Baylor became one of the first teams this season to enter the Top 25 by virtue of a credible victory, with the Bears having defeated then-No. 4 Oregon last week.Virginia Commonwealth would like to follow that same script into the Top 25 next week.Rankings aside, Baylor (3-0) and VCU (3-0) will look across the court at a quality opponent on Wednesday when they face each other at the Battle 4 Atlantis at 2:30 p.m. ET in Nassau, Bahamas.Baylor showed off a couple of new weapons in its 66-49 win over Oregon. Junior guard Manu Lecomte, a transfer from Miami, scored 18 points and dished out seven assists, and junior college transfer Jo Lual-Acuil scored eight points, blocked seven shots and grabbed 14 rebounds.Those two players, as much as the impressive victory over the Ducks, captured the attention of the college basketball world -- including VCU coach Will Wade.Baylor is very, very talented, Wade said. I dont think a lot of people knew how good Manu Lecomte was going to be for them. Baylors a good team. That was no fluke. They beat Oregon pretty good.On the flip side, Baylor coach Scott Drew knows the Rams wont be star struck.VCU is accustomed to playing top-notch nonconference competition and has the March Madness credibility in recent years to match just about anyone in college basketball.Last season, the Rams advanced a round farther than Baylor as VCU defeated seventh-seeded Oregon State in the opening round. Then the Rams pushed Final Four-bound Oklahoma for 40 minutes before the Sooners escaped Oklahoma City with a four-point win.This is a team that is very competitive, great tradition, been in the NCAA Tournament six straight years, Drew said. So, a team thats used to being successful, used to winning.While Baylor is mixing its new standouts with quality veterans, VCU rolls with many of the same faces that helped the Rams win 25 games a year ago. Seniors Mo Allie-Cox, JeQuan Lewis, Jordan Burgess and Ahmed Hamdy-Mohamed, and junior Justin Tillman played leading roles last season and are back for more.Those players and new additions give VCU the depth that concerns Drew.They play extremely hard, play 10 guys, lot of pressure man-to-man, very physical team, Drew said.But this wont be Baylors first go-round this season with a tough opponent.Wade has seen how much trouble the Bears zone defense gave Oregon. Its easy to see how. Lual-Acuil (7-foot), forward Johnathan Motley (6-10) and reserve Terry Maston (6-
thrive on swatting away shots in the lane.Their length will be a major, major issue for us, Wade said. We havent seen length like this since we played maybe Florida State last year. Theyve got just about everything you want in a good basketball team. It will be a challenge.Whoever survives Wednesdays game will go back for a second helping of top-level competition on Thanksgiving Day. The Baylor-VCU winner meets the No. 24 Michigan State vs. St. Johns winner.
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Nike Huarache Uomo Scontate . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Ohio State held firm at second in the College Football Playoff rankings, putting the Buckeyes in position to become the first team to be selected to the final four without winning its conference.The second-to-last rankings were released Tuesday night and Alabama was No. 1, followed by Ohio State, Clemson and Washington. The Crimson Tide, Tigers and Huskies all play conference championship games this weekend and presumably would be in good shape to make the playoff if they win. The final rankings and playoff pairings will be released Sunday.Unbeaten Alabama is probably in good shape to make the playoff even if it loses to Florida in the Southeastern Conference title game SaturdayMichigan dropped to five after losing to Ohio State. Wisconsin was sixth and Penn State was seventh. The Badgers and Nittany Lions will play for the Big Ten title in Indianapolis on Saturday.---HUSKIES vs. WOLVERINESAssuming the Buckeyes are a lock, and it looks good for them, and Clemson doesnt get upset by Virginia Tech in the ACC title game, the debate for the committee when it gathers in Texas on Saturday night to watch games and discuss the only rankings that matter will be Pac-12 or Big Ten.Can Michigan, or maybe the Big Ten champion with two losses, edge a Washington team that would finish 12-1 by beating Colorado Friday night in the Pac-12 title game?There is a small separation between these two teams, selection committee chairman Kirby Hocutt said of Michigan and Washington. At one point Hocutt added that the difference between the Wolverines and Huskies was razor thin.It looks like not only does the committee not mind putting one Big Ten team without a conference championship in the playoff, but it is also comfortable with two. Michigan at 10-2 has victories against both Penn State and Wisconsin.PENN STATES PLIGHTA Wisconsin victory in the Big Ten title game would eliminate the controversy. The Badgers lost to Ohio State during the regular seasonPenn State fans, however, are already cranking up the complaints. The Nittany Lions beat Ohio State in October. Add a Big Ten title and Penn State is bound to feel slighted.Conference titles and head-to-head results are essentially used by the committee like tiebreakers when teams are very close. The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions are not in the committees eyes.dddddddddddd At least not yet.The selection committee recognizes the head-to-head win, but in this particular case, it hasnt been the distinguishing point in our evaluation of those two teams, he said.SUGAR BOWLAssuming Alabama is in the playoff, the Southeastern Conference sends its next highest ranked team to the Sugar Bowl to face the Big 12 champion, which will be decided when No. 9 Oklahoma and No. 10 Oklahoma State play in Norman on Saturday.No. 14 Auburn is that SEC team right now. Florida is 15th, so a good performance -- even in a loss -- against the Crimson Tide might get the Gators to New Orleans on a two-game losing streak. A Florida loss would leave every SEC team other than Alabama with at least four losses.But the contract with the Sugar says the SEC gets the spot mediocre or not.ORANGE BOWLLouisville beat Florida State by 43 points in September, but the Cardinals have stumbled down the stretch and now the Seminoles are 12th and the Cardinal are 13th.If that order holds -- and there is no reason to think it wont because neither is playing -- and Clemson goes to the playoff as the ACC champion, then Florida State will represent the conference in the Orange Bowl.Hocutt said Florida State has played one of the toughest schedules in the country while Louisville has beaten only one team with a winning record (Florida State). He said the Seminoles are playing better lately.GROUP OF FIVEThe highest-ranked conference champion from outside the Power Five is getting a Cotton Bowl bid and at this point it looks as if it will be No. 17 Western Michigan if the unbeaten Broncos defeat Ohio in the Mid-American Conference championship game Friday night.The next highest ranked Group of Five team is No. 19 Navy (9-2), which will play Temple for the American Athletic Conference championship on Saturday at home.Dont consider WMU a lock. Hocutt said the committee is still concerned about the Broncos weak schedule. But it looks promising for coach P.J. Flecks team.---Follow Ralph D. Russo at
www.Twitter.com/ralphDrussoAP--More AP college football:
www.collegefootball.ap.org and
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