Higher Post: Does the SEC need to break up the SEC?
...forget the Dougie, do the Hidalgo!
Congregation, please stand up….
…and join me in doing “The Hidalgo Stomp” (can we make that a thing?)
Are you enjoying the season so far? I certainly am. There have been some fantastic games in the first 3rd of the season so far with lots of teams in the mix.
As we are approaching the end of the year, meaning conference play is on the horizon, let’s take a look at a couple of observations so far:
Tougher non-conference games have been scheduled for top teams: The past few years, many of the power programs have scheduled a Magnolia Bakery lineup producing many ‘Lazy Saturdays’. However, this season has produced many top gems already and not just in the MTEs. This is true for both the men’s and women’s games. The ‘Paige Bueckers Eras Tour’ alone is matching her up against Notre Dame‘s Hannah Hidalgo and USC’s Juju Watkins, not to mention, #14 UNC, #22 Louisville, #18 Iowa State, all in the non-con schedule.
There is no dominating team(s). We entered the season with some of the usual expectations and questions. We started the preseason with Kansas, Alabama, and UConn in the top 3. The top-3 this week is Tennessee, Auburn and Iowa State, respectively. This is not a knock on the now #10 Jayhawks (7-2), the #7 Crimson Tide (7-2), or the #18 Huskies of House Hurley (7-3), All 6 of these programs have the talent and coaching quality for a title run in the Holy Month. Just that none of them have been dominating. Wins and losses have been spread around.
Top teams are dropping consecutive games: There are only 3 undefeated teams left in the top-25 currently: #1 Tennessee, #9 Florida, #13 Oklahoma (note that they all in the SEC). However, Kansas popped their second zero with consecutive drops to Creighton and Mizzou, both on the road. The soon-to-be-no-longer #20 Wisconsin Badgers dropped their last 3 games to Michigan, #5 Marquette, and Illinois. UNC lost the BBQ battle against Auburn and Alabama, giving one to Mich State in between for good measure. And, we all know what happened to UConn in Maui. Unlike Danny Hurley, I won’t get into again.
Looking at this, it is not hard to see that all these things are related. A lot of it is about scheduling.
There are two main philosophies regarding scheduling. I call it the Cal vs. Cal Debate. Cal #1 is former UConn coach Jim Calhoun’s approach where you schedule local small easy teams so you can roll into conference play undefeated (albeit untested) but with a chance for a team to gel, work out issues, experiment with lineups and plays, and build confidence before rolling into the dog days of conference play. This approach is much more common in the time of the NET ranking because it basically hacks the system for the power conferences.
The opposite approach is the old John Calipari approach from his UMass days, which is ‘Any team, Anywhere, Anytime’ where you run your team through the ringer early to get top experience to prep you for a March run. There is a risk here, in that if you lose a few, you might not make The Dance. I can pro/con both approaches, but as a fan, I prefer the second one just because of the higher quality of match ups is more eye candy for the fan.
Which brings me to the last observation of the season so far - while there are no dominate teams, there is ONE dominate conference. The SEC.
At about 9-10 games in, there is only 1 SEC team with as many as 3 losses. Some have 2, most have 1 and 3 are still undefeated - yup, the same listed above.
The SEC collectively have:
9 teams in the Top 25
12 teams in Joe Lunardi’s current Bracket
5 teams in the Top 10 of the NET ranking (all in the top 60, except South Carolina at 96)
21 Quad 1 wins out of 37 games played, 13 Quad 2 wins out of 16 played, and only 1 loss in the lower Quads (South Carolina)
The focus here is that the SEC is dominating where it counts the most. They collectively scheduled heavy and came to fight. This also means that when conference play does officially start, there will be some battles. Expect them to beat each other up a bit with some cream rising to the top. They may get a record 12 teams in the bracket this year and if they do, it will be this prep work in the non-conference scheduling that get them there. Go Defense.
Get Your Screens Up Today
Speaking of non-conference scheduling, there are some GEMs for today’s Saturday Services. Make sure you have all the screens up with some sort of multicast on or find your local pub and get a seat with a view. There are deep rivalries, undefeated records on the line and some teams that really don’t like each other. Let’s do it! All times EST
Memphis at Clemson (11a, ESPN 2)
#17 Texas A&M at #11 Purdue (Noon, CBS)
Ohio State at #2 Auburn (1p, ESPN2)
“The Crosstown Shootout” - Xavier at #22 Cinci (2p, ESPN+)
Georgetown at Syracuse (2:30p ACCN)
Seton Hall at Rutgers (3p, FOX)
NC State at #10 Kansas (3:15p ESPN)
St Bonaventure at Providence (5p, CBSSN)
“Battle for the Bluegrass” - Louisville at #5 Kentucky (5:15p ESPN)
#1 Tennessee at Illinois (5:30p, FOX)
#6 Marquette at Dayton (7p, CBSSN)
#8 Gonzaga at #18 UConn (8p, FOX)
Oklahoma State at #13 Oklahoma (8p, ESPNu)
Creighton at #7 Alabama (8:30p SECN)
We Got Next: (other)Games to watch this week (all times EST)
Men’s Games: Scrappy A10 teams could cause trouble. Undefeated records on the line and when did Michigan find its way in the 25??
George Mason at #4 Duke (Tuesday, 7p, ACCN) Don’t sleep on the Patriots
UNC at #9 Florida (Tuesday. 7p. ESPN) The Tar Heels looking for that quality win.
#13 Oklahoma at #14 Michigan (Weds, 9p ESPN2)
#22 Cincinnati at Dayton (Friday, 8:30p ESPNu)
Women’s Games: Conference Play begins for the B1G and the ACC, but look out for Audi Crooks to snag another quality win at Mohegan Sun.
#21 Iowa vs #17 Michigan State (Sunday. Noon, BTN) - Fire up the B1G!
#22 NC State vs Louisville (Sunday, 1p. ABC)
#25 Georgia Tech at #14 UNC (Sunday, 2p ACCN)
#18 Iowa State at #2 UConn (Tuesday, 8:30p FS1) - The next test for the PB Eras Tour.
#10 Oklahoma at #20 Michigan (Tuesday, 9:30p, ESPN2)
Keeping up with the Hannahs
Two of my favorite players are not only incredibly fun to watch…but are both named Hannah! I dedicate this section to them. We try and keep up with them during a pivotal season!
I have to start by saying, when I first started this segment, I wanted to highlight these players for folks who might not have noticed them before. They are both major stars to their fanbases, but maybe not the causal fan. Hannah Stuelke was behind Caitlin Clark and Hannah Hidalgo was behind her class peers like Juju Watkins. This is certainly NOT the case now and putting this together has been even more fun than I expected. I have been getting messages from folks who are becoming new fans which always brings warmth to my heart. Feel free to join the conversation in the comments.
Now, on with the show.
Hannah Stuelke (Junior / Forward / Iowa):
This was bit of an up and down week for the Hawkeyes as they saw their undefeated record come to an end, but Iowa had a full redemption against a cross state rival a few days later.
First up, Iowa ran into an upstart Tennessee team in Brooklyn for the Women’s Champions Classic. You read that right - Tennessee is an upstart. The Lady Vols have fallen a bit since the Summit days, but new coach Kim Caldwell is bringing the fire back to Rocky Top with a hard pressing defensive team that frustrated the Hawkeyes from end to end.
The eye test said the Lady Vols dominated, but the box score, not so much. Iowa led for most of the game, but just couldn’t hold in the last 2 minutes. Hannah Stuelke, who looked frustrated from time to time as the Tennessee defense created a web in the paint, was still just 2 points shy of a double-double with 8pts and 10 rebounds. This was the test the Hawkeyes need to prep them for a tough conference schedule ahead.
So, how would they respond after their first loss…
…just fine.
On Thursday, the cross state rival #18 Iowa State Cyclones came to town. With that, a tussle in the paint with sophomore phenom Audi Crooks. This pulled Hannah a bit more back to the paint to help Addy O’Grady to made life harder for the young Cyclone. Crooks dominated early hitting a series of shots that gave the Cyclones a 10 point lead early. But, the Hawkeyes regrouped and adjusted to chip away to gain control of the match.
Hannah made some of those beautiful layups that we’re custom to, netting 13 points and 9 rebounds, while also helping to move the ball around the court to set up a few 3’s. The team was only 8-25 from outside the arc, but that means, they still hit 8. Major contributions from freshmen Taylor Stremlow and Aaliyah Guyton helped the Hawkeyes take another win on this classic rivalry.
Related: ESPN’s Jake Trotter published a nice piece this week about Iowa post-Caitlin Clark. Spoiler, they are still selling out games.
Up Next (all times EST):
Saturday 12/15 - #21 Iowa at #17 Michigan State (Noon, BTN)
Friday 12/20 - Northern Iowa vs. #21 Iowa (7:30p, B1G+)
Hannah Hidalgo (Sophomore / Guard / Notre Dame):
With apologies to Syracuse, we will jump past Hannah Hidalgo’s 24 point, 10 rebound, squeezing of the Orange (likely to the delight of my Syracuse friends) and go right to the main course. I’ll note that The Orange are rebuilding post-Dyaisha Fair and have some great pieces in place for coach Felishia Legette-Jack to bring them back to the level they are used to. (Keep your eyes on freshmen Olivia Schmitt and Keira Scott to be catalysts.)
That said, the world of women’s college hoops was all abuzz about UConn and Paige Bueckers coming to South Bend for the next chapter of this historic rivalry. This matchup was circled on our calendars. Notre Dame has won the last two. And, Paige Bueckers has never played on the floor of Purcell Pavilion. Get the popcorn because you just know this is going to be great!
And it didn’t disappoint. It was the highest watched women’s basketball game of the season.
Despite Paige Bueckers getting a team high 25 points, Notre Dame made things very uncomfortable for Bueckers and the rest of the #2 ranked UConn Huskies, with the 3-headed monster of Hidalgo, Miles and Citron breaking the Husky rhythm and shutting down 3pt production. The Huskies, as a team, were only 3-16 from 3 point land, while Notre Dame used their passing and offensive speed to get 10 3’s, (6 from Hidalgo alone.) The Irish shot 55.6% from behind the arc.
At one point, Hidalgo swiped one from Bueckers leading to a fast break, heat-check 3, igniting the Irish faithful. ‘Hannah doing Hannah things’, did her “Hidalgo Stomp” just as Geno called time out…causing her to do it again. She is so intense.
It was best said, that Hidalgo does not talk trash on the court, but her mannerisms do. But, that is not the intent. It's all passion and joy for the game and her team feeds off it…and as a fan, so do I.
By the end, Hannah Hidalgo netted a team and season high 29 points and just 2 assists shy of a triple-double. She also saved me $200 as I made a bet that if UConn won, I would buy a pair of Paige Bueckers’ new sneakers (Nike actually still has them in my size). They are beautiful, but I don’t need them. So, thank you, Hannah!
This Notre Dame team is really getting some press these days. When you beat 3 top-5 teams before January, on national TV, that tends to happen. This stretch of beating then #2 USC, #4 Texas and now #2 UConn has set up Notre Dame, as not only title contenders (they already were a dark horse program going into the season) but favorites to get to Tampa in April, while Hidalgo’s stock is rising high for National Player of the Year. Especially after beating other favorites Paige Bueckers and Juju Watkins.
I’ll wrap by saying that watching this Irish team play brings me absolute joy as a basketball fan.
Not a specifically a college fan or a women’s college fan, but just a basketball fan. Their collective talents just fit together to give you 40mins of high level intensity and fun.
If you are not watching them, you need to simply to, because you will not get this chance past April as Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron, Liatu King and Maddie Westbeld will all be moving on. (Westbeld has not even seen the court yet this season due to injury.)
This is a special team, and if you love this game, you should enjoy every second they are on the court.
Up Next (all times EST):
Tomorrow - Eastern Michigan at #8 Notre Dame (2p, ACCNX)
Five Touches: Passing around the hoops world
More like a free throw: Surpising no one, Caitlin Clark was named Time Magazine’s Athlete of the Year.
Cougartown: AJ Dybantsa, the #1 ranked player in the Class of 2025, has committed to play at BYU, snubbing blue bloods like UNC and Kansas. Why, you ask? Well, coaching…oh, and a near $7M NIL deal
To the letter: A new letter from 3 college athletes adds a new wrinkle in the $2.8B NCAA settlement.
More forth with the strength of a condor: Remember Darvin Ham? Well, he is 12-0 in the NBA Cup.
He’s Awesome, baby!: The legendary Dickie V. has reported that he is cancer free! We love you DV! Can’t wait to get you back on our screens.
Extracurricular Reading: Sometimes we all need a T.O.
What a ‘suite deal’: what were the major factors in Juan Soto moving to Queens? The Mets gave him a suite at Citi Field for his family. The Yankees would not. Derek Jeter and Aaron Judge buy theirs, according to Brian Cashman.
Chapel Bill: Bill Belichick goes to UNC to be the next
Thornton Melonfootball head coach and follow his father’s footsteps.Bad Pizza a thing of the past? Do you know the difference after Borg’n around your college town?
What did I listen to when writing this? If you guessed it was just looping audio of Ryan Ruocco calling Hannah Hidalgo plays, that would be a good guess. But, in fact it was Sabrina Carpenter’s “On Vacation” Summer Playlist on Apple Music. I’m not a big fan of the modern pop song, but I do admit that I got the ‘Espresso” buzz so I was curious to see what she has there. This list has a lot of gems on it.
Final Seconds:
Ok, folks! Time to get away from the desk and so watch some of these hoops today! If you like what you read, please Like, Share and Subscribe. Also, feel free to join the conversation - just keep it upbeat!
Always live One Shining Moment at a time. Never be boring.