By: William Smythe

So long for the Super Bowl hype. That’s right, America, this weekend belongs to the college basketball world. Once again, the thin security blanket that the top-five, top-ten teams in the nation hide under has been compromised – sorry Arizona and Tennessee.

Conference play – largely in the Big 12, ACC and Big Ten – has been nothing short of unpredictable as only a few squads have avoided serious blemishes on their record.

However, we are close to achieving homeostasis. Creighton is riding an eight-game win streak and looking like their old selves without a half-dead Ryan Kalkbrenner (who seems to be fully healthy now, thankfully), Arizona is once again dropping random Pac-12 games which they have no reason losing, and Kansas is reasserting themselves as a contender for a no. 1 seed in March.

Plenty of storylines surround yesterday’s slate, so let’s not waste any more time. 

It’s almost impossible to wrap my head around Tennessee’s past two games

Hey, I really thought about taking Vanderbilt moneyline before the rivalry game on Wednesday. In an arena where the ‘Vols have traditionally had some trouble – Memorial Gymnasium – the ‘Dores bested their in-state rivals after Tennessee made some head-scratching mistakes in the final minutes.

Rick Barnes’ teams will always pride themselves on their feared defenses, but when will their offense turn the corner? 

The ‘Vols went 4:27 without a basket in the second half – a dry spell which allowed Vanderbilt to take a one-point lead with just over four minutes to play. Freshman Julian Phillips could have secured a Tennessee victory in the final seconds but chose to take the foul (the ‘Vols weren’t even in the bonus yet), and seasoned guard Santiago Vescovi missed a crucial free-throw to give Vanderbilt a chance – down 65-63 with eight seconds left.

A Tyrin Lawrence (19 pts) three-pointer at the buzzer sunk Tennessee’s hopes in Nashville.

Think that was bad? Missouri would like to interject. In an oddly high-scoring affair yesterday in Knoxville, the Tigers solved the riddle of the Volunteer defense and put a second nail in the coffin – a last-second three-pointer from D’Andre Gholston to give Missouri an 86-85 win.

The similarities are eerie – both teams were down two with just seconds to play, and then cashed in dramatic three-pointers to send the sixth ranked team in the country packing. The only consolation for Tennessee was their resolve in this one. The ‘Vols were down by as much as seventeen in the second half, yet rode a 32-15 run to tie the game at 64. Weirdly enough, their offensive explosion late couldn’t compensate for a game in which their defense – their bread and butter – ultimately fell flat.

Panic is setting in for Rocky Top faithful after two unranked losses – the worst imaginable ones, by the way. A win against no. 3 Alabama on Wednesday would give the ‘Vols their swagger back, but beating Brandon Miller and company will be a tall task.

Alabama doesn’t care about The Jungle, Auburn’s home success

I previously commented that, “as [freshman forward] Brandon Miller goes, so does Alabama.” Well, that’s not entirely true. The third-ranked Crimson Tide battled on the road at Auburn – a team with an 11-2 record on their home turf – and saw their best player struggle immensely in a 77-69 win.

Miller – the catalyst for Alabama’s high-powered offense – went zero for seven from behind the arc and only tallied 13 points in 37 minutes. However, Auburn fared far worse shooting-wise.

The Tigers went an abysmal 32.3% from the field, witnessing an uncharacteristically inefficient day from center Johni Broome (8 pts, 3 for 11) even with a 24-point performance from guard Wendell Green Jr. Auburn, however, led for much of the first and second halves and simply caved when it mattered most – allowing the Tide to take a four-point lead with just over five minutes remaining.

The nation’s most talented offense wouldn’t look back. 

If Alabama can win in The Jungle after one of Miller’s worst performances, they will most certainly find themselves at the two spot on Monday afternoon. Nate Oats’ team is currently the only Power Five roster without a conference loss, and their dominance in the SEC has been nothing short of extraordinary.

Expect the Tennessee game on Wednesday to be another battle away from Tuscaloosa; Miller’s services will be especially needed against (still) one of the best defenses in the nation. Auburn looks to close out the rest of conference play on a high note, but will need some more wins to ensure that they make it into March.

Virginia topples Duke, controversy remains despite Grayson Allen’s travel in 2016

Grayson Allen traveled! The ending of the 2016 game in Cameron Indoor Stadium – one which the unranked Blue Devils won, 63-62 – shares some similarities with Virginia’s 69-62 win yesterday. The Cavaliers should’ve run away with the win in the final minutes, yet a last-second inbound from guard Tyrese Proctor to forward Kyle Filipowski (who finished with a season-low zero points) ended in a controversy that will live on forever in the minds of Duke fans. 

The referees called a foul on Virginia’s Ryan Dunn for contact on the shot, yet the boys in stripes took to the monitor to see if Filipowski’s shot went off in time. Well, the shot did go off – but was it actually a foul? The replay seems to show a clean contest from both Dunn and guard Reece Beekman on Filipowski’s attempt – yet, in all honesty, I have never seen a call such as that reversed; in fact, I didn’t even know it was possible.

However, the Blue Devils had a chance to right the wrongs in overtime and couldn’t close it out. Even if the Duke faithful may cry out about the ACC’s incompetence, they clearly didn’t do enough to best the Cavaliers in a wild, wild game in Charlottesville.

Virginia’s defense on Duke’s vaunted frontcourt was incredible. A combination of Ryan Dunn and forwards Jayden Gardner and Ben Vander Plas held Filipowski and fellow freshman Dereck Lively to two total points – forcing skips across the middle that the Cavalier guards easily intercepted.

Frankly, Virginia shot themselves in the foot all throughout this one. Tony Bennett’s team went nine of 22 from the charity stripe, made only four out of fourteen three-point attempts and couldn’t capitalize even while posting ten steals in a defensively-stout performance.

Virginia deserved to win, yet the controversy will keep many fuming.

Other notes:

• Stanford simply outplays no. 4 Arizona last night, winning 88-79 in Palo Alto
• UCLA is quietly making a top-five case after their fourth straight win
• No. 11 Iowa State stunned by Oklahoma State at home, has now lost four of their last five
• No. 14 Baylor picks up a massive road win against no. 17 TCU, riding the nation’s best backcourt and a 28-point game from guard Adam Flagler
• Gonzaga has looked iffy in WCC play, yet squeezes by BYU at home, 88-81
• No. 23 Creighton should send no. 21 UConn out of the top-25, has won eight straight