NCAA Men's Basketball Recap: Thanksgiving Edition
It was another exciting week of college basketball. Even though Thanksgiving was this week in the US, there were still a lot of games being played. Remember my previous posts? This is the time of year when many of those early season tournaments are going on. All last week and into this weekend we are going to be seeing many of those games.
There was also a lot of movement in the top 25 this week. Michigan fell out, Michigan State moved into the #12 spot. We will get into that in a second though.
Monday brought us seven games in the top 25. There were no upsets, but I think it is important to note that Ohio State is not in the top 25 yet this year. That is a little bit of a surprise. I have a feeling it won't be long before they squeak their way in.
Tuesday gave us four games. Some of them were taking place in the Maui invitational and the Cancun Challenge.
There was only one upset on Tuesday and that was #10 Creighton over #9 Arkansas 90 to 87. Well done Bluejays. Way to advance in the Maui Invitational.
There were 10 top 25 games on Wednesday. Unranked Ohio State beat #21 Texas Tech at the Maui Invitational. Remember what I said about Ohio State squeaking their way into the top 25?
#14 Arizona beat #10 Creighton by two points, so that was a short lived high for the Bluejays. Hopefully for them they don't fall too far in the rankings.
#17 San Diego State took #9 Arkansas into overtime, but ultimately Arkansas beat them by four points.
Finally, on Thanksgiving day there were seven games.
Unranked Wisconsin took #3 Kansas into overtime and lost by one point. North Carolina continues to dominate and still holds the #1 spot.
Unfortunately, the one upset on Thanksgiving day was at the hands of Michigan State. My #12 Spartans fell to #18 Alabama 81 to 70. I am not really surprised. This is the kind of inconsistency I have come to expect from the Spartans.
To be fair though, they had a lot of starters sitting on the bench due to injuries. They now play at midnight for their next game against Oregon. This loss will likely drop them down in the polls a little bit. I think best case they just flip flop with Alabama and still stay in the top 20. Their game against Oregon will be the determining factor though.
There are 10 games on the schedule for today. A couple of them are already finished, but I will cover those on Monday.
If you get a chance in between watching some soccer, football, and stuffing your face full of turkey this weekend, I suggest you try to watch some of these early season tournament games. They can give you a good idea of teams to keep an eye on come March.
I hope all of you have a blessed holiday!
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