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December 3, 2007
MRI 2007 - Week 2: "X" Marks the #1 Spot
No, that isn't a misprint. A strong week #2 has vaulted the Atlantic 10's Xavier into the top spot in the MRI. How are they doing it?
Xavier is using a short bench and primarily organizing their game around the top six players. All of those players are averaging double digit points while only one of those six has more than two turnovers a game. Only one of those players has less assists than his turnover numbers too. Good strong fundamental basketball.
There may be a question of whether they can continue on this pace, and whether an appearance with such a short rotation in the NCAA tournament could turn out well. As we saw with Duke last season, it might be tough on the latter point. On the former, it is probably possible to hang at the top in the MRI if they continue to win. The Atlantic 10 looks like they are going to have at least 5 or 6 teams which can compete in the conference. That will help Xavier once conference season begins, unlike in recent years, when the overall profile of the Atlantic 10 has brought down teams as the long conference slate wore on.
Two quick games from the weekend which you may not have seen (unlike Texas beating down UCLA, which I am sure you heard much more about).
First, Texas Tech coach Bob Knight left a game against Centenary prior to halftime and didn't return to the court after the break. Claiming sickness, perhaps at the sight of how his team was playing, Knight was taken back to the hotel where he rested. Texas Tech went on to lose to Centenary, giving the Gentlemen their 4th Division 1 win of the season. Of course, this is the same Centenary team that lost to Baylor by 23 a week earlier, and that has an enrollment of 910 students, the smallest in Division 1. Not a great day for the Red Raiders, who slipped to 81st in the MRI.
And last, Tommy Amaker got a little revenge on all those Michigan fans who wanted him gone, despite doing well given all of the handcuffs on him as he was repeatedly slapped with probation caused by his predecessors. I always felt that Michigan was just a little bit away from really making it work. Well, Tommy went to Harvard. And Harvard defeated Michigan, 62-51, on Saturday. It was the first time Harvard has beaten Michigan, although the two schools with long histories have only met 3 times. Harvard is up to 178th in the MRI this week, while Michigan is at 175 in the latest rankings.
And now, it is time to check out all the rankings in Week 2 of the MRI.
| And Now the Rankings | |||||
| Teams Dropped From The Top 25: | |||||
| Seton Hall (LW #10, TW #40), Gonzaga (LW #12, TW #28), Missouri (LW #19, TW #55), Oklahoma (LW #20, TW #37), Illinois (LW #22, TW #42), Washington State (LW #23, TW #39), Ohio State (LW #24, TW #78), Minnesota (LW #25, TW #34) | |||||
| Other Teams People Might Care About | |||||
| Last Place this week: NJIT (0-8) at -68.48. 2nd week in a row. | |||||
| Biggest Gain this week: Hampton gained 27.58 points. (Beat Delaware (51-50), Virginia Commonwealth (64-55), and Howard (65-31)) | |||||
| Biggest Loss this week: Florida International lost 30.02 points (Lost to South Florida (69-77), Robert Morris (61-88), and Florida Gulf Coast (70-73)) | |||||
| Conference rankings this week: PAC-10, Big East, ACC, Big 12, SEC, Big Ten, MVC, Mountain West, Atlantic 10, C-USA. The WAC is 20th | |||||
The MRI Rankings are copyright 2007 by MRISports.com. Ben Miraski writes for MRISports.com and is a featured blogger on FanIQ. Readers can contact Ben at bmiraski@mrisports.com
Posted by bmiraski at December 3, 2007 6:10 PM
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