College Basketball Daily Feast: St. John's, Alabama and the Flu (February 11)

Welcome to the Daily Feast, where every weekday we stuff your head with the tastiest data-driven insights on college hoops.

Coffee and Cooler Talk (news and results from yesterday)

Alabama fell victim to a couple of questionable calls late in their 81-77 loss at Vanderbilt. Still, the close loss at what is a difficult place to play should help validate the Crimson Tide in some eyes. They make it tough to execute on offense, holding opponents to the sixth lowest assist-to-turnover ratio in the country.

Down by two to UConn late in the first half, St. John's scored the final six points of the half. That was the beginning of a 40-14 run, and St. John's eventually won 89-72.

Despite going only 4-6 in their last 10 games, St. John's is ranked No. 31 in our last 10 game power ratings, due to their ridiculous schedule.

Illinois pushed Minnesota's losing streak without Al Nolen to four games, winning at Minnesota, 71-62. Despite eight losses, the Illini climb all the way to No. 14 in our predictive power ratings.

Washington destroyed California 109-77, continuing their pattern of either winning big or losing small. They're tied with a dozen other teams for last place in close game winning percentage, at .000.

Chattanooga vs. Western Carolina was postponed by the flu. Yes, you read that right. We knew Chattanooga's scoring defense was bad; apparently, so is their viral defense.

Lunchtime Reading (interesting posts from around the blogosphere)

Always a must read, Luke Winn's weekly Power Rankings are out.

The McDonald's high school All-American team was announced yesterday (warning: PDF). I don't think it will come as a surprise to anyone to note that Kentucky has the most recruits on the team (four). Read Jeff Borzello's take on the flawed selections.

And here's the Harvard Sports Analysis collective on how being a McDonald's All-American translates into future success.

Another fun original stat from The Basketball Distribution: offensive decision percentage. Basically, good plays divided by total plays. A couple of other blogs have already picked up on it and applied it to college basketball:Chicago Now, The Only Colors.

The Donahue Media Group took the theme from Oregon's new court designs and ran with it, applying the over-the-top aesthetic to a handful of other schools. Very well done.

This year's NCAA tournament schedule was unveiled. There's going to be a big change this year: staggered start times, meaning no more simultaneous buzzer-beaters. Philly.com posted a thorough look at the new schedule.

Dinner and A Game (notes on tonight’s hottest games)

No. 173 Yale at No. 54 Harvard Harvard, currently one game back of the Ivy League lead, tries to stay within striking distance of Princeton.

No. 80 Princeton at No. 188 Columbia Meanwhile, Princeton, in a tougher test, tries to maintain its lead.

No. 140 Jacksonville at No. 129 E Tenn St Jacksonville is a game and a half back of East Tennessee State in the race for second place in the Atlantic Sun.

That's actually a relatively important battle because of the distribution of talent in the conference this year. There's a big drop off after the sixth seed (the first round opponent for the third seed), making a large difference in the conference championship win odds for the two teams.