Connect with your Facebook Account

• Contact

Basketball Articles

14

Dick Vitale Still Hasn’t Forgiven Texas

Posted by srr50 on February 26th, 2008 under Basketball

For losing to A&M in late January. Vitale, best known for turning enthusiastic babble into an art form, and for becoming the face of College Basketball for ESPN is at least consistent. He doesn’t think Texas deserves a Top Ten spot, much less a #1 seed.

Since the A&M loss on Jan.30th, Texas is 8-0,having gone unbeaten in the month of February for the first time in 45 years. The streak includes wins over Kansas, Kansas State and A&M. The Horns have given up 70 or more points just twice (both times to Baylor), and have held those eight opponents to 37% shooting. But Dickie V. isn’t convinced that the Horns are “PTP’ers.”

Vitale has a vote in the AP Basketball Top 25, and his February ballots put Texas lower than just about any of the 71 voters. There is a great website, Pollspeak that lets you follow any voter or team through the weekly collegiate polls. Here is Vitale’s ballot for Feb. 25th.

1. Tennessee
2. Memphis
3. UNC
4. UCLA
5. Georgetown
6. Duke
7. Kansas
8. Stanford
9. Xavier
10. Indiana
11. Texas

No one has Texas ranked lower than Vitale.

Three teams that the Horns have beaten (Tennessee, UCLA & Kansas) are in Vitale’s top 7. The main beneficiary of his ballot is Georgetown. The Hoyas are 22-4 on the season. They have no real quality non-conference wins (at Alabama is probably the best) while they have home wins against Connecticut, Notre Dame and Pittsburgh. Their losses are at Memphis, at Pittsburgh, at Louisville and at Syracuse.

Texas lost to the Aggies 83-60 on Jan. 30th, and dropped to 12 on the Feb.4 AP basketball poll. Vitale had the Horns at 18 on his ballot, the lowest placement of any voter for that week. After the Horns beat Kansas Vitale moved them all the way up to 13 on his ballot — Texas was 7th in the AP poll that week. Over the past month, Vitale has had Texas 5 or 6 spots lower on his ballot than the consensus.

Vitale was more forgiving when Georgetown lost two out of three games in one week (at Louisville, at Syracuse). He ranked the Hoyas 7th the next week (the highest of any voter) and bumped them up to 5th this week – again higher than anyone else.

Of course, the basketball polls mean little to the post-season, but maybe a 3rd straight Big Monday win will get Vitale to pay enough attention to at least put Texas in his Top Ten.

That would be “AWE-SOME WITH A CAPITAL A BAY-BEE!!!”“>

Article Tags:

, ,

More from this Barker


Share This

  • StumbleUpon

14 Responses

  1. HenryJames said:

    February 26th, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    Vitale is a caricature at this point.

  2. Facebook User said:

    February 26th, 2008 at 2:25 pm

  3. CrazyJoeDavola said:

    February 26th, 2008 at 2:26 pm

    He’s still more tolerable than Billy Packer.

  4. Facebook User said:

    February 26th, 2008 at 2:34 pm

    I agree, Joe. Packer is so smug. And your stint on the 1847 Wafe Forest squad means nothing. I wish both of them were gone.

    Out here on the West Coast we get Mike Montgomery doing some games and he’s really great. I suspect he’ll start coaching again at some point but I wish he’d go national and stay with it.

  5. McLovin said:

    February 26th, 2008 at 3:23 pm

    I think the B12 team is pretty good. Franschilla has grown on me.

    Vitale missed a great deal of this season, although that’s really no excuse since he’s still probably seen more hoops than I have and I know his ballot is jacked.

    Stanford anywhere in the Top 15 is a complete joke. I’m fine with Xavier if this is still 2004.

  6. 8straight said:

    February 26th, 2008 at 5:14 pm

    I saw Jay Bilas on PTI today and he mentioned just about every #1 seed possibility except the Horns which is exactly how I want it. Keep up the good work DV.

  7. Facebook User said:

    February 26th, 2008 at 7:05 pm

    Most recent Joe Lunardi Bracketology:

    Horns a 1 seed.

    Big XII gets five more in:

    Kansas, Baylor, A&M, OU, K State.

    Penders gets dropped.

  8. Trips Right said:

    February 26th, 2008 at 8:32 pm

    Down goes Tenny. We should be ahead of those pretenders in any conversation about seeding. I’m pretty sure we’d roll them by 20 on a neutral floor. Wait, we did that. Hook ‘em.

    Nice write up srr50.

  9. sooner tim said:

    February 26th, 2008 at 9:37 pm

    Horns are a legit NC contender because of their defensive pressure and intensity. And that’s coming from the enemy.

  10. BRAGGonUT said:

    February 27th, 2008 at 6:21 am

    Something tells me Dicky V’s assistant only votes once a month.

  11. doog said:

    February 27th, 2008 at 7:10 am

    getting overlooked is a good thing. we’d be the 2 seed in houston, Bay-Bee

  12. Trips Right said:

    February 27th, 2008 at 9:30 am

    sooner, you’re exactly right. Defense sets this team apart from other good Texas teams. We can win games on bad shooting nights.

  13. Facebook User said:

    March 16th, 2008 at 9:52 am

    Vitale says if we win, we’re a 1. Duh. And why does he hate the letter ‘G’?

  14. Facebook User said:

    March 17th, 2008 at 8:57 am

    h/t: Double T Nation

Leave a Reply

Follow Us

Related Articles

Hot Forum Topics

Activity

  • dick commented on the blog post Second Round Bets   51 minutes ago

    I wish they weren’t playing Kentucky next. Same goes for #11 seed Washington having to play West Virginia.

    Sucks that we are getting the two best teams left in the tourney playing in the Elite 8 possibly.

  • Farmer Ted wrote a new blog post: Bo Pelini Interview   1 hour, 50 minutes ago

    Steve Sipple has a Q&A with Bo Pelini in Sunday’s Lincoln Journal Star. There are some candid comments and it’s worth a read. Some notable excerpts:

    On the program’s improvement: “I’m hungrier than I’ve ever been because I think we’re getting close…I’m starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel. I think the players feel the

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • adam-biggers wrote a new blog post: Spartan Hoopla: Here’s What I Really Think About Spartan Basketball   1 hour, 58 minutes ago

    Okay, gloves off.

    No stats, no recaps, none of that.

    If you have ever read my stuff on Bleacher Report you would notice that I keep to a newspaper style of writing. On this blog, I want to be more opinionated, but without being out of line at the same time.

    Here it goes, this is what I

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • P.Drez wrote a new blog post: Carlo’s Chelsea Capitulate; United Seize Control   2 hours, 31 minutes ago

    An already painful week turned excruciating for Carlo Ancelotti. After being dumped out of the Champions League midweek by former hero Jose Mourinho, Chelsea failed to rebound and dropped two valuable points at Blackburn. Manchester United edged Liverpool and now control the Premier League race.

    A forlorn figure on the touchline, Carlo Ancelotti could

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Tim commented on the blog post Spring Preview: Tech Offense   3 hours, 10 minutes ago

    With Leach at the wheel I was expecting a 10 win minimum season with the guys this team has coming back in 2010. Now with Tubbs, Willis, and Brown running the show I’m in agreement it’s anywhere between 9-12 wins this year.

    Very exciting to hear your take on the O-line ded, as

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • adam-biggers wrote a new blog post: Spartan Hoopla: Michigan State Stamps Its Ticket to Sweet 16 Without Kalin Lucas   4 hours, 50 minutes ago

    No Kalin Lucas?

    No problem.

    “Too Easy” has had his share of leg and ankle problems this season, and with two minutes left in the Spartans’ second round matchup with Greivis Vasquez and the Maryland Terrapins, he made an early exit.

    State’s 5′11″ point-man Korie Lucious may have a little something to

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember   6 hours, 43 minutes ago

    This really has been a great start. It’s pretty exciting to see dark horse teams winning by playing solid basketball rather than just shooting the lights out. 4 year players are so key.

  • Bob in Houston commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember   6 hours, 45 minutes ago

    And nobody melts down like Maryland fans. I can’t even post some of the stuff they have spewed.

  • dick commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember   7 hours, 32 minutes ago

    Hopefully, yall caught the Maryland Michigan St ending. Freakin’ thrilling. Maryland almost pulled off a comeback for the ages.

    officially the best opening weekend ever

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   7 hours, 37 minutes ago

    Tom Izzo can coach some ball.

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   7 hours, 38 minutes ago

    MSU at the buzzer!!!!!!

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   7 hours, 40 minutes ago

    Fear the Turtle! Came all the way back from a dozen down to take the lead on MSU…

  • D W commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember   7 hours, 47 minutes ago

    It’s incredible how few teams play good, fundamental basketball.

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   7 hours, 51 minutes ago

    tOSU will be moving on. Evan Turner does a little of everything. 22 pts, 8 reb, 8 ass. Great player.

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   7 hours, 51 minutes ago

    tOSU will be moving on. Evan Turner does a little of everything. 22 pts, 8 reb, 8 ast. Great player.

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   7 hours, 57 minutes ago

    Bob Huggins looks like a guy I wouldn’t want to play for. He makes Barnes look like Dick Vermeil….

  • Scipio Tex commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember   7 hours, 59 minutes ago

    Scratch that. The Big Red are blowing Wisconsin out.

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   8 hours, 1 minute ago

    I’d be happy to see the last two minutes of the OSU/Tech game. 4 pt game with just under two minutes.

    Cornell putting it to the Bo Ryan’s….

  • Scipio Tex commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember   8 hours, 28 minutes ago

    Cornell is playing phenomenally well. I’d be surprised if Wiscy doesn’t cut into the lead in the 2nd half.

    Jay Bilas may end up looking like a genius.

  • admin commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember   8 hours, 43 minutes ago

    parlin – Shoot me an email sailorripley at barkingcarnival dot com.

  • ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   9 hours, 37 minutes ago

    I really want Mizzou to give it to WVU.

  • Sailor Ripley commented on the blog post Round 2 Saturday Recaps   9 hours, 51 minutes ago

    What kind of NBA player does Samhan end up as?

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • dick commented on the blog post Second Round Bets   10 hours, 3 minutes ago

    I really like Cal today.

    ATM and Cornell look too good to be true and the public is all over both of them.

    I gotta believe that Izzo beats Maryland today, I haven’t been impressed with the Terps this year. I am surprised that they are favored.

  • ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   10 hours, 25 minutes ago

    Gonzaga is getting plowed like a future Zeta during her Provisional Summer session.

  • Alex wrote a new blog post: The Top 10 Reasons our Cal Bears will beat the Duke Blue Devils   10 hours, 29 minutes ago

    Kevin Berger from March To March lays it out for us here.

    1) Interior Worries. As in the Bears shouldn’t have any defensively even if Cal is an undersized group. Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas aren’t going to drop step and dunk you to death on the low block so Mike Montgomery can

    SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: ””, url: ”” });

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   10 hours, 36 minutes ago

    Jordan Hamilton + 2 years ~ Wesley Johnson. Discuss.

  • James commented on the blog post Best Opening Round I Can Remember   10 hours, 54 minutes ago

    ” a heavily tattooed lycanthrope Irish wookie named Lucas O’Rear”

    That is just strong command of the English language.

    This piece was a nice balm on the hangover.

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post Texas Turns the Page   10 hours, 56 minutes ago

    gotta,

    I think your overall point is a good one. Barnes is a “system” guy especially defensively, which plays into how he overall plays the game. He wants to play a high pressure, overplay man2man scheme predicated on effort, good technique and overall quickness. Similar to Duke, but even Coach K (in fairness

  • Patrick Bateman commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   11 hours, 7 minutes ago

    Would have never guessed that UNI had an Ali shooting threes for them….

  • ghostofagroundgame commented on the blog post NCAA Tournament Open Thread: Weekend Edition   11 hours, 24 minutes ago

    Anyone else as confused as I am by this “Ivan Brothers” ad campaign? WTF?