Will Rick Pitino Leave for UNLV? Top-25 Rankings, Oklahoma/Iowa State Preview

Good luck figuring out who is good or bad in college hoops this year. Once a team seems to find its way there’s an ugly loss – typically on the road. Take for instance, Michigan State, who was the No. 1 or 2 team in the country for a large part of nonconference play. This past week the Spartans got swept – getting their ass handed to them by Iowa in East Lansing then losing in the last 10 seconds to a pretty bad Wisconsin team.

It’s not just Michigan State. This past week was one of the most bizarre weeks in recent memory with 16 ranked teams losing. It wasn’t just losing. There were some bad losses. Kentucky lost to Auburn. Providence lost to Seton Hall. South Carolina got steamrolled by Alabama. Virginia lost to Florida State. Duke lost to Clemson and Notre Dame.

The one trend that seems to be consistent this year is small road favorites (less than 5 points) are losing straight up. I can’t find an exact number on this yet, but will be tracking it starting this week. So, if you’re into that sort of thing, be cautious and take a look at home dogs. They are hitting this year.

So, with that said, let’s take a look at some of the news around college hoops, preview the Oklahoma/Iowa State game and the top-25. Follow me @barstoolreags for all the college hoops talk this year.

Rick Pitino Leaving for UNLV?

This is a rumor that started to make its way around the college hoops world over the weekend. With UNLV needing a new head coach after this season thanks to the firing of Dave Rice, apparently Rick Pitino is interested in heading out west. Now, save for all the hookers jokes and the gold mine that will be the blogging world with Pitino at UNLV, Does it make sense? Only to a degree. During this offseason with the possible hooker scandal at UL, Pitino did have a quote saying if people don’t want him at Louisville, he’ll leave. However, who wouldn’t want him at Louisville? He’s a top-5 coach in the game and turned a mediocre team at best to a team that’s in and out of the top-25 this season. He’s brought a national championship and a couple Final Fours to the school that gets overlooked because of Kentucky. The only way Pitino would go to UNLV is if this Katina Powell scandal leads to something bigger than many are expecting and he’s forced out. Right now, Pitino has built Louisville into a premier program again going to UNLV – a midmajor program now just simply doesn’t make sense. I know he has a lot of close friends in Las Vegas, including boosters of the UNLV program as well as being extremely close with Lon Kruger, who used to coach UNLV. It’s something to keep an eye on though as we find out more about the Powell situation. But, for now, expect to see Pitino on the sidelines in Louisville.

Oklahoma Getting Two Points at Iowa State Tonight

Congrats, Oklahoma. You’re about to be the No. 1 team in the country and now you get to experience Hilton Magic as a two point underdog. This game is massive for both teams, for obvious reasons. For Oklahoma it solidifies itself as the best team in the country to the rest of the nation who hasn’t paid attention to college hoops this year and gives them a free game in the conference. Winning at Iowa State is nearly impossible to come by, so getting the win at Hilton gives them a free win of sorts in the standings. For Iowa State, the Cyclones are struggling. Since Naz Long went out for the season with an injury the depth of the roster has been decimated and they are still trying to find an identity. It’s a rematch from 16 days ago when Oklahoma won by 4 despite trailing by 4 at half. So, what’s there to look for tonight?

How can Iowa State stop Buddy Hield? Right now there’s arguably no one in the country scoring the ball better than Hield is for Oklahoma. He’s shooting an asinine 51 percent from the 3-point line, on nearly eight attempts per game. Iowa State clearly does not like to play defense yet and will likely have Deonte Burton on him, who is their best wing defender. If Burton starts on the bench, like he has lately, it could be a huge mismatch for Oklahoma’s backcourt. The trio of Hield, Cousins and Woodard will likely take advantage of having either Abdel Nader or Georges Niang try to cover one of them.

If guard play doesn’t interest you, take a look at the Niang/Ryan Spangler matchup with two big guys, who can stretch the floor and rebound. Niang was the MVP of the previous game per KenPom, with an ORtg of 133 while scoring 29 points and getting 6 rebounds. Spangler wasn’t far behind him getting an ORtg of 131 with 20 points and 8 rebounds. Niang is going to have to put up big numbers again tonight for Iowa State to have a chance. The Cyclones are at their best when him and Monte Morris get into a pick-and-roll type offense, freeing up Matt Thomas in the corner to shoot and Jameel McKay to crash the boards. Oklahoma, will likely double those screens, forcing Morris to make the cross court pass to Nader and rotating to crash the paint, not letting Niang or McKay roll to the rim.

Barstool Reags Top-25

1. Oklahoma
2. Kansas
3. Iowa
4. Villanova
5. UNC
6. Xavier
7. West Virginia
8. SMU
9. Maryland
10. Texas A&M
11. Michigan State
12. Baylor
13. Butler
14. USC
15. Miami
16. Louisville
17. Arizona
18. Providence
19. Iowa State
20. Purdue
21. Kentucky
22. Duke
23. Virginia
24. Indiana
25. South Carolina

Barstool Reags Player of the Year Race:

1. Buddy Hield (Oklahoma)
2. Kris Dunn (Providence)
3. Jarrod Uthoff (Iowa)
4. Denzel Valentine (Michigan State)
5. Nic Moore (SMU)