College Basketball Good, Bad and Ugly

So how many of you all are as sleep deprived as this guy because you just had to see what the Hawaii Rainbows were bringing to the table in 2014-15 College Basketball season?

Yeah, ole Woody Smalls had to catch the end of that one too this morning while trying to get the quick skinny on the Gonzaga Bulldogs win around 2 am eastern. But despite the ability to stay up all night like in the good ole days, you have to simply love this Tip-Off Marathon the mothership launched a few years ago. It is simply epic to wake up and watch the passion from a bunch of kids playing their tails off for the Wofford Bulldogs while you take in your first cup of coffee for the day.

So while the rest of you might have been watching Monday Night Football or still licking your wounds from a weekend of college football, college basketball had a pretty fun start to its season over the weekend. Yes, it is way too early to breakdown game film and for anyone to claim that so and so is the best player or team by far.

But if you are looking for a quick catch up to bring you up to speed for the water cooler, sit down, get out your pen and paper and enjoy Woody Smalls’ Good, Bad and Ugly from week one of the college basketball season.

The Good

Let’s give it up for Marcus Marshall as he is the king of college hoops through the first few games! Yes, Marcus Marshall. The Marcus Marshall who plays for the Missouri State Bears! Come on… you mean you didn’t have him on your list for top players in the nation to start the preseason? It’s OK if you didn’t but the kid leads everyone with a measly 38 point per game right now. Yes it might be just one game in, but something tells this guy he is going to light up Avila College Wednesday night. Call me crazy, but this old man is pretty sure he could put up at least 30 against them.

Also, big kudos to Brett Comer at Florida Gulf Coast, Shannon Scott at Ohio State and Chris Fowler at Central Michigan who are tied atop the nation in assists with 11 per game. Jordan Threloff of Northern Illinois and Vince Hunter of UTEP are pulling down 17 boards a game while Chris Horton of Austin Peay and the great Ousmane Drame of Quinnipiac lead the country with seven steals a game.

Felt it was important to get all the little guys a bunch of love while they are on top. Way to come out like a ticked off honey badger to start the season.

The Bad

The No. 8 Florida Gators looked unbeatable, quick and ferocious as they jumped out to a 15-point lead at home on Monday night versus the Miami Hurricanes. It was all shaping up to be a great start for SEC hoops against the lofty ACC.

But somewhere along the way the ghost of Shane Larkin (ghost is used because the kid’s hoop skills died once he left Coral Gables) decided to take over the body of  Angel Rodriguez down the stretch. Rodriguez scored 20 points (yes 20) in the final seven minutes to help the Hurricanes pull out an 89-87 victory on the Gator’s home floor.

The loss was Florida’s first at home in 33 game and also gave them the dubious honor of being the first Top-25 team to suffer a loss on the season.

Ouch.

The Ugly

There are a lot of bad stats to choose from at this point in the season since you have a lot of powers eating up cupcakes. But one stat really jumped out this weekend when it comes to the truly ugly.

The Savannah State Tigers are currently 12 of 36 from the charity stripe…

Nothing drives this old crusty codger crazier than a team that cannot hit its free throws. FREE THROWS. They are called free for a reason.

Plus this epic failure came against the likes of Eastern Kentucky and Marshall. Not the Kentucky Wildcats and Duke Blue Devils.

Thanks to that amazing effort, the Tigers are your current leader in the clubhouse to all things ugly in the world of college hoops.

Fresh On Tap

There are some big games of note today as the Kansas Jayhawks get first dibs on knocking off Kentucky, while the Michigan State Spartans tangle with Duke. Both of those will be tonight while a fun contest between the Utah Utes and the San Diego State Aztecs will tip off at 4 p.m. EST to serve as your appetizer.

*Section Photo credit to Getty Images; Featured Photo (above) credit to USA Today Sports

Patriot League Basketball Shows Strong Signs
Patriot League Basketball Shows Strong Signs
Read More:
Basketball