Five intriguing outcomes from Saturday's games and their impact on the march to March:
1. Swept by the Bay: The early Pac-10 results are not good for O.J. Mayo and Southern Cal. First, the Trojans lost in a shootout at California. Then yesterday, they were held to 46 points in a loss at Stanford. Mayo shot 5-for-19 in the loss, and was repeatedly greeted by Cardinal 7-footer Brook Lopez while driving into the lane in the second half. Two of the next three are against Washington State and UCLA, albeit at the Galen Center. Stanford shot a paltry 27 percent from the floor but made up for some of that with a 17-rebound edge.
Southern Cal has the defense end of things figured out; just ask Memphis what sorts of tricks Trojans coach Tim Floyd will pull out of necessity. But rebounding could be just the thing that derails the Trojans down the road.
2. High on the Hogs: A lot of folks thought Arkansas would roll to an SEC West title. The Razorbacks had a veteran core and had imported a new coach with ties to the guy who won the last two national championships. But November and December were decidedly bland, and a home loss to Appalachian State did not inspire confidence.
The Hogs can still be the class of their division (though Mississippi will have something to say about that), and they showed it in Dallas against Baylor. Arkansas erased a nine-point deficit in the second half, and Sonny Weems matched a season-high with 21 points to fetch a much-needed road victory heading into league play.
3. Say UNCA: On the other side of the SEC, South Carolina did about the last thing it needed: Lose to a Big South team other than Winthrop. Guards Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick both played 40 minutes against UNC Asheville, but it didn't help the Gamecocks avoid a 61-58 loss as 7-foot-6 Bulldogs center Kenny George tossed up 16 points, 13 rebounds and a surprisingly low three blocks.
For Dave Odom and South Carolina (8-6), it's an ominous sign. The first quarter of the SEC schedule is at Vanderbilt, home for Tennessee, at Arkansas, and then home again for Florida. That could easily be an 0-4 start, and the Gamecocks will essentially be doomed to a second straight losing season.
(To be fair, this is not a bad UNCA team. The Bulldogs are 11-3, and even with four non-Division I wins, and will contend for a league title and their first NCAA berth since 2003.)
4. Zig-Zags: Gonzaga heads into West Coast Conference play at 11-4 after dismissing visiting Georgia yesterday. The question for the Bulldogs is whether they did enough already to earn an at-large berth (if necessary), given the presence of St. Mary's in the league.
Assuming no major slip-ups in the league, the Zags probably are in good shape. They beat Connecticut and Saint Joseph's on the road, and 11 of their last 12 opponents have winning records. Gonzaga also visits Memphis on Jan. 26, which could be a very telling game for both teams in the middle of league play.
5. Sweet Valley starts: Look atop the Missouri Valley, and the two teams perched at 3-0 are programs that dismissed coaches after last season. Illinois State, which replaced Porter Moser with Kansas assistant Tim Jankovich, darted to a 25-3 lead last night against Southern Illinois. It was the Redbirds' sixth straight win, and gave them a 3-0 Valley start for the first time in 10 years.
Meanwhile, Indiana State (coached by former Creighton assistant Kevin McKenna) ripped Northern Iowa 74-56 last night and is 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 2001. Moreover, the Sycamores really don't have any awful losses to their credit.
Will the Valley uprising continue? No clue. But there's a chance the mid-major darlings of two years ago wind up as a one-bid league this season with traditional heavyweights Creighton, Southern Illinois and Wichita State all struggling of late.
--- Patrick Stevens
