Darien Brothers

I apologize for the lack of blog entries this week. However, if I hadn't waited this long, I wouldn't have had the opportunity to write about this weeks topic, so it all works out. (I'm going to ignore the obvious fact that this is false and that I could have just written more than one blog entry this week, meaning this one and some other one with more glorious sports insight. Ignoring.)

According to this week's AP Poll, the top 5 men's college basketball teams in the nation are as follows:
1) Ohio State
2) Kansas
3) Syracuse
4) Pittsburgh
5) Duke
The Coaches Poll is the same, except Pitt and Duke are switched. I'd like to take a closer look at each of the five 'best' basketball teams in the country.

1) Ohio State
(The) Ohio State University is the first team to dissect. There are some facts I can't dispute. They're 18-0, 5-0 in the Big Ten. They're shooting 50% as a team and they have probably the best freshmen in the country. (Warning: Video may cause nausea, head aches, stomach cramps, and suicidal thoughts). That being said, they may also have had the easiest schedule in the country to this point. Yes, prior to the Big Ten season, they were blowing out their competitors by an average of 26.9 points per game. Of those 13 non-conference games, one team was ranked. Wow, that's impressive! Now, looking at their Big Ten games thus far, they've played: Penn State, Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, and Minnesota. One of these teams is ranked and the other four make up the bottom four of the Big Ten ladder. This isn't tOSU's fault, just bad (or good?) scheduling by someone. However, despite the fact that they've played these teams, they are now winning by an average of 6.6 ppg. They'll be challenged soon, though. They're next game is against...whoops, my bad, it's against Iowa. After that they'll be challenged at Illinois. I'm not denying that OSU is good; I'm just curious as to how good they really are.

2) Kansas. 17-0. They're shooting even better than OSU, 51.8%, leading the nation. Actually, they're in the top 25 for points per game, assists per game, and rebounds per game as well. They've played exactly one ranked team (Memphis - won by 13) and 3 road games, including an over time victory against Michigan. (It goes against everything I stand for but, I admit, I rooted for Michigan. And they let me down. Shocker.) As I write this, the Jayhawks are pummeling Baylor. They're next game is against #11 Texas, which should be a real test for Kansas.

3) Syracuse: Prior to today, the Syracuse Orange (Oranges?) hadn't left the states of New York or New Jersey. They're so called 'neutral' game was in Madison Square Garden (that's in New York) so they had an obvious advantage and were set up to win. Anyway, they left their comfort zone today and played Pittsburg AT Pitt. And lost. Case in point.

4) Pittsburgh. They're 18-1 (only loss to #13 Tennessee by 2). They are leading the country in assists per game and are second in rebounds per game. Thus far.... they're actually pretty impressive. They've played 5 ranked teams and beaten 4. However, they've only played 2 away games. I guess that kind of balances out.

5). Duke. They've played 2 road games and lost 1 of them. But, Florida State kind of has their number: This is the 3rd time since 2002 that FSU has beaten a #1 ranked Duke at FSU. That being said, Duke is good. Krzyewski's good. And if Kyrie Irving comes back this season, they'll be toeing the line of greatness.

So there you have it. Don't get me wrong. All of these teams are good. I'd just like to see them challenged and prove how good they are.

This blog's entry is titled Darien Brothers. He's a 6-3, 195 lb sophomore who's averaging 8.7 ppg and shooting 42% from the 3-pt line. Why am I writing about him, you ask? Because he plays for the Richmond Spiders men's basketball team. This is one of the colleges that I have been accepted into so far this year and I figure I should probably be informed of my potential new (2nd) favorite team. Fun fact: Richmond is the only college basketball team in the nation whose mascot is a spider. And, really, who isn't afraid of spiders? Even more fun fact: They beat Purdue earlier this season.

Bye for now,
The Sports Nerd