The Super Bowl is history — the last big football game of the 2009-10 season has been played.
Next up: the NCAA Division I Basketball Championships.
Several teams appear to have legitimate chances to win the men’s title. No team has emerged so far as a clearcut No. 1, as evidenced by the changes in the top spot in the weekly polls.
Three Big Ten teams, at least, should have good chances to make the Sweet Sixteen or better: Michigan State, Purdue and Wisconsin. Illinois and Ohio State could be included with some consistent play.
As of Sunday, Michigan State was in first with a 9-2 mark while Wisconsin, Ohio State and Illinois were tied for second at 8-3 and Purdue was next at 7-3.
Some big games are on the schedule this week starting tonight with Purdue at Michigan State and Illinois at Wisconsin.
The winner of the Illinois-Wisconsin game would share first with MSU if Purdue wins, and the Boilermakers would be half a game back along with Ohio State, which is at Indiana on Wednesday.
Purdue also plays Iowa on Saturday at home while Ohio State is at Illinois on Sunday and Wisconsin hosts IU on Saturday. Purdue and Ohio State meet on Feb. 17 at OSU.
One team that is not among the national leaders right now is North Carolina. Another is Arizona.
Arizona last week placed its men’s basketball team on two years of probation allegedly for actions taken by former coach Lute Olson during an offseason AAU tournament.
In women’s basketball, it’s Connecticut against the field. The Huskies won their 62nd game in a row Sunday, beating last year’s NCAA runnerup team Louisvillle 84-38.
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• Snowy forecast — Snow wreaked havoc with high school schedules last week and could be a problem again this week with girls sectionals scheduled to begin tonight.
The sectionals will be played eventually. Here’s how we see some of the tournaments:
Terre Haute South 4A — Mooresville is the pick but Plainfield or the North-South winner could challenge the Pioneers.
Sullivan 3A — The Golden Arrows took Owen Valley into overtime in the game that decided the Western Indiana Conference. We think Sullivan’s young team will prevail on its home court.
South Knox 2A — Linton should be the winner in this one.
Clay City A — This one is wide open. We like the North Central-CC winner — North Central.
Covington A — Turkey Run will hold off challenges from county rivals to win.
Loogootee A — Rivet is undefeated going into the tournament but probably will have to beat a very good Barr-Reeve team to win. We think the Patriots will do it.
In last week’s USA Today rankings, Ben Davis was still No. 2 and Floyd Central was 20th. Bloomington South was No. 9 in the boys poll and third in the Midwest while Indy North Central was eighth in the Midwest.
Of course, our pick for the Super Bowl — Colts — was wrong, but we had lots of company.
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• Tom-Cattin’ It — Chad Collins did not play in last week’s PGA Tour event but was 30th in the FedEx Cup totals last week with earnings of $210,956.
n We mentioned that former Marshall coach “Nellie” Bennett had spent some time in the hospital recently because of a stroke. Actually, he had a light heart attack and is recuperating at home.
• Phil Jackson became the winningest coach in the history of the Los Angeles Lakers last week with 534 wins, passing Pat Riley, and he also is the winningest coach of the Chicago Bulls with 545 wins and six titles.
• South Knox senior Adam Schenk has been one of the top junior golfers in Southern Indiana for two or three years. He will play college golf at Purdue.
• Shakamak’s boys clinched at least a share of the final Tri-River Conference title last week and the Lakers still are in contention for SWIAC honors.
White River Valley had a nice weekend, beating Eastern and Owen Valley.
Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by email at tm_reck@yahoo.com or by mail at 4284 South 5th Street, Apt. 3, Terre Haute, IN 47802.
Ramblin' Reck
Ramblin' Reck: Turn the page: Super Bowl is in books, let’s focus on NCAA’s upcoming Big Dance
- Ramblin' Reck
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Assessing the NCAA tournament jumble
The college men’s basketball schedule is in its final month with Selection Sunday less than four weeks away.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: And now, on to the next beloved winter sport
The final football game finally has been played, meaning folks in the Valley can concentrate on basketball this week.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Indianapolis is looking mighty good this week
It’s Super Bowl XLVI week … in Indiana for the first time.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Fox gives TH punter kudos
The stage is set. It’ll be the New York Giants against the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl that will be played for the first time in Indianapolis.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten shaken up last week
It was a very interesting week in men’s college basketball, especially in the Big Ten.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: A fresh round of predictions as the NFL dwindles to 8
More National Foootball League playoff games are slated this weekend, with the number of postseason teams down to eight following an interesting weekend of wild-card action.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Hile inducted into Hall
Indiana State grad Amy Lynn Hile will take her place in another Hall of Fame this year.
Inducted into the ISU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2005, the former Sycamore standout has been named as one of the 2011 inductees into the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: It’s time now for some intraleague hoops rivalries
It’s the final week of 2011 but it is the first week of conference basketball games for most colleges, particularly those in Indiana and Illinois.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: A long distance relationship
Indiana State’s trip out West to play basketball at Boise State brought back memories of one of the trips I made to that city.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Indiana Mr. Football still has big decision to make
Some awards in high school and college football were announced last week.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: No dearth of good basketball
Based on early games, the college basketball season is going to be very interesting for coaches, players and fans, particularly in the Big Ten and Missouri Valley.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten-ACC challenge gets under way tonight
Conference championship football games and challenge action in basketball will make for a busy week for college teams.
Wisconsin and Michigan State will meet in the very first Big Ten football championship Saturday at Indianapolis. Kickoff is 8 p.m. and the action will be carried by Fox.
Michigan State nipped the Badgers in the regular-season contest at East Lansing. We like Wisconsin to win and earn a trip to the Rose Bowl.
Other games and picks:
SEC — LSU over Georgia on Saturday
Mid-American — Northern Illinois over Ohio U. on Friday
Pac-12 — Oregon over UCLA on Friday
ACC — Virginia Tech over Clemson on Saturday
Conference USA — Houston over Southern Mississippi on Saturday
Western Kentucky will not play for a championship but the Hilltoppers won seven of their last eight games to finish with a winning mark. That’s the same team that lost to Indiana State, you will recall.
Meanwhile, the hiring and firing already has begun with Urban Meyer coming out of retirement to accept the job at Ohio State. That was a no-brainer.
Illinois is bowl-eligible but Ron Zook is out. Ditto for Turner Gill at Kansas and apparently Dennis Erickson at Arizona State.
In basketball, the first games in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge will be played tonight. The biggie tonight is Duke at Ohio State. Miami of Florida is at Purdue and Illinois plays at Maryland.
On Wednesday, Indiana is at North Carolina State, Wisconsin is at North Carolina and Michigan State goes to Florida State.
Indiana State is at Boise State on Saturday for a Missouri Valley-Mountain West Challenge game,
It was fun and gratifying to be able to watch the Sycamores on national television as they took third in the Old Spice Classic. The team got tons of favorable publicity and comments from the three games.
And what a game for Jake Odum and his triple-double. Wow.
I I I
n White honored — Taylor White of Casey has earned academic all-state honors in Illlinois football.
White was one of the top players at linebacker and fullback and was one of the captains on the team but did not play as the Warriors lost to Morrison in the Class 2A title tilt.
He was sidelined by injury in the game against Marshall and underwent surgery.
The Warriors gave Morrison all it wanted in the final game, concluding another banner season for coach Keith Sinclair and the team.
Nice work, Warriors.
I I I
n Tom-Cattin’ It — Carmel was the only public school to win a prep football championship in Indiana and was impressive in its 54-0 victory over Penn in the 5A finale.
Other winners — all private schools — were Lafayette Central Catholic in A, Fort Wayne Luers in 2A, Indianapolis Chatard in 3A, and Indianapolis Cathedral in 4A.
n Sullivan puts its undefeated girls basketball record on the line tonight at West Vigo. Its victory over Terre Haute South last week was its first over the Braves since 1992.
n Terre Haute North grad Steve Weatherford, now punting for the New York Giants, was featured in a nice story in The New York Times on Monday.
He was singled out for his conditioning program and called the strongest player pound for pound — at 210 pounds — on the team that met the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.
n Jim Rathman died last week at 83.
He won the Indianapolis 500 in 1960, edging Rodger Ward in a race in which there were a record 29 lead changes.
Rathman also was runner-up in the race in 1952, 1957 and 1959.
n Flora has been tabbed by one newspaper as the preseason pick to win the Little Illini Conference boys basketball championship and to make it to the Final Four.
The Wolves play Marshall, off to a 3-1 start, next week.
Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by email at tm_reck@yahoo.com or by mail at 4284 South 5th Street, Apt. 3, Terre Haute, IN 47802. -
RAMBLIN' RECK: Sinclair: ‘Never underestimate the heart of a Warrior’
Casey’s high school football team will have one more week of practice, including a workout early Thanksgiving Day, but the players don’t mind it.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: MVC’s quick start brings hope
Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball teams and others are off to a good start.
Valley teams were 9-2 in games played through Sunday. Two teams picked up some very nice victories.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: ISU’s ranking solid heading into basketball season
The college football season still has a few weeks to run for most teams, but the basketball season starts for real for a lot of teams this week; a few still have some exhibition contests left on the schedule.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Terre Haute native had memorable career at Red Hill
When Red Hill played its final football game of the season last month in Illinois, it marked the end of an era for a friend of mine and for the high school.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Terre Haute jumps several spots in Sporting News’ ratings
The Sporting News recently released its rankings of best sports cities in the country.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big week brought ISU alumni to Terre Haute in droves
It was a great weekend in Terre Haute.
Alumni were back in town for Indiana State’s homecoming, the football team made it great with another victory and the weatherman cooperated with nice fall weather.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Unbeaten football seasons on line for Linton, North Central
We’re down to the final week of the high school football season for teams in Indiana and some really big games mark the schedule in the area.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big college, prep football games scheduled this weekend
Some big football games are on the schedule this week in both the college and high school ranks.
In the Missouri Valley Football Conference, Indiana State and Northern Iowa share first place with 2-0 records. They’ll meet Saturday evening in the UniDome.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten openers are here
Big Ten football teams play their first conference games this week and a big game will top the schedule.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Wild card races offer suspense
Major league baseball is down to its final days, with the final games slated for Sept. 30.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Now for a few football landmark… both north and south
Some milestones were recorded in Indiana high school football games played Friday night.
n Heritage Hills blanked Pike Central 75-0 for a 3-0 record in Pocket Athletic Conference action at Lincoln City.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Labor Day means football, of the college kind
Labor Day is coming up and that means the start of the college football season for most teams on Saturday.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Southwest 7 cleans up in Week 1
Three Southwest Seven Conference teams were winners last week as Indiana high school football teams opened the 2011 season.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Beginner’s luck?
Sunday and Monday were good days for first-time winners in some of the major sports events.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Schelsky, Bilyeu, Fish conclude big golf weeks in Valley
Some notes and observations on recent achievements by folks from the area:
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Week filled with competitive golf, multiple racing events
Last week was a busy one but a nice one with golf, harness racing and automobile racing on the hot, humid schedule.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: Brickyard 400 a hot item on this week’s racing schedule
It’s race week again in Indiana and a busy time for golfers in the area too.
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Here’s rooting for some fictional sports characters
With all these hot days, it’s nice to sit in one’s apartment where it is cooler — not air-conditioned but cooler — and watch some television.
- More Ramblin' Reck Headlines
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