Those With No Losses Are Whittled Down - D1 Teams Remaining: Maybe 25? 20?

    Those teams left: a quick survey.

    Some are playing as we speak, as I write. Here are numbers according to "Team Rankings", a dubious source.

    1. Auburn. 7-0. Men's team have some chops. (1)

    3. Wisconsin. 7-0. Plucky and smart. (2)

    4. St. Mary's. 6-0. Australians much? (3)

    6. Tennessee. 7-0. SEC strong. (4)

    7. Marquette. 7-0. Yep, they seem to better than the Carlino days. (5)

    9. Oregon. 7-0. Ducks are quackin' it up. (6)

    10. Utah State. 5-0. Watch, Beehive State! (7)

    13. Kansas. 6-0. Oh, those Jayhawks. (8)

    15. Drake. 5-0. Hmmmmmm... (9) Dem bulldogs.

    16. Miss. St. 6-0 More Bulldogs? They played tonight; this site is slow to update. (10)

    25. Wichita State. 6-0. Actually, I think they did lose today... (11)

    28. Florida 7-0. (12). Gators are strong and pounded the Shockers above. TR is whack. (12)

    29. Kentucky. 6-0. Killing (metaphorically) Georgia State now. (13)

    36. UC Irvine. 5-0. Anteaters !!! (14)

    41. Rhode Island. 6-0. Whoa. (15)

    42. Ole Miss. 6-0 (16)

    46. Loyola Chicago 5-0 (17)

    50. Furman. 5-0 (18) Who are these guys?

    71. LA Tech 5-0. (19) Karl Malone U.

    82. Oklahoma. 6-0. Now likely 7-0, beating good teams. (20) I said TR is whack. !

    126. Columbia. 8-0. (21) What in the Ivy Leagues?

    191. DePaul 6-0. (22)  Uh, the Blue Demons. They have to be in the top 150, right?

    There you have it. By Team Rankings math, there are only twenty-two left, but definintely more losers after last night.

IU and BYU have joined them... Indiana got embarrassed by Louisville, the smacked by Gonzaga. BYU lost in overtime to Ole Miss. A more respectable loss.

    I left out Cincinatti, which has a record of 6-0 and was ranked about 120, which is ridiculous, but probably a little more accurate today.

    At the end of it, about 20 undefeated teams remain. Last day of November.

    

    

    

    

    

 Among the Germans -- (Zie Deuchen?)

    After sixty days among the Germans, this time of my life in the surreal and slightly disturbing or fearful experience; the reality and normalcy of it gradually settled in. For two months and on, working every day, long hours and perspicacious as the fellow cohorts from the Hinterland,  I was doing my thing all right. Immersed within this foreign yet familiar environment and culture: these fellow workers and uniformed troops were like me but not like me. German, Deutsch, Deutschen, not Deutschlanders as I thought they were called years before. 

    

    I was hearing it, a language some call guttural-- in person in my office in conversation and music, walking up and down the halls, in neighboring buildings like ours, across the whole military compound, edging into the cafeteria and the bars and shops to the east outside our secure fences. I was influenced by the language in other corridors, and in the barracks where I slept, or going the other direction to the outer gate of the base, past the German radio station and the memorial wall and flags dedicated in tribute and memory of those that had fallen. Germans, Norwegians, and perhaps Swedes and Finns. Their names and lives etched in printed epigraphs. Over ten years into that more distant war.

    Surrounded in this day and age by the Bundeswehr, not the Wehrmacht, as I mistakenly called it once, conversing with a younger American soldier more than ten years later, closer to now. The American young man was alarmed by my naming mistake. He knew historical terms.

    Time changes and flows.

    Now and then. Growing up in the 1970s alone, I was watching and playing World War II movies, television programs, analyzing books and photos of the ravages of the awful times that transpired in Europe and beyond from the 1930s in the 1940s. Death, destruction--a German monstrosity caused the ignominious fated and dreadful end to so many Jewish Europeans, and other Europeans of all types, along later with our American G.I.s. The graves are still solemnly spaced and remembered across the nations. Markers and memorials dot the country sides where the fighters were slain. Many of their bodies were possibly retrieved and sent back home, but their gravesites stand in stark witness of the carnage and sadness.

    As small kids we would go into our nearby woods and fight the krauts, with our sticks converted machine guns, as we were prone to do. My friend's father perhaps fought in Vietnam. If we were not fighting the Japanese, it was normally against the Germans. "The krauts!" we would exclaim; not the jerries as I learned, later, through books by Stephen Ambrose and Jeff Shaara and others. Comic books printed in the 1970s, perhaps like Sergeant Rock, the grizzled non-commissioned officer with his cigar hanging from his mouth, the helmet askance; and later Indiana Jones films and his related comics and books that I would hastily scoop up also depicted those of the Third Reich, the dreams and nightmares of the Deutschland of the generations before. Harrison Ford fought them as a G.I. Colonel right after Star Wars in Force Ten from Navarone. That was cool. That was life in the 1940s. Our mortal enemies were severe and stout. But we were the good ones, the good guys. Like Han Solo. Indiana Jones. We fight the Nazis. We beat them.

    Decades for me and the world pass. And there was I was: surrounded by zie Deuchen. In a different time and war from yesteryear. And here they were my friends and allies. To be trusted and trusted by.

    Yes, I came to be accustomed to them, to it. The Germanness. Each culture or society, mind and soul,  with its own power and flare, its underlying thoroughness or flow, an essence unto itself. I understood more and I could say more things. I learned more of German geography, culture, personalities. There was the German officer who delighted in hunkering down and focusing intently to beat me in chess-- that in our off hours at a wooden bar area outside the secure compound, where beer, assuredly German, was served and good times were shared. Even when they ran out of the cold brews in the hot season.

    Months and more months passed, the seasons changed, but things became a routine. My German friends and co-workers ate and dined together with me, in the German cafeteria surround by peoples of all nations.

    We were among them, and they among us.

    And so, times change, and images and thoughts and German patriotism and nationalism evolves and adapts. The dead leave behind their legacies; the living heritages also continue.

    Here we are in 2024, past the age of Merkel and Obama and Bush in those former days of Afghanistan, longer since the era of the Berlin Wall when Kohl and Reagan were afoot, and longer still since Kennedy and the newer generations of German leadership in the 1960s, and then back to the tragic times of the 1940s themselves. Death camps and tank battles and bomber runs crushing and burning cities and bodies. So much ordnance, so much sturm and drang, after blitzkriegs and panzer movements, all the sig heils and goose steps and lifted hands and arms, the movements and uniforms and the random Tarantino film pursuing the past demons of the continent. Not to forget Africa, either. And the seas. 

    So many waters under the bridge, as it were. Blood and names and bodies made bones and dust, and the left-over wealth and genealogies, families who came and went: some who fortunately survived.

    And here we are. Reflecting peacefully, now done with what I call the insipid tome, translated into English from the original German, translated unto the other world languages, into our English as I have finally read it one hundred years after publishing.

    One hundred years, a century since publishing. His struggle, my struggle, our struggle. 1924. 2024.

    And we continue living, breathing, and dying, among the Germans. And the Afghans, too.

    I worked with the Bundeswehr, and things were legal and clean and we kept things sterile, fighting the insurgents and terrorists at arms' length. We did our parts, and gathered information, and used the U.S. forces to do most of the kinetic work, which could end up hurting (yes, killing) our guys.

    Our struggles continue in a world of a more peaceful, recalcitrant, but firm and strong Deutschland.

    Long live the Germans. And the rest of us.

    It disappeared from a few minutes ago, but I write, or wrote, of love over hate. Hate should not be the basis for our goals and missions. Our national and local hopes should be based in love and care, not the opposite.

    We love the Germans, and the Germans must love us. And a hundred years from now we should be brothers and sisters still. Could we ask for Russian and Chinese companionship and solidarity?

    We may. We should. We must. 

    Ich liebe dich, meine broter undt sister.

    

    

IU Gets Crushed by the Cards, and Look Hapless -- Ech

    Uh, I started seeing it on TV from work, and we only trailed by 8 at the half. And then it got worse. Much worse. We were all so chagrined. Outplayed and outhustled. The Hoosiers looked a bit inept. 23 Turnovers? Many missed buckets, but the TOs led to 30 Cardinals points, I guess. No way to play or win.

    HOWEVER: Miles Rice and Kanaan Karlyle are young guards, newly arrived to the team. Rice is a sophomore, and redshirted two years ago, so should be about twenty-one years-old now. He has suffered some Lymphoma cancer, so he is older for only having played one season. Carlyle, coming from Stanford, as Rice played at Washington State, is also young. Both have only played one season on the West Coast. They both just got a strong dose of East Coast basketball in Paradise Island, the Bahamas.

    Thanks to an upset by the West Virginia Mountaineers over the top ranked Gonzaga Bulldogs, IU gets to play those guys tomorrow, Thursday. Gear up and buckle down, boys.

    Maybe Anthony Leal deserves some more time? I don't know. Tre Galloway should be better, a long-time guard for the Hoosiers.

    Mackenzie Mgbako did not get enough shots. He needs to drive, too.

    But overall, the turnovers are killer. Stop those.

    Indiana has joined those who have lost. Perhaps there are only 40 or so left? Maybe only thirty. Save that for another blog post. I am having fun seeing the previously perfect teams lose their firsts. Or second, in the case of UConn! Hah! Liam McNeeley, you spurned IU. Hard to forget.

    Can the Hoosiers revamp? Will Woodson start some different dudes?

    Hmmm... Should be a long and interesting season.

    Fight, fight, fight.

    NEXT POST: Working among the Germans.

Update on the Last Perfect Teams in Men's College Basketball - November 25, 2024

 The real MAC. Mid-American Conference, one of the original "super (i.e. high number) conferences. Now down to 12. And, there are none left with no defeats! I think I saw a good portion of one-loss Eastern Michigan go down last night. It was really the only thing on, maybe. EMU: 3-1. Many more losses to come, me thinks. UPDATE: Still all have lost. Kent State Flashes have only one defeat. Ohio Bobcats 2-5, at the bottom.

    There are eight in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The MEAC? It is a HBCU league, speaking of acronyms. Historically black college or university. Sorry, my friends: they have all lost! At least one. But I think some will have some winning seasons. We hold out for these perennial underdogs. At least I do. I visited a HBCU campus this past summer. It was cool. Virginia State. BEST AS OF LATE MONDAY... Norfolk State and South Carolina State. Both 4-3. Coppin State? 0-7.

    There are a dozen (as in 12) in the Missouri Valley Conference. Wait for it;

    And the Drake Bulldogs are without a loss! Yet... They are a fabulous, tremendous Two and Oh! (2-0). They should lose this weekend. Or at least this month, and/or soon. Latest: Drake is 6-0! Is this school in Illinois? Land of Lincoln?

    Eleven (a poor baker's dozen) remaining in the Mountain West. Conference. Meaning, records aside, this conference is imploding due to the Big Ten's savagery of the West Coast schools, and the Big-12 and ACC finishing the job minus Oregon State and Washington State. So, they will continue to exist by sacking the MWC. Thus is the way of things.

    The MWC this year, kind of its last as such, as FIVE whopping teams left among those without a loss. Way to go, Mountain West folks! Here's cheering for ya. BYU and Utah and TCU were MWC, once upon a shadow. As of this holiday Monday season? Only the Utah State Aggies are 6-0. Hang tight, Logan dudes.

    The Northeast Conference has nine teams (paging Mercyhurst!), and nary among them have maintained a perfect margin. Sorry, Charlie. Get used to the L column. Best tonight? Mercyhurst! 4-3! Who are these guys?

    The Ohio Valley Conference has eleven. Oh, that poor, poor baker. Conference numbers are odd, a lot, literally, because of all the shifting, scrapping, and scraping. And pandering and money making. This is capitalism. Profiting greatly when elite while the poor boys and girls sweat and work... Russian authors, anyone? Oh, yeah. All of the eleven have suffered a loss thus far, a week and half plus into the '24-'25 season. Best? SIU Edwardsville Cougars, 5-3. Worst? Eastern Illinois, 1-5.

        Ten, an even steven, in the Patriot League. And all have gone down in a game. As of November 15, halfway through this somewhat rainier month. Most of the U.S. is having a drought time, by the way, due to pressures in the north, it seems. Look it up. Best as of now? Bucknell and Holy Cross, both 4-3.

        The powerful and mighty and rich and decadent SEC. The Southeastern Conference. There are 16 of them now, after pillaging the guts out of the heartland and Bible country and ending up with Texas and Oklahoma. Now we got super conferences, for sure. It was the idea of the WAC in the 1990s, but they got weaker back then. Now we got fan bases, TV rights, and passion and champions. Hopefully they stay at 16. Big Ten has 18, don't ya know (in my worst Minnesotah accent.

    Undefeateds? A word I have now coined to the chagrin of this spell-check? Drum roll...

    11 left! Yowza. Some think Alabama is the best. We shall see. I have my doubts... But I would welcome them over UConn, or Duke, or UNC. Or Kentucky, despite me liking Mark Pope at the helm. Awkward for me. More on that later. And as of 11:13 tonight, while ISU and Auburn battle it out in the Caymans, I mean Maui...: Seven remain. And the Cyclones of Iowa State and the Tigers are tied with 31..2 left. Ooh, feel that zeitgeist, America! And the world! JUST NOW BREAKING. War Eagle wins with 1.2 seconds to go. A tipped missed lay up.

    Who next? Almost done? I forgot the numbering thing like I did in the last post.

        Ten in the Southern Conference. One remains with no loss! The Paladins. What is one of those? Who do they belong to? Furman. Where is that? At the top of the Southern Conference, that is where! Ze best of these southern... Re-reading this, I am confused. Furman is 6-0. Does that clear it up and explain it? Hope so. 

    12, a real dozen, in the Southland Conference. All defeated. Sorry, Incarnate Word et al. We still have the Big Guy, upstairs, with a name like that. The least losing? Three, as in trois. McNeese, Stephen F. Austin, and 

    I peeked. About four to go. This is fun, but a chore. Such is blogging and life.

    I could be doing something else. Reading a book, one I checked out in May, 115 pages to go. Or watching a show. Well, I am, because my son is watching his newest binge show, non-stop. Season 4... The Mentalist, oy ve.

    Another twelve in the Southwestern Conference. Another league of HBCUs. And the losers or winners overall is:   The Alabama A & M Bulldogs! Well, the Bulldogs be winnin'! AND NOW: All have at least 4 losses. Was the previously mentioned undefeated back then? The bottom two are 0-7. Might come up later. Poor losers. We all lose sometimes.

    Nine in the current Summit League. No one left, but all will fight to the hilt. Meaning, losing builds character. We are building towards March. 2025. Uh... losers and schmoozers. South Dakota Cayottes are 6-2. Okay, they are Coyotes. Say that in Spanish. Hint: don't get deported!

    14 in the Sun Belt Conference. All have lost at least one. (Loss). Most are where it is warmer and sunnier. Not as much James Madison, but they have moved up from D-1AA, or the FCS. The smaller guys. Ahora: Arkansas State is 4-1. Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns? 1-6. That reminds me, I should blog about all the still completely defeateds! 

    Two to go? Lessee...

        

    11 in the WAC. Western Athletic Conference. The aforementioned OSU and WSU, as in the Beavers and Cougars, are with them now! Huh. Okay, new to me. But that is good to know. Who has not lost as of this Friday night, as I type? Five! Gonzaga, (rated 4th in the nation, killing Baylor), Oregon State, St. Mary's, Washington State, and the SAN FRANCISCO DONS!

    But now, however... How many days later? 5? 8? 

    And finally, last but not least, the whoops... I mixed up the West Coast Conference with the above. Scratch the one up there, with Gonzaga et al, and put the WAC down here. Okay? WCC has SF and WSU and OSU... You can do the math. St. Mary's is 6-0, while the Gonzaga Dogs are 5-0. I think I know which one is better. The one that tends to have more Canadians than Australians. Yeah, baby.

    The WAC, which used to be BYU and Utah as I grew up, has nine. Teams. Which are not at all what they were in the 1980s, or the 90s. A whole new world. Or universe. Not really, but things have changed, as is the constant.

    And one team, the Thunderous Southern Utah Thunderbirds, are undefeated and 3-0! Southern Utah now? 6-1. Whuh, whuhhhh.... They lost to: Loyola Chicago, by four points. Ahh, the humanity.

    And that is where we are. Fewer perfect teams, and we still have close to a week left of November.

    Go Cougars of BYU! And Indiana, because I am a homer.

    UCONN lost! McNeely, karma will dictate something... No more Huskies in the Final Four. I plead.

    

Team Rankings Has Issues: What Teams do not Fit? November 24 Version, 2024

    I have been counting or rating or qualifying the 364 teams of Division I men's college basketball this season. I have seen the undefeated teams keep getting knocked off. Only two, for me, would be a welcome amazing turn of events. My two undergraduate institutions, Indiana or Brigham Young. That is so unlikely. It is so, so hard to make it through a whole season with nary a loss. Last happened when I was five, in my hometown. The legendary Bob Knight got his first crown of three, and it was undefeated. The only one. His other two championship teams had nine- and four-season losses, respectively. 1981 and 1987. 

    So, what teams does Team Rankings have that look wonky to the eye right now?

    U Penn at 350, with a 2-3 record. I think that they are better than that. Time will tell, Quaker fans. Just a feeling. I have not looked at my Athlon magazine, but I should... Lot of work to research, sometimes. And for what? My little distractions...

    Brown, 343, at 3-3, and Indiana State, 336, at 2-2. They both will be better than that. Brown, though. Historically not as good as Penn, or Harvard, or even Cornell recently. 

    St. Louis, 328, 1-2. No, the Billikens almost always have more talent and results than a mere 328. They must sniff 150 or better by the end. 

    Fresno State at 324, 3-2 record. These Bulldogs will be better. They have a winning record now. Of course, I have not check their opponents' records much, either. These are just quick impressions, okay?

    Tulsa at 319? Sure, less than impressive start with a 2-3 win/loss record, but... This team should be better, right?

    Georgia Tech, 305? No, cannot be! 2-3 record, which is pretty poor for them, but this is a fairly major program, and even with an overall losing record, based on the tough schedule they play, will be better than in the last 64... Of 364. The bottom fourth Yellow Jackets? Nah, cannot be.

    Iowa State. 3-0. 287. What??? Undefeated, but apparently their opposition and the spreads have not been good. 287? They will be better than 87th, I would confidentially wager.

    Illinois State and Tulane at 285 and 284, with 3-2 records each. Both will be better.

    Villanova. 275. 3-3. They have lost a few, but they are a major school with talent to win a bunch. Hard times, compared to more recent champions, but 275? Puleeze, Team Rankings!

    Virginia Tech 261. 3-2 so far. They are bigger and better than that. Hokies at least in top 120. Maybe 60? Maybe not. Hope they still beat Duke and UNC, however. Go Hokes.

    Oklahoma. 4-0. 258. What? Make no sense, oh foolish ones.

    Oregon State. 3-1. 255. Nope.

    UAB. 2-4, 249. Nah, they will be better.

    Depaul. 6-0, 245. I know they have been bad the last few years, but 245 is not right. And they are perfect six in.

    Miami, 3-2. 243. No, the team that eliminated IU from the Dance two years ago has to be better.

    Utah, 4-1. 235. I think they have to better than that.

    Rice. 5-1. 222. Methinks it is not accurate.

    Arizona 2-2, 218. NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. They played a bit with Duke a few days ago.

    Connecticut, 4-0. 217. What is going on? If was a potty mouth curser, I would say what in the #$%@^@ is this about?!! The two-time defending champs Huskies out of Storrs, wherever that is.

    Oh, and Minnesota, 219 with a 4-1 record? Eegh. 

    Illinois at 211 with a 4-1 start? C'mon. Does this website send soldiers and marines with all kinds of languages to all the wrong places? There is a demon ghost in the machine.

    SMU, 210, 4-2. I saw their Turkish center, a 7-2 freshman dude who can play. The team is competitive, too.

    Weber State is off to a ghastly 0-4 record, but really 205? I think they may recover... The house of Dame and all. But maybe everyone left this past off-season.

    Drexel, 3-2 and 204? These Dragons, I believe. We shall see.

    Michigan State 4-1 at 190? Cannot be that bad. No, they played a top team with some umph before coming up short. I saw it.

    Seton Hall 3-3, 186? No, they'll be stronger. And after them, Wyoming and Princeton. 185 and 184, 3-1 and 4-3. Both are better.

    Cincinnati, 5-0 and 181. Hmmm. Still broken, this thing.

    South Carolina, 3-2 at 172. Played IU, showed some moxy. Will be better, I predict. Major conference and past success at upsets.

    BYU at 5-0 and 162. Oh, to the heck no, Cougs! We are going far, before they break my heart! In March, though, for sure.

    Georgetown 4-1. 159. I think not. They are better this year, I do think.

    Rutgers. 4-0. 153. Neh. But, there is a fly in the ointment. They lost tonight to Kennesaw State, and the L is not reflected hours later in this page. Yeah, lots of flies going on here.

    Colorado State 3-2, 151. They were March dancers last year.  Must be better than 151.

    NC State 5-0 and only 145. Thurl Bailey will have your job!

    UCLA 5-1 and 135. No way.

    VCU. 4-2 and 129. Nah, these Rams play harder than that. I saw them.

    Virginia 3-2 and 124? Maybe 80, but not in the 100s.

    Texas Tech 5-1 and 121. Say it ain't so, ghost of Bobby Knight!

    Texas A&M, 4-1 and 118. No, Aggies got some ballers and thugs: I knows this.

    Maryland, 4-1 and 114? No, McQueen alone is better. They got a big win tonight, too.

    Providence, 5-0, 105. I think they are better.

    Houston, 3-1 and 100. WHAT??? These guys are a top team nationwide.

    Penn State, 5-0, and 95. Okay, maybe true.

    Oklahoma State, 4-1 and 93. This seems to be too high. Maybe 70? Maybe better.

    Arkansas. 4-1 and 91. Nope. The Hogs have to be better.

    Duke. 4-1 and 65th? Werrrrrrrr...

    Gardner-Webb, 2-3 and 50th? Are first graders doing this math?

    OKAY, the last ones here get very stupid, bear with me:

    Montana. 0-3. 38. Something broke, folks.

    UC Riverside. 2-3 29. Huh? What gives?

    McNeese Stare. 2-3. 28. Again: que demonios?

    N. Colorado. 3-2.  23. We are talking top 25 now. This is so weird and frustrating.

    It may be only me, however. No one else cares, or thinks it matters.

    UTEP. 1-1. 21. Guhhhhhh.

    Furman. 4-0. 16. yikes!

    Jacksonville. 2-2 19. Where in the blue blazes has this calculus come from?

    Utah Valley. 2-1. 15. REED iculoooose.

    Florida Atlantic. 3-3. 13. In what world?

    Memphis over Gonzaga, both undefeated, for 1 over 2. Dogs kill the Cats in a real one.

    Time should prove this thing more accurate and sane, but for now, this thing be whacked out the caboozle.

    Yep, you can quote me on that.

    Cheers, college basketball fans.

    We should have some fun sorting it all out.

    Go Hoosiers. Or Cougars, of the Provo variety.