Former Augusta University Athletic Director and Men’s Basketball Head Coach Clint Bryant met with me for the fourth consecutive Monday afternoon to discuss what’s on his mind in the world of college basketball. A prominent theme of The (New) Clint Bryant Show has been the importance of home court advantage during conference play. The results during the most recent seven days have reinforced the point.
Twelve times last week unranked teams defeated ranked teams. In every case but two, the upset took place on the home court of the victorious underdog team. During the third episode of his new college basketball show, Coach Bryant discusses the several upset victories, he updates his own Top 25 rankings, and he talks in detail about the stretch run of the regular season, from the high major to the mid major and smaller conferences.
We also discuss the fortunes of the teams closest to our home. Augusta University will host USC Aiken Wednesday night (7:30 p.m.) in a key Peach Belt Conference matchup. Clemson will try to snap a three-game losing streak and keep alive its NCAA Tournament hopes. Kennesaw State and The College of Charleston are both tied for first in their conferences. And the much improved Georgia Bulldogs (15-10) upset Kentucky at home Saturday.
Home Court Advantage
Northwestern’s home win over No. 1 ranked Purdue Sunday was the first victory over a top ranked team in Northwestern’s history.
Vanderbilt, another academically focused program, also won a shocker. The Commodores defeated then sixth-ranked Tennessee on a buzzer beating, game winning three pointer in Nashville. To add insult to injury, the Volunteers returned home to Knoxville Saturday only to go down to another unranked team, Missouri, after another buzzer beating, game winning shot by the Tigers.
Tennessee earned the unwanted distinction of being one of two ranked teams to fall at home to an unranked opponent. Fellow SEC squad Alabama retained the much more preferable bragging right of being the only high major team to be undefeated in conference play this far into the season. The Crimson Tide handled arch rival Auburn on the road Saturday. For their reward, Alabama became the No. 1 ranked team in the AP Top 25. Although Coach Bryant gave that honor to Houston on his list, making Alabama No. 2.
Bryant said last Monday the Big 12 has to be considered the premier conference in college basketball. Last week’s results confirm the depth of the league that features six teams in the AP Top 25. No. 19 Iowa State lost to two unranked conference foes, first on the road against West Virginia, and then at home versus Oklahoma State. The Cowboys have won five straight, Coach Bryant noted. And unranked Texas Tech upset No. 12 Kansas State.
Meanwhile No. 5 Kansas topped No. 6 Texas in Lawrence last Monday in what Coach Bryant and I agreed was the week’s best game. Another candidate for game of the week was No. 7 Virginia’s overtime victory over Duke. That game included what Bryant deemed a badly botched call at the end of regulation that cost the Blue Devils what could have been a very useful (for NCAA Tournament seeding purposes) road victory over a highly ranked opponent.
Before I left Coach Bryant’s office, we scanned this week’s college basketball schedule and picked these matchups as some of the most appealing to watch:
Monday
No. 15 Miami at North Carolina
West Virginia at No. 9 Baylor
No. 6 Texas at Texas Tech
Tuesday
No. 18 Creighton at Providence
No. 5 Kansas at Oklahoma State
Wednesday
No. 1 Alabama at No. 10 Tennessee
USC Aiken at No. 11 Augusta (Division II Peach Belt Conference)
No. 14 Indiana at Northwestern
Thursday
Stanford at No. 4 UCLA
Saturday
No. 10 Tennessee at Kentucky
No. 9 Baylor at No. 5 Kansas
Sunday
North Carolina at No. 23 North Carolina State
Memphis at No. 2 Houston
