Second Thoughts: Flyers have the goods to break through in Atlantic 10


Knucklehead of the Week

Matt Kenseth will sit out the next two Sprint Cup races because he intentionally wrecked Joey Logano last week at Martinsville. Logano was leading the race, and the wreck caused NASCAR power brokers to blow a gasket because the incident impacted the Chase (which hasn’t quite caught on with casual sports fans). Kenseth’s stunt reportedly was retaliation for another wreck earlier this year, and it was cheered by some drivers. Whatever happened to settling NASCAR feuds with your fists? Or even a classic helmet toss? I miss drivers like Cale Yarborough.

College basketball season is here, although you wouldn’t know it by stepping outside (Jake and I stained a fence Saturday). Some topics to track:

Can UD break through in the Atlantic 10? The Flyers have been NCAA tournament darlings the past two seasons, raising the program's profile. The next step is to win an A-10 title. The Flyers are 87-75 with a pair of second-place finishes since the conference scrapped its two-division setup for the 2005-06 season.

UD is the A-10 preseason favorite and has a great core. Charles Cooke’s emergence could soften the blow of Dyshawn Pierre’s legal troubles. If Big Steve McElvene provides quality minutes, Archie Miller can check off “A-10 title” on his shrinking Dayton bucket list.

Can Wright State stay healthy? The dominant story line coming out of the Nutter Center the past few years has been injuries. The Raiders are picked to finish in the middle of the Horizon League pack, but they have talent and could be dangerous. And they should be tough after training with Navy SEALS a couple weeks ago.

Can Luke Kennard excel at Duke? The talented freshman from Franklin scored 25 points in an exhibition game. He's the real deal. I tell people who question his SWBL roots that he was a marked man in high school. True, North Carolina isn't Valley View, but college teams won't game plan to stop only Kennard.

What about the 30-second shot clock? I can't see how trimming five seconds off the clock will make a major impact because most teams just dribble around until the shot clock expires. There will be less dribbling and some additional possessions, so maybe there won't be a lot of 48-44 final scores.

I think the most significant new rule is the one that prevents coaches from calling live-ball timeouts. No more bail-outs, which rewards good defense. And when you go check out the UD and WSU women's teams, which you should, be advised that they will be playing four 10-minutes quarters.

Trending up: Ohio State ticket prices, Dusty Baker, Dick Williams. The money grab in and around Ohio Stadium marches on like TBDBITL. A ticket to next year's OSU-Michigan football game will cost a cool $195. Funny thing is, that showdown might be worth it. The $135 ticket for the Nebraska beatdown? Not so much.

Trending down: Steelers fashion sense, Jeurys Familia, Ken Whisenhunt. It's difficult to imagine anything uglier than the Steelers' throwback jerseys. And they seem to break them out a lot. I've always heard horizontal stripes make you look fat, so Pittsburgh's linemen can't be too excited about those outfits, either.

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