TBI's College Basketball Opening Day Extravaganza: Top 25 Picks

I hate Christmas music, but the sentiment behind this song is valid for today. College basketball's opening day beats the living hell out of Christmas for me because 2 things:

1) There's a metric ton of hoops to watch;
2) No stressful shopping experiences.

As we prepare to tip the season off in some style (Texas Southern v. Eastern Washington = two potential conference champions opening the campaign), sit back and observe TBI's up-to-the-minute preseason top 25 and All-American picks after the jump.

Winners and Losers from College Basketball's Tip-Off Marathon

He was 18 when MSU-UK tipped off.

If you stayed up for all 29 or so hours of ESPN's College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon (aka Starbucks and Red Bull's Christmahanukwanzakah), I have two things to say to you:

1) You are a sick, maladjusted, misanthropic person who will die alone unless you adopt 18 cats; and

b) I so wish I could match that stamina and lack of daytime gainful employment/small people waking up before dawn.

Some teams had a great time tipping it off at ungodly hours, while others played like they'd already had their warm milk and binky, merely needing their favorite blankets to nod off like a toddler.

Let's look back over the two days in which we were all contemplating doing rails of coke off a hooker's ass if it would keep us awake through the second half of West Virginia/Virginia Tech.
 
Check after the jump for some of those who absorbed should-be-illegal benefits and some who took must-be-pitied damage for even being in the vicinity of the Marathon.

Back Iron Bracketometry Feb. 9: Signs of Life for Kentucky, Illinois

I was once a Professor of Sports Philosophy on 4 Quarters Radio (still in occasional podcast form) before I got a doctorate in Bracketometry. As a fully accredited doctor, I'm qualified to pronounce college basketball teams' tournament hopes alive and dead.

There are a few schools who looked to be on life support a couple of weeks ago that are recovering nicely. Conversely, we've got some patients who are deteriorating before our eyes.

Read on to see if any of your loved ones are approaching terminal status.

Back Iron Bracketometry: Could Kentucky vs. Bucknell Happen?

In the second week of the expanded Back Iron Index, we see that the struggles of teams near the top of the human polls can certainly have some bearing on the computer ranks as well.

While we may not have much use for the SEC as a whole, only myopic jingos can deny that Florida has been playing some strong basketball. That solid ball has earned them five number-one rankings among the 10 BII metrics, good for the new No. 1 overall seed.

Don't expect Duke to go away quietly, though. The Blue Devils are still the only team ranked in the top five all the way across the BII board. Ryan Kelly is still conspicuous by his absence, but freshman Amile Jefferson is getting his legs under him in ACC play. Jefferson has potted averages of 10 points, seven rebounds and almost two blocks per game over his last four. Now, perhaps he can work on learning not to foul everyone he sees (15 fouls in those four games).

At the other end of the Bracketometry projections, Big Blue Nation now needs to go into a Big Red Panic. More explanation after the jump.

The 2012 Bilas Invitational Tournament: Midwest Region Rounds 1 & 2

The fourth and final region in the first round of the BIT is upon us. Read the last several posts for details. And now to the games.

Play-In Game:
Oral Roberts 80, Akron 61
The Zips did a decent job of containing ORU scoring star Dominique Morrison, but Michael Craion's 24 points rendered the effort moot.

Craion drilled 10 of his 11 shots, also pulling down eight rebounds to headline a game in which the Golden Eagles never trailed. 14 of the 24 points came in the first half, helping Oral Roberts to a 38-27 lead at the break.

Akron was led by 14 points off the bench from Demetrius Treadwell. He was the only Zip in double figures. All-MAC selections Nikola Cvetinovic and Zeke Marshall combined for only 16 points and four rebounds, well off their season average of 20.3 and 10.8.

Damen Bell-Holter added 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Eagles, while Morrison kicked in 11 points.

Poll Dancing: How the Rankings Should Look (Jan. 9 Edition)

It's part and parcel of college sports that subjective human polls help shape a large part of a team or conference's perceptions nationwide. No one who's ever read a Top 25 ranking would dare claim that any of said polls are infallible, and that would include this one. Poll Dancing will examine the polls in each week of the season, try to find reason, and suggest alternatives. And occasionally quote random lyrics.

First, the TBI Top 25 after the jump.

Morning Wood: January 5 (Temple of Doom Edition)

Some notes on last night's college hoop action:

• Perhaps this is why Duke doesn't play true non-conference road games. The No. 3 Devils traveled to Philly and got the No. 2 surprised out of them with a 78-73 loss to Temple. Whether Duke deserved their lofty ranking or not, this is a huge signature win for the Owls, and barring a clunker of a conference campaign, mark them down for an at-large spot if they don't claim the Atlantic 10 title. More on that later today. Duke, for their part, still doesn't have a point guard, and that will cost them in March. From Bobby Hurley to Jay Williams to Jon Scheyer, Duke's title teams have all had a steady hand on the rudder, and Austin Rivers' hand (1-8 from 2-point range, 2 assists and 3 TOs against Temple) is far from steady.