Premium ContentMouse over Home then click on Premium Content for information.One week later, it wouldn't appear much has changed for the Creighton Bluejays. The NCAA RPI is 28. Bracketology projection: still a No. 6 seed.
Beating Long Beach State was impressive, but didn't move the needle.
And yet everything has changed for the Jays.
They got their mojo back, baby.
Creighton showed up for work Monday with a whole new outlook on life — that is, life in March. Last Monday, the team was reeling after the spanking by a physical, athletic Wichita State. Swagger was replaced by doubts.
The swag returned after the Jays won a thrilling duel of big shots and plays against a Beach team that is every bit the handful as the Shox. What would happen if CU met an athletic bunch in the NCAAs? On a wild and crazy night at the CenturyLink Center, the doubts were laid to rest.
More than grabbing a top-50 win, that was the benefit, the big take-away from Saturday night.
"Definitely, our confidence is back," said Doug McDermott on Monday. "We'll see a team like that down the road. They were physical and run the floor better than anyone. We got the stops we needed in the second half. It was a good game to remind us what we can do."
Exactly. And those of us BracketBusters critics must admit that the format worked this time. Please thank Valley Commissioner Doug Elgin for that the next time you see him — right after you give him an earful about the officiating.
• Creighton students stormed the court after Antoine Young's buzzer-beater Saturday night. Some like it anytime. Some say you better have a good reason.
I had no problem. In this case, I'll chalk it up to winning a thriller and erasing that Wichita memory from the previous week. But let's get a second opinion.
"I thought it was OK because it came after a buzzer-beater and it was an emotional game," Doug McDermott said. "But generally, I think you should only do that if we beat a ranked team and we're the underdog."
At least make sure it's the same sport. Back in March 1980, after Missouri upset Notre Dame, Digger Phelps and Kelly Tripucka in an NCAA tourney game at the Devaney Center in Lincoln, some students back in Columbia, Mo., went to the football stadium. And tore down the goal posts.
• Did you hear the one about the Illinois students?
Lost in the orange haze of Saturday's blowout loss at Nebraska was the performance of three bus loads of Illini students who made the trek to Lincoln. Why? Maybe they've always wanted to see Lincoln in February. Maybe they were expecting Blowout City, the other way.
Reportedly, the students came into the Devaney Center before the game all dressed in red Nebraska shirts. They cheered for the Huskers in warmups and pretended to heckle the Illini.
Then, once the game began, they took off the red to reveal bright orange shirts underneath. They were loud and proud, taking up half a section of seats in the upper reaches of the Devaney Center. They weren't afraid to chant "Stupid Play" after a Husker miscue.
And then the game suddenly did a 180. Didn't hear much from the orange crowd after that.
Still, they get major points for creativity and the element of surprise.
Maybe Creighton students should try that at Wichita next year.
• Dean Blais is doing it again. He's got his kids in fourth place in the WCHA and poised to make a move with both Minnesota and Denver visiting Omaha the next two weekends. The Mavs were above .500 on the road in the WCHA for the second straight year. That's pretty impressive.
• Loved how UNO brought out former basketball players to be introduced during timeouts at last Wednesday's Sapp Fieldhouse finale. It was a perfect touch. Still would have liked to have seen Dean Thompson suit up. He looks like he could still play.
• Two things we know about Creighton baseball after a 3-0 start at Central Arkansas: One, coach Ed Servais has a veteran bunch back. Two, the Jays didn't forget how to pitch or play defense. CU came out of the winter rust with an ERA of 1.97 and had only one error in three games. And Ty Blach already looks sharp.
• Darin Erstad might be 3-0 with just a little bullpen help. Looks like new pitching coach Ted Silva's coaching, and patience, will be tested. Wonder if the former Cal State Fullerton pitcher has any eligibility left.
• Iowans like their comfort food. So does Hawkeye football coach Kirk Ferentz. The head Hawk recently filled two staff positions with familiar faces — putting son Brian Ferentz on the offensive line and former Iowa linebacker LeVar Woods as linebackers coach. Brian, who coached tight ends for Bill Belichick at New England the last four years, also played for Iowa's co-Big Ten champion teams in 2002 and 2004. These look like solid additions to typically solid Ferentz staffs.
The puzzler is still what Kirk Ferentz will do at offensive coordinator. There's some buzz out there about former Texas offensive coordinator (and fan whipping boy) Greg Davis coming to Iowa. Davis? Only if he brings Vince Young or Colt McCoy with him.
• With 649 points, Doug McDermott sits in seventh place on CU's all-time single season scoring list. He's only two behind Rod Mason. He's 89 points behind Bob Portman (738 points, 1967-68). Doug is guaranteed at least three more games and probably a few more after that. How long will it take him to get 89 more? I'll say he gets it done in St. Louis next week.
• I really want to like the HBO show "Luck," which looks like an amazingly accurate depiction of horse racing. Great acting, great characters. Nick Nolte as a crusty trainer is terrific. But the story line is hard to follow. It does make me wish I had followed horse racing closer long, long ago.
• Fist bump: To former Creighton center Anthony Tolliver. You always knew the A-Train, a finance major, would go places. But his life is about to get "Linsane."
Jeremy Lin, the Knick sensation, wears a wrist band from Active Faith, an apparel company started by Tolliver and former pro basketball player Larry Smith. According to USA Today, both Tolliver and Smith are members of Lakewood Church, the Houston-based church made famous by pastor Joel Osteen. Tolliver, now with the Minnesota Timberwolves, met Lin last year through their common friend, Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors.
They came up with the Active Faith gear. And now they have one of the most popular faces in the NBA wearing it. It helps to be smart. It also helps to know the right people, before things get Linsane.
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