that survived a scare against Michigan earlier in the week. Bo Ryan's club is 16-2, including a perfect 6-0 mark in Big Ten play. That's pretty impressive for a team that lost stars Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor. Ryan's teams always know how to play and they compete with good shot selection and excellent defense.
I always look forward to seeing Duke and Maryland tangle. The latest meeting comes this weekend. These two teams epitomize the intensity and passion of their coaches, Mike Krzyzewski and Gary Williams. There have been some great showdowns between these teams over the last decade, and the Terps should be fired up after upsetting North Carolina in Chapel Hill. That was Maryland's last game, so Williams and his team should be well-rested for the test against the Dukies. The Blue Devils had to play in Blacksburg before going to Maryland.
Speaking of Virginia Tech, congratulations to coach Seth Greenberg, who received a contract extension through the 2012-13 campaign. Talk about job security! Greenberg has done a solid job with a very young squad this season.
Another game to keep an eye on this weekend is Gonzaga vs. Memphis. Mark Few's team is 15-4 and should challenge John Calipari's No. 1 squad. The Tigers won by a point at Gonzaga last season. One thing in Calipari's favor – the game starts at 9 a.m. Pacific time!
Drake continues to be one of the great surprise stories of the season. With its win at Creighton, the Bulldogs are 17-1, 8-0 atop the Missouri Valley Conference and riding a 16-game win streak. Drake is off to its best start in school history and it has already passed last season's MVC victory total of six. Sophomore guard Josh Young is back from a sprained ankle. It's all impressive when you consider Drake was picked ninth out of 10 teams in the preseason MVC poll. Keno Davis' team plays the next two games at home – against Northern Iowa and the rematch against Creighton.
How about a salute to Dino Gaudio for the job he has done at Wake Forest in difficult circumstances! The Demon Deacons suffered a tough defeat at Clemson earlier this week to fall to 12-6. Following the tragic passing of coach Skip Prosser, a number of experts predicted gloom and doom in Winston-Salem. Gaudio's kids have played hard, and the young squad has posted several good wins, including a blowout of BYU as well as wins over Florida State, Virginia Tech and Iowa. There was also a close call at Vanderbilt, a school that has been ranked most of the season.
John Thompson has to be proud of his son, current Georgetown coach John Thompson III. The Hoyas have found ways to win close games – Roy Hibbert's trifecta against Connecticut and a hard-fought W against Syracuse stand out. The Hoyas sit at 15-2, and over the last two seasons, the club is 45-9 overall.
Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in December 1979. Send him a question for possible use on ESPNEWS.
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