Jamaal Franklin Has 4th Double-Double as #17 Aztecs Roll to 6-1

College Hoops Player of the Day for Monday, December 3, 2012

In very light college basketball action Monday (just 14 Division 1 games), Jamaal Franklin stood above the rest, getting 18 points and 15 rebounds in San Diego State's 74-62 victory over Texas Southern.

The 6'5" junior guard continued his extraordinary level of early-season play for the #17 Aztecs with his fourth double-double in seven games, scoring in double figures every game this season.

Franklin led both teams in scoring and rebounding. San Diego State is 6-1.

Ironically, the only team to have beaten the Aztecs this season, Syracuse, was the only other Top 25 team in action Monday. After a slow start, the #4 Orange overwhelmed the Eastern Michigan Eagles, 84-48, as coach Jim Boeheim emptied the bench and got scoring from nine different players.

The Orange are 6-0.

Jamaal Franklin's 28 Points Helps San Diego St. Upend UCLA

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, December 1, 2012

Not even a month into the college hoops season, a few trends are developing, not the least of which is the relative parity among conferences - the Big East notwithstanding - the value of having upperclassmen and the over-zealousness of the early polling on big-name programs.

In keeping with those themes, Baylor, a squad sporting plenty of upperclassmen - like senior Pierre Jackson - and experience, took down the over-hyped Kentucky Wildcats - called by some a "one-year program" - 64-55. With two losses this week alone, the 4-3, 8th-ranked Wildcats don't deserve a Top 25 ranking, let alone a top ten one. Of their three losses, two were at home (Duke and Baylor). Message: Stay in school.

Xavier (Atlantic-10) defeated the Big Ten's Purdue, 63-57, off 25 points from Semaj Christon, a freshman guard.

In LA, San Diego State upended UCLA, 78-69, as Junior guard, Jamaal Franklin, lit up the Bruins for 28 points on 9-for-18 shooting from the field and seven of eight free throws. Franklin had three treys, seven boards and three assists, getting support from fellow junior, Xavier Thames, who dropped in 19 points for the 5-1 Aztecs, the nation's 23rd-ranked team.

The Bruins, already unranked, fell to 4-3.

As expected, the Big East came out far ahead at the end of the Big East - SEC Challenge. Going into Sunday with a 6-2 edge in games, Vanderbilt, Cincinnati and Providence notched wins, while Mississippi was the sole winner for the SEC, topping Rutgers, 80-67.

The Big East was hardly "challenged," taking the series nine games to three.

Jamaal Franklin's 35 and 13 Lead Aztecs to Share WCC Title; Three NCAA Seeds In, More, Sunday

College Hoops Player of the Day for Saturday, March 3, 2012

As expected, Saturday turned out to be a monster day in college basketball, with three teams clinching spots in the NCAA tourney - UNC Asheville (Big South), Belmont (Atlantic Sun) and Murray State (Ohio Valley) - and #6 North Carolina dusting #4 Duke on the Blue Devils' home court, 88-70, to capture the ACC regular season title, a #1 seed in the conference tournament and a probable shot at a #1 seed in the NCAAs.

With the PAC-12 sublimated to the role of bystander this season, the neighboring West Coast conference has picked up the slack, producing four tournament-eligible teams, each of which produced wins on Saturday.

Colorado State and #17 UNLV beat Air Force and Wyoming, respectively, while New Mexico and San Diego State ended up sharing the regular-season title at 10-4, after splitting their two games during the season. New Mexico topped Boise State, 76-61, while the #20 Aztecs blew an 18-point lead but eventually turned back TCU in overtime, 98-91.

Sophomore guard Jamaal Franklin was 9-for-18 from the field with three 3-pointers and 14-17 from the line for a game high and career high 35 points, to go with 13 rebounds and five assists. It was Franklin's third straight double-double and fifth this season.

While the top four teams in the WCC have the resumes to reach the field of 68, the conference is guaranteed only one automatic bid, to the team that wins the upcoming conference tourney, though all four have a reasonable chance of heading to the Big Dance.

Elsewhere in the Top 25, Iowa State cemented their claim as a tourney team with an 80-72 win over #9 Baylor and #3 Kansas looked the part of a #1 tournament seed, taking apart Texas, 73-63, in the Big 12 regular season finale.

#7 Missouri easily dispatched Texas Tech, 81-59. #20 Temple took care of Fordham, 80-60.

In the Big East, #8 Marquette took care of business against #11 Georgetown, 83-69, earning themselves some time off with a double bye in the conference tourney which begins Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. Georgetown, with the loss, will have to play an extra game in the tourney, finishing tied for 4th place in the standings with South Florida and Cincinnati, at 10-6, though the Bearcats held the tie-breaker and will get the double bye after dusting Villanova, 72-68, coupled with West Virginia's 50-44 win over South Florida.

#20 Notre Dame, third in the standings and #2 Syracuse hold the other two double byes. The Orange finished up their regular season undefeated at home with a 58-49 win over #19 Louisville that wasn't nearly as close as the final score indicates.

The bracket buster of the day belonged to Illinois State, who upended #15 Wichita State in the Missouri Valley Conference semi-final, 65-64. The Rewdbirds will face #25 Creighton in the final on Sunday, the winner receiving the automatic bid. Creighton pasted Evansville, 99-71, in the other semi-final.

Sunday's biggest game will be in the Big Ten, where #10 Ohio State invades #5 Michigan State, each team seeking a share of the regular season title. Opening tip is set for 4:00 pm ET.

NOTABLE: Besides the Atlantic Sun, Big South and Missouri Valley, the other remaining conferences outside the majors which will get one automatic bid are America East, Big Sky, Ivy, Horizon, Metro Atlantic, Mid-American, Mid-Eastern Athletic, Northeast, Patriot, Southern, Southland, Southwestern Athletic, Summit, Sun Belt, Western Athletic. Most of these will be decided by tournament play. The Ivy League champion may be decided Sunday when Penn plays Princeton. The Quakers are 1/2 game behind Harvard in the standings and would tie the Crimson for first place in the conference with a win, forcing a one-game playoff.