Pac-10 at Halfway Point: Improving, Still Far From Great

Filed under: Arizona, Arizona State, California, Oregon, Stanford, UCLA, USC, Washington State, Pac-10, Oregon State

Halfway through the Pac-10 season and it's fair and accurate to say that this is a better conference than last year's dismal downer of a campaign.

Arizona and UCLA have done considerable work improving on last year's uncharacteristic win-loss records. There are players in this league -- such as Washington's Isaiah Thomas, Washington State's Klay Thompson and Arizona's Derrick Williams -- who are standouts of national caliber.

Two teams, Washington and Arizona, are ranked.

Still, strides are relative. The Pac-10 is No. 7 in the Sagarin Power Rankings, two spots behind the suddenly mighty Mountain West. And some of the most exciting hoops on the West Coast is being played in the West Coast Conference.

But for the Pac-10, better is better than the alternative.

The barometer: Arizona is better. When one of the stalwart programs in the Pac-10 went astray last year it impacted the perception of the entire conference. Now that the Wildcats are on the way back to the NCAA Tournament -- at 18-4 and tied for first with Washington at 7-2 -- people can begin to think better of the conference. It's much better to have two ranked teams than merely one. When the Wildcats joined the ranks of the ranked a few weeks back, that was a big deal for conference watchers.

 

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Source: http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2011/02/02/pac-10-at-halfway-point-improving-still-far-from-great/

Arizona Purdue

Houston's Keenum Granted Sixth Year

Case Keenum's much-anticipated senior season was cut short by injury.

But now, thanks to the NCAA, the Houston quarterback is getting another shot at Heisman glory.

The NCAA on Friday announced that it had granted Keenum a medical hardship waiver, thereby allowing him to play another season in Houston--his sixth season at the school. The waiver was granted in part because Keenum missed nine games this season with a torn ACL, and in part because he missed all of the 2006 season with a shoulder injury.

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Source: http://collegefootball.about.com/b/2011/01/15/houstons-keenum-granted-sixth-year.htm

Texas Bowl TCU

Cyrus Kouandjio Chooses Auburn Over Alabama

Filed under: Auburn, Recruiting

Neither snow nor ice nor even family could keep Cyrus Kouandjio from finally making his college decision Wednesday.

Sitting alongside several of his teammates, Kouandjio -- the best offensive line prospect in America -- told an ESPNU audience that he will play for the defending BCS national champions at Auburn.

"I got no sleep last night going through this process, Kouandjio said. "It was a lot of thinking to get to this result."

Kouandjio (6-7, 322, Hyattsville, Md., DeMatha HS) was considered the best high school football player in the country scheduled to announce his college choice Wednesday. Auburn has reportedly not received his paperwork, so he has only committed to signing and could still change his mind.

The consensus No. 1 athlete, DE Jadeveon Clowney (6-6, 247, Rock Hill, S.C., South Pointe HS), is likely to decide between Alabama and South Carolina on Feb. 14 -- his 18th birthday.

Kouandjio's brother, Arie, was a four-star OT who signed with Alabama and redshirted in 2010.

"I talked to my brother and he told me to go where my heart told me to go." Kouandjio said. "I had vibes and my heart told me to go to Auburn. It will be crazy (to see my brother across the sidelines). We'll just have to see."

Auburn has now landed three high-profile offensive line prospects in its 2011 class. OT Christian Westerman (6-5, 288, Chandler, Ariz., Hamilton HS) switched from Texas to the Tigers, and C Reese Dismukes (6-4, 287, Spanish Fort, Ala., HS) was an early commitment to Auburn.

 

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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2011/02/02/cyrus-kouandjio-chooses-auburn-over-alabama/

Orgeon NAIA National Football

College Baseball 360 Podcast: All-American Peter O?Brien

Bethune-Cookman Catcher Looks To Keep Rolling In ’11… O?Brien burst onto the scene as a sophomore in 2010 to become one of the top catchers in all of college baseball. He batted .386 with 56 RBIs, while swatting 20 home runs with an 1.193 OPS as a sophomore last season. He made dramatic strides from [...]

Source: http://collegebaseball360.com/2011/01/31/college-baseball-360-podcast-all-american-peter-obrien/

March Madness Little Caesars Pizza Bowl

D.J. Gay Saves No. 7 San Diego State Against Colorado State

Filed under: MWC

FORT COLLINS, Colo. -- D.J. Gay sank a jumper with 1.8 seconds left to lift seventh-ranked San Diego State past Colorado State 56-54 on Wednesday night.

Gay, who has a reputation for coming through in the clutch, then hauled in the long inbounds pass as the buzzer sounded and his teammates mobbed him.

Travis Franklin's driving layup for Colorado State had tied it with 10.1 seconds remaining.

James Rahon scored 15 points and Kawhi Leonard posted his 32nd career double-double with 12 points and 15 boards for the Aztecs (22-1, 7-1 Mountain West), who got quite a scare from the Rams (15-7, 5-3).

Colorado State might have pulled off the upset had they not been so off-the-mark from the free throw line, where they were only 14 for 22.

Andy Ogide scored 18 points and pulled down a dozen rebounds for the Rams, who haven't beaten a Top 25 opponent since upsetting 25th-ranked Air Force in the 2004 Mountain West Conference postseason tournament.

Ogide's two free throws tied it at 52 with 4:21 remaining following back-to-back baskets by Franklin. Billy White's short jumper put San Diego State back on top 54-52 two minutes later after a series of stops by both teams.

It stayed that way until the final minute.

The Rams got the ball back underneath San Diego State's basket with 34 seconds remaining, and following a timeout, Franklin tied it as the crowd went crazy, then quickly fell silent as Gay's shot fluttered the net.

The Rams led by six five minutes into the second half thanks to a 16-2 run spanning the break, but they missed three free throws in that span that could have put the Aztecs in a bigger hole than 39-33.

Billy White ended the Aztecs' drought with a hook shot and Rahon swished a 3-pointer from the right elbow before Leonard fed Malcolm Thomas down low for a bucket that put San Diego State ahead 40-39.

Leonard sank three baskets and Rahon raced from one end to the other for a layup and then sank two free throws to put the Aztecs ahead 50-44 with eight minutes left.

The Rams trailed 31-29 at halftime and would have had the lead had they not misfired so much from the free-throw line. They missed six of their 11 freebies in the first half but still had a chance to take the lead into the locker room when Dorian Green missed badly on a hurry-up 3-pointer and, following an offensive rebound, Adam Nigon threw the ball right to Aztecs big man Brian Carlwell in the paint in the closing seconds.

The Aztecs, who have beaten the Rams eight consecutive times and are 13-1 against Colorado State since 2005-06, won their 31st consecutive game against a non-ranked opponent.

 

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Source: http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2011/02/02/d-j-gay-saves-no-7-san-diego-state-against-colorado-state/

West Virginia Duke

Kevin Jones, West Virginia Beat Seton Hall

Filed under: Seton Hall, West Virginia, Big East

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Kevin Jones scored 13 points to surpass 1,000 for his career and No. 25 West Virginia rode a strong first half to a 56-44 victory against Seton Hall on Wednesday night.

Deniz Kilicli and Cam Thoroughman added 10 points apiece for West Virginia (15-6, 6-3 Big East). Jones grabbed 12 rebounds and Joe Mazzulla had 10.

Seton Hall (10-13, 4-7) was held to its lowest scoring output of the season. Jeff Robinson led the Pirates with nine points. Jeremy Hazell, who had averaged 27 points in four previous games against the Mountaineers, was limited to five.

West Virginia led 33-17 at halftime and by as many as 24 points midway through the second half in beating the Pirates for the seventh consecutive time.

The Mountaineers improved their streak of holding opponents to under 60 points to four games. Seton Hall shot just 29 percent (18 of 61) from the floor and was outrebounded 47-32.

Despite rotating just eight players, the Mountaineers never trailed and began pulling away after Seton Hall's Herb Pope got into foul trouble and sat out most of the first half.

The Pirates went nine minutes between field goals spanning both halves, enabling West Virginia to take control.

West Virginia extended its 16-point halftime lead to 47-23 with 12:08 left in the game after a Thoroughman jumper.

Seton Hall turned things around with a 15-2 run after that but got no closer than nine points the rest of the game.

 

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Source: http://ncaabasketball.fanhouse.com/2011/02/02/kevin-jones-west-virginia-beat-seton-hall/

East Coast SEC

Cyrus Kouandjio Chooses Auburn Over Alabama

Filed under: Auburn, Recruiting

Neither snow nor ice nor even family could keep Cyrus Kouandjio from finally making his college decision Wednesday.

Sitting alongside several of his teammates, Kouandjio -- the best offensive line prospect in America -- told an ESPNU audience that he will play for the defending BCS national champions at Auburn.

"I got no sleep last night going through this process, Kouandjio said. "It was a lot of thinking to get to this result."

Kouandjio (6-7, 322, Hyattsville, Md., DeMatha HS) was considered the best high school football player in the country scheduled to announce his college choice Wednesday. Auburn has reportedly not received his paperwork, so he has only committed to signing and could still change his mind.

The consensus No. 1 athlete, DE Jadeveon Clowney (6-6, 247, Rock Hill, S.C., South Pointe HS), is likely to decide between Alabama and South Carolina on Feb. 14 -- his 18th birthday.

Kouandjio's brother, Arie, was a four-star OT who signed with Alabama and redshirted in 2010.

"I talked to my brother and he told me to go where my heart told me to go." Kouandjio said. "I had vibes and my heart told me to go to Auburn. It will be crazy (to see my brother across the sidelines). We'll just have to see."

Auburn has now landed three high-profile offensive line prospects in its 2011 class. OT Christian Westerman (6-5, 288, Chandler, Ariz., Hamilton HS) switched from Texas to the Tigers, and C Reese Dismukes (6-4, 287, Spanish Fort, Ala., HS) was an early commitment to Auburn.

 

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Source: http://ncaafootball.fanhouse.com/2011/02/02/cyrus-kouandjio-chooses-auburn-over-alabama/

Maryland USC