COLLEGE HOOPS IN REVIEW

It is turning out to be the best time of the year as we draw closer to march madness. The questions are getting closer to being answered as to who will be the number one seeds and what bubble teams will earn their way in. First off, these are my top 5 teams in college basketball right now. Mine dont quite agree totally with the ap and coaches poll. The polls dont mean a whole lot right now so I see that they do what they have to. Today, Ohio State and Wisconsin square off and the winner will be the unanimous #1 after the weekend is over. Wisconsin is currently #1 in the ap, and the Buckeyes are #1 in the coaches poll. Right now this is how my top 5 would look. I realize Florida has struggled some the last couple of weeks, but they did the same thing last year. To me they are still the legit #1 team in the country and still the team to beat. The only difference is that the expectations are higher for them this year. I believe they were ranked 9th heading into the tourney last year, and werent really on too many brackets in the final four. My #2 team in the nation right now is North Carolina. They are loaded with talent, and when they are on, there arent too many teams that can run with them. I also like Roy Williams in this situation with this much talent. He will have them ready, believe me. #3 for me is UCLA. They are better than last year, and they made it all the way to the final game. You can bet they would love another crack at Florida after last years boring championship game. They are well coached and maybe the deepest team in the country. Right now my #4 team is the Texas A&m Aggies. Everyone knows I like this team and I feel they are gonna go a long way. They are flat out the best team defensively. Law may be the best point guard in the nation and if not he is defintely top 3. They pound the ball inside a lot and they are very physical. Look for them to wear some teams down down this stretch. For me, my #5 would have to be the Kansas Jayhawks. I know they are a wildcard and very unpredictable, but they are so loaded it is not even funny. Have you seen what they have done to teams since they lost to Texas A&M at home. In all honesty they could be last years Florida and run away with this thing. If that sloppy Kansas team shows up that we have all seen, they could get ousted in the 1st round. Dont count on that this year. They are ready to beat up on some people. Well as you can see I have left Ohio State and Wisconsin out of my top 5. I am not convinced they belong up their yet. Ohio State needs better ball movement and they need to get the big man some touches whether he tries to put it in the hole or not. They need to look for and take better shots against quality teams. We saw it last year when they lived and died by the 3. Georgetown was physical and beat the tar out them in the 2nd round. They have the talent to go along way, but much needs improved or it will be an early exit for them again. Wisconsin is one of the most fundamentally sound teams in the country, but I dont know if they would have the fire power to keep up with teams like carolina and Kansas if they met up with somebody like that. They dont score a whole lot of points usually, but they are tough defensively. I would honestly love to see a Wisconsin/North Carolina match up though for the simple fact that Bo Ryan would be trying to slow the game down, and Roy Williams would get pissed and try to speed it back up. Do I have any sleepers that could go a long way? Texas A&M is mine. I dont know if a lot of people would agree with me on that, but I am tellin ya, watch out for them. Georgetown is playing great right now and they are definitely peaking at the right time. They went to the sweet 16 last year and only lost to the Gators by 3. It was Florida's toughest game of their championship run. Pittsburgh scares me. You never seem to know which Pitt team is going to show up. Honestly I could see them out in the 2nd round this year. If someone had to put a gun to my head right now and said give me 3 teams with the best chance to win it all right now, I would go with UCLA, North Carolina, and Kansas. I know I said Florida was #1 right now, but everyone knows how difficult it is to repeat. You have to come up with 6 big wins in the tournament to be crowned national champions. I just dont think they have it in them to repeat. I cant wait for it to get here. Obviously the conference tournaments come first and some surprise teams will get in by winning those. College football will always be my first love, but I cant think of anything better than march madness. Until next time...................Get ready to fill out some brackets

TOM IZZO

As an avid fan of the big ten conference, I have always been a fan and a had a lot of respect for Michigan State head coach, Tom Izzo. I believe he has been with them since around 95 or so. He has won his share of big ten titles and he has taken them to four final fours and one national title in 2000. Yesterday I learned something about him that I never knew. If anyone caught college gameday yesterday they saw this story. He is from the Upper Peninsula and he was a pretty good ball player in his day. He was considered the best free throw shooter on his team and he had a chance to get his team further in the playoffs and he missed the front end of a one and one and they did not advance. He now, since that day shoots free throws everyday before he begins practice. His all time record is a 131 free throws in a row. That is just flat out unbelievable. I would have to do some research to see what the record would be, but that just blows my mind. They said he had 103 on friday before practice. He hit 10 in a row in front of the crazy crowd at the breslin center. Now I am not comparing myself to Tom Izzo by any means, but I am just trying to put this in perspective here. One time a few years back I was at a party and a few of us were shooting free throws and seeing who could make the most in a row. I eventually got hot and ended up making 47 in a row. It is still one of my prouder moments. It seemed like it took forever to do that and you really have to focus and remain calm. Now that was only 47. This man has made 131 in a row. Are you kidding me? The more I think about it, the more amazing it is to me. I just had to share this with everyone who didnt get a chance to see this. We got a new computer here now so I am going to try to get back to posting more often.