5 BOROUGH SPORTS

On Saturday Steve Lavin returned to Southern California, and lost to UCLA in a homecoming 66-59. The Red Storm battled close in this one, but continued their struggles on the road against a mediocre UCLA team. St. John’s is once again treading hostile waters. They are still solidly in the tournament, but they still have work to do. They are now 13-9, 5-5 in the Big East, a very unattractive record for the committee to look at come March. The worst part is, the Johnnies will only be favored in two remaining games, yes two. If they only win those two, they won’t be dancing. In my opinion they have to win atleast four more games, maybe one more in the Big East tournament. At this point, I’m not sure if they can do it. The Johnnies have opportunities to beat two different top ten teams at home still, and another on the road, so maybe one steal their might be the ticket. At this point we have to sit back and watch, and hope for the best. Next is UConn at the Garden this Thursday, a shot to take down the Huskies led by their dishonorable leader Jim Calhoun. It should be fun.

Otherwise around college hoops, we’ve seen some moves on the bubble. Lets go through some of the moves in the conferences throughout the country. The Big East has kept stable with their 11 bids, though but some scary performances from UConn and Louisville today. In the SEC a couple of teams have taken some knocks this week. Kentucky lost twice, to Mississippi and Florida, and is now 4-4 in conference play. Can we please now realize how overrated Kentucky is America?! They are not a top ten team, not even a top 25 team. Also, Georgia had to go to overtime to beat Auburn today at home, and Tennessee lost to Alabama at home. The only team that looks to be going in the right direction is Florida, who is now 7-2 in conference, but lets not forget their loses to UCF, Jacksonville (Home), South Carolina (Home), and Mississippi St. Can you say ugly? The SEC is crumbling in conference play, but what about Alabama? They are now 7-1! Well, they have been beating up on the West Division, which is just horrid, but have beaten Kentucky and now Tennessee on the road. That’s the only two top 100 wins for them though. They are moving in the right direction, but still are quite a bit on the outside looking in.

In the Big 12, the Texas has continue to pounce people, and are starting to look like one of the top contenders to dethrone Ohio State from the top of the polls. Baylor picked up a big win today at Texas A&M, and are now 5-4 in Big 12 play. They are right on the bubble now. In the Big Ten, everything is status quo. Northwestern picked up an upset of Illinois, but are still way out of the race for a tourney spot. Illinois continues to drop in seeding. The Pac Ten did get UCLA’s victory over St. John’s, but is it enough to get UCLA into the tournament? Well, no. Washington lost to Oregon today, and that’s now three in a row on the road. The Huskies are trending thin waters now, as they could be in trouble. Washington State is also in the same position now. Arizona is taking control of the conference and should feel comfortable about their tourney chances.

In the ACC, UNC and FSU are now both pretty solid about their chances and will face off tomorrow in Chapel Hill. Virginia Tech, Maryland, BC and Clemson are all in the mix right now. Virginia Tech lost at BC today, but I still think they are in right now, but they need to keep winning at home and against the lower teams in the conference. BC kept on the right side of bubble by winning the game, but they are dropping. Maryland won again today, and are really close now, but still on the outside. Clemson finally won on the road today at Georgia Tech, and has a chance to get some good wins this week at home against BC and UNC. They win those, they’ll be back in, but for now they are out after the tough loss to Virginia on Wednesday. The Mountain West still holds three bids as New Mexico and Colorado St are a bit of a ways out. Elsewhere Memphis beat Gonzaga today, but I’m not sold on either being in the tournament, especially now for the Bulldogs. Butler beat Cleveland State as well today, but also are on the outside looking in still. That’s all for today, I’ll be back on Monday to give the latest Bracketology.

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