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Hi Everybody! Welcome to another edition of Slayer’s Sports and Stuff! Today, just the bare bones as all my external energy went to my diatribe on Hunter Thompson. We’ll go over the week of college basketball becuase with no hockey and the NBA stuck in second gear, this is all we got! Oh, and NASCAR too. That is to come but first, let’s talk about The Illinois Illini! Only because they won’t be around too much on the national television schedule. Three more wins and they’ll have a perfect regular season record. It’s been a slow climb, they are not a traditional basketball powerhouse so it took some triple takes and trips through De Nial for most people to realize, “holy shit, these guys are good.” Now, they are heralded as the top team in the nation and get all those nifty #1 votes which of course are quite meaningless. The Big Ten is in a bit of a lull granted, but at this point everyone would agree if they were in the ACC, they would not have more then 1 or 2 losses and still be on top. At this point, the team is just waiting for the Tournament as the pressure piles on. If they don’t make it to the Final Four, the Illini will cry. Hell, they don’t make it to the championship game, they will cry. But we all know Illinois is good, I’m not telling you anything new. Instead let’s look at the rest of the NCAA. Let’s go over the rules again!

1) I will list all the nationally televised games.
2) The numbers you see are their respective rankings in the followng order: AP, Coaches, RPI
3) ‘x’ means no ranking
4) Remember, AP and Coach rankings change every Monday!
5) The RPI rankings change 24/7, so look at them as simply approximations.
6) I will write a quick blurb about the game so you know what the deal is.
7) That’s it. I can’t make it to Ten no matter how hard I try.
8) I can say you will see it every Tuesday, and it will take you to Monday. But today is Thursday
9) I’m almost at ten!
10) WOOOOOO!

Let’s do it because this week is Judgment Week!..whatever espy

SUPER TUESDAY
x,x,134: Purdue vs. x,x,51: Indiana 7:00/ESPN
First game and its two teams with no chance of making the tournament. Prove me wrong, guys. Prove me wrong!!!

28,30,26: Texas vs. 25,29,25: Texas Tech 8:00/ESPN2
Then we have two teams that will make the tournament. Texas Tech is weird. They beat Kansas, yet they get killed by Oklahoma St. The Longhorns haven’t done anything too memorable but they’ve beaten up all the have-nots.

14.16.12: Alabama vs. 41, 41,29: Louisiana St. 9:00/ESPN
Wooo! The Tide has been on a role as of late. If you haven’t seen their two stars Kennedy Winston and Earnest Shelton, do it. Besides, there isn’t anything else on!!!! Especially on Tuesdays. LSU is hanging on to the bubble for dear life. A win against a legitimate Top 25 team is just what the doctor ordered.

ENIGMATIC WEDNESDAY
x,x,75: Providence vs. x,x,106:Seton Hall 7:00/ESPN
Yikes..So what happened to the Friars? This was supposed to be THEIR year! Gnomes was supposed to run wild on the Big East like Hulkamania. Seton Hall has been in like rebuilding mode for about a decade now. But, you could see..two teams with alot to prove? If you’d like…

10,7,6: Duke vs. 34,33,35: Georgia Tech 7:00/ESPN2
Did the Blue Devils’ win against Wake Forest cover for the loss against Virginia Tech? Does it matter? This game is really about the Jackets who are as on the bubble line as much as one can bee the bubble line. Get it? Bee? Yellow Jackets? Bubble? Bumble? BWAHAHAHAHA..no..ok..

3,3,5: Boston College vs. 24,23,16: Villanova 9:00/ESPN2
The Golden Eagles, the best team in the…Big East? The conference must be pulling their hair out right now. This isn’t how karma is supposed to work. The Wildcats win against Pittsburgh I think more or less clinched their tournament spot but if they are smart they should think they need one more big win. This should be a fun one.

THROWDOWN THURSDAY
20,20, 14: Wisconsin vs. 9,10,18: Michigan St. 7:00/ESPN
Despite the down year of the Big Ten, there is one good conference matchup without the word Illinois in it and this is the one. The last time these two played a month ago was a thriller and this should be one as well. Also, both their last losses were to..you guessed it! Illinois!

x,x,52: Marquette vs. 22,24,19: Cincinnati 9:00/ESPN2
It’s going to be weird to call this a Big East Rivalry next year. Anyway, Marquette went on a bad losing streak, their lone win against DePaul not withstanding. They are done unless they do major damage in the CUSA tournament. This Cincy team is so far no better then any of the countless ‘above average’ Cincy teams we’ve seen over the years. That’s a good thing and a bad thing.

16,12,11: Gonzaga vs. x,x,140: Portland 11:00/ESPN2
Believe it or not, the last time these two teams played (which was also on national TV oddly enough) it wasn’t too ugly of a beating…..

MANIC SATURDAY
x,x,75: Providence vs. 15,15,15: Syracuse NOON/ESPN2
Hey look! All the Orangemen rankings match! That is so coooooool! Anyway, we already talked about the Friars and Syracuse hasn’t lost to a non-Top 25 team this year. Nothing should change. Something to wake up too.

10,7,6: Duke vs. x,x,112: St. John’s 1:00/ABC (reg)
This game more times then not is actually much better then it has any right to be. New York has been pleasantly surprised the Red Storm have only been bad but not completely awful this year.

x,x,57: Missouri vs. 28,30,26: Texas 1:00/ABC (reg)
Ha! ABC must be kicking themselves for scheduling all these games with the disappointing Tigers. One of these two games will be a blowout.

5,5,10: Kentucky vs. 14.16.12: Alabama 1:30/CBS (national)
oooo..Here’s a slinky SEC game. If you crashed and burned on Friday night this game will get you right back into reality. That, some Advil, two fried eggs, and lots of ice water.

41,x,70: La-Lafayette vs. x,x,86: Ark-Little Rock 2:00/ESPN2
Chance to see possible bracket buster and Sun Belt favorite, Lafayette. They need to beef up that win column (17 at the moment) to not get a 15 or 16 ranking though.

x,x,97: St. Joseph’s vs. x,x,309: Rhode Island 2:30/ESPN
Whoa…Alumni and A-10 die-hards only.

19,17, 17: Connecticut vs. 17,18,27: Pittsburgh 3:45/CBS (national)
Much depends if the Huskies star player is out of the hospital. Two very talented teams with inconsistent seasons trying to jump up and get a 3 or 4 seed.

8,9,8: Arizona vs. 13,14,9: Washington 4:00/ABC (national)
The Pac-10 has been lousy this year and there are only two teams in the conference that are guaranteed a spot in the tournament and this is it. Two teams both rallying for a good seed. Good job by ABC moving this one to the National feed. One of the best games this week.

X,x,294: E. Tenn St. vs. x,x,194: Georgia Southern 4:00/ESPN2
Even for Southern Conference standards, neither team is good. But if you like the tiny school thing, don’t let me discourage you.

x,41,43: Stanford vs. x,x,54: Oregon: 7:00/ABC (reg)
The Cardinal will most likely need 20 wins to get into the Tournament. They have 15 now and 4 regular season games left. Do the math. They need to do something in the Conference tourney.

11,11,20: Louisville vs. x,x,79: Memphis 9:00/ESPN
Don’t let the RPI fool you, Memphis is actually an okay team and they sort have been this year’s symbol for the anti-RPI contingent. They also destroyed Louisville two weeks ago, 85-68. They would love to do it again and the Cardinals want some payback. Should be a burner.

x,x,153: CA-Northridge vs. 18,19,31: Pacific 11:00/ESPN2
A good chance to see this year’s popular Cinderella. Northridge is second in the Big West so the game could be a good one. I honestly couldn’t tell you though.

HANGOVER SUNDAY
9,10,18: Michigan St. vs. x,x,51: Indiana Noon/CBS (national)
Indiana hasn’t had a win against a good team all year. They could catch the Spartans twiddling their thumbs though.

x,x,38: UCLA vs. 36,31,32: Notre Dame 2:00/CBS (regional)
Wow. A rare late major inter-conference match up about a de facto tournament game of sorts. Both teams are salivating for this win.

29,32, 33: Florida vs. x,x,45: South Carolina 2:00/CBS (regional)
Another bubble game. Both teams have gone .500 these past couple weeks and their wins and losses are to both the good and bad of the SEC. Both could use this game but their chances of making the Tourney will rely more in the conference tournament.

4,4,3: Oklahoma St. vs. 7,8,1: Kansas 4:00/CBS (National)
If you’re reading this column, I can assume you know this is the Marquis game of the week. How Kansas is still #1 in the RPI after three straight losses is beyond me.

2,2,7: North Carolina vs. 26,27,23: Maryland 5:30/FSN
The Terps got everybody’s attention after sweeping Duke, didn’t they? The Heel ironically lost to Duke in the middle of 8 wins. But they did destroy Maryland last time they played, 109-75.

BIG MONDAY
17,18,27: Pittsburgh vs. 3,3,5: Boston College 7:00/ESPN
Everytime the Panthers get people excited, they quickly let everybody down. Either way, good marquis Monday match-up.

23,22,13: Oklahoma vs. 28,30,26: Texas 9:00/ESPN
Three game losing streak, three game winning streak. Losses to Missouri, Wins against Kansas. The Sooners have been weird. Texas has been on alot this week, haven’t they?

x,x,95: New Mexico vs. x,x,92 UNLV Mid/ESPN
My God, New Mexico has the most unimpressive 20-6 record in college basketball. Eh, Good Insomniac fun.

And don’t forget the 1000 or so games on syndication and that community college tournament going on in your public access station, So, there you go.

Enjoy your Judgment week.

I’ll be back very soon with Slayer’s Boxing and Stuff!

I’ll leave you off with a preview of Slasher G! See the forums for more info…