The Emery Board: Week 11

College basketball has not seen a team go undefeated since Bobby Knight's Indiana Hoosiers went 32-0 in 1975-1976. The closest we have seen since then was a Jameer Nelson-led St. Joseph's team that went 27-0 in the 2003-2004 season before losing to Xavier in the Atlantic-10 tournament. Every season a team flirts with the notion of an undefeated season, but every season that notion slowly fades as January turns to February and February turns to March. BYU's senior guard Jackson Emery, has made the bold prediction that his team, a Cougar squad that finished with a 27-4 record last season, will in fact go undefeated this season.

We have decided that, in honor of Emery's swagger, we will keep a watch on the BYU Cougar's schedule, see if they can walk-the-walk. We will also keep tabs on any other undefeated teams who try to make a run at the perfect season.


Week 11:
Jimmer Fredette continued on his path of swag-destruction, this time dropping 42-large on Colorado State. Jimmer continues to keep his name in the discussion for National Player of the Year. How can you not vote for him when he hits shots like these:



The Cougars got past the trap game and now face SDSU in the Mountain West game of the year on Thursday. Will Jimmer be able to drop 30? I'm not sure, but I bet a lot of people will tune in to find out.

Next Game: 1/26 vs. No.5 SDSU
Next Potential Loss: 1/26 vs. No.5 SDSU


Other Undefeated Teams

No. 1 Ohio State: 20-0 (7-0)
Last Win: 73-68 at No.22 Illinois
Next Game: 1/25 vs. No.13 Purdue
Next Potential Loss: 1/25 vs. No.13 Purdue

Can anybody stop Jared Sullinger and the Buckeyes? I'm not sure anybody in the Big-10 can. The Buckeyes' next game is against Purdue, and the match-up between Sullinger and Ja'Juan Johnson is going to be the key to victory for both teams. If tOSU can win, it's likey that they stay undefeated until mid-February, when they hit their toughest stretch of the season (at No.19 Minnesota, at No.17 Wisconsin, vs. No.18 Michigan State, vs. No.22 Illinois).


No. 6 San Diego State: 20-0 (5-0)
Last Win: 68-55 vs. Air Force
Next Game: 1/26 at No.9 BYU
Next Potential Loss: 1/26 at No.9 BYU

I think it's safe to say that nobody, not even die-hard Aztec fans thought they would be undefeated at this point in the season. But the 20 wins they have amassed doesn't matter anymore because they have their biggest game of the season on thursday, when they travel to the Marriott Center to take on BYU, in that marquee game-of-the-week. The question on everybody's minds is: how can they shut down Jimmer Fredette? I'm not sure you can shut him down. Your best bet is to try and contain him, and the Aztecs have a couple of different guys they can put on Fredette. This game is of must-watch status.


Drop-Outs

No. 2 Kansas: 17-0
first loss: 63-74 vs. No.11 Texas

Kansas lost their first home game in 69 tries against a hot Texas team. The Jayhawks got out to a quick lead, but were couldn't keep up with the Longhorns in the second half. I still think Kansas is a top-5 team, but they have shown the inability to put teams away.


No. 5 Syracuse: 18-2
First loss: 66-74 at No.4 Pitt, 72-83 vs. No.7 Villanova

Inconsistency is Syracuse's biggest problem, and was made evident in the 19-0 run, then 17-0 run that occurred in the game against Pitt. Well the same thing happened against 'Nova. Syracuse needs to find consistency in order to be considered a Final Four team. They are still a Big East contender, but that list changes virtually every week.


The Bottom of the Barrel:

It would be rude of us to include the "have's" and but not the "have-not's". After all, planetary balance is very essential. For every team that hasn't lost a game, there has to be a team still fighting for their first win.



Centenary: 0-21 (0-9)
Next Game: 1/27 at IPFW (1-7, 6-3)
First Potential Win: 2/10 at Southern Utah (6-13, 3-6)

Centenary continues to lose games and it doesn't look like it s going to change any time soon. Their bet chance will come on February 10th when they face a Southern Utah team that already beat them 88-75. Don't be surprised if Centenary doesn't win a single game this season.