TERRE HAUTE —
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.
Wire services, coaches and publications have offered preseason outlooks and predictions. ESPN The Magazine is one and has ranked all 344 NCAA Division I men’s teams in the country.
Indiana State is No. 80 on the list, which is a good ranking.
North Carolina tops the list with Tyler Zeller and other top players back for another season, turning down chances to go pro — a good move considering the NBA lockout.
Rounding out the Top Ten in order are Kentucky, Ohio State, Connecticut, Syracuse, Duke, Vanderbilt, Florida, Memphis and Louisville.
Other Big Ten teams and their number are Wisconsin 13, Michigan 22, Michigan State 25, Purdue 26, Illlinois 34, Indiana 45, Northwestern 49, Iowa 58 and Nebraska 59.
Missouri Valley Conference teams look like this: Wichita State 40, Creighton 69, ISU 80, Northern Iowa 91, Missouri State 113, Drake 139, Evansville 154, Southern Illlinois 169, Bradley 175 and Illinois State 188.
Other Indiana teams: Notre Dame 29, Butler 47, IUPUI 145 and Valparaiso 163.
Butler had a couple of exhibition games, losing to Northern State 53-50 and beating Franklin 91-53. Evansville’s men beat DePauw 81-52 and the women bested Oakland City 78-41.
Illinois defeated Wayne State 79-51. Meyers Leonard of Robinson led the Illini with 18 points. The Illini had another exhibition on Monday against Quincy College.
ISU faces Eastern Illinois in its official opener this week. EIU had a 78-48 victory over Olivet Nazarene on Sunday in exhibition action. Former Northview standout Austin Akers played 18 minutes and scored eight points in his debut with EIU. He played two years at Olney Central.
• Tom-Cattin’ It — Christina Haag of Sullivan rated a top postseason honor in soccer, being named first-team all-state.
Haag finished with 131 career goals — third on the state’s all-time list — and 51 assists.
• Bob Spoo is retiring as football coach at Eastern Illinois after 25 seasons and the Panthers met Tennessee State in the final home game of his career, losing 18-17.
• In last week’s USA Today rankings, Warren Central remained 13th and first in the Midwest Region with Carmel fourth in the Midwest. Those numbers will be changed this week, with Carmel beating the Warriors in Class 5A sectional action.
Bud Wright of Sheridan, meanwhile, added to his totals as winningest coach in Indiana history as his team beat South Adams 41-40 in overtime in a Class A game.
• Some of the names on the Baseball Hall of Fame list to be considered by the Veterans Committee are Indiana natives Gil Hodges and Charlie Finley plus Ron Santo, Ken Boyer and Minnie Minoso.
Matty Alou died last week at the age of 72. He played for several teams and won a batting title in 1966.
• Marian University defeated St. Xavier 17-9 in a battle of NAIA powers in Indy. Marian is in its fifth year of football. Former Rose-Hulman coach Ted Karras Jr. started the program and still is the coach.
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: ISU’s ranking solid heading into basketball season
- Ramblin' Reck
-
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Castroneves a safe bet at Indy 500
The field is full for the Indianapolis 500 and the race should be another good one.
-
RAMBLIN’ RECK: A good week to be a Sycamore
This week is a big one for sports fans and is off to a good start, particularly for Indiana State fans.
-
RAMBLIN’ RECK: Clauson, 22, to make rare jump from USAC to Indy 500
Bryan Clauson will be a busy young man this month.
-
RAMBLIN’ RECK: May means it’s time for some thoroughbred horse racing
It’s May, it’s May, the wonderful month of May as the words sort of go in a famous musical.
-
RAMBLIN’ RECK: Following the changing Illinois coaching scene
Catching up on some coaching changes and some other business:
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Golf battle at Rea Park
The high school sports schedules are busy again this week, with local boys golf teams playing two matches at Rea Park.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Here’s to hoping for more Hoosier magic
Another NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship is history and fans already are talking about next season.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Retiring Casey football coaches Sinclair, Vidoni will be missed
An era ended in Casey last week when Keith Sinclair and Gene Vidoni announced they are retiring as football coaches at Casey-Westfield High School.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: NCAA Final Four down to UK & everyone else
The Kentucky Invitational, officially known as the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship, is down to The Final Four.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: One man’s vote for public schools in the IHSAA tournament
The basketball season has ended for most high school and college teams, but fans in the Wabash Valley still have teams to root for this weekend.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Terre Haute great to be inducted into college Hall of Fame
One of Terre Haute’s all-time greats will be honored again later in the year when Clyde Lovellette will be inducted into the National College Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten tourney wide open
Selection Sunday is coming and action in some of the conference basketball tournaments could play big roles in determining the field for the NCAA’s Big Dance.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Big week for preps, ISU, Rose-Hulman
Monday began one of the biggest weeks ever in basketball in the Wabash Valley or at least one of the biggest.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: No guaranteed wins in difficult Class 2A Casey regional
Let’s talk high school basketball.
-
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.
-
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.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Indianapolis is looking mighty good this week
It’s Super Bowl XLVI week … in Indiana for the first time.
-
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.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Big Ten shaken up last week
It was a very interesting week in men’s college basketball, especially in the Big Ten.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Indiana Mr. Football still has big decision to make
Some awards in high school and college football were announced last week.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
- More Ramblin' Reck Headlines
-
RAMBLIN' RECK: Castroneves a safe bet at Indy 500
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Dragon Arrives at Space Station in Historic 1st
Police: Gunman Has Hostages in Realty Office
Passenger Restrained on Flight to Miami Arrested
Beer Here!: An Historic Exhibit
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: SpaceX Capsule's Docking Delayed
Sudden Storm Topples Wisconsin Trees
Raw Video: Toddler Trapped in Washing Machine
Vegas Grocer Deported to Face War Crimes Charges
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
Raw Video: Wildfire Burns 110 Square Miles
Kristen Stewart Is Red Hot
Shark Attacks Australian Fishing Boat
Bradley out for playoffs
Kayaker Survives Trip Over Washington Waterfall
Alison Brie Likes To Jog Naked
Heidi Klum Goes Sheer
Alton's Best Burger Ever
Ellie Kemper's Stripper Surprise on 'Ellen'
Maddie the Balancing Dog On Cross-Country Trip
Crawford's Sexy Leather Look
Boys eyes 'removed with spoon'
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
"Twilight" Stars Caught Kissing
Etan Patz Case: Suspect Arrested
Britney's Hot Pink Mini-Dress
Wrongfully accused rapist exonerated after 5 years in jail
Actress to Play Casey Anthony
Hurricane Forecast: 15 Named Storms Expected
Prince William on The Queen: 'Woman in Man's World'
