Prop Bets!!

What fun would it be without a little prop action?

First quote on quote board:

Hacker 2-1

Dachel 3-1

Ben 4-1

Dan 7-1

Field 5-1

Dachel first slurring words by xx:xx on Friday (Thursday is off the board due to suspicious line movement):

Noon 10-1

2 PM 7-1

4 PM 2-1

6 PM 3-2

8 PM 6-1

If it doesnt happen by then, ask if his panties are comfy....

Someone vomits: 45-1 (line moved drastically upon news of no beer from Brandon)

Ben's flight is delayed, causing him to miss the crucial Thursday tip: 25-1

Someone besides Dachel sets a pop-a-shot record (1:30 or less): 15-1

Over/Unders

Number of barrels completed: 4.5

Number of bottles of Pucker finished: 7.5

Number of quotes on quote board by Sunday: 24.5

Number of jokes Hacker tells involving pirates, ducks and bars, and armies: 98.5

Number of new jokes Hacker tells involving pirates, ducks and bars, and armies: 0.5

Number of commercials involving the UPS guy drawing on a whiteboard: 1,788.5

Number of minutes after Thursday tip off before Dachel, Dan, or Ben rips on Tyler Hansborough: 4.5

Number of minutes after Thursday tip off before Hacker says "Coach K! eeeeeehhhh!" 4.5

Friday's Ramblings

And yesterday's trend of bubble teams winning ends with a thud today. Arizona State, St. Joseph's and Arizona all lose at home to slide closer to the cutoff. At this point I think they are all still in but both Arizona State and St. Joseph's are in the last 4 in group. Arizona, who has a 7-8 conference record, is still safe due to their high RPI (20) and SOS (1). If I were them I'd make sure to get at least 2 of the next 3 to be safe.

Maryland wins a tough road game at Wake to solidify their resume while California's home loss removes them from consideration. Wake Forest's loss also moves them to the last considered and need to be perfect from here on out.

A final note about the Atlantic 10 which as of 2 weeks ago looked like a 5 bid league. Check out their conference records...Xavier leads the conference at 12-1 while St. Bonaventure brings up the rear at 1-12. The remaining 12 teams all are between 8-5 and 5-8. With almost zero separation between the in teams, the bubble teams, and the no chance teams it'll be interesting to see what the committee does. Oh, and if you did your math correctly you'll see that Atlantic 10 has 14 teams. Kind of makes the 11 team Big 10 look like pansies.

Title Sponsor?

Five hour energy, Pucker, Delta, Flaming Hot Cheetos....but when it really comes down to it, what are we there for? Barrels and barrels of goodness. Provided by a tactical switch to Busch Light last year. The testimonials don't lie...

Brian: "When we used to drink Miller Lite and I combined that with the fiery cheetos, it was like shitting lava for 4 days straight. Now, with Busch Light, its merely a 4 alarm fire in the morning!"

Bryan and Dan: "Beer is beer, right? Wrong!! Just remember that rank-ass barrel of Leinie's we got from Gary's 2 years ago. That shit was nasty. But we still drank the whole damn thing!!"

Another Sponser!

And the Sponsers keep rolling in. This time we welcome a couple "contributions" from Frito-Lay. This year Frito Lay is proud to offer the following snacks proven to clean out your system in a matter of 3 hours.

Hot Wings and Blue Cheese Doritos
Buffalo Wings and Ranch Doritos
Flaming Hot Cheetos
New* Enchilada Flavor Cheetos

I'm hoping Tums steps up next....

It's a Slow Thursday Morning

Not much change today as all 6 teams that played last night in the last 4 and last 4 out group won. Miami drops from the lock status for losing to Clemson and Cincinnati is no longer considered. 3 weeks from this moment we will be gathering up to start the tournament. Hope everybody is gearing up by practicing their Pop-A-Shot and geek dice games.

Todd and Bryan, I'll have to request that you show up sometime before the tournament to tinker with the Pop-A-Shot game to make sure every basket counts. I will also need a couple people to come over and make sure the tapper and Pucker tree are up to code.

Our Third (Unofficial) Sponsor

I would like to take a moment to give a big "Thank you" to Delta Airlines. While not always a big fan, they have solved a major problem and given me the opportunity to make my better half happy and still attend the anarchy calm, peaceful celebration at the same time.

Here's the issue. My wife's birthday is the 19th. March Madness is the 20th. How to get to Oak Creek without missing either event?

Red eye flights, presented by Delta.

Their quirky yet brilliant schedule will allow me to miss only one minute of her birthday while still allowing me to get to the "Room of TV Wonder" 60 minutes before tipoff.

Just enough time to enjoy a quick shower and a 5 Hour Energy.

Let the games begin. Sorry, Rachel. Just think, 12 months ago this event was "never going to happen again next year."

Wednesday's Thoughts

Hello New Mexico, Goodbye New Mexico. One day after being added to the tourney New Mexico loses at home to BYU and fall out. Ohio State also continues their free fall and are now on the outside looking in. Replacing them, for what I'm sure will only be temporary, is Syracuse and Houston. Remember them? They were added and dropped a couple days ago but with everybody around them losing they come back for more.
The other big news of the night was Tennessee losing to Vanderbilt. The only thing I know about Vanderbilt is that they had a player hit a shot from their knees last tournament. I might have to do research on this year's squad...

Since it was a slow night I thought I would highlight a couple teams in the bracket now that are most likely to fall out and teams that are currently out that will take their place.

Teams most likely to fall out of the bracket:
Houston/UAB - There's no way Conference USA will get 3 teams and if both win out they'll meet in the C-USA semi-final. That will basically be an elimination game for the loser.
Syracuse - their struggles have been well documented. 2 starters out for the season, only 7 deep, 3 freshman. This team is fading and it ain't going to get better.
Florida - see Syracuse. Their young and not as talented. Their record is based on a bunch of creampuffs at the beginning of the season and their RPI in the 60's show it.
Maryland - On shaky ground to begin with they close with 3 road games and a lone home game against Clemson. They'll need to split those 4 and win at least 1 in the ACC tournament to make it.
Arizona State - Their RPI is 73 right now which tells you all you need to know. Their last 4 are against UCLA, USC, Oregon, and Oregon State. 2 wins is a must

Team chopping at the bit to take their spots:
Southern Illinois - the preseason pick to win the Missouri Valley their aggressive non-conference schedule has killed their record, 17-12. However, they are currently tied with Illinois State for second. If they win out and lose in the MVC finals they'll be hard to keep out.
Illinois State - tied with Southern Illinois, their RPI has been floating between 40-45 all year. 13-5 in the regular season and 2 wins in the tournament should be enough. The MVC should end up with 2 bids when all is said and done
Western Kentucky - The second team from the Sun Belt they have closes loses at Tennessee and Gonzaga and their only conference loses are against South Alabama. If they win out and lose in the final again to South Alabama they could be the 65th team this year.
New Mexico - Currently 22-6 their game coming up against UNLV is an elimination game. If they lose that they'll need the auto-bid.
Rhode Island/Dayton - These two are lumped together because they are essentially the same team. Both started out hot and have faded down the stretch due to injuries and a tough conference. If one of them makes a A-10 conference run they can play themselves back in.

Our Second Sponser

It's good to have this unofficial sponser of the past two years on board again. Coming through in the clutch when geek dice and shot and ladders break out, Pucker really comes through. Whether you're looking for a pick me up Pucker Bomb or just lost a game of Pop-A-Shot Pucker does the job. This year we are featuring flavors, Island Blue, Sour Apple, Cheri-Berry, and Berry Fusion. Of course, if you're interested in bringing a bottle they do also offer Peach, Strawberry Passion, Grape, Raspberry, and Watermelon.

Past Tournament Memories

This clip is one of my favorite YouTube clips. It's very graining but it has the highlights from the first 3 rounds of the 2006 tournament. Remember that year and how great it was? Almost half of the first round games went down to the last minute. This clip is about 5 minutes but worth it to remember that year. Hopefully 2008 will be as good as 2006 and not like crappy 2007.

Today's Team Spotlight

Today's team spotlight is on the Ivy League's contribution to the NCAA Tournament, the Cornell Big Red. As you can see from their logo their team should be called the Cornell Wrench Headed Bears (thanks to Dan and Brad for that one) instead of the Big Red. In all seriousness, this team isn't one to sleep on come tourney time. Already 10-0 in the Ivy league they are 2 wins away from clinching a spot.

Cornell has a solid scoring distribution with 7 players averaging at least 7.5 points per game including 7 foot center Jeff Foote, a transfer from St. Bonaventure. Their other two leading scorers are forward, Ryan Wittman, 15.5, and guard, Louis Dale 12.7. Dale also averages almost 5 rebounds and assists per game. This equal scoring distribution across all positions will cause fits for teams that either lack a solid inside presence or capable guards.

Cornell's body of work suggests that they have a chance of being at least a 14 seed and possibly a 13 if other lower conference tournaments produce upsets. Don't forget 10 years ago when 13 ranked Princeton upset UCLA in the first round....

Separated at Birth

I can't take credit for this one.

Monday Evening Bracktology Update

Here's is this week's update. A couple changes as teams continue to play themselves out of the tournament. Who wants to see Ohio State and Florida fall out this week?

Out this week: Rhode Island, Syracuse, Dayton, Western Kentucky
In this week: Massachusetts, UAB, New Mexico, Miami-Fla

Automatic Bids:
American East – Maryland-BC
ACC – Duke
Atlantic Sun – Belmont
Atlantic 10 – Xavier
Big East – Georgetown
Big Sky – Portland State
Big South – Winthorp
Big 10 – Wisconsin
Big 12 – Texas
Big West – Cat St -Northridge
Colonial – VCU
Conference USA – Memphis
Horizon – Butler
Ivy League – Cornell
MAAC – Niagara
MAC – Kent State
MEAC – Morgan State
Missouri Valley – Drake
Mountain West – BYU
NorthEast – Robert Morris
Ohio Valley – Austin Peay
Pac 10 – UCLA
Patriot – American
SEC – Tennessee
Southern – Davidson
Summit – Oral Roberts
Southland – Lamar
Sun Belt – South Alabama
SWAC – Alabama State
WAC – Boise State
West Coast - Gonzaga

Locks (22)
North Carolina
Clemson
Connecticut
USC
Pittsburgh
Marquette
Indiana
Michigan State
Kansas
Kansas State
Washington State
St. Mary’s
Vanderbilt
Miami-Fla
Mississippi State
West Virginia
Arizona
Notre Dame
Purdue
Stanford
Texas A&M
Louisville

Great Bets (8)
UNLV
Arkansas
Arizona State
Massachusetts
Baylor
Oklahoma
Maryland
St. Joseph’s

Last 4 In (4)
Florida
UAB
Ohio State
New Mexico

First 4 Out (4)
Syracuse
Houston
Illinois State
Kentucky

Also Considered (24)
Western Kentucky
Villanova
Southern Illinois
Rhode Island
Oregon
Mississippi
Wake Forest
Dayton
Texas Tech
Virginia Tech
San Diego State
George Mason
Cincinnati
California

Seedings
#1 Sees – Tennessee, Memphis, North Carolina, Duke
#2 Seeds – UCLA, Texas, Stanford, Kansas
#3 Seeds – Georgetown, Xavier, Purdue, Wisconsin
#4 Seeds – Louisville, Connecticut, Notre Dame, Butler
#5 Seeds – Marquette, Indiana, Washington State, Drake
#6 Seeds – Kansas State, Vanderbilt, Michigan State, Clemson
#7 Seeds – Gonzaga, St. Mary’s, USC, Texas A&M
#8 Seeds – Arizona, Pittsburgh, Miami-Fla, BYU
#9 Seeds – Arkansas, West Virginia, Mississippi State, Maryland
#10 Seeds – Oklahoma, Arizona State, UNLV, Baylor
#11 Seeds – Massachusetts, South Alabama, St. Joseph’s, Kent State
#12 Seeds – Florida, Ohio State, UAB, Davidson
#13 Seeds – VCU, New Mexico, Oral Roberts, Boise State
#14 Seeds – Winthorp, Cornell, Niagara, Robert Morris
#15 Seeds – Cal-St Northridge, Lamar, Austin Peay, Belmont#16 Seeds – American, Morgan State, Portland State, Maryland-BC, Alabama State

Pac-10? Perhaps the Crap-10

And some analysts think this is the best conference in the country. Oregon continues the trend of losing as soon as they are in the last 4 and thus are banished from the tournament. In addition, South Alabama beat Western Kentucky to claim the auto-bid. Western Kentucky's profile isn't good enough to get an at large so that means there are two open spots. The first goes to Umass which got a huge road win over Rhode Island. Combine that with their 31st ranked RPI just gets them in. The last spot is claimed back by Baylor who did nothing to deserve it but had the highest RPI of the last 4 out. Look for them to lose this weekend now that they are in.

Be sure to check out Winthorp-Davidson on ESPN2 tonight as these are two teams currently winning their conferences and definately can make some noise come March. Davidson probably needs this more since they would be on the bubble if they don't win their conference tournament. Should be a good game.

Another Gambling Proposition

Here's one I thought of. Let me know what you think. It's a 25 square grid, like we do for football pools that pay out each game. The horizontal row would be the higher seed and the vertical row would be lower seed. Each square would cost 7 dollars (I picked 7 dollars for a reason so bear with me) which would amount to 175 dollars total for the pool. Each day there are 16 games so we could either pay out each half 5 dollars or the final score would pay out 10 dollars. This would amount to 160 dollars and we could designant one game worth 25 dollars or put it in a pool for highest score on the pop and shot for 1 minute.

Pro's:
1. Everybody would probably buy at least 1 square and thus be interested in the final of every game (in case the tournament has no last minutes games like last year)
2. We could run it daily

Con's:
1. 7 dollars for a square when most likely everybody will have to buy 2 is stepper than we are planning.
2. It's a lot to keep track of after 37 beers

Either way, let me know your thoughts.

Houston, You Have A Problem

Hello Houston. Goodbye Houston. 1 day in the bracket and they lose. I reiterate my statement yesterday about teams not wanting to make the tournament this year.

Today's biggest mover and shaker is Duke. First of all they fall from a 1 seed to a 2 seed. Secondly, they allow Miami into the tournament replacing the above mentioned Houston Cougars. Thirdly by losing to Wake on Sunday they allow them to move on to the bubble. The ACC which a week ago looked like a 4 bid conference is suddenly at least a 5 bid with the prospects of a 6th.

Tonight's games to keep an eye on:

Rhode Island-Umass, ESPN2, 6pm. If Umass loses this game they will need to probably win out and make the A-10 finals for a bid. Rhode Island would probably fall to a last 4 in with a loss.

Western Kentucky-South Alabama. The battle of the top 2 in the Sun Belt. Both have 13 conference wins and top 50 RPI's. South Bama' has a better chance of an at large bid with an RPI in the 30's. Best case scenario for people who want to see two bids out of the Sun Belt (instead of the PAC-10 getting 8 teams) would be for South Alabama to win this game and then lose to Western Kentucky in the Sun Belt Title game. The scenario would put both teams around 27-6 with top 40 RPIs.

There are also a couple PAC-10 game that will effect the bottom of the bracket. A couple teams here need to win to stay in and a couple more to not fall from a lock to a bubble. I'm looking at you Lute and Bobbie Olson or Kevin O'Neil and Bobbie Olson or Kevin O'Neil and Lute's 22 year old girlfriend.

Oregon at USC
Arizona State at Washington State
Arizona at Washington

Meh.

And yes, I know they lost.

I guess I'd rather see it now instead of a month from now when I hopefully am firmly entrenched in Brian's basement.

God is mad, just so you know. You know how I know? We are having a massive thunderstorm right now. It doesn't storm in the desert in the winter....

The #1 reason I hate the NBA

How you can trade a player who doesn't even play is beyond me. Hell, they could have sent me to New Jersey for $4.3mil. And I'm too short, too fat and never really had any game. But I could have saved them some money. I would have paid for my own airline ticket, hotel AND meals for the next two months.

How the hell did this phone call go, anyway?

Keith: Hello?

Mark Cuban: Hey, Keith. It's Mark.

Keith: What could you possibly want?

Mark: We want you to come down and sign a contract with us.

Keith: No way, I retired. I just forgot to fill out the paperwork.

Mark: Wait, Keith. There's more. We don't want you to play. We are going to trade you to New Jersey. All you have to do is fly there and sit on the bench for two months. You don't even have to play!

Keith: No way, Mr. Cuban. And how did you get my number, I had it changed!

Mark: We'll give you $4.3 mil to do it.

Mark: Keith? Are you still there?

(Sound of phone hitting the floor, door slamming and car peeling out to get to the airport.....)

Wow. This could be the luckiest man in America that's not named Tony Parker.

Separated at birth

You cannot understand just how much I hate this little baby. I turned the NC State game on, unc is up by 20 with 1:30 left. Who do I see dive onto the floor to try to tie up the ball?

Tyler Hansbrough

42 seconds left, up by 16+. Who is pushing the ball down the court instead of running out the clock?

Tyler Hansbrough

And I don't want to hear about how he's just intense and a competitor. Nope, he's an A-hole.

27 seconds left. Now up by 14 they realize that NC State is probably not going to steal the ball and make a quick Rock N' Jock 14 pointer. With no pressure unc stands at center court, running out the clock. So, who has the ball? Who is standing at midcourt looking like a jackass? It's gotta be the point guard, right? After all, who normally runs out the clock? Nope

Tyler Hansbrough.

I know, it's only because I hate unc, right? Maybe. But consider this. I work with a guy who isn't the biggest college basketball fan but he knows he hates Duke. The day after the Duke-unc game he says to me:

"I wanted Duke to lose, but I couldn't root for unc." I asked him why. I don't remember his response exactly, but I know he called Hansbrough something depicted in the second picture above.

Our First Sponser

And by sponser I mean the first thing I bought for March Madness. It was a great deal on Ebay and I figure at the very least we'll all need one on Friday morning. I went with the 24 count box. For those of you who don't know what 5 hour energy is it's like a calorie free Red Bull that really does the job. Check out these testomonials about how great it works:

B. Hacker: "It works great, I was able to drink until 3am on Friday and then pick right back up at 11am on Saturday. Thank you 5 hour energy"

and

B. Dachel: "I was thinking about letting my youngest cry until I took a nap but with 5 hour energy I was able to get up and feed him to fulfill my portion of parental duties."

Separated at Birth

Joey Krabs and Mr. Krabs

I'm a Single Parent Until Sunday!

In a trend that continues, bubble teams seem to want to be out. Last night Baylor lost in overtime to Oklahoma to fall to 5-6 in conference after a 4-0 start. They are now out with Oregon slipping in. This year is shaping up to be a weird as each night it seems teams are playing themselves out of the tournament instead of giving me reason to put them in. The biggest downside to this trend is that because there aren't a ton of mid-majors waiting to get in the final 3-4 spots are going to big name conference teams like Florida, Baylor, Oregon, and Mississippi, that don't even have a winning conference record. A way to block these teams from getting is by having the mid-major conferences that have locks like the Horizon (Butler) and Missouri Valley (Drake) lose in there conference tournament so they get more than one team in. If Wright State and Illinois State win the auto bid, this would shrink the bubble and eliminate these 6th and 7th best teams out of the big conference. I don't know about you but I'd rather see a 12th seeded Wright State play Kansas State then a 12th seeded Oregon.

Beer Is Good...And Stuff!!

Note: I'm new to this blog thingy so I accidentally posted this as a coment on a previous post.

Some random thoughts from B-Rock Smoove:

The season is shaping up nicely. Memphis will probably be out of 95% of peoples brackets before the Sweet 16... and make the final 4. (I just threw up in my mouth a little.) In order to win a tournament game, Arizona will have to make the NIT, or the play-in game. Duke had a tough game Sunday. Fouled out the starting 5. I didn't know Bobby Huggins was coaching the team.

Some great games coming up Wednesday night. Marquette, Duke, the Commies. I'll be over Dachel. Ben, I'll be in AZ on from March 8th - 13th. Going to the wonderful town of Maryvale.

Out.

Tuesday's Winner and Losers

St. Joseph's:
St. Joe's loses at home to LaSalle to fall out of the bracket. They are still in second place in the Atlantic 10 but that conference is losing steam as the year progresses and at this point is probably only going to get 3 bids. With 3 weeks left St. Joe's can play themselves back into the bracket.

Syracuse:
Well, at least they're still in the bracket, if only by a spot or two. This team, I guarantee, plays itself out of the NCAA and into the NIT for the second straight year. Syracuse is another team that looks like the 2007 Duke squad...young, only 7 deep, and tired at the send of all their games. Currently 7-7 in the Big East and 17-10 overall I predict a 8-10 conference records and a early exit in the Big East tournament

Houston:
Thanks to St. Joe's loss, Houston slides into the bracket. I don't know a ton about this team but they are coached by ex-Texas coach, Tom Penders and like to get the ball up and down the court. A potential 12 seeded upset if they can hang in the bracket.

This Year's Theme Song

Thanks to Hacker for this one...

Monday Evening Bracktology Update

Things are starting to clear up in the bracket world this week. The also considered list got trimmed down to 18 teams and it will probably be under 15 by next week. The big movers this week are Western Kentucky, Arizona State, and Maryland which replace George Mason, Virginia Tech, and Mississippi. Mississippi is doing it's been 2006 Clemson impression by going 13-0 out of conference and 3-7 in conference. Without further ado, this week's bracket (of which Lunardi agree on all but 1)

Automatic Bids:
American East – Maryland-BC
ACC – Duke
Atlantic Sun – Belmont
Atlantic 10 – Xavier
Big East – Georgetown
Big Sky – Portland State
Big South – Winthorp
Big 10 – Purdue
Big 12 – Kansas
Big West – UC-Northridge
Colonial – VCU
Conference USA – Memphis
Horizon – Butler
Ivy League – Cornell
MAAC – Siena
MAC – Kent State
MEAC – Norfolk State
Missouri Valley – Drake
Mountain West – BYU
NorthEast – Robert Morris
Ohio Valley – Austin Peay
Pac 10 – UCLA
Patriot – American
SEC – Tennessee
Southern – Davidson
Summit – Oral Roberts
Southland – Lamar
Sun Belt – Western Kentucky
SWAC – Alabama State
WAC – Boise State
West Coast - Gonzaga

Locks (22)
North Carolina
Clemson
Connecticut
USC
Pittsburgh
Marquette
Indiana
Michigan State
Texas
Kansas State
Washington State
St. Mary’s
Vanderbilt
Arkansas
Rhode Island
Arizona
Maryland
Notre Dame
Wisconsin
Stanford
Texas A&M
Louisville

Great Bets (8)
UNLV
Mississippi State
Syracuse
Ohio State
Dayton
West Virginia
Oklahoma
St. Joseph’s

Last 4 In (4)
South Alabama
Florida
Baylor
Arizona State

First 4 Out (4)
Houston
Oregon
Mississippi
UMass

Also Considered (24)
Miami-Fla
George Mason
North Carolina State
California
Illinois State
New Mexico
Kentucky
UAB
Creighton
Seton Hall
San Diego State
Temple
Wake Forest
Ohio
Virginia Tech
Texas Tech
Minnesota
Villanova

Seedings
#1 Sees – Memphis, Tennessee, Duke, North Carolina,
#2 Seeds – Kansas, UCLA, Georgetown, Stanford
#3 Seeds – Texas, Xavier, Connecticut, Butler
#4 Seeds – Purdue, Drake, Washington State, Wisconsin
#5 Seeds – Louisville, Notre Dame, Kansas State, Marquette
#6 Seeds – St. Mary’s, Clemson, Michigan State, Indiana
#7 Seeds – Gonzaga, Pittsburgh, Texas A&M, Arizona
#8 Seeds – Vanderbilt, Rhode Island, BYU, Maryland
#9 Seeds – Arkansas, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, USC
#10 Seeds – Syracuse, Dayton, West Virginia, UNLV
#11 Seeds – Ohio State, South Alabama, St. Joseph’s, Arizona State
#12 Seeds – Baylor, Kent State, Florida, Davidson
#13 Seeds – VCU, Western Kentucky, Oral Roberts, Boise State
#14 Seeds – Winthorp, Cornell, Siena, Robert Morris
#15 Seeds – Cal-St Northridge, Lamar, Austin Peay, Belmont
#16 Seeds – American, Norfolk State, Portland State, Maryland-BC, Alabama State

It's not Sour Grapes

But, those officials were horrible. First they give double technicals to dipshit and Zoubek when all Zoubek did was turn to the offical and say, "did you see that". Then the guy runs into Singler and goes to throw a punch and gets nothing. Oh, and how many of the Duke starters fouled out? I'll give you a guess, it;s more than 4. That's right, all 5 Duke starters fouled out and 1 of Wake's too. I'm not saying the officials favored Wake but when you foul out 6 players in a game you're using your whistle too much and ruining the flow of the game.

Well, I'm still pissed but I'll take solice in knowing that a #1 seed will go to the winner of the ACC tournament and my team is still leading the conference by 1 game and the tie breaker.

Everybody has Homework

Last night, Dan, Bryan, and I, discussed possible "investment" opportunities for this year's March Madness. Last year we had the buy a team for 1 dollar pool but we are looking to expand that. This is a call out to all you degenerates to brainstorm some new ideas for this year. The best ideas we have so far are:

1. Team envelopes, just for that day, with whoever's team scores the most gets the money. Teams cost 1 or 2 dollars

2. Team envelopes, just for that day, with point spreads that cost 5 dollars. Who ever's team covers wins 10 dollars. (32 team, 16 winners, 16 losers

3. Player envelopes, just for that day, with top scores winning money. Cost 1 dollar per player or group of players

Who else has ideas?

It's Official - Mid Major Non Madness

With Creightin, Illinois State, and George Mason all losing yesterday the Mid Major darlings of yesteryear will now get as many bids as the MEAC and MAAC, 1. Over the past 3 years the Missouri Valley and Coloniol have been multiple bid leagues producing such Sweet Sixteen teams as George Mason, Bradley, Southern Illinois, and Wichita State. This year, barring any conference tournament upsets they will only be represented by Drake and VCU.

This year's conference's to watch are the Sun Belt and Atlantic 10. I've already mentioned a bit about the Atlantic 10 (thanks for losing to Fordham, UMass), but the Sun Belt, as of this week's bracket has 2 teams in, South Alabama and Western Kentucky. Western Kentucky boasts one of the best players you've never heard of, Courtney Lee and South Alabama's coach almost led 16 seeded Texas A&M-CC to an upset of Wisconsin last year. Both of these teams are capable of a Sweet Sixteen run.

More Past Tournament Memories

Always, Fear the Fro'



This second video is only funny if you forget how Dan and I reacted last year when Duke lost.

Battle of the You Suck Songs

I'm on a roll tonight! These are not work safe. Vote on which one is better. The Sheldin Williams comment is the best. I did like the Brandon Wright one too.

Separated at Birth

Tyler Hansborough and Beaker

Douche Bag of the Day

None of you probably know who this is by just looking at the picture so I'll give you some clues.

1. He averages 10.3 points a game

2. He plays on a team that is currently in my bracket

3. It's not a coincidence that his mouth is open in this picture

Team Spotlight

Massachusetts , 15-8

Let’s take a look at potential 11, 12 or 13 seed UMass. Currently I have them slotted in the last 4 out bracket but they can definitely play themselves in by just winning the games that they should. Their computer numbers are abnormally high for an Atlantic 10 team; RPI = 23, SOS = 11. What is currently bringing them down is their 4-5 conference record and 2-4 record over their last 6. They do have multiple marquee wins including @Syracuse, @Boston College, and against Rhode Island. Unfortunately, they’ve been swept by St. Joseph’s and it’ll be hard for them to get in if St. Joe’s does not.
Personnel wise UMass sports 4 players who average 12+ points including Gary Forbes who averages 20.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 3.1 assists. Together this team averages 82 points a game and routinely gets above that including the 107 they hung on Syracuse. If UMass gets in the tourney and can dictate pace they could pull off an upset against a 5 or 6 seed. Should I call the UMass over Arizona or Marquette upset now?

Oh, and If you hurry you can catch them on TV right now against Fordham.

More random thoughts....

See, here's the difference between last years Duke team and this years Duke team from the outside observer. Kyle Singler is silly good. Josh McRoberts sucked donkey dick. Silly good is always better than donkey dick. Coach K. said this about Singler:

"He can shoot, defend, pass -- he's a winner," coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's got it all, and it's all just a matter of getting the physical maturity there. He's still a young body, but he's not a young heart, nor a young mind. He's big-time in both those areas."

Tell me he wasnt thinking of how much McRoberts didnt't fulfill these qualities when he said it.

I should punch you for even touching women's NCAA hoops....and for making me look at a picture of Don Imus...did I do something to make you mad?

Quote from Ben: "I just don't know what to think about this team. Before this game I thought they could get hot and go deep in the tournament. Now, I just don't know."

Were you talking about Arizona, or did you steal my thinking on Marquette a few weeks ago...or a few days ago?

Non-hoops...Roger Clemens.. Brian McNamee...someone enjoys their grave nice and deep, by the looks of it....it takes huge balls to both be sitting and giving congressional testimony that makes it obvious that one of you is full of shit.

Ninja....horrible decisions...hee hee....

Don't bother Dan, he's busy writing me HDTV manifestos as I continue my research.

Later...

One other thing...

Never mind my suggestion that I might not have something better to talk about until after the Duke game.

Loser of the week goes to Arizona. I know that since I live here I should care about the rivalry, but I don't. All I know is that they have the #1 strength of schedule and because of that they have had some tough games. But they are a good team, right?

Well, we saw a monumental effort/meltdown Sunday in their 59-54 loss to Arizona State.

Look at this line:

Jerryd Bayless, 39 points, 3 assists. That means he played a part in 46 of Arizona's 54points.

Ball hog.

At least Arizona can take comfort in the fact that even though his first name is misspelled, he still bothered to show up. (Excuse me, Mrs. Bayless? Vowels are A-E-I-O-U and sometimes Y. This does not mean they are always interchangeable and should not be randomly selected when naming your son.)

Brian, thank God you know this. Could you imagine Carsyn Dachel?

Me either. You think he cries now...


The rest of the team? Pathetic. Led by interim coach Kevin O'Neill (who you all know and love!) they produced a strong display of 3-23 shooting from the floor.

Sidebar: Can ANYONE explain to me why Lute had to take a year off to get a divorce? Lucky for me I found a woman who can put up with me (or at least tolerate me most of the time.) So I guess I can't completely understand the difficulty of going through a divorce, but are you for real? Can you imagine telling your boss that you have to leave your job for a year to file some paperwork? I know I don't build rockets or have some other important job like running one of the better basketball programs in the country, but come on. Go back to work.


Anyway, back to the game. Chase Budinger must have been hungover (or still loaded) with his strong 1-for-12 night. Thank god for the 8 free throws Arizona made. Without those this game might have been embarrassing....

I just don't know what to think about this team. Before this game I thought they could get hot and go deep in the tournament. Now, I just don't know.

God, I MUST be tired

Yes, I am actually going to talk about women's college basketball. (Pick yourself up off of the floor Brian, stick with me here.)

Anyone see the Sportscenter clip from the Rutgers/Tennessee game? Nice game clock. For some odd reason youtube is not filled with clips of this so here's a link to the espn article, video included.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncw/columns/story?id=3241791&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab3pos2

In a nutshell, a foul was called long after the clock should have run out. Giving Tennessee two foul shots. Which were made, giving Tennessee a victory they probably did not deserve.

Where am I going with this? Is this the most misunderstood person in America?

He's still a major league douchebag and A-hole in my book. But did he call the Rutger's team hoes or merely say that they got HOSED?

I know, stupid joke. But hey, Brian posted a video of a ninja.

Maybe I will have something a little less lame to contribute after the Duke game tomorrow.

We can all hope.

By the way, where are you, Dan? From what I understand this whole blog thing was your idea.)

Bracket Notes - A Dangerous 8 Seed

BYU 18-5

Let’s take a closer look at BYU this year. Of their 5 loses 4 of them have come on the road against, #10 Michigan State, #23 UNLV, the number 2 team in the WAC, Boise State, and Wake Forest. Their lone home loss came against possible #1 seed North Carolina; a game in which BYU was outscored 14-4 in the final 5 minutes.
Personnel wise BYU has 3 players which average 13+ points and 5+ rebounds including possible Mountain West player of the year, 6-11 Center, Trent Plaisted.
If matched up against a vulnerable #1 seed (aka not Duke) in round 2 I can see a possible upset.

Dan Asks a Ninja

Dan, Dan, DAN, Dan Asks A Ninja..."My friend Brian already had two kids and now has a third. Does he make bad decisions?"

Brian? That guy makes terrible decisions. Here he is blogging when obviously he should be taking a nap!

Good Answers

You would think at some point you might want to look into a big man. Maybe the unfrozen caveman is confused and frightened by the concept of the big man. Perhaps Bo Ryan can lend Maarquette that 6-9 white guy cloning machine he has.

How does it feel to go to the other extreme with Duke, and have to sweat out the tourney with them as a 1 seed? There are worse things...

Roy Hibbert really should have more than 10 rebounds in his last 2 games combined. He's 7-2. Christ, one of us could probably stand on the court doing nothing for 2 games and collect 6 or so...

Warning - as of the moment I have no comparison pictures in mind for the tournament. You actually took one of my early contenders with the cricket. Good to see you on the same thought pattern.

Your Answers

1. Probably never since Marquette can still finish 11-5 in the Big East by winning most of their home games and feasting on the bottom feeders on the road (AKA Cincinnati, Rutgers, Depaul, and South Florida)

2. Absolutely. With the right matchup (like Rider and thier 6-11 center, Jason Thompson) I'd be willing to pick a 14 seed over them if they make a run in the Big East tournament and get a 3 seed

3. Close but his real crutch is that he doesn't recruit any inside players. They haven't had any power in the middle since Robert Jackson and he was a transfer. You need guard play to win in the tournament but you can't be completely reliant on it.

Oh wise NCAA Guru

Answer for me these Marquette questions three:

Question the first: At what point will Marquette go from lock to good bet?

Question the second: Will you pick Marquette to lose in the first round in the 5-12 or 6-11 matchup that they seem to be pointed toward.

Question the third: Is Tom Crean a good coach? Or does he just recruit good enough talent to make him look good? (You and Dan probably would recognize this by its clinical name of "Roy Williams syndrome")

Top 10 Teams I Hate The Most

10. Connecticut
9. Louisville
8. Maryland
7. Ohio State
6. UCLA
5. Kentucky
4. Kansas
3. Memphis
2. Michigan State
1. North Carolina

Douche Bag of the Millenium

We all knew he's a dick. This is proof.

Douche Bag of the Day

Today's Douche Bag of the Day is Tyler Hanbourgh's nose. Last year he almost broke Gerald Henderson's elbow with that thing. Let's hope NC doesn't play dirty this year.

Douche Bag of the Day

Today's Douche Bag of the Day is not a person but a corporation. That Corporation? ESPN. That's right, ESPN in their quest to destroy everything cool has decided to bring Dick Vitale back to call the Duke-Carolina game on Wednesday night. In case you haven't noticed, Vitale had throat surgery and hasn't been calling games this year. Now, with the biggest game of the year on tap they decide to roll him back out. Raise your hand if you've missed any of his commentary and "analysis"....

Monday Evening Bracktology Update

Well, Lunardi and I only have 1 different this week (he has Ohio, I have Virginia Tech) and we have 14 of the top 16 seeds the same. Things are starting to take shape with 6 weeks left. There are a couple also considered that are soon to be dropped....Boston College as predicted. Anyway, sorry for the lack of updates over the weekend; I'm sure I'll be posting a ton this week as I have a couple topics already in mind.

Automatic Bids:
American East – Maryland-BC
ACC – Duke
Atlantic Sun – Jacksonville
Atlantic 10 – Xavier
Big East – Georgetown
Big Sky – Portland State
Big South – UNC-Asheville
Big 10 – Wisconsin
Big 12 – Kansas
Big West – UC-Northridge
Colonial – VCU
Conference USA – Memphis
Horizon – Butler
Ivy League – Cornell
MAAC – Rider
MAC – Kent State
MEAC – Hampton
Missouri Valley – Drake
Mountain West – UNLV
NorthEast – Sacred Heart
Ohio Valley – Austin Peay
Pac 10 – UCLA
Patriot – Lafayette
SEC – Tennessee
Southern – Davidson
Summit – Oral Roberts
Southland – Lamar
Sun Belt – South Alabama
SWAC – Alabama State
WAC – Utah State
West Coast - Gonzaga

Locks (22)
North Carolina
Clemson
Connecticut
USC
Pittsburgh
Marquette
Indiana
Michigan State
Texas
Kansas State
Washington State
St. Mary’s
Arkansas
Vanderbilt
Rhode Island
Arizona
West Virginia
Notre Dame
Purdue
Stanford
Texas A&M
Louisville

Great Bets (8)
St. Joseph’s
Syracuse
Oklahoma
Ohio State
Dayton
Florida
Baylor
Mississippi

Last 4 In (4)
Mississippi State
BTU
Virginia Tech
George Mason

First 4 Out (4)
Umass
Illinois State
Ohio
North Carolina State

Also Considered (24)
Miami-Fla
Seton Hall
Creighton
Oregon
Texas Tech
Western Kentucky
San Diego State
Providence
Wake Forest
Temple
Maryland
Houston
California
Villanova
Akron
Georgia Tech
UAB
Southern Illinois
Boston College
Charlotte
Minnesota
Arizona State
Duquesne
Kentucky

Seedings
#1 Seeds – Memphis, Duke, North Carolina, UCLA
#2 Seeds – Kansas, Georgetown, Tennessee, Wisconsin
#3 Seeds – Drake, Butler, Michigan State, Texas
#4 Seeds – Xavier, Stanford, Washington State, Connecticut
#5 Seeds – St. Mary’s, Rhode Island, Kansas State, Marquette
#6 Seeds – Indiana, Gonzaga, Louisville, Arizona
#7 Seeds – Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Mississippi, Clemson
#8 Seeds – Ohio State, Baylor, USC, Arkansas
#9 Seeds – Dayton, Vanderbilt, Oklahoma, Notre Dame
#10 Seeds – Mississippi State, Purdue, UNLV, Syracuse
#11 Seeds – Florida, West Virginia, Kent State, South Alabama
#12 Seeds – St. Joseph’s, BYU, Virginia Tech, VCU
#13 Seeds – George Mason, Davidson, Oral Roberts, Utah State
#14 Seeds – UC-Northridge, Cornell, UNC-Ashville, Austin Peay
#15 Seeds – Rider, Sacred Heart, Lafayette, Hampton
#16 Seeds – Maryland-BC, Lamar, Portland State, Jacksonville, Alabama State

Douche Bag of the day

As you may have noticed, normally the douche bag of the day is a person. Ironically enough, it always seems to be a player on a team that plays Duke. Nope, today the douche bag of the day goes to an entire television network. Do you think ABC could show the Duke game today? No, they decided to show Kansas vs. Colorado. "Regional coverage," they say. They didn't even have the decency to show it in HD.

Thanks, ABC. I now hate you. Nice of you to show me a crap game. Even nicer to insult me by showing it in sh!tty vision.

Live Green My Ass

Yes, you heard me. This is exactly what you deserve when you try to pull that environmental crap. They get minus points for starting with the shirts, then plus points for chucking them. Made me go out and start up every engine I had just to try to offset it. Do you realize how dumb it looks to have the weed whacker idling in the middle of your driveway in a snowstorm? But, you gotta do what you gotta do. At least they got smart, chucked the shirts, and won the game for you. Dont mess with karma!

Bleed Blue, Live Green

Well, what a night. I turned on the Duke game and thought they were playing at Tulane.



Nice shirts, hippies. I'm all for being environmentally responsible but you never, EVER upset the basketball Gods. This was proven by Duke's slow start and 9 point deficit at halftime. Finally the Crazies got smart and proceded to chuck their green shirts onto the court. At least they were throwing the shirts toward a recycle bin.




Very Al Gore of them. Minus the majority of the green shirts Duke goes on to win by 20.

Douche bag of the night goes to Courtney Fells. First of all you have a girl's first name. Maybe that's why you were cranky last night. Pushing, shoving and staring down the Duke players. Did you see him let out that primal roar? Yes, it was a good play and one of your two blocks. But shouldn't that roar have been in celebration of your one rebound or your 0-5 shooting from the floor?

26 minutes, 1 point, 1 rebound. Way to contribute.