Kyle McAlarney arrested!

Kyle McAlarney was arrested last night on drug possession charges.

Mucho Belated Hoops Top 25

This is a long time coming, but here is the newest Subway Irish Top 25 as of December, 27, 2006. The UCLA Bruins have remained in the top spot thanks to their sparkling 11-0 record.

1. UCLA (11-0, W vs Texas A&M, Oakland, Sam Houston St, Michigan)
2. Connecticut (11-0, W vs Pepperdine, Saint Mary's, Coppin St)
3. Clemson (12-0, W vs Georgia Southern, Western Carolina)
4. Notre Dame (10-1, W vs 4 Alabama, Elon, Portland, Army)
5. Alabama (11-1, L @ 3 Notre Dame, W vs Alabama St, @ Southern Miss, @ 22 NC State, Coppin St)
6. Duke (11-1, W vs George Mason, Kent St, @ Gonzaga)
7. Air Force (11-1, W vs Colorado College, Norfolk St)
8. Butler (12-1, L @ Indiana St, W vs 11 Purdue, Evansville)
9. Purdue (10-2, L @ 2 Butler, W vs 15 Missouri, Wagner, Tex. A&M Corpus Christi)
10. Arizona (9-1, W vs Houston, Memphis)
11. Wisconsin (13-1, W @ 20 Marquette, Wis. Milwaukee, 19 Pittsburgh, Pacific, Gardner-Webb)
12. North Carolina (10-1, W vs High Point, UNC-Asheville, Fla. Atlantic, @ Saint Louis)
13. Tennessee (10-2, W vs Western Ky., Oklahoma St, Texas)
14. Oklahoma State (12-1, L @ 25 Tennessee, W @ Ball St, 19 Pittsburgh)
15. Maryland (11-2, L @ Boston College, W vs Fordham, UMKC, American)
16. Illinois (12-2, W vs IUPUI, UIC, Belmont, @ 15 Missouri, Idaho State)
17. Pittsburgh (11-2, L @ Wisconsin, @ Oklahoma State, W @ Buffalo, vs Dayton)
18. Missouri (9-2, L @ 11 Purdue, vs Illinois)
19. Marquette (12-2, L vs Wisconsin, W UMBC, Oakland, Morgan St)
20. Kentucky (9-3, W vs Indiana, @ Louisville, Santa Clara, UMASS)
21. Michigan State (12-2, W vs BYU, Chicago St, Belmont, UWGB)
22. Washington State (11-1, W @ Idaho, Cal St. Northridge, 24 San Diego St)
23. Memphis (9-3, L @ Arizona, W Mississippi, Austian Peay, Middle Tennessee)
24. West Virginia (9-1, W @ Duquesne, Savanah St, Citadel)
25. Oregon (11-0, W vs Nebraska, Bethune-Cookman, Eastern Washington, Idaho St, Mercer)

Nuclear Minter Strikes Again

Rick Minter is doing a great job justifying his employment. ND has picked up verbals from both Golden Tate and Harrison Smith of Tennessee. Minter is in charge of recruiting in Tennessee, and if he can land linebacker Chris Donald, he will have landed the top three players in that state. It will be interesting to see what Minter can do coaching this kind of talent.

Falling Behind

I appologize to my loyal readership for falling behind on my blog. I am considering making some aesthetic changes to the site and moving away from the generic blogger.com templates. I hope to have my next hoops top 25 out after the holiday.

It's the Post Play, Stupid!

What was the biggest problem with ND basketball over the past few years? Recent upset wins over Alabama and Maryland have shown improved spacing and movement. This can be attributed to more versatile post players than the low post oriented players of the past few years.

Torrin Francis would have been good at another program. However, he was not a good fit for what Brey is trying to do. He was not very mobile, was a poor dribbler, and was a worse passer. He would have been better off playing for a coach that used a more traditional big man. A coach like that would have taught him to secure the ball and go straight up with a shot. However, he was asked to look for open teammates while at ND, which slowed down his shot and tampered his development.

Brey has been more successful with players that are more well rounded. Murphy and Humphrey could score in a variety of ways when facing the basket and were equally adept at finding open teammates. Kurz, Harrongody, Hillesland, and Zeller fit this role, as did guys like Parks and Laettner at Duke. Player development always looks better when you have players that fit what you are trying to do.

With smarter recruiting of players that fit his system, Brey can survive at ND. The Maryland and Alabama games proved that. He has a good team that fits what he is trying to do and a head start on making the NCAA tournament right now. Anything less than that would be a disappointment at this point.

My Hoops Top 25 for 11/29-12/6

I am a day late, but here it is.

1. UCLA (7-0, W 61-38 vs UC-Riverside, W 78-54 vs Cal St. Fullerton)
2. Butler (10-0, W 60-47 @ Valparaiso, W 70-45 vs Cleveland St, W 65-41 vs Ball St)
3. Notre Dame (6-1, W 81-74 @ 1 Maryland)
4. Alabama (7-0, W 78-60 vs Tennessee St)
5. Connecticutt (8-0, W 89-46 vs Sacred Heart, W 106-55 vs Texas-Southern, W 81-53 vs NorthEastern)
6. Clemson (10-0, W 78-62 @ Minnesota, W 74-53 @ South Carolina, W 94-66 vs Wofford)
7. Maryland (9-1, L 74-81 vs Notre Dame, W 79-59 vs Fordham)
8. Duke (8-1, W 91-52 vs Georgetown, W 57-45 vs Holy Cross)
9. Wichita State (6-0, W 85-55 vs UMKC, W 64-61 @ Syracuse)
10. Xavier (7-1, W 68-53 vs Miami OH, W 95-61 vs W. Carolina, W 88-55 vs Detroit)
11. Purdue (7-1, W 61-59 vs 4 Virginia, W 62-41 vs Deleware St., W 78-62 vs Loyola IL)
12. Villanova (7-1, W 72-44 @ Stony Brook, W 97-89 @ Penn, W 67-51 @ Oklahoma)
13. Air Force (9-1, W 85-53 vs Wake Forest, W 78-66 vs IPFW, W 70-58 vs Tex-Pan Am)
14. Virginia (5-1, L 59-61 @ 20 Purdue, W 67-62 vs NC State)
15. Missouri (9-0, W 86-64 vs Arkansas, W 73-59 vs Evansville)
16. Arkansas (7-1, L 64-86 @ Missouri, W 71-61 vs UMKC, W 75-59 vs Central Michigan)
17. West Virginia (6-1, W 71-60 vs 24 NC State)
18. North Carolina (6-1, W 98-89 vs Ohio State, W 75-63 vs Western Kentucky)
19. Pittsburgh (9-0, W 67-53 vs Robert Morris, W 74-66 @ Auburn, W 73-56 vs Duquesne)
20. Marquette (9-1, W 83-67 vs Northwestern St, L 60-64 vs North Dakota St, W 65-48 vs Deleware St)
21. Kentucky (5-3, L 63-75 @ North Carolina, W 79-63 @ Chattanooga)
22. North Carolina State (5-2, L 62-67 @ 4 Virginia, L 60-71 @ West Virginia)
23. Michigan State (8-2, L 58-65 @ Boston College, W 82-53 vs Bradley, W 80-43 vs IPFW)
24. San Diego State (8-1, W 79-76 vs San Diego, L 73-84 @ Western Michigan
25. Tennessee (7-2, W 89-64 vs Murray St, W 76-58 vs 16 Memphis)

Dropped out: 6 New Mexico, 13 Georgia Tech, 14 Iowa State, 15 Wake Forest, 16 Memphis, 25 Kansas

My Final Regular Season Top 25

1. Ohio State (12-0, idle)
2. Michigan (11-1, idle)
3. Florida (12-1, W 38-28 vs 14 Arkansas)
4. Boise State (12-0, idle)
5. Oklahoma (11-2, W 21-7 vs 18 Nebraka)
6. USC (10-2, L 9-13 @ UCLA)
7. California (9-3, W 26-17 vs Stanford)
8. Louisville (11-1, W 48-17 vs Connecticut)
9. Wisconsin (11-1, idle)
10. Notre Dame (10-2, idle)
11. Auburn (10-2, idle)
12. LSU (10-2, idle)
13. Tennessee (9-3, idle)
14. Arkansas (10-3, L 28-38 vs 5 Florida)
15. Virginia Tech (10-2, idle)
16. Wake Forest (11-2, W 9-6 vs 21 Georgia Tech)
17. Nebraska (9-4, L 7-21 vs 6 Oklahoma)
18. Texas A&M (9-3, idle)
19. Texas (9-3, idle)
20. Georgia Tech (9-4, L 6-9 vs 17 Wake Forest)
21. West Virginia (10-2, W 41-39 vs 8 Rutgers)
22. Penn State (8-4, idle)
23. Rutgers (10-2, L 39-41 @ 22 West Virginia)
24. BYU (10-2, idle)
25. South Carolina (7-5, idle)

Best of the Rest: Georgia (8-4, idle)

Geaux Irish!

Notre Dame has received an invitation to play in the Sugar Bowl against the LSU Tigers. The Irish come into this game with all the marbles against them. This is the first Sugar Bowl to be played in New Orleans since Katrina, and they are playing the home state darlings. To make matters worse, LSU is ranked number four in the BCS standings. The odds are stacked against an ND win, which is the fire from which the metal of Irish lore has been forged. Perhaps January 3 will mark another great chapter in Irish history.

As for LSU, they feature a great offense and an even better defense. Their offense averages 404.2 yards per game while their defense allows just 238.8, which makes them second in the country in total defense.

LSU has a solid rushing offense that averages 159.17 yards per game. Jacob Hester is the Tigers leading rusher but averages just 34.58 yards rushing per game. However, LSU's rushing offense is very balanced and four Tigers have carried the ball more than 40 times this year.

Passing the ball is LSU's offesnive forte. JaMarcus Russell is third in the country in quarterback efficiency and eighteenth in total offense. Three of his receivers, Dwayne Bowe, Craig Davis, and Earl Doucet, are in the top 100 nationally in receptions per game. This could be problematic for ND's secondary, which has struggled.

The LSU defense is in the top four nationally against both the run and the pass. They allow 12.5 points per game, which ranks fourth nationally, as well. Their leading tackler LaRon Landry with 68, and Tyson Jackson leads them in sacks with 6. Craig Steltz has 4 interceptions to pace LSU.

Overall, this is a very interesting match-up. It remains to be seen whether LSU really has a great defense or do they merely benefit from playing in a poor offensive conference. The very good Notre Dame offense should negate LSU's defensive strength, so the winner of this game will likely be decided when ND has the ball. ND's defensive secondary must step up if ND is to have a chance to win. That is unlikely to happen, which makes this just the type of game that ND has historically won. There is no good reason to pick ND, so I am picking them to win the game 31-24.