The league is halfway through the regular season, having completed 7 of the 14 weeks involved. We are already in conference play (out of conference games are only 10 of the 28 games). Without further adieu, the notable games of Week 7, as well as the standings to date.
Week 7 games of note:
#6 Kansas (11-1) 72 @ Oklahoma St. (9-3) 66
- Oklahoma State has been riding an excellent set of recruiting classes to the top half of the Big 12, a conference which is unusually strong this year. Hoping for a win at home, they were disappointed by an excellent Kansas team which kept its two-game lead on the conference.
#9 Kansas St. (10-2) 69 @ Texas A&M (7-5) 73
- Texas A&M finally achieved the potential that their Top 20 preseason ranking suggested, holding off a tough Kansas State team for the win.
Virginia Tech (7-5) 66 @ Miami (9-3) 70
- Virginia Tech stumbled through the game against the team that has been this year's Cinderella so far. Miami improves its record to 10-3, and looks set to make a challenge for the top half of the conference. Tech, ranked before the season, is struggling with mediocrity so far.
#15 Maryland (12-0) 68 @ Clemson (7-5) 72
- The Clemson Tigers were not impressed by Maryland's unbeaten streak; their victory leaves only 5 undefeated teams left in the JCBL. Maryland, despite the loss, has reason to hope that they can cling to a to the third spot in the ACC.
#7 UCLA (11-1) 58 @ Arizona (8-4) 59
- UCLA's first conference lost came by one point. The Arizona Wildcats look poised to challenge in the next few years with quality underclassmen and an outstanding new coach. In spite of this, UCLA's position on top of the Pac-10 (and in the top 10) appears to be assured.
#4 Connecticut (13-0) 66 @ #19 Villanova (11-2) 64
- UConn, who some maintain is the team to beat this year, refused to fall on the road to Villanova. It's hard to imagine anyone going undefeated through 18 games in the Big East, but this UConn squad has a fighting chance.
#16 Texas (9-4) 72 @ #9 Kansas St. (10-3) 70
- Texas makes up for their disappointing performance against the Ico-10 with a huge upset over Kansas State. The two are now tied for third in the Big 12, three games behind Kansas. Kansas State has now lost two in a row.
#18 Gonzaga (9-4) 63 @ #8 Xavier (13-0) 75
- In a week that saw the field of unbeaten teams reduced to four, Xavier laughed off a challenge from #18 Gonzaga. Their 14-0 record (through the Big 12 no less) may be better than they deserve, but given the quality of their recruiting the past four years one thing becomes clear: this isn't the last time you'll see Xavier mixing it up at the top of the league.
#3 Duke (13-0) 69 @ #15 Maryland (12-1) 67
- The Blue Devils squeeze past the home-court Terrapins, and remain unbeaten. In a few weeks is the first North Carolina / Duke game, and it should be a good one. It's hard to believe both teams will remain undefeated by then, but stranger things have happened.
#11 Wisconsin (13-0) 63 @ #12 Michigan St. (12-1) 67
- Pundits have been saying that Wisconsin has been lucky to go without a loss for so long, and the Badgers' luck appears to have run out. The Spartans manage to do what the Pac-10 could not, giving Wisconsin its first loss, and bringing the Big 10 into a three-way tie for first with Ohio State.
Week 7 Standings:
Big East
#4 UConn 14-0
#10 Georgetown 13-1
#13 West Virginia 13-1
#23 Pittsburgh 12-2
#21 Syracuse 11-3
#19 Villanova 11-3
#24 Louisville 9-5
Cincinnati 5-9
St. Johns 3-11
Seton Hall 3-11
Big 12
#6 Kansas 13-1
#22 Missouri 11-3
#9 Kansas St. 10-4
#16 Texas 10-4
Texas A&M 9-5
Oklahoma St. 9-5
Baylor 9-5
Oklahoma 5-9
Texas Tech 1-13
Colorado 1-13
ACC
#2 North Carolina 14-0
#3 Duke 14-0
#15 Maryland 12-2
Miami 10-4
Clemson 9-5
Virginia Tech 8-6
Boston College 8-6
Florida St. 4-10
Virginia 1-13
NC St. 1-13
Big Ten
#5 Ohio State 13-1
#11 Wisconsin 13-1
#12 Michigan St. 13-1
Illinois 11-3
Minnesota 8-6
Indiana 8-6
Purdue 2-12
Penn St. 2-12
Iowa 1-13
Michigan 0-14
Pac Ten
#7 UCLA 12-2
Arizona 10-4
USC 9-5
California 8-6
Arizona St. 8-6
Washington 7-7
Washington St. 5-9
Stanford 4-10
Oregon 4-10
Oregon St. 2-12
SEC
#17 Kentucky 11-3
South Carolina 11-3
#20 Florida 9-5
Vanderbilt 8-6
Mississippi St. 6-8
Georgia 5-9
Tennessee 4-10
Auburn 3-11
Alabama 1-13
Mississippi 1-13
Ico Ten
#8 Xavier 14-0
#1 Memphis 13-1
#18 Gonzaga 9-5
BYU 7-7
San Diego St. 6-8
UNLV 4-10
Arkansas 4-10
Northwestern 3-11
DePaul 2-12
Rutgers 0-14
Rem Ten
#14 Butler 11-3
#25 Marquette 9-5
Georgia Tech 7-7
LSU 6-8
Notre Dame 5-9
Wake Forest 4-10
Providence 3-11
Iowa St. 2-12
Nebraska 1-13
S. Florida 0-14
A few clarifications: the conferences have been realigned slightly, mostly for scheduling. Writing a schedule for 340-odd teams (and handling their games) is so not worth it, so I reduced the league to 80 teams, arranged in eight conferences of ten. The two new conferences (the Ico-10 and the Rem-10) are composed of the best non-power conference teams and the leftovers from the power conferences themselves. Each team plays its own conference twice, and their paired conference once. This year it was Big East v. Rem 10, Big 12 vs. Ico 10, ACC vs. SEC and Big 10 vs. Pac 10.
Also, you may have noticed Purdue having won only two games so far. The game has a variability generator (mostly explained through recruiting) that causes the quality of teams to fluctuate from year to year. Purdue just happened to draw a truly hideous set of recruits for all four years, so even though they have the prestige of an excellent team, they are going to play like a poor one until things balance out.
I am of course happy to answer any questions regarding the functioning of the league that may be presented, as well as to feature certain favorite teams more prominently in the 'notable games' section if there is such an interest. For the most part, this blog is for my own enjoyment, to enhance the reality of this league that I have created. If there are changes I can make for the enjoyment of others - formatting and whatnot, I'm happy to hear them.
Thanks :)
