Barstool College Hoops: Addressing Coach K, Must-Watch Monday's and Big East Games

We have a magical night on our hands in college basketball. It’s something that a handful of us are talking about on Twitter – you can follow me @barstoolreags – and is starting to become the go-to Monday show with the Bachelor.

That is ESPN’s Big Monday, with the Big 12 at 9 p.m. with Brent Musburger and Jay Bilas. First off we have the best conference in college hoops with the showcase game. It’s given us Iowa State/Oklahoma and Kansas/Oklahoma. Next week we get Iowa State/Kansas. Those are three legit Final Four contenders, especially Kansas and Oklahoma, along with West Virginia who already has a win over Kansas.

Secondly, we have the most fun game on Twitter. Guessing what side Brent has and then during the game find out the moment he tips off what he’s on. For those that gamble and just love Brent it’s always a little secret that he’ll slip in a line on what he’s gambling on. Last night it was actually a first where it was after the game when he was caught singing Sweet Caroline, giving away he was on Iowa State.

You want star power? How about Buddy Hield, who has reached must-watch TV. Seriously, you need to all tune in to what this guy is doing game-in and game-out. In a year where freshmen outside of Ben Simmons are not dominating the sport, Hield has taken over as a senior. Then there’s Perry Ellis, Monte Morris, Georges Niang, Isaiah Taylor among others.

So, what does the game from last night mean? Not much for Oklahoma as they are still one of the top-2 teams in the country. Teams are losing on the road, so there’s nothing to take away from that end. On the other side though, Iowa State desperately needed that win. The Cyclones were struggling to start Big 12 play and Steve Prohm is finally looking the part of the head coach people thought he would be.

Iowa State also showed its balance yesterday. Niang started slow, not scoring for the first 7-8 minutes of the game, but finished with 22 points on 9-19 shooting. After that, Morris had 20, Abdel Nader had 20, Matt Thomas had 12 and Jameel McKay pitched in with 13 rebounds. Nader was the star of the game for me. Filling in for the injured Naz Long, Ader stands at 6’6” and was able to give Iowa State the early lead with Niang not scoring.

Addressing Coach K

I’ve said this before. Coach K is the best coach to walk the sidelines in college basketball. However, the media sucks his dick more than anyone else in the history of college basketball. The refusal to shake hands, berating the Sr. Associate Commissioner of the ACC is just all bullshit he’s done that never gets called out for. Not to mention he’s had a former player’s mom work for a booster where the job was never posted and she was grossly overpaid despite not having the qualifications. Oh, if you want to speak just this year, how about having an assistant go after an opposing player because someone from Indiana accidently bumped into him running into the tunnel?

As for this team, they simply aren’t good. I don’t care if Amile Jefferson is playing or not. You don’t shoot 37 3’s and give up 26 offensive rebounds. Even when Jefferson comes back, it’s not a guarantee that this team turns into a top-10 team. Derryck Thornton has struggled transitioning to the college game and being the only true point guard on the roster, that’s what will hurt Duke in the long haul.

Makes me wonder how many more losses until Coach K’s back starting acting up again and he leaves the team for the season?

What to Watch Tonight

Everyone wants to talk about the ‘old’ Big East. Yes, we all miss it. But, it’s never coming back. It’s time to move on. If you are a Big Eat fan then you have moved on and found the chick from your high school who turned into the cute, marriage material one just after college. That’s what the Big East is giving us this year with Villanova, Xavier, Butler and Providence as the top 4 teams in the conference. Tonight, we get Butler heading to Providence and Xavier getting Georgetown.

Providence is coming off its second home loss in conference play and needing a win to right the ship. I’ve been wrong about the Friars up to this point of the year in that the surrounding cast around Dunn was subpar. Ben Bentil has been one of the most improved players all year. Rodney Bullock needs to get back on track though for Providence to be successful. After getting off to a strong start, Bullock put up 0 points against Creighton, 8 points against Marquette and shot 4-11 against Seton Hall.

Butler is 2-3 in the conference so far this season, including a loss to start conference play against Providence. The Bulldogs need Tyler Lewis to step his game back up. The North Carolina State transfer has combined for 4 points and 2 assists in the last 2 games. Having him speed up the pace and set up Roosevelt Jones and Kellen Dunham is what makes Butler great. If he can get going this game, Butler will win. It’s as simple as that. The matchup to watch though is defensively who Butler puts on Dunn. I expect a combination of Dunham and Jones switching onto him, providing two different looks to try to throw him off his game.