Big Ten/ACC notes from Whore-lando

Yep, back again for Whore-lando part III while I watch the rest of the Big Ten/ACC games, currently watching Penn State look really, really good. Not Colton Iverson good, but like, Devoe Joseph good without the potential to be a rock star. Had a nice dinner with only two drinks (Oceanaire - they have one here too; Blackened Grouper with creamed corn and a cup of clam chowder, all really freaking good). Hit the hotel bar for a couple of cranberry vodkas, possibly my new drink, and might have stayed longer if not for the absolutely terrifying female bartender. She looked like a biker chick, but not the good kind or even the interesting kind. More like the kind who is probably the next Aileen Wuornos. She gave me a look at one point that almost made me pee my pants before I figured out it was her version of a smile. Then, when I left, she asked if I was going to join the people at the karaoke bar in another area of the resort. I said no and she said if I did she would sing me a song. I think I ran the rest of the way back to my room, I mean Villa. Luckily, the fridge is still stocked. So sit back, take it slow, and let the good times roll.

- Am I drunk or has the Big Ten looked really good this year, at least comparatively? Penn State is up 9 right now at Georgia Tech with just five minutes left, Michigan hung tough with the same Maryland team who just beat Michigan State but looks like they're gonna fold now, Ohio State won at Miami, Iowa was right there with BC, and Illinois was right with Clemson before giving it up at home. Like your mom. It looks like it will be 5-4 ACC after the early games finish, but it seems like the Big Ten took a nice step into competitiveness this year. Kind of like a fifteen year old against a full grown adult in hoops compared to the 8 year old they've been the past however many years.

- Did you see that Tyler Smith had a triple double tonight against UNC-Asheville with 12/10/10? That's pretty good. I'm going to go ahead and file him away in my 'WHO WAS AWESOME' possibilities mental folder along with the unicycle lady.

- Michigan State embarrassing themselves with their defense right now, just letting Danny Green shoot and score every time UNC has the ball. They're playing defense like Snacks controlling Michigan State on Coach K, still the best college basketball video game of all-time. Any game that has Ricky Price and Charlie Miller as two of the best players on the game clearly knows what it's doing. Or maybe I was just that good.

- So, wait? Kevin and Pat Williams still get to play? How does this work? Is like when Travis Henry got busted for smoking the pot for like the twelfth time but still managed to play all of last season? Is it just fancy legal maneuvering? I need a lawyer to explain, and not an intellectual property lawyer, I mean a real lawyer.

- Draymond Green just got schooled by Ed Davis. He's no Ralph Sampson.

- Ty Lawson is the next Jacque Vaughn. Or TJ Ford. Or whoever. You know the type, college point guards who play the position well but can't shoot. Like Limar Wilson without the point guard skills.

- Hansbrough is just like Travis Busch, everytime he gets the ball in a scoring area he puts it up. Never passes ever. They're practically the same player.

- UNC leads 53-39 at half, and I'm pretty sure the Heels are shooting 101% from the floor. Northwestern hanging with the Seminoles for now, down just 1 with six minutes to go in the half. It's 17-16 though. Not exactly UNC/MSU here.

- Man, the Wolves played the Magic here in Orlando tonight, I'm totally bummed I didn't go, I love the NBA. I also think I read somewhere that Corey Brewer is out for the year for the Wolves. That sucks. How is he going to prove me right that he would be the best player in his draft class not named Durant or Oden? I guess we'll have to put that on hold for the year, and this might affect his entire career. It's only fair that we no longer count that prediction as valid. Sorry, I don't make the rules.

- Northwestern just missed three shots at the end of the half, all from 8 feet or closer. If you could some up the entirety of the history of the Northwestern program in 10 seconds, that was it.

- You know what the Gophers should do each year? Have like, a midwest challenge tournament, whether official or unofficial. I think the Iowa schools all play each other each year, I'm not sure if it's officially a tournament or not but I'm pretty sure they do. You could get Minnesota, Iowa State, Marquette, and Nebraska or Missouri as your big conference schools. Since you can't do Northern Iowa or Drake because I think they play ISU every year, or Creighton because they play Nebraska, you could go with someone else from the Missouri Valley - anybody would do but Southern Illinois would be great. Then grab UW-GB, UW-Milwaukee, or UI-Chicago from the Horizon, NDSU from the Summit (and kill the regular game each year), and a MAC team, maybe a directional Michigan school. You could rotate some of the teams each year from the minor conferences, or just keep it the same each year. This way you have no conference conflicts or anything, and you could do an 8 team tournament each year. Is this something that could happen? I don't really know the rules on this, but it sounds pretty freaking awesome.

- Jesus these games are boring. Michigan State is getting blown away, and the FSU/Northwestern game is quite the comedy of errors. That's the kind of comedy that isn't funny. And I'm kind of tired. Might have to call it a night.

- Sigh. This is what drives me crazy. Dickie V, the announcer for this UNC game, just commented on how good Tar Heel freshman Ed Davis has looked. He then said, "he's not a big name or a high level recruit, he's just a good kid who Roy Williams really liked, and he's rewarded him thus far." I knew that I knew about Ed Davis long before he signed, and sure enough, a quick check of the Rivals Top 150 has Davis as the 15th best recruit this season. He's also the top rated Carolina recruit. So pretty much the opposite of "not a big time recruit." It's like listening to Joe Morgan over here.

- I hate that firejoemorgan.com decided to quit.

- Did I mention that we were named one of the top 100 college sports blogs?

Andy Katz Update

Andy Katz has an article up on ESPN.com looking at a few different things in college hoops. Of note:

- Tyler Smith joining Tennessee this season. As I mentioned previously, this makes Tennessee a top contender this year. Katz talked to Pearl, and they will go with three guards, making a starting lineup of JaJuan Smith, Ramar Smith, Chris Lofton, Wayne Chism, and Tyler Smith. That is a solid, solid team. A bit undersized, with Chism at 6-9 and Tyler Smith at 6-7 and the other three little guys, but still. Watch out.

- David Lighty of Ohio State has been a big hit with the USA Basketball Under 19 team. Bruiser Flint, an assistant on the team, expects Lighty to have a breakout season for the Buckeyes, which is not great news for the rest of the Big Ten.

- A few other pieces, including more praise for freshman DeAndre Jordan (Tex A&M) and Johnny Flynn (Syracuse), the fact that TaJuan Porter (Oregon) can't play point, and some other stuff that isn't very interesting.

Watch Out for Tennessee

Former Iowa freshman Tyler Smith received word from the NCAA that his transfer year will be waived, and he will be immediately eligible to start playing for the Tennessee Volunteers.

He joins a team that reached the sweet 16 last year, and returns all but one starter. Along with Smith, the Volunteers also will get a boost from former top recruit and Arizona Wildcat J.P. Prince, who transferred two seasons ago and will be eligible this year. They have also signed the #17 SG in the country in Cameron Tatum (great name too) who will be eligible this coming season.

Seriously, between Tennessee and Memphis, that state is going to have two of the top teams in the country.

Former Iowa Forward heading to Tennessee

In a not very shocking move at all, former Iowa forward Tyler Smith will be heading to Tennessee to play for Bruce Pearl and the Volunteers.

Smith, who averaged 15 points and 5 boards a game as a freshman last year, decided to transfer from Iowa to be closer to his sick father. Since he's from Tennessee, his dad still lives in Tennesse, and he's a good player, I figured it would either be Tennessee or Memphis.

An interesting wrinkle here is that Smith plans to petition for a waiver from the NCAA due to his circumstances so he wouldn't have to sit out the usual transfer season and would play immediately next season for the Vols.

If that happens, Tennesse would be an instant title contender. The Vols took Ohio State down to the wire last season, and return almost that entire team, losing only one player who averaged 5 points, 5 assists, and 5 rebounds per game, and are projected as a #3 seed by Joe Lunardi of ESPN.com without Smith.

Iowa's Losing Players

Iowa may be regretting letting Steve Alford go as head coach this off-season, as they've now lost two players because of it. First, top recruit and 28th rated point guard Dairese Gary asked and was granted a release from his letter of intent to go to Iowa, and will instead follow Alford to his new hangout in New Mexico.

Now it has been announced that Iowa's top returning player, freshman Tyler Smith, will be transferring from Iowa to be closer to his father, who is sick with cancer. Smith averaged 14.9 pts and a team leading 4.9 rebounds last season. Although Alford leaving wasn't directly the reason why Smith is transferring, it is likely he would have stayed with the Hawkeyes if Alford was still around.

Smith is from Tennessee, so I'd guess Memphis, Vanderbilt, or Tennessee will be getting a very nice place two seasons from now.