It's Bloody Cold

As I write this, the temperature is 3, windchill -15 with snow in the forecast for tonight and tomorrow. Tomorrow, the high is supposed to be 6. You can hear the wind howl, giving the day an eerie feel. But even the cold weather can't dampen my excitement for tomorrow's Super Bowl. Sometimes, the best part of Super Bowl Sunday is the morning/early afternoon playing of all the Super Bowl highlights in order. Now since there are 40 to replay, I believe the first one on tonight is Super Bowl XII. But hearing that great deep voice of John Facenda and seeing all those great plays gets you in the mood, and allows you to watch something else than the pregame show.

Now, on to the day in college hoops, and what a day it was:

• SMU/Memphis. Today was the first time I got to see Memphis and I was impressed. I think they're better than last year. Granted, SMU isn't great competition, but Memphis has the pieces to play well. The knock on Memphis recently has been the lack of consistent perimeter shooting. Well, the Tigers were 15/25 from 3 today. Add that to all the finishers up front and they have a well-balanced team. They play at UAB this week and have to go to Gonzaga in a couple of weeks. Those 2 games will give a better indication of how good Memphis is.
• Louisville/Villanova. This could turn out to be an elimination game and Nova is still alive. Louisville just can't score. They play good defense, but they're offensively inept. Villanova can be inept for stretches, but they have guys who can be counted on to make shots, specifically Curtis Sumpter, who stepped up in the 2nd half.
• Washington/Arizona. The Arizona from the beginning of the year and Washington didn't look like an NCAA team today. The Huskies had won 3 straight, but their deficiencies showed up, namely their backcourt. For one day, Arizona's chemistry issues were resolved, 21 of their 31 field goals were assisted.
• Southern Illinois/Wichita St. I thought the Shockers looked good at Northern Iowa in their last game. But Northern Iowa is no SIU, and SIU brought the D. The Shockers shot 12/44 from the field, on their home floor!!! Jamal Tatum hit big shots for SIU, as did Matt Shaw. Right now, I'd say SIU, Missouri St., and Creighton are in the NCAAs. Bradley and Wichita St. are on the edge, they need to make a late season/conference tournament run. Northern Iowa needs to win the Valley Tournament.
• Indiana/Iowa. I can't believe the ESPN Gameday crew overwhelmingly thought IU would win. I thought Iowa would win because IU was coming off the big win at home vs. Wisconsin so they'd still have their heads in the clouds, and deservedly so. But the road trip to Iowa is tough and Iowa had a big road comeback win at Michigan so their confidence was high. Iowa's bigs did a great job against DJ White, getting him in foul trouble. Adam Haluska has turned into a great all-around player. He is more than a catch and shoot player, evidenced by his 33 points today. Iowa always does this in February/early March. They get on a roll, make the tournament, then lose early. Will they be the 4th team out of the Big 10?
• N. Carolina/NC State. The real shocker of the day. I thought NC State didn't have much of a chance, and if they were going to win, somehow the final score would have to be in the 60s. But it's a rivalry game, and NC State showed that's why you throw out the records in such a game. NC State played zone, forcing UNC to hit 3s and slowing tempo. Now because of their lack of size and depth, they left themselves vulnerable to the post and penetration. The zone kept UNC from fast breaking and it lured UNC to sleep at the other end. The Pack shot 61% from the floor, 8/15 from 3. The recipe to beat UNC is to try and control tempo and make them hit 3s. UNC shot 48% from the floor, but were only 4/15 from 3. In the NCAA Tournament, it's easier to slow the game down instead of speeding it up. UNC will be prone to this, especially against their 2nd round and/or 3rd round opponent. That's where they'll be the most vulnerable, against a team they might relax against and get up for.
• Ohio St./Michigan St. OSU needs to play through Greg Oden, period. Get the ball into him and let him look to score or kick the ball out. OSU has to stop the one pass, launch the contested 3 offense. Luckily for OSU, no one other than Drew Neitzel or Goran Suton could score for Sparty. Everyone but those 2 for Sparty were 5/24. Sparty is 4-5 in the Big 10 and they have a tough schedule in front of them.
• Texas A&M/Kansas. I can't believe the Aggies were able to come back and win this game. But the Aggies are disciplined, well-coached, resilient, and they believe in one another, especially in Acie Law, who again was clutch down the stretch. Kansas owned the boards and Sherron Collins was fantastic, but they couldn't close the deal defensively. It's weird, because KU dominated the flow of the game and seemed in control. But A&M hit big shot after big shot in the 2nd half, and if Collins didn't have the ball for KU late, they fell apart. Kansas should be so much better than they are currently.
• This week, of the AP top 25, 12 lost at least once. Of the Coaches top 25, 14 lost at least once. 5 of the top 10 in both polls lost at least once.
• I think Hawaii got hosed tonight at Nevada. First of all, what was the ref under the basket, who was standing right there, thinking??? Second, when the foul was called, the shot was away, so even though the intent was to get the grab by Nick Fazekas before the shot, the actual call came during the act of shooting, so the basket should've counted.
• Wright St. really impressed me today. I'd love to be able to see their game vs. Butler next week. DaShaun Wood has turned into a great all-around player. Before, he was just a slasher and a great finisher. Now, he's expanded his game to where he has a quality mid-range game and can hit the 3 ball.
• I feel good everytime I see that Duquesne has won another game. They scored 111 today at St. Bonaventure.
• Congrats to Iona for getting their first win of the year.
• It's turning into Florida's NCAA Tournament to lose. If they can just stay healthy, they'll be the overwhelming favorite.
• Tough week for Oregon getting swept on their LA road trip.
• LSU is heading for the NIT. Big Baby Davis has no consistent outside help. He went for 27 and 10 today in a losing effort.
• BYU is making a case for 3 teams out of the Mountain West after crushing UNLV in Provo.
• Maryland got a must win at Wake, they need to get to .500 in the ACC.
• Texas Tech needs a road win. They've shown they can play with anyone at home, but now they've lost at Oklahoma and at Missouri, taking them out of the Big 12 title hunt.

I have a feeling the Super Bowl commercials will be duds since the K-Fed commercial is getting all the hype. That can't be a good sign.

I have a gift certificate for Coldstone Creamery. Unfortunately, I don't think I'll be using it anytime soon.

The newest Michigan construction project has begun. Dodge the Lodge II is now showing on your Detroit area roadways.

The interior and exterior design of the Detroit Renaissance Center make no sense to me. I guess it makes no sense to some of the people who work inside. It's your classic 70s design, a lot of detail which leads to a great deal of confusion.

Bear Down Chicago Bears.