On Tuesday, President Obama addressed the Nation in his annual State of the Union. He touched on the pertinent subjects surrounding the goings on of our country and how he, as our elected leader, intends on solving or improving them.
But at it’s crux, at the core of what our President implored congress and this nation to do, was to grow a “rising and thriving middle class.” And then he looked right into the camera and subsequently the souls of Bob Cantu, Herb Sendek, Tad Boyle, Johnny Dawkins, Lorenzo Romar, and Mike Montgomery. After all, these are the heads of the middle-class as we know it. For therein lies five teams log jammed between three 8-3 squads and three 2-9 squads.
Yes, here is the middle class with four weeks remaining that will indeed have its opportunity to rise and thrive, grow and taste success beyond a brief weekend in Vegas. Anyone can afford that. Because no one wants to leave Vegas a complete loser.
The weekend that will be and some additional worthy reads:
- I’m going to Boulder and answered some Q’s about it on the terrific Buffs blog The Rumblings of a Deranged Buffalo by @RumblinBuffalo
- Wed/Thursday game snippets at PacificTakes. Some interesting games.
- Got on the Podcast again with the Addicted To Quack guys, @atqdave and @mattdaddysblog. I really enjoy talking hoops with these guys.
- A few more AZ-CU thoughts about home vs visitor and I mention taquitos. Twice.
**Please note: The above is the first ever reference of Barack Obama and the Pac-12 without mention of Craig Robinson. I’ll take your applauds at the conclusion of the performance.
GotW: Absolutely it’s the game I’m attending. I wouldn’t catch a flight to the haunted DIA or think really hard but not do anything about shelling out $25 more for additional leg room because I’m 6’5″ or troll message boards if I was traveling to OSU-WSU, would I? Never. So yeah, the GotW is Arizona’s visit to Colorado and my attendance. And while my attendance is generally a recipe for GotW, this game has all the ingredients to be great. First of all, Arizona is pissed. Or at least should be. They got beat soundly by Cal and allowed them to shoot 60%. That’s bad and the Cats would appear to have something to prove (see below). On the other bench is Tad Boyle and his replay beliefs. This man thinks replay should be gone and if he’d had his way in 2012 – or even these convictions back then – his team would have one additional win. Sorry I’m not sorry. Ask any Buffalo about it, they’re just now moving past as they’ve won five of six and looking for that revenge. Will they get it? Time will tell. Going to get loud in the Keg.
Game to Avoid: Last week it was a pair of 2-7 teams and this week it’s a pair of 2-9 teams. Oregon State’s visit to Pullman comes with about as much hoopla as my second beer on a Friday night: It has to happen to get on to better things. I have a built in excuse to miss this one (flying to Denver), what’s yours?
Something to Prove: The Arizona Wildcats dip into hostile waters as the highest ranked team in the conference and as (per KenPom) the favorites. But something doesn’t feel right. They dropped the ball against Cal (already mentioned) and, amongst all Top-10 teams, have taken the most heat as an underserving team. The questioning of Arizona has some merits but at the end of the day, they’re 20-3 against the 10th toughest schedule in the nation. But such a record against such competition suggests there might be another level. Something bigger than losses to Cal and squeaking through much of their Pac-12 season. But here they are now. This trip to Colorado can be a message sending game in which Arizona reasserts itself in the face of adversity as the conference’s top team. Time to prove.
Something to Lose: Arizona State faces a tough roady as Utah is very capable of holding holding court (these two went to OT in Tempe) and Colorado is a very good team, particularly on their home floor. The Herbivores pieced together a phenomenal first half but a handful of road hiccups this week could really set them onto the wrong foot heading down the four week stretch to Vegas. The logjam of teams nipping at ASU’s heels (CU, Stan, Cal, USC) is playing some formidable ball and could quickly make moves up the standings, especially if ASU stumbles this weekend.
The YouTuber: I’m just noting here that Stanford has the lowest field goal percentage in the conference…