Quick notes, because morning will come soon, and morning will bring other notes:
Iowa State Won Yesterday
This is a technical statement of fact, and the feeling with the team is good enough and it was such an easily excusable trap game that failing to crack fifty points against Jackson State on a Sunday afternoon is excusable. That said, Iowa State failed to crack fifty points against Jackson State on a Sunday afternoon. That also said, they held Jackson State to 37 points. 47-37, final. Impressive defense, which is a fun identity to have.
Houston/Alabama Was Fun
Houston and Alabama played a beautiful game of basketball on Saturday, trading blows throughout. It was a shame it ended in some controversy (goaltending non-call—not a fight or anything), but what a fun game of basketball, and one that at least gives the impression both teams are rather legitimate.
Arizona/Illinois Was Fun
Arizona and Illinois also played a beautiful game of basketball on Saturday, also trading blows throughout (though theirs were surgier than those of Houston and Alabama). Illinois is missing a step or two from last year, which makes sense given who they sent onwards in life. Arizona is electric. Wildly impressive encore to the Michigan performance.
Houston/Villanova Was Not
Villanova never showed up against Baylor yesterday in Waco, scoring fewer points than Jackson State did against Iowa State. Baylor might be the best team in the country. They’re not being particularly pretty about it, though.
Other College Basketball Bits
In other noteworthiness, Purdue almost lost a second straight, needing overtime to best NC State. Michigan got wrecked at home by Minnesota, who’s yet to lose. Wisconsin took one on the chin in Columbus.
For Michigan, the questions are starting to mount, but the Wolverines will probably be fine—more a question of seeding for them than bubble talk, kind of like Wisconsin last year, where we knew they were good but they never actually proved that. For Minnesota, the tournament is growing larger on the horizon, and good for them. For Purdue, playing Butler in Indianapolis on Saturday should be a refreshing experience. Get back in the home state, leave the New York metro trip behind them. They still have just the one loss.
Memphis is in free fall, losing to Murray State on Friday. Louisville is all kinds of a mess, and I wonder what firing privileges interim athletic directors have. With both these teams, there’s plenty of time, and for Louisville in particular the conference schedule is fertile enough (full enough of mediocre teams) that they could turn this around. But they look awful right now. Just awful. Both of them.
Bryce Young Won the Heisman
It was a rather boring Heisman race this year, highlighting the downside of parity in sport. We didn’t really know who was going to win, and that wasn’t a good thing. Looking at the last few winners, though, is fun. We’ve had a good run in recent years. Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush were iconic. Troy Smith was part of the national focus in the moments before the SEC’s dominance fully dawned. Tim Tebow was iconic. Sam Bradford and Mark Ingram were great. Cam Newton was iconic. Robert Griffin III was iconic. Johnny Manziel and Jameis Winston were iconic. How the hell is Marcus Mariota not older? Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield were iconic. Kyler Murray was and is electric. Joe Burrow was iconic. Devonta Smith was electric and unique. We’ll see how we remember Young down the line—what he does in the next game or two will have a lot of say in that—but even if he ends up in the Murray/Mariota tier of memorability, that’s not bad company, speaking historically. The Heisman remains fun and special.
Lanning to Oregon
After those conflicting reports last week, Dan Lanning is officially the newest head coach of the Oregon Ducks, which seems to bring the most significant parts of this coaching carousel to a pause, if not a conclusion for the winter. We’ll see what Lanning does there. I’m skeptical of how easy it is to win at Oregon in the 2020’s.
North Dakota State vs. James Madison
The FCS semifinals are set, and Friday’s is an incredible draw: North Dakota State vs. James Madison. Probably the two best FCS programs of the last ten or twelve years, playing one another in JMU’s last FCS season for a trip to their national championship. At the Fargodome. Great script. Such a great script.
In the other semifinal, it’ll be Montana State hosting South Dakota State, which is also very fun. Hopefully the forecast changes and we’ll get some snow.
Notably absent is Conference USA’s newest darling Sam Houston State, whom Montana State dismantled on the road. SHSU won the spring championship, and they’ll always have that…I guess. They may need it, entering a league appearing destined to underwhelm even the lowest expectations.
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See you on the morrow, friends.
