CBS adds a third to the booth

CBS is bringing Steve Kerr on to call the Final 4 with Vanilla Clark Kellog and the increasingly self-important shill Jim Nantz.

America has spoken.

Gus. Gus. Gus. Along with Bill Raftery. That's onions.

Buzz stays!

Buzz decides to stay in Milwaukee and at Marquette. Matt Painter does likewise at Purdue extorting an 8-year deal from the University and their thrifty alumni.

Sounds like Buzz's deal is just an one-year rollover in excess of $2 mill/per so his name will likely continue to get kicked around but I'm not sure what jobs in Texas other than Texas would appeal to him. Maybe A&M, I guess.

A few thoughts on the other searches and hires. I think Mike Anderson fits well at Arkansas and they finally find their guy to recapture what "Cowboy" Nolan Richardson built. Tennessee's hire of Cuonzo Martin underwhelms but with the NCAA sniffing around, I doubt they do much better and Martin has a lot of people that think he can do a good job (Though Stephan Pearl, he of nepotism fame disagrees tweeting "LOL" and "Good Luck" after the hire). Georgia Tech's hire of Brian Gregory underwhelms, too but his reputation is pretty strong.

N.C. State is shooting for the stars supposedly going after Billy Donovan and Sean Miller, both of which kindly rebuffed them. Who do they think they are? Oregon? Now they're suppose to be hot and heavy after Shaka Smart. Cool your jets, Wolfpack. Guy can take any job he wants and he's going to take that job? You guys should just beg for Herb Sednek to com back or you can go on and keep missing the dance.

As for the Big 12 duo, the latest scuttlebutt (YEAH) has Oklahoma leaning towards vagabond Lon Krueger (Actually would be a good hire) and Missouri left at the alter by Painter. Didn't see that one coming, huh?

The Final Four

Some discussion if having no #1 or #2 seeds dilutes the Final Four. Of course it does. But that's a product of no great teams this year.

Some BCS proponents claim this as a victory for College Football's system. After all, we don't have #1 playing #2. Nevermind the fact such things are arbitrary, mind you. Was Auburn and Oregon the two best teams in college football for sure this past season? Beats me. The Packers were a 6 seed, so tournaments sometimes lead to the hottest team winning but it takes a good regular season to get in. Some say that makes the regular season irrelevant but I'd much rather have an opportunity than polls and a computer decide who will play for it all. Sure, RPI & SOS are realities in deciding the field but it MAKES the regular season relevant. What's the bonus for playing a tough schedule in college football? Your SOS might be weak but why risk losing when one loss kills you in the eyes of the human? The NFL manages to be relevant. The Packers sweated out until week 17 to get in. How would college football's season end if more teams had a chance to win it all? The days of great non-conference action is OVER. Why take on Oklahoma when you can get a W against Roast Beef Tech? Give me the early season tournaments and the yearly conference challenges of college basketball.

Does this Final Four run the risk of being 2006 ugly? Possibly. And if that's the case, so be it. For three weeks, college basketball has ruled the airways and made casual sports fans care for more than one mere game. And that's why we love March Madness and wish we could have it every Saturday on December, too.

Bill Self

http://www.tauntr.com/content/bill-self-choking-procedures

Funny!

Early Final Four Prediction

Butler 68, VCU 66
The dream dies here for VCU.

Connecticut 71, Kentucky 68
Kemba Walker continues his best Danny Manning inpersonation.

Most Impressive Run?

Which team's Final Four run has been the most impressive?

Connecticut - Has won 9 games in the last 18 days after finishing in the bottom half of the Big East

Kentucky - Has the entire roster basically turned over from last year.

Butler - Tiny university loses it's best player but returns to the Final Four for the second year in a row

VCU - Doesn't even belong in the field has beat 1 team from each power conference except the SEC (which they might have the chance to do in the final).

Kentucky note

I think it's worth mentioning what Jim Nantz said about this Kentucky team losing 6 games by a total of 11 points on the road. They were probably better than their record and better than a 4 seed.

I think this is their first Final Four since 1998. What an interesting gathering of coaches. The old vets Calipari and Calhoun and the new guard, Stevens and Smart.

CBS couldn't be happier

Butler vs. Virginia Commonwealth

The poster child for 96 teams!

Bet this is the first game...

Butler > George Mason

Not that it was all luck on George Mason's run but to be able to do it two years in a row, after losing your best player to the draft is unthinkable. A Big 6 conference team that makes two straight Final Four's is on an incredible run. For an Horizon Leage team to do it is amazing.

Today's predictions (and I must toot my own horn on nailing both Butler and Kentucky wins)

Kentucky 77, North Carolina 71
UNC plays too dumb and fast to win this game. If Marquette could have made more than 12% in the first half they could have hung with them

Kansas 85, VCU 71
A hot tempo in this game gets the blood going but the Morris twins are too much. I hope I'm wrong...

Sunday Elite Eight Picks

Kansas 75 VCU 60

North Carolina 70 Kentucky 68 (This could go either way like yesterday's games)

Question

Let's go back to when we all started watching this tournament together, 1990 when UNLV beat Duke. This question isn't about before but since.

Is Butler's back-to-back Final Four trips the most unlikely accomplishment we've witnessed?
Understandably, George Mason's run in 2006 was amazing but for a Horizon League team with a school enrollment of 4,000, I don't think we can undersell how unbelievable this really is.

Discuss...

Others considered: Duke over UNLV in 1991 Arizona in 1997

EDIT: Outsde the top 30 in KenPom efficiency on both offense and defense. It's an unwinnable argument but I'd pontificate that Brad Stevens is the best coach in the nation.

Elite Eight

Butler 71, Florida 66

Connecticut 79, Arizona 74

Saturday Elite 8 Picks and a Funny Story

UConn 73 Arizona 70

Florida 65 Butler 62

Here's a great quote from Thad Matta on Jared Sullinger coming back:

"Oh, he's been telling me that all along," Matta said. "And I believe
it. He told me draw up a contract, whatever you need to do. I
believe him when he says it."

Of course he said contract at THE OHIO STATE

Friday Sweet 16 Thoughts

A. I wanted to post Neidermeyer's "Pledge Pin" video to highlight Matt Howard but I can't find it anywhere. Damn. WTF America!

B. Marquette went down like I expected by getting owned in the paint. It's not a problem when you hit your shots and don't turn it over but when you go 16 minutes like that, game over.

C. Carolina is good but there's a lot of stupid basketball they play.

D. Best of luck to Jimmy Butler. Great player for the Warriors. Buzz's 1st recruit. Please stay Buzz!

E. Stupid Richmond. I'd have liked to have actually picked a score right and missed this one by a hoop.

F. Calipari outcoached Thad Matta. See, Thad...your athletic department spends more per victory than any school in America and the least you can do is outcoach Cal.

G. Brandon Knight with two winners. Lebron is not impressed.

H. On the same day Sweater Vest gets more exposed and closer to removal, tOSU basketball team loses. Too bad.

I. SEC sends 2 to the Elite 8 for the 2nd straight season.

J. KenPom has been touting Kentucky all year arguing that their losses have come mostly on the road and by small margins and not to dismiss them. Yet, Butler is still rated like the 40th best team in the land. Stats....

K. FSU with two gut punches in two weeks. Still, great season for them.

L. VCU, 11 seed, CAA...just sayin....

M. Brad Stevens uses statistical analysis more than most coaches in college and likes to play 2-for-1 at end of game situations while most college coaches don't (FSU in overtime). He has a pretty good resume, dontcha' think?

I'm Still Cranky...

So no writeups, just scores.

North Carolina 77, Marquette 72

Kansas 81, Richmond 62

Kentucky 71, Ohio State 70

Florida State 63, VCU 60

Rock Solid 1-3 Tonight

A. Never underestimate the ability of a Steve Fisher coached team to astound you with stupidity.

B. Kemba

C. UConn's "others" outshine.

D. Florida should have won by 30 but were sloppy, stupid and stupider. They owned the inside but kept swinging. Dominate inside. Jump shots and long boards played into BYU being in the game. No wonder Billy Donovan is exasperated by this group.

E. Derrick Williams. Holy carp.

F. Don't underestimate that 3 before half.

G. Singler & Smith are still great players at Duke that helped restore a great program.

H. But Arizona was more physical, athletic and tougher.

I. N.C. State thinks they can land Sean Miller. Yeah, no.

J. Bo Ryan flameout. Shocker. Idiot me.

K. Leuer has no future in the NBA.

L. Taylor has to be hurt.

M. Sideshow Mike was the best player the Bagders had.

N. Hacker night.

Sweet 16 Friday Picks - Southwest Region

12. Richmond vs. 1. Kansas -

Would Richmond winning stun the world? Well, yeah and stranger things have happened. It's not inconceivable. They play a Princeton style offense which makes sense since Chris Mooney went there so that may give Kansas problems and Kansas guard play is sketchy at times, so....

Kansas 77 Richmond 59

11. VCU vs. 10. Florida State

Here's a contrast in styles. As we've seen, VCU likes to get up and down and have been wildly successful thus far beating a beat-up Georgetown team and a very good Purdue team. Florida State grinded out a win over offensively-challenged Texas A&M and then completely outclassed a great shooting team in Notre Dame. I like FSU in this game because I think they can do a better job taking away VCU's game than VCU can make FSU outscore them. BUT, FSU does turn the ball over and VCU is pretty good at making steals. Also, FSU is pretty mediocore at the line so in a close game, that could be an issue. FWIW, VCU found a way to outgrind USC, so they can win a slugfest and USC is similar to FSU.

Florida State 63 VCU 61

Sweet 16 Friday Picks - East Region

11. Marquette vs. 2. North Carolina

At first blush, we assume it'll take a pretty outstanding performance for the Warriors to win this game but a closer look reveals Marquette probably has more than just a fighter's chance in this game. Obviously, Marquette will have issues with the duo of Zeller and Henson. Typically, Marquette will get to the line far more often than their opponent and typically, UNC will not allow their opponent to the line (Nice to have some shot blockers). The one difference is, UNC is about average in how much it gets to the line. And when they do, they're not very good, only shooting 67% with John Henson being the weight bringing them down. Another concern is UNC gets a lot of points within the arc, Marquette's shakiest spot on defense. But if Marquette can make their 3's, UNC typically won't outshoot them there and is their weakest spot on d. Most models have this a pretty close game and some show this game as the one producing the best chance for an upset (based on seeding). I'd like to think so but it'll take a pretty solid effort.

North Carolina 80 Marquette 72

4. Kentucky vs. 1. Ohio State

How can Kentucky beat the Buckeyes? Defend the arc. Ohio State does so many things well but if Kentucky can harass the shooters, they can make the Buckeyes sweat. On offense, Brian has pointed out the Buckeyes depth issue, so Kentucky needs to be wisely aggressive. Get OSU to work hard on d and see if they can't tire them a bit. Watch it early, if OSU is getting open shots deep, game over.

Ohio State 82 Kentucky 70

Region Notes - Marquette last played North Carolina in the tournament in the 1977 NCAA title game. If Marquette and Kentucky were to advance, it would be the 4th time since 1994 that they'd have met with Marquette winning them all.

Sweet Sixteen Predictions Cont.

Thursday Late Game Addition

Butler vs Wisconsin
The darlings of the NCAA tournament are back looking for their second straight trip to the Elite Eight. In their way this time are the Mighty Communists of Madison, Wisconsin. Like Stalin through Georgia, Bo Ryan's Red Army will conquer and defeat the Bulldogs. Don't expect to see a pretty game, or even basketball for large chucks of minutes but a win is a win.
Wisconsin 57, Butler, 51

Duke vs Arizona
The one real question here is how does Duke contain Derrick Williams? The answer is they can't and probably won't. However, I see Williams getting his normal 20 points and 12 boards but the rest of the team being stymied by the Duke defense. I see a hot pace in this game as both teams will get up and down the court. Duke cruises out to a solid 6-8 point lead in the first ten minutes and outside of a few Wildcat runs lead the entire game. By the buzzer we're looking at a blowout. Irving looks better and piles up 15 points to go with 6 assists.
Duke 83, Arizona 67

Sweet 16 Thursday Picks - Southeast Regional

3. BYU vs 2. Florida -

The numbers actually favor BYU in this game but those numbers are skewed towards BYU because they had Brandon Davies for most of the season. Florida really dominated the SEC and though that conference is down, there is still something to be said about winning those games, including plenty away from Gainesville. The nation awaits Jimmer-time and he might get off, but give me the more well-balanced team in this game. I, too, like Florida by a bigger margin.

Florida 72 BYU 64

8. Butler vs. 4. Wisconsin -

Like Arizona, Butler is a "Team of Destiny" or a "Team of Luck". They, like BYU have somewhat skewed numbers based on mid-season garbage basketball. They get dragged down because of bad losses and truly ugly performances but they have won 11 in a row, including wins at UWM to knock them out (When Butler was already considered in) and a win over a Pitt team that had no reason to lose that game, but...they're playing a team that can "outscrap" them and "outhustle" them, I mean "white-out/out-white them". I think the key to this game is keeping Matt Howard on the court for Butler. Wisconsin is actually pretty bad on defense, their saving grace being they don't give many second chances or foul. I know that sounds weird but teams get good looks and shoot above average against them. If Howard stays out of foul trouble and Butler commits to him, there isn't anyone that can guard him. Leuer is a defensive sieve and Sideshow Mike is a nice player but he can't guard him. Ultimately, I think Wisconsin wins this game at the line and not being forced to play tight like many other higher seeds have against Butler. I suspect a lot of solid possessions and few turnovers (Neither team forces many). I just like Wisconsin on the defensive glass and unless Butler burns the nets it'll be a Bag of AIDS game.

Wisconsin 66 Butler 59

Region Notes - Bo Ryan has only one win against a higher seed as a tournament coach but that won't be an issue until Saturday. The Southeast/South has historically been a region of great unpredictability.

Sweet 16 Thursday Picks - West Region

3. UConn vs. 2. San Diego State -

Statistically speaking, these teams are pretty similiar and I suspect a close game like Brian does where each possession will be important. UConn traveling West is interesting considering the hectic schedule of the last few weeks, but like I noted earlier, UConn came out of the West in all of it's Final Four trips. Ultimately, I think this game isn't about Kemba Walker or Kawhi Leonard but who gets more out of their other players and I like the players on SDSU better, namely Billy White and Malcolm Thomas. If UConn can get significant games from Alex Oriahki and Shabazz Napier, they can certainly win this game. I suspect Kemba will have to work hard against SDSU and he'll need some help.

SDSU 62 UConn 60

5. Arizona vs 1. Duke -

We could argue Arizona is a "Team of Destiny" or a "Team of Luck." Duke has to travel and Derrick Williams is coming home to Anaheim (Sort of). But I have a feeling this one isn't close. All the numbers point to a Duke rout. That close Michigan game probably wakes them up and gets their attention and the come out flying.

Duke 80 Arizona 70

Note - Duke has an interesting bracket here. In their first game, they get Arizona who they beat in the 2002 Final, a possible matchup against Steve Fisher who they beat in the 1992 Final or a possible matchup for the 4th time against UConn who they beat in the Regional Final in 1991 and lost to in the 1999 Title game and lost to in the 2004 Final Four.

Sweet Sixteen Predictions

Thursday Early Game Edition

Connecticut vs San Diego State
The toughest of the Thursday games I can see this going either way. On one hand I can see Kemba Walker going off for another 30 point game willing the Huskies to the Elite Eight. On the other hand I can see exhaustion setting in and a 3 for 21 shooting night. San Diego State's defense is going to hound him that's for sure. Either way I expect this to be a close game from tip off to final buzzer. I'm guessing at this point but let's go with a late Aztec bucket for the win.
San Diego State 63, Connecticut 61

BYU vs Florida
As slow as the Uconn-San Diego State game will be this one will be as fast. These two teams played last year as BYU won a double overtime thrillfest. With Florida looking for revenge and BYU down their best post player I envision Chandler Parsons, Alex Titus, and Vernon Macklin having a field day in the post and on the boards. BYU comes out hot but eventually Florida wears them down turning a close halftime score into a double digit Florida win. Unless, of course, Jimmer scores 40+
Florida 78, BYU 64

Bye - Bye, Bruce...

Here is a good Bruce Pearl story to read.

COACHING CAROUSEL

Rumors ran rampant this weekend that Mike Anderson of Missouri was taking the Arkansas job but now it sounds like he is staying in Missouri leaving Arkansas, Oklahoma, Tennessee & Georgia Tech as the seemingly plum jobs available.

Don't dismiss them based on perceived bias. Both Oklahoma and Georgia Tech have been to Final Fours in the last decade. Arkansas and Tennessee are SEC schools considered capable of being national players. There will be concern about Tennessee sanctions and a another NCAA mess at OU.

Buzz Williams as mentioned before, will get a long look at OU and if the Anderson story plays out like expected, Arkansas will probably sniff around, too. But given his run this year and the recruits he has coming in, it's not a given he'll just move on. If he does, it's expected VCU'S Shaka Smith would be a lead candidate at Marquette since he is from the state (who knew!).

The Losers of the First Weekend

A few quick thoughts on Big East bashing. For starters, they deserved 11 seeds because the conference had 11 teams that deserved to be included. There wasn't one team in the field from those 11 who hadn't earned their spot. 37 best at-large teams. 10 of them were Big East teams. But, they had teams that were definitely losers of the first weekend.

EAST - The East was largely chalk with only Marquette surprising some. If we looked at KenPom and other stat sites, Marquette was actually a favorite in that game if not in Vegas against Xavier. They had already beaten Syracuse and pretty much did it the same way this time. That said, Xavier was never in that game and that was pretty disappointing. Marquette was never ahead less than 9 in the 2nd half.

WEST - Again, largely chalk. Arizona - Texas was a toss-up IMO. Missouri's season was a disappointment as was their opening round loss to Cincinnati, even as an 11 seed. Tennessee's performance was an embarrassment.

SOUTHWEST - Where to begin? Louisville probably outperformed expectations but an opening round loss is tough to swallow. Does the game turn out different with Preston Knowles on the court at full strength? Maybe, but the best player on the court that day was Kenneth Faried.

Vanderbilt and Kevin Stallings lost for the 2nd straight year as a higher seed. Ouch. Murray State and now Richmond but Richmond is a lot better than Murray State. Chris Mooney will be taking a BCS job this off-season. Still, Stallings might want to get a win. He's done it before and he'll do it again.

As for Purdue, can someone explain to me what happened to this team? Inexplicably, they lost 3 of their last 4 and didn't look competetive at all in any of them. And the win over St. Peter's was no work of art. At about the 10:00 mark last night, VCU hit another dagger and no one stayed back to inbound the ball for Purdue and the look on Lewis Johnson's face said it all as he looked back on his teammates with a mix of disbelief and anguish.

Finally, Notre Dame may have been a victim of a tough regular season if that does exist. Never much more than 7 deep, they looked gassed and lethargic against Akron. Florida State simply dominated them and ND looked shell-shocked the entire night.

SOUTHEAST - Michigan State should just erase this season from the record books. There's been a lot of conjecture about Jamie Dixon and his run at Pitt not ending in any Final Fours. A fair criticism but it took Jim Calhoun longer at UConn. He'll get there but he had a team more than capable of getting it done this year and they spit the bit. I'll be curious to see what Butler does against Lucky. They've won two games at the buzzer. Let's see if the clock don't strike midnight this Thursday.

Febuary 14 Post Revisited

Everybody's been talking about how dominate the Big East has been but if we take a look at the last 6 years of the NCAA tournament since UConn won it all, it paints a different picture:

ACC - 4 Finals Fours, 3 Championship Games, 2 National Champs

Big 10 - 5 Finals Fours, 3 Championship Games, 0 National Champs

Big East - 5 Finals Fours, 0 Championship Games, 0 National Champs

Big 12 - 1 Finals Fours, 1 Championship Games, 1 National Champ

Pac 10 - 3 Finals Fours, 1 Championship Games, 0 National Champs

SEC - 3 Finals Fours, 2 Championship Games, 2 National Champs

Mid Majors - 3 Finals Fours, 2 Championship Games, 0 National Champs

The question that lingers is this: Is the Big East overrated come Championship time or does the strength of the conference lead itself to teams wearing out by the end of the year? Discuss....

Congrats!

And a big congratulations to the Big East who was able to get one more team to the Sweet Sixteen than the Atlantic-10, Horizon, and Colonial. Way to make the most of those 11 bids.

Which conference has the most Sweet Sixteens? The ACC baby!

Opening Weekend Thoughts

There were a ton of solid games; one of the better opening rounds in awhile. Ohio State looks great...might have got that one wrong. Hopefully they peaked against George Mason. Pitt ended up doing what I thought they would but didn't have the heart to predict. Duke is still struggling when Irving is in the line-up. I know he scored 14 and 11 but they don't look smooth offensively when he's in the game. Time and practice should hopefully do them wonders. I think they win on Thursday but you can pencil in Derrick Williams for at least 20 and 12. In the last region it's Kansas and 3 double digit seeds. VCU and Florida State should be an interesting matchup as you have one team who would prefer to keep it in the 50's and another who would prefer to have more than that in one half. I'm going to go out on a limp here and say who ever controls the pace wins.

Lastly, 7 quarterbarrel's on opening weekend...a new record. The 8th will be tapped around 6pm Thursday!

The success of VCU

Since we discussed this yesterday over the uncommonly smooth Red Dog, I wonder if VCU's success won't make it easier to sell expansion of the field. If one team can come out of the "First Four", actually the play-in games and make a Sweet 16, why couldn't other teams?

Michigan - Duke thoughts

In mid-January you never would have guessed that Michigan would rout Tennessee in the opening round and take Duke to the buzzer in North Carolina in the second.

I thought Duke played too hesitant in the second half not showing their usual killer instinct as Beilein brushed off the 1-3-1 (No, Andy Katz, that isn't what they have been doing). With Smith and Irving, Duke should have been able to eviscerate that with kick and pops but what a great job by Michigan to seal that off. The other key was their ability to hold onto the ball and not give Duke any cheap shots off turnovers.

I think Texas will be a tough game for Duke should the Longhorns win but I think this could have been Duke's toughest game on the road to Houston. Congratulations to Coach Beilein and the Wolverines on a very good season. Picked to finish dead last by nearly everyone, they can hold their heads high. Depending on what happens on any potential early departures, this team comes back nearly intact next season.

EDIT: Duke gets Arizona. I don't think Arizona wins without a strong game from D Williams. It is interesting that Duke as a 1 seed gets to travel across the country along with UConn to take on Zona & SDSU in Anaheim. Sidenote on that is UConn's two title runs came from the West region.

Most Vunerable #1 Seed

So, which #1 seed is most likely to go the Kansas-Northern Iowa route on Saturday/Sunday this year?

I think the safest of the #1's is Duke as they matchup well against either Michigan or Tennessee. The next safest would be Kansas as I see Illinois as a pushover. UNLV could give them a run but I would see Kansas pulling away in the second half.
That leaves Pittsburgh and Ohio State. In my bracket I have Old Dominion over Butler and George Mason over Villanova. Quite frankly those don't matter as much because I could see both Butler and Villanova getting hot as well. Pittsburgh and Old Dominion would be close but Pittsburgh's shooting and toughest would win out at the end. This leaves Ohio State as my most vunerable #1 seed. George Mason or Villanova could very easily get hot on Sunday and pull off the upset. With a bench that only goes 7 deep OSU could get into foul trouble early and fall behind. Because of these reason I give to you my Second Round upset pick:

George Mason/Villanova over Ohio State

Swearin' Kevin O'Neill

Curious as to the appeal of Kevin O'Neill, I looked up his record and it's not very impressive, 205-207 overall.

His best tenure was when he was at Marquette coaching the Anthony Pieper's of the world, going 86-62 in 5 years and making 2 dances and a Sweet 16 in 1994 where Duke beat them.

At Tennessee, he went 36-47, not even sniffing a bid. Before getting canned, he bolted for Northwestern of all places going 30-56 in 3 years including a snazzy 0-16 in conference in his last year. After 2000, he was an NBA vagabond before returning to the college game and Arizona where he got his start as an assistant under Lute Olson.

After a messy year at Arizona where he went 19-15 replacing the allegedly sick Olson and getting beat in the first round, he was shown the door and two years later was hired by USC where him and his drunken wife got into an altercation with 'Zona fans allegedly named Hacker.

What's the appeal? Sure, he's better than Tim Floyd but this was the guy USC wanted to challenge Ben Howland?

Finally, I'll give Marquette this, they've had a few doozies since Al left. Dirty fat man Majerus, Piano Man Dukiet, Drinking Man O'Neill & Angry Man Deane (I never knew he actually recruited Dwyane Wade). Now add TV man Crean and the circle is complete. I bet Indiana fan loves seeing their coach break down play-in games!

I see your Brooks Thompson...

And raise you one Chianti Roberts.

This Year Picks!

A great start to the tournament last night as UNC-Ashville sends the game to overtime on a late three and pulls away for the win. Clemson and UAB was blah!

I'm finalizing my bracket and here's what I have.

Elite Eight:
East: Syracuse over Ohio State
West: Duke over Missouri
Southwest: Kansas over Purdue
Southeast: Pittsburgh over Gonzaga

Final Four:
Duke over Syracuse
Kansas over Pittsburgh

Final:
Duke over Kansas

A couple upsets in the first round I'm picking:

East:
None in the first round.
Washington over North Carolina in Round 2

West:
Missouri over Cincinnati, Uconn, and San Diego State

Southwest:
Richmond over Vanderbilt

Southeast (here's where it all blows apart):
Utah State over Kansas State
Michigan State over UCLA and Florida
Gonzaga over St. John's, BYU, and Michigan State

Kyrie Irving

Coach K is saying he might play on Friday. This is the first positive statement coming directly from the coach. Could he be ready this time?

96?

I'm thinking of going to Madison and protesting until it gets up to 256.

The Play-In Games!

Started!

Can't wait for the play-ins when they expand this sucker to 96.

Funny...

In my preseason bracket posted in November I have UC-Santa Barbara upseting Florida as a 3 and 14 seed. Now, they are a 2 and 15. Can it happen?

Buzz's last week?

Andy Katz reported Buzz Williams would be Arkansas' second choice after Mizzou's Mike Anderson to take over for the recently dismissed John Pelphrey.

Williams name also came up in regards to the Texas Tech job.

Of course, Andy Katz also called Michigan a tough matchup because they play a 1-3-1 defense which they have done almost none of this year, so...I guess that Madison journalism degree doesn't mean much.

Bracket Thoughts

I've seen experts calling every Region the toughest one out there. I tend to think the Southwest is the toughest (Kansas, Louisville, Notre Dame, Purdue) while the West is the weakest (Duke, San Diego State, Texas, Connecticut).

I like upsets in the Southeast as I can make a case for the #9 ODU, #10 Michigan State, #11 Gonzaga, #12 Utah State, and #13 Belmont. I wouldn't sleep on #14 Wofford either if Fredette has a bad game.

Can't disagree with Kurly's assessment of bad seedings. The B1G got overseeded all along the way while some of the mid-majors got lower seeds than they should have (Richmond and Utah State).

My first glance Final Four came out as Duke, Pittsburgh, Kansas, and Syracuse. That's a little too chalky for me as I see this being a very crazy year. I reserve the right to change any or all of those except Duke.

The last question is as to whether anybody thinks George Mason can beat Ohio State in the second round. That's the big question in that region as we all know the Patriots will crush the overseeded Wildcats of Villanova. Will Mason pull a Northern Iowa this year?

Schedule.

Gus is calling Marquette.

http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2011-articles/march/your-full-2011-ncaa-tournament-rounds-1-2-announcing-schedule.html

Well....

I had UAB in. Still don't get the VCU pick and I'm a Colonial guy. USC bugs me as well. Colorado got screwed. Virginia Tech can go back to complaining and scheduling North Carolina A&T.

The wow...

Seedings that make me scratch my head...

EAST
#9 Villanova
#10 Georgia

WEST
#3 UConn
#8 Michigan
#10 Penn State

SOUTHWEST (WTF? NO MIDWEST ANYMORE?)
#9 Illinois
#11 VCU or USC

SOUTHEAST (WTF? THEY GOT RID OF THIS FOR THE SOUTH)
#10 Michigan State
#12 Utah State
#13 Belmont

I see none of the B1G teams were on the bubble. That's nice. They were CLEARLY better than the other "bubble" teams. tOSU AD chaired this thing, huh? Hmmm....

Georgia as a 10 boggles the mind. Boggles it. VCU and USC get mentioned because they both got in before Colorado. Also, I think Richmond is better than both and I think Utah State is better than both. Boggled.

I note Utah State and Belmont because both are top 20 teams in KenPom and Utah State is ahead of Kansas State their opponent in the first round.

There isn't criteria anymore. There are so many things that contradict one another in the seedings, I don't think you can credibly take what the committee says.

Also, can we quit seeding mid-majors in the 8-9 games? I have zero doubt they get seeded in those games so they have to play a major power in the 2nd round. Northern Iowa won last year, so that backfired but ODU-Butler takes one of the good mids out and GMU gets the #1 overall if they beat Villanova. This goes back quite some time. In '96, UWGB got an 8 seed when many thought they were way better than that (Sure, they lost to VA Tech and Ace Custis but you get the drift) and a win meant a 2nd round game against the #1 that year, Kentucky.

And of course, it won't matter and the teams that should win will and the teams we feel overseeded will probably win and the underseeded teams we feel strongly about will crap their pants so big whippty fizz. I'm just cheering harder than usual against the criminal Buckeyes now since their AD is obviously a spineless sycophant.

4 initial thoughts. .

1. Florida a #2. Hmm..

2. Ohio State has a long road.

3. Arizona will lose to Memphis.

3. I'm already sick of Barkley.

FAIL

This is why anyone associated with the B1G and particularly Ohio State shouldn't be allowed to make any decisions.

And way to answer the questions by talking in circles.

By the way, neither Wisconsin team will make it to the second weekend. Hell, neither is making it out of the first game.

Committee can eat a bag of di&Ks

Bracket - Final

1 seed vs 16 seed
Ohio State (Big10) vs UTSA(Sland)/Hampton(MEAC)
Kansas (Big12) vs Ark-LR(Sbelt)/AlabamaSt(SWAC)
Duke (ACC) vs UC-Santa Barbara (Bwest)
Pittsburgh vs UNC-Ashville (Bsouth)
2 seed vs 15 seed
Notre Dame vs Boston (Aeast)
San Diego St (Mwest) vs Akron (MAC)
Connecticut vs Wofford (SoCon)
North Carolina vs N. Colorado (Bsky)
3 seed vs 14 seed
Texas vs St. Peters (MAAC)
BYU vs Morehead State (OVC)
Kentucky (SEC) vs Indiana State (Mvalley)
Louisville vs Bucknell (Patriot)
4 seed vs 13 seed
Syracuse vs Long Island (NEC)
Purdue vs Princeton (Ivy)
Florida vs Oakland (Summit)
St. John's vs Belmont (Asun)
5 seed vs 12 seed
Wisconsin vs Memphis (Cusa)
Texas A&M vs Villanova/UAB
West Virginia vs Virginia Tech/St. Mary's
Arizona vs Clemson
6 seed vs 11 seed
Vanderbilt vs Illinois
Kansas State vs Penn State
Xavier vs Colorado
Temple vs Michigan State
7 seed vs 10 seed
Washington (Pac10) vs Richmond (A10)
UNLV vs Michigan
Georgetown vs Butler (Horizon)
Cincinnati vs Tennessee
8 seed vs 9 seed
George Mason vs Florida State
Utah State (WAC) vs Gonzaga (WCC)
Old Dominion (Colonial) vs Marquette
UCLA vs Missouri

First Four Out
Alabama
Georgia
Boston College
USC
Next Four Out
Harvard
Missouri State
VCU
UTEP

So....

Georgia beat UAB this year, Alabama beat Georgia twice this year, Alabama has an RPI of appx 80. Maybe USC does get in?

Note:

Since 1999, the lowest RPI to earn an at large was No. 70 Air Force in 2004.

My Current Last 4

Virginia Tech
Villanova
St. Mary's
UAB

I hate putting in UAB but I don't see who else replaces them? Georgia? Alabama and their 77th RPI? Missouri State? USC?

Villanova Bashing

I've been called out for my take on Villanova. If you go back to February 9, you'll see that I had Villanova pegged as a Big East team on the rise. They, quite frankly, have underachieved this year. They have the talent to be a top 10 team but when you lose 7 of your last 9 games you don't deserve to make the dance. Never mind that the only two wins came by 3 against Seton Hall and by 2 in overtime to DePaul. If the Wildcats get anything higher than 12 seed I'll be disapointted in the selection committee.

Most Impressive Thing of the Weekend

Bill Raftery is calling the A-10 game this afternoon after doing the Big East final last night. Wonder who he went out drinking last night with, Sean McDonough or Verne.

Kyrie Irving

CBS.Sportsline has him in the game but my DirectTv is out. I'm guessing Sportsline is wrong....

Double Standard

I've been reading a bunch of Bubble Watching today and I noticed the double standard for the mid-majors. On SI they have St. Mary's out since their only great win is against St. John's but that was before St. John's "figured it out". In the same breath they don't even mention Illinois or Villanova who ended the season losing 10 out of the last 15 and 16 respectively. Maybe all the other teams figured them out. I'd like to see both 'Nova and Illinois in the NIT.

The Night Before Bracketology

Evan's got a basketball tournament tomorrow morning so I'm not sure when I'll have time to update. I'd really like to see Dayton win and have the A-10 get 4 teams. That would push UAB out but really, who cares!

1 seed vs 16 seed
Ohio State (Big10) vs UTSA(Sland)/Hampton(MEAC)
Kansas (Big12) vs Ark-LR(Sbelt)/AlabamaSt(SWAC)
Duke (ACC) vs UC-Santa Barbara (Bwest)
Pittsburgh vs UNC-Ashville (Bsouth)
2 seed vs 15 seed
Notre Dame vs Boston (Aeast)
San Diego St (Mwest) vs Akron (MAC)
North Carolina vs Wofford (SoCon)
Connecticut vs N. Colorado (Bsky)
3 seed vs 14 seed
Texas vs St. Peters (MAAC)
BYU vs Morehead State (OVC)
Florida (SEC) vs Indiana State (Mvalley)
Louisville vs Bucknell (Patriot)
4 seed vs 13 seed
Kentucky vs Long Island (NEC)
Purdue vs Princeton (Ivy)
Syracuse vs Oakland (Summit)
St. John's vs Belmont (Asun)
5 seed vs 12 seed
Wisconsin vs Memphis (Cusa)
Texas A&M vs Villanova/UAB
West Virginia vs Virginia Tech/St. Mary's
Arizona vs Clemson
6 seed vs 11 seed
Vanderbilt vs Illinois
Kansas State vs Penn State
Xavier vs Michigan State
Temple vs Colorado
7 seed vs 10 seed
Georgetown vs Richmond (A10)
Cincinnati vs Michigan
Washington (Pac10) vs Butler (Horizon)
UNLV vs Tennessee
8 seed vs 9 seed
George Mason vs Florida State
Utah State (WAC) vs Marquette
Old Dominion (Colonial) vs Gonzaga (WCC)
UCLA vs Missouri

First Four Out
Boston College
USC
Alabama
Georgia
Next Four Out
Harvard
Dayton
Missouri State
VCU
Also Considered
UTEP

The BIG East

I don't know how the conference will perform in the next few weeks butI'll say this, the season and the conference tournament was fantastic. What a great ride.

I'm in agreement with Brian on USC and Lunardi. I can't fathom any way they get in. If it were a tournament of drunken coaches, they'd be one seeds but it isn't.

Also, I agree with Brian on the 64/65 teams (Would be 66 next year anyway). How anyone can justify 96 or 128...I don't see it. I can't wait to see how the NCAA sells us 96 for next year.

In Case You Didn't Know

These last 5-6 teams in are garbage. I'd like to petition the NCAA to go back to 64 tomorrow. Really.

Still going through numbers and I'm starting to lean towards UAB as the last team in. They stack up alright against Boston College, Alabama, and USC. Lunardi has USC in and I just don't see it. I'm back on Villanova being in but they won't have a good seed.

Here's my rankings along with my confidence:
In:
Michigan 95%
Richmond 95%
Colorado 85%
St. Mary's 80%
Penn State 80% - as long as they don't lose by 25 tomorrow
Illinois 75%
Clemson 75%
Michigan State 75%
Virginia Tech 60%
Villanova 60%
UAB 50%

Out:
Boston College 35%
Alabama 35%
Georgia 30%
USC 30%
Harvard 15%
Dayton 15% - still has the auto-bid in the A-10 available
VCU 5%
Missouri State 5%
UTEP 2%

PS; Utah State better win or the bubble drops by one anyway.

That was freaking awesome....

that is all.

Of course Gus Johnson calls this game

Just a teaser...

It's Not Getting Any More Clear!

The back end of the Bubble is getting even more confusing. Memphis is in but what to do with the Bubble teams that lost games today? Clemson, Michigan, Alabama? Do they stay? Do they go?

I'll be honest, I'm really starting to lean towards dropping Villanova out. I don't know how you can make a case for a team that finished the season 5-10? Of course, Illinois went 6-10 in their last 16 so maybe they will be the odd team out.

Still got a couple more games tonight and then it's time for pouring over the numbers.

Memphis IN

If the games of the next two weeks match this weeks games, this could be a classic March. Memphis gets in by making 2 FTs with :08 left against UTEP to take their first lead of the game.

I'd feel bad for UTEP but their head coach is Tim Floyd.

Saturday Morning Bracketology

1 seed vs 16 seed
Ohio State (Big10) vs McNeese(Sland)/Hampton(MEAC)
Kansas vs Ark-LR(Sbelt)/Grambling(SWAC)
Duke (ACC) vs Boston (Aeast)
Pittsburgh vs UNC-Ashville (Bsouth)
2 seed vs 15 seed
BYU (Mwest) vs St. Peters (MAAC)
Notre Dame vs Wofford (SoCon)
Texas (Big 12) vs N. Colorado (Bsky)
San Diego St vs Long Beach State (Bwest)
3 seed vs 14 seed
North Carolina vs Kent State (MAC)
Syracuse vs Bucknell (Patriot)
Florida (SEC) vs Morehead State (OVC)
Louisville vs Long Island (NEC)
4 seed vs 13 seed
Kentucky vs Indiana State (Mvalley)
Purdue vs Harvard (Ivy)
Connecticut vs Oakland (Summit)
St. John's vs Belmont (Asun)
5 seed vs 12 seed
Arizona (Pac10) vs UTEP (Cusa)
Wisconsin vs St.Mary's/UAB
Texas A&M vs Virginia Tech/Alabama
Temple (A10) vs Clemson
6 seed vs 11 seed
West Virginia vs Colorado
Xavier vs Illinois
Vanderbilt vs Richmond
Kansas State vs Michigan
7 seed vs 10 seed
Georgetown vs Florida State
UNLV vs Villanova
Cincinnati vs Butler (Horizon)
George Mason vs Tennessee
8 seed vs 9 seed
Utah State (WAC) vs Michigan State
Washington vs Marquette
Old Dominion (Colonial) vs Gonzaga (WCC)
UCLA vs Missouri

First Four Out
Boston College
Memphis
Penn State
Georgia
Next Four Out
Missouri State
USC
Dayton
Princeton

Teams that I Don't Think Are Locks Yet

Trying to summerize the Bubble their appears to be no less than 18 teams playing for 11 spots. Here's the teams that I would put on the bubble, ranking in order of most secure. I have this weird feeling that there will be a huge surprise come tomorrow and right now I'm leaning towards one of these three teams: Villanova (5-10 in last 15), Florida State (missing Chris Singleton), St. Mary's (been screwed before).

Bubble In:
Florida State
Villanova
Richmond
Michigan
Illinois
Colorado
Clemson
Virginia Tech
Alabama
St. Mary's
UAB

Bubble Out:
Boston College
Memphis
Penn State
Georgia
Missouri State
USC
Dayton

Today's the Day

Tons of action today and lots of movement all through the bracket. Who's a #1 seed? Who's on the bubble? How far do Illinois and Florida State fall after losses last night. Stay tuned.

Brian's Basement and toes

I'm bringing Dom this year. Last one's standing on Thursday get some. Unless I'm not standing. Then no one gets any until I drive home after a "nap".

I thought the UW-PSU game was a well-played defensive basketball game. Plenty of fundamentals, dribbling and white guys making chest passes. UW really got their hands up on defense and moved their feet. Good game.

Duke - As a veteran of toe surgery, haha!

EDIT: Possible surprise visitor

DOUBLE EDIT: Not Gay Rudy

Bo Ryan

Jimmer scores 52, Wisconsin scores 33. Here's a tip for the Badgers...don't pack your bags for more than 1 weekend.

Coming to a Basement Near You

If the tournament fails to entertain, we can go hang at the trailer park.....

Take that FIBS. Michigan PUNCHES its ticket to get beat in round one!

This has nothing to do with Michigan or basketball. I stole it from my favorite Michigan football blog, so it sort of fits. Plus, the angry polar bear destroys part of the Axis of Evil (OSU, MSU).

Scott Drew and Baylor aren't the Vest and TOSU

Not that Baylor was going to make the dance, but their chances took a big hit when the NCAA ruled 6 hours before tip-off that super Frosh Perry Jones would be suspended for infractions.

I linked deadspin since they told the story succinctly and nicely and though they didn't say it's horse bleep that 5 ineligible players can play in an exhibition game by the prodding of an atheltic department and league commissioner so as to "protect the fans", I'll say it.

It's horse bleep. Sugar Bowl far outweighs a chance to play in an actual playoff.

Nice Job Miami

Come back from 10 down in the last minute yesterday and blow a 15 point lead in the last 5 minutes today. I hope Frank Haith gets fired.

Bubble Games This Morning

Georgia - Alabama - 12pm
Loser is out, it's that simple

Boston College - Clemson - 1pm
Winner is in, loser will be sweating

Illinois - Michigan - 1:25pm
Illinois can afford a loss, Michigan not so much

Tulsa - UTEP - 3pm
Loser is out, winner still needs a lot of help

Auto-Bid Today:

Patriot League:
Bucknell vs Lafayette - 3:45pm
Lafayette would end up being a bad 16 seed while Bucknell is probably a 14 seed. Everybody loves Bucknell!

Friday Morning Bracketology

1 seed vs 16 seed
Ohio State (Big10) vs McNeese(Sland)/B-Cook (MEAC)
Kansas vs Ark-LR(Sbelt)/TexSo(SWAC)
Duke (ACC) vs Boston (Aeast)
Notre Dame (Beast) vs UNC-Ashville (Bsouth)
2 seed vs 15 seed
BYU (Mwest) vs St. Peters (MAAC)
Pittsburgh vs Wofford (SoCon)
Texas (Big 12) vs N. Colorado (Bsky)
San Diego St vs Long Beach State (Bwest)
3 seed vs 14 seed
North Carolina vs Kent State (MAC)
Purdue vs Bucknell (Patriot)
Wisconsin vs Morehead State (OVC)
Syracuse vs Long Island (NEC)
4 seed vs 13 seed
Florida (SEC) vs Indiana State (Mvalley)
Louisville vs Harvard (Ivy)
St. John's vs Oakland (Summit)
Kentucky vs Belmont (Asun)
5 seed vs 12 seed
Arizona (Pac10) vs Tulsa (Cusa)
Texas A&M vs Michigan/Clemson
Connecticut vs Virginia Tech/Georgia
Xavier (A10) vs Boston College
6 seed vs 11 seed
West Virginia vs Colorado
Temple vs Richmond
Georgetown vs St. Mary's
Kansas State vs Michigan State
7 seed vs 10 seed
Vanderbilt vs Villanova
UNLV vs Butler (Horizon)
Cincinnati vs Tennessee
George Mason vs Marquette
8 seed vs 9 seed
Utah State (WAC) vs Gonzaga (WCC)
Washington vs Illinois
Old Dominion (Colonial) vs Florida State
UCLA vs Missouri

First Four Out
Alabama
Memphis
USC
UAB
Next Four Out
Missouri State
UTEP
Penn State
New Mexico

Friday Morning Update

Yesterday had a lot of games but not a lot of movement. Let's bullet point what did happen.

-Pittsburgh lost which moved them from a 1 seed to a 2 seed. Taking their place for now is Notre Dame but BYU, San Diego State, North Carolina, and Texas are all looming large. The Irish and Duke need to continue to win if they want to stay on the top line

-UAB lost to East Carolina which bumps them from the bracket as Conference USA's auto-bid. For now Tulsa get the bid as the #2 seed. UAB is listed as one of the final four out but even with a top 30 RPI I don't see them getting in.

-Colorado had a big win over K-State and bump Alabama out of the bracket. I think the Buffs are secure at this point as long as they don't get blown out today.

-As mentioned above Alabama got bumped out without playing. They get Georgia today which is shaping up to be a play out game. Loser seems to be out while the Winner looks like a lock.

Tons of games that will be highlighted later, plus a new Bracket by 10am. Rock on

Thursday Afternoon Championship Week Thoughts

• Fab Melo finally made an appearance today providing another post presence for the Orange. The pre-season pick for Big East ROY, Melo found himself in Jim Boeheim's doghouse all season. But, unlike Hubert Davis, let's not jump to any conclusions and assume he's "gotten it". (But if he did...the 'cuse got a lot more interesting..)
• LOL @ that Virginia game recap. Tony Bennett, your next UW Head Coach.
• If Michigan State loses to Iowa, I don't care how their SOS stacks up, they do not belong in. Still 9 minutes left.
• My Sporting News had a few writers still picking K-State to make the Final Four. Am I missing something with them? Colorado beats them and shouldhave secured a spot.
• Nice seeing you UAB. Enjoy the NIT.

UConn was good but...

Not that it'll matter in the NCAA Tournament but Miami came back from 10 down with 42 seconds left to beat Virginia in overtime. Read this last 40 second blurp. Talk about falling apart:

Trailing 53-43 with 42.5 seconds left, Durand Scott hit a 3-pointer. Then Sammy Zeglinski missed a pair of free throws and Miami came back with another 3, this time from Grant to cut the deficit to 53-49 with 23.1 seconds left.

The Cavaliers turned it over in the backcourt and Julian Gamble (11 points) dunked home a basket on the inbound play to cut it to 53-51. Then Scott stole Jontel Evans' inbound pass under the basket and scored on a layup while being fouled to tie it with 13.9 seconds left.

He missed the free throw, but Zeglinski couldn't control the rebound as it bounced off his foot and out of bounds with 11.6 seconds left.

Grant lost the ball when it slipped out of his hands on a shot attempt, giving it back to Virginia with 1.3 seconds left. But again, the Hurricanes stole the inbound when Gamble jumped in front of Will Sherrill's pass near midcourt before missing a desperate heave at the horn.

Copyright 2011 by STATS LLC and The Associated Press.

Kemba: Sick

Pittsburgh Loses

Pittsburgh loses and Kansas is on the ropes. Does this open up a 1 seed for Notre Dame to grab if they win the Big East? What about Purdue or Wisconsin if they win the B1G 10? Even North Carolina might be creeping a bit.

Two More Bids and Marquette

Long Island and Northern Colorado grab auto-bids while it's now safe to say Marquette has done enough. It's all about seeding now. How about a 9 seed with a second round match-up with Ohio State?

The Rutgers Screw Job: Big East Tournament 2011

That was brutal. Doris Burke is not amused.

BRIAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There's no 10 in B1G. Only Leaders and Legends. Like "Teflon Vest" Jim Tressel. Or Bartime Bert Bielema. Come on, get with it!

Two More Bids Tonight.

Northeast: Long Island vs Robert Morris
Not much going on here. Long Island might be better equipped for a first round tourney upset but I wouldn't bet on it.

Big Sky: Montana vs Northern Colorado
Even worse here as both are probably going to be seeded as a 15 seed. Long Island at least has a chance to be a 14.


And see ya later Nebraska. Have fun next year in the B1G 10.

Today's Bubble Watch

All bubble action will be in the Big 12 and it will be from the outside looking in. 3 teams play today and will be eliminated if they lose. A win today doesn't necessarily get them in but a loss drops them from consideration.

11:30am Oklahoma State vs Nebraska

2:00pm Iowa State vs Colorado

6:00pm Oklahoma vs Baylor

Also d'Avis pointed out that I have Marquette playing Cincinnati in the first round. Obviously that's against the rules of the Tournament and I will be making sure those things don't occur in my final bracket on Sunday. For now, I'm just keeping it as is on my S-Curve.

Wednesday Bracketology

1 seed vs 16 seed
Ohio State (Big10) vs McNeese(Sland)/B-Cook (MEAC)
Kansas vs Ark-LR(Sbelt)/TexSo(SWAC)
Pittsburgh (Beast) vs Boston (Aeast)
Duke (ACC) vs UNC-Ashville (Bsouth)
2 seed vs 15 seed
BYU (Mwest) vs St. Peters (MAAC)
Notre Dame vs Wofford (SoCon)
Texas (Big 12) vs N. Colorado (Bsky)
San Diego St vs Long Beach State (Bwest)
3 seed vs 14 seed
North Carolina vs Kent State (MAC)
Purdue vs Bucknell (Patriot)
Wisconsin vs Morehead State (OVC)
Syracuse vs Long Island (NEC)
4 seed vs 13 seed
St. John's vs Indiana State (Mvalley)
Florida (SEC) vs Harvard (Ivy)
Kentucky vs Oakland (Summit)
Louisville vs Belmont (Asun)
5 seed vs 12 seed
West Virginia vs Alabama
Arizona (Pac10) vs Michigan/Clemson
Xavier (A10) vs Virginia Tech/Georgia
Texas A&M vs UAB (Cusa)
6 seed vs 11 seed
Temple vs St. Mary's
Kansas State vs Richmond
Georgetown vs Boston College
Connecticut vs Michigan State
7 seed vs 10 seed
Vanderbilt vs Villanova
G. Mason vs Butler (Horizon)
Cincinnati vs Marquette
UNLV vs Tennessee
8 seed vs 9 seed
Utah State (WAC) vs Gonzaga (WCC)
UCLA vs Illinois
Old Dominion (Colonial) vs Florida State
Missouri vs Washington

First Four Out
Colorado
Missouri State
Baylor
USC
Next Four Out
Memphis
Colorado State
Washington State
Nebraska
Also Considered
UTEP

Tuesday's Recap

Congratulations to Oakland, Arkansas-Little Rock, and Butler who all punched their tickets last night to the big dance. With UWM losing there is now an opening at the bottom of the bracket. I'll be pouring through some numbers this morning to see who grabs bid 68. I figure it will come down to Colorado or Alabama.

In Big East news; I believe Marquette is now a lock with a big win over Providence. Congrats to the Warriors. As for Villanova, that 5 game losing streak may push them to the NIT. 5-9 in the last 14 isn't exactly what you want going into Selection Sunday.

Championship Week Super Meltdown

North Texas blowing a late 7 point lead and turning the ball over like Brett Favre in a playoff game or Villanova losing 5 straight to end the season?

Bracket Busting 2: ODU

Back to wreak havoc on your bracket, the Monarchs are riding a 9 game winning streak into the Dance. ODU finished the season at 27-6 with wins over Xavier and Clemson on their resume and a 3 point loss to Georgetown. With a rock solid RPI of 23, Old Dominion won't be a first round cake walk.

KenPom has them 48th overall (69th in AdjO and 49th in AdjD). But make no mistake, ODU's calling card is their defense. They're 4th overall in scoring d and 46th in FG% defense. They're also 3rd in fouls per game. They'll grind you. They can effectively board as well. On offense, they get to 45% of their misses which is best in the land and on defense, opponents can only get 27.5% of their misses, good for 17th. You can shoot the 3 against them, 297th in 3pt PG% defense but they make up for it with limiting free throws and holding you well under the national average from the line in.

Offensively, eh, they board better than anyone so if they can match up with a team that struggles with defensive rebounding, that'll be a huge advantage for them. They are weak at the line, as their 2nd and 3rd most prolific foul shooters shoot 60 and 67% respectively.

The star player is Senior F, Frank Hassell who scores 15 ppg and gets 10 boards per. He's a horse in the paint. Kent Bazemore is the other forward. He shoots 51% from the field and gets 12 and 5 per.

ODU beat Notre Dame in a dogfight last year 51-50 and one suspects, it would take a game like that this year to get another win. They were in it until the end against Baylor, losing 76-68 after Baylor finished the game on a 8-1 run. No doubt, they won't be intimidated by March and shouldn't surprise anyone if they win a game.

Holy Mackerel! We miss you, Al!

Today's Bids

Sun Belt - Arkansas LR vs North Texas
Meh, not much to say here...seems like some 16 seeds battling it out. Let's hope for North Texas since they wear some awful all green jerseys. That'll be nice on St. Patrick's day.

Horizon - UWM vs Butler
The game of the day, can the Horizon secure two bids with a UWM upset? I think so!

Summit - Oral Bob vs Oakland
If you got time try and watch this game. Oakland is a very dangerous 13 seed, very capable of beating Syracuse, St. John's, or Kentucky in the first round.

Tuesday Morning Bracketology

1 seed vs 16 seed
Ohio State (Big10) vs McNeese(Sland)/B-Cook (MEAC)
Kansas vs MTennSt(Sbelt)/TexSo(SWAC)
Pittsburgh (Beast) vs Boston (Aeast)
Duke (ACC) vs UNC-Ashville (Bsouth)
2 seed vs 15 seed
BYU (Mwest) vs St. Peters (MAAC)
Notre Dame vs Wofford (SoCon)
Texas (Big 12) vs N. Colorado (Bsky
San Diego St vs UWM (Horizon)
3 seed vs 14 seed
North Carolina vs Long Beach State (Bwest)
Purdue vs Kent State (MAC)
Wisconsin vs Bucknell (Patriot)
Syracuse vs Morehead State (OVC)
4 seed vs 13 seed
St. John's vs Long Island (NEC)
Florida (SEC) vs Indiana State (Mvalley)
Kentucky vs Harvard (Ivy)
Louisville vs Oakland (Summit)
5 seed vs 12 seed
West Virginia vs Belmont (Asun)
Arizona (Pac10) vs Michigan/Clemson
Xavier (A10) vs Virginia Tech/Georgia
Texas A&M vs UAB (Cusa)
6 seed vs 11 seed
Temple vs St. Mary's
Kansas State vs Richmond
Georgetown vs Boston College
Connecticut vs Gonzaga (WCC)
7 seed vs 10 seed
Vanderbilt vs Marquette
G. Mason vs Michigan State
Cincinnati vs Butler
UNLV vs Tennessee
8 seed vs 9 seed
Utah State (WAC) vs Illinois
UCLA vs Florida State
Old Dominion (Colonial) vs Washington
Villanova vs Missouri

First Four Out
Alabama
Colorado
Missouri State
Baylor
Next Four Out
USC
Memphis
Colorado State
Washington State
Also Considered
UTEP
Nebraska

Four More Bids Went Out Yesterday

Colonial - Old Dominion beat VCU which makes them a two bid league. VCU doesn't have enough on their resume to get an at-large.

MAAC - St. Peter's beat Iona. Go Peacocks.

WCC - Gonzaga outlasted St. Mary's. I still think both teams are in but if I were the Gaels I would keep an eye on the other bubble teams.

Southern - Wofford beat Charleston and gets another chance to upset a top seed.

Today's Bids

Colonial - VCU vs Old Dominion
Old Dominion is a lock at this point so if VCU wins the Colonial would get a record breaking 3 bids. Man, I love the CAA!

MAAC - St. Peter's vs Iona
A good old fashioned matchup between the Peacocks and Gaels! Top seeded Fairfield was destroyed yesterday leaving these two to fight it out. Neither should win a game next week but Iona would at least be a little more exciting to watch. Go Gaels.

WCC - Gonzaga vs St. Mary's
Another Gaels team. Sweet. Provided one team does not get blown out both should be in. Neither will be higher than a 10 seed but they should be able to give a 5-6-7 seed a run for their money.

Southern - Wofford vs College of Charleston
Wofford gave the Badgers a tough fight last year but Charleston is the team to beat here. Bobby Cremins has this team primed to be a tough 14 seed. Could they matchup and beat Syracuse in round 1?

Monday Morning Bracketology

1 seed vs 16 seed
Ohio State (Big10) vs McNeese(Sland)/B-Cook (MEAC)
Kansas vs MTennSt(Sbelt)/TexSo(SWAC)
Pittsburgh (Beast) vs Boston (Aeast)
Duke (ACC) vs UNC-Ashville (Bsouth)
2 seed vs 15 seed
BYU (Mwest) vs N. Colorado (Bsky
Texas (Big 12) vs UWM (Horizon)
San Diego St vs Long Beach State (Bwest)
Notre Dame vs Kent State (MAC)
3 seed vs 14 seed
Purdue vs Long Island (NEC)
Wisconsin vs Iona (MAAC)
North Carolina vs Bucknell (Patriot)
Syracuse vs Morehead State (OVC)
4 seed vs 13 seed
St. John's vs Indiana State (Mvalley)
Florida (SEC) vs Colllege of Charleston (SoCon)
Kentucky vs Harvard (Ivy)
Louisville vs Oakland (Summit)
5 seed vs 12 seed
West Virginia vs Belmont (Asun)
Arizona (Pac10) vs Michigan/Clemson
Xavier (A10) vs Virginia Tech/Georgia
Texas A&M vs Richmond
6 seed vs 11 seed
Temple vs Boston College
Kansas State vs Marquette
Georgetown vs Gonzaga
G. Mason vs UAB (Cusa)
7 seed vs 10 seed
Vanderbilt vs Michigan State
UNLV vs St. Mary's (WCC)
Cincinnati vs Butler
Connecticut vs Tennessee
8 seed vs 9 seed
Utah State (WAC) vs Illinois
UCLA vs Florida State
Old Dominion (Colonial) vs Washington
Villanova vs Missouri

First Four Out
Alabama
Colorado
Missouri State
Baylor
Next Four Out
USC
Memphis
Colorado State
VCU
Also Considered
Washington State
UTEP

Missouri State

What to do with you? Will the committee shine brightly on the Regular Season MVC champ or will their 40+ RPI doom them? Stay tuned.

And I hate North Carolina.

That is all.

Bracket Buster: Belmont Bruins

Of the three teams that clinched berths yesterday, the Belmont Bruins are the one that can probably steal a game in a few weeks. The Bruins won the Atlantic Sun regular season title and the conference tournament, finishing 30-4, 19-1.

Three of the Bruins losses were to Vandy and Tennessee (twice). Belmont's best win was over Miami (OH), who finished second in the MAC East.

Statistically speaking, KenPom ranks them 20th overall. They're 34th in AdjO and 20th in AdjD. Belmont is an offensive minded team that ranks 11th in scoring offense and are 2nd in 3 pointers made, averging nearly 10 a game. They can be sloppy turning it over 14 times a game but that's countered being 3rd in the nation in steals and solid ball rotation (16th in assists). You can't knock them defensively as they're in the top quarter of the nation in most categories.

The two major contributors (Per KenPom) are sophomore G Kerron Johnson and junior big man Scott Saunders but this is a team that has a wide variety of contributors. The leading scorer is Ian Clark but he only plays 24 minutes a game. Clark and senior Jordan Campbell (21 mpg) are the most prolific 3 point shooters. Johnson and Saunders are the guys that get to the line. Then there's junior F Mick Hedgepeth who shoots 53% from the field and gets 6 boards a game. They can come at you with a lot of guys capable of stepping up. They can shoot and they're deep, these guys rotate in and out and they're pretty young.

They haven't beaten anyone of note this season but they breezed through their conference and dismantled North Florida in the tournament championship. Like so many high seeds, they'll be playing with house money and if they come out shooting well (Think Cornell or Ohio last year), they'll beat a 3 or 4. Watch their matchup. They'll be plenty of BCS schools that will not want to see them.

Ready to Dance

ACC Champions

Not ready to dance? Marquette. Another team laying an egg at the worst possible time. Never in the game at all. Buzzard needs a legit go-to-guy. Better hope chalk wins out in the mid-majors.

Sunny AZ

Kurly,

Do you want the nice Visitor's Bureau pictures or do you want the real ones with the traffic, pollution, pollen, carjackings and Mexican Mafia drug cartel murders and beheadings? There's a reason we all own guns.

I shared this with Brian but less than 30 miles from my house there's a sign warning Americans not to travel any further south into the desert due to the drug/immigration smuggling crime. This sign is over 130 miles from the Mexican border.

Although to be fair to the south you have Illinois. Sounds like a push.

Poop.

BOW DOWN, LITTLE BROTHER

Michigan sweeps Michigan State for the first time since 1996. Guarantee that, Izzo.

BOW DOWN, LITTLE BROTHER

VALIDATION, THY NAME IS NOT....

Virginia Tech. Way to rally off that win against Duke by losing to BC and Clemson, your fellow bubble teams and lose a first round bye in the ACC tournament.

In other early afternoon results, West Virginia beat Louisville after hitting a tying 3 with :10 left. Louisville missed a three and Truck Bryant rebounded the miss with 6 tenths of a second left and turned to heave a 80' and was fouled by Preston Knowles. Bryant hit both throws to win the game and secure a first round bye for the Mountaineers in the Big East tournament. An early taste of the Madness.

Eff you Mother Nature

I'm staring directly at a picture of the 11th hole at Erin Hills. Beautiful poofy, white clouds overhead, a stand of green, lush trees in the distance. A golden fescue, knee-length surrounds the too-good-to-be true surgically cut fairway that approaches a green that is as smooth as glass, contoured to spit away any errant approach shots. I can feel the gentle, summer breeze on the back of my neck as I look at the slightly blown flag atop the pin...

And then I look outside and see blackish, brown and in certain spots yellow snow. Ice forms a base underneath it all repelling sweet, life-giving sun (HA! Sun!). Snow covers the landscape mocking me as we delve deeper into the woe that is March in this God-forsaken wasteland that is Wisconsin.

Ben? Can you post some pics of beautiful, sunny Arizona? Or better yet, can you punch Mother Nature in the face?

Today's Bids

We have 3 bids going out today:

3pm - Big South
Coastal Carolina vs UNC-Ashville
Carolina was tough all year but lost a player to injury and another to suspension and lost their last 2 in conference. UNC-Ashville was way more interesting a couple years ago when 7-7 Kenny Gregory played for them. Carolina wins and goes in as a 15 seed.

5pm - Atlantic Sun
Belmont vs North Florida
Florida is the 6 seed and Belmont would get some consideration for an at-large bid. I see a Bruins blowout here and Belmont being a very dangerous 13 seed.

7pm - Ohio Valley
Tennessee Tech vs Morehead State
Should be a good matchup between the 2 and 4 seed. Morehead State has a great player named Kenneth Faried who I promise will score 15 points and grab 15 rebounds in round 1 of the tournament. Here's to them winning today.

Commercials For March Madness

You know what? I do like tacos. I also like VW commercials, even though they stupidly quit making them. Now, heres the thing. March Madness usually kills you with the commercials - the VW year was the exception. CBS had the monopoly, so you got the same commercials, everywhere, on every TV. Painful. Its time to get some quality advertising going. I recommend that this one should resurrect itself during March Madness.



Any commercial that can integrate the phrase "freaky like my lady pyramid", with proper visual depiction of said lady pyramid, gets in automatically....

I also recommend the Dwight Howard version:



if you aren't down, a sky whip is jet. Much like being "fly like a G6." Also a jet. A Benjamin pile is, well....a pile of Benjamins.

and, just so this ends up basketball related, memo to Buzz Williams. Try to win a Senior nite at some point. Especially when locking in an NCAA bid is right there. Stupid tele-tubby.

Not Much Going On Today

There are a ton of conference tournaments but none are finishing today. If you have time I suggest checking out the Missouri Valley games. There's a slight chance they could get two bids if Missouri State gets upset in the Semi's or Final.

Also, I thought this was funny in light of the BYU incident

http://www.sportspickle.com/opinion/5454/byu-isnt-the-only-ncaa-basketball-program-with-a-strict-behavior-code

Valpo and Hating Tokoto

I now hate the entire city of Menomonee Falls. Stupid Tokoto.

Here's the Valpo-Mississippi game. Poor Ansu Sesay.

Carolina Blue, Bucky!

I guess Final Fours and National Titles outweigh "snickers" development under Bo. Tokoto goes to North Carolina.

Auto-Bids

As usual with this time of year teams much watch out for bid stealers. Usually there are 2-3 teams who get in with an Auto-Bid from a conference that already has at least 1 at-large already. Here are a couple teams I could see doing it this year.

1. Mississippi State - not on the also considered list they could make some noise in the SEC conference tournament. They were picked to finish in the top 3 in the SEC preseason and have been playing better as of late

2. Anybody in the Pac-10 except for Oregon State - The Pac-10 has 3 bids right now, Arizona, Washington, and UCLA. I guarantee none of those teams win the conference tournament. The most likely bid stealer is Wazzou but I could see USC or Oregon getting there as well.

3. Baylor - on the last 4 out list right now they have been a huge disappointment. I could see them ringing up 3-4 straight wins next week

4. Hofstra - could the Colonial really get 3 bids?

Tonight's Games

Not much bubble action going on tonight; just a bunch of Pac-10 games and conference tournaments. I'm going to keep an eye on Tennesee who's already got a ton of losses and can't afford to lose at South Carolina. Other than that nothing else note-worthy.

Since We Talked About It

I guess it was North Carolina, not Duke.

Thursday Bracketology

1 seed vs 16 seed
Ohio State (Big10) vs McNeese(Sland)/B-Cook (MEAC)
Kansas vs N.Colo(BSky)/TexSo(SWAC)
Pittsburgh (Beast) vs Murray State (OVC)
Duke (ACC) vs Florida Atlantic (Sbelt)
2 seed vs 15 seed
Purdue vs UWM (Horizon)
BYU (Mwest) vs Coastal Carolina (Bsouth)
Notre Dame vs Long Beach State (Bwest)
Wisconsin vs Kent State (MAC)
3 seed vs 14 seed
San Diego St vs Long Island (NEC)
Texas (Big 12) vs Fairfield (MAAC)
Louisville vs Bucknell (Patriot)
Syracuse vs Vermont (Aeast)
4 seed vs 13 seed
North Carolina vs Colllege of Charleston (SoCon)
St. John's vs Princeton (Ivy)
Florida (SEC) vs Oakland (Summit)
Kentucky vs Belmont (Asun)
5 seed vs 12 seed
Georgetown vs Missouri State (Mvalley)
West Virginia vs Michigan/Colorado State
Arizona (Pac10) vs Richmond/Boston College
Xavier (A10) vs Gonzaga
6 seed vs 11 seed
Temple vs St. Mary's (WCC)
Vanderbilt vs Marquette
G. Mason (Colonial) vs Virginia Tech
Texas A&M vs UAB (Cusa)
7 seed vs 10 seed
Villanova vs Illinois
Connecticut vs Georgia
Kansas State vs Butler
UNLV vs Tennessee
8 seed vs 9 seed
Missouri vs Florida State
Utah State (WAC) vs Michigan State
UCLA vs Washington
Cincinnati vs Old Dominion

First Four Out
Baylor
Alabama
Memphis
Clemson
Next Four Out
Wichita State
Colorado
Cleveland State
Nebraska
Also Considered
VCU
Washington State
UTEP
Southern Miss

Bubble Update

Today's biggest loser are the Memphis Tigers. Already the last team in, they lost last night to East Carolina. Taking their place for the time being is Colorado State. The other big losers are Clemson and Colorado who were in the last four out but did themselves no favors by losing.

I predict none of these teams will be in the bracket come next Sunday. These teams probably shouldn't be in the bracket to begin with and there's bound to be a team or two who jump up and grab an auto bid that isn't on our list today. I'll be putting together a list of 4-5 teams most likely to do this later today or tomorrow. Until then you'll have to survive with a late afternoon Bracket.

Peace

Tonight's Thought

Not WINNING.

US Airways has renewed their sponsorship for this year's March Madness. Although with what they charged me I think it's time to renegotiate things. What the hell is going on in Milwaukee that weekend that allows the airlines to charge an INSANE amount of money for a ticket? I've flown to Hawaii for less. I now know three things:

1. I better clean up on the over/under envelope pool.

2. It better snow either Thursday, Friday or Saturday.

3. I better get a damn upgrade - BOTH directions.

Thank God the shuttle service is still complimentary and the Noodle Soup remains Chicken Flavored.

Tonight's Games

Lots of Bubblelicious action tonight as the regular season winds down. The biggest game of the evening has to be Marquette-Cincinnati. I believe the winner becomes a lock while the loser doesn't necessarily fall out of the bracket but teeters closers to the edge and has even less room for error. The second biggest game is the UAB-S.Miss game which could spell doom for the loser. UAB is more able to absorb a loss here but Southern Miss might need the auto-bid if they come up short. Below are a couple other games of note:

Teams in that need to keep winning:
Michigan State - at home vs Iowa
Memphis - at East Carolina and as the last team in the bracket today
Richmond - at St Joes. They've been hanging around the 11/12 seed line for weeks
Georgia - at home vs LSU. A win doesn't help a lot but a loss kills them

Teams out that need to keep winning and get help
Clemson - at Duke. A win of this caliber could be enough to leapfrog Memphis or Michigan
Colorado State - vs Utah. Needs every win
Colorado - at Iowa State. See Colorado State
Maryland - at Miami. They have no room for error

Plus be sure to catch a good Big 12 match up as the Aggies of Texas A&M visit the Jayhawks of Kansas. Rock Chalk Crappy Chant Jayhawks

In Case You Were Wondering...

And why wouldn't you be? The Conference Tournaments have started. Both the Horizon and Big South kicked off last night while the Ohio Valley, Atlantic Sun, and Patriot all begin tonight. The first 3 bids will be awarded on Saturday!

Bubble Update

Both Alabama and Baylor fall out of today's bracket. I can't make a case for two teams with RPI's in the 70's and 80's getting an at-large bid. They are still in the conversation but they are out for now. Replacing them are Memphis, RPI in the mid 30's and Michigan, who's getting a lot of national love for a road win over Minnesota. Frankly, I'm not buying Michigan and I expect them to fall out and not get a bid. I'd be keeping an eye on Colorado State and Clemson over the next couple of days. Both have huge opportunities against Duke and San Diego State to play themselves into the bracket.

That's Not Recommended

Alabama and Baylor, both in the bracket today lose, BIG, tonight. First, let's look at Alabama's resume. An 87 RPI, an awful SOS, and most of their wins against garbage team. I really believe that they will be out come tomorrow morning. That 11-4 SEC record only means so much. Secondly, we have the most under-achieving team this side of Michigan State, Baylor. I think they've been the last 4 teams in and out for the past month. This latest loss to Oklahoma State almost puts the nail in the coffin. They'll need to do some damage in the Big 12 tournament now.

Thanks Brian.

I can't un-watch that.

Down Right Awful

If you can still find it within yourself to cheer for Marquette after watching this video you're a far better man than me.

Jerry Palm is a Tool

In case you don't know who Jerry Palm is, he's CBS Sportline's equivalent to ESPN's Joe Lunardi. You'd think he'd at least be close on his bracket by this time of the year but alas, he's not. His site was updated Sunday night with his in and out of the bracket.

Currently he has these teams as his first four OUT:

Butler - top 45 RPI
Clemson - no argument here
Drexel - the Colonial's 5 seed is 3 away from being in?
Virginia Tech - apparently beating Duke and being 9-5 in the ACC doesn't mean much

These are his last 4 IN:

Gonzaga - seems reasonable
VCU - the 3rd place team in the Colonial is a reach at best
Minnesota - 6-10 in the Big Ten and losers of 6 of 7
Dayton - 7-7 in the freaking Atlantic 10 and an RPI in the mid 60's

How the heck can you take a guy seriously with a bracket like this? Not to mention he has Colorado State safely in.

Another good Twitter account

Jay Bilas is addicted to his twitter - and it's pretty good stuff.

http://mobile.twitter.com/jaybilas

Some recent samples:

Bill Raftery to a guy that told him he couldn't go out tonight because he had an early flight: "Please. Reach back!"

Bill Raftery to the waiter after a member of our group ordered water instead of a drink: "Maybe he'd rather have a juice box."

Frequent compliment: "I hate Duke, but I don't hate you." Perhaps just a healthy animosity? Or just basic ill-will bordering on loathing?

It's March!

The most happiest time of the year. As for last night's games, only 2 were of any note. Notre Dame continues to pour it on, looking like a solid #2 seed. The blowout over Villanova gives them another loss and they continue to fall (a projected 6/7 seed now). In the other Big Monday matchup Kansas State hands Texas their third loss in the last 4 games. Texas is looking like a 3 seed now while Kansas State is a lock at this point. K-State has been on a tear going 7-1 since Wally Judge quit the team in January.