November is crucial for the little guy

College hoops is in full swing and I think maybe the only way I could be happier is if I was getting the most out of $50 in Amsterdam's Red Light District. College b-ball: it is glorious.

Of course, being as we're only a week into the season, the spotlight is still shining elsewhere in the sports world and that's to be expected. But this is the month where that mid-major that you're oh so tempted to pencil into the sweet 16 in your bracket hysteria builds a rep for themselves, stakes a claim as a team that doesn't need to win it's conference tournament for inclusion to the Big Dance (though, it certainly helps). Pre-conference tournaments, like the NIT, are the perfect platform for a mid-major like, say, Butler, to upset a big name school like Indiana (and so begins the Kelvin Sampson era in Bloomington *titter, chuckle*). That's a monster result for the Bulldogs as it likely sets up yet another game that the committee will have scrutinize come Selection Sunday when at-large resumes are on the table: Tennessee. If Butler wins that game, then the table is all but set for them.

Not a good Tuesday night for the SEC, either, as both South Carolina and Georgia went down to UC Irvine and Western Kentucky, respectively (UGA fell at home, on top of it). But to their credit, the Anteaters and Hilltoppers represent the best of what the Big West and Sun Belt have to offer and WKU was considered a serious threat for an at-large bid well before the season started. Chris Marcus may be gone, but Courtney Lee has been garnering serious national attention for a couple seasons, now.

It wasn't a red-letter day for all mid-majors, though. A couple of my faves went down valiantly. Northern Iowa played Washington tough 'til the end and the Bucknell Bison (Who doesn't love the Bucknell Bison? Besides anyone living in Lawrence, KS or Fayetteville, AR?) fell in OT to Wake Forest. Unfortuantely, Chris McNaughton was virtually absent from the contest, neutralized by the Demon Deacons. The big coup in this one, however, was that the game was held in Lewisburg, PA -- Bucknell's home turf. Pretty significant that an ACC school would travel to the little guy, even if it does look like a case of nepotism among the Prosser family. Granted, you have to exploit that relationship, but still! Bucknell's following the same formula that made Gonzaga a household name: Win consistently in March so that that the big boys will actually want to play you the next season as it would mean a boost to their RPI and SOS.

Let's just hope tonight that Northern Arizona doesn't get any fancy ideas in Tucson. Wildcats got off to a cringe-worthy start on Sunday against Virginia, blowing a second half lead and J.P. Prince missing a last-second three that would've tied the game in Charlottsville. I expect UofA to dole out the punishment tonight and beat the Lumberjacks mercilessly. At least I hope they do.

Shut up, cock

It's not everyday you get to say that and not get called on it. What? That use is strictly professional. See?

Personally, I think the SEC is coming a little hard on the cock. If South Carolina wants their cock to blow -- err, crow on third downs, let 'em. Theoretically, the crowd noise at Williams-Brice Stadium would be cheering loudly against the opposition, anyway. Where's the homefield advantage? You can bet that Spurrier is looking for a way to get the crow back into game-play. Anything for an edge, right Steve?

Cock crow or not, South Carolina is likely going down on Saturday anyway when Arkansas comes calling. But the big college football game this week (and I do mean "the" because the slate is pretty bland this go around -- don't even bother bringing up LSU v Tennessee) isn't happening on Saturday. It's actually in progress, this very moment. West Virginia has just gone ahead of Louisville 7-3 in the first quarter. All on eyes on the Big (L)East tonight, which is definitely a change of pace, but you can't help but wonder if people still remember that Rutgers is in this conference. Stranger yet, if the Scarlet Knights knock off both WV and L'ville (and assuming they win their other games too), then they actually have a claim to the national title game! RUTGERS!

I can't decide which scenario I'd rather see play out...
A) Rutgers beats the winner of tonight's game, but loses to the loser, leaving all three teams with one loss. The nation would be left with a never-ending stream of 1-loss teams and chaos would ensue when the time comes to pick who plays the Big Ten champ for the national title.

OR

B) Rutgers runs the table, leaving themselves and the winner of Ohio St./Michigan as the only two unbeatens (let's face it, Boise State will get screwed every time because they don't play in a "major" conference). That would, after all, leave Rutgers as the champions of a "major" conference (though only in name or unless we're talking about basketball) and undefeated. Couldn't argue with that, could you Florida? Or Cal? Or Texas? Or Auburn? Or anyone else. Well, actually, you could. There's a lot to be said for strength of schedule, as glorious college hoops can attest.

In either case, the B(C)S will be called into question yet again if either of these scenarios plays out. Which is what I want. Less so, than if WV or the Cardinals run the table -- those two carry the slightest bit more pull. Louisville actually made an effort to schedule Miami. Too bad for them that the Canes are lousy this season. Back on topic, I'm a firm believer in playoffs. "But playoffs would cheapen the regular season," says college football purist. To that, I respond, "How is it not cheapened already? It's been decided, nationally, that there's only one game out of all the 540 bowl games that matters. The least we can do is remove any doubt or speculation when deciding which two teams get to compete. I mean, it's not like every other sport in the world employs that method or anything!"

Anyway, go Arizona. We don't have a fart's chance at a bowl game -- even if it is the ever-so prestigious Insight.com Bowl -- but a strong finish and a W over Arizona State would be a nice consolation, all things being relative.