The 2019-20 College basketball Belt

A few years ago, my friend and I kicked around an idea. What if there was a championship belt, like in boxing or wrestling, for college basketball? You maintain the belt until you were defeated. Ultimately, because of conference tournaments, the belt would always go to the winner of the Big Dance anyway, but it would be interesting to see who held it along the way. This year, so far, it is definitely taking some interesting journeys.
It started with last year's champions, the Virginia Cavaliers. UVA started strong, going undefeated until the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. They drew the team they defeated to reach the Final Four last year, the Purdue Boilermakers. Purdue won the game and the belt, the first time I can remember them having it.
You might think that's why I am resurrecting this bit. Alas, it is not. In fact, in embarrassing fashion, the Boilermakers lost the Belt very soon thereafter, losing their first conference road game to Nebraska, and successfully defending the Belt one time, against Northwestern.
As if it wasn't strange enough that the Belt was in Lincoln, Nebraska, it was just as strange that the Big Ten set their schedule the way they did. There were a pair of conference games before Christmas, followed by the resumption of non-conference play, so the Belt didn't stay in the Big Ten. No, Nebraska isn't very good this year, and they lost their next game... to North Dakota.
Yes, the Belt went from Virginia to North Dakota. As you might imagine, UND wasn't done with their non-con schedule either, and they didn't successfully defend their title for even one game, giving it up to Oregon State the very next game. Also not a place anyone would expect the Belt to go, but it's already reached the nadir.
The Beavers didn't keep the Belt in their first defense, either, but they did ensure that it would stay in the Pac 12 for the rest of the regular season. Utah holds the belt now, and it looks like it is on it's way back to a more deserving team. The next game to defend the Belt will be against #4 Oregon. 

A theory about the University of Iowa

I have a theory about the University of Iowa and their athletic program. I know it is a tough thing to hear for most Minnesotans, but the Hawkeyes, pretty much from football to basketball have a much better program than the University of Minnesota. I think I know why.
Maybe not "know" of course, but I have a theory. My theory is that Minneapolis is just too awesome. Really! Iowa City is a fine town, but it's only that: A town. It functions almost exclusively to support the University of Iowa, or to provide commuters to Cedar Rapids up the road. Neither are large cities, both smaller than the two Twin Cities that house the University of Minnesota.
That means that the University of Iowa is the only show in town. Players in the big sports, like football and basketball, are local celebrities. If you are an 18 year old, why wouldn't you want to be a celebrity? You can talk about how much fun Minneapolis is, and that's a great selling point for the average student, but you have a tough time convincing someone they will be beloved like they would be in Hawkeye black and gold.
It's hard to deny that the allure of regional programs hasn't drawn even Minnesota athletes. Wisconsin routinely pillages Minnesota high schools, but Madison is a notoriously fun town. I don't think Iowa City has that same reputation, but Iowa football is always better than Minnesota, the Iowa men's team has been as good, if not better than the Gophers, and the women's team has surpassed Minnesota, thanks in large part to Minnesota products. The Iowa hoops teams even have in state competition in the forms of Iowa State, Drake and Northern Iowa for recruits and local talent.
Now that I think about it, Iowa State is universally better than the Gophers in the major sports too, and Northern Iowa is regularly better than Minnesota on the court, too. Ames and Cedar Falls are tremendously uninteresting, aside from their campuses as well.
Which brings us back to the original point. Iowa City only has the University of Iowa. That makes the school all the more appealing to people who will be the big men or women on campus. It's just a theory, but if its accurate, and the U is really interested in bolstering their athletic program, maybe they should move the school to Litchfield.

The Padres have captured my imagination

Every year, there seems to be a non-Twins team that gains my interest before a season starts. In the Padres' case, they've done so before the off-season has even begun. Generally, the two things that make me take notice is either having a bumper crop of prospects ready to take their place at the big league level, or to break out in doing so, or they have made wholesale changes to the makeup of their team, and one doesn't know what to expect.
The Padres have all that, and they can very well shake up the offseason with some big trades or big free agency moves. They have a stable of young prospects thanks to some shrewd deals, and have proved willing to get involved in some big trades. They have Fernando Tatis Jr. thanks to trading James Shields to Chicago. They snagged Chris Paddack from the Marlins for Fernando Rodney. They also snared one of the top prospects in the game from the Indians in the Brad Hand trade in Francisco Mejia, and had another big addition in top prospect Taylor Trammel in a three team deal with both Ohio teams. On top of good drafting, those moves have given the Padres one of the top 3 farms in baseball, and they have depth enough to maintain that rank for a few more years.
And then, they have been surprisingly aggressive in free agency for a few years. They have extended Wil Myers, signed Eric Hosmer and last year signed Manny Machado, all too big time deals. They still have holes, to be sure, but this winter, they clearly have the assets to trade for players, and the ownership go ahead to add to the payroll. The Padres can be involved in discussions for anyone.
And so far, they have been. They're discussed as potential suitors for top free agent starters like Stephen Strasburg and Zach Wheeler. For a year now, they seemed sure to add one of the other Mets pitchers, particularly Noah Syndegaard. They also have interest in bolstering their outfield, at least in the short term. Eddie Rosario, in my opinion, won't be traded, but if he is, the Padres look like a pretty good fit.
The Padres will be young and different next year, and it's going to be a wild, fascinating ride to get there.

Lets just lean into Minnesota vs. Philadelphia

The last couple of years have seen an increase in animosity between the state of Minnesota's athletics and those of the city of Philadelphia. In general, Minnesota thinks that Philadelphians are mean, and Philadelphians know they are. To recap the last couple of indidents.
1) The Vikings played the Eagles in the NFC Championship game. The Eagles beat the Vikings in what was a complete dud for the Vikings, who had been on cloud 9 after a thrilling win against the Saints, and had inroads on reaching the Super Bowl at home. Vikings fans were already hurt more than usual by another failure, and then some local Philadelphians made fun of Vikings fans or something. Nerves were already frayed, and Vikngs fans found Philadelphians to be insensitive. Philly fans rightfully thought it was hilarious, then they came to Minnesota and won the Super Bowl.
2) The first incident was mostly about the fans, but the second was on the court, and definitely made Philly vs. Minnesota a real thing. Without further ado:


 Who won the fight? It depends exclusively on which fan base you belong to. The 76ers and Philadelphia won the game, as is always the case.
3) Is Philly a Penn State town? I think Penn State is more popular in western Pennsylvania, but surely, there is some allegiance in Philadelphia. If that's the case, then this Saturday's battle of undefeated Minnesota and Penn State will certainly lead to a bit more spiciness to the burgeoning battle between the two cities. While Penn State will almost certainly win on Saturday, it's important to remember that they are villains who got away nearly scot free with covering for a child abuser because college football was more important than the innocence of children.
While I was sitting on the sideline, amused, for the first rounds of this battle, I am definitely siding with Minnesota now.
What's the next step? Since the Wild are flirting with complete irrelevance, spreading this rivalry falls on the Twins. They aren't scheduled to play the Phillies for another couple of years, so if we want things to be fresh, both teams will need to reach the World Series next October. Sure, that's possible. But how do we make sure things are volatile? The Twins need to acquire Hunter Strickland. It makes sense. The Twins need bullpen help, Strickland is a reliever. Also, he has faced Phillies star Bryce Harper before.

Unlike Minnesota's ongoing battle with New Orleans, I don't think anyone will think Minnesota is the bad guy in a war with Philly. Let's just embrace it and enjoy the ride.

Small college purgatory

Earlier this year, one of my Following the Compass games was in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, where I saw Belmont play Southeast Missouri State in a conference game. The game was on the schedule for quite a while, as it was a conference game, and it was an easily planned trip. 

The next game was Oral Roberts' 10th game of the season. It was going to be a non-conference game between ORU and Texas-Arlington, in Texas. That's what the Golden Eagles' press release on their non conference schedule said. Then UTA issued their release, and the Golden Eagles weren't on it. 

What happened? Who knows, but I know that Oral Roberts filled their spots with a couple of schools local to Oklahoma, while UTA added California-Santa Barbara.

College basketball schedules are incredibly fluid, especially when the teams aren't from power 5 conferences. This means that the Following the Compass game, for the first time, will involve a D-II team, in this case, the University of Central Oklahoma, which I don't know much about, but I do know once featured this guy on the wrestling team. 

So the second game will be Central Oklahoma and Oral Roberts, in Tulsa instead of ORU versus Texas-Arlington, in Arlington. Of course, that is all subject to change.

Following the Compass - 2020

Every October 5th, I select my teams for the annual Following the Compass games. Rough recap, I draw teams, pick a game off their schedule for the next calendar, and try to follow their season and teams and if possible attend the game I selected. If I can't, I'll watch it and probably tell you about it.
This year marks a first for me. For the first time, I drew two teams from the same state. I've had some states repeat in being drawn, like New York, Illinois, Texas and Louisiana. I've even had the same nickname - Bears, Chicago and Mercer - show up in the same year, but never two teams from the same state. So which state is it?

That's right. Not only did I get the state of Alabama, but I selected the University of Alabama. While the school is known for their football team, I actually selected a game for their basketball team. Specifically, a conference game in Tuscaloosa on February 1st against the University of Arkansas. This will be the first time I have selected a game involving the SEC, though the next team I drew is from a conference I seem to have a knack for drawing from: The Sun Belt.

South Alabama has been a relevant, tournament team as recently as 2013, and the Sun Belt is a perennially dangerous mid-major conference. The Jaguars were above .500 for the first time since that 2013 tournament appearance, so this is a team on an upward trajectory. I drew game 8 off of their 2020-21 schedule, so not the coming season, but the year after. In 2019-20, their 8th scheduled game is game 3 of their Gulf Coast Showcase experience in Fort Myers, Florida, and last season, it was a home game against Florida A&M. South Alabama is a big enough draw that they aren't on the road the whole non-conference season, and when they are, it could be in a bracketed tournament. There is a decent chance that their game will be in Mobile, their home site. Along with Denver (formerly), Louisiana-Monroe, Middle Tennessee State, Arkansas State, Tulane, Florida Atlantic, Texas San Antonio, North Texas and Louisiana Tech, South Alabama is the TENTH Sun Belt team I will see in either football or basketball.

My previous trip to Alabama involved the SWAC, when Jackson State went to Alabama State in Montgomery to play an incredibly high scoring game. It holds a special place in my heart, as it was the first solo trip I took as part of this weird adventure. Perhaps another trip to Alabama is coming soon. 

Ba$ketball

The easiest sport in the world to negotiate the influence of money is basketball.  Players are generally healthier, so we don't tend to worry about long term effects, and the rules of the game are pretty well established. Fan interest is high, and we aren't concerned about attracting new audiences. Nope, the only thing that causes debate in basketball, aside from which team or player is better, is cash.
There are currently two enormous stories being slung around the world of basketball, and in their own way, are all about money. The most obvious is from the amateur world, where laws revolving around the compensation of college athletes for use of their likeness are being passed, much to the chagrin of the NCAA.
The NCAA stipulation is a foolish one, in my opinion. Amateurism is a fine and egalitarian goal, but the practice of it is poorly mishandled by the league. What other scholarship student is restricted from making money off of their talents? I agree with the opinion that education and boarding is a salary in it's own right, offered up by the school, and I don't necessarily agree that they should be forced to offer any more than that, however they certainly shouldn't be allowed to restrict a player's earning potential with above board sponsorship opportunities.
Think of it this way: A kid on an academic scholarship will not be prohibited from making money tutoring, so why shouldn't a basketball player use his God given talent to complement the stipend he gets for attending a particular school? The answer is fairly apparent. It isn't competition or fairness between schools. It's all about the money, as it often is.
Right now, endorsement opportunities are available to schools and coaching staffs, but not the players. If a company, say Rhino and Compass, wanted to affiliate ourselves with Purdue because their player, Ryan Henning was very popular, we could only sponsor Purdue and plaster our name over their facilities. We couldn't ask Ryan Henning to endorse our site though, even though paying him would potentially be more effective, and would likely cost our site less money. The endorsement opportunities for players would likely result in less revenue for the schools.
The professional ranks have an entirely different money related story. Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey spoke in support of protesters in Hong Kong, to which the Chinese government took offense. The NBA apologized, Morey deleted his tweet, and players distanced themselves from his comments. There was backlash in the United States, and now the NBA is trying to backtrack the backtracking.
China is a lucrative market that soaks up the NBA and is still growing. While the NBA was lambasted at home for kowtowing to the Chinese and showing how spineless and "anti-freedom" they were, they were really just adhering to the most capitalistic principles: Money over everything.
They were in even bigger trouble, of course, with the home crowd, who is nearly universally against China's humanitarian record, and supportive of Hong Kong, as Morey was, so Commissioner Adam Silver and the league had to do some double talk to make sure they weren't unpatriotic at home, and non confrontational overseas.
In both situations, the organizations look silly in their attempts to chase the dollar. Other leagues try to appeal to fans or simply raise prices to increase revenue. Basketball just finds trouble.