February 18, 2008
Forty-Seven Days
by Cortney Basham

By the time the ball is tipped against South Alabama on Thursday night, forty-seven days will have elapsed since the WKU men’s basketball team tasted defeat.  Let us gain some perspective since the Toppers last loss on January 5:

1. Rudy Giuliani was still in the presidential race.
2. So was Fred Thompson.
3. Hillary Clinton had a double-digit lead over Barack Obama in national polls.
4. Ole Miss was 13-0.
5. Most people had their New Year’s Resolutions intact.
6. WKU’s RPI was #119.  It’s #52 today.
7. We still had a four-week wait until the Lost premier.
8. Most people still thought Drake was just a delicious coffee cake.
9. The 16-0 Patriots were enjoying their bye week before the playoffs.
10.  South Alabama was the clear favorite in the Sun Belt.

It’s been long run.

This eleven-game winning streak has included five road wins and six home wins.  The defense has been very good, and at times, great.  The stable of big men have come into their own, especially senior Mike Walker and sophomore Jeremy Evans.  Both have been a swarm of activity around the basket blocking shots, rebounding, and keeping balls alive.  The backcourt of Lee, Brazelton, Slaughter, Rogers, and Mendez-Valdez has been super for most of the year, but has stepped it up of late—especially Brazelton.

The list of teams with win streaks longer than WKU was pared down this week after losses by Drake, Duke, and Oral Roberts.  Now, only Memphis (25) and Davidson (15) have longer streaks, and Purdue’s eleven straight matches WKU.  It is an elite group.  That is four teams out of 341 D-I clubs.

That sets up an absolutely gargantuan, titanic tilt with South Alabama on Thursday night.  If you are a WKU fan, you must be there wearing WHITE for the White Out.  If you are a college basketball fan in Bowling Green, the most important match up in the entire country on Thursday is in your back yard.  Pitt at Notre Dame is big, but we know that those two are going to the Dance.  UMass at Rhode Island is important, but neither is going to win the A-10 regular season.  Oregon at Southern Cal play, too, but again, they are mid-pack Pac-10 teams.  No, the game that has the biggest ramifications is South Alabama at WKU.  The winner will all but clinch the tourney 1-seed, and a WKU win pretty much salts away the regular season title as well. 

So, get your $5 tickets through your church, and wear white.  It will be one of the biggest games in Diddle since WKU hosted the Sun Belt tournaments in 2003 and 2004.