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The Secondary Break: Thursday’s Links

bzdelik

Starting Five: College basketball coaches on the hot seat (USA Today)
Rick Barnes, whose Texas Longhorns have been a positive surprise this season, may not be considered to be on the proverbial hot seat at this point in the season but there are some coaches who are at this point in the season. That can make for an interesting stretch run, with some fan paying as much attention to possible candidates for the position as they do their own teams.

Syracuse/Duke tickets Saturday are most expensive in college basketball this season (Forbes)
Interested in going to Saturday’s game between No. 1 Syracuse and No. 5 Duke, a rematch of the most entertaining game of the season to date? Well it’ll cost you, with tickets to the game rumored to cost in excess of more than $2,000.

College basketball’s ultimate champion is almost always a conference champion first (SB Nation)
For some the importance of conference tournaments for power conference teams can be debated, with the belief being held in some circles that such games aren’t as important as the NCAA tournament. But while that particular weekend pales in comparison to the NCAA tournament, history reveals that many national champions began their run with a successful conference tournament performance.

The education of Duke freshman phenom Jabari Parker (Sports Illustrated)
With some highly-regarded freshmen, the process of educating them on the court can be a difficult one due to their being distracted by what’s next. That hasn’t been the case for Duke’s Jabari Parker, who has absorbed the lessons being taught by head coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Syracuse, not Kentucky, leading college basketball in attendance this season (Louisville Courier-Journal)
Kentucky has enjoyed a long run atop college basketball in regards to attendance, holding that honor every season since 2006. But that run may come to an end this season, with Syracuse currently leading the nation in attendance. The biggest reason for the switch at the top: Syracuse’s move to the ACC, with both North Carolina and Duke visiting the Carrier Dome.

Wagner preps for final push (Staten Island Live)
For some smaller conferences home court in the conference tournament is on the line, with a team’s place in the standings determining how many games they could possibly host in the tournament. One team in that position is Wagner, which is hoping to close out NEC play well enough to finish second and thereby set itself up to host two tournament games.

The race for fifth in the MAAC (Big Apple Buckets)
With the MAAC’s expansion to 11 teams, the top five seeds in the conference tournament avoid having to play on the first day. That makes the race for the fifth seed, which is currently held by Rider, an important one with Siena and Marist also in contention for that spot.