The Week In Chaos, February 25: Texas Appears Permamently Good; Xavier Flies Above A-10 Fray; Stanford Will Lose to Washington But Probably Not

The 2008 Atlantic-10 Tournament Official Program Cover Photo

The Week In Chaos examines all of the absurd things that happened to Top 25 (AP Poll only, coaches don't know anything) teams in the previous week of college hoops. With this season being The Year Of Mediocrity, consider this a chronicling of all this misdeeds these supposedly high-caliber teams are guilty of. If this season is to be forgotten due to a lack of greatness, I feel it should be remembered for its abundance of greatlessness. See, I'm being positive!

This is part 2 of this week's edition with part 1, on Kansas entering the Land of Mediocre, Indiana making Northwestern look like a Division I team and Kansas State's role players disappearing, is here. Why am I dividing one post into two parts? Because reading/writing about this much mediocrity in one sitting can significantly lower our national level of productivity. That and I want to make it look like I post more.

Most Refreshing Display of Expected Dominance- At this point, basically any highly ranked favorite that covers a spread or even you know, wins, could be considered for this faux-prestigious non-honor. But Texas, God bless them, beat down RPI-abuser Oklahoma Saturday, 62-45, in that Red River Thingamajig. After being destroyed by Missouri and Texas A & M earlier in the season, I was conditioned to take any subsequent Longhorn success with a grain of salt. Narrow escapes of Colorado, Oklahoma State and Iowa State seemed to only add to that uneasiness. But ever since that victory over Kansas, the Longhorns have been playing better basketball than anyone in the country, winning eight straight and 11 of 12, and it was nice to see them maintain a level of success that seems to have a shelflife of about four games, even for some of the top teams, this year. Everyone knows about Texas' multifaceted, efficient offense but against Oklahoma it showed a level of defense that transforms the Longhorns from good team to title contender. They held the Sooners to 26 percent shooting, with only Blake Griffin reaching double figures. Many are touting Texas as a potential No. 1 seed and it appears only a Big 12 tourney loss to Kansas, or a Rick Barnes Timid Coaching Special circa 2007, will change that fate.

Most Unexpected Victory That Probably Should've Been Expected Anyway- Given the carnage going on around the country among the top teams, it's rather remarkable that Xavier has won ten straight, especially in the cannibalistic, at-large bid-destroying menace that is the A-10. Thusly, everyone likely would have forgiven the Musketeers if they lost at once-proud, now floundering Dayton Sunday. Instead, Xavier beat Dayton at their own game: a low scoring slugfest. The X-Men have now basically locked up the regular season A-10 crown and are in good position for a No. 2 or 3 seed in the NCAAs. Meanwhile, the rest of the A-10 is engaged in a Lord of the Flies-like test of survival to see who can destroy enough peers to grab another at-large bid. I just hope Richmond wins the league and it spontaneously combusts.

Foreshadowing of Chaos, Brought To You by Doom, Powered by The Book of Revelations- Last week's pick of North Carolina State over UNC was woefully incorrect and I wouldn't have it any other way. The main goal of this section is to make an insane prediction, try to provide a reasoning that, given this season's crapshootedness, makes you somehow believe it might actually happen and then, regardless of the outcome, celebrate my ability to use mediocre basketball to affect your perception of reality. This is what I want in life. For a mildly insane prediction, check out today's picks, in which I predict Tennessee to lose to Vandy tonight due mostly to Bruce Pearl's inner sexual desires toward sideline reporters. But that pick doesn't quite do it for me. No, this week I got Stanford losing to Washington Thursday. The Cardinal are one of my favorite teams this year and behind possible best player in country Brook Lopez, could be poised for a Final Four run. So naturally, they will lose to the ninth place Huskies. Washington isn't as bad as it seems, with all 13 of its losses to top 100 teams and a win over UCLA. If the Huskies were in any other conference they could probably be a Bubble team, actually. They also have Jon Brockman, a guy who is physical enough to frustrate the emotionally explosive Lopez twins and maybe force some cheap fouls, and enough speed and athleticism at the wings and in the backcourt to take advantage of Stanford's more timid, plodding ballhandlers (you're starting to believe me aren't you?). In its last three, Stanford lost to Arizona State, were handed a victory by the refs at Arizona and struggled to eventually put away Cal; I think the luck runs out and a loss finally happens.*
*loss will not actually happen