May
01
2019
Sportswriters are both romantics and cynics. That’s why Inspector Renault, a cynical character in Casablanca, a romantic movie, so often appears in sports stories. The latest example of Inspector Renault declaring he’s “shocked, shocked,” results from Christian Dawkins testifying in the FBI’s college basketball federal corruption case. He was answering questions on Wednesday in New …
Apr
21
2019
Cassius Winston’s legacy stock is up. Way up. His NBA prospects determine future financial stocks, but his pro career can only enhance his Michigan State legacy. That was secured once he announced on Friday his senior year return for another NCAA title shot. He has a chance to join a pantheon of Magic, Mateen and …
Apr
15
2019
Give @MattZemek a twitter follow and check out his musings on college sports at https://www.patreon.com/Zemek. ACC QUESTION of the WEEK : Is Virginia now a basketball blue-blood? I wrote about the revocation of blue-blood status last week at College Basketball Today, so it is good to visit the other side of this topic: When does a blue-blood get …
Apr
12
2019
The paint has barely dried on Virginia’s 2019 national title and we are already getting those Way Too Early Pre-Season Basketball rankings for the 2019-2020 season. Sure these rankings won’t matter much, with transfers and early entrys, but they make for fun off-season conversation. Here’s a sampling of some of those rankings. USAToday Way Too …
Apr
11
2019
We have an update to our national championship tracker after Virginia’s recent men’s basketball title. With Notre Dame’s title last year in Women’s Basketball, the ACC became the only conference with national titles all 4 major sports (Football, Men’s Basketball, Women’s Basketball, and Baseball) since 2013. That’s a significant accomplishment for a conference that won …
Apr
11
2019
There are dozens of highly recruited high school basketball seniors and hundreds of ranked prospects overall, but only two watched March Madness unfold with the satisfaction of knowing they committed to the school that won the 2019 NCAA title. One of those Virginia-bound prospects is Kadin Shedrick, a 4-star center from Holly Springs High located …
Apr
09
2019
Give @MattZemek a twitter follow and check out his musings on college sports at https://www.patreon.com/Zemek. No one needs any explanation or recollection of the many times and many ways in which college basketball people — within or outside the ACC — knocked the playing style and overall aesthetic of the Virginia Cavaliers over the years. We have gone …
Apr
09
2019
Give @MattZemek a twitter follow and check out his musings on college sports at https://www.patreon.com/Zemek. Let me be very clear about this: Fans of a conference should not be expected to root for fellow conference members. SEC fans do that a lot, and Big Ten fans are usually very good about NOT doing that. If you want to …
Apr
09
2019
Give @MattZemek a twitter follow and check out his musings on college sports at https://www.patreon.com/Zemek. We joke about this all the time on #CollegeSportsTwitter, but behind the jokes lies a basic truth: Maryland did not win a title for the Big Ten in 2002. It won a title for the ACC. That is not a Big Ten memory. …
Apr
08
2019
@Hokiesmash_ASD and I (@TalkinACCSports ) take an early look at ACC Football with @mark_hokie. He runs a great ACC Blog Site accfootballrx.blogspot.com. Please check out his site! You can also find this most recent podcast and all our other podcasts on ITUNES at https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/rwradios-acc-weekly-podcast/id831843856?t=2. We are also now available on Stitcher! http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/httpwwwtalkshoecomtalkshoewebtalkcastjspmasterid130024cmdtc/the-acc-weekly-podcast?refid=stpr0 We are also now …
Apr
07
2019
Tom Izzo’s opinion that he needed a second NCAA title to “validate” his career sparked myriad responses. Mostly, the Michigan State basketball coach’s innermost thoughts were met with rebuttals he has already proven himself. Let me tell you a story from the Heart of Tobacco Road, where I live, that illustrates that common belief. A …
Apr
07
2019
Give @MattZemek a twitter follow and check out his musings on college sports at https://www.patreon.com/Zemek. ACC QUESTION of the WEEK : Will Virginia win It All? When I made my picks at the start of the 2019 NCAA Tournament, I thought Virginia would make the Final Four. When the Final Four arrived, I thought Virginia — which I …
Apr
06
2019
Virginia is playing for the national title after a heart stopping 63-62 win over Auburn Saturday. There was controversy to to finish the game that we will go through, but guess what Virginia doesn’t nor should they care about it. Facing an epic collapse after blowing a late 10 point lead, Virginia made the plays …
Apr
06
2019
If you wondered about the “Gus” patch adorning Michigan State’s basketball jerseys, they represent the indomitable character of Gus Ganakas. The team has stitched the spirit of the late Spartans coach to their Final Four run. The patch’s story is one that the CBS TV crews have failed to properly tell the nation during the …
Apr
06
2019
The NCAA tournament is nearly complete. The field had neither Clemson or NC State. Both made the NIT as 2 seeds, but neither made it New York. By any any measure Clemson and NC State had very similar seasons. A look at their resumes show much didn’t separate the two. Let’s take a look at …
Apr
05
2019
Tom Izzo enriches the Michigan State basketball program’s history with season awards named for former players and coaches. It is one way the Basketball Hall of Fame coach connects the past to the present and into the future. Johnny Green, who led the Spartans to their first Final Four in 1957 while averaging 13.2 points …