Friday, November 09, 2012

Utah puts its 3-3-1 record on the line tonight.

Tonight is the season opener.  After four games in Brazil, a public scrimmage, a "secret game" against Montana State and an exhibition game against Simon Fraser, tonight's game is the first one that counts.

But let's be honest: Willamette is really just another exhibition game.  In fact, even the Bearcats consider it as such.  And as it so happens, Willamette competes in a lower division (D-III) than our actual exhibition opponent Simon Fraser (D-II).

Winning tonight is a foregone conclusion (there -- I said it!).  The only point of the game is to let the team show the crowd and TV audience what they hope to accomplish one day against quality competition.

Mark it down: Utah will win by 50+ points.

Wednesday, November 07, 2012

Best Case Scenario?

The Salt Lake Tribune projects that the Utes' best case scenario would be to land in the CBI or even (gasp) the NIT.   We shall see.

+ + +

 A nice preview of the Oregon State Beavers, who feature the "slithery" Devon Collier and Eric "spiffy things" Moreland.

 The Colorado Buffaloes' starting lineup includes a freshman, two sophomores and a transfer from the U. of Denver.

 Wake Forest transfer JT Terrell will start alongside Jio Fontan at USC.

Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Get yer official Pac-12 Media Guide!

Hot off the presses!  The 2012-13 Pac-12 Basketball Media Guide is now available here!

Lots of good stuff contained therein.  And still plenty of time to study up for the big opening weekend ahead!

Meanwhile, who do I have to haunt for a copy of the Utah Basketball Media Guide?

Monday, November 05, 2012

BTI Classic tournament brackets available now!

The Basketball Travelers, Inc. Classic (the "BTI Classic")  will be held at the Huntsman Center during the week of Thanksgiving.  Utah will host Idaho State, Wright State and Central Michigan in a round-robin tournament.  Past CTI Classic winners include Stanford, Oregon, Clemson, Washington and others.

Printable brackets are now available at the BTI website.  Fill yours out today and be the winner of your CTI Classic office pool!

Sunday, November 04, 2012

Week 1 TV Schedule

Date Time
MST
Game Channel Comcast
Salt Lake
Dish
Nov. 9th 5:00 Wofford at Colorado Pac-12 Net 757 (HD) 413
Nov. 9th 7:00 Niagara at Oregon State Pac-12 Net 410 (SD) 413
Nov. 9th 7:00 Willamette at Utah Pac-12 MT 757 (HD) 5456
Nov. 9th 9:00 San Francisco vs. Stanford Pac-12 Net 757 (HD) 413
Nov. 9th 9:00 Coppin State at USC Pac-12 LA 545-
Nov. 9th 9:00 Indiana State at UCLA FCS-Pacific 264 (SD)
Nov. 10th 5:30 Central Arkansas at Arizona State Pac-12 AZ 545-
Nov. 10th 5:30 Eastern Washington at Washington State Pac-12 WA 545-
Nov. 10th 5:30 Northern Arizona at Oregon Pac-12 Net 757 (HD) 413
Nov. 11th 4:00 Charleston Southern at Arizona Pac-12 Net 757 (HD) 413
Nov. 11th 6:00 Loyola at Washington Pac-12 Net 757 (HD) 413
Nov. 11th 7:30 New Mexico State at Oregon State ESPNU 755 (HD)  141
Nov. 11th 8:00 CS Bakersfield at California Pac-12 Net 757 (HD) 413
Nov. 12th 7:30 Portland State at Oregon Pac-12 Net 757 (HD) 413
Nov. 12th 9:30 CS Fullerton at Stanford Pac-12 Net 757 (HD) 413

Saturday, November 03, 2012

Dear Pac-12 Media: How do you like us now?

Down goes Fraser!  Down goes Fraser!

Merely one day after Utah was projected to finish last in the conference, the Utes laid a beat down on Simon Fraser, 71-36.  This sent a clear and resounding message to the Pac-12 media: we're not that bad.

Utah did everything right against the SFU Clan and basically what any good team should do in its exhibition game, namely, win by a large margin and give all the backups some playing time. Something the Utes failed to do last year against Adams State.

More on the Pre-Season Media Poll:  Utah garnered 78 points, good enough for dead last in the conference.  It wasn't even close.  But think of it this way: those 78 points divided by the number of voters (36) equals 2.167.  So since a first-place vote is worth twelve points and a second-place vote is worth eleven points, etc., it's safe to conclude the average media voter projected Utah to finish in eleventh-place.  All the sudden the poll result isn't looking so bad, eh?  And coupled with Utah's decent performance against Simon Fraser, Ute faithful can be hopeful we can climb to tenth-place, or dare I say, even ninth!