Our Savior

Olek Czyz

Ht: 6-7 Wt: 235

Scout.com Player Evaluation:
STRENGTHS
Athleticism
Competitiveness
Plays Facing Basket
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Perimeter Shot
Post Play
Native of Poland. Power forward has tons of bounce and determination. Thinks everything should be a dunk. Has some face up capabilities. Needs to round out his offense but has the potential to be considered a big conference player

So much for seeing Duke in Phoenix...

Only 361 days until the 2009 tourney!

Time for StubHub...

Duke is in the West region.  The west regionals are in Phoenix.  I live in Phoenix.  Hmmm.......

64 out of 65

Not bad. I still disagree with Villanova but I can't complain about 64 out of 65.

I do like Duke's draw but they should have been a 3 and Wisconsin should be a 2.

I am absolutely loving Mississippi State to beat Memphis in the second round. Book it baby!

Christmas comes early for Duke!!

Dan and Brian are pleased.....but probably not pleased to see Arizona in the second round. Hacker is already talking. I can hear him. Coach K... eeeehhhhhh.

Ring a ding ding...

"Wait, no I am going to pick VCU. No wait, back to Oregon. Christ, it will probably be Villanova."

May Christ be with you.

Wisconsin....Bend Over...Grab Ankles....

Criticism Sandwich?

I'm guessing it isn't slathered in delicious buffalo sauce?

Butler a #7? No love....

My Final Predictions

Georgia gets in which pops a bubble. I've gone back and forth on my last team in. I've left Illinois State in because I think the MVC deserves two. It wouldn't surprise me if I'm wrong on that one. The last team came down to VCU and Oregon and as much as I would like to pick VCU I don't think the committee will. Wait, no I am going to pick VCU. No wait, back to Oregon. Christ, it will probably be Villanova.

Ok, I'm going with Oregon.

Automatic Bids:
American East – Maryland-BC
ACC – North Carolina
Atlantic Sun – Belmont
Atlantic 10 – Temple
Big East – Pittsburgh
Big Sky – Portland State
Big South – Winthorp
Big 10 – Wisconsin
Big 12 – Kansas
Big West – Cal St-Fullerton
Colonial – George Mason
Conference USA – Memphis
Horizon – Butler
Ivy League – Cornell
MAAC – Siena
MAC – Kent State
MEAC – Coppin State
Missouri Valley – Drake
Mountain West – UNLV
NorthEast – Mount St. Mary’s
Ohio Valley – Austin Peay
Pac 10 – UCLA
Patriot – American
SEC – Georgia
Southern – Davidson
Summit – Oral Roberts
Southland – Tex-Arlington
Sun Belt – Western Kentucky
SWAC – Mississippi Valley State
WAC – Boise State
West Coast – San Diego

Locks (22)
Duke
Clemson
Connecticut
USC
Georgetown
Marquette
Indiana
Michigan State
Texas
Kansas State
Washington State
St. Mary’s
Vanderbilt
Tennessee
Mississippi State
Gonzaga
BYU
Notre Dame
Purdue
Stanford
Xavier
Louisville

Great Bets (8)
Miami-Fla
Kentucky
West Virginia
Arizona
Texas A&M
Oklahoma
South Alabama
Baylor

Last 4 In (4)
Arizona
St. Joseph’s
Illinois State
Oregon

First 4 Out (4)
VCU
Massachusetts
Virginia Tech
Arizona State

Also Considered (24)
New Mexico
Mississippi
Ohio State
Villanova
UAB
Florida
Houston
Maryland
Dayton
Syracuse

Seedings
#1 Seeds – Memphis, North Carolina, UCLA, Kansas
#2 Seeds –Tennessee, Wisconsin, Georgetown, Texas
#3 Seeds – Duke, Stanford, Lousiville, Pittsburgh
#4 Seeds – Clemson, Xavier, Butler, Vanderbilt
#5 Seeds – Notre Dame, Indiana, Connecticut, Drake
#6 Seeds – Washington State, Purdue, Michigan State, Marquette
#7 Seeds – USC, Gonzaga, BYU, Oklahoma
#8 Seeds – UNLV, Texas A&M, West Virginia, Arkansas
#9 Seeds – Mississippi State, Kent State, Davidson, South Alabama
#10 Seeds – Miami-Fla, St. Mary’s, Kansas State, Baylor
#11 Seeds – Arizona, Oregon, Kentucky, St. Joseph’s
#12 Seeds – Temple, Illinois State, Western Kentucky, George Mason
#13 Seeds –Oral Roberts, Cornell, Georgia, Boise State
#14 Seeds – Belmont, Siena, San Diego, Austin Peay
#15 Seeds – Winthorp, UMBC, Cal State-Fullerton, Portland State
#16 Seeds – American, Mount St. Mary’s, Tex-Arlington, Coppin State, Mississippi Valley State

I'm Back

And I've learned the criticism sandwich and how to fill each child's "emotional tank".

Seriously, I'm putting the finishing touches on my seeding. Looks like the Badgers are on their way to a 2 seed.

Chirp.....chirp....chirp....

Well, either Darren Collison has entered the building (the human cricket) or thats the sound of the blog on this critical selection sunday, as our own bracketologist learns how to make kids shag ground balls and lose with pride. So I decided that I should probably log in and address the topic on everyone's mind....how great Tyler Hansbrough is. It is obvious that his ability to suck in all the oxygen in the lane area not only helps him out, but also works to the detriment of other big men. You probably arent aware of this, but if you have Dolby Digital 7.1 surround sound, the seventh channel is fully dedicated to the sound of him sucking in air and making the wookie sound when a good play ensues. Truly amazing. Not as amazing as Roy Williams' coaching ability. But still amazing.

Morning Update

A lot of stuff went down yesterday resulting in probably less than 5 bids available at this point. Temple gets in as an automatic bid which means the A-10 is probably a 3 bid league. My last 4 in at this point are Illinois Stat, St. Joseph's, Oregon, and VCU.

Realitically both Illinois State and St. Joseph's should be safe which means the bubble in my mind is down to 2 spots. As of 8am this morning I am giving those spots to Oregon and VCU but reserve the right to change my mind as I am leaning how to properly coach my kids all day long. The other teams that stay in contention are the following in order of most likely:

Arizona State - RPI in the 80's but a lot of big wins
Massachusetts - 10-6 in the A-10, won their last 6.
Virginia Tech - 9-7 in the highest ranked conference, beat Miami and played UNC tough
Ohio State - won two big games last week
Villanova - beat Syracuse, has a solid computer profile. Screwed at Georgetown
Dayton - Superb computer numbers, RPI = 31. Did most of their damage before Chris Wright got hurt and he never came back

In a perfect world my last 2 in would be VCU and UMass but I can't see the commitee taking 4 teams from the A-10. Although they "can't" do it this way I bet Temple getting in knocked UMass out.

I'll be on later with my final seedings and such. 9 more hours to bracket launch!

Minnesota - Indiana Last Night

Great freaking finish, hope the tourney has a few of these.

Today's Bids

Here's a list of today's Bids with notes:

C-USA - Memphis - Tulsa: Should be a blowout. A Tulsa win takes a bid away from the bubble.

American East - Hartford - UMBC: UMBC might, might, be able to keep a game close as at 14 or 15 so let's go with them. Or if Hartford wins we can sit around and talk about the good olde days of Vin Baker.

Big West - Cal-Irvine - Cal St-Fullerton: Got to cheer for the Anteaters

MAC - Arkron - Kent State: If Kent wins this they'll be looking at an 8 or 9 seed. A loss drops them to a 10 or 11 and Akron comes in as a 13. Akron's solid but will probably be beat.

Mountain West - BYU - UNLV: Both are locks and are playing for seeds. BYU might be a dangerous 6 seed

MEAC - Morgan State - Coppin State: 16 seed city baby!

SWAC - Jackson State - Mississippi Valley State - play in game baby!

Southland - Northwestern State - Texas-Arlington: No need to fear the fro this year. Winner of this game plays the winner of the SWAC game in the play in game.

WAC - New Mexico State - Boise State: Here's your 13 seed that takes a 4 seed down to the wire. I'm calling it now. NMst wins this and then plays UConn tough on Thursday. Book It.

Dominic James and More

Final tally for James 3-16, 8 points. I hear the NBA calling.

As for the bubble, it seems to be shrinking. After an early morning feeding and deliberation I've gone ahead and locked in Arizona, South Alabama, and Baylor. What that does is leave 5 bids for the at large. This will shrink if either Tulsa beats Memphis or Arkron beats Kent State in the C-USA and MAC championships.

Of the 5 spots, the safest (probably because it's been so long since they lost) is Illinois State. With that the case my last 4 in and out are the following:

Last 4 in:
St. Joseph's (misht be a lock after beating Xavier)
VCU
Massachusetts
Arizona State

Last 4 out:
Virginia Tech
Temple
Oregon
Ohio State

Virginia Tech and Temple both play today. Temple in the A-10 championship and VaTech against North Carolina. If Temple beats St. Jospeh's they would both get in, probably knocking out UMass. If they loses I think Umass gets the bid. I know the committee is not supposed to look at conference affiliation but I think *wink*wink, they will.
Virginia Tech gets in with a win, but might be able to leap frog Arizona State with a close loss. A blowout and I think they are done.

Hopefully later today I'll have enough time to check out RPI and anchor down the bids.

Things heard tonight

Dominic James is now 0-8 from the field...

Update, now 0-9

Looks like somebody beat me to the blog.

F-ing Piece of Horseshit

It is halftime of the Marquette game. If your name is Bryan Demski, you now have a couple of beers in you. If your name is Dominic James, you are 0-7 with 1 point. Oh yes, 1 point. NBA scouts must be drooling at the prospect of drafting you. Overrated puke, lose your stupid ass knee socks and focus on orange ball going in circular hoop. If I want an undersized point guard, can I at least have Maurice Acker? At least he has 3 points. I cant wait for you to get one of your injuries in the second half.

End Communication.

Big Win

St. Joseph's knocks off Xavier which means the A-10 is at least a two bid conference with a chance of 3 or 4 depending on the Temple-Charlotte game.

Ohio State

Please report to the NIT. Thank you.

Big win by Virginia Tech today. That might be enough to get them in. Depends on how the A-10 games tonight turn out.

Go Colgate

Have you seen Kendall Chones and his beard??

I can't find a good picture on the web.

You'll have to take my word for it or turn on ESPN2 immediately.

He's reason number 1 on why I want them to win.

Friday 1pm

It's Friday at 1pm, do you know where Florida State?

Try the NIT.

Today's Situation

Well, after yesterday's disaster of a day for the bubble there are a couple more games to watch today.

Florida State-North Carolina - For FSU it's win or your done.

Virginia Tech - Miami - VaTech needs this one badly. They probably can't make it in without a win here

Ohio State - Michigan State - With all the losses yesterday OSU migh be able to make it with a win today.

Charlotte - Temple - The winner of this game remains in the at-large market. The loser is done.

St. Joseph's - Xavier - A win for St. Joe's locks them in. A loss probably spells NIT

Also, the Patriot league's final is this afternoon between Colgate and American. Winner get's to get destroyed by a 1 seed on Thursday.

Last 4 in:
Massachusetts
Ohio State
Arizona State
VCU

Last 4 out:
St. Joseph's
Oregon
Virgina Tech
Temple

Early Friday Morning

Let's see what I missed last night after I went to bed:
Oregon - Lost
New Mexico - Lost
Massachusetts - Lost
Mississippi - Lost
Arizona - Lost
Maryland - Lost

The only two bubble teamas that won are UNLV and Texas A&M. Those wins combined with all the other losses move those two to locks.

I haven't figured out the last 4 in and out yet but it's definately looking better for Illinois State now and VCU might have a chance too.

Thursday Evening Update

4, count them 4 non Atlantic 10 bubble teams played this afternoon and all 4 lost. Arizona State, Florida, UAB, and Houston all come up empty and you can cross all of them off. The only one of the 4 that I had in was Arizona State so they move from last 4 in to last 4 out. Replacing them is the regular season Colonial Champion, VCU.

On the positive side of things both Temple and St. Joseph's won to remain in the hunt if any other bubble teams lose. I believe Temple gets Xavier tomorrow and that's the kind of win that can leap frog a couple bubble teams.

It's 9pm now and Oregon is down almost 20 at half. Right now I have them "in" but a loss knocks them out. Next in line to jump in are New Mexico and Mississippi both who play later.

In other games of note, Massachusetts, Arizona, UNLV, Texas A&M, and Maryland are all in action. The first 4 are in as of now but if they lose they can begin sweating.

Investment Opportunities Have Been Set

All-I've set up all of our investment opportunities for March Madness. Hopefully this year's games will be more interesting than last and we won't have to hit the geek dice at 1pm. I'm not saying we can't, I'm just saying...

Anyway, here's the pool's I've put together.

Team Pool:

Same as last year, each envelope costs $1.00 and has 1 team in it. As your team is eliminated so are you. Final Four teams pay out $8.00, Championship Teams payout $10.00 and the winner an additional $12.00.

Point Spread Pool:

Each envelope costs $5.00 and contains 1 team with it's corresponding point spread. All 32 teams for that day are available. The winner of each game, with it's spread, gets $10.00

Player Points Pool:

Each envelope costs $2.00 and contains 2 players, the top scorer from 1 team and the second highest scorer from another team. The points totaled by each player will be added together for your final score. The highest scoring tandem will win $25.00, the second, $18.00, the third, $13.00, and the fourth $8.00.

Final Score Square Pool:

This pool is exactly like the grid pool that most of you have seen for football games. The premise is simple. There are 25 squares which cost $7.00 a piece. Once all squares are sold, numbers will be picked out of a hat to fill in the top and side (each will have 2 numbers a piece). The final score of each game that day will pay out $10.00 except for 1 game (determined that day) which will pay $25.00. i.e. if Duke beats Portland State 77-43 then the square that corresponds to 7 for the higher seed and 3 for the lower seed wins.

I figure this takes into consideration teams, players, spreads, and final scores. I think that's enough right? Just in case, I better make sure the poker table, beer pong table, and geek dice are ready too.

Thursday 2pm

UAB is upset by Tulsa in the Conference USA semi-finals to seal their fate. UAB can be spelled with a N, an I, and a T.

Thursday 1pm

Well, it's Thursday 1pm and I'm at home taking care of 2 kids and a wife with a 103 degree fever. That's not the case of March Madness that we're looking for. And I know what you are all thinking too. Lucky Brian is sitting at home watching basketball but I'll have you know that between the 2 hours of Baby Einstein and Guilding Light I've actually watched less this afternoon then I did yesterday (d'Avis you know what I'm talking about!)

Anyway, the early games produce 0 upsets and Dayton and Villanova are sent the way of Syracuse. Welcome to the no loger considered list. Florida State hangs on to their very slim at-large hopes and advance to play North Carolins tomorrow.

Next update should be later in the afternoon.

Probably Should Have Checked the Schedule

I probably should have checked the schedule before making my statement about updating the blog throughout the day. Not much to blog about yesterday as their really was only 1 bubble game and the rest was full of garbage like Colorado State and East Carolina.

As mentioned yesterday, Syracuse has been removed as well as Rhode Island. Portland State and Mount St. Mary's have been locked in with bid and 15th and 16th seeds respectively.

Today begins the actual bubble madness as the big conference start their tournaments. Hopefully I will be able to blog through the day with updates.

In Memory of Syracuse...

TJ Sorrentine Again.

Goodbye Syracuse

1pm update - Syracuse gets destroyed by Villanova and they are now out. I still believe Villanova needs to beat Georgetown to get in so they are still out. Replacing Syracuse for the time being is Oregon.

In A-10 Dayton blows a 10 point lead but wins in overtime to advance. They need to beat Xavier now to stay in the picture.

For reference here are my last 4 in and out:

Last 4 in:
Arizona State
Illinois State
Ohio State
Oregon

Last 4 out:
VCU
Dayton
Mississippi
New Mexico

I also wouldn't say these teams can relax just yet:
Kentucky
UMass
Texas A&M
South Alabama
Arizona
Arkansas

Bubble Teams, Start Your Engines

Today's a big day as all the major conferences start their tournaments. If possible I will do a running commentary on the games through the day.

As for last night 3 more bids were given out. Western Kentucky, Oral Roberts, and Butler all get in and bubble teams rejoice as Butler's auto bid saves one more at large for everybody else.

Now It Gets Dicey

4 bids were given out last night so let's start with that. Congrats go to Davidson, George Mason, Siena and San Diego. What you say? San Diego? Yep, San Diego takes the WCC bid which is almost locked in for 3 bids now with Gonzaga and St. Mary's virtual locks. That means one less bid for the bubble. On top of that South Alabama lost in the Sun Belt semi-finals. South Alabama is an intriguing case as they have a top 30 RPI and should be a lock. However, remember just a couple years ago when Southwest Missouri State didn't get a bid with a RPI in the low 20's. As for now I'm putting them in making the Sun Belt a two bid conference.
Now the losers for the night. Since the bubble has shrunk by two that will knock out both Mississippi and Dayton and leaves the last 4 in as Arizona State, Illinois State, Ohio State, and Syracuse. None of those 4 should feel safe as they all need to win later this week to hang on.

As for tonight there are 3 bids going.

1. Sun Belt - Western Kentucky against Middle Tennessee State. WK can do some damage in the tournament with scores Courtney Lee so lets cheer for them.

2. Horizon - Cleveland State against Butler. Bubble teams should cheer for Butler but who can resist coming along with the Snorks? Go Snorks on this one.

3. Summit - IUPUI against Oral Roberts. It's fun to say OOOeeePOOOee but when you get a chance for Oral you take it. Go Oral!

Bubble, In

By my calculations there are still 10 bids that are still up in the air. This can shrink if San Diego beats Gonzaga tonight or if any of the other locks lose their tournament. Those 10 spots are currently held by the below list of teams. I'll summarize what they need to do to hang on to that spot.

1. Illinois State - pray that they are not penalized for the slaughter that happened yesterday. Their season is over so there's not much they can do.

2. Kentucky - avoid an embarrassing loss in against the winner of the Mississippi-Georgia game. I think they are probably in even if they lose that game based on their 12-4 conference record

3. Arkansas - luckily got a first round bye but will probably have to play Vanderbilt. Win that and they are a lock. Lose and it's close.

4. Arizona - the 7th seed in the PAC-10 all they need is to beat 0-18 Oregon State. A win there and they are in.

5. Texas A&M - losers of 5 of their last 8 they need to at least beat Iowa State and then a good showing against K-State should be enough.

6. Arizona State - they NEED to beat USC. Their RPI and SOS is awful and unless they get that one I think they are on the outside looking in.

7. Syracuse - a first round matchup against Villanova is an elimination game. Even if they win they might need to beat Georgetown in the second round.

8. Mississippi - as mentioned above they would need to beat Georgia and then it's a possible elimination game against Kentucky. Mississippi needs that game more than Kentucky does.

9. Dayton - two games, it's as simple as that. Beat St. Louis and upset Xavier, which is easier said than done, and they are in. Their second best player who led them to a 13-1 start should be back for the A-10 tourney. For those of you who remember VCU from last year...Dayton is my VCU this year.

10. Ohio State. Simple. Beat Michigan State and they're in. Lose and they'll be leap frogged by a team currently out.

Tomorrow I'll highlight some teams outside looking in.

Regular Season = Over

Well, the regular season came to an end yesterday with a couple teams making a last second push while others acted like Carson and took huge dumps in their pants. Staying in the at-large picture, unfortunately for those of us who like good basketball, was Ohio State who came back and beat Michigan State. With wins over MSU and Purdue this week they squeak back into the picture knocking out New Mexico who didn't even play yesterday. As for the other side of things the ACC continued to beat up on each other as both Maryland and Virginia Tech lost to drop them out of our bracket. The beneficiary of these latest loses appear to be the SEC as Kentucky and Mississippi leapfrog both ACC teams and jump barely into the bracket. By no means are they locks but if the season ended today I think they would be in.

Looking at the mid-majors we've had one major upset as both Bill and Mary beat VCU in the Colonial Semi-Finals to advance to the finals against George Mason. Sounds like a advantage for Bill and Mary as they are playing George 2 on 1. VCU, at this point is now OUT of the bracket as their profile suggests close but no cigar. They'll be watching the conference tournaments later this week hoping one of the teams mentioned above loses their first round game.

The only bid up for grabs yesterday went to Drake who destroyed Illinois State 79-49. Illinois State now falls into the category that UAB was in a couple days ago. Probably in but not a great last showing for the committee. I'm still going to leave them in for now as a 2nd place finish in the MVC should count for something.

As for tonight there are 4 bids up:

1. The WCC final between San Diego and Gonzaga should be interesting as if San Diego wins the WCC should get 3 bids with St. Mary's rounding out the at -large.

2. The Southern finals between Elon and Davidson. Davidson should win this game by 20 points but if not probably should get an at-large

3. The MAAC between Rider and Siena. Meh.

4. The Colonial as mentioned earlier between George Mason and Bill and Mary. George Mason again has a team that can win a game or two so let's go ahead and cheer for them.

Later today I should have time to outline the bubble and who is still not safe. At first glance I would say there are still between 7-10 bids that are not locked up.

3 Bids, Bubble Updates and the Waterboy

3 bids were given out on Saturday, congrats to Winthrop, Belmont, and Austin Peay on punching their tickets although I really wanted to see UNC-Ashville make the Big Dance.

In other action there were as many big bubble wins as their were big bubble loses. On the plus side of things, Arizona State, Arkansas, Dayton, and New Mexico win while UAB (more on them in a minute) and Arizona lose. On the other side of the cutoff Syracuse, Oregon, Mississippi, and Villanova win while Rhode Island, Houston, and St. Joe's lose. Those last three probably need a minimum of a conference tournament final appearence to get a bid and may need to win it for the auto bid.

The team that lost the most ground yesterday as mentioned earlier was UAB. Prior to their game againast Memphis I had them as a Great Bet and didn't think a loss would hurt them that much. However, they got destroyed by 40+ points and that kind of statement might leave a bad taste in the commitee's mouth. At this point I moved them back out, replaced by Maryland, and the semi-final game against Houston is going to be an elimation game for both of them. Even with a win there, a blowout loss to Memphis might keep them on the outside.

Lastly, we all know the Waterboy and their mouthbreathing cohorts beat Duke last night so there's not much to talk about there. I did analyze the situation and I still believe Duke is a #2 seed, barely ahead of Georgetown. I also think a #1 seed is within reach with an ACC conference tournament title. In all that loss didn't hurt much and I can still rationalize with the best of them.

FUCK

Beep....Beep....Beep....

Is that a dump truck backing into my living room? No, its Marquette's dumb ass backing into the tournament in stupendous fashion, losing 2 of their last 3. What the hell was that crap against Syracuse? It was an insult to my TV to even have to display it....I didnt spend money on an HDTV to have it display 60 inches of horseshit for two hours. Unfrozen caveman head coach needs to quit being confused and frightened of coaching his team. Stupid. Beer will make me feel better.

Side note, what was a wack-ass game winning shot in the UCLA game, pulled that one out from the games of HORSE in the driveway.

Good to see...

…our gracious “host” and blogging manager can go into any post and drop random subliminal messages, such as ‘you are no longer invited to my house during March madness’. Just so you know, I am rooting for Duke in this game, so no need to get subliminal on me.

After re-reading it, it’s not all that subliminal, but quite direct…I guess that means I will be crashing your house on the 20^th. I’ll make sure I steal a case of beer.

And Now The Bids Start

8 days before Selection Sunday and now the bids will start rolling in. First, let's touch on Friday's action, which come from the Missouri Valley. Southern Illinois loses in the quarter final to be eliminated from discussion for a Bid. This closes a dissapointing season for the team I picked as a 5 seed prior to the season. Illinois State wins to move to the Semi-Final and in my mind locks a bid. To be safe they should go ahead and beat Northern Iowa to lock themselves in.

On to today where 3 bids will be given out. First at 10:30 am the Big South wraps up when UNC-Ashville plays Winthorp. Both teams are capable of picking off a top seed in the tournament. Should be a good game and if you get a chance check it out on ESPN2 to get a glimpse of Kenny George. In the Atlantic Sun Belmont takes on Jacksonville at 6pm for the title. The winner of this game is looking like a 15/16 seed so not much to talk about it here. Plus Belmont has been destroyed in the tournament the last two years by UCLA and Georgetown. Lastly, the Ohio Valley Valley kicks off at 4pm with 6 seeded Tennessee State taking on the Governors of Austin Peay. Again, were looking at a 15/16 seed here so besides being able to say Governors there's not much to get excited about.

Oh, and there seems to be another game tonight of some importance, I just can't remember what it is.....

Duhhh...

This picture says it all...battle of the mouth breathers.


And Todd is no longer invited to my house for March Madness.

Why you should cheer for UNC-Ashville

I kind of stole this from SI.com but it's the Kenny George highlight from their game against VMI. He sat out the entire game because of his bad knees and came in with 11 seconds left in OT down by 1. After the turnover he was pulled again. 6 seconds of action, 1 game winner.

Easy Like Friday Morning

A strange night in basketball last night as almost all teams projected In the bracket lost. Clemson, Connecticut, Stanford, Xavier, and Boise State all lose but are relatively safe (except for Boise State, more on that later). All of the loses came on the road so it might not even effect their seeding. Winning last night on the plus side of the bubble were UCLA, USC, and Arizona. This should all but sew up a bid for Arizona whose SOS of 1 should lock them in even if they fall to Oregon over the weekend.
Back to Boise State for a moment; their loss leaves them at 12-4 in the WAC with 3 teams at 11-4. Should New Mexico State, Utah State, and Nevada all win this weekend their would be a 4 way tie for first. That should make for an interesting conference tournament.
Lastly, a lot of the conference tournaments have started and we are going to be able to start nailing down the small bids and bubble teams. Make sure you are studying these games so you can predict the 14 seed that's going to win this year.

Thursday aftenoon update

Stupid work getting in the way of my March Madness updates. It's things like this that makes me want to retire.

First off, congratulations to the Florida Gators who have finally lost enough games combined with enough bubble teams winning to knock them out of the Last 4 in. I guess that 15 point second half lead wasn't good enough to stave off Tennessee. Rising up to claim their spot are the Dayton Flyers who have a RPI of 35 and should should get special consideration from the committee since their top player has been out over the last 12 games. Chris Wright is scheduled to be back for the conference tournament so don't be surprised if they go on a run from here on out.

Also, stepping up last night was Temple, who's 10-5 conference record in the A-10 gets them back on the also considered list.

Full Court Inbound Dunk

Yes, it is not college or March Madness related....but try to figure out how many times on a playground and a 9 foot rim you'd have to try to do this to pull it off, and here some high school kid does it in a game:

Wednesday's Thoughts

Again, not a ton of movement last night as most of the teams that were supposed to win, did. New Mexico and Virginia Tech, my last two in, both won to solidiy their prospects. On the other hand Arkansas lost on the road to Mississippi dropping them into the last 4 in. Losers of 5 of their last 7 Arkansas is playing their way out of the tournament. The other big winners from last night are Mississippi and Ohio State who are crawling up from the bottom of the bubble. Both teams need to win their last regular season game this weekend to continue their ascend.

More Past Tournament Memories

We must not focus on football sadness but march madness. It took some time but I made it ryhme. Not lets all go drive a car.

Can't forget this Maryland-UNC Wilmington game from '05.

Black Tuesday

Damn. Damn. Damn.

So does he change his mind come November?

Tuesday's Update

Not much of a change this morning as all the favorites won last night. Texas Tech gets dropped from the also considered list after losing 109-53 to Kansas. West Virginia solidifies their bid by beating Pittsburgh.

Monday Evening Bracktology Update

After all the in and out action through the week, only 4 teams fall out from last Monday to this monday.

Out this week:
Niagara
St. Joe's
Maryland
Ohio State

In this week:
Rider
Illinois State
Virginia Tech
Western Kentucky

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 – Rider
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
Baylor
Mississippi State
West Virginia
UNLV
Notre Dame
Purdue
Stanford
Miami-Fla
Louisville

Great Bets (8)
Massachusetts
Arkansas
Arizona State
Arizona
Texas A&M
Oklahoma
Illinois State
UAB

Last 4 In (4)
Western Kentucky
Florida
New Mexico
Virginia Tech

First 4 Out (4)
Dayton
Rhode Island
St. Joseph’s
Maryland

Also Considered (24)
Syracuse
Houston
Oregon
Southern Illinois
Kentucky
Ohio State
Texas Tech
Mississippi
Villanova

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

Team Spotlight

Mississippi State (20-8)

Not much has been said about Mississippi State this year but they are currently second in the SEC and clinch the 2nd seed in the conference tournament. The Bulldogs started slowly early in the season winning only 5 of their first 10 games which put them in a huge RPI hole. Since then they've gone 15-3 and are now in the 40's for RPI. Mississippi State is led by Jamont Gordon, a guard who averages 17+ points and is complimented by two other guards who rotate between the 1-3 positions. Ben Hanbrough, the only reason to hate this team averges 10+ while Barry Stewert averages 12. Although they run a 3 guard system, they are are not deficient in the post (unlike a team that rhymes with Arqette). Charles Rhodes, a 6-8 forward averages 16 and 7 while 6-9 center Jarvis Vernado averages 8 and 8 to go with his almost 5 blocks per game.
Although they have been playing well lately and their RPI is climbing, unless they win the SEC tournament their ceiling is going to be a 6 seed and more than likely a 7-8. With that seed and the talent they have they have the potential to give a 1 or 2 fits in the second round.

Monday Afternoon's CrapFest

Ugh, Maryland blows a 20 point second half lead to lose at home against Clemson which knocks them out of the bracket for this week. Replacing Maryland is um geez I don't know, some team that will probably lose on Tuesday or Wednesday. Might I say that this is the strangest bubble I can remember as multiple teams keep losing and losing. This is going to play out 1 of 2 ways. Either a bunch of 7th place teams in the BCS conferences are going to back into the field of 65 (Syracuse, Oregon, Maryland, Florida) or the mid-majors' with teams that don't need the automatic bid (Drake, Butler, Kent State, VCU) will lose and limit the bubble to only worthy teams. I'm hoping for the later. Oh and by the way that team that sneaks in today and will lose later this week is Virginia Tech. Go Hokies.

Geek Captain Exposed!!

That's what I thought....Page 1 of Google....what have you losers done to get this blog some exposure?!?!

I think it is pretty obvious that the phrase was coined specifically to induce blog hits at an alarming rate for anyone searching google on the phrase "geek captain." Seriously, page 1 is actually pretty cool...in a geeky kind of way. What made you think to search google for "Geek Captain"?

Geek captain is a takeoff of geek dice. Geek dice, as you will fondly recall, is basically bar dice played with 20 sided dice. Upon indulging in a couple of alcoholic beverages and watching Dominic James single handedly lose the Marquette game in the final minute, it was decided by Hacker, Brian and myself that we could make a variation on "Ship-Captain-Crew". Same concept, use the 20 sided "geek" dice, you need 20-19-18 (instead of 6-5-4) then the sum on the final 2. I think we ended up where you get 5 rolls, and if you roll a 1 its wild. Thus, the phrase "Geek Captain" was coined.

What the hell is Geek Captain?

Well, I guess I am a week behind in my prep work. Care to enlighten me?

Also, I would like to congratulate you on getting this blog on the first page of Google when you search for "geek captain."

Same Story, Different Day

Congratulations to Syracuse and Houston who in a matter of 7 days got in, got dropped, got back in, and then got dropped out again. This time they may not be saved and would need a deep run in their conference tournament to get a bid. Replacing these two, hopefully for good are Illinois State, who beat Southern Illinois to finish second in the Missouri Valley, and Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers get in just because nobody else wants to claim that last spot.
Congratulation to the Wrench Headed Bears of Cornell as they are the first team to clinch a bid in the tournament. I think they'll be seeded 13th and have the talent to at least keep it close against a 4 seed.

Geek Captain

Dammit, I knew I missed something when I got the blank stare on mentioning the website with the 20 sided dice. So, as I meant to say on the blog yesterday, I expect you all to bring your own personal 20 sided dice. You may want to consider this site, you only have 164 variations to choose from, but hopefully you can make it work:



http://www.trollandtoad.com/Supplies-%3Cbr%3E-&-%3Cbr%3E-Dice/1927-483p1n10.html

Side note, if you dont know what Geek Captain is, you are already one week behind on your prep work.

mmmm...blleeeeeehh!!