College Basketball Weekly: Gonzaga to No. 1, Memphis Redemption

Gonzaga is back to No. 1 (“eye roll”) while Rutgers and Memphis are back, baby! And Houston is coming back to Earth. Let’s talk College Hoops.

Results of the Week (Holy Moly…)

Virginia 69 @ (6) Duke 68
(8) Kansas 76 @ (21) Texas 79
(16) Marquette 72 @ UCONN 80
(1) Auburn 76 @ (20) Arkansas 80 (OT)
(11) Wisconsin 70 @ (18) Michigan State 62
(13) Illinois 68 @ (3) Purdue 84
(3) Houston 83 @ SMU 85
(24) Xavier 71 @ Seton hall 73
(16) Ohio State 64 @ Rutgers 66
(10) Texas Tech 55 @ Oklahoma 70
(3) Purdue 58 @ Michigan 82
(21) Texas 63 @ (12) Baylor 80
(20) Arkansas 67 @ Alabama 69
Rutgers 73 @ (14) Wisconsin 65
Memphis 69 @ (6) Houston 59
(25) Saint Mary’s 58 @ (2) Gonzaga 74
(14) UCLA 64 @ USC (67)

‘Zags back on top

Begrudgingly, Gonzaga will move to the top of my rankings (bottom of the article) following Auburn’s first loss since November. Mark Few’s club usurped the No. 1 spot on the almighty AP Poll and is a consensus first across KenPom and other analytics sites, as well as the presumptive pick for the top overall seed in most bracketology projections.

Sure, bring on the February parade for the ‘Zags! No team in the country owns conference play like the WCC wreckers in Spokane. With BYU a mess and Saint Mary’s presenting absolutely no athletic challenges for Gonzaga in this weekend’s matchup, the Bulldogs are staring down another undefeated conference slate. Yippee! 18-0 against a bunch of garbage!

I find myself uninterested by them. Make no mistake, Drew Timme is a surefire All-American, their offense roasted elite power five defenses (Texas, Texas Tech, UCLA to an extent) and the defense is becoming a strength in recent years for the program. But following a one-loss season with a 3-2 Power 5 record and another drumming of a dull conference schedule isn’t exciting.

Duke, Auburn and Kentucky remain fascinating because they test themselves weekly against conference opponents that can match their athleticism or talent. Virginia is down but is still very well-coached and rallied to beat Duke this past week. Arkansas is playing as well as anyone in the country and reminded Auburn what it’s like to lose. Kentucky was taken to overtime recently by a Mississippi State team with athletic bigs and great guard play, even if Ben Howland’s squad isn’t very good.

Gonzaga, instead, beat up on a Saint Mary’s squad that lost to Santa Clara earlier in the week and barely has the athleticism to match top Division II teams. Sadly, that’s the ‘Zags toughest test until the NCAA Tournament. Surely Gonzaga won’t step down from that No. 1 perch, and it’s because they won’t step up and play in a tougher conference.

Give it up for Rutgers Basketball

Among the late great Jimmy V’s holy trinity of personal allegiances, Rutgers Basketball ranks right next to religion and family, neither ahead nor behind.

"Your Family, Your Religion and Rutgers Basketball." – Jim Valvano

25 years later, his legacy lives on.

Full Speech 🔗 » https://t.co/H8E9CkN5Sc pic.twitter.com/MEVjayfeWx
— Rutgers Scarlet Knights (@RUAthletics) July 19, 2018

The Scarlet Knights did him well this week, picking up a pair of ranked wins. Rutgers outlasted Ohio State by two at home and then went on the road and upset Wisconsin — one of the best weeks by any team in the Big 10 this season. Not sure a single Big Ten squad has overcome consecutive ranked conference opponents in the same week.

Despite beating Purdue before the turn of the year, Rutgers stumbled out of the gate this season and struggled to replace several starters who transferred last offseason. But since the start of 2022, the Scarlet Knights are 9-4 and firmly in the top half of the Big Ten standings. With three wins in a row now all over ranked Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin teams, along with the victory over Purdue, Rutgers boasts as impressive a collection of wins as any team in the entire country.

Three straight losses to DePaul, Lafayette (WHO?), and Massachusetts in November sent me straight off the Rutgers ship for the season. I’ll say, though, they’re reeling me back in. For now, Steve Pikiell’s club looks tourney-bound for a second straight season — simply a remarkable feat at Rutgers. Although five straight games against top-30 teams on Bart Torvik could very well send them straight back to the bubble.

Houston is mortal

Kelvin Sampson lost his leading scorer (Marcus Sasser, 17 points per game) and his sixth man (Tramon Mark) at the start of conference play and essentially played seven scholarship players over the first nine AAC games. The Cougars were 9-0. Kyler Edwards became an All-American caliber point guard overnight in lieu of Sasser and also out-shot Stephen Curry in the month of January, both in attempts and makes per game. Ridiculous shooting production from your starting point guard.

Eventually though, the tread had to catch up to the tires. Thus Houston fell in both of their games last week, on the road vs. SMU and at home against a team I’ll mention in a minute. Edwards stopped shooting like Stephen Curry and a fatigued rest of the roster played their worst two defensive games of conference play. Oh well. It happens. Especially when you’re down to seven scholarship players.

Without the injured guards, Houston is going to struggle to seriously contend, but their sheer resilience in the face of a year gone to hell earns Kelvin Sampson’s program even more respect in my book.

Heads or Tails for Penny?

Uh oh, three heads in a row for Penny Hardaway! Memphis is rollin’! The Tigers are 5-0 since January 23rd and ranked 12th since that date per Bart Torvik with top-40 units on offense and defense.

The formula? First and foremost, much less Emoni Bates. Sorry kid, we all see it. Just not ready for the college level quite yet. Also, Penny is using the abundance of length he has at the 2-5 positions to make life hell inside the arc on defense. Offensively, they’re shooting well above 50% from two in conference play and 5-foot-9, 150-pound Tyler Harris is shooting 40.6% on nearly six three-point attempts per game. (If you’re going to be my height and somehow weigh even less than my stick figure frame, you better shoot the snot out of the basketball.)

Most recently, Memphis avenged their loss against Tulane from early January and on Saturday handled Houston for the entirety of the game on the road, winning by 10, 69-59. Folks, this team may make the NCAA Tournament after all. It’s great fun to hate on Penny, but seeing him steer this team from an utter disaster to a burgeoning two-way power in the AAC is equally enjoyable. Good on you Mr. Hardaway.