Boxing Day News and Notes

In case you've been under a rock all week- Louisville is taking on Kentucky tomorrow. UK is, as always, talking about going undefeated before the contracts scholarships on this batch of free agents recruits expire.What it basically boils down to is that the SEC is not as good as you might be led to believe, slating in behind the Big East. Fifth is nothing to sneeze at, to be sure, and the fearsome Auburn Tigers do await. As usual, Brennan's entire article is worth a read.

JP Macura should be back but...- Now Matt Stainbrook may be ill. FGCU defends the interior well already, so the Stain Train even at full speed (steam?) is in for more of a challenge than Auburn should have presented. The start of the press conference is worth listening to for Mack's thoughts on the defense. "Right now, we're not tough enough."

Seton Hall suffered a huge blow- Star freshman Isaiah Whitehead is going to miss several weeks with a stress fracture in his foot. Whitehead currently leads the Pirates in shot percentage and usage rate as well as assists, and is second on the team in scoring.

George Washington knocked off Wichita St.- The Colonials are currently 39th in the KenPom ratings, so this isn't the upset that ESPN is claiming it is, but it's still noteworthy. This is the Shockers first year toward really establishing themselves as something other than a flat track bully. They are currently 3-2 against teams in the KenPom top 100.

The biggest disappointment of the year so far- No, Xavier's defense isn't on the list. the Big Ten and the state of Michigan take a pretty serious beating here from Rob Dauster. The Big Ten takes short shrift here, as they have five teams in the top 30 of the KenPom rankings.

Dez Wells nearly back on the court- Former Xavier standout Dez Wells will further boost the fortunes of Maryland and the Big Ten (that's weird to type) when he returns soon. Dez should be back in time for conference play after missing the last month with a broken wrist.