College Basketball Roundup: Week 10

This is the first iteration of our weekly roundup column that will offer a look at some of college basketball’s most important storylines. From on-the-court behavior to the stories that could shape the national title picture, we’ll cover it all.

This week’s action featured plenty of both, so here’s what we’ll be talking about this weekend. And no, these won’t always be so ACC heavy.

1. What do we do with Grayson Allen?

When you have a preseason National Player of the Year candidate who stars for the team that is also the preseason favorite to win the NCAA Tournament, there’s obviously going to be significant scrutiny. When that player also has a penchant for tripping opposing players, that scrutiny gets magnified a thousand times.

For Duke’s Grayson Allen, every potentially malicious action on the court will be analyzed under a microscope in slow motion like it is a modern day Zapruder film. Last Saturday, Allen was accused of attempting to trip another player against Boston College before the ACC cleared him of any wrongdoing. On Tuesday, it was his dive into Florida State’s bench that was under internet investigation before the assistant coach that he collided with cleared the air.

The obvious dilemma for those of us covering the sport is that everyone wants to read about all of these antics despite plenty of Twitter chatter to the contrary, but in reality, they don’t matter much. Sure, Allen appears to be a petulant child who seemingly can’t control himself on a basketball court despite otherwise seeming like a perfectly nice kid, but for the most part these tripping incidents are harmless and just make Allen look like a third grader who isn’t getting his way.

We’ll keep writing about them as long as people want to keep writing about them, but it’s worth noting that there are more important things going on with the Blue Devils when it comes to meeting their preseason expectations.

2. West Virginia, not Baylor, will challenge Kansas atop the Big 12

In college basketball, it’s easy to overreact to one game because there’s plenty of time in between them to reflect on what happened. Is it really an overreaction, though, if a top-10 team blows out the No. 1-ranked team in the country?

That’s exactly what happened this week as West Virginia demolished No. 1 Baylor, 89-68, in Morgantown. The performance was characteristic of what we’ve come to expect of the Mountaineers as they crashed the offensive glass and the Bears turned it over on 37.2 percent of their possessions.

Right now, KenPom ranks West Virginia as the second-best team in the country according to adjusted efficiency margin and projects them to finish in a tie atop the Big 12 with Kansas. That wouldn’t be enough to knock the Jayhawks from their perch, but it would be an impressive finish for a team that lost three of its most important players in the offseason.

And who knows? If a couple of bounces go their way, the Mountaineers just might win the title out right.

3. North Carolina State is the country’s biggest disappointment

You could make a pretty compelling argument for plenty of teams to be deserving of the title of the country’s biggest disappointment. For example, Ohio State pulled out to a 10-3 non-conference record, but has started 0-4 in the Big Ten. Texas, meanwhile, has a roster stocked with talent, but just can’t find a way to win and suspended its leading scorer for an undisclosed violation of team rules.

For my money, though, that title belongs to North Carolina State. The Wolfpack’s roster is loaded with highly rated prospects, including future lottery pick Dennis Smith Jr. and potential first rounder Omer Yurtseven. Things were already looking bad in Raleigh after they suffered a 51-point loss to North Carolina last Sunday, but the Wolfpack one upped themselves on Wednesday by losing at Boston College in a game that wasn’t particularly competitive.

North Carolina State should be a surefire NCAA Tournament team based on the roster Mark Gottfried has at his disposal. The fact that it’s not is enough to call them the country’s biggest disappointment so far.

The weekend game to watch: Florida State at North Carolina

The Seminoles currently sit at 4-0 and tied atop the ACC with Notre Dame heading into a weekend showdown against North Carolina in Chapel Hill. Florida State already has a pair of victories on its resume over top teams in the league having won at Virginia on New Year’s Eve and after knocking off Duke on Tuesday.

The Tar Heels, meanwhile, haven’t had a real statement win since back in November when they handled Wisconsin on a neutral floor. With Theo Pinson back on the bench, the team is finally getting to full strength as it prepares to compete for an ACC title.

If the Seminoles can pull off another big win on Saturday, they’ll be in the driver’s seat to win the ACC regular season championship, but North Carolina can pull it back by holding serve at the Dean Dome.