(To jump to Part II, a recap of my trip to Jacksonville State, click here)
Happy New Year, everyone! 2012 was a great year, a jumpstart to this crazy 592 pursuit and a truly special football season for my beloved Commodores. I saw just 8 new venues in 2012, but if the Road to 592 is ever going to end, I'll have to double or triple that number in 2013. The rest of this college basketball season should see up to 14 new venues fall throughout Tennessee, Kentucky, Alabama, Washington DC, and perhaps New York, as I hope to knock out 20 for the 2012-13 season.
As many of you know, I'll be moving to Houston in July to start a new and exciting chapter in my life, to a city teeming with eclectic food, all-you-can-drink brunches, and of course lots and lots of new stadiums. I won't have to travel farther than 150 miles outside of Houston to reach my quota of 10 new college basketball venues during the 2013-14 season (with Baylor and Texas just beyond that). And once these conferences get all their realignment crap straightened out, I'll be able to plan for a few trips during the football season as well (Vandy @ Texas A&M, anyone?).
The Christmas-New Years week was a very light one throughout college basketball, so there isn't much movement in week 3 of the Big Bottom 10. Conference play began in earnest yesterday for a few major conferences, so the true bottom contenders and pretenders will begin to separate themselves soon. Enjoy the bevy of bowl games from your couch today, just like big-bottomed Georgia defensive tackle John Jenkins, who will be taking in today's Capital One Bowl from the ineligibility-induced comfort of his dorm room.
Note: Games included through 12/30
T-10. Texas Tech Red Raiders (7-4) (RPI: 276) (Prev: 9)
This week: def. NCAT, def. FAMUT-10. TCU Horned Frogs (9-4) (RPI: 203) (Prev: NR)
This week: def. MVSU
Despite the 2nd-worst RPI in these rankings (and for any Big-6 team), the Red Raiders barely hold onto to a top-10 spot after a pair of cupcake wins. A date with TCU (RPI: 213) on January 5th to open Big 12 play will probably serve as a "loser takes over the No. 10 spot" game, as the Horned Frogs barely escaped this week's rankings after a thrilling 67-64 win over winless Mississippi Valley State. By sheer volume of wins, TCU has avoided a spot in previous Big Bottom 10 rankings, but the Road to 592 sees one of these two teams cleaning up the Big 12 basement all year long. Best to let them settle true "supremacy" on the court.
9. DePaul Blue Demons (9-4) (RPI: 203) (Prev: NR)
This week: lost L-IL
A recent history lesson for the Blue Demons is instructive: DePaul has gone a staggering 6-71 in Big East play its last four seasons. SIX wins in four years!! Since moving from C-USA in 2005, the Blue Demons have made postseason play only once, advancing to the NIT quarterfinals in 2007. This isn't a historically-moribund program like Northwestern, either: DePaul won 20+ games in 13 out of 15 seasons from 1977-78 to 1991-92, earned NCAA berths in all 13 of those years, advanced to the Final Four in 1979, and finished as AP #1 in 1980 and 1981.
An NIT win would feel like the Final Four to Oliver Purnell's Demons, who earned their way into this week's rankings with a home loss to crosstown foe Loyola (IL). Unless the Blue Demons open conference play 2-0 this week against Seton Hall and Providence (it's possible), they will be in these rankings again next week, and likely throughout the remainder of the season. Welcome back, DePaul.
8. Clemson Tigers (7-4) (RPI: 186) (Prev: 8)
This week: none
Since the Tigers didn't play a basketball game this week, allow me to use this space to congratulate the Chick-Fil-A Bowl and the city of Atlanta for a remarkable LSU-Clemson matchup that they had no business hosting. Last night's game was perhaps the best this year in college football, leaving the Mad Hatter scratching his head and bowl officials counting their millions in a Dom Perignon-induced NYD hangover.
Bowl games are all about the city selling out tickets, hotel rooms, restaurants, bars, and all the other ways that a city can make money. Atlanta's a pretty damn good place to be on New Year's Eve anyway, and the Chick-Fil-A Bowl has so many corporate tie-ins that most if not all of the tickets sell out every year regardless (forget StubHub prices -- the bowl only gets the revenue from face value sales). Atlanta could have hosted Vandy-NC State yesterday and still almost sold out the bowl. But to have throngs and throngs of LSU and Clemson fans descending on the ATL for a marquee matchup between top-15 teams? That's just gravy on the already fat pile of money that Atlanta takes in for this game every year. When the BCS starts rotating through Atlanta, expect the city to make even more and to throw a fantastic party in the process. They've had the practice.
7. Wake Forest Demon Deacons (6-5) (RPI: 204) (Prev: 7)This week: none
Wake Forest faces an interesting matchup Wednesday when suddenly-struggling Xavier invades Winston-Salem. The Musketeers have lost three straight, including a shocker to Wofford just before Christmas and a 51-47 dud at Tennessee. A Wake win would be a nice jumping off point entering conference play Saturday at Duke, but I'm not sure how much weight it will carry towards getting them out of the Big Bottom 10.
6. Boston College Eagles (7-5) (RPI: 140) (Prev: 6)This week: def. HC
Sorry, beating up your little brother doesn't get you (m)any brownie points in this business. The good news for BC is that its ACC schedule starts favorably -- a home date with NC State (upset potential), followed by road games at Virginia Tech (careening towards the Big Bottom 10 after losing to Colorado State and BYU by a combined 62 points) and fellow cellar-dweller Wake Forest.
5. Vanderbilt Commodores (5-6) (RPI: 167) (Prev: 5)
This week: lost BUT
Thank god for Vanderbilt football.
(What year is this? 1915???)
If you are still on the fence about James Franklin because you have either been a coma for two years or have your head shoved up your big orange butt, watch this clip of Vandy's post-bowl press conference:
(Also, if you missed my chronology of Vandy fandom, culminating with November 17's pounding of the big orange butts, you can find it here)
4. Georgia Bulldogs (5-7) (RPI: 230) (Prev: 4)
This week: def. FAMU
John Jenkins probably eats a lot of cupcakes. So do the hardwood Bulldogs, who finish non-conference play with George Washington before beefing up on the real cupcakes -- SEC opponents.
3. Auburn Tigers (5-7) (RPI: 253) (Prev: 3)
This week: lost @ILL
I don't think Auburn's two-point loss to Illinois on Saturday (in Chicago) is a product of Auburn being decent as much as it is the staggering trend of the 13-1 Illini to play down to their competition. Illinois has notched single-digit wins this season against such powerhouses as Hawaii (1 point), Gardner-Webb (1), Western Carolina (8), and now Auburn (2). A home date with Florida State Wednesday in the "How Many Days Until Spring Practice?" Bowl finishes out pre-conference play for the Tigers.
2. USC Trojans (5-8) (RPI: 161) (Prev: 1)
This week: def. DAY
It took overtime, but USC defeated a good Dayton team that has already notched wins over BC, Auburn, Alabama, and Murray State.
Um, that's about it. At least they're out of the #1 spot after a brief foray into the top of the rankings. That honor belongs to a familiar face, the winner of this week's...
1. Mississippi State Bulldogs (4-7) (RPI: 292) (Prev: 2)
This week: lost AAMU
Sanchez of the Week, and perhaps the Sanchez of the Year. Mississippi State's 59-57 loss to Alabama A&M on Sunday had everything you could want from a Sanchez: a SWAC opponent who entered the game 1-7 against D1 competition, blown leads by the favored team (the Bulldogs opened on a 14-3 run and led by as many as 15 in the first half), atrocious shooting (35.7% for MSU with just 7 made buckets in the 2nd half), and an inexplicable scoring drought (7:22 to start the 2nd half).
The SEC is so bad this year, this isn't even the first SWAC team to take them down -- that honor belongs to Southern University, who defeated Texas A&M on December 22. Alas, the two conferences will have to wait until next year for another shot at Sanchezian glory, though the award might be re-named at that point after a different big-market, pick-throwing, soul-crushing quarterback...
Dropped from rankings: Nebraska
(For Part II, a review of my weekend trip to Jacksonville state, click here)
--The Road to 592 is a pipe dream started by a diehard Atlanta fan with a sparse history of truly great sports atmospheres (being Atlanta and all). Read up on my unending pursuit here and check out the full list of venues here. For those sick of conference realignment, you can also relish in another pipe dream of mine -- the 28-team SEC. Follow me on Twitter @andrewhhard.
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