Look Who's Undefeated!

Like the '73'Dolphins in the NFL, the '76 Hoosiers let out a sigh of relief when the last undefeated team in college basketball earns their first loss of the season. It's been 30 years since that magical run to an undefeated season, and eventually the National Championship, and every year it appears less and less likely that a team can pull off the same accomplishment. The last team to come close to pulling off the undefeated season was the '05 Fighting Illini who were 37-1 during the regular season where a buzzer-beater three pointer by Ohio State proved to be their lone defeat (evantually they would lose to UNC in the NCAA title game). With that said, let's take a look at who remains undefeated going into conference play and who has the best chance of chasing history!

Clemson: Oliver Purnell has his club playing solid defense while the offense continues to spread the love around. Clemson has historically been the doormat of the ACC and despite the strong start to the 2006-2007 season (beating Mississippi State, Minnesota and South Carolina), I can’t imagine they will thwart the likes of UNC, MD, BC, and Duke in the ACC. The Tigers encounter a tough upcoming home game against Georgia on December 28th however I will give them the home-court advantage and the win – Their first loss will come on January 3rd playing at Florida State.

Oklahoma State: Over the summer, Coach Sutton was able to dispense of a few bad apples from last year’s team in an effort to clean up the image and overall brand of basketball to be played at the program. The Cowboys have victories over Auburn, Missouri State (there’s that damn MVC again!) and Syracuse. The Cowboys feature a small lineup with 6-7 C-F Mario Boggan (20 points/7 rebounds) in the middle, however they’re relentless on the boards and play that typical Big-12, physical brand of basketball. Playing Tennessee in Nashville will be a tough test considering how bad the Vols ran Memphis off the court, but I like Oklahoma State’s toughness to pull them through. Pittsburgh will be a more than formidable opponent, but I hate Pittsburgh and I like OSU’s chances at home making their first loss coming on January 10th in the land of the Phog – Phog Allen field house where beating Kansas at home is seldom accomplished.

Pitt: Eck, phew! Always picked to go far in the tournament…the result is always a disappointing early exit that ruins millions of brackets and office pools from New York to California. I personally think their number two overall ranking is a bit too high despite solid wins over a very enigmatic Florida State team, UMass and at Auburn (however, they were awful in their 3 point win over Buffalo). They feature a prototypical starting five led by 7-footer, Aaron Grey manning the lane at 17 and 10 a clip. In true form, I look for Pitt to go down in their very next game on Saturday, December 16th when they’ll be hosted by the Badgers. Pitt is tough defensively but will have significant trouble keeping Alando Tucker under wraps… just ask Marquette.

UConn: An extremely young but talented team, it’s been cupcake city thus far for the Huskies. Despite the lack of competition, the early season wins will do wonders for the UConn psyche and they’ll head into Big East play with heightened confidence. They’re lead by sophomore, double-double machine Jeff Adrien (13 points/10 rebounds), point guard A.J. Price (14 points/6 assists) and freshman shot-blocker extraordinaire, Hasheem Thabeet. No key wins to note as of yet, however their first true test will come on the road against a very disciplined, very methodical, 7-1 West Virginia team that play surprisingly good zone defense and have four players in double figures lead by senior forward Frank Young ( 12 points/4 rebounds). I like UConn’s talent to overcome their lack of experience in this game and believe their first loss will be at the hands of a very hungry LSU Tiger team at Baton Rouge on January 6th.

Southern Miss: The Golden Eagles have a lot of depth with nine players getting 12+ minutes per game – their pre-conference schedule to date has been nothing to talk about and would’ve encountered stiffer competition playing against Oak Hill Academy. Freshman Jeremy Wise (17 points/4 rebounds) leads the team in scoring and unless your name is Carmelo Anthony and you play for Syracuse, that’s never going to work. Their next game is at home against Alabama on December 16th and after we witnessed the numbers that Richard Hendrix posted against Alabama State this past weekend, and Jermareo Davidson and Ronald Steele returning to the lineup, I expect the Golden Eagles to be blown out of the water.

Oregon: The Ducks have been the perennial underachievers in the Pac-10 yet they are off to a great start this year with solid wins over Georgetown in and at home against Nebraska. They’ve found quite an unheralded gem in 5-6 freshman guard Tajuan Porter who’s averaging 19 points per game and leading the team in that category. Five players average double figures for Ernie Kent’s group and none of them happen to be potential NBA first-rounder and former McDonald’s All-American, Malik Hairston. If he gets it together they’ll be a tough out in conference play. At home against a solid USC team on January 4th will be a tough test, but I’ll take the Ducks at home. That makes there next home game on January 6th against UCLA their first loss of the season, bar none.

UCLA: Speaking of the devil, how dominant do these guys look on defense? They’ve already stymied Kentucky, Georgia Tech and the scrappy Texas A&M Aggies and are lead by returning All-American guard Aaron Afflalo. The Bruins aren’t that flashy however their on-court character emulates the type of play that Ben Howland has been preaching since he brought his rugged style from Pitt just a few years ago. Despite their number one ranking, I don’t believe they’re a clear favorite and will have trouble holding onto that spot the rest of the year. Coming up they have 5 home games in a row where they’ll run into a very underachieving Michigan Wolverine team and a very young Washington Husky team coming off an embarrassing loss to Gonzaga. They’ll play at Oregon and at USC, but the real test will come at home on January 20th against the surging Arizona Wildcats. I absolutely love the top to bottom talent and depth of the Cats (picked them 4th overall in my preseason poll) lead by sophomore guard/forward Marcus Williams and all-world freshman Chase Budinger. Tough to win at the Pavilion, but I like the Cats to prevail in a very tough game.

Wichita State: Wins at George Mason (deucing on the Patriot’s Final Four banner raising day), at LSU, at Syracuse and at Wyoming – has any team, not just mid-major because the Shockers cannot be mislabeled anymore, ever had better non-conference wins in such a short period of time than Mark Turgeon’s crew? This is a team where nine players average 10 minutes or more per game, a player whose afro brings nostalgic memories of a young Artis Gilmore and a nickname taken from a sexual move made famous by fraternity brothers across the nation! Playing nine guys at 10 or more minutes a clip certainly keeps the legs fresh and the defense suffocating at all times. They’ll run into a bid of trouble at “The Pitt” against a feisty New Mexico team lead by Jayhawk transfer J.R. Giddens (19 points/game), but dare I pick the Shockers to lose to New Mexico! I believe there first loss will come at the hands of another MVC opponent. They’ll face formidable guard play from the Salukis on January 1st but the Shockers should pull that one out. Where I think they might run out of steam is on January 7th against college basketball’s all-time best free throw shooter, Blake Ahearn (17 points/over 55% from 3) and a scorching Missouri State Bears team who’ve taken down the Badgers and lost a 3 point heart breaker to Oklahoma State.