November is the Month of Fun!

November is my favorite month. Not because it's my sister's birthday (as much as I love her), not because it holds my favorite holiday (Thanksgiving)...but because it's the start of College Basketball GAMES. Yes, mid-October is grand for its "start of practice" but to me, it is only anticipation for November. This is the month of fun.

My Rutgers team starts their official play on Sunday, November 15th at the RAC against the team that made it to the Final Four and lost to UCONN in the semi-finals: Stanford. Stanford is also the team with a pre-season rank of #2, while Rutgers snuck in at #25. (Click for complete rankings)

What do I expect? Realistically: I can not help but feel that Stanford will be in the Final Four again this year while Rutgers will probably be in New Jersey. Noticed I said "probably". After years and years (25th year to be exact) of watching Rutgers play basketball I've come to expect the unexpected. If they are picked to finish high in the rankings, they stumble. If they are picked to finish low in the rankings, they succeed. They have one of the best motivators in the game as their coach. Her motto is simply, "It's not how you start but how you finish." Just look at the 2007 season, not supposed to be a great season (great I suppose is calculated by how many times, if at all, you are picked to beat UCONN) and they went all the way to the Championship game. But really, realistically: Stanford will win, probably by a lot (not like 2 years ago). But that's okay, Rutgers never really "shows up" until January anyway. The Big East is really tough this year and as we have seen in the past, playing in a tough conference only makes you stronger come the Big Dance in March. So this is why I love November, it's the start of the roller coaster ride that ends in April.

Other News
Props to Diana Taurasi who quietly served her 1-day in jail sentence last week. Quietly is the key word: I had no idea until I checked the women's hoops news today. Complete article here.

The European league is getting ready to kick into high gear as many of the top American players are headed over, if they aren't already over there. Looks like the favorite in Russia is the team coached by former LSU superstar/coach: Pokey Chatman (who has a great twitter, btw). Spartak Moscow. They have a great roster that many teams in any country would die for.