Here’s a rundown on College Basketball Saturday, what’s on TV and what the implications are. We’ll go in chronological order through the TV schedule and conclude with a Sunday addendum, where there are still a couple big battles
The biggest races of the Kentucky Derby Championship Series, leading up to the Run For Roses on May 3, begin on Saturday. The point value of these qualifying races is about to multiply five-fold and three of the most successful horses of the prep season’s early phase are going to be in Louisiana for the Risen Star Stakes.
The Road To The Kentucky Derby is about to get serious. The prep races that lead to Churchill Downs on May 3 have been going on since September, but the first 17 of those races are mostly lower in prestige and are lower in the points horses can accumulate for Derby qualification. That all changes on Saturday.
The Boston Bruins reached the Stanley Cup Finals in 2013 and came within a minute of reaching the seventh game. The Bruins won the Cup in 2011 and their goaltender, Tuuka Raask, has led Finland into the semi-finals of the Olympic tournament on Friday. Boston leads the Atlantic Division with a 37-16-4 record and trails only the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Eastern Conference overall.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are rolling along to another big regular season. The Pens lead the Metropolitan Division by a whopping 16 points and are on track to be the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference. Pittsburgh has spent the portion of the regular season prior to the Olympic break shoring up some of the problems that tripped them up in last year’s playoffs, but also just got some bad news on the injury front.
The NHL has been off since February 9, as its players compete in Sochi on various Olympic teams around the world. The league will resume play on Tuesday, February 25. TheSportsNotebook is going to be running a series of articles between now and then to get us ready for the final portion of the regular season, leading into the playoffs in April. We’ll start here with a review of the Stanley Cup betting odds…
TheSportsNotebook has spent this week running a series of articles looking at the big picture and the strengths and weaknesses of the contenders. This post has all those articles consolidated into a single place for your convenience.
… this may very well be “the year” for the Clips—they’re 37-18 and sitting in the #4 spot in the Western Conference, a tightly packed race when ending up anywhere from #2 to #6 is well within reach. But there’s also some issues that can cause disappointment come playoff time again if not rectified.
The Portland Trail Blazers have been one of the big surprises in the NBA this season. A team that didn’t even make the playoffs in 2013, the Blazers have played well all year this time around and bring a 36-17 record into All-Star Weekend in New Orleans. It’s good enough to be tied for third in the Western Conference. Let’s take a look at how they’re doing it and whether it can sustain now that the season is about to get serious.
The Golden State Warriors got off to a slow start, but they’ve started to find their rhythm, and as we reach the All-Star break the Warriors are 31-22 and in the 8-spot in the NBA’s Western Conference. Given the current trend, you have to like Golden State’s chances to eventually pass at least Dallas and Phoenix (whom they trail by just a half-game) and move as high as #6. Let’s take a closer look at the team who advanced into the second round and then threw a scare into the San Antonio Spurs in 2013.
The Houston Rockets have been the NBA’s big mover and shaker each of the last two offseasons, getting James Harden prior to the 2013 season, and then adding Dwight Howard for this year. The results are showing up on the floor. Houston brings a 36-17 record into the All-Star break, good enough for #3 in the Western Conference.
The San Antonio Spurs have, in a unique way, defined NBA basketball for 15 years. They haven’t been a dynasty in the sense of the Shaq-Kobe Lakers or LeBron’s Heat, all of whom have won consecutive titles in that timeframe. The Spurs have just churned it out, winning four titles and nearly taking a fifth last June in Miami before Ray Allen ripped their hearts out. The Spurs are at it again, with a 38-15 record coming into All-Star weekend in New Orleans.
