No Missouri Valley Conference teams are left in current postseason competition, but the men’s basketball teams are off to one of the best starts in league history.
Valley teams have posted a 49-19 mark for the best start in the last 47 seasons.
Illinois State and Missouri State both are 7-0 and are two of the 16 teams still undefeated in the country. Both of those teams have received votes in The Associated Press poll along with 5-1 Northern Iowa, while Wichita State at 7-1 and Bradley at 5-2 both have beaten some good teams.
In the weekly RPI list, the Valley is No. 8 of 31 leagues with Missouri State having the top ranking at seventh and having a nice victory over Tulsa.
Valley teams are 9-2 in the last 11 true road games and eight of the league’s 10 teams are undefeated at home, with Creighton beating state rival Nebraska last week.
In last week’s Sagarin rankings, Missouri State also had the top mark at 63 followed by Wichita State 73, Northern Iowa 76, Southern Illinois 80, Illinois State 86, Bradley 95, Indiana State 117, Creighton 144, Evansville 164 and Drake 174.
In other college hoops, Texas Tech, coached by Pat Knight, is off to its best start since 1929 at 8-0 following its victory over a ranked Washington team.
Two teams from Indiana will be in the Jimmy V Classic to be shown on ESPN tonight. Butler plays Georgetown and Indiana takes on once-beaten Pittsburgh.
In other NCAA sports, North Carolina won its 21st championship in women’s soccer.
North Carolina’s men beat Drake 2-1 to eliminate the last Valley team.
Wichita State and Northern Iowa both won opening matches in the volleyball tournament but were eliminated in the second round by Big 12 teams by 3-0 counts, WSU losing to Iowa State and UNI to Nebraska.
Iowa State and Nebraska will meet in the quarterfinals. Penn State, Michigan, Illinois and Minnesota are the Big 10 teams left in the competition.
• Tom-Cattin’ It — Former ISU men’s coach Royce Waltman again is helping Michael Wantz coach the Roncalli High School team while former Shakamak softball coach Beth Wernz is assistant principal and athletic director at Eminence.
n North Central is 2-0 after winning two games at home, beating Hutsonville-Palestine 81-52, and will not play at home again until Jan. 15 when South Knox is the opponent. The T-Birds play North Daviess this week.
Casey also is off to a 2-0 start in Illinois. Its second victory came against Hutsonville-Palestine, which had won its first five games before losing twice last week.
• Central Michigan is the Mid-American Conference champ in football. Senior quarterback Dan LeFevour established a major-college record for combined touchdowns — rushing, passing and receiving — in the MAC championship game.
Three MAC teams and seven from the Big Ten are in bowl games.
Alabama faces Texas for the national championship and already is the pick of one Sporting News writer to give the SEC its fourth straight national championship.
• Indiana fired soccer coach Mike Freitag. He had an 86-32-19 mark in six seasons and guided the Hoosiers to an NCAA title.
• In women’s basketball, Central Michigan rebounded from its defeat at Indiana State to defeat ranked Louisville.
• Friends and family paid their final respects to a friend of mine, Kent “Cosmo” Robertson, on Sunday. He died last week at 59.
Keith Jones said he and Kent both graduated from Clay City in 1970. Kent played fastpitch softball and was a regular in local golf tournaments.
His wife said he had played golf the day before he died and had a great round. Our thoughts and prayers go to his family.
• In case you missed it, the Big Ten men were 6-5 winners in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge. Duke lost for the first time in the event and Boston College now is the lone team not to lose in the event.
Tom Reck may be contacted by telephone at (812) 232-3231, by email at tm_reck@yahoo.com.
Ramblin' Reck
Ramblin' Reck: MVC men’s hoops off to great start
- Ramblin' Reck
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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.
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RAMBLIN' RECK: It won’t be long before another season of college football
College football will be here before you know it and some of the preseason picks already have been made.
- More Ramblin' Reck Headlines
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RAMBLIN' RECK: And now, on to the next beloved winter sport
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