Stanford goes 1-1 in a pair of top-10 duels
Stanford was involved in the best games of the week, as they faced off against #6 Oregon and then #8 Oregon State over the weekend. Thursday night was a demoralizing night for the Cardinal, as they lost 87-55, getting absolutely manhandled in the second half by the Ducks. Going down five after the first quarter on Sunday, things were looking dismal for the Cardinal, but they chipped away, eventually surging into the lead at the end of the third quarter by holding the Beavers to 6 points in the period. The Cardinal led for much of the way down the stretch, but they still needed to hold their breath as Oregon State missed a three-pointer at the buzzer. Stanford won 61-58. The two games showed that Oregon might be one of the best teams in the country, and that the Pac-12 boasts a bevy of elite teams.
Baylor is…really good
Baylor is currently ranked #2 in the AP Poll, but they earned the top spot in our Power Rankings last week. They gave us good reason to keep them in the #1 slot when they hosted #17 West Virginia and slammed the Mountaineers by 40 points. With a slate of very winnable Big 12 games ahead, the Bears could be on cruise-control towards getting a 1-seed in the NCAA tournament to defend their title.
A Lot of Chalk
There wasn’t a lot of exciting upsets in women’s basketball this weekend as, outside Oregon State’s loss, only one other ranked team lost on Sunday. That was #11 Kentucky, who dropped a tough road conference game to LSU, but that wasn’t exactly a ‘shock-the-world’ type of upset. After one of the most tumultuous weeks last week, which saw the top 3 teams in the country lose, this weekend lacked the upset appeal and resulted in a lot expected victories and big blowouts.
All Eyes On Oregon Next Week
While this week may have been a little underwhelming, next weekend promises another pair of great Pac-12 battles, with in-state rivals Oregon and Oregon State duking it out both on Friday and Sunday to headline next week’s slate. Another game worth watching will be #24 Tennessee at #4 UConn on Thursday, which has won four straight since their loss, albeit against all unranked competition. It will both hint at whether the Lady Vols are back, or whether UConn can deliver with a big ranked win.
College Kids Talking College Sports 