Each week 12 ESPN writers take stock of the college basketball landscape and make a list of their top 16 or Power 16 teams in the country.
Little old Drake rolled onto the list this week at No. 14, including a 9th place vote by Pat Forde, ESPN.com senior writer.
The Bulldogs swept Creighton Wednesday night and Illinois State lost at Northern Iowa, which means Drake now has a complete hammer lock on the Missouri Valley, even with five of its last eight on the road. Get used to the reality: This team is going to the NCAA Tournament and very likely will be wearing white jerseys in its first game there. Maybe the second one, too.
Click here to take a look at the full list. Drake continues its quest for perfection in the Mo Valley Saturday at Indiana State.
Here we go again as Drake and Creighton collide tonight at the Knapp Center in Des Miones. The Dogs are now favored by 4 1/2 and if Klayton Korver continues his torrid 3 pt. shooting–look out! Drake is poised to get picked off, but if they dodge this one tonight, a loss at Indiana St. or Illinois St. will be no big deal.
The big question now is can Drake lock up an at-large bid with, say, a 25 win season? By itself a 25-W won’t likely get the job done. They’ll need two wins at the MCV Tourney in St. Louis—in my opinion!
Right now, gun to my head, Drake is going to be Inthe Big Dance.
Hopefully the only discussion that will be pertinent will be seeding. Will they be 5, 6—play inthe 8/9 game?
Jerry Crawford says the Iowa Energy are in the black. We know the Iowa Cubs are. The Stars are not and, while an AHL team will be here in Des Moines for the forseeable future, the Stars are Austin, Texas bound. Book it.
NBADL basketball is a good product. Most of these guys are still hungry and have some serviceable game. You just wish the officials were not so whistle happy. It destroys the flow of the game and 2:30 games are too long.
They have to change the 7:35p start time next year at Wells Fargo. It’s fine on Saturday night…but even Thursday 7:35ers don’t work.
Jeff Horner will never play in the NBA but he has found an advanced level of play–NBADL–and is very solid night in, night out.
Condolences to our dear friend and colleague Bob Ryan whose son Keith, 37, died on Monday in Islamabad, Pakistan. Bob Ryan has contributed to our radio shows and has made apperances on our behalf since 1993. He is a true professional and our hearts ache for Bob, his wife Elaine and the entire Ryan family.
The Masters 2008 just 10 weeks away…Can anyone deny Tiger? There is limited 4 day packages including Monday-Tuesday practice round badges, golf at Forest Hills Golf Course in North Augusta and hospitality.
Drop us an email and we’ll connect you with Masters TicketJC…a dependable sports travel concern.
Zach Johnson’s defense and Tiger launching a “Grand Slam” bid!
“Tweener Week”–the week between the NFL Conference Championships and the Super Bowl–usually a downer week for sports. Not this year with Tiger Woods’ 2008 debut on the PGA Tour at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, California.
Torrey Pines’ South course will be the site for this year US Open in June so we do get a mini-preview of the Open do we not?
Why Zach Johnson would forego this chance to tune-up for a major is eye-brow raising, but he’s not alone. Tiger has won the Buick at Torrey five times (he grew up playing here) so the concession to his Tigerness should come as to big surprise. But you could rationalize a paid series of ‘practice rounds’…NO?
Was that not a technical glitch when The Golf channel opened it’s coverage of the Buick with Kelly Tilghman’s apology for the ‘lynch Tiger’ comment? Was on my TV as the first 10 seconds or so was silence. Too bad there wasn’t a glitch when she first blurted the comment.
Tube Talk: Golf channel today and CBS both Saturday and Sunday for the Buick.
NBA Triple-header Sunday: Boston @ Orlando, Cleveland @ Los Angeles and Denver @ Dallas. Combo ABC/ESPN
College hoops: Memphis/Gonzaga Noon (East) Saturday
SoundOff Sunday night WHO TV 10:30p Think they’ll be talking Drake?
March Madness is just around the corner and once again this year the NCAA will be broadcasting all the tourney action live on the internet.
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Enjoy championship highlights, recaps, and archived video
Big wins over Crieghton and UNI have pushed the Bulldogs to #16 on the AP poll and #17 on the ESPN/USA Today rankings.
Bob Ryan’s checks in on Drake, Brady and the Super Bowl bits for January 26, 2008.
