POSTERIZED: "I Believe that he will dunk!"

I've said it once, and I'll say it again: Kyisean Reed is the best "two-footed" dunker in the country. He's the 2011-2012 version of John "The Masked Dunker" "Jet" Williams.

Sure, there are guys who get more hangtime leaping off of one foot, but when it comes to pure "springs", there is not a player in the country more "springy" than the Utah State forward.

Don't believe me?

Just watch what he did to some poor bloke for Louisiana Tech last night:



If we were to ask Jon Rothstein about this, he would say "So much John Williams in Kyisean Reed". And you know what? For once, he'd actually be spot on.

During our #BIAHRoadTrip, we got a chance to visit Utah State and talk with Reed, and former standout JuCo forward. We learned that aside from being a freakish athlete, he's also a really good dude.

See, it's one thing to posterize a defender in space. It's easy to get a lot of hang-time on a fast-break, alley-oop and one-on-one.

But when somebody gets #POSTERIZED down low in the paint, it's just down-right impressive.

(H/T Kraig Williams)



But was it as good as these?

Joshea Singleton, Bucknell vs. Colgate, 2/8
Kelsey Barlow, Purdue vs. Ohio State, 2/7
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Iowa State, 2/7
Roscoe Smith, UConn vs. Louisville, 2/7
Weekend Recap, 2/2 - 2/5
Jamaal Franklin, San Diego State vs. TCU, 2/4
Michael Carter-Williams, Syracuse vs. St. John's, 2/4
Kwame Alexander, Cal State-San Bernardino vs. Cal State-Dominguez Hills (D-II), 2/3
Bradley Beal, Florida vs. South Carolina, 2/2
Doug Anderson, Detroit vs. Valparaiso, 2/2
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Oklahoma, 2/1
Markel Brown, Oklahoma state vs. Texas Tech, 1/31
Royce White, Iowa State vs. Kansas State, 1/31
Savalace Townsend, Arkansas-Pine Bluff vs. Grambling State, 1/28 (DotY Candidate)
Weekend Recap, 1/25 - 1/29
Tony Wroten Jr., Washington vs. Arizona State, 1/26 (DotY Candidate)
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Dayton, 1/25
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Missouri, 1/25 (DotY Candidate)
Larry Nance Jr., Wyoming vs. San Diego State, 1/24
Dion Dixon, Cincinnati vs. Syracuse, 1/23
Victor Rudd Jr., South Florida vs. St. John's, 1/17 (DotY Candidate)
C.J. Fair, Syracuse vs. Pittsburgh, 1/16
TrayVonn Wright, North Dakota State vs. South Dakota, 1/14
Bandja Sy, New Mexico State vs. Utah State, 1/12
Kenny Hall, Tennessee vs. Mississippi State, 1/12
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Duquesne, 1/11
Kadeem Batts, Providence vs. Louisville, 1/10
Karam Mashour, UNLV vs. CS-Bakersfield, 1/6
Tony Snell, New Mexico vs. Houston Baptist, 1/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgia Tech, 1/3
Trevis Simpson, UNC-Greensboro vs. Miami, 1/2
Orion Outerbridge, Rhode Island vs. Boston College, 1/2
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Indiana, 12/31
DeShon Minnis, Texas Tech vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 12/30
Keith Gabriel, VMI vs. Old Dominion, 12/22
Eric Etherly, Loyola (Md.) vs. Kentucky, 12/22
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. Texas-Arlington, 12/21
P.J. Hairston, North Carolina vs. Texas, 12/21
Robbie Hummel, Purdue vs. IPFW, 12/20
Robert Brown, Virginia Tech vs. North Florida, 12/19
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Kansas State, 12/17
Torye Pelham, Southern Mississippi vs. Ole Miss, 12/17
Quincy Diggs, Akron vs. Florida A&M, 12/17
Anthony Davis, Kentucky vs. Chattanooga, 12/17
Langston Galloway/C.J. Aiken/Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Villanova, 12/17
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. UC-Santa Barbara, 12/16
Jared Cunningham, Oregon State vs. Howard, 12/15
Raheem Appleby, Louisiana Tech vs. McNeese State, 12/14
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Detroit, 12/12
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. UW-Green Bay, 12/11
Ronald Roberts, St. Joseph's vs. Creighton, 12/10
Dion Waiters, Syracuse vs. George Washington, 12/10 (DotY Candidate)
Victor Oladipo, Indiana vs. Kentucky, 12/10
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Georgia vs. Georgia Tech, 12/10
Vander Blue, Marquette vs. Washington, 12/6
Terrence Ross, Washington vs. Marquette, 12/6
Deville Smith, Mississippi State vs. West Virginia, 12/3
Terrence Jones, Kentucky vs. North Carolina, 12/3
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Georgetown, 12/1
Anthony Marshall, UNLV vs. UNC, 11/26
Michael Kidd-Glichrist, Kentucky vs. Portland, 11/26/11 (DotY Candidate)
Markel Brown, Oklahoma State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/25
Rodney Williams, Minnesota vs. DePaul, 11/24
Thomas Robinson, Kansas vs. Duke, 11/23
Stan Okoye, VMI vs. Ohio State, 11/23
Kyisean Reed, Utah State vs. Southern Utah, 11/19
Ra'Shad James, Iona vs. Western Michigan, 11/18
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Olek Czyz, Nevada vs. Pacific, 11/17
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Ray Willis, North Carolina Central vs. Wagner, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26

Continue reading...

Pics/Vids: Game 13 - Utah State vs. Hawaii

Thursday, January 26th
Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum, Utah State University
Utah State 77, Hawaii 72

Game 12 - Kansas vs. Texas A&M
Game 11 - Oral Roberts vs. Oakland
Game 10 - Oklahoma State vs. Kansas State
Game 9 - Missouri State vs. Creighton
Game 8 - Missouri vs. Texas A&M
Game 7 - Wisconsin vs. Nebraska
Game 6 - Marquette vs. Pittsburgh
Game 5 - Butler vs. Cleveland State
Game 4 - Indiana vs. Minnesota
Game 3 - Xavier vs. Duquesne
Game 2 - Kentucky vs. South Carolina
Game 1 - Belmont vs. Lipscomb

(The Utah State student section experience.)

(The Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum, or just "The Spectrum" from the outside.)

(The arena is named after Smith, the owner and founder of Smith's Food and Drugs, a massive chain of pharmacy/supermarket in the northwest.)

("Wild" Bill Sproat, arguably the best super-fan in the country, greeted us inside The Spectrum. He definitely supports the cause.)

(The University presented Bill with this custom jersey after he survived a serious heart condition which but him in a coma for 15 days in 2009.)

(The scene inside The Spectrum during shootaround.)

(Pi'i Minns gets a good stretch in during shootaround.)

(The USU student section starts to fill up during shootaround. This is just one of three seating sections occupied by students.)

(Davis Rositis, far right, gets a calf stretch in, while the rest of his team waits in lay-up lines.)

(The Aggies loosen up before the game.)

(The USU student section arrived about an hour before tip-off. Of the 13 games we visited, no student section was as dedicated or as prepared as USU. Oral Roberts was a close second.)

(The Aggies go through pregame shootaround prior to tip-off.)

(Bobby Miles shows his game-face during pregame shootaround.)

(The Aggies take some shots during shootaround.)

(The students look on as the Aggies prepare for the contest.)

(Player introductions for the Hawaii Warriors.)

(The second of three USU student sections.)

(Brockeith Pane launches a 3-pointer during warm-ups as Hawaii huddles-up in the background.)

(The two teams get ready for the opening tip.)

(No school does a better "I believe that we will win" chant that Utah State.)

("Wild" Bill grills one of the referees. Poor officiating was a common occurrence during the game on Thursday night.)

(The Warriors huddle up during the first media timeout. the teams traded buckets back and forth for the first few minutes.)

(Aggies head coach Stew Morrill looks on during the first half.)

(The students wave flags to distract shooters. I felt like I was watching an Italian futbol match, not an American college basketball game.)

(Utah State guard Preston Medlin was rockin' a fresh pair of Jordan kicks. He was the only person on the floor rockin' Jordans.)

(Hawaii center Davis Rositis waits at the scorers table to check in to the game.)

(Oh crap, Bill spotted me.)

(Bill points out the Hawaii player that committed a foul.)

("Big Blue" helps the students get fired up.)

(That's the signal for Preston Medlin. Bill said he and Preston came up with it during the lsat offseason. Now all the students throw it up when he scores.)

(Utah State fans sing their school fight song, "The Scotsman".)

(Assistants have to restrain Gib Arnold from the referees after a bad call. The game was plagued with bad calls and poor officiating.)

(Brockieth Pane lines up to take a foul shot.)

("Big Blue" and Bill lead the student section during a foul shot.)

(I think this one is self-explanatory.)

(You know The Spectrum is getting rowdy when Bill stands up on the railing.)

(Hawaii's final possession before halftime.)

(Joston Thomas, a DC-native, waits for the in-bounds pass.)

(Bill reminds one of the Hawaii players "Not in my house".)

("Big Blue" rappells from the rafters during the halftime routine.)

(The cheerleaders, along with "Big Blue" finish off their routine.)

(Utah State misses a shot, Hawaii gets the rebound but turns over the ball, which leads to a fast break dunk by Preston Medlin.)

(The USU bench is fired up at the start of a media timeout.)

(Is that Dom from "Entourage"? Nah, it's just USU assistant coach Chris Jones. But the resemblance is uncanny.)

(The best "Winning Team, Losing Team" chant in all of college basketball".)

(Late in the game, Hawaii went to an offense/defense lineup. The defensive unit waits to check in to the game.)

(Self explanitory.)

Continue reading...

Kyisean Reed is the latest in a line of second chance stories at Utah State

You can find the rest of the features from the #BIAHRoadTrip here

LOGAN, UT - Stew Morrill has built Utah State into a power in the WAC. They've won seven regular season titles since 2000 and made eight NCAA Tournaments in that time. To get an idea of the level that this program has reached, think about this: they packed the 10,270 seat Dee Glen Smith Spectrum at more than 80% capacity -- over 90% capacity in the 4,000 seat student section -- in a down year and it was still considered a mediocre crowd.

Granted, he did take over a team coming off of an NCAA Tournament appearance in 1998, but before Larry Eustachy built that team into a winner, the Aggies hadn't been to an NCAA Tournament in a decade. Recruiting players to spend the winter in Logan, UT, a small town in the northeast corner of Utah that sits squarely in one of the most religious areas of our country, is not an easy sell.

Which is why Morrill has to take some risks.

And those risks don't always pan out.
Continue reading...

#BIAHRoadTrip The Diary Part XV - Final Destination

4:45PM Day 22
Somewhere on I-80
Somewhere in Nebraska
Total Miles; 4,781

Road Trip Part-I
Road Trip Part-II
Road Trip Part-III
Road Trip Part-IV
Road Trip Part-V
Road Trip Part-VI
Road Trip Part-VII
Road Trip Part-VIII
Road Trip Part-IX
Road Trip Part-X
Road Trip Part-XI
Road Trip Part-XII
Road Trip Part-XIII
Road Trip Part-XIV


There's a reason we didn't end our road trip in Lawrence, KS. There's a reason we didn't call it quits after 2,500 miles, 20 days and 12 games.

The Utah State student section. That's what was the driving force behind the creation of this trip.

After 20 grueling days and 3,500 miles, we finally made it to Logan, UT.

And I can honestly say that the entire experience met and exceeded every single expectation I had.

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After a treacherous 11-hour drive from Denver, which featured some of the most beautiful landscape I've ever seen, we arrived in Logan, UT, a tiny mountain town in the most northeastern part of state, about two hours from Salt Lake City.

After getting caught up with work on Thursday morning, we set out to find ourselves some lunch. We stumbled upon "Logan's Heroes", a tiny, nondescript deli located at the corner of Main Street and 1st Street.

Listen, Rob is from the NYC-metro area and I'm from the DC-metro area, so we know a good deli when we see it. This didn't look like a good deli. But after 15 minutes, some good chatter with the owner, who told us what to get, we were sold.

By the time I was done eating, I was thoroughly convinced that if I lived in Logan, this would be my go-to spot for lunch every day.

Next to the Yellow Sub in Lawrence, KS this was the best sandwich I've had all trip. Friendly people, and fantastic food in a quaint environment. Check, check and check.

After getting more work done in our hotel room, we met up with our host-for-the-day, Kraig Williams of the Deseret News, at "Mo' Bettah Steaks", a Hawaiian steakhouse. Yeah, I know, Hawaiian food in Utah probably doesn't sound too appetizing, but the Steak-n-Pork combo was off-the-charts good.

Rob can attest to this. "I feel like I could drink an entire bottle of the terayaki sauce."

We hadn't even stepped foot on Utah State's campus, and our expectations of Logan had already been exceeded.

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If you know anything about Utah State and their student section, then you know about "Wild" Bill Sproat. He's the larger-than-life super-fan who ESPN has gone ga-ga over because of his innovative costumes and creative free-throw distractions.

We figured that by the end of the night, maybe we'd get the chance to say hello to him and take a picture with him.

That's it, that's all.

But when we walked through the front door to the D. Glenn Smith Spectrum, I bet you can guess who the first person we ran into was.

Donning his custom #22 "Wild Bill" Utah State jersey, Sproat greeted us and talked to us for a good 20 minutes about his background, the school, the team, and well, just about everything in between.

Rob profiled Sproat, so I'll let him go into detail about it, but let me just tell you that even Bill exceeded my expectations.

He's just an all-around awesome guy. He's one helluva story-teller, hilarious as all get out, and is as friendly and as welcoming as anybody we've encountered on our trip.

But Sproat warned us that the turnout may not be great.

Utah State is in a "down year", having graduated six seniors after last season, and the students had just come back from Winter Break. He wasn't sure we'd be viewing the best atmosphere.

But if you've watched a Utah State game on TV, then you know that even a marginal effort by the student section is bigger and louder than most full capacity BCS-conference student sections.

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Sure, the arena wasn't packed to the brim. There were a decent amount of seats, colored in 70s-themed orange and yellow, that were still empty. The student section, which can fill up to about 4,000 students, was only about 80% filled.

Regardless, it was pandemonium. There was a buzz circulating throughout the Spectrum prior to tip-off. The students piled in, sprinting in order to get the best seats behind the basket. For 45 minutes prior to tip-off, the students hung out in their seats, like they were seats at the best bar in town. There were hi-fives, slow-claps, costumes, cheers, boos, everything you could imagine.

While we took in the scene, we were met by numerous different students and staff members who had heard about our trip and were surprised to see we were making a stop in Logan. We told them, much to their surprise, that we were there to see them.

"This is why we decided to make the road trip. We are here to see you guys in action."

I talked to the head of The Hurd, the organization that handles all the student section planning and preparations. I talked to him about their coordination, planning new chants, and the reputation of their student section.

I have to say, I was sorta taken back at everybody's, well, hesitation to admit that they had the best student section in the country. Because, it's a well-known fact amongst us media-type that no school does it quite like Utah State.

"The casual fan thinks Duke or Kansas has the best students. But any knowledgeable hoops-head should know that you guys do it the best" I said.

I was met with a half-puzzled, half-pleased reaction.

Maybe they weren't aware that ESPN broadcasts to states outside of Utah, or maybe they just didn't realize that most colleges don't have a student section nearly as passionate, coordinated and rowdy as them. After all, you wouldn't expect it from a tiny WAC school in northeast Utah.
-----------------------------------------------------------

Before we settled in to our seats on press row, we made sure to get involved in the "I Believe We Will Win" chant. It's legendary.

Sure, a lot of different schools do it, but theirs is the best. It's so good in fact, it was sampled for a hip-hop music video.




"Wild Bill" pulled Rob into the front row, and well, we were off.




This was why we drove 2,500 miles. Why we left our jobs and families for 22 days.

The game was riddled with fouls, but featured the ebbs and flows that cause a student section to erupt several times.

That's one of my favorite parts of the college game.

That momentum-swinging three-pointer, followed by a timeout. There aren't many moments in hoops that are better than that. The whole place goes crazy, and at Utah State they don't go crazy, they go bonkers, berserk, and border on clinical insanity.

I need to once again point out how stunned I was with the quality of the dance team/cheerleaders. At this point, we'd been to Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas. Schools with big student bodies and extremely-attractive co-eds.

My expectations for the USU cheerleaders were not very high.

I mean, come on, what should I have expected? It's a well-known fact that the cheerleading squads at smaller/private/religious schools just aren't at the same level of say, Pac-12 or SEC squads.

I can firmly say that they exceeded expectations. And for what seems like the bajillionth time on this trip, I cursed myself for attending a small liberal arts college on the East Coast.

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When the game finished up, we tried to get from press row to the locker room in order to interview some players. But to our amazement, we were greeted by several different waves of students, thanking us for making the trip to Logan and apologizing about the quality of game and student support.

"Are you kidding me?" I said to one fan. "If this was a 'down game', I don't know if my ear-drums could handle a game against BYU or Utah. You guys are the best."



It seemed like wave after wave of fans came over to greet us. It was amazing. I legitimately felt like a celebrity. But it didn't end with the students. Other writers and reporters knew who we were.

"Oh, you must be the travelling bloggers." said one writer. "Are you one of the guys doing the road trip? I recognized you from the videos. Great stuff." Said another.

Like before, my expectations were not only met but completely exceeded.

But once again, it didn't end there.
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Right before we were about to head up the ramp into the locker room, we ran in to "Wild" Bill again, who invited us to attend a post-game meal at "Angie's Diner: Where The Locals Eat". He said that most of the players and fans meet up there to get some grub following a home game.

I was sold.

I didn't want any of this to end.

Angie's is your standard-issue college-town diner. Lots of booths, lots of fatty foods.

When we walked in, the place was packed. I saw a booth-full of fans turn and look to see who was entering. One of of them turned to their friends and said "Those are the guys from Ballin' is a Habit" right when we walked in.

If you know anything about me, you know I have, or at least pretend to have a fairly large ego. I played goalie in high school and college, the only individual position in a team sport. I don't like sharing fame or attention. I don't want to be one of seven midfielders. I want to be one of one goalies. Hell, I practically got a degree in Narcissism. I am the youngest of three in my family. I want all eyes on me.

But as much as I want it, it rarely ever happens. So for those four hours on a Thursday night 4,500 miles away from my hometown, I felt like a rock-star.

When we joined Sproat and his crew of eight guys at the back table, we were welcomed with open-arms. For 45 minutes we heard stories, told stories, ate triple cheese-burgers, drank artery-clogging milkshakes, and watched Sproat interact with everybody that walked past us.

When a group of girls walked by, Sproat stopped them and tried to introduce them to us, but apparently they already knew who we were.

"You are the guys from Ballin' is a Habit, right? the road trip guys right?"

And there I am, once again dumbfounded that these people know who I am, starring at a pack of college girls like I'm a 18-year-old freshman.....with vanilla milkshake dribbling down my lip.

Nice, Troy. Nice.

After we finished our food, and discussed including "Wild" Bill in Season-II of the #BIAHRoadTrip, along with Drew Franklin of Kentucky Sports Radio (We are going to make this happen), we said our goodbyes and went back to our hotel.

But not before Sproat filled us in on the two new costumes he is going to unveil later in the season. I've been sworn to secrecy, but honestly, it's better if you just wait.

It's going to border on legendary-status.

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So that's it. That's why we traveled damn-near across the country.

Was it worth it?

Well let's see.

I don't know how I'm going to pay rent next month, In fact, I currently have less than $200 to my name. I haven't talked to my boss in 20 days, haven't done laundry in 15 days, and don't know if my apartment is still standing. My family probably thinks I'm dead, I'm not sure if anybody has fed my dog in three weeks and I will probably have to replace my car in the near future.

So, what it worth it?

Absolutely. 1000% I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

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A few news and notes:

- "Wild" Bill needs your help.

See, he's ran into a bit of a social networking problem. He had a solid Twitter account, but over time he forgot what his password was.

Unfortunately, he also forgot what the password was for the email account connected to the Twitter account. He needs the help of somebody with the computer skills to hack in to Twitter and get his account information.

Bill would do it for you, so please, do it for him

Contact us at ContactBIAH@gmail.com so we can help him out.


- This isn't our last Diary entry. We are grinding out a 34-hour drive back to Washington, D.C. and will update you on our long road home. We already have one EPIC early morning story to recant to you.

So stay tuned.
Continue reading...

Logan's Hero: Meeting "Wild Bill"

LOGAN, UT - Jenn Sterger isn't the only college fan sports fan that has used skimpy outfits to parlay face time on ESPN into fame.

Utah State superfan "Wild Bill" Sproat is easily recognizable. He's the big-bellied Aggie fan that has become a cult icon for his costumes, which range from a teapot to a hula dancer. Since Utah State plays in the WAC, Wild Bill's prominent spot directly behind the basket earned him plenty of TV time and, given the uniqueness of his appearance and his outfits, plenty of attention. He left the 2010 WAC Tournament early to fly to ESPNU studios in Charlotte, flying back out to Spokane for USU's NCAA Tournament appearance. After that trip, he immediately joined up with MTV's show "Thrill Billies", traveling around the country with Travis Pastrana and his crew.
Continue reading...

POSTERIZED: Kyisean Reed dunks at warp speed

It's very rare to see such an athletic and explosive dunk off of two feet. In fact, its' down-right rare that you see somebody get to the hoop this quickly and forcfully from so far away.

The only way to get to the rim as powerful as Utah State's Kyisean Reed is to hit warp speed.

Reed most certainly hit warp speed.



That's nasty. Just nasty.

This may in fact be the best single-game #POSTERIZED performance we've seen this season so far.


But was it as good as these?
Alandise Harris, Houston vs. Arkansas, 11/18
Sam Thompson, Ohio State vs. Jackson State, 11/18
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Wichita State, 11/18
Eric Griffin, Campbell vs. North Carolina A&T, 11/18 (DotY Candidate)
Chris Watson, Pikeville vs. Mountain State, 11/16
Mike James, Lamar vs. Ohio, 11/15 (DotY Candidate)
Quincy Acy, Baylor vs. San Diego State, 11/15
Deniz Kilicli, West Virginia vs. Kent State, 11/15
Chris Evans, Kent State vs. West Virginia, 11/15
Tony Mitchell, Alabama vs. Oakland, 11/14
Isaiah Brown, East Tennessee State vs. Virginia Tech, 11/12
Michael Lyons, Air Force vs. Army, 11/11
Dezmine Wells, Xavier vs. Morgan State, 11/11
Jeremy Lamb, UConn vs. Columbia, 11/11 (DotY Candidate)
Andre Drummond, UConn vs. CW Post, 11/4
Moe Harkless, St. John's vs. CW Post, 10/26


Continue reading...

Wild Bill drops some knowledge on "Occupy the Spectrum", Utah State's BYU camp out

Utah State kicks off their season at 9:05 tonight against heated in-state rival BYU, and as you might expect, the fans -- those fans we all know and love oh-so-much -- are quite fired up for the game.

How much so?

Thousands of them camped out, arriving as early as 3:00 am on Wednesday, in temperatures that reached down into the teens for the right to sit at the front of the student section Friday night. The Spectrum reserves about 4,000 seats for students, but for big games such as BYU, those seats go relatively quickly. Hence the camping. Here, let Wild Bill educate you:



It gets better. BYU showed up at The Spectrum at some point last night, and they were greeted by a raucous crowd screaming "Welcome to hell!":



You see this? All of this?

This is why we are taking a road trip to The Spectrum this year.

No more explanation necessary.
Continue reading...

2011-2012 Season Preview: What's the opposite of a "sleeper"?

Last week, we gave you a list of teams that we believed are primed to have a season that will be better than we expect. But for every team that exceeds expectations, there is a team that fails to live up to the hype. Every season there is at least one team in each conference that underwhelms, disappoints, implodes or regresses. We are here to take a look at the teams we think will do just that this season.

But first, please note that we aren't hating on any of the teams here. We are simply trying to project a teams lack of success based on conference strength, lack of experience, lack of roster depth and so on. We are just trying to do our jobs. After all, not every team can go undefeated, and we aren't here to hand out "participation trophies" to all 346 teams.

Atlantic Coast Conference: Florida State
Preseason Ranking: 3rd Place
Where we ranked them: 3rd Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
The only thing working for this team is that the ACC is very thin outside of Tobacco Road. True, they do have Michael Snaer, and talented wing who has flown under the radar for a long time. But who else will step up? Who do they have to replace Chris Singleton? Okaro White should see an increase in production, but who do they have after that? Their back court is weak and their front court is thin. There really isn't anything about this team that makes me think they will be better than nine other teams.


Atlantic-10: Richmond
Preseason Ranking: 5th Place
Where we ranked them: 8th Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
After Xavier and Temple, the rest of the A-10 is a jumbled mess. So it is hard to picked a team that will underwhelm this year. But based on all the losses to the Chris Mooney's program, it is hard to see this team being too successful. Outside of Darien Brothers and Darius Garrett, this team doesn't have a terrible amount of talent. With teams like Saint Louis, St. Bonaventure's and George Washington set to breakout this season, Richmond looks like a team that will regress.


Big East: West Virginia
Preseason Ranking: 7th Place
Where we ranked them: 10th Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
This one is pretty easy. 1) They play is a 16-team mega-super-conference. 2) They return only three players from last years squad. 3) Eight freshman will suit up this season. 4) They lost their first exhibition game of the season, to Northern Kentucky (DII). West Virginia is going to be good eventually, just not right now. But the thing is, they could be even worse than expected.


Big-Ten: Purdue
Preseason Ranking: The Big-Ten does not release a preseason poll
Where we ranked them: 6th Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
What exactly do we know about Purdue? Sure, they have Robbie Hummel, but it's been a long time since he's played competitive basketball. Outside of Hummel, Purdue is full of question-marks. Who is going to be their front-court presence? Will Lewis Jackson finally start to produce? What about their depth? Luckily for the Boilermakers, the bottom of the Big-Ten is pretty dreadful, so a 6th-8th place finish is probably a reasonable expectation;.


Big-XII: Kansas
Preseason Ranking: 1st Place (Tie)
Where we ranked them: 2nd Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
If Kansas finishes anywhere in the top three in the conference, Bill Self should win Big-XII Coach of the Year honors. This team has almost no depth whatsoever, and the guys who were supposed to be leaders, Elijah Johnson and Tyshawn Taylor, got suspended by coach Self two weeks ago for violating team rules. If teams can properly game plan to shutdown Thomas Robinson, it will be very difficult for the Jayhawks to win a lot of games.


Colonial Athletic Association: James Madison
Preseason Ranking: 5th Place
Where we ranked them: 4th Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
It's not like JMU is expected to do great things this season, but due to Denzel Bowles' graduation and Devon Moore's eligibility issue, the Dukes could be in for a long season. They do have Rayshawn Goins and Julius Wells up front, but the CAA should feature a handful of teams with talented front courts. The lack of a solid back court is going to hurt the Dukes.


Conference-USA: Central Florida
Preseason Ranking: C-USA does not conduct a preseason poll
Where we ranked them: 4th Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
This team should be good, I think. At least I want to think that they will be. But then I remember about last season's epic collapse, and the fact that they're, well, Central Florida. This team is like a drug addiction. The highs are great, and the lows are absolutely miserable. That's how the 2011-2012 season will play out. Plus, @DanWolken won't stop chirping about UCF, and he's rarely wrong. I think.


Horizon League: Detroit
Preseason Ranking: 2nd Place
Where we ranked them: 2nd Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
When Eli Holman left the program two months ago, it was a huge blow to the Detroit program. He was the guy that would put them over the edge this year. Ray McCallum may be the team's star, but Holman was their top front court producer, averaging nearly a double-double per game. In a mid-major conference like the Horizon League, having an elite big-man can put a team over the edge. The Titans won't be terrible this season, they'll be somewhere around the top four or five. But without Holman up front, they will struggle to assert themselves as legitimate contenders for the Horizon League crown


Missouri Valley Conference: Creighton
Preseason Ranking: 1st Place
Where we ranked them: 1st Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
OK, OK, just hear me out. I don't doubt that this team is the best in the MVC, but, like, who is going to play defense this year? Last season they ranked 187th in the conutry in defensive efficiency. Sure, they have more talent than any other team in the conference, but with the expectations that are being placed on them this season, anything less than a perfect conference record would have to be considered a disappointment.


Mountain West Conference: UNLV
Preseason Ranking: 2nd
Where we ranked them: 2nd
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
The Mountain West is going to stink this season, and since UNLV will be good, but not nearly as good as New Mexico, I have to list the Runnin' Rebels here. Teams like SDSU and Colorado State aren't expected to do anything special, so it's impossible for them to fail. UNLV doesn't have anything to gain, other than winning a really sub-par conference.


Pac-12: Arizona
Preseason Ranking: 3rd Place
Where we ranked them: 1st Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
Unless you're John Calipari, it's rather difficult to ask freshman to carry the bulk of the workload for a top-level BCS-conference program, and that's exactly what Sean Miller is going to have to do this season. With Derrick Williams gone to the NBA Lockout, MoMo Jones gone to Iona, and Kevin Parrom still recovering from bullet wounds, the Wildcats are going to need a lot of production from their standout freshman class. But the Pac-12 will be much better than in recent seasons, and it just seems like a tall order for this squad. Plus, they lost an exhibition game to Seattle-Pacific. That doesn't exactly help their cause.


Southeastern Conference: Vanderbilt
Preseason Ranking: 2nd Place
Where we ranked them: 2nd Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
The Commodores lack that killer instinct that great teams need to possess. Last season, they were 1-5 in games decided by three points or less and and seven losses were by four points or less or in overtime. Factor in the back-to-back first round exits in the NCAA Tournament, and the injury to Festus Ezeli, and you have a team primed to disappoint. This team has serious talent, and have a bunch of experienced players. But the problem is that none of these experienced players have any experience winning close games. You kinda have to be able to do that if you want to keep playing games late into March.


Western Athletic Conference: Utah State
Preseason Ranking: 3rd Place
Where we ranked them: 3rd Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
The Aggies have had a stranglehold on the WAC for the last couple of seasons, but their grip could start to loosen this season. While they do return Brockeith Payne, one of the conference's top players, Utah State lost a lot of veteran leadership and front court production. Gone is Taj Wesley, their All-Conference center, Brian Green, their crafty distributor and key contributors like Nate Bendall, Tyler Newbold and Pooh Williams. Even with guys like Payne and forward Brady Jardine, this team has to find out what they have rather quickly.


West Coast Conference: BYU
Preseason Ranking: 3rd Place
Where we ranked them: 3rd Place
Why we think they won't do as well as expected:
They don't have Jimmer Fredette anymore, do they? Jimmer put this team over the top. Sure, they have a solid crop of experienced players in Brandon Davies, Noah Hartsock, Chris Collinsworth and Charles Abouo, but without Jimmer, this team simply wont be the same. This season could turn out to be a huge wake-up call for the Cougars.


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Is Utah State's 2-for-1 deal with Mississippi State a result of the WAC's collapse?

When the topic of prominent programs outside of the BCS conferences comes up, the conversation usually involves Butler, Gonzaga, Xavier, Memphis, and/or BYU.

One name that never pops up?

Utah State.

The Aggies probably deserve more credit than they get nationally. In the past 12 seasons, the Aggies have gone to eight NCAA Tournaments and four NIT's, they've won seven conference regular season titles and finished second in three other seasons, and they've won six conference tournament titles. The Aggies have not won fewer than 23 games during that stretch, notching an overall record of 309-90 (.774 win percentage). More impressive, however, is their 193-13 mark at home during Morrill's tenure.


If we're talking regular season dominance, there aren't many programs that can match the Aggies. The problem? They are completely devoid of postseason success on a national scale. Of the eight NCAA Tournaments and four NIT's that Utah State has been to the past 12 years, only once have the Aggies advanced out of the first round. That was in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, when 12th-seeded Utah State knocked off Ohio State in the opening round before losing to UCLA.

Its not necessarily unexpected, however. Despite their success from November to February, the Aggies have only once been seeded higher than 12th in their eight tournament trips, and that was in 2009 when they earned an 11 seed.

The issue is in their scheduling. That home court dominance -- which is fueled by one of, if not the best student section in college basketball -- makes high-major teams that rarely travel to play mid-majors terrified of playing in Logan. And Morrill has been steadfast in his proclamations of traveling to play a non-conference game only if the Aggies get a home game in return.

Its possible, however, that Morrill may be changing his stance on non-conference games.

First, he took his team to DC to take on Georgetown back in December with no promise of a return game. And now, according to Tony Jones of the Salt Lake Tribune, Morrill has signed on for a 2-for-1 with Mississippi State. The Aggies will travel to Starkville to play this coming season, followed by a year off before the Bulldogs return the favor by playing in The Spectrum.

Its an interesting move for Morrill to make. For starters, it gives the Aggies a much tougher non-conference schedule than they have had in recent years. In addition to the game at Mississippi State, USU plays BYU at home, Wichita State on the road, likely road dates against Long Beach State and Weber State, and a potential matchup against Kent State in the final of the Gossner Tournament hosted in Logan. This will also be a much younger Utah State team than we are used to seeing. They graduated six of the seven players from last season's rotation.

If Morrill is fed up with losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, then scheduling games like this is the way to try and ensure a higher seed. Its also a risk. Winning road games will increase a team's RPI and earn a higher seed, but winning on the road isn't easy. Losing those games would hurt the Aggies more than winning against a lesser opponent at home.

Its more likely that Morrill is hedging his bet. USU plays in the WAC, a league that has gotten the worst of conference realignment. Boise State is heading to the Mountain West for the 2011-2012 season while Fresno State and Nevada will be gone by 2012-2013. In their place, the WAC has added Denver, Texas-San Antonio, Seattle, and Texas State. Boise State, Fresno State, and Nevada aren't exactly competing for Final Fours, but they are significantly better than the four newcomers to the league.

Utah State has earned two at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament in recent years, but that didn't come without dominating their league during the regular season, blowing away a weak non-conference schedule, and a stress-filled Selection Sunday.

If Morrill wants to continue to put his program in a position to get into the NCAA Tournament without winning the automatic bid, he's going to have to start taking some bigger risks in non-conference play.
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Playing for a Utah state title? Yes, please!

College hoops in the state of Utah is currently in the midst of some drastic changes.

BYU not only loses the most popular Mormon this side of Joseph Smith, Jr, but the Cougars are leaving the Mountain West for the WCC. Utah's changing conferences as well, heading to the newly-named Pac-12. Utah State hasn't left the WAC quite yet, but Nevada, Fresno State, and Boise State all have. The only constant is Weber State, who is a favorite to win the Big Sky next season.

Basketball fans in Utah are rabid which is part of what makes the rivalries between the in-state programs so intense. But with the changes in conference affiliation, there is no guarantee that these rivalries last. Take Utah and Utah State, for example. A game that has been played every season since 1944-1945 and 223 times since 1908 won't take place in the upcoming year. With the Utes moving to the Pac-12 an adding a couple of conference games, there isn't room for the Aggies, who were scheduled to play host the game this season. Utah is also apparently worried about scheduling tough, non-conference road games playing in a stronger (Is the Pac-12 actually going to be stronger than last year's MWC?) league.

BYU and Utah saved some face. The two schools signed a four-year contract guaranteeing that they would play each other once each year in mid-December. But mid-December games -- when the students may or may not be on campus -- don't really hold the same kind of intensity as conference rivals battling in late February.

But according to the Deseret News, Utah AD Chris Hill has some interesting ideas about how to keep the rivalries afloat:

As such, he's floated an idea with Utah Jazz officials and BYU athletics director Tom Holmoe about bringing the Utes, Cougars, Aggies and Weber State together at EnergySolutions Arena to start each season in an effort to build some excitement and allow the teams to play each other. The Utes are contractually committed to playing at Weber State in 2011, but there is no agreement between the Wildcats and Utes beyond this year.

Umm, YES!

This would be AWESOME!

Play a two-day tournament. Make the tournament be for the "state title". Put something on the line. You don't think that would pique the interest of fans? Being able to have state-wide bragging rights for an entire season? I would certainly watch it, and I live on the other side of the country.

Colleges don't capitalize on regional rivalries like this enough anymore. Indiana is trying to do it, as Butler, Notre Dame, IU, and Purdue are playing in the Crossroads Classic. But that is simply a double-header. Its not a tournament. As everyone knows, tournaments are always more fun than regular games.

So take advantage of this, Utah!

You could build yourself a marquee event in December, something that you don't see often in college hoops.
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POSTERIZED: "The Dean of Mean" Brady Jardine

I don't think I have ever seen anybody throw down a dunk this ferocious while being mugged at the same time.

This very well may be the future poster-child for poster-dunks. The St. Mary's defender had his fist in the face of Utah State forward Brady Jardine and was grabbing a handful of his jersey as well.

But with a tournament bid hanging in the balance, Jardine took no chances, and gave the fans in Moraga (and the poor defender) one-helluva mean-mugging.



This dunk took all the wind out of the Gael's sails, and the Aggies were able to pull out a must-needed win. And from the looks of it "The Dean of Mean" took home the "Knockout of the night" award.

UPDATE: Here's a nasty .gif of Jardine's posterization



(H/T The Mock Session)

But was it as good as one of these?:

POSTERIZED - Tony Mitchell, Alabama
POSTERIZED - John Williams, UNC-Asheville
POSTERIZED - Peyton Siva, Louisville
POSTERIZED - E'Twaun Moore, Purdue
POSTERIZED - DJ Newbill, Southern Mississippi
POSTERIZED - Scotty Hopson, Tennessee
POSTERIZED - Justin Brownlee, St. John's
POSTERIZED - Tyrone Johnson
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Ross, Washington
POSTERIZED - Justin Tubbs, East Tennessee State
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Andre Roberson, Colorado
POSTERIZED - Durrell Summers, Michigan State
POSTERIZED - Phillip McDonald, New Mexico
POSTERIZED - Kyle Kuric, Louisville
POSTERIZED - Anthony Nelson, Niagara
POSTERIZED - Cory Joseph, Texas
POSTERIZED - Will Sheehey, Indiana
POSTERIZED - Tom Pritchard, Indiana
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - John Holland, Boston
POSTERIZED - Keith Gabriel, VMI
POSTERIZED - Travis McKie, Wake Forest
POSTERIZED - Jefferson Mason, Minnesota State (D-II)
POSTERIZED - Tyler Johnson, Fresno State
POSTERIZED - John Williams, UNC-Asheville
POSTERIZED - Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Hollis Thompson, Georgetown
POSTERIZED - Darnell Wilks, Cincinnati
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Darius Johnson-Odom, Marquette
POSTERIZED - Darrius Garrett, Richmond
POSTERIZED - Travis Cohn, Jacksonville
POSTERIZED - Ramon Galloway, South Carolina
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Justin Tubbs, East Tennessee State
POSTERIZED - John Williams, UNC-Asheville
POSTERIZED - Kevin Smith, Richmond
POSTERIZED - Mitchell Watt, Buffalo
POSTERIZED - Chandler Parsons, Florida
POSTERIZED - Kenny Gabriel, Auburn
POSTERIZED - Paris Horne, St. John's
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Laurence Bowers, Missouri
POSTERIZED - Drew Gordon, New Mexico
POSTERIZED - Tony Mitchell, Alabama
POSTERIZED - Jeffery Taylor, Vanderbilt
POSTERIZED - LaMarcus Reed, UT-Arlington
POSTERIZED - Marcus Morris, Kansas
POSTERIZED - Jared Cunningham, Oregon State
POSTERIZED - Langston Morris-Walker
POSTERIZED - Chris Wright and Juwan Staten, Dayton
POSTERIZED - D.J Stephens, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Reeves Nelson, UCLA
POSTERIZED - Kendall Marshall and John Henson, UNC
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Joe Jackson, Memphis
POSTERIZED - Shay Shine, High Point
POSTERIZED - Harrison Barnes, North Carolina
POSTERIZED - Kent Bazemore, Old Dominion
POSTERIZED - CJ Fair, Syracuse
POSTERIZED - LeBryan Nash
POSTERIZED - Rodney Williams, Minnesota
POSTERIZED - Travis Leslie, Georgia
POSTERIZED - Terrence Jones, Kentucky
POSTERIZED - Marcus Jordan, Central Florida
POSTERIZED - Lorenzo Brown, NC State
POSTERIZED - Tai Wesley, Utah State
POSTERIZED - Trent Lockett, Arizona State, and Derrick Williams, Arizona
POSTERIZED - Brandon Paul, Illinois
POSTERIZED - Jordan Hamilton, Texas
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