February 1, 2010

Saturday night's 36-point drubbing of Harvard wasn't enough for Cornell head coach, Steve Donahue.  Yeah the methodical, wire-to-wire domination of the team thought to be number 2 in the Ivy League was great, but after it was all over Donahue issued a challenge: any team, any time, any place.

"I feel very comfortable playing any team in the country on a neutral court with this group,” Donahue said. “I feel that we’d fare well. I think that we have enough experience, size, skill, toughness to compete with anybody in college basketball right now."

So maybe Donahue said it with a little more tact, but the message is clear.  The Big Red train is comin' and you better watch out.

Columbia, Dartmouth and Harvard have already learned their lessons, just listen to their coaches' post game responses.

First it was the Lions' Joe Jones singing the praises of the Big Red, who now own a 29.25-point average margin of victory in league play. "This is the best team in the league since i've been here for the seven years," Jones said. "They have one of the better point guards in the league, one of the better wing players in the league and the best center in the league."

Dartmouth's head man, Mark Graupe, didn't have to say anything.  Against the Big Red his team managed the same number of baskets as turnovers (16), shot worse than 30% from the field and worse than 10% from beyond the arc.  The game was over by halftime even though the Big Red did not play particularly well in the opening period.

Most recently, it was Harvard's Tommy Amaker, struggling to find words after falling to the Big Red.  "Depth, talent, experience," Amaker said, listing the reason's for Cornell's dominating performance. "And they play very hard.  There's nothing else really to say.  I think they're an outstanding basketball team, one of the better teams in the country."

The question now is if Amaker, who stressed the difference between seeing Cornell on tape and first hand, will be heard nation wide.  Will Cornell, on the verge of a top 25 ranking with 38 votes last week, be able to leapfrog 2 teams into the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll?

Let's take a gander.  Connecticut, ranked 19th in last week's poll, lost twice to drop to 13-8 and should be out.  Mississippi, previously ranked 20th, might also be out after needing a late run to overcome SEC bottom feeder Auburn and a home loss to equally bad Arkansas.  At the 21 spot, Clemson could also be moving out of the rankings.  A loss to the same Boston College team that Harvard beat earlier this year may have sealed their fate.  The other 4 teams ranking 22 through 25 should all stay put or move up after good weeks.

Of the teams in the "others receiving votes" category, Florida State (50 votes last week), New Mexico (38, tied with Cornell) and Baylor (37) are vying with the Big Red for what will likely be three open spots.  New Mexico won both games this week, including a victory over #10 BYU, and should be a lock to appear in the Coaches Poll.  Although Baylor lost to #13 Kansas St. to open the week, they also beat #6 Texas and should join the Lobos as new comers in the top 25.

The final potentially open spot will likely come down to Cornell and Florida St.  Since the last poll, the Seminoles have split a pair of ACC road games, losing at Duke and beating Boston College.  It's tough to know how the voters will appraise either game.  A tight loss to Duke though (14 point margin of defeat didn't tell the whole story) should be more valuable to the FSU resume than a squeak-it-out home victory over a 10-loss Boston College team.

The jury's still out on this one, but one thing we do know is that the Cornell team will be keeping an eye on the rankings as they are released on Monday afternoon.  When asked after the game if a spot in the top 25 meant anything to him, Senior Center, Jeff Foote gave a 2 part answer.

"Coach says all the time that the ratings and all that don’t really matter to us. We have to focus on ourselves and get better every day," Foote said appeasing Donahue, who was sitting next to him at the time.  After a second's pause and a smile though he continued with what his coach later called the "real" answer, "But it would be kind of cool to be in the top 25."

You've got to assume that after 9 years of hard work at the helm of the Big Red, it would be "kind of cool" for Coach Donahue too.