The Emery Board: Week 9

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 9:

The Cougars are 3-0 since the beginning of 2011 and for now, Jackson Emery's reconfirmation that his team won't lose another game is upheld. BYU's week began with a trip to UNLV, where they are winless in their last five trips. In what one of the most entertaining games of the week, the Cougars fought back from an early nine-point deficit and were able to stretch the lead to 21. but the Rebels fought back and cut the lead to ten with just two minutes left. ultimately BYU prevailed, in large part to Jimmer Fredette's 39 points which included a ballsy three-pointer from deep left-field.



The win over UNLV was big, as it will likely be there toughest competition before they face No. 6 San Diego State on January 26th, which will likely be the best west coast game of the season.

Over the weekend, the Cougars defeated Air Force by ten even though Fredette scored only 22-points, his fifth lowest output of the season. BYU's next game is a Tuesday night battle on the road against their rivals Utah. The Cougars are a much better team that the Utes, but in a rivalry game of this magnitude, anything is possible.

Next Game: 1/11 at Utah
Next Potential Loss: 1/26 vs. No. 6 SDSU

Other Undefeated Teams

No. 1 Duke: 15-0
Last Win:71-64 vs. Maryland
Next Game: 1/12 at Florida State
Next Potential Loss: 1/19 at North Carolina State

The Blue Devils earned their 15th consecutive win of the season with a victory over Maryland on Sunday night. The Terps were the last team to beat Duke, when they knocked off the Blue Devils in College Park last March. The Dukies have won 25 straight since that game. On Sunday, Kyle Singler recorded his first double-double of the season with 25 points and 10 rebounds. Think about that for a second. Duke is 15-0, hands-down the best player in the country, and their best player doesn't log a double-double until January. That's scary.


Duke got good production from guards Nolan Smith, Andre Dawkins, Tyler Thornton and Seth Curry. Thornton was particularly impressive, providing a spark off the bench which helped the Blue Devils put together it's game-breaking run late in the second half. Duke's conference schedule is set up for them to be undefeated for a long time. They face FSU on the road in their next game, and follow it up with a home game against Virginia. A game at North Carolina State on January 19th looks like their toughest to date, which isn't saying a lot. Look for this team to stay undefeated for a long time.


No. 2 Ohio State: 14-0
Last Win: 67-64 vs. No. 21 Minnesota
Next Game: 1/12 at Michigan
Next Potential Loss: 1/22 at No. 22 Illinois

The Buckeyes opened up Big-Ten play with three solid performances. The crushed Indiana on the road and gutted-out a come-from-behind victory at Iowa. Being able to overcome adversity early in league-play is very important for a team with National Championship aspirations. They finished-off their week with a close, maybe even too close, win over Minnesota when Austin Hollin's three-pointer came up short and tOSU was able to escape with their undefeated record intact.


No. 3 Kansas: 15-0
Last Win: 67-60 at Michigan
Next Game: 1/12 at Iowa State
Next Potential Loss: 1/17 at Baylor

Kansas had another scare, this time courtesy of a young Michigan squad and a rowdy Ann Arbor crowd. Kansas led by as many as 15, but the Wolverines fought back thanks to some timely three-pointers and a zone defense that gave the Jayhawks fits. But in overtime, the Jayhawks pulled away and remain unbeaten.


Kansas has been in way too many close games against inferior competition. Methinks that is isn't long before they get upset. Their next game is at Iowa State in their Big-12 opener. I would not be surprised if Kansas gets stunned. But then again, I also wouldn't be surprised if the beat the Cyclones by 15+.


No. 5 Syracuse: 16-0
Last Win: 61-58 at Seton Hall
Next Game: 1/12 at St. John's
Next Potential Loss: 1/12 at St. John's

Syracuse was able to survive against Seton Hall over the weekend, despite having it's worst offensive performance of the season. Rick Jackson had only nine points, but grabbed 14 boards. Brandon Triche and Chris Joseph combined for 32 points, but the Orange scored only 20 first half points, the lowest single-half output of the season. Things don;t gett easier for 'Cuse from here. They face St. John's on Wednesday, then have to play Cincinnati, at Pitt, and against Villanova. If 'Cuse is still undefeated by January 23rd, I'd be pretty surprised.


No. 7 San Diego State: 17-0
Last Win: 71-62 at Utah
Next Game: 1/12 vs. UNLV
Next Potential Loss: 1/12 vs. UNLV

The Aztecs remain unbeaten thanks to a strong road performance against Utah. SDSU struggled in the first half, as the lead changed hands 11 times. But the Aztecs held the Utes to just 4 points in the game's final eight minutes to remain unbeaten.


But SDSU now has their toughest stretch of the season in the next 20 days. They have to battle UNLV, travel to the Pit to face New Mexico, come back and play a decent Air Force team, then head to Utah of the biggest game of the season west of the Mississippi River, against No. 14 BYU. Like Syracuse, if the Aztecs make it to the end of January with no losses, I will be very surprised.


Drop-Outs

Central Florida: 13-0
First Loss: 76-71 at Houston

I did not think UCF would stay unbeaten much longer, but I did not see them losing to a Huston team that has loses to LSU, Texas-San Antonio and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Golden Knights had just beaten Marshall in an emotional game following coach Donnie Jones' return to the school he left last year. UCF has a week off before their next game, against fellow-Conference-USA surprise Southern Miss, and I can imagine that the Golden Knights would have loved to go into the week-off with a 2-0 conference record. Instead, they are 1-1 and have their first loss of the season.

Cincinnati: 14-0
First Loss: 72-61 at Villanova

We all knew the Bearcats wouldn't be unbeaten much longer. Their past two games were the toughest of the season, defeating Xavier in the cross-town rivalry game, then going to Philadelphia to take on one of the Big East elites. This wasn't a bad loss for the Bearcats, and although they now have a tally in the loss-column, they still have potential for Big-East success this season.

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.


Alcorn State: 0-13
Next Game: 1/10 at Grambling State (3-12)
First Potential Win: 1/10 at Grambling State (3-12)

Arkansas-Pine Bluff: 0-14
Next Game: 1/10 vs. Alabama A&M (5-7)
First Potential Win: 1/15 at Southern (2-13)

Centenary: 0-17
Next Game: 1/13 vs. Missouri-Kansas City (9-7)
First Potential Win: 1/15 vs. Southern Utah (4-11)

UNC Greensboro: 0-15
Next Game: 1/10 vs. Elon (7-8)
First Potential Win: 1/20 vs. Georgia Southern (4-13)