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.