Bradley Basketball in 2010-11

Not having homework this year means that I can follow college basketball more closely, and one of the teams I follow closest is Bradley, naturally.

Bradley's basketball season thus far has fallen short of preseason expectations. As it stands, the Braves are 8-17 overall, and 2-12 in Missouri Valley action. In the past several seasons, the Braves have entered the MVC conference tournament as a four or five seed, but this year the Braves will be playing in the Opening Round of "Arch Madness" as a team seeded anywhere from seven to ten. If Drake wins again, the best Bradley can finish is 8th.

There is a silver lining to Bradley's record. Bradley narrowly lost to the co-conference leaders Missouri State, and won their two previous MVC. The record also doesn't indicate that the Braves have played their entire season without two of their three players, honored before the season as preseason All-MVC candidates, Taylor Brown and Sam Maniscalco.

Both players are sitting out the season with medical redshirts and their losses have been a big blow to the Braves. Brown, a small forward led Bradley in rebounding last year and was named the conference's most improved player. Brown is sitting out the season for a mandatory 90-day rest period necessary to evaluate a heart condition. Maniscalco, Bradley's starting point guard during the past three seasons, is sitting out the year due to ankle issues. The loss of Brown and Maniscalco has been a big blow to the team, and you can't simply replace players like that. Both players should be eligible to return next year, which means Bradley could have a vastly improved record next season.

The third of the preseason award candidates, Andrew Warren, has been the biggest bright spot for the Braves. Warren was always a great shooter, but this season he has become a complete player and one of the best in the MVC (full disclosure: Andrew and I have the same major, so we had several classes together). Andrew leads the MVC in scoring (19.0), free throw percentage (.886), and three point field goals (59). I think he's a shoo-in to be named to the MVC's First Team All-Valley.

Since Bradley beat Creighton during Snowpocalypse, the team has been playing a lot better (the two wins, and the close game at MSU). As of late other good options have emerged around Warren, Dyricus Simms-Edwards has emerged as a legitimate scoring threat in his second season at Bradley, and could be the type of player to lead Bradley in scoring during his next two seasons. Freshman Jordan Prosser is also emerging as a good option in the post, and I could see him averaging at least 10 pts, eight boards in the near future. Jake Eastman, a reserve guard for now, is a solid defender and developing a consistent three-point shot. Also, freshman Walt Lemon, is learning how to harness his athleticism and could develop into a top-level guard in the MVC.

As bad of a season as its been, I don't think head coach Jim Les will be fired, no do I believe he should. It's almost impossible to overcome the loss of two of your three best players. Additionally, he is bringing in a solid recruiting class, led by guard Remy Abell from Louisville, the best player on the top ranked high school team in Kentucky (basketball is kind of a big deal there). Besides, there is always the issue of who would you replace Coach Les with. I think next year if Bradley doesn't finish in the top of the MVC, then his job should be in question.

Down the stretch, Bradley has a pretty favorable schedule, and Northern Iowa is the only game against a team near the top of the MVC. Bradley plays host to Evansville on Saturday, and I think they can definitely win 4 of the final 5 games on the schedule. Bradley is definitely the type of team no one will want to face at Arch Madness. Without a powerhouse team in the MVC, Bradley could make a little run in St. Louis.

Today is College Football Signing Day!

Around the country, today marks one of the most significant days in the college football calendar. Today is National Signing Day, which marks the beginning of the national signing period for high school prospects to sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI). While many prospective players have given verbal commitments, nothing is binding until the NLI is signed by a player. Basically, once a player signs an NLI, no other NCAA school can recruit said player.

To the casual or non-sports fan, today might not seem like such a big deal. However, to coaches, recruiting and the ability to re-stock the team's depth chart is equally as important the coaching during the season. The recruitment period is just as big of a deal to fans as well. If don't believe that, check out ESPN's College football recruiting page and the amount of stories and information devoted to talent speculation and trying to determined which 17 or 18 year old will win the Heisman in 2014.

The amount of information about college football recruiting is justifiably so. When each college announces their Class of 2011 today, these are the players who will make up a core part of each roster. While schools can add players after today (the signing period ends April 1st), today's basically college football's equivalent "free agency," except the big signings aren't as spread out as other sports, like MLB or the NBA.

With that said, many of the top recruits have not yet signed, and are specifically waiting to announce their decisions today or are not quite ready to make their decisions. Several outlets, both television and online are airing coverage of college football signing day, including ESPNU's National Signing Day Special, which extends to a record 10 hours running from 9 a.m. - 7 p.m. ET today.

For more information on the recruiting cycle in general, I'd recommend Bruce Feldman's Meat Market: Inside the Smash-Mouth World of College Football Recruiting, which profiles a the yearlong recruitment cycle of Ed Orgeron, then the Ole Miss head coach.

College Football Notes (1/14)

While there was talk of Commissioner Jim Delaney and the Big Ten revisiting the names of their two football divisions, it appears that "Legends and Leaders" will remain through the 2011 football season, to allow time for market research to be conducted on the effectiveness of the names. I still don't think its as big of a deal as the competitive balance that the Big 10 will have in 2011.

In football, USC is down to just 59 scholarships after one of their receivers left the program recently. Over the past summer, the Trojans infamously received a heavy probation from the NCAA, resulting in a two year bowl ban and a loss of ten scholarships per year. I know the Trojans played under the regular 85 scholarships this season, but 59, wow!

A feel good story out of Houston: QB Case Keenum has been granted a sixth year of eligibility by the NCAA. Keenum was on pace to break several NCAA records before tearing his ACL in a September game, sidelining him for the rest of the season. In 2009, Keenum passed for 5,671 yards.

Grand Opening at Oregon

I mentioned last May in a blog post about the construction of the Matthew Knight Arena, Oregon's impressive new $227 million basketball facility, which was scheduled to open during the 2010-2011 basketball season.

Tonight is the grand opening of the arena, named for the late son of Nike founder and Oregon benefactor Phil Knight. Originally, the opening of the arena was scheduled for the start of the Ducks' Pac-10 season, but was delayed to avoid conflict with a football bowl game (The football Ducks lost 22-19 in Monday's National Championship game to Auburn).

The new arena has drew some attention for its unique floor design, which I think is pretty cool.

The Ducks are hoping the new arena can serve as a jump start for their season. They are currently 7-9, and 0-4 in Pac-10 play.

Big Ten Icons Returns

Last Fall, the Big Ten Network started their countdown series, Big Ten Icons, taking a look at the 50 greatest athletes in conference history, based on their collegiate careers. Starting tonight, January 2nd, at 7:30 PM CT, the Big Ten Icons will resume with their top 10 Icons.

The "Legends" and the "Leaders"

One of the hot topics in college football this week is the newly released Big Ten logo and football divisions . With the addition of Nebraska next year, the Big Ten will now have 12 teams (confusing, right?), which forced the conference to restructure to two six-team divisions with a football conference championship. Most Big Ten fans were happy with the addition of Nebraska while not diluting the brand of the Big Ten in the process.

Many Big Ten fans were not thrilled with the conference after the two football divisions were named "Legends" and "Leaders." A Chicago Tribune survey in today's paper revealed that 94% of fans disliked/disapproved of the name changes. I'm not a huge fan of the division names either, or the logo for that matter. But I think there are more important things, such as the actual competitions.

The Big Ten Conference is convinced that fans will eventually get used to the division names. I'm honestly not to bothered by "Legends" and "Leaders," I think its more important to have the right divisions set up, based on competitive balance and traditional rivalries, as opposed to geography, which would have made the conference names easier to decide. More important than the silly division names is the fact that divisions will be competitive, and the Big Ten will be stronger going into 2011.

Light Reading

I'm one book away from starting to read my copy of "Death to the BCS," a book against the traditional post-season in college football written by Dan Wetzel, Jeff Passan, and Josh Peter. Once I finish reading the book, I will put up a book review and go into what I believe is right and wrong about the book's points and in depth on my views into a college football playoff.