LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Notes Written Between Innings, Quarters, Periods and Commas:
*I'm not saying neither Indiana nor Louisville deserves the Number One ranking as practice begins for the 2012-13 college basketball season. The Hoosiers and Cardinals seem to be the consensus picks at Number One this fall.
But I am asking these questions:
How many people would be voting the Hoosiers Number One if IU had lost to Virginia Commonwealth in the Round of 32 of the NCAA Tournament last season? VCU coach Shaka Smart couldn't protect a five-point lead with 1:32 to play.
If Indiana loses that game, the Hoosiers start this season ranked outside the top five.
Ditto for the Cards. Up two on New Mexico with a minute left in the Round of 32. Down 11 with 8:05 left against Florida in the Elite Eight. In February a vocal minority of the U of L fan base wanted to give Rick Pitino a rocking chair, a gold watch and a one-way ticket to Miami.
This looks like one of those seasons where six-to-10 teams will be ranked Number One before we get to March.
*The First Bowl Championship Series rankings of the season arrive Sunday. Unless something silly happens this weekend, look for three Big East teams – Louisville, Rutgers and Cincinnati – to be parked in the Top 25.
Five of the six computer formulas used by the BCS are already posting their numbers. I checked the figures on those three teams. This is what I found:
Louisville: Highest ranking – 13 by Anderson & Hester; lowest ranking 44 from Sagarin; average ranking – 26.
Rutgers: Highest ranking – 14 by Colley Matrix and Massey; lowest ranking 34 by Sagarin; average ranking – 21.
Cincinnati: Highest ranking – 16 by Anderson & Hester and Colley Matrix; lowest ranking 29 by Sagarin; average ranking – 22.
*How many members of this Cincinnati Reds team racing toward the National League Championship Series played for the Bats at Louisville Slugger Field during their careers?
If you guessed 16, you know your Bats. Catcher Ryan Hanigan, who arrived here in 2003 and played in Louisville for parts of six seasons, leads the group.
Homer Bailey pitches Game Three for the Reds against San Francisco today in the NLDS. There were days when it seemed Bailey would be here longer than Buddy Bat. Bailey pitched in at least one game for the Bats in five straight seasons from 2007-through-2011.
*Ohio State football coach Urban Meyer has gotten into several verbal dust-ups with Big Ten coaches since he arrived in Columbus last fall. But Meyer sounded warm and cuddly while talking about Indiana coach Kevin Wilson Monday.
"Offensively, that guy's a heck of a coach. He was at Northwestern back in the Randy Walker era. He was one of the originators of this up-tempo. We actually coached against him when I was a Bowling Green in '01. … He was on the cutting edge … He's an innovator.
"Indiana's got the right coach now. He's a tough guy. He's a very good coach. They're getting better in all phases."
Guess what team Ohio State plays Saturday at 8 p.m. in Memorial Stadium?
*The guys at CBSSports.com, led by Jeff Goodman and Gary Parrish, do a fabulous job covering college basketball. They report the game on a national level as relentlessly as any site in the business.
And they love their lists. On Monday they delivered their rankings on the nation's Top 100 players. Here is where the local players scored:
Louisville: Gorgui Dieng 22; Chane Behanan 29; Peyton Siva 34; Wayne Blackshear 47.
Kentucky: Nerlens Noel 5; Alex Poythress 32; Archie Goodwin 33; Ryan Harrow 62.
Indiana: Cody Zeller 1; Christian Watford 38; Victor Oladipo 84.
Murray State: Isaiah Canaan, 4.
It's an intriguing list, one we'll be fussing about all winter. But it's also fun to look back at the Top 100 CBSSports posted before last season.
This was their top five: Jared Sullinger of Ohio State; Harrison Barnes of North Carolina; Jordan Taylor of Wisconsin; Tu Holloway of Xavier and Perry Jones of Baylor.
Only Sullinger was voted a first-team all-American. None of the others made the first three all-American teams.
UK freshman Anthony Davis started seventh on the opening list. Cody Zeller did not crack the Top 100, even though 13 other freshmen did.
Copyright 2012 WDRB News. All Rights Reserved.
Rick Bozich wonders if Indiana and Louisville are really the Number One teams as the new college basketball season begins.
