The College Basketball Cinematic Universe

Tipoff

When Cincinnati lost to Alabama in the Cotton Bowl on January 1st, it guaranteed that the winner of the NCAA football championship would be a repeat winner for the 26th consecutive season. The last team to win the football title for the first time, according to Ross Dellenger of Sports Illustrated, was the Florida Gators in 1996. Alabama and Georgia have been there, done that. In college basketball, men’s teams have celebrated a first-time National Champion in each of the past two NCAA tournaments. Arizona, Baylor, Florida, Maryland, Syracuse, UConn, and Virginia have all joined the National Champions (excluding post-facto awards, such as the Helms Champions) club since ‘96. On the hardwood, parity is more than an aspiration.

This begs the question, though, what is so special about parity? Does it matter that fresh faces get to go to the Final Four with regularity? Certainly, it matters to the fans of those teams. It was an incredibly special moment for the Loyola-Chicago Ramblers to make it to the Final Four in 2018 and for George Mason to crash the party in 2006. On the other hand, ratings for the Final Four have experienced a noticeable decline since the 1990’s. On occasion, such as when Duke played Wisconsin in the 2015 National Title Game or when Illinois played UNC a decade prior, the ratings will spike. Big state schools and blue bloods can draw an audience. For football, ratings have been a little more consistent, even if there is only a select group of teams capable of making it to the title game.

In that sense, college basketball is, if you will excuse my metaphor here, like the post-Avengers: Endgame Marvel movies. The cast of characters is expanding while the familiar faces (Spiderman, for example) still draw the biggest crowds. Baylor is your Shang-Chi, providing a fresh and fun take on the super hero movie. If you like to learn about new characters, the hardwood will give you new heroes on a regular basis. Just don’t expect all the seats in the theater to be filled on opening night.

The Mixtape 

The Field of 68 team puts out lots of great content each week. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

• Monday was a big night for college basketball and the talk was all about Johnny Davis of Wisconsin. He did win the coveted “Player of the Week” award in Wednesday Superlatives, after all. Meanwhile, Arizona continued its dominance and the super sophomore, Iowa’s Keegan Murray, put on a performance of his own against Maryland. Rob Dauster, Randolph Childress, and Carter Elliott were logged in to lay it all down in Field of 68: After Dark, our network’s livestream. Oh, and Johnny Davis joined after the big Wisconsin win.

• Timing, as they say, is everything in life. Jeff Goodman and Robbie Hummel discussed how the timing of COVID pauses matters this season. The pair also take a look at Purdue’s defense and how that could derail their Final Four hopes this season. They also discuss which coaches would be most popular for players.

• On the latest Top Dogs!: a UConn Podcast, with Rob Dauster, Huskies big man Adama Sanogo talks about his injury recovery, moving from Mali to the United States as a teen, and the UConn season. Unfortunately for Rob, he learned that Adama is a Chelsea fan. As a Spurs fan, that was a BIG DEAL for Rob. Never meet your heroes, kids. To read more thoughts from Rob about his UConn Huskies, see Four Point Play below.

Four Point Play

Every week, we’ll check in with one of our podcast hosts and see what they’re up to besides producing compelling content for us at The Field of 68.

This week, we checked in with Rob Dauster, fearless leader of the Field of 68, host of the Top Dogs podcast, and co-host of the Dauster, T.O., and Fanta podcast, among other endeavors (You can listen to Top Dogs! on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts).

1. You launched a new podcast last year, Top Dogs!, about your beloved UConn Huskies. I’d like you to describe their season to date based on a type of pizza. Your pizza categories are frozen, pizza chain delivery, Chicago style, New York style, and New Haven style. What kind of pizza are the Huskies so far this year and why?

• I am going New Haven style as I do not recognize the other styles as legitimate. I feel really good where UConn is this season. They are about 5 possessions away from being undefeated. They lost a few games where they were not fully healthy. It is New Haven style 100%, especially not deep dish. If you can’t pick it up in your hand and fold it in half, it is not pizza. (Editor’s Note: As a Chicago-area native and former resident of the Windy City, this cuts deep, like a slice from Lou Malnati’s).

1. When we spoke in July, I asked you to identify one underrated and one overrated team for this college basketball season. You picked Purdue as your dark horse candidate and Villanova as your overrated team. With non-conference play over for the most part, which team do you think is currently underrated and which is overrated?

• In terms of underrated, I am going to go with Auburn. I don’t think the Tigers are getting nearly enough attention for how good they are. Everyone is talking about Baylor right now and can they repeat. That is deserved. While Baylor is deserving of the #1 ranking, the gap between them and everyone else isn’t so wide. Last year, it was Gonzaga, Baylor, and then everyone else. The gap isn’t so big this season. Auburn is one of those teams. Can I say the entire ACC as a conference, outside of Duke, is most overrated? They might be underrated at this point based on how everyone views the ACC right now. I would also say Providence is overrated as well (Editor’s note: This interview took place before the Friars lost by 32 points to Marquette on Tuesday night, so good on you, Rob). They have caught a bunch of teams at opportune times, Wisconsin without Johnny Davis, for example. Overrated is too strong a word perhaps, but they have had a fortuitous schedule.

1. Fearless prediction time: What happens in college basketball in 2022? I want to hear about your bold prediction for the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the story of the summer, and one headline we read about before December 31, 2022.

• My bold prediction for the Tournament is that it is going to be the Coach K show. They are going to the Final Four, Coach K is going to ride off into the sunset. They have the most talented team. Paolo Banchero is the #1 pick in the NBA Draft and Wendell Moore is a National Player of the Year candidate. The story of the summer will be what happens with Jim Boeheim. We have seen Roy Williams and Coach K retire. Boeheim is the next guy to retire. Buddy Boeheim is a senior, Jimmy Boeheim is going to graduate. Will there be any Boeheims at Syracuse after this summer? As for the headline, it will be that the 2022 Tournament happens. Can we have that, please? (Editor’s note: Pretty please?)

And one!

1. I shouldn’t make this newsletter personal, but sometimes you have to break the rules a little. As you know, I recently became a father to a happy and healthy baby boy. You are a father of two young children. What’s the best piece of fatherly advice you have to share and how can I ensure my little Blumenthal ends up a die-hard college basketball fan like his old man?

• I am the wrong one to ask about trying to get your child excited about basketball. My kids don’t come with me to the games. I don’t really watch basketball with them, to be honest. My best piece of advice about being a father is to be there. Put the phone down and play with them. Go into the snow with them. When they want to ride a bike, go out there with them. Just be there with them in the moment.

Stay tuned for upcoming episodes of Top Dogs!, the Dauster, T.O., and Fanta Show, and Field of 68: After Dark to catch Rob and the many guests the network is able to land.

Wednesday Superlatives

Each week, we will shine a light on a team and an individual player that has captured the hearts of the world of college basketball.

• Team of the Week: Baylor

  • That Scott Drew, he can really coach. The Bears compiled a record of 32-2 in 2021, notching the program’s first National Title and enter 2022 undefeated and the unanimous #1 team in the nation. They began the New Year by defeating Iowa State in a tough and thrilling matchup in Ames, Iowa on Saturday. Baylor displayed incredible balance with each of the 8 players that entered the game logging at least 15 minutes and 4 points.

• Player of the Week: Johnny Davis

  • The shortlist for National Player of the Year candidates has to include Wisconsin’s do-it-all sophomore guard, Johnny Davis. He put up a signature performance on Monday night in West Lafayette against Purdue where the Badgers knocked off the Big Ten favorites, 74-69. Davis scored 37 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the game. Every time Purdue landed a big shot, there was Davis to respond with a mix of turnaround jumpers, a steal, a 3-pointer, a timely pass, and more.

Box Score

Basketball can be told through the numbers. We take a look at some of the numbers from the last week of college hoops.

• 5,000. Desperate to play again after conference matches were cancelled due to COVID, two of the top mid-major teams agreed to play at the Lifetime Activities Center on the campus of Salt Lake Community College. The facility, home to the SLCC basketball team and Utah Jazz G-League affiliate, will host Loyola-Chicago and University of San Francisco on Thursday, January 6th. (Matt Norlander, CBS Sports)

• 1,000. Iowa’s Caitlyn Clark scored a career-high 44 points on Sunday, January 2nd, reaching 1,000 points in her career. She accomplished that feat in just 40 games, becoming the fastest player in Big Ten history to reach the 1,000 point total. (Women’s Hoopz)

• 26. UCLA last played a game on Saturday, December 11th. Due to a combination of COVID pauses within the UCLA program and with opponents, the Bruins are not scheduled to play another game until this Thursday, January 6th, 26 days after their most recent game. The Bruins were scheduled to play a game on Wednesday, January 5th, but the Arizona State program is on pause. Instead, the Bruins announced late Tuesday night they will host Long Beach State at Pauley Pavilion. (UCLA Men’s Basketball)

• 4. Associated Press (AP) voter Stephen Tsai of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser ranked Georgia #4 in his latest AP Poll. Tsai’s ballot was the only one to include the Bulldogs, which boasts a 5-8 record and checks in at 216th in KenPom as of Tuesday, January 4th. Perhaps Mr. Tsai meant to select Gonzaga? (Adam Kelly)

• 1. The Atlantic Coast Conference, which boasts three different teams that have won a National Title in 3 of the past 6 men’s NCAA Basketball Tournaments, only had 1 team receive votes in the latest AP Poll. This was the first time in the 40 years of the AP Poll that featured just one ACC team to receive a vote. (Jared Berson, ESPN Stats & Info)

Around the Rim

This section highlights some of the best writing on college basketball to hit the web. Consider these your extra credit assignments for spring semester.

• Sean Paul | 12 Potential NCAA Tournament Cinderella teams.

• Heat Check CBB | First Dance: Ranking the most likely first-time NCAA Tournament teams in 2022

• CBS Sports | Dribble Handoff: College basketball coach of the year picks include Baylor's Scott Drew, Arizona's Tommy Lloyd