No. 3 Arizona rallies to top No. 17 San Diego St.

No. 3 Arizona is off to its best start in 25 years, thanks to a defensive play that no one saw coming - except for Nick Johnson.

San Diego State guard Chase Tapley curled around a screen and burst down the left side of the lane in the closing seconds for what looked to be an uncontested layup. Johnson raced across and swatted the ball away, preserving the Wildcats' 68-67 win over the 17th-ranked Aztecs in the championship game of the Diamond Head Classic on Tuesday night.

``He made one hell of a play,'' Tapley said. ``I just have to tip my hat off to him. I didn't even know he was around. He just came out of nowhere. I'm thinking the game is over. The next thing you know, the ball is going off the backboard.''

Mark Lyons drove to the basket on Arizona's final possession and was fouled, making two free throws with 13 seconds left for the final points of the game. Arizona (12-0) goes into Pac-12 Conference play with its best start since the 1987-88 season, and with its first win over a ranked team away from home in four years.

``It took two great plays on both offense and defense to secure the win,'' Arizona coach Sean Miller said. ``And we made both of them.''

Solomon Hill, voted the tournament MVP, kept Arizona in the game with 21 points and a stellar defensive effort on Jamaal Franklin, who scored only nine points to end his streak of 32 straight games in double figures. With the game tied at 66, Franklin was fouled driving to the basket with 31 seconds left, but missed one of two free throws.

That turned out to be the difference.

Tapley led the Aztecs (11-2) with 19 points.

``It hurts,'' San Diego State coach Steve Fisher said. ``It's hard when you have a chance to win a championship, have a shot to beat an undefeated team, and you don't quite get it done, and you think you're going to do it right until the very last play of the game. It hurts badly.''

Neither team led by more than two points over the final 10 minutes, which featured several big shots by both teams. But it came down to a defensive play that left the Wildcats celebrating at midcourt and the Aztecs - Tapley in particular - not sure what hit them.

``My instincts took over,'' Johnson said.

The buzzer sounded during a scramble for the loose ball by the sideline.

Arizona won despite shooting only 37 percent from the field, including 5-of-20 on 3-pointers, though Miller was more impressed that except for an early spell of turnovers to start the second half that put his team in a hole, they didn't make careless mistakes and gave themselves plenty of looks.

``I don't think we had a bad shooting night,'' Miller said. ``I think we played a great defense.''

After turning the ball over just three times in the first half, Arizona had two turnovers that helped the Aztecs go on an 8-0 run to start the second period for a 35-29 lead. Franklin got his first points of the game on a pair of free throws, Xavier Thames made a 3-pointer, and Tapley converted a three-point play off yet another Arizona turnover.

After a sluggish, defensive battle, the pace and quality of the game picked up the rest of the way.

The Wildcats called a timeout trailing 41-33, and then went on an 18-9 run over the next six minutes to regain the lead. Hill was always in the picture, with some great hustle by Brandon Ashley, who scored inside and converted a three-point play on quick ball movement. Arizona regained the lead on Hill's two free throws, and he made two more with just under six minutes remaining for a 60-58 Arizona lead.

The game was tied six more times the rest of the way.

Kevin Parrom scored 17 points for the Wildcats, including a 3-pointer from deep on the baseline with 2:16 remaining that answered a 3 by Tapley. Johnson finished with 11 points for Arizona.

Arizona never trailed in the opening half, but after building a 16-9 lead on Johnson's 3-pointer, it never had control. That was to be expected from two defensive-minded teams, which have held their opponents to 38 percent shooting this season, and made each other work for every shot.

The Wildcats shot 29 percent in the opening half. The Aztecs missed their first seven shots, finally getting on track behind Tapley, whose 10 points came from inside and outside.

It was spirited, and it was sloppy. There were three missed dunks and badly missed layups in transition as both teams looked out of control at times. Franklin, coming off his fifth double-double of the season in a semifinal win over Indiana State, was shut out in the opening half and attempted only two shots.

Fittingly, the game was decided by a defensive play.

``It was very intense,'' Johnson said. ``They're the No. 17 team in the country. We knew they were a good team coming in. We knew we would have to give it our all and stay in the game plan and in the end, it came up big.'' At NCAA.com.

SEC adds two teams, changes format for postseason conference tournament

The Southeastern Conference has altered the format and expanded the field for its annual baseball tournament, SEC Commissioner Mike Slive announced.

The 2013 SEC Baseball Tournament, which will be held in Hoover, Ala., at the Hoover Metropolitan Stadium for the 16th consecutive year, will increase from 10 to 12 teams and will begin on Tuesday, May 21. Seeds 5-12 will meet in a single elimination format on the opening day of the tournament, followed by traditional double-elimination play Wednesday-Friday. The tournament will return to single elimination play on Saturday. The total number of games played will not change, remaining at 17.

The 12 teams are seeded 1-12 with the two divisional champions and top four seeds guaranteed opening-round byes, with the possibility of earning another bye later in the bracket. The tournament field will include the top teams from the SEC’s Eastern and Western Divisions plus 10 at-large bids seeded 3-12 based on conference winning percentage.

A team from the SEC Tournament has advanced to five consecutive National Championship Series in Omaha, winning three NCAA titles during that span (LSU 2009; South Carolina 2010 and 2011). Over 100 first-round picks in the Major League Baseball Draft have played in SEC Tournament since 1991.

Tickets for the 2013 SEC Baseball Tournament will go on sale in February.

The 2012 SEC Baseball Tournament drew 129,112 fans to The Hoover Met, a new record-high for the event. Seven times in the last 10 years the tournament has surpassed the six-digit mark in total attendance. The SEC is scheduled to keep its baseball tournament in Hoover through 2016. At NCAA.com. 

The Big 12 vs. Pac-12 debate

The Big 12 and Pac-12 are feeling a lot like kindred spirits these days. Complaints about the effects of a nine-game conference schedule fell on mostly deaf ears, but after two years through the wringer, the Big 12 can suddenly relate.

The true effects of the schedule are debatable. What's not is that it drops a bushelful of losses in both leagues' tanks that aren't there while the Big Ten beats up on (or, in this year's case, loses to) some MAC teams or the SEC runs up the score on the Sun Belt.

Geno Smith and WVU didn't finish strong, but they add to the Big 12's depth.

Half of the Big 12 (five teams) is exactly 7-5, including hyped preseason contender West Virginia, which loves to chuck it around with one-time Heisman front-runner Geno Smith.

The Pac-12 had four teams finish 7-5 in the regular season, including hyped preseason favorite USC, which loves to chuck it around with one-time Heisman front-runner Matt Barkley.

But which league is better? The Big 12 and Pac-12 have battled for the No. 2 spot behind the (*cough* …top-heavy) SEC all season.

Our ESPN Stats & Information team says the Pac-12 has the edge on the Big 12 for now, but the Big 12 was No. 1 early in the season and No. 2 until late November.

Me? I don't buy it. Part of the issue for the Big 12 is that surplus of 7-5 teams. You won't be in the polls if you're 7-5, but you'll be mighty, mighty close. None of the Big 12's five 7-5 teams were ranked, though four received a total of 75 votes, which combined still wouldn't have been enough to grab the No. 25 spot in the media poll.

But the computers? They factor in every team in the league, and there's no debate there. The Big 12 is the No. 1 league in college football according to the computers, and the Pac-12 is all the way back at No. 3.

There's not a league that can compete with the Big 12's depth, and at the top of the two conferences, there's plenty of debate.

Both Oregon and Stanford won 11 games, but Stanford won only 11 games because it got to beat UCLA in consecutive weekends, counting the Pac-12 championship. Kansas State won 11, but Oklahoma won 10 games with losses to K-State and national title participant Notre Dame.

The top of the two conferences might offer a slight edge to the Pac-12, but it's certainly close to a push at the top. There's no debate at the bottom, though.

The Pac-12 is partly to thank for that. You'll have to excuse the Big 12 if it's not missing Colorado very much these days. The Big 12 has clearly proved itself as the deepest league in college football, even if it can't match what the Pac-12 boasts in the top 15 of the polls.

Want to make a statement, Big 12? Shut down Marcus Mariota in the Fiesta Bowl.

Neither league has a BCS title participant thanks to a painful Nov. 17 night when Oregon dropped an overtime game against Stanford and Kansas State dropped the ball in a blowout road loss to Baylor, one of the five 7-5 teams in the Big 12.

Both leagues, though, have two very good teams, though the Pac-12 will send two teams to the BCS. K-State and Oregon will meet in the Fiesta Bowl, and Stanford will represent the Pac-12 in the Rose Bowl against five-loss Wisconsin.

Oklahoma would be in the BCS if the Big Ten or Big East were any good (or eligible, but that's another discussion), but Northern Illinois pushed the Sooners out of the BCS, even though Oklahoma's Cotton Bowl opponent (Texas A&M) will offer twice the challenge of the Badgers in Pasadena.

The Big 12 has the edge on the Pac-12, but there's good news in a sport in which far too much is decided on hard drives and on voters' ballots. The two leagues will play each other in three bowl games. Baylor and UCLA will meet in the Holiday Bowl. Texas and Oregon State will be a matchup of two Top 25 teams in the Alamo Bowl, and as we mentioned before, K-State and Oregon will play the biggest bowl game of the year between two Top 25 teams outside of the title game.

Debate the merits of both leagues now, but those three games will help settle the debate on the field.

Until then, this is the truth: The Big 12 is No. 2. At ESPN.com.

‘Playing for so much more than myself’

Generations of warriors — the ones who fell on muddy foreign soil, the ones who have felt the searing sting of shrapnel and lead, the ones who, at this very moment, linger on distant shores in defense of the United States — will gather Saturday on a football field.
You’ll see flashes of them, symbols of their service and sacrifice, amid the maelstrom of limbs and mud and sweat on every play of the Army-Navy game.
As they’ve done for decades in this annual clash, each player who takes the field will wear a patch stitched to the upper-right corner of their jersey. Those patches are the same symbols donned by those who have served, who still serve today or who have sacrificed their lives so that their country may thrive, so that a football game can be played on a Saturday afternoon in Philadelphia. Many of the patches represent the unit of a family member or friend.

ARMY, NAVY IN 2012

	W-L	PF	PA	STREAK
Army	2-9	278	407	Lost 2
Navy	7-4	280	259	Won 1
• TV: 3 p.m. ET Saturday on CBS

Others embody complete strangers — to whom the players nevertheless feel a sense of kinship and gratitude — who are stationed in different corners of the world. These players will soon join their ranks, but before they do, they have a chance to pay homage to those who came first.
“The opportunity to show pride and respect for my grandfather on a national stage against a great opponent, it’s just tremendous,” said Army running back Jon Crucitti, who will wear the 45th Infantry Division patch once sewn onto his grandfather’s uniform.
Martin Crucitti earned a Bronze Star, Silver Star and Purple Heart in World War II after his involvement in the Battle of Anzio in early 1944. There, 4,500 miles from the easternmost shore of his home country, Crucitti and his platoon were the victims of a surprise bombing of a nearby church as they advanced through the city. They were scattered like leaves in the wind, blown asunder by the force of the blast. Crucitti was hurled hundreds of feet, but survived. His hand and teeth were shattered and his body was covered in bruises and lacerations; others in his platoon weren’t as lucky. Despite his injuries, Crucitti turned back for his countrymen and pulled two officers from the rubble.
In October, Crucitti turned 95. Though age will prevent him from attending his grandson’s game, he did get to see him play once during his first season. And the grandfather proudly bequeathed his patch to Jon when he was a freshman; the grandson has just as proudly worn it in every Army-Navy game since.
Though the patches oftentimes carry a great deal of emotional weight, they’re no burden, many Army and Navy players said. Crucitti insists that he feels no extra pressure to perform when he sees that patch on his shoulder. Instead, he draws inspiration from it and is unafraid of failure.
“I know my grandpa’s going to love me at the end of the day either way,” Crucitti said. “But it just gives you that little extra motivation to try to perform at a higher level. He’s going to be my grandpa no matter what, but you always want to make him proud.”

Nine of the past 24 meetings between Army and Navy have been decided by five points or less. Six of the past 23 pairings have been decided by two points or less. Eight of the past 22 have been decided in the game’s final minute.

Not all of the patches carry such a level of emotional attachment, but they matter a great deal to the players.
In previous years, Navy senior safety Tra’ves Bush had worn a patch representing the USS Carl Vinson as a show of gratitude to his uncle, who served on the ship. But this season, a letter persuaded Bush to break that tradition and honor a complete stranger.
Lt. Charles Silva survived his time serving in Vietnam, but was attacked by young trespassers on his Virginia property in September. After a month-long struggle, he succumbed the injuries at the age of 77. Silva had befriended Chris Reaghard, who was a former Navy defensive lineman and a 1995 graduate of the academy. After Silva’s tragic death, Reaghard reached out to his alma mater, penning a letter detailing Silva’s service and his untimely death. He hoped that one of Navy’s players would take it upon himself to don an F-8 Crusaders flight group patch bearing Silva’s name.
Once Bush finished the letter, he knew that he’d step onto the field against Army wearing that patch.

2012 Army-Navy uniforms

Nike

 

“Anyone that read that letter would’ve chosen to wear the patch,” Bush said. “Everyone knows that anybody on the team would’ve done this for the family.”
Navy linebacker Brye French understands that sentiment. He, too, is wearing a patch in honor of a man he never met. But there was no letter that convinced him to do it, rather, a legacy. Brendan Looney’s name echoed throughout the grounds at Annapolis since his 2004 graduation, particularly among members of the school’s lacrosse team. Looney was a standout in the sport and helped guide Navy to a berth in the national championship game as a senior. The Midshipmen fell one point shy against Syracuse, but his legend had been cemented.
Former Navy lacrosse coach Richie Meade spoke to subsequent teams of Looney’s unrelenting work ethic and positive attitude. French, playing lacrosse along with football, came to know of Looney through Meade and looked up to the former star despite never crossing his path. The two, however, were brought together by tragic circumstance.
After his time at the Naval Academy, Looney endured what’s considered by many to be the military’s most brutal training regimen and earned the right to call himself a Navy SEAL. However, he perished along with eight other troops in a Sept. 21, 2010, helicopter crash in Afghanistan. Looney died at the beginning of French’s sophomore year, and Meade took French and his teammates to Looney’s funeral at Arlington National Cemetery. Under the saddest of circumstances, he’d finally gotten to be in the presence of a man he’d quietly idolized.
French didn’t forget that day in Arlington; last season, he wore Looney’s SEAL Team 3 patch against Army and it will be back on his uniform Saturday. Once the first ball is snapped, French said his focus will be solely on football, but in the few quiet moments when he’s alone with his thoughts amid thousands of his fellow servicemen, he’ll feel the significance of what is affixed to his chest.
“It’s a special moment, a special event, because everyone wears a patch representing those overseas or those who have lost their life, gave the ultimate sacrifice, so the opportunity to represent Brendan Looney really is an honor,” French said. “In the back of my mind, maybe not during the game, but before, or whenever there’s a little break in the game, I’ll think about his example.”

Saturday will mark the 113th meeting between Army and Navy. The game features two of the top six rushing offenses in the nation; the Black Knights are No. 1 with 369.82 rushing yards per game; the Midshipmen are sixth at 285.45.

Getty Images

Even for players who’ll be on the sideline on Saturday, the game is momentous and affords them a public opportunity to say thank you.
Army offensive lineman Michael Kime suffered a knee injury against Temple two weeks ago and will be unable to play against Navy. Still, like all other Army players, he’ll be wearing a uniform that pays tribute to the Battle of the Bulge — a map of the battle will be imprinted on the uniforms’ numbers — and will also wear an 82nd Airborne patch to honor his paternal grandfather, Richard Owen Kime, who was a combatant in the very battle depicted on those uniforms.
Nearly 70 years ago, Kime was shot through the lung in Bastogne, Belgium, in one of the Battle of the Bulge’s most important conflicts. As he was losing blood and clinging to life while being driven by ambulance to safety, his driver had to maneuver through Gen. George S. Patton’s oncoming tanks, who were rushing forward to offer support to the Ally-controlled city that had been encircled by Nazi forces. Kime remembers his grandfather telling him that the ambulance driver, weaving through those friendly charging tanks, may have been as frightened as he was.
Kime was only 11 when his grandfather died in 2003, so while they were close, they never had the chance to know each other as men. But Kime takes solace knowing that he has the opportunity to represent his grandfather on Saturday. He plans to do the same next season when, hopefully, he’s able to take the field.
“By the time I really understood what he really went through and I got to really appreciate what the Greatest Generation did, unfortunately it was too late,” Kime said. “One of my bigger regrets is that my grandfather never got to see me play in an Army uniform. So I have it in the back of my head all of the time that I’m playing for so much more than myself.”

This year’s game will serve as the deciding contest for the 2012 Commander In Chief’s Trophy. For the first time since 2005 both Army and Navy enter the game with victories against Air Force. The Midshipmen have captured 13 of the past 15 meetings, including a series-record 10 in a row, to take a 56-49-7 advantage in the rivalry. For more information go to NCAA.com.

Three wins in a row help West Virginia claim No. 25 spot in latest AP Poll

West Virginia cracked the top 25 in the Associated Press Poll this week after recording three consecutive wins.

ASSOCIATED PRESS POLL
Check out the full rankings.

The Mountaineers claimed the No. 25 spot.
West Virginia captured a 54-47 road victory against Virginia on Dec. 2 and followed it by going 2-0 last week with a 64-48 win versus Marshall on Tuesday and a 67-47 defeat of St. Bonaventure on Saturday.
WVU was preseason ranked No. 17 in the AP Poll, reaching as high as No. 12 in Week 3. Last week, the Mountaineers dropped out of the top 25. At NCAA.com.

Men`s Basketball Rankings

Rank	School (First-Place Votes)	Record	Points	Previous
1	Indiana (44)	9-0	1580	1
2	Duke (20)	9-0	1551	2
3	Michigan	9-0	1444	3
4	Syracuse	8-0	1378	4
5	Florida	7-0	1319	6
6	Louisville	8-1	1303	5
7	Ohio State	6-1	1211	7
8	Arizona	7-0	1178	8
9	Kansas	7-1	1087	9
10	Illinois	10-0	991	13
11	Cincinnati	9-0	944	11
12	Missouri	8-1	877	12
13	Minnesota	10-1	714	14
14	Gonzaga	9-1	699	10
15	Georgetown	7-1	577	15
16	Creighton	9-1	525	16
17	New Mexico	10-0	512	18
18	San Diego State	7-1	491	17
19	Michigan State	8-2	328	19
20	UNLV	7-1	305	21
21	North Carolina	7-2	298	20
22	Notre Dame	8-1	283	22
23	Wichita State	9-0	280	24
24	Oklahoma State	7-1	251	23
25	North Carolina State	6-2	213	25

Texas A&M QB Manziel becomes first freshman to win Heisman Trophy

 
Texas A&M quarterback Johnny Manziel became the first freshman to win the Heisman Trophy, taking college football’s top individual prize Saturday after a record-breaking debut season.
Notre Dame linebacker Manti Te’o finished a distant second and Kansas State quarterback Collin Klein was third in the voting. In a unique Heisman race, with two nontraditional candidates, Manziel broke through the class barrier and kept Te’o from becoming the first purely defensive player to win the award.
Manziel drew 474 first-place votes and 2,029 points from the panel of media members and former winners.
”I have been dreaming about this since I was a kid,” Manziel said during his acceptance speech.
Manziel seemed incredibly calm after his name was announced, hardly resembling the guy who dashes around the football field on Saturdays.
Te’o had 321 first-place votes and 1,706 points and Klein received 60 firsts and 894 points.
Just a few days after turning 20, Manziel proved times have truly changed in college football, and that experience can be overrated.
For years, seniors dominated the award named after John Heisman, the pioneering Georgia Tech coach from the early 1900s. In the 1980s, juniors started becoming common winners. Tim Tebow became the first sophomore to win it in 2007, and two more won it in the next two seasons.
Adrian Peterson had come closest as a freshman, finishing second to Southern California quarterback Matt Leinart in 2004. It took 78 years for a freshman to take home the big bronze statue.
Peterson was a true freshman for Oklahoma. As a redshirt freshmen, Manziel attended school and practiced with the team last year, but did not play in any games.
He’s the second player from Texas A&M to win the Heisman — John David Crow took it home in 1957 — and did so without the slightest hint of preseason hype. Manziel didn’t even win the starting job until two weeks before the season.
Manziel broke 2010 Heisman winner Cam Netwon’s Southeastern Conference record with 4,600 total yards, led the Aggies to a 10-2 in their first season in the SEC and orchestrated an upset at then-No. 1 Alabama in November that stamped him as legitimate contender for the award.
He has thrown for 3,419 yards and 24 touchdowns and run for 1,181 yards and 19 more scores to become the first freshman, first SEC player and fifth player overall to throw for 3,000 yards and run for 1,000 in a season.
Manziel will cap his freshman campaign against Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl on Jan. 4. At NCAA.com.