Where did the season go?

It's mid-February, it's been a very interesting season, and I haven't blogged about it, not really, since November. I am a slacker of the utmost degree.

But while I wasn't blogging and most of the country wasn't paying attention, the Tigers have sneaked back up into the Top 10. They've won every game since Tyreke Evans took over the point. And they look suspiciously familiar. You know, like the teams we've seen in the past four years.

Seriously, Memphis fans, do you realize what we've been dealing with for the past few years? Two number 1 seeds, a 2 seed, 2 Elite Eights and a National Championship game? This year was supposed to be the year off, the year Sweet Sixteen was likely out of reach, the year we just hoped to hold things together while we waited for next year's recruits. It was the year where the players didn't have chemistry, where they weren't a brotherhood, just some guys on a court with a ball. Someone forgot to tell the team, I guess.

Last weekend's game at Gonzaga was quite a thing of beauty, a huge game for the Tigers. Nationally televised, with the chance to either prove the country right or wrong. But tonight is big too, especially in the conference, since Tulsa could snatch a tie in the conference championship, but any loss now will hurt. The Tigers are favored right now by 13.5, and that seems slightly optimistic given the way our last game at Tulsa ended, with me screaming at the television and Antonio Anderson sinking a last second shot.

But, if the Tigers just keep winning, we may be in for a very familiar scene come March. And I, for one, can't wait.

Okay, Okay...

So I didn't blog about it. I couldn't bring myself to. The Vols? Seriously? Was that God's idea of funny? Cause it wasn't. I would have much rather lost to UAB. Although, losing to the #2 team isn't so bad. EXCEPT IT'S THE VOLS.

But today I feel I can come back to Blogger with a heart full of gratitude to the Vanderbilt Commodores, for cutting the Vols' time at #1 to a short 28 hours or so. :)

The question now is, what happens? In the AP poll, the Tigers only fell to #2. If they win both games this week (Tulsa tonight and UTEP Saturday) they should take back the #1 spot. But in the Coaches' poll, the Tigers fell to #3, behind UNC. UNC plays one game this week, on Saturday, against Boston College. If UNC wins that game, they will probably move up to #1, even though they have 2 losses and (assuming they win both games this week) the Tigers will only have 1. Which irks.

But the most important thing to me at this point is that the Tigers are a number 1 seed and that they play in Little Rock. UNC would be placed in Raleigh (I'd think), so if they're ahead of us on Selection Sunday it's not going to hurt us on that. Actually, there aren't many teams that (if we're a 1 seed) would take our spot in Little Rock and push us to another city. UCLA would go to Anaheim, the Vols are closer to Birmingham (or D.C., as Cal likes to say), Kansas to Omaha. Texas is the one that might give us a problem. But they'd have to be above us and I'm not sure how that could happen.

Anyway, there's not much we can say about all that until Selection Sunday rolls around. In the meantime, though, we still need to address one game at a time. There are four games left in the regular season, two home, two away, and tonight's game is at home against Tulsa. We're favored by 18.5. I'd take that bet, because I think the Tigers will be in the mood to put the smackdown on somebody, and too bad for the Hurricane that they drew this day. We'll see, though, won't we?

C-USA Championship

Airs at 10:30am on CBS.
CA preview
ESPN preview



Atlanta newspaper: Memphis? Yes, but...
Yesterday's game: CA story CA replay ESPN story

C-USA Tournament, Day 3

Last night:

Tigers win, 92-71. In doing so they tied a school record with 20 straight wins. The Charleston (WV) Gazette said the Tigers "dunked" Marshall. ESPN called it a spanking. The CA thinks Dorsey is making progress. I just think he's AWESOME.

Today's schedule:

3:30 p.m.	(1) Memphis vs. (4) Tulane (CSTV) Watch Gametracker	Tigers win, 71-49.
6:00 p.m.	(3) Houston vs. (7) Rice (CSTV) Watch Gametracker

Tomorrow's Championship game will air on CBS at 10:35 am CT.

What?

Chris Douglas-Roberts is not C-USA Player of the Year.

Huh? How is that possible? Seriously?

See who did get the award, and Coach of the Year, here.

C-USA Tourney, Day 2

The Tigers play Marshall tonight. That's unexpected. I bet UAB is a little surprised.

The game is at 6pm CT. On TV: TV: CSTV (Ch. 222 on Comcast digital cable, Ch. 610 on DIRECTV, Ch. 152 on DISH Network).

The CA pregame story is here. ESPN's game preview is here.

Today's schedule:

Thurs.	March 8	Noon	(2) UCF vs. (7) Rice (CSTV) Watch Live | Gametracker
Thurs.	March 8	2:30 p.m.	(3) Houston vs. (6) Southern Miss (CSTV) Watch Live | Gametracker
Thurs.	March 8	6:00 p.m.	(1) Memphis vs. No. (8) Marshall (CSTV) Watch Live | Gametracker
Thurs.	March 8	8:30 p.m.	(4) Tulane vs. No. (5) Tulsa (CSTV) Watch Live | Gametracker

More Conference Awards

2006-07 CONFERENCE USA ALL-FRESHMAN TEAM

John Fields, East Carolina, F, 6-9, 200, Fayetteville, N.C.
Kevin Sims, Tulane, G, 5-10, 160, Jackson, Miss.
Sai'Quon Stone, Southern Miss, G, 6-6, 205, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Ben Uzoh, Tulsa, G, 6-3, 185, San Antonio, Texas
Jeremy Wise, Southern Miss, G, 6-2, 165, Jackson, Miss.

2006-07 FRESHMAN/NEWCOMER OF THE YEAR

Jeremy Wise, Southern Miss, G, 6-2, 165, Jackson, Miss.

2006-07 CONFERENCE USA ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM

Antonio Anderson, Memphis, G, 6-6, 200, So., Lynn, Mass.
Paul Delaney III, UAB, G, 6-2, 200, Jr., Decatur, Ga.
Joey Dorsey, Memphis, F, 6-9, 260, Jr., Baltimore, Md.
Bamba Fall, SMU, C, 7-1, 210, So., St. Louis, Senegal
Oliver Lafayette, Houston, G, 6-2, 180, Sr., Baton Rouge, La.

2006-07 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Joey Dorsey, Memphis, F, 6-9, 260, Jr., Baltimore, Md.

2006-07 SIXTH MAN OF THE YEAR

Jeremy Hunt, Memphis, G, 6-5, 210, Sr., Memphis, Tenn.

Conference Tourney Time!

Here's where you can get the C-USA tournament update. Here's the bracket.

Awards: CDR and Dorsey were both named to the 2007 Conference USA First Team. Jeremy Hunt was named to the Second Team.

Tournament schedule:

2007 SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Wednesday	March 7	Noon	(7) Rice vs. (10) UTEP Gametracker
Wednesday	March 7	2:30 p.m.	(6) Southern Miss vs. (11) SMU Gametracker
Wednesday	March 7	6:00 p.m.	(8) Marshall vs. (9) UAB Gametracker
Wednesday	March 7	8:30 p.m.	(5) Tulsa vs. (12) East Carolina Gametracker
Thursday	March 8	Noon	(2) UCF vs. No. 7/10 winner (CSTV)
Thursday	March 8	2:30 p.m.	(3) Houston vs. No. 6/11 winner (CSTV)
Thursday	March 8	6:00 p.m.	(1) Memphis vs. No. 8/9 winner (CSTV)
Thursday	March 8	8:30 p.m.	(4) Tulane vs. No. 5/12 winner (CSTV)
Friday	March 9	3:30 p.m.	Semifinal 1 (CSTV)
Friday	March 9	6:00 p.m.	Semifinal 2 (CSTV)
Saturday	March 10	10:35 a.m.	Championship Game (CBS)

SMU

Again? Are they seriously trying to drive me to insanity? Or least to drink. Dude.

Final Score: Tigers win 64-61. This is the team that we beat by 30 something points in January. It was absolutely nerve wracking.

U of M extends streak to 19
Memphis gets 19th straight win
Missed FTs a concern for Cal

Favorite name of the week: Ike Ofoegbu

Next: Tigers have a first round bye in the C-USA tournament, and will play Thursday night.

UTEP

Tonight's game: Memphis at UTEP, 8pm CT, on ESPN.
Latest Line: Memphis by 12.

CA pre-game
Matchup
ESPN game preview

Also? Florida lost Tuesday night and Texas A & M lost last night. Sweet.

Final Score: Tigers win, 78-67.

These Tigers are trying to give me a heart attack, I swear.

FOX Sports
ESPN: Memphis defeats UTEP for 18th straight win
CA: Tigers win 18th in a row

Next: the last regular season game, at SMU, tomorrow night at 8:30pm CT, on CSTV.

Houston

The last home game. Today at 2pm CT, watch it on CBS. Latest Line as of 11am CT: Tigers by 17.5

You can see the CA's matchup here, with stats and info, yada yada yada.

Nice story here about senior Jeremy Hunt's redemption and how his mother deserves some praise. He's getting a second shot at Senior Day today.

Also? Florida and Pitt both lost yesterday. :)

Final Score: Tigers win, 77-64.

From ESPN: Tigers push nation's best win streak to 17.

So, as you will see above, I believed the game started at 2pm. Around 1pm, when I was sitting in Jillian's enjoying a pre-game lunch, I realized that hey! They're showing the FedExForum on TV! Oh, wait... the game's starting? Yes. The game was at 1pm CT. Oops. We ate fast and got to the game halfway through the first half...

Here's a senior day article by my favorite sports writer, Geoff Calkins.
Also from the CA, Tigers Streaking, and Tigers Replay. From the Houston Chronicle: Memphis coasts past UH

Oh, and the Tigers have wrapped up their first perfect home record since moving to the FedExForum. And we have one of the country's longest home court winning streaks, not sure where we are on that list now.

Next: Tigers at UTEP, Thursday night, 8pm CT (I double checked), on ESPN2.

Rice

Tonight's game against Rice will air on ESPN at 6pm CT.

Current line as of 10am CT: Tigers by 21

Final Score: 99-63

I don't really know can be said. I missed the first half of the game. The part I saw was just Joey Dorsey putting on a dunking demonstration, Jeremy Hunt scoring his 1,000th point, and even the scrubs hitting threes. You can read about it on ESPN.com if you want.

I did get to hear the ESPN commentators discussing how we didn't deserve a 2 seed in the tournament.

The Tigers did clinch the C-USA regular season title, as if that was in doubt. It was their 16th straight victory. The interesting thing about that is that I believe at least 3 teams this season have lost when trying to win their 17th straight game, including Florida.

Next: Houston on Sunday at 2pm CT, will be aired on CBS. It's senior day...

Tulsa

Poll update: This week the Tigers stayed at #8 in the AP poll, and rose to #9 in the ESPN poll.

Tonight it's Tulsa. Tulsa is 15-8, and 5-5 in C-USA. The game is at Tulsa, at 7pm and airs on CSTV (Ch. 222 on Comcast digital cable, Ch. 610 on DIRECTV, Ch. 152 on DISH Network). When we played in Memphis last month, we won 72 to 59.

The current line is Memphis by 10.5. ESPN's game preview is here. The CA's is here.

Final Score: Tigers win, 69-52. Antonio Anderson returned from his ankle injury to score 15 points and pretty much take over. CDR had 20 points and made 10-12 from the free throw line. I missed the game, and I don't have a lot to say about it. The CA's stuff is here and here.

Coming up: Saturday night at Gonzaga. 5pm CT on ESPN. This is a big one, it's our last major test before the tournament, and Gonzaga has quite a home court winning streak going. If we can win, that will be a nice booster heading in to the remaining five games.

Tulane

Speaking of arse-kicking.

Final Score: 95-51. There's not much else to say, really. Except the freshmen got a lot of playing time, and it gave them an opportunity to show what they can do. They did a good job.

Next? 7 pm Wednesday at Tulsa. Supposed to air on CSTV, which sucks because since Time Warner sold to Comcast, we don't have CSTV anymore. Not cool.

Update: CSTV didn't go away, it just relocated. It's now channel 222, if you're in Memphis.

UAB

The Tigers travel to Birmingham take on UAB tonight at 8pm CT, and it will be broadcast on ESPN as part of Rivalry Week. Really? Okay. Tigers are favored by 9-10 points right now.

Final Score: (8) Tigers 70, UAB 56

Well then. The game was interesting. It seemed very sloppy to me in the first part of the first half. UAB was trying to run and gun, and they were sloppy. The Tigers were just... sloppy. Everytime they started to make a run, UAB was able to stay with them. Until they weren't. The Tigers had a 12 point lead at halftime, in the second half built the lead to as many as 23 points and then held on to win by 14. The story of the night was definitely Jeremy Hunt. He was just ridiculous. He had a career-high 25 points in the first half, including a buzzer beater that was incredible.

Now, last year I wasn't a big fan of Hunt. He seemed to be one of many basketball stars that had succombed to the pressure of being a hometown star. He had not lived up to his potential on the court, and off he was arrested for violence against his girlfriend, and for a "scuffle" on Beale Street, and was supposedly off the team. But Calipari, in his either wisdom or foolishness (only the future will reveal which) allowed Hunt back on the team this season. And so far, it seems that Hunt is an example of a life turned around. He's playing well on the court, he got his degree, and he hasn't been in any trouble that I know of. I hope it's true.

Next? The Tigers play Tulane at home Saturday night. It will air on CSS, at 7pm CT.

SMU

The Tigers are playing SMU right now on ESPN.

Sorry I didn't give you a heads up, Mom, I know you're probably missing it.

I'll be back when it's over!

Update:

That, my friends, is what we call an arse-kicking. The Tigers were favored by 19 anyway, but they won by 36. So that was nice. (Final Score: 88-52) The game was close for the first couple of minutes, but the Tigers went on a run that had them up by 20 before the first half ended. SMU never really threatened. The Tigers are 9-0 in conference play now, and have the second longest active winning streak in the country.

Polls: Last Monday, the Tigers were #12 in the ESPN poll, #11 in the AP poll. Duke (#10) and Oregon (#9) both lost this week, so chances are we may move up a spot or two. It would seem the Tigers may sneak their way into the Top 10.

Coming up: Thursday night at UAB, at 8pm CT. The game will be aired on ESPN. Then Saturday night back home against Tulane (will be aired on CSS if you have Comcast). The biggest game left on the schedule is February 17 trip to Gonzaga. Gonzaga has the longest active home court winning streak. That game will be our chance to tune up before the NCAA tournament, and give us a chance to end that nice little winning streak. It will air on ESPN.

Here' s a link to the Tigers schedule.

Monday it's Marshall

Tonight the Tigers play Marshall in the C-USA opener tonight in the FedExForum at 7 pm. The oddsmakers have us favored by 21-22 points. The game will be broadcast in the Memphis area on WLMT CW 30.

It's early for conference play, and we don't have another conference matchup until Jan 11. The early game is the result of the conference expanding the schedule from 14 to 16 games.

Poll News: The ESPN/USA Today poll has kept us at #17. Hopefully when the AP poll is released today the Tigers will not fall from #14. Update: We did. Fall. Down to #16. Which I hate because we didn't lose last week. I guess beating Arkansas State and Manhattan wasn't enough to maintain #14. Whatever.

Final Score: 78-59. Only a 19 point win, that's two games in a row the Tigers didn't cover the spread. But, again, a W is still a W.

The Tigers did shoot 17 out of 20 free throws, which is a near miraculous turn around from the last game...

NEXT: The Vols. Tomorrow night in Knoxville, 8pm CT, live on ESPN2.

Also: DeAngelo Williams had an awesome night on Monday Night Football. Too bad the Panthers couldn't hold on to their lead.