Nearly all college basketball coaches are fond of voicing the same opinion on certain matters, such as: It doesn’t matter who starts games. Who finishes them means more. And: Rankings don’t really matter much this time of year.
Who starts matters to players, otherwise coaches wouldn’t remove the honor of starting as a means of motivating players to perform better. Since having his starting assignment taken away for two games, Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor has 17 assists and one turnover in three games. Before coach Bill Self sounded that alarm clock, Taylor’s assists-to-turnover was 1.3-to-1.
As for the rankings not really mattering this time of year, that’s difficult to argue, but when do they ever really matter? The NCAA Tournament selection committee doesn’t base seeding on the rankings. So, really, they are as important now as much as ever, and since they spark interesting debates they do have value.
Now that many teams have reached double digits in games played, it’s time to shift out of the lazy mode of choosing a No. 1 team in the preseason and automatically leaving that team at the top, at least until it loses a game. It’s time to examine which of the nation’s 347 Div. I teams actually has played the best basketball thus far.
That team, of course, plays in the Big 12. It boasts an extremely talented freshman class, a pair of accomplished upperclassmen worthy of All-American consideration and a 10-0 record. The roster is even deeper than William Shatner thinks he is while conducting interviews on his TV show, “Raw Nerve.”
That team is Texas.
For the first time all season, I bumped Kansas to second on my Associated Press ballot. The rankings will be released today.
Watching on DVR the Longhorns take it to North Carolina, 103-90, in Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, clinched the decision to move UT to the top. At the moment, Texas senior center Dexter Pittman, carrying roughly 100 fewer pounds than when he arrived in Austin, is playing better than KU’s Cole Aldrich. In 26 minutes against North Carolina’s respected front line, Pittman muscled his way to 23 points, 15 rebounds and two blocked shots. He had as many offensive rebounds (12) as North Carolina’s entire team. His season field-goal percentage of .734 reveals how successful Pittman is establishing position inside.
Fellow senior Damion James leads the Longhorns with 16.4 points and 10.6 rebounds a game. James dumped 25 points, 15 boards and four steals on the Tar Heels. Avery Bradley, noted more for his defensive abilities, has averaged 17.5 points in the past four games. He and fellow freshman guard J’Covan Brown combined for 41 points in the Carolina game. (J’Can you believe that first name?)
Kansas likely will hold on to the top spot in the rankings, but with an impressive victory Tuesday night against Michigan State, the Longhorns very well could move to No. 1 next week, regardless of what KU does the same night against California.
Strong No. 1 arguments could be made for Texas, Kansas, even Syracuse, but there is no debating which conference is the best in the nation. The Big 12 wins that argument and features this season’s top national game, Feb. 8 in Austin, when Kansas visits. Game of the Century.
