We are almost at the halfway point in the 2014-2015 college basketball campaign and with it comes the beginning of conference play. When every contest is between teams you are more familiar with than some of your cousins. There are no more Grand Canyon University Antelopes for Kentucky to prey on and Duke no longer gets to stay in Durham to mercilessly manhandle the Furman Paladin. Teams have to actually travel now and play some true road games in nasty environments. While teams have a record up to this point, there still needs to be some evaluation as to whether they will find success for the rest of the season or if they are resume up to this point is just a façade. Here is a breakdown on if some of the teams that have had success so far this season are for real or just posers.
#11 Texas Longhorns (12-2, 1-0 Big 12): CONTENDER
Texas has certainly had a thrilling non-conference slate to say the least. It involved a clean sweep over Iowa and Cal at the Garden to win the 2K Classic tournament, a buzzer beater from the corner to steal a win at UConn, and a brutal fight at Rupp Arena against the best team in the country in which they ultimately came up short in. A tough home overtime loss to a dangerous Stanford team is not how Rick Barnes wanted to end December but he has to be content with how his young freshman Myles Turner is developing. Not to mention all this was done with out arguably their most important player, point guard Isaiah Taylor. If he is on the court in Lexington who knows how different the outcome of that game would have been. The Longhorns are deep and do not really have a weak spot. If they can remain healthy, they will compete for the Big 12 title.
#12 Maryland Terrapins (14-1, 1-0 Big 10): CONTENDER
The Terrapins look primed to do some damage in their first year in the Big 10. A 14-1 record so far with wins over Iowa State, Oklahoma State, and Michigan State is quite the resume and to make it even more impressive they have done it with out two starters from last years team. Both senior ball handler Dez Wells and former Michigan transfer Evan Smotrycz have missed quite some time with broken bones. Wells has returned just in time for conference play and joins the back court with freshman star-in-the-making Melo Trimble, who has done a phenomenal job in Dez’s absence. Smotrcyz has also returned to help support junior forward Jake Layman, who is a reliable threat from deep and can play anywhere from the 2 to the 4. Damonte Dodd is the X-factor down low and could be the difference between Maryland winning the Big 10 or just crawling their way into March. An already impressive start to the season matched with a fully healthy team equals an opportunity to enter the Big 10 in style.
#13 Kansas Jayhawks (10-2, 0-0 Big 12): PRETENDER
Kansas is Kansas and they have had at least a share of the Big 12 regular season title since Bush’s second term started. This team is different then teams though; it lacks the intangibles a team needs to be great. The pounding this team took against the likes of Kentucky and unranked Temple are no coincidences and something Bill Self has never really dealt with during his reign. Frank Mason III is a suspect leader and is not the quality of point guard that KU has had the luxury of in the past. Perry Ellis is a beast down low but its putting to much on his plate to ask him to carry this team. There is still a lot of youth that Kansas has and it is too much youth to be a real threat this season. Kelly Oubre and Cliff Alexander are both talented young men but history has shown that relying on youth to produce a majority of the offense doesn’t translate to winning (see Kentucky a few of the past seasons). This is a Kansas team that was stunned in the tourney last year and they did not get any better or more experienced, so why should we expect different results?
#17 West Virginia Mountaineers (13-1, 1-0 Big 12): CONTENDER
Another Big 12 team with an impressive record so far is the Mountaineers. Bob Huggins has done a tremendous job putting together a ridiculously competitive team a year after a few big minute guys, Eron Harris (Michigan State) and Terry Henderson (NC State) transferred. The one key piece, senior Juwan Staten, remains though and that is all that matters in Morgantown. Senior Jonathan Holton and sophomore Devin Williams have developed into nice complimentary scorers to aid Staten and Huggins has had some decent production from role players off the bench. There is only one issue I have with this team so far and that is their lackluster non-conference SOS. They haven’t beaten or even played anyone yet that is remotely as good as some teams they are about to play in the Big 12. It made me reluctant to give them a “contender” tag but Saturday’s road win over a previously undefeated TCU team, while Staten watched from the sidelines made them hop over the pretender/contender boarder. We will see if they belong on the positive side of that fence in the next week or so as they get both Iowa State and Oklahoma at home.
#14 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (14-1, 2-0 ACC): CONTENDER
The Fighting Irish are really, really good and it honestly should not come at a surprise to anyone. They have what could be the best guard play in the country with four guys who can score from the perimeter (no one shoots worse then 35% from deep) while also being a threat to get to the basket. Jerian Grant has gotten past his off the court issues for now and he has flourished on the hardwood so far this season. The senior guard is averaging 17.9ppg and 6.2 dimes and 3.1 boards a game to go with it. Senior swingman Pat Connaughton in what feels like his 12th season in South Bend, is a shooting a reliable 45% from 3 while being a beast on the boards. Demetrius Jackson and Steve Vasturia have become the essential supporters to Grant that Mike Bray was hoping for and the finished product is one darn good hoops squad. Just like most contenders, Notre Dame has some potential scary points on their teams. Their lack of size is one thing and in a conference with the likes of Jalil Okafor, Montrezl Harrell, and Jodie Meeks, that can be a huge problem. Zach Auguste cannot do it all down there by himself and Connaughton is just too undersized to stop the likes of those guys. So while they cause major matchup issues on the offensive side of the court, they could be exposed by some of the better teams in the ACC. If they are able to find some solution to stopping the bigs of their opponents then there’s no reason that that they won’t compete in the ACC this year.
#15 St. John’s Red Storm (11-3, 0-2 Big East): PRETENDER
This story has been told before: A super talented St. John’s team coached by Steve Lavin does not live up to expectations and has a disappointing season that does not include a trip to the Big Dance. It is the tired tale that seems to played out year after year and this years team is no different. Senior guard D’Angelo Harrison is a main stay and one of the most dynamic scorers in the conference, but he does not have the most sound temper or attitude and it can affect his play. Issues with Sophomore blue chipper Rysheed Jordan do not help as the teams 2nd leading scorer is not with the team right now because of “personal issues”. Chris Obekpa is one of the best if not the best shot blockers in the nation yet it all is for not if St. Johns continues to struggle to defend the perimeter. In their past two games, both against Big East opponents, the Johnnies have given up 25 to Seton Hall’s Sterling Gibbs and 28 to Butler’s Kellen Dunham. If Lavin can maybe squeeze everything he can out of Sir’Dominic Pointer and Phil Greene then maybe they have a chance to compete in the Big East, but it just does not seem likely right now.
#10 Utah Utes (12-2, 2-0 Pac-12): CONTENDER
It has been a long time since the University of Utah has been relevant in college basketball. Ever since Andrew Bogut stopped gracing the school with his presence in 2004, Utah has clawed to try and find an identity. The jump to the Pac-12 was a start and it could not have come at a better time for the program as it may be fielding its best team in school history. Guard Delon Wright is a special kind of guard who does a little bit of everything and is an above average scorer. The Utes 12-2 record is even more impressive when you recognize the fact that they have been without their other stud player, junior forward Jordan Loveridge for all but 6 of those games. Loveridge’s return solidifies the front court, which is already looking great with the emergence of freshman foreigner Jakob Poeltl. If Loveridge can manage to stay healthy and can quickly gel with Poeltl then there is no one stopping the Utes from a shot at the Pac-12 title.