Five NCAA teams that got my attention this past weekend for various reasons:

1. Michigan State (7-3) Considering the Detroit Pistons’ fall from NBA grace and Michigan State’s rise to NCAA elite, I’m not sure if Saturday’s doubleheader at The Palace of Auburn Hills was meant to showcase Pistons/Raptors as the main event or the undercard. Before the Pistons blew a 25-point lead and lost their game, the Spartans barely hung on to beat unranked Oakland. Read More »

It is hard to imagine a freshman having a better start to his career than Kyrie Irving. The Duke point guard has already held preseason All-America Jacob Pullen to 1-of-12 shooting, dished off nine assists in a game twice and had a 31-point explosion against the then-No. 6 team in the country that practically had Dick Vitale at a loss for words. Read More »

Now that the Top 25 has come out, it is time to preview some of the best college teams in the 2010-11 season. The key to having a successful team is having the perfect blend of athleticism, fundamentals and chemistry. Last week, we broke down the No. 1 ranked Duke Blue Devils. This week’s profile will be on Tom Izzo’s Michigan State Spartans. Read More »

After the NBA Draft and before Midnight Madness, it seems nobody really talks about college basketball. While free agency and trades in the pros dominate the headlines, now is the time where your favorite NCAA team is gearing up and building the chemistry that could carry them to a national championship. The recruits are on campus, the returners are learning their new roles, and coaches are devising game plans. Here is my pre-preseason national Top-10: Read More »

Forget the first 82. The NBA playoffs get underway today: Cavs/Bulls at 3 p.m. EST (ABC), followed by Hawks/Bucks at 5:30 p.m. (ESPN), Celtics/Heat at 8 p.m. (ESPN), and Nuggets/Jazz at 10:30 p.m. (ESPN). Naturally, the Atlanta vs. Milwaukee series is getting the least amount of hype and attention, but honestly? It could be the best of the bunch. Ever since John Salmons came to the Bucks in a deadline trade, their games against the Hawks have routinely gone down to the wire, with Salmons and Joe Johnson serving each other heaping bowls of Bucket Pudding … Read More »

Why will Michigan State win the national championship? As I sat down and thought about what to plug into the blank document in front of me, I really believed I could finish this post and still feel completely vindicated with a mere two words: Tom Izzo.

Izzo, in my opinion, is arguably the best coach in the nation — a tier accompanied by only a few other greats — and prepares his players like no other. Read More »

College basketball’s Decepticons are back. Duke is in the Final Four for the 11th time during Coach K‘s reign (and the first time since ’04), so if you’d been missing Krzyzewski’s scowl, the army of three-point bombers, the goofy big guys, the smug grins, the confident swagger, and Dick Vitale re-enacting an Extenze commercial with every TV cameo (“I’m bigger!”) you’re glad to see the program the rest of us love to hate back on the biggest stage … The Blue Devils trailed Baylor at halftime, as their turnovers led to transition buckets, and it looked like LaceDarius Dunn outside (22 pts) and Ekpe Udoh inside (18 pts, 10 rebs, 5 blks) might be able to carry the Bears to the win. Read More »

If Tom Izzo really does have an underground Lord of the Rings-style factory where he builds his Michigan State army from scratch, he wasn’t even being creative when he made Korie Lucious as the eventual successor to Kalin Lucas. Similar name, similar game, and if you saw the spin move and floater that Lucious (10 pts, 6 asts, 4 stls) hit last night to stick the dagger in Northern Iowa and send the Spartans to yet another Elite Eight, you couldn’t help but remember Lucas’ similar shot that iced Kansas in the tourney last year … Read More »

This was supposed to be about Georgetown. About Allen Iverson and Victor Page and Joey Brown and the rest of John Thompson‘s finest pupils. But since my Hoyas dropped a doggie-sized deuce in the first round of this year’s Tournament, I had to find new teams to root for as we hit the Sweet Sixteen.

The hometown Huskies were an easy choice, and over the weekend I found myself gravitating toward Michigan State. Read More »

After the first three days of the NCAA Tournament belonged to lovable underdogs like Jimmer Fredette, Ali Farokhmanesh, Cornell and the St. Mary’s Hoosiers, Day 4 belonged to the big dogs — a.k.a. the Big Ten. Thanks to Korie Lucious and Chris Kramer‘s clutch play and Evan Turner‘s overall dominance, we’re headed to the Sweet Sixteen with the Big Ten having more teams still standing (Ohio State, Michigan State, Purdue) than any other conference, including the much-hyped Big East … Michigan State was trailing Maryland by one with six seconds left after Greivis Vasquez (26 pts, 8 asts, 3 stls) hit a tough shot in the lane. The Spartans got it to Lucious (13 pts), and the sophomore calmly found his spot and drained a three at the buzzer. Read More »