The SEC West's Best

Scary, isn't he? That's John Pelphrey, coach of Arkansas. His team is scary, too.

Last night, for the second time in a week, the Razorbacks gored a top-10 Big 12 team. That's right -- Arkansas. Ya know, the team picked by SEC media to finish last in the atrocious SEC West. It made sense at the time -- Arkansas only had three players with any college basketball experience. But this is a top-2o recruiting class working its tail off for Pelphrey.

And these are the results.

Arkansas is 12-1, with wins over the two best teams in the Big 12. The Razorbacks' only loss came at Missouri State, a 62-57 travesty that saw Pelphrey's cagers turn the ball over 17 times. But we're all entitled to an embarrassing loss, right? Especially if you can rebound with a 10-game winning streak and a pair of monumental upsets.

So, Arkansas, join the ranks of Boston College in the college hoops parthenon. You are deserving. Oklahoma and Texas are good. Both teams have a legitimate shot at stealing a 1 seed in March. And you have wins against both of 'em. Both!

Get used to the names Michael Washington and Courtney Fortson. Washington, a junior, has emerged as the BMOC at Arkansas, averaging 18 and 10. The freshman point guard Fortson is a nigthly triple-double threat, posting 15 points, seven assists and six rebounds a night. That's an inside-outside combo, my friends.

The SEC West has a new frontrunner. And the Top 25 won't be the best 25 teams in the nation if Arkansas isn't on there next week.

Elsewhere
-- Clemson is good. The Tigers are 15-0 after a win against Alabama. Why does Clemson start so hot every year?

-- So, remember last night when I said there were two ranked teams playing each other every night in the Big East? Well, this is what reminded me of it. A huge win for UConn at West Virginia. And Villanova does itself well, too, with a win against Seton Hall.

-- And, oh yeah, Purdue is 0-2 to start Big Ten play. Yikes. Really, though, you lost to Penn State. Doesn't that automatically disqualify you from the NCAA Tournament?

-- You know what? College football is stupid. There, I said it. This is why I'm a hoops guy. One game in the regular season doesn't determine your fate if you are a good enough team to rebound. And you decide your national champion with a grueling three-week tournament that, by the end of March, weeds out most, if not all, of the riff-raff. Oh, yeah, and the tournament actually decides on a champion. Why wouldn't someone want to see USC, Utah, Texas and the winner of Oklahoma-Florida in a playoff? Why can't we separate them into an eight-team playoff and add three other teams? God, even the overtimes are stupid. [/rant]

-- If I could, I'd like to recommend Seth Davis. He's always a good read. Also, check out his book, When March Went Mad. Not sure when it comes out officially, but I'm rolling through an advance copy now. Very good if you like sports. And SI.com's Luke Winn is good, too, even if he is stealing my blog post from months ago.

-- Movies you should see: Doubt, Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler and Bond. Make it happen, people.

The Beast Rears Its Ugly Head

The Big East is responsible for eight teams in both the AP and Coaches polls today. Only one other Big East team received any votes -- West Virginia got one AP vote.

So, how hard will it be for the teams that line up behind the Big 8?

Well, last year, the first year the conference went to 18-game schedule, 9-9 was the worst record that a Tournament team had in the Big East. This year, 8-10 might be acceptable, given the challenging nature of conference play.

This year, the five teams destined for Nos. 9 through 13 in the Big East are all doing reasonably well:

-- Seton Hall is 8-1, with wins against USC and Virginia Tech. Those should hold a lot of weight if the Pirates don't lose any bad games before conference play, which would leave them at 11-1 before Big East games start. SHU should finish at least 7-11 in conference, so stealing one or two games against the top 8 would go a long way. Eighteen wins might not be good enough unless SHU gets a good win against a top-15 team.

-- St. John's is also 8-1, albeit against a cupcake schedule. But still, hosting Miami (FL) and Duke at MSG gives the Red Storm two more opportunities to snag a marquee nonconference win. I just don't see St. John's getting more than seven conference wins, and without the marquee wins like Seton Hall, that's not good enough.

-- West Virginia is 7-2, with losses to Davidson (in New York) and Kentucky. Good wins came at Ole Miss and in Las Vegas against Iowa. Games against Miami (OH) and Ohio State (on the road) give the 'Eers a chance to get two more good nonconference wins. My initial count says WVU goes just 6-12 in the Big East, but knowing its track record at home, I'm willing to adjust to 8-10 or even 9-9. If WVU does that, and wins the rest of its nonconference sked aside from the one at Ohio State, it will finish 19-12. That's good enough, I'd say.

-- Cincinnati is 6-2, with losses against Florida State in Las Vegas and at home against No. 7 Xavier. Two nice wins against UNLV and UAB will help Mick Cronin's squad if its on the bubble in March. A matchup with Mississippi State this week and Memphis in two weeks gives the Bearcats two chances to grab another quality win. I only see Cincy getting 7 wins, which is too few, but a stolen win to get to 8 conference wins, plus a 10-3 nonconference record means 18 wins is possible.

-- Providence was the chic pick to steal one of the top 8 spots in the Big East this year, but the Friars struggled immediately, losing their first game to Northeastern ... at home. Now, PC is quietly 6-3, with a good win against Rhode Island. PC still plays at Boston College, but other than that, there really aren't any other spots for good nonconference wins. This enigmatic bunch looks primed for about a 6-12 or 7-11 finish in the Big East. Steal a win or two, and the Friars could have 17 or 18 wins to their ledger, which still might not be enough.

So, what do these teams do?
Well, that's easy to answer: win. Beating a ranked team or two on your home floor helps. Beating one on the road helps even more. Making sure you win games you should win and beating teams in similar situations as you (these five teams play each other plenty of times) can help overcome the ridiculously tough conference slate.

If I had to pick right now, I'd say Seton Hall and West Virginia are the two teams best positioned to sneak into the Tournament. Marquette and Villanova have some vulnerabilities that leave me thinking those two could struggle, potentially leaving space for one of these next-tier teams to sneak into the Big East's top 8. Keep an eye on Syracuse, too. It'll be interesting to see how the Orange deal with Eric Devendorf's almost certain season-long suspension.

Do any of these teams have the talent to match up with the Big 8? Out of this bunch, I'd say WVU and Providence do; the rest don't. But WVU has had injury issues, and Providence goes cold, can't play defense and is about as predictable as an M. Night Shyamalan movie.

Tuesday's Tussle

Jay Wright's Villanova Wildcats have a tall order tonight: Beat sixth-ranked Texas (6-1) in New York. And it won't be easy. Texas has tested itself against some of the best competition in the country; No. 15 Villanova hasn't necessarily played the World's Hardest Schedule.

But here's a big chance to see where 'Nova (8-0) belongs. A win here proves the Cats belong in the top circles of college hoops this year (you know, the tier juuuust below North Carolina, which stands alone in its own group); a loss means there is more work to be done with Big East play lurking around the corner.

We know Villanova can defend. And the perimeter talent is always there. But can the Wildcats score against Texas' blistering D? Texas only allows 57 points a game, forcing opponents to shoot just 35 percent from the field. More importantly, the Longhorns have one of the most efficient defenses in the nation, according to Ken Pomeroy's scouting reports.

But 'Nova is no slouch on the defensive end, either. The Wildcats allow the same amount of points per game (albeit against lesser competition) and hold their opponents to 37 percent shooting. And their efficiency ratings are arguably better than the Longhorns'.

Key matchups: It has to be out on the perimeter, where AJ Abrams will try to continue his hot start to the season. It's simple really: When Abrams does well, so does Texas.

The same can be said for Scottie Reynolds at Villanova. Reynolds, however, hasn't exactly scorched the nets in his first eight games. Not that he hasn't had an impact -- the 6-2 shooting guard still averages 14 points, five assists and three rebounds a game -- but Reynolds only just found his shooting stroke, and it was against Houston Baptist. He's shooting 39 percent from the field, which is right around his career average, but he has always needed to be more selective with his shots.

And the key point to make is this: Even with Reynolds struggling in the early going of the 08-09 season, everyone else, especially Dante Cunningham, has picked up the slack. So any added showtime from Scottie will make 'Nova tough to beat.

Elsewhere
-- Another good, albeit quietly, game is West Virginia-Davidson. Bob Huggins's boys love to defend, and it will be interesting to see how WVU matches up with Stephen Curry. A key Davidson guard, Mark Paulhus Gosselin, received a suspension today from the Southern Conference. Keep an eye on how that impacts Curry's trust in his teammates.

-- Just a quick sidenote on college football: Texas got screwed, so'd Alabama. Ohio State shouldn't even be in a BCS bowl. And while I'm at it, does Georgia have to choke every year, or is that just a thing the Bulldogs like to do on their own?

River City Rivalry ... means something?!?!

If you asked me in 2006 if Pitt vs. Cincinnati could decide which Big East team goes to a BCS bowl, I probably would've had a crazier smile than Ted Nugent after killing a buck. Seriously? Pitt vs. Cincinnati? The made-up River City Rivalry?

This is about the time of year when Pitt football is in the midst of a multiple-game losing streak that costs it bowl eligibility. This is right about when Cincinnati hits the 4-5 mark with stunning indifference. This is juuust around the time that West Virginia and Louisville should be 8-1 and angling for a BCS bid.

Not this year.

On Nov. 22, Pitt and Cincinnati meet on ESPN 2 for, as my dad would say, a "donnybrook of epic proportions." Somewhere, Big East commissioner Mike Tranghese is muttering, "Dear God ..."