College Hoops Today

Serving College Basketball 365 Days a Year

The Breakfast Buffet: March Madness Edition

Who’s hungry for college basketball?

Here’s today’s installment of “The Breakfast Buffet”, a daily column that can be found here every single morning getting you caught up to date on everything that’s happened from the day/night before and everything that’s going to happen in the next 24 hours.

Mangia!

Things To Sample

Hubert Davis’ trajectory at North Carolina did a complete 180 in less than three weeks
The Tar Heels were 24-6 on March 5th and getting ready to get Caleb Wilson (19.8 points, 9.4 rebounds) back that weekend against Duke. The 6-10 Wilson — one of the top five players in college basketball — then suffered a season-ending injury that afternoon in practice and North Carolina never won a game the rest of the year. 19 days later, Hubert Davis lost his job. That’s an incredible turnaround in less than three weeks for a team that won 24 of its first 30 games this season.

John Calipari deserves credit for the job he’s done at Arkansas
If Calipari was criticized for his early NCAA Tournament exits during his final years at Kentucky then he should be praised for the work he’s done thus far in Fayetteville. The Razorbacks have advanced to back-to-back Sweet 16’s in their first two years under Calipari and will face Arizona on Thursday night in San Jose. A year ago, Calipari rallied Arkansas after a shaky start to the season, but this year is more of the model that people envisioned. The Razorbacks will take a 28-8 record into Thursday night’s showdown with the top-seeded Wildcats.

Coen Carr is playing his best basketball in the NCAA Tournament
It’s only a two-game sample size, but if last weekend was any indication, March Madness is bringing out the best in Carr. A freak athlete, the 6-6 Carr is averaging 19.0 points and 7.0 rebounds in Michigan State’s first two NCAA Tournament games against North Dakota State and Louisville. Keep a close eye on this guy on Friday night when the Spartans square off with UConn in the Sweet 16.

On The Side

  • Arizona is 0-3 in the Sweet 16 under Tommy Lloyd.
  • How close is Houston’s campus to the Toyota Center in Downtown Houston? Just 2.4 miles. Kelvin Sampson’s squad will play a pseudo home game against Illinois on Thursday night in the Sweet 16.
  • Iowa State’s Joshua Jefferson (ankle) is “continuing to progress” after suffering an injury last Friday in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, a source told College Hoops Today. The 6-8 Jefferson DNP in the Cyclones’ last game against Kentucky and averages 16.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, and 4.8 assists. The Cyclones will face Tennessee on Friday in the Sweet 16 in Chicago.
  • Duke’s Jon Scheyer was a guest on Tuesday on INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW. To watch the full interview, click HERE.
  • Texas’ Sean Miller was also a guest on Tuesday on INSIDE COLLEGE BASKETBALL NOW. To watch the full interview, click HERE.

Leftovers