November 2007 Archives

True story: about five minutes into Thursday nights' game, three guys decked out in full Husker regalia came in and sat in the seats right in front of me. I'm talkin' bib overalls, backwards ball caps with the "N" for "nolledge", the whole two yards. Well, that's not entirely fair. One of them was wearing a Yankee cap.

Anyway, they were cheering for Savannah State, and being pretty obnoxious about it. These were the type of guys who when they yelled, it carried...and every single time the whistle blew in favor of Creighton, they were all over the refs. It was quite a display.

During the under-four timeout, I finally had to ask them what was up. Their answer was an all-time classic. "Well, Creighton beat us, but they still suck!"

Dumbfounded, I had no response. Luckily, I didn't need one, as his buddy provided a better response than I could have ever mustered. "That's right, you suck Creighton! Ha ha ha ha ha!" And then he spilled about 18 ounces of fresh beer all over not only himself but one of his fellow d-bags.

How hilarious is that? You bet.

School Databank:

Location: Savannah, Georgia

Enrollment: 3200

Famous sports alumni: Ernest "The Cat" Williams (WWE), Shannon Sharpe (NFL)

Last game: Defeated North Florida 58-32

Last game vs Creighton: N/A

Series: This is the first-ever meeting

The Tigers of Savannah State make the first of two trips to the state of Nebraska tonight when they come to Omaha to play the Jays. They return to play the Huskers on December 11, as part of their ambitious non-conference slate. With a game against Wisconsin already under their belt (a 79-32 loss), they have upcoming games against Marquette, Maryland, and Kansas State in addition to the aforementioned games with Creighton and Nebraska. In all, just four of their first 15 games are at home, making their 5-4 record thus far pretty impressive.

Savannah is perhaps best-known as the team that went winless in 2004-05, when they went 0-28, but to associate that teams' woes with the current squad would be a mistake. The current version is more athletic, deeper and infinitely more competitive; but when you're using one of the handful of worst seasons by any team in history as a measuring stick, saying a team is "better" is perhaps a misnomer.

When P'Allen Stinnett dunked over Shang Ping -- posterized him, really -- for the last points in Creighton's 74-62 win over Nebraska, it was the perfect exclamation point to the butt-kicking buffet served up cold by the Jays. (Because buffets of buck-kicking are best served cold).

And as we left the arena, I started cycling through my mental DVR for a better -- or similar -- dunk, given the circumstances. A 2000 near-dunk by Justin Haynes came to mind, which would have capped a 20-something-point second-half rally against Indiana State. Several Rodney Buford dunks came to mind, but in terms of direct comparisons, his dunk late in the Louisville game in the 1999 NCAA Tournament probably matches up pretty well. That too punctuated a great day for the Jays.

When I got home from the bars late Saturday night (OK, early Sunday morning), I flipped on my actual DVR to what was sure to be an epic replay of the dunk from multiple compelling angles. And...not so much.

Action3's low-budget production values captured the dunk from exactly ONE angle, and it was the standard high-center-court angle. I've always hesitated to give Action3 too much grief because they do a fair amount of road games, and given the choice between not seeing those games and having to put up with their Dollar Store production, I'll take the Dollar Store production every day of the week.

But seriously guys, one angle? Really?

Creighton has a knack for scheduling one of their best non-conference home games over Thanksgiving weekend, at least lately. The last two years, I have resisted the urge to bail early on the holiday weekend to come back to Omaha for the game. Both times, I regretted the decision when the games turned into arguably the most exciting non-conference game of the year.

Two years ago, I missed the double-overtime 91-90 win over Dayton to sit around a bonfire in the middle of a field. Throughout the evening, I made up excuses periodically to run out to my car, turn on the radio, and check the score. As the game progressed from "great" to "classic", I simply stayed in my car listening for minutes at a time. Try making up convincing excuses for that! You'll recall this was the game where Nate Funk made not one but TWO buzzer beaters -- one to tie the score in regulation, another to win it in the second overtime. His 38 points in 45 minutes of action cemented his legacy as a Jay.

Last year, I opted not to come back for the first Final Four team to visit Omaha since 1980 when George Mason came to town. This time, my alternative entertainment was hanging christmas lights on my parents' roof. This was the game where Creighton fell behind big early, rallied to get a 9 point lead, then turned it over on three consecutive possessions in the final minute to squander their lead and see George Mason tie it 56-56. Dane Watts would sink two free throws with 7 seconds remaining to give Creighton a 58-56 win.

Yesterday, I wrote about Dana Altman's stated preference to play Nebraska twice a year. I kind of skirted around my feelings on the issue in trying to figure out why either side would want to (or not want to) play twice a year. Meanwhile, Matt Perrault took the exact opposite approach and went right for the jugular on "The Big Show" yesterday afternoon.

His rant was pretty extraordinary, boiling down to three main points. One, Creighton and Nebraska need to play twice a year. Two, Nebraska won't do it because they're scared. Three, Creighton knows this, and that's why they keep bringing it up -- to paint themselves as a "Bring it on" type of gunslinger, and Nebraska as running away from a challenge.

Yep, he came right out and called Nebraska scared -- afraid of what losing twice a year to Creighton would do to recruiting, what losing twice a year would do to support, afraid of what losing twice a year to Creighton would do to attendance.

I would love to see Creighton and Nebraska play twice a year. Yes, there aren't many in-state rivals who play twice a year, but there aren't many states with only two D-1 basketball programs either. You're not comparing apples to apples when you say Iowa doesn't play UNI twice a year; they also play Drake and Iowa State every year. That's three in-state games. Why can't Nebraska and Creighton play twice? Its a huge risk for Creighton -- if they were to lose twice to Nebraska, it would be devastating. But if they beat Nebraska, the Huskers would just go back to being irrelevant until spring practice starts up again. Creighton has everything to lose and nothing to gain -- regardless of what Nebraska thinks, it ain't the other way around. They're quite frankly a terrible program that rides the wave of their conference and their football program to a false sense of superiority. Creighton's RPI probably drops by playing them twice (Nebraska's average RPI the last five years: 105). But if Altman is willing to take that risk, I'll all for it.

Based on the emails I got after bringing this up yesterday, it seems most Creighton fans are, in fact, not in favor of playing two. Interesting. For my part, I think its time to drop the whole thing and move on. You bet.

Tom Shatel brought up the idea of Nebraska and Creighton playing two games a year in his column this morning. This is a idea that's been floated by Creighton in the past, one that's generally been met with resistance from the brain trust, if you can call them that, down in Lincoln.

The idea was first suggested by The Rat, aka Danny Nee, back in the Rick Johnson years. Before Creighton could take them up on it, Johnson was out, Altman was in, and Nebraska was no longer interested. The story really picked up steam a few years later when Barry Collier was named the coach at Nebraska and stated his preference to not play Creighton at all. His quote at the time was, "I don't see what we have to gain from playing them." Over his tenure, his stance softened on playing the game once a year, but he never so much as batted an eyelash at the idea of playing an annual home-and-home series.

Since Sadler took the job last year, the subject really hadn't been broached. His AD, Smiley Steve, was still around and it was him that many suspected was really behind the "dropping Creighton from the schedule" idea. But with Smiley gone, and the contract for the series expiring after the game on Saturday, Shatel brings the subject back to the surface for another go-round. Dana Altman's comments haven't changed; and while Slingblade may be new, the party line he's toeing on this subject isn't.

We were standing at Farrell's after the game on Saturday night, and my buddy Dick was incredulous. He thought Saturday's game was thoroughly unexciting, a blowout without a signature play, a workmanlike effort in front of a subdued crowd.

The thing that pissed me off was that I couldn't refute any of those statements. Or, perhaps, after a couple of Busch Lights at a pregame tailgate party, two more PBR's at the game, and a Bud Light or two at Farrell's, my ability to concisely rationalize a coherent answer to such perplexing inquiries was, um, not happening. But today is a different story.

Thoroughly unexciting? No signature play? Subdued crowd? Well, a game against an undermanned team from the worst conference in America is not exactly a recipe for a lively atmosphere, no matter whether you're in Durham, East Lansing, Chapel Hill or Omaha. Throw in the fact that every time the Jays got a sustained rally going, a silly foul or mysterious whistle stopped the action, and its tough for the crowd to get any momentum going. Not that I wasn't trying, mind you...just making an observation. For what its worth.

Anyway, in a game like that, there's certain things a team need to accomplish, regardless of what it looks like.

School Databank:

Location: Itta Bena, Mississippi (two hours south of Memphis)

Enrollment: 3673

Famous sports alumni: Jerry Rice, Ashley Ambrose, Deacon Jones

Last game: Lost at #19 Pitt, 78-45

Last game vs Creighton: Lost in Omaha 78-42

Series: Creighton leads 5-0, with all five wins taking place in Omaha

The defending SWAC Champions won 18 games a year ago and return two starters, including preseason all-conference pick Stanford Speech. Last year they were picked to finish seventh in the SWAC, which most ranking metrics say is the worst conference in America, but overachieved to win the conference. However, they lost in the title game of the SWAC tourney to Jackson State, and were relegated to the NIT, where they dropped a 19-point decision to Mississippi State. For the record, Jackson State lost 112-69 to eventual champion Florida as a 16 seed in the Midwest Region.

For whatever reason, people seem to be overlooking Mississippi Valley State, or worse, underestimating them. Most predictions I've heard from fans indicate they predict a 30-point blowout, which is a mistake, I think. MVSU is a decent team that plays hard for their coach, and if Creighton overlooks the Delta Devils, this game will be much closer than it ought to be. Be forewarned.

As I predicted, not everyone agrees with me about P'Allen Stinnett's P'henomenal P'erformance on P'hriday, er, Friday.

From Sunday's Omaha World-Herald:

Back in May, Creighton pulled out of the 2008 Las Vegas Invitational. The tournament would have given them two home games against random sub-150 RPI teams, but provided they could beat those patsies, it also would have given them a Las Vegas matchup against North Carolina. Yes, THAT North Carolina.

Citing their lack of experience and a desire to play in the tournament with a stronger squad, the Jays pulled out. Here was AD Bruce Rasmussen's statement at the time:

I was talking to someone last week about Creighton's season opener. This guy had made up his mind to be a negative nancy, predicting a double-digit DePaul victory. His reasoning seemed sound enough: experienced guard play. Namely, DePaul had it and Creighton did not.

I found it tough to argue with, because I've always subscribed to the theory that experienced guards are a huge advantage, an advantage that is magnified early in the year. When crazy upsets happen in November every year, there is usually (not always, but usually) a common denominator: the winning team had experienced guards. And these days, its the mid-major teams who are more experienced in November because they generally don't lose players to the NBA as often as their major-conference breathern. Hence, crazy upsets.

Yet here I was, going against my own theory. So much for sticking to my guns! Something told me that even though the edge in backcourt experience went to DePaul, they weren't winning this game. My defense was, admittedly, weak at best:

"The Jays backcourt inexperience would bother me a lot more if this game were in Chicago, or even on a neutral court. As it is, I think DePaul's young players will play a bit faster than Coach Wainwright would like due to the intense heat the Friday Night Rowdies will put on them. I think they'll turn it over enough to cancel out any experience edge they might have."

Well well well, looky what we have here. Turnovers:

DePaul: 23

Jays: 12

You bet.

Creighton only plays two quote-unquote BCS teams this year. I abhor that term; BCS stands for Bowl Championship Series, after all, which is a College Football classification and has nothing whatsoever to do with College Hoops. But national media use it as an easily-defined method of classifying schools into nice little groups. Makes their jobs easier.

Like it or not, that's the way the system works. A win over a "BCS" team carries more weight in the court of public opinion than a win over a superior mid-major. For instance, in 2004 Creighton defeated a decent Ohio State team on a neutral court, and a pretty damn good Xavier team on the road. Guess which game got more attention nationally? Ohio State, because "Creighton upsets Ohio State" is a better story than "Creighton defeats Xavier", even though Xavier was the superior team.

Which brings us to DePaul. The Blue Demons are picked to finish anywhere from 10th to 14th in the Big East, depending on which prognosticator you believe. Its entirely possible that future Creighton opponents such as Drexel, Xavier and St. Josephs could all wind up with better teams than DePaul. But a win over DePaul carries more weight, because they're in the Big East.

"Oh, they beat DePaul? Wow!"

Right. You bet.

Over the next several days, I'll be posting previews of each team in the Valley. Today I take a look at the Northern Iowa Panthers.

2006-07 REWIND: What was more annoying for fans of the Panthers last year: hearing the media mention for the 9000th time that their new coach Ben Jacobson was not THAT Ben Jacobson, or missing the NCAA tourney for the first time in four years?

Jacobson's first year saw the team race out to a 13-3 record, and 4-1 in the Valley when the Panthers hosted Creighton in a Friday night tilt in Cedar Falls. Creighton jumped out early, hitting 6 of their first 8 shots and grabbed a 14-4 lead before the first media timeout. The Jays led the entire way, beating UNI 62-54.

By the time the teams rematched in Omaha, UNI was in a free fall. They had won just 3 of their last 10 games, and by the end of the Jays' 66-55 win the Panthers were 16-11 and 7-9 in the league. The game was noteworthy for a huge Creighton comeback, as they trailed from the opening tip until late in the game, before holding UNI without a field goal over the final nine minutes of the game in a 19-3 run.

Earlier this week, I got an email from a buddy of mine. He had taken my generous gift of two complimentary tickets to tonight's exhibition game (since I'll be in a business meeting in New York City) and was curious about something.

"Have you been able to find a roster for these guys? I've Googled in years past and they're harder to find than a Wookie on Endor."

First things first. Wookies don't come from Endor, and if there was one there, it would stick out like Sasquatch in a cubicle sending IMs to the Loch Ness Monster and Starman. Second things second, it is indeed hard to find information on the EA Sports team.

Part of the problem is that their title sponsor is a video game company, so no matter how you search, you wind up with info on NBA Live and March Madness games. I told him that no, I hadn't heard who was on the team this year -- but if the past was any indication, the Jays would be in for a battle. They're just 5-3 against EA Sports all-time, and typically their experience (average age: 26) gives them an experience edge that is a tough test in the first game.

Finally on Wednesday, a poster on the Bluejay Cafe found the EA Sports roster. At first glance, it looked...interesting to say the least.