Unbeaten. But for how long?
Editor’s Note: We’re a week late on Clips with Coach because Denny’s last “clip” was simply too inappropriate. And he knows it. So if you hear around town that he’s been “censored,” tell him he needs to stop or I’m going to book him under the Alien and Sedition Act and not read him his Miranda rights.
Five. That’s the number of unbeaten teams in college basketball after the first full week of conference play. Villanova was no surprise over Cincinnati; the Bearcats are just not that good. Same can be said for Central Florida, who lost to an 8-6 Houston squad. Kansas needed overtime to beat a mediocre Michigan team, Ohio State survived a scare against Minnesota (as the Gophers missed a game-tying shot at the buzzer), Syracuse only beat Seton Hall by 5, and San Diego State beat a below-.500 Utah team. The 5th unbeaten??? Yes. Duke. They were challenged by Maryland, the last team to beat them (let me see, that was…10 months and 25 games ago).
Last week, at the start of the Duke/UAB game, Len Elmore (a wonderful hoops analyst and great player at Maryland) said “this game should be a good challenge for the Blue Devils.” Come on Len, you just wanted to be sure we stayed with the game and didn’t switch back to “Jeopardy”. Editor’s Note: I rule Jeopardy. Jeanie and Den were happpy to see me leave after the holidays. Loser does dishes. And they did a LOT of dishes.
Who is really going to threaten Duke? BC is tied on top with them in the ACC Conference standings at 2-0, but if we look at their stats we will see losses to Yale and Harvard, where the Eagles gave up 45 and 47 second-half points (sounds like they were taken to the library AND the wood shed). Editor’s Note: I don’t know what that means. If it’s offensive, I apologize. Carolina is next at 1-0, but will not visit Cameron for a month. They had better pray Kyrie Irving is not back by then. NC State is also 1-0 and beat Duke in Raleigh last season. You know what? That might not be a good thing.
We had an earlier blog about Duke “Running the Table.” It could happen. And Coach K will pass his mentor’s record. WHO IS GOING TO STOP THEM???????? Editor’s Note: That’s a lot of question marks. Wake has no chance. They can’t beat Hampton or Winthrop (sounds like two British Earls). Editor’s Note: Good one. Virginia Tech only has one shot this year (albeit in Blacksburg), as do Florida State, Clemson and Georgia Tech. Some of the non-conference games remaining are interesting – maybe Temple can suit up Marc Macon again. Or better, St. John’s can get the same refs they used when they mugged Duke in the Garden. Who says the ACC isn’t interesting this year?? Prediction: it will at least be fun to watch!
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