College basketball

[O Really]

.

It had to happen again, just too bad it happened against State in “Starkvegas” - you non-sec folk may not realize that this is what they call Starkville, Mississippi.

Why so?
Often "stark" would have negative connotations, as in "severe or bare in appearance or outline," or "stark naked."
Or home to a large death row prison in Florida.

[billy.pilgrim]

.

It had to happen again, just too bad it happened against State in “Starkvegas” - you non-sec folk may not realize that this is what they call Starkville, Mississippi.

Why so?
Often "stark" would have negative connotations, as in "severe or bare in appearance or outline," or "stark naked."
Or home to a large death row prison in Florida.

I’m really not sure why they call themselves Starkvegas - only sure that they do.
My best guess - what happens in Starkvegas stays in Starkvegas

[billy.pilgrim]

.

It had to happen again, just too bad it happened against State in “Starkvegas” - you non-sec folk may not realize that this is what they call Starkville, Mississippi.

Why so?
Often "stark" would have negative connotations, as in "severe or bare in appearance or outline," or "stark naked."
Or home to a large death row prison in Florida.

https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/29/spor ... nence.html

[Vrede too]

It had to happen again, just too bad it happened against State in “Starkvegas” - you non-sec folk may not realize that this is what they call Starkville, Mississippi.

Why so?
Often "stark" would have negative connotations, as in "severe or bare in appearance or outline," or "stark naked."
Or home to a large death row prison in Florida.

I’m really not sure why they call themselves Starkvegas - only sure that they do.
My best guess - what happens in Starkvegas stays in Starkvegas

This never really asks the question, but the premise is stupid.

Miss. State fans covert their tradition and why its called Starkvegas

"covert"??? Headline and photo caption writer must be an LSU grad. Not to mention the rest of the Baton Rouge station's staff and readers, the video was posted on Sep. 15, 2023

This may be the answer:

... But why in the world is Starkville, Miss. called Stark Vegas?

The story goes that the nickname--which is now a proud one for MSU fans--emerged from what was once an insult.

Critics of the town--as well as rivalry SEC sports fans--would ironically call the town Stark Vegas because of its small size, lack of culture and absence of things to do.

The nickname Stark Vegas has been around for at least 25 or 30 years, and seems to have appeared in wider use around 1987 (according to an article in the New York Times)....
NOTE: billy.pilgrim just linked the same NYT article.

(then Adidas jumped on the bandwagon)

Okay, biting sarcasm, I can believe it.

... over the last couple of years, the town and the school have embraced the insult as a nickname ...


(illustration of the actual court and baseline lettering)

However, it almost sounds like O Really is asking about the 'Stark' part of the name.

Mississippi State University is partially in the Starkville city limits, and partially in the Mississippi State census-designated place....

... In 1835, when Boardtown was established as the county seat of Oktibbeha County, it was renamed as Starkville in honor of Revolutionary War hero General John Stark....

Major-General John Stark (August 28, 1728 – May 8, 1822) was an American military officer who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. He became known as the "Hero of Bennington" for his exemplary service at the Battle of Bennington in 1777.

From 8 years old on he lived in New Hampshire. His battles were all fought in New York, New Jersey, Quebec and New England, not in the South, and Wiki has no mention of Stark ever even visiting. Go figure, they do things different in Mississippi.

[billy.pilgrim]

And now we know almost everything about Mississippi

[Vrede too]

And now we know almost everything about Mississippi

AP Top 25

1 UConn(48) 18-2, no change
2 Purdue(14) 19-2, no change
3 North Carolina 17-3, no change
Vs Duke on Sat @UNC, go basketball!
Matchup Predictor UNC 66.4%

7 Duke 15-4 up5

16 Auburn 16-4 down8, ouch fuckin' Bama, fuckin' Bulldogs

Others receiving votes:
(27) San Diego State
(29) Northwestern
(40) Appalachian State, 1 vote

Zero votes: MD , Miami

[billy.pilgrim]

I might have dropped us more than eight.

[O Really]

3 North Carolina 17-3, no change
Vs Duke on Sat @UNC, go basketball!
Matchup Predictor UNC 66.4%

7 Duke 15-4 up5

That edge may be as much because of playing at the Dean Dome instead of in front of the Cameron Crazies as much as anything else. Should be a good game.

[Vrede too]

3 North Carolina 17-3, no change
Vs Duke on Sat @UNC, go basketball!
Matchup Predictor UNC 66.4%

7 Duke 15-4 up5

That edge may be as much because of playing at the Dean Dome instead of in front of the Cameron Crazies as much as anything else. Should be a good game.

All times EST.

Could be, I haven't been watching their games. The Matchup Predictor is now UNC 64.7%, and UNC is favored by 4.5.
6:30 PM ESPN

GO

2:00 PM ESPN2
Texas (14-7) > @25 TCU (16-5, -4.5)
Knock RW god out of the rankings.

Rare chance for (27) San Diego State to get back in the rankings today:
3:30 PM FOX
@San Diego State (16-5, -5.5) > 17 Utah State (19-2)
Matchup Predictor SDSU 68.4%. USU injuries? SDSU has been losing every other game to unranked opponents:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... ate-aztecs
Good luck!

4:00 PM BIG12|ESPN+
@UCF (12-8) > 23 Oklahoma (16-5, -1.5)
Knock it out of the rankings.

6:00 PM SECN
16 Auburn (17-4, -3.5) > @Ole Miss (18-3)
Stifle that Rebel yell.
Matchup Predictor Auburn 76%. Forget last week.

8:30 PM

SECN
Mississippi State (14-7) > 24 Alabama (15-6, -8.5 )
Matchup Predictor Bama 85.6% Knock it back out of the rankings.

Game of the day?
ESPN
5 Tennessee (15-5, -1.5) vs @10 Kentucky (15-5)
Go basketball!

[Vrede too]

Women's excitement:

USC's JuJu Watkins explodes for 51, keys upset of Stanford

On Sunday night, USC coach Lindsay Gottlieb got a call from a security guard asking whether to kick freshman guard JuJu Watkins out of the gym. Watkins was getting shots up following an off-night in the Trojans' crushing three-point loss at home to Washington, their third defeat in four games.

"No," Gottlieb told the security guard. "Let Ju be Ju."

Just a Frosh!

Fast-forward to Friday night, and Watkins didn't just find her shot again -- she cemented her status as the freshman of the year front-runner and even inserted herself into the player of the year conversation. On No. 4 Stanford's home floor, and against the winningest coach in the sport in Tara VanDerveer, Watkins dropped 51 points on 14-for-26 shooting from the field to lift the No. 15 Trojans over the Cardinal 67-58 in the teams' final regular-season Pac-12 meeting.

The rest of the team only scored 16

Watkins' performance, the first 50-point game in Division I this season, also broke a school record and marked the second-most points in a Pac-12 game, behind only (Husky) Kelsey Plum's 57 against Utah in 2017.

Watkins made her presence felt all over the court. In addition to her four steals and two assists, she finished with 11 rebounds, making her the only Division I freshman in the past 25 seasons with 50 points and 10 rebounds and the first player this season with 40 points and 10 rebounds in a game, according to ESPN Stats & Information research....

Watkins scored 76% of USC's points, the highest percentage scored by a player in the past 25 seasons, according to ESPN Stats & Information....

The freshman had been in a bit of a slump and hadn't made more than two 3's in each of her previous eight games. She finished 6 for 11 from deep Friday night, surpassing the Stanford's team total (4 for 15)....

It was the sort of individual performance that rarely, if ever, happens against Stanford -- and at Stanford, no less. Dating to the turn of the century, the most a player had scored against the Cardinal was 44, from Plum.

Watkins, though, is only 19 games into her collegiate career....

x 51

Other upsets:

(Unranked) Mississippi State hands No. 9 LSU second straight loss
77-73

Kansas State falls to unranked Oklahoma, latest No. 2 to tumble
66-63

AP Top 25
1 South Carolina(35) 19-0
(former) 2 Kansas State 20-1
3 Iowa 19-2 (see article below)
(former) 4 Stanford 19-2
5 NC State 18-2
6 Colorado 17-3 , better than Deion
7 UCLA 16-3
8 Ohio State 17-3
(former) 9 LSU 18-3

24 North Carolina 15-6

Finally,

NCAA scoring leader Plum happy to see Iowa's Clark break mark

As Iowa's Caitlin Clark nears the NCAA women's basketball career scoring mark, record holder Kelsey Plum of the Las Vegas Aces is applauding the senior guard.

"I'm actually very grateful to pass that baton. I'm very happy for her," Plum said Friday on a video call from a USA Basketball women's team camp that runs Friday-Sunday at Barclays Center in New York.

Then-Washington star Plum set the record on Feb. 25, 2017, when she scored 57 points in the Huskies' 84-77 victory over Utah in Seattle. She finished her college career with 3,527 points.

Was Lady O a fan?

Clark is currently at 3,424 and is averaging a Division I-leading 32.1 points per game.

The No. 3 Hawkeyes face Maryland on Saturday (8 p.m. ET, Fox), and if Clark maintains her current scoring average, the record will come Feb. 15 when the Hawkeyes host Michigan.

Nooo, not 32 points vs the Terps

Plum was the WNBA's No. 1 draft pick by San Antonio in April 2017, and has won the past two WNBA titles with the Aces. She also won a gold medal with the United States' 3x3 women's hoops team at the Tokyo Olympics, and now hopes to make the 5-on-5 team for the Paris Games this summer.

Wow

... Clark often has referenced both Plum and New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu, who set the NCAA record for triple-doubles (26) while at Oregon from 2016 to 2020, as players she has watched and admired. Both Plum and Ionescu were No. 1 WNBA draft picks, and Clark is expected to be in April if she declares. Because of the COVID-19 waiver for 2020-21, though, Clark could return for a fifth season at Iowa. Players have until 48 hours after their last college game this year to declare for the draft.

Whether Clark goes to the WNBA this year or not, is there a chance she could play with pros this summer on the Olympic team? Over the past 20 years, USA Basketball has taken three WNBA rookies to the Olympics: UConn's Diana Taurasi (2004) and Breanna Stewart (2016) and Tennessee's Candace Parker (2008).

However, the next U.S. training camp is April 4-7 in Cleveland, coinciding with the women's Final Four. Thus, any college players playing in the Final Four couldn't take part with USA Basketball unless their teams lost in the semifinals and they joined the camp late....

x 3,424, so far.

[O Really]

Womens basketball has come a long way

[Vrede too]

Womens basketball has come a long way

Well sure, but to be fair that is the B team.

I like "The Enforcer", front row 2nd from right.

[O Really]

Funny. But in this case the "B" is for "Brevard." Some of those players may be the grandmamas of some of your friends.

https://www.transylvaniatimes.com/featu ... f1819.html

[Vrede too]

Funny. But in this case the "B" is for "Brevard." Some of those players may be the grandmamas of some of your friends.

https://www.transylvaniatimes.com/featu ... f1819.html

100 years in WNC - More likely multi-great grandmamas, the hetero ones at least. I still remember the day that a feminist friend clued a Vrede too well into his adulthood as to how many basketball players and other athletes are lesbian

3 North Carolina 17-3, no change
Vs Duke on Sat @UNC, go basketball!
Matchup Predictor UNC 66.4%

7 Duke 15-4 up5

... The Matchup Predictor is now UNC 64.7%, and UNC is favored by 4.5.
6:30 PM ESPN. 93-84 UNC. Congrats again.

GO

2:00 PM ESPN2
Texas (14-7) > @25 TCU (16-5, -4.5)
Knock RW god out of the rankings. 77-66, buy-bye

Rare chance for (27) San Diego State to get back in the rankings today:
3:30 PM FOX
@San Diego State (16-5, -5.5) > 17 Utah State (19-2)
Matchup Predictor SDSU 68.4%. USU injuries? SDSU has been losing every other game to unranked opponents:
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... ate-aztecs
Good luck! 81-67, sweet! Congrats. The hot/cold pattern continues, now disrupt it by beating @unranked Air Force on 2/6.

Also, UPSET @8 Kansas 78 > 4 Houston 65

4:00 PM BIG12|ESPN+
@UCF (12-8) > 23 Oklahoma (16-5, -1.5)
Knock it out of the rankings. 74-63, buy-bye
GoMickeyGo!

6:00 PM SECN
16 Auburn (17-4, -3.5) > @Ole Miss (18-3)
Stifle that Rebel yell.
Matchup Predictor Auburn 76%. Forget last week.
Amazing 2nd half comeback, 91-77! Congrats.

Also,
Maryland 54 @Michigan St 63
@Maryland women actually led 3 Iowa late in the 3rd, but fell 93-85 Iowa's record-setting Caitlin Clark topped her average with 38 points

8:30 PM

SECN
Mississippi State (14-7) > 24 Alabama (15-6, -8.5 )
Matchup Predictor Bama 85.6% Knock it back out of the rankings.
Ugh, 67-99.

ESPN
5 Tennessee (15-5, -1.5) vs @10 Kentucky (15-5). 103-92
Go basketball!

4-1 today.

[billy.pilgrim]

https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/202 ... utType=amp

“Watch Auburn’s Johni Broome’s unexpected interaction with actor, Ole Miss fan Morgan Freeman“

Not many people can say that they slapped Morgan Freeman’s hand.

[O Really]

Good day today: 'Heels, 'Canes, Aztecs, Damn Eagles all won. Terps and Huskies coulda done better.

[Vrede too]

https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/202 ... eeman.html

“Watch Auburn’s Johni Broome’s unexpected interaction with actor, Ole Miss fan Morgan Freeman“

Not many people can say that they slapped Morgan Freeman’s hand.

WTF was Freeman doing grabbing an opponent's jersey?

[Vrede too]

... Huskies coulda done better.

Favored by just half a point and took it to OT - pretty close, Vegas.

[billy.pilgrim]

https://www.al.com/auburnbasketball/202 ... eeman.html

“Watch Auburn’s Johni Broome’s unexpected interaction with actor, Ole Miss fan Morgan Freeman“

Not many people can say that they slapped Morgan Freeman’s hand.

WTF was Freeman doing grabbing an opponent's jersey?

I suppose
Just a typical celebrity trying to say Hi
The exchange seemed all friendly-like to me. Freeman and the person beside him each put up their hands to stop Brooke’s fall.

Did you see something malicious or am I missing your sarcasm?

[Vrede too]

I suppose
Just a typical celebrity trying to say Hi
The exchange seemed all friendly-like to me. Freeman and the person beside him each put up their hands to stop Brooke’s fall.

Did you see something malicious or am I missing your sarcasm?

I'm not saying malicious, I'm just confused. Grabbing an opponent is not something that is done, ever. Johni Broome was correct to respond with a slap and he had nothing to apologize for.

You may be correct with the "typical celebrity" exemption to propriety. Sports Illustrated sorta agrees with me:

... Broome reacted as any basketball player would, swatting the fan away.

It would normally have been the right thing to do ... if that fan had been anyone other than Mississippi-raised film legend Morgan Freeman....

CONGRATS again, brilliant recovery from the 1st half. You must have been sweating.