Friday, February 02, 2007
All over the board this week
Randy King
Randy King's Tech Insider is exclusive to roanoke.com and is posted by 5 p.m. Thursdays in season.
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I was hoping to catch Lee Suggs on the phone this afternoon and writing something here about the ex-Tech star tailback's return to campus this semester to finish up course requirements for his college degree.
Suggs must be in class. I called him two hours ago, left a message on his cellphone, and have yet to hear back from the guy.
With deadline lurking and my pocket protection beginning to break down -- Tech football fans know that picture well -- I've got no choice now but to chuck it long and deep. Hail Mary, baby!
Yeah, right, that prayer is going to be answered. So here we go ... all over the lot with some mostly random ramblings.
>> Anyone seen Coleman Collins lately? I heard the authorities issued an APB on Collins after the senior big man for Tech's basketball team was missing in action for Wednesday's home game against North Carolina State.
"We had some guys who didn't show up tonight," agitated Tech coach Seth Greenberg told radio play-by-play man Bill Roth after his 16th-ranked (no longer) club plummeted back to earth with an ugly 70-59 loss to the 13-point underdog Wolfpack.
Greenberg didn't call out anyone by name, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out he was pointing his finger at Collins.
Talk about a big coming up small. Three days after a five-dunk, 13-point, nine-rebound effort in Tech's upset at Georgia Tech, Collins was the invisible man against State. While Wolfpack center Ben McCauley was having him for lunch, producing 20 points and seven rebounds, Collins had absolutely nothing, producing the doughnut line of 0-for-5 from the field and 0-for-2 from the free-throw line for 0 points.
As good as their starting guards are, the Hokies won't be able to survive such vacation nights by Collins. When Collins plays, Tech has some inside game to go with its slashing guards and perimeter game.
This is the same guy who had a double-double -- 11 points and 14 rebounds -- vs. Maryland, 15 points and six rebounds at Florida State, 12 points and five 'bounds vs. North Carolina, and 11 points and five rebounds at Duke.
Then there is the Collins who had four points and three rebounds at Miami last week. You never know what you're going to get with this guy. Tech got zilch Wednesday, and it played a huge part in the Hokies' squandering a game they had no business losing.
>> Anyone else beginning to wonder just how good the ACC is this season in men's hoops?
Oh, North Carolina is great. The Tar Heels' 92-64 rout at Arizona last Saturday gave ACC backers' plenty of fodder engaged in any watering-hole squabbles with touts of the Pac-10 about which of the two leagues is the toughest.
After the Heels, though, there's not another ACC club that looks capable of advancing to the Elite Eight, much less the Final Four. Georgia Tech and Maryland are in serious trouble right now and may not even make the NCAA.
Despite its loss at Virginia on Thursday, a young Duke club is getting better. That said, my Vegas source tells me the Blue Devils would be a 10-point 'dog to UNC on a neutral court if the two teams played today.
According to the latest national title odds, courtesy of Sportsbook.com, UNC (4-to-1) is the second choice behind defending champion Florida (9-to-2) to win the national title. Carolina was a 6-to-1 play at the season's start.
The rest of the current front-runners to win it all include: Ohio State and UCLA (8-to-1); Wisconsin (10-to-1), Kansas (12-to-1); and Pittsburgh and
Butler at 20-to-1.
Duke, at 30-to-1, is the second choice out of the ACC. Forget about the Dookies, though. They're NC ... as in no chance.
Tech, a 100-to-1 longshot at season's start, is next among ACC clubs at 40-to-1, according to VegasInsider.com's numbers. The only team in the nation whose odds have lowered more than the Hokies' to this point is Oregon, which is down to 35-to-1 after starting at 125-to-1. It must be noted these numbers were posted in advance of Tech's puke-all-over-itself loss to the Fidos from State.
>> While we're talking odds, what the wise guys' early take on Frank Beamer's club this fall. According to Sportsbook.com's futures odds, only nine teams are listed ahead of Tech on the early 2008 national champion tout board.
The Hokies are currently checking in at 25-to-1, where they join California, Florida State, Tennessee, and Rutgers. Southern Cal is heavy chalk at 3-to-1, followed by Michigan (8-to-1), defending champion Florida and Texas at 10-to-1, and LSU and West Virginia at 12-to-1. Oklahoma is next at 15-to-1, followed by Louisville and Penn State at 20-to-1.
Other ACC teams not included among the field are Miami (50-to-1), Clemson (80-to-1), N.C. State (150-to-1), and Georgia Tech and Virginia, each at 250-to-1.
