The conference challenges ended Sunday with the Big 12 beating the Big East 6-5 when Oklahoma State won at Seton Hall.
The SEC crushed the ACC earlier in the week in their challenge 14-2 with the two lone wins being significant when Duke beat Auburn and Clemson knocked off Kentucky, both at home, handing the two SEC schools their first loss of the season.
The Big 12 and Big East confirmed their challenge is over and there are no plans to resume in the future. The ACC-SEC will continue. The Big Ten-ACC Challenge ended two seasons ago. The Gavitt Games between the Big Ten and the Big East concluded last season.
And while the challenge series is a guarantee of quality non-conference games and guaranteed programming for the networks that cover the leagues they don’t signal an end to high-level one-game events on home or neutral courts.
Just check out this list below of single non-conference games, thus far, that weren’t in a challenge series, a multiple-team tournament or a traditional, annual rivalry.
And this is all before final exams begin this week around the country:
The hope is that this trend will continue going forward. And all indications they will for the foreseeable future — especially with a number of teams shying away from three-game and in some cases two-game tournaments.
This is great for the game going forward and for television coverage in November and December. The thirst and the need to deliver high-level games is a must to continue to generate interest in the game before the heart of conference play.
The concept of playing early-season, December conference games is also a plus. A number of conferences need to do this to get all of their conference games in before champ week so there isn’t a crammed schedule.
Playing two games before Christmas or sandwiched before and after in advance of New Year’s gives teams a real barometer on where they stand. Teams that get to 2-0 are hardly guaranteed of an upper-division finish, but if a team is 0-2 it creates a sense of urgency that is necessary to hit the ground running after New Year’s.
Continuing to push the concept of high-level games and games that matter to each school is a must as the sport looks for ways to carve out interest as football season comes to its playoff push.
Now, onto the rankings that were of course turned upside down again. And a reminder, these are not an exact science and not a metric. This is all my judgment on who is playing well or picked up significant wins this week while not completely punishing teams if there was a loss.
For the week of Dec. 9:
Dropped out: Cincinnati (14), Memphis (17), Pitt (25), Texas (27), Louisville (31), Xavier (34), Butler (35).
Under consideration: Houston, UC Irvine, Texas Tech, St. John’s, Washington State, Loyola-Chicago.
March Madness National Player of the Week
Tamar Bates, Missouri: Bates went off for 29 points in a rivalry win over Kansas Sunday. Bates had earlier in the week dropped 15 in an ACC-SEC Challenge W. Both games were in Columbia, but that doesn’t matter. Bates was on fire and delivered when it mattered most for the Tigers. Bates started his career at Indiana but has really blossomed in the two seasons at Missouri. He is definitely getting more looks and options under Dennis Gates and is flourishing. The Tigers were dreadful last season at 8-24, 0-18 in the SEC. But already they are 8-1 this season with the only loss at Memphis. No shame in that defeat.
March Madness National Team of the Week
Clemson: The Tigers handed Kentucky its first and now only loss of the season after the Wildcats came back to beat Gonzaga in OT in Seattle a few days later. Clemson also opened the ACC with a road win at struggling Miami. Clemson’s only loss was at Boise State, one of the tougher, under-appreciated road venues (and kudos to Clemson for making the trip to Idaho). The 1-2 punch of Chase Hunter and Ian Schieffelin is becoming extremely difficult to deal with, thus far. Shieffelin is a rebounding machine. He had 20 boards against Kentucky and a dozen against Miami. Clemson continues the tough slate by hosting Memphis on Saturday.
The March Madness Games to Watch
A little different spin this week, because Dec. 14 is too good not to just highlight the day. So let’s rank the Saturday:
Louisville at Kentucky: The rivalry is back because the Cardinals are at least relevant again. This is the first game between Pat Kelsey and Mark Pope. Love this event.
Xavier at Cincinnati: This has been ugly at times and the intensity between the two fan bases can get nasty. Let’s hope it’s calmer this time.
Tennessee at Illinois: The Vols are one of the best teams in the country and are going into one of the top home-court venues. State Farm should be rocking.
Gonzaga vs. UConn, Madison Square Garden, NYC: The Garden is going to be rocking between two teams that have familiarity over the past few seasons. UConn rocked Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament and in Seattle over the past two years.
UCLA vs. Arizona, Phoenix: The Bruins are playing better but Arizona desperately needs a quality W after missing out on a number of opportunities. Good deal that they are still playing this game now that they aren’t in the same league.
Memphis at Clemson: The Tigers play in Maui and Clemson’s start has made this game take on even more meaning for March.
Marquette at Dayton: The Golden Eagles have been flying of late. But Dayton is a tough out at home. This game is going to be very PHYSICAL.
Oklahoma at Oklahoma State: Bedlam is on. Love it. The Sooners are a surprise and the Cowboys picked up a much-needed road win at Seton Hall. So this game should be a pleasant surprise.
Arizona State vs. Florida, Phoenix: Don’t sleep on this matchup. The Gators have been flying under the radar but have played extremely well. The same is true for the Sun Devils.
Creighton at Alabama: Last year’s game was epic. Hopefully the same can be true this time in Tuscaloosa.
Ohio State vs. Auburn, Atlanta: The Buckeyes finally got right against Auburn and will have their hands full inside with Johni Broome.
Texas A&M vs. Purdue, Indianapolis: The Aggies have stepped up of late while the Boilermakers are a tough out anywhere in the state of Indiana. Look for the guard play to be the dominant story.
NC State at Kansas: The Wolfpack nearly clipped Purdue in San Diego and are searching for a marquee win. Hard to do that in Lawrence but the Jayhawks suddenly seem vulnerable.
Wisconsin vs. Butler, Indianapolis: The Badgers lost two games in a row at home to Michigan and at Marquette. They’ve got to play at Illinois before this game against a Butler team that has had a decent non-conference, thus far.
And finally, five weeks into the season, my three first-team all-American favorites are:
