CoB Higher Post: We're one month out!!!
A new newsletter for a new season!
Congregation, please stand up…
…and welcome the new and improved CoB Higher Post Newsletter!
Yes, after 18 years of sending a weekly email (well, almost weekly), we officially moved into this Substack space and turned this into a newsletter. I have to say, I’m still learning how to use my new toys so pardon our appearance as we get settled in.
More importantly, today officially marks 1 month until the first tips of both the men’s and women’s seasons! It was a few years ago when the NCAA eliminated the official ‘Bracketology New Years’ (aka Midnight Madness) but now we have an Opening Day…with real games! And, it all happens on Monday 11/4!!
There are a lot of changes this season and not just from the roster fluidity of the transfer portal. The musical chairs of conference realignment have started up another round:
The PAC-12 has self-destructed and like the Phoenix started rebuilding just this month, but just not with Phoenix as both Arizona and Arizona State moved to the Big XII.
Texas and Oklahoma moved to the Bigger (and more lucrative) SEC.
UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Washington knows what’s in their wallets as they signed up for some CapitalOne frequent flyer programs and joined the B1G. Yup, we finally get the Trojan vs. Spartan battle we have all wished for since middle school Social Studies class.
And lastly (and more absurdly) is Cal, Stanford and SMU to the ACC, because nothing says Atlantic Coast like the Bay Area and Texas.
These changes were all lead by football and media deals, so of course, when the PAC-12 imploded, Cal and Stanford were left picked last like any brainiacs in gym class. This is crazy because those two programs combined have won more national titles in the past 20 years than anyone else, but just not in the revenue sports. That is where we are folks, and expect more of it to continue. The bright side of all this is that Stanford and UNC are now in-conference rivals in women's soccer. The two best programs going head-to-head. That is worth getting ESPN+ for. Go Defense!
That said, between the transfer portal, conference realignment and the coaching carousel going to warp 9 after Coach Cal left Kentucky for SEC rival Arkansas, starting a chain reaction that Rube Goldberg would be proud of, there will be some fantastic matchups happening this season that might not be so obvious from the the marquee, so over the next few weeks, let’s analyze those schedules and create a fantastic list of games to feast on. Stay tuned there is more to come!
Keeping up with the Hannahs:
A new feature to this newsletter will be to highlight two of my favorite players coming out of last season, because if you are not watching, you should. They don’t have much in common except they play for midwest teams…and they’re both named Hannah and both really really fun to watch. Today is the introduction, but throughout the season, I will (try to) keep up with the Hannahs to report here on their upcoming pivotal seasons. That said, let me introduce The Hannahs!
Hannah Stuelke (Junior / Forward / Iowa): Growing up only 30 miles away from Iowa City, “Hometown Hannah” now suits up for the same Hawkeye program she rooted for as a kid. The past two seasons, it may be easy for the casual fan to miss her since all eyes were on Caitlin Clark. The same can’t be said for the Hawkeye faithful for whom Stuelke is a fan favorite. Clark may be known for her “logo-3s” but she also racked up 673 assists in her last two years at Iowa from which Stuelke was certainly a beneficiary. At 6’2” she is a little undersized for playing center, (she is forward by position) but that doesn’t stop her from finding a way to shake off less nimble defenders and take control of the paint. She quietly averaged double digit points over the past season including a 47-point gem against Penn State. With Clark off conquering new worlds, we get to see if this is Hannah’s year to shine. Needless to say, I am excited - especially, on 12/7 when UConn’s ‘Paige Bueckers Eras Tour’ makes its Brooklyn stop to take on the Hawkeyes in the inaugural Women's Champions Classic. Yup, we gots tix.
Hannah Hidalgo (Sophomore / PG / Notre Dame): There is nothing I love more than a speedy crafty point guard and Hannah Hidalgo fits that like an AJ1. I watch a lot of ACC ball so it wasn’t long before seeing that HH was “Must See ACC”. She is fast. She has sticky hands. She has fantastic court vision. Last season she was AP All-American, ACC Tourney MVP, ACC Rookie of the Year, ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and All-ACC First Team…as a freshman. There is usually a quality jump in a player going from year one to year two as a player settled in on expectations and gets a year of experience at a higher level. Given that, you will need a telescope to see Hannah Hidalgo’s ceiling. We can give thanks to the Bracketology Gods for scheduling a head-to-head matchup against sophomore sensation Juju Watkins as Notre Dame travels to USC on 11/23! #CircleIt!
(btw-if you only watch a few seconds of the below video, jump to the 1:25 mark. Trust me. Oh, and of you are a Syracuse fan, turn it off there.)
Final Seconds:
If you are new to the CoB - welcome! We love this game! We love March! We love brackets! And we are very serious-not-serious people. We just have common beliefs (don’t pick Georgetown in the first round) despite liking different teams. We want this space to be a positive and fun place for fandom, rather than much of the toxicity out there. Do we still have J.J. Redick poetry readings? Hell, yeah! We have souls. But we just don’t want to add to the environment of tearing players down like you see so much on social media. This is suppose to be fun and as ‘The Godfather‘ Joe Lunardi once said to us, “when it stops being fun, that’s when you stop doing it.” Those are good words to live by.
Normally, at this point, I would list out the week’s games, but we just need to wait a little longer. But over the next few months, we will get answers to the big questions going into the season, such as:
Will we see a UConn men’s 3-peat?
Will a move to Arkansas pull Coach Cal out of the March funk?
Will new bloated power conferences push more mid-majors out of the bracket?
Can Doug Gottlieb be a head coach -and- a full time radio show host? (Wait, do we care about this?)
If this is Paige Bueckers collegiate swan song, we can also have Azzi Fudd on the floor too? I’ve been waiting for this! #FingersCrossed!
As the buzzer sounds on this post, I want to add that Substack does have a paid membership feature which I might turn on at some point but not for this newsletter. This stays free. I’ve had a lot of fun writing this as a small email for many years and I’m excited to see where we can grow this with new content. If you don’t want to get these emails anymore (but didn’t want to tell me) it’s totally cool. You can now unsubscribe. I promise you I will not be offended. But if you enjoy the fun of the game and want to be free of other toxic sports writing, we are happy to welcome you into our congregation! We open our arms to all …. even Dukies. Please send it to others who might enjoy! Let’s build this!!!
Until next week! Live one shining moment at a time.
Never Being Boring,
Rev. Raycroft (ordained and certified Bracketologist)