Wednesday Bracketology

1 seed vs 16 seed
Duke - (ACC) vs Alabama St (SWAC)/St.Francis (NEC)
Ohio State - (Big10) vs McNeese St (Sland)/Fairfield (MAAC)
Kansas (Big 12) vs Montana (Big Sky)
Pittsburgh (Beast) vs American (Patriot)
2 seed vs 15 seed
Kentucky (SEC) vs Belmont (Asun)
Georgetown vs Austin Peay (OVC)
Syracuse vs IPFW (Summit)
Connecticut vs Furman (Southern)
3 seed vs 14 seed
San Diego State (Mwest) vs Florida Atlantic (Sbelt)
BYU vs Hampton (MEAC)
Missouri vs Vermont (Aeast)
Temple (A10) vs Coastal Carolina (Bsouth)
4 seed vs 13 seed
Kansas State vs UC-Santa Barbara (Bwest)
Tennessee vs George Mason (Colonial)
Purdue vs Princeton (Ivy)
UNLV vs Utah State (WAC)
5 seed vs 12 seed
Villanova vs Drexel/Northwestern
Vanderbilt vs Memphis/Old Dominion
West Virginia vs St. Mary's (WCC)
Texas vs Kent State (MAC)
6 seed vs 11 seed
Texas A&M vs St. John's
Minnesota vs Wichita State (Mvalley)
Florida vs Georgia
Boston College vs Cincinnati
7 seed vs 10 seed
Notre Dame vs New Mexico
Louisville vs Miami
North Carolina vs Butler
Central Florida (Cusa) vs Washington State
8 seed vs 9 seed
Washington (Pac10) vs Xavier
Cleveland State (Horizon) vs Arizona
Wisconsin vs Oklahoma State
Michigan State vs Illinois

Last Four Out
Gonzaga
Virginia Tech
Baylor
Richmond
Next Four Out
Providence
Marquette
Southern Miss
UCLA
Also Considered
Florida State
Iowa State
California
Portland
Nebraska
Northern Iowa
Rhode Island
USC
Mississippi
North Carolina State
Michigan
UAB
Murray State
VCU
Colorado State
Missouri State
North Texas
Dayton
Valparasio
Rutgers
Arizona State
Penn State
UTEP
Charleston
Maryland
Arkansas
Colorado
San Jose State
Illinois State

Since I Talked About It

Here you go. If you haven't seen it yet.

Usher steals from an old Simpsons episode.

A New Bracket Coming Soon

Still weeding through some RPI/SOS stuff. The first bracket of 2011 will be a little weird. With the conference schedule just starting there are alot of strange things that need to be ironed out. For instance, Drexel doesn't belong in but with an RPI of 16 would have to be included as the selection committee was blasted for leaving Missouri State out a couple years ago with an RPI of 22. On the other hand Cinncinati has an RPI of 95 and would not be considered but right now they are undefeated and would get a bid. It's confusing but I'll still get a bracket out there soon.

Merry Christmas!

Brian - we need this. My brain hurts

Merry Christmas

You jackwagons

Speaking of N-I-T

Marquette (8-3, 0-0; RPI: 183; SOS: 262)

Those are NIT numbers right there gall darn it!

Hello, Good-bye

Welcome to the Top 25, Florida!

Oh, you're just visiting? Thanks for visiting. Sorry about that Jacksonville loss (Don't feel bad. They did win at ASU last year in the N-I-T - Remember those letters!). Hope to see you again.

Izzo BUSTED

Sort of. Kind of. There's nothing to see here.

Wisely, he is missing the Prarie View A&M game and not the game against Texas next week.

Colin Cowherd is an idiot

This morning on his show, between Tom Brady references or ripping on small markets, Cowherd continued assailing a playoff in college football because as in life, there are things in sports that aren't perfect. In his world, it isn't fair the non-BCS schools get to "sit at the big table" with the BCS schools. Thus, though it isn't perfect, the BCS is good enough.

Well, for starters, since when is enhancing a sport, which a playoff would do, a bad thing? And when is good enough a stopping point? He rails on BCS haters saying nothing needs to be fixed, that 8th ranked teams shouldn't get to play for a title. His final reason is the regular season means something unlike in college basketball where it doesn't mean anything.

So, these games in December don't mean anything? Tell that to Virginia Tech. Those games they played pre-ACC killed their tournament hopes. Tell that to Michigan State who plays a BEEFY non-con schedule that gets them ready far ahead of most schools for the pressure of March. How you play and do in the regular season determines your seeding and location come March. I'm sure being a 1 seed and playing in North Carolina is pretty appealing to Duke. And I'm sure in Colin's world, Butler never would have gotten a chance to play for a title even though someone on this very blog called them Final Four worthy last November (Sorry, Brian. They play in the Horizon League against weak teams and in small arenas. They don't belong.).

As for lower ranked teams not deserving to play for a title, that's completely unfair because of the stupidity of ranking teams in August. Texas & Florida were ranked in the Top 10 in August. Michigan State never had a chance. Losing on the road to Iowa made the rest of THEIR season meaningless. Even beating Bucky left them well behind them in the BCS. Seems like a pointless regular season. And don't tell me Ohio State or Wisconsin or another SEC team or Stanford couldn't beat Oregon or Auburn. As much as I want to see Oregon play Auburn, I'd much rather watch a 4-week playoff than worthless exhibition bowl games including the meaningless January 1st games.

I Demand That You Grow A Mustache!

Caught the Drexel-Louisville Game

Finally had some free time and got to watch the entire second half of the game. Louisville looked like they had no clue on offense what so ever; just a bunch of guys trying to go one-on-one regardless of the matchup and then a NBA three attempt down by 3 with 2 minutes left. Peyton Siva looked like regressed even further from last year. How was this guy a top 5 high school point guard. Sure Louisville is 9-1 right now, but I'm sticking by my prediction of an 11 seed.

Very early, probably won't make it Bracket Buster

Perennial Summit League contender, Oakland (MI) got themselves one of those fancy BCS conference scalps tonight beating the Tennessee Volunteers at Tennessee.

This after the Golden Grizz took Sparty to the wire on Saturday. Give them credit, they've already played West Virginia, Purdue and Illinois as well and have Michigan and Ohio State still.

Now only if they can survive IUPUI and Oral Bob in the Summitt....

Happy New Year!

Stay safe folks. Enjoy your warm 53 degrees, it's currently 30 degrees here. In the desert. I'm on the lookout for Black Ice.

My Heisman Ballot

If I could, I'd give all my votes to Cameron Newton (If I had a vote that is and I should).

1. Cam Newton, QB, Auburn
2. Andrew Luck, QB, Stanford
3. Kellen Moore, QB, Boise State
4. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan
5. LaMichael James, RB, Oregon

Denard? Yeah. If he played on a team that had a DI defense and not a Junior High defense and had made a BCS Exhibition game, he'd have made it interesting.

Which Number Will Be Greater?

Brett Favre's Retirements or Urban Meyer's Step Downs?

Discuss

Rooting for Kentucky.

I hate myself right now.

This May Be Old

But if you watched old school wresting it's totally worth it.

http://www.thescore.com/buzz/articles/91052-lebron-turns-heel-again

Its over

Start the bus on the season. Call the hookers. Put away Dick Vitale. It's over. Duke is winning it all this year. The rest is just window dressing. The only question will be whether or not Duke can go undefeated as Coach K wins his 5th title.

North Carolina Continues Quest to Back to Back NIT Championship Games

And the Big 10 leads the Challenge 4-2. Can they win 2 more tonight?

Big Ten - ACC Challenge

The Big 10 - ACC Challenge starts tonight so let's take a look at the matchups to see if the Big Ten can run it's winning streak to 2 years.

Monday
Virginia @ Minnesota
Minnesota has already knocked off UNC so Virginia shouldn't be much of a challenge, Big Ten 1, ACC 0

Tuesday
UNC @ Illinois
UNC is overrated and Illinois is underrated until Bruce Weber blows it in March, Big Ten 2, ACC 0

Ohio State @ Florida State
A solid matchup but Sullinger is too much for the Seminoles, Big Ten 3, ACC 0

Michigan @ Clemson
Who cares, really. Let's give the ACC a win here, Big Ten 3, ACC 1

Georgia Tech @ Northwestern
The Jackets have lost to a DII team and N'Western is looking to make the Tournament for the first time, Big Ten 4, ACC 1

Wednesday
Michigan State @ Duke
The crème de la crème of the Challenge. Izzo will lead them to the Final Four but for now Chaminade was a tough win, Big Ten 4, ACC 2

Purdue @ Virginia Tech
Malcolm Delaney goes off and VaTech shows they are the #2 ACC Team, Big Ten 4, ACC 3

North Carolina State @ Wisconsin
Bo Ryan does not lose at home. EVER! Big Ten 5, ACC 3

Indiana @ Boston College
Right up there with Michigan-Clemson. Do not look directly at the TV when this game is on. Big Ten 5, ACC 5

Maryland @ Penn State
And it comes down to the last game, tied at 5 wins for each conference. This should be a Battle, a Talor Battle. He scorches Maryland for 25+ and the Big Ten wins the challenge, 6-5.

November basketball

I was looking at the scores this morning from yesterday's games and saw that Richmond beat Purdue. My initial thought was great win for Richmond (And it is) and the A-10. Then I saw that Richmond managed to lose to Iona earlier this month.

It's probably best not to make any proclamations based on what we see in November.

But Duke is going undefeated. Book it.

Question For Y'all

Ohio State President E. Gordon Gee said he was against a playoff in college football because it gets too close to "professionalism".

(I'm ignoring the TCU and Boise State bashing he did as well)

Do you suppose he'll have the Athletic Department turn down an invite to the Big 11 Tournament and NCAA this year since, well, they're playoffs?

Cross Them Off Then!

Well, you can cross Kansas State off your list for potential Final Four teams and it's not because they lost to Duke last night. They are very deep and very talented but their free throw shooting is abysmal, like 2008 Memphis abysmal. We all know how that turned out as missed free throws down the stretch in the championship game led to Super Nintendo Chalmers hitting the three to tie and ultimately beat Memphis. Down the stretch K-State will pay for not practicing the ol' free throw.

Kyrie Irving = Player of the Year.

Duke-Marquette Thoughts

1. I haven't seen a Duke team this confident since Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer were on it. Quick, efficient, smart, deadly and tough. They could run the table in the ACC. I'd say they run the whole thing but they do play K-State tonight and have a trip to Oregon before playing MSU at home next Wednesday. That's a a lot of travel during the holiday week against two good teams and one with sweet uniforms at least.

2. Marquette is very good. Obviously, the most glaring need is an inside presence but I think they found a sleeper in Davante Gardner. Buzz would do well to let him get healthy for the Big East season. Beating Gonzaga and UW would be nice but let the kid get healthy, he definitely played in lots of pain last night.

3. Marquette is very athletic, as athletic as any team they've had including the Final Four team. If they play unselfish and move the ball like they did last night for stretches, they'll be hard to guard with plenty of guys that can shoot and drive.

4. For as much a goofball as he sounds at times and looks at times, Marquette has themselves a pretty good coach. Sounds and looks like the players are completely on board.

Duke - Marquette

Enjoy the game tonight; it'll be over by halftime.

And Don't Forget

Brett Favre is awesome. Thanks for the memories Brent!

Another Loss

In expected news, North Carolina lost again. This time it's to a mid-tier SEC team, Vanderbilt. Not looking so hot for Huckleberry Hound nor for pre-season All-American Harrison Barnes whose weekend shooting slump seems shocking to the ESPN news crew.

On a side note, I was looking for a picture of the Wisconsin douche who threw a bounce pass to Leuer while guarded by a 6-2 guard but I see Kurly has already taken care of it.

Mountain West Dominance

Okay, that's not fair when this guy is on the court at crunch time:



Poindexter! See, the Tri-Lambs could hold off the Alpha Betas on the court.

Big Ten Dominance

Minnesota shows North Carolina whose conference is boss by beating them last night in what was a non-contest most of the second half. Not a good sign for the ACC if their #2 can't beat what is generally thought of as the Big Ten's #6 or #7.

Bruce Pearl is a Cheater

And the SEC agrees suspending Bruce for the first 8 games of SEC play. You'll always have a home at the Cell, Cheater.

The Mustache Bar Has Been Set

The Rent is 2 Damn High!

Paul Hewitt HOT, HOT, HOT SEAT

Yikes! Kennesaw State clobbers the Yellow Jackets. That bodes well.

Enes Kanter ruled ineligible

Thanks for coming Kentucky; hope you keep your 2011 recruits eligible.

PREDICTIONS II

1. The Big 11 might be the best conference but will not win the National Championship for the 10th consecutive season.
2. Bruce Pearl will be coaching his last season in Division I (FBS, okay!) basketball.
3. Butler will not win the Horizon League this year. Detroit will and Ray McCallum will be a popular name again.
4. BCS Conference Sleepers: Georgia, Penn State, St, John's & Washington State
5. The A-10 will get 5 teams in the dance BECAUSE of the extra 3 teams.
6. The NCAA will expand to 96 teams in time for 2011-2012.
7. Missouri will win the Big 12.
8. Marquette and Wisconsin won't make the 2nd weekend and Vander Blue will be the real deal.
9. My Final Four: Duke, Michigan State, Pitt & Missouri
10. All of these picks are gold.

The Must Bookmark

http://www.bbstate.com/

For all your college basketball dorkiness.

Predictions!

1. Lipscomb beats UNC on Friday (Ok, I'm only partly serious with that one)
2. The Pac-10 will once again be the worst Major conference in the country.
3. The best conference won't be the ACC or Big East
4. The Big 10 is; and it's really not even close
5. Memphis will struggle again but not miss the tournament like last year
6. North Carolina is back...NOT! One and done even with stud, Harrison Barnes
7. The extra 3 bids make absolutely no difference what so ever
8. Marquette and Wisconsin both play well and threaten to make the second weekend of the tournament
9. Another Mid-Major makes the Final Four, Gonzaga
10 .The Atlantic 20 has 7 teams on the radar as late as mid-February (only 4 get in)
11. The Horizon league gets multiple bids between Butler, UWM, and Detroit
12. Duke wins it all, Singler, Smith, and Irving all leave and they are still the #1 preason team next year.

And They Keep Coming!

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/y50DCunJEd-YiQAcxJSkrA/quinn-cook-chooses-duke-over-ucla.htm

Your First Bracket!

Book it!

Marquette & The Future of the Big East

Fans of Marquette that haven't been paying attention to conference expansion talk probably should. Mike Decourcy lays out the belief the Big East probably regrets bringing Marquette and DePaul into the fold during the conference shuffles earlier in the decade.

As we know, football rules the sporting world and with conference expansion being a hot issue during the summer, the Big East appeared ripe for the picking as rumors swirled West Virginia, Syracuse, Rutgers and Pittsburgh were being targeted by other conferences.

The Big East formed a committee including Paul Tagliabue to explore ways to keep the Big East relevant - largely in football. As was reported yesterday, the conference is looking to expand to 10 teams in football. Schools being mentioned include TCU, Memphis, Central Florida & uprgrading Villanova to FBS level (DI).

Does Marquette, a basketball school only, have a future in a BCS conference? Keep an eye on this story as Big East expansion moves along.

And so it begins...

Preseason Bracktology

Here we are folks; completed brackets will be posted by End of the Week:

Official Stats
Conference Tourney Winners = 31
Locks = 24
Great Bets = 9
Last 4 in = 4
Last 4 Out = 4
Next Four Out = 4
Also Considered = 29
Total Bids in 2011 = 68 Teams

Automatic Bids (31)
1 American East Stony Brook
2 ACC Duke
3 Atlantic Sun Lipscomb
4 Atlantic 10 Temple
5 Big East Pittsburgh
6 Big Sky Weber State
7 Big South Coastal Carolina
8 Big 10 Michigan State
9 Big 12 Kansas State
10 Big West UC-Santa Barbara
11 Colonial Old Dominion
12 C-USA Memphis
13 Horizon Butler
14 Ivy League Princeton
15 MAAC Fairfield
16 MAC Ohio
17 MEAC Morgan State
18 Missouri Valley Wichita State
19 Mountain West San Diego State
20 NorthEast Long Island
21 Ohio Valley Morehead State
22 Pac 10 Washington
23 Patriot Lafayette
24 SEC Kentucky
25 Southern Wofford
26 Summit Oakland
27 Southland Texas State
28 Sun Belt North Texas
29 SWAC Jackson State
30 WAC Utah State
31 West Coast Gonzaga

Locks (24)
1 North Carolina
2 Virginia Tech
3 Florida State
4 Xavier
5 Dayton
6 Syracuse
7 Villanova
8 Georgetown
9 West Virginia
10 Marquette
11 Purdue
12 Wisconsin
13 Ohio State
14 Illinois
15 Kansas
16 Baylor
17 Texas
18 Missouri
19 BYU
20 Arizona
21 UCLA
22 Florida
23 Georgia
24 Mississippi State

Great Bets (9)
1 North Carolina State
2 Richmond
3 Notre Dame
4 Seton Hall
5 Louisville
6 Southern Miss
7 Missouri State
8 Tennessee
9 Miami

Last Four In (4)
1 St. Louis
2 Northwestern
3 Detroit
4 Minnesota

Last Four Out (4)
1 Clemson
2 Connecticut
3 St. John's
4 Colorado

Next Four Out (4)
1 Oklahoma State
2 Penn State
3 VCU
4 New Mexico

Also Considered (29)
1 Maryland
2 Rhode Island
3 Duquesne
4 Texas A&M
5 George Mason
6 UTEP
7 Central Michigan
8 Bradley
9 Creighton
10 Akron
11 Northern Iowa
12 Murray State
13 Washington State
14 Vanderbilt
15 New Mexico State
16 College of Charleston
17 Arkansas
18 Loyola Marymount
19 Davidson
20 Alabama
21 IUPUI
22 Western Kentucky
23 St. Mary's
24 Oral Roberts
25 Mississippi
26 Arizona State
27 Texas Tech
28 Tulsa
29 UNLV

Last Year's Predictions Revisited

Last Year:

1. The ACC will be down this year but still get the most teams into the NCAA tournament. Respect and youth will do that for a conference
2. Memphis not only doesn't win C-USA but they don't even make the NCAA Tournament
3. Either Kansas or Kentucky, the two top teams, will implode due to character issues. Kansas seems like the obvious choice due to the off season issues but I bet it's Kentucky
4. The Big Ten won't be the worst major conference
5. The Pac-10 will. Thus giving us no reason to stay up late and watch USC-Washington State on FSN
6. A mid-major will make the Elite Eight (Butler of course)
7. There will be 10+ schools ranked #1 over the course of the season
8. The parity mentioned in #7 should make for a great tournament at the end of the season
9. Wisconsin and Marquette will struggle and struggle mightily. The state might not get a team in the tournament.
10. Due to #9 I expect all of you to be wearing Duke clothes by the end of the year
11. Duke probably won't win it all this year but they'll be the preseason #1 next year. (yes, I'm rationalizing a loss already)

And how did I do?

1. The ACC was down but they did not have the most teams in the tournament
2. Bingo!
3. Neither imploded but neither made the Final Four
4. Bingo!
5. Bingo!
6. Bingo!
7. Kansas had it most of the year; no where near 10 teams
8. I thought the tournament was great.
9. Neither really struggled and both made the tournament; off on this one
10. No Duke attire, but a bunch of mustaches
11. Well, they did win it all and they are the preseason #1.

In Case You Forgot

Go back to last November 1's post and check out my preseason bracket.

Final Four:
Kansas - eh
Notre Dame - oops
Duke - Bingo
Butler - yes, I had Butler in the final four before the season began.

Who's the lucky team this year?

Season Preview

Coming soon. Stay tuned in. I'm not saying who I'm picking to win it all; I'll just hint that it's not any team with Loyola in it's name so you can eliminate 3 of 326 teams.

Louisville: Winning above all else

Rick Pitino brings in Tony Woods to the Louisville family.

Sport Hating Gods Hit Boilermakers Again

Bad enough the average football team watched its season go up in smoke due to injuries, the basketball team will now be without Senior Robbie Hummel for the season who re-tore his ACL.

The season must be near!

Considering the issues at Baylor less than a decade ago, will this LaceDarious Dunn news end his college career?

More great news for Rick Pitino as he loses another incoming top recruit to academics.

And Bruce Pearl is a greaseball.

Jimmy Collins and Lou Henson are not surprised

Poor Bruce Pearl

Chuck and Choke

Congrats to Lazar Hayward!

The Wizards selected Marquette SF Lazar Hayward with the last pick of the first round. Congratulations to Lazar. He was a pleasure to watch at Marquette and I can't think of a guy I'd like to find some NBA success more.

Sounds like Lazar is going to Minnesota. Should have a chance to see some time.

Things That Are Surprising

Mock Drafts on ESPN:

55. Utah Jazz

Jon Scheyer | SG | Duke
Before you start cracking jokes about Scheyer, don't overlook the fact that he'd be a terrific fit in Utah. He can play both guard positions and can shoot the lights out. I've heard him compared to Jeff Hornacek before and it's not a bad comparison.



58. Los Angeles Lakers

Brian Zoubek | C | Duke
Zoubek didn't have a huge career at Duke, but he was a terrific rebounder and could give the Lakers some size and toughness in the middle.

Daily Conference Realignment Rumors

Orangebloods.com who has been all over the conference realignment reported today that Arkansas has sent some feelers out to the Big 12, er 10 about leaving the SEC. Supposedly, super alum Jerry Jones would help make this economically feasible. Jones has a stake in this because he is scheduled to host the next 4 Big 12, er 10 title games and after this year, well, there will not be a title game unless the NCAA grants a waiver.

In the same report, it's mentioned that the other school to be sought after would be...Notre Dame. The biggest selling point would be the ability of Notre Dame to start its own TV network similar to Texas, something the Big 11, er 12 can't offer. All rumor and speculation at this point but very interesting.

The Big East is denying reports they are soon to offer Central Florida and Memphis membership. Memphis has FedEx money to help and try and get it into a BCS conference. Central Florida has Florida in its name.

And finally, Houston has the backing of the Texas legislature in trying to gain membership into the Big 12, er 10. And Texas is like Canada but probably has a better army.

Deflation...

One week ago, we were looking at conference armageddon and a possible huge loss in East Lansing. Well...

Tom Izzo is staying at Michigan State and all of East Lansing breathes a huge sigh of relief.

The only changes in conferences are Nebraska joining the Big 11 after the Big 11 feared being left behind by the Pac-10 who was hard after Texas and Oklahoma. As it turns out, the Pac-10 will end up with only Colorado and Utah.

Winners?

Utah, Texas, Kansas and Nebraska's athletic budget.

Utah joins a BCS conference immediately improving its stature. Texas becomes the richest athletic department ever and should never not contend in any sport. Kansas actually now plays in a tougher conference for basketball losing deadweights Colorado and Nebraska after staring at the sobering reality of possibly joining the Mountain West (Some reports circulated the Big East may have actually taken the 4 non-affiliated North schools of the Big 12 to form a 12 team football league and 20 team basketball mega-conference). And Nebraska improves the bottom line and despite losing a great rival in Oklahoma, they should easily replace that with Iowa and maybe even, Wisconsin.

More conference armageddon...

Many outlets are reporting it's a done deal between the Pac-10 and Texas, Texas Tech, Oklahoma & Oklahoma State. Wow, what a fun football conference.

Texas A&M is wavering between the SEC and an invite from the Pac-10, opening a potential window for Kansas to sneak into the Pac-10. That might improve the Pac-10 on the hardwood, no?

Conference Armageddon Begins

Good night, sweet Big 12...

Nebraska and the wise Tom Osborne make the smart move to the Big 11 where they can play "Nebraska" football and avoid the monolith that is Texas. Nebraska's recent history versus the Big 11 has been real good but they'll have to recruit Texas without playing Texas schools.

Nebraska makes more money in this move first and foremost but they'll no longer be under the thumb of Texas and definitely be on an even playing field in the new Big 12, er 10 or whatever they'll call it. $50 says it'll be the Big 10 still.

Also today, Colorado agreed to join the Pac-10 and TMZ (Yes, TMZ) is reporting Oklahoma State will announce tomorrow they have accepted the Pac-10's offer all but assuring Oklahoma, Texas, Texas A&M and Tech are soon to follow.

What does this mean for Kansas basketball? Good question. If you look at the breakdown of Final Four teams since the tournament expanded, the Big 12 has a spotty record with only Kansas bringing home the title in 1988 and 2007 and a few appearances by Oklahoma, Okie State and Texas.

Mountain West? Yikes. Think Bill Self might listen the next time Oklahoma State comes calling if that's the case?

Anyway, I for one hate all of this but understand it. To think, in a few seasons, Oklahoma-Nebraska might be the Rose Bowl game...

EDIT: Despite reports at jsonline.com, Texas & Texas A&M are not going to join the Big 11 but A&M is in play with the SEC.

It's summer, damnit!

Izzo to Cleveland?

Nebraska to the Big 11?

Mass chaos in college sports?

Buckle up..

The Wizard of Westwood, 1910-2010

"Success comes from knowing that you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming."

Great coach, better man.

Pac-10 Moving First on Expansion?

Reports are surfacing that the Pac-10 may offer Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State & Colorado invites to form the first Super Conference.

Should this be the case, Nebraska and Missouri better hope the Big 11 expands and invites them. Kansas, Kansas State & Iowa State? Good luck!

Things That Aren't Surprising

UConn is dirty.

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/news?slug=txuconnncaa

Should the NCAA use the death penalty?

Here's an interesting opinion from Gregg Doyel about Oklahoma's second recent run-in with the NCAA.

I don't know if imposing a "death penalty" on a school is fair. SMU football has been lost in the wilderness since they received it. But it is an interesting notion to ponder in the off-season.

Little Ten/ACC Challange

Duke - Michigan State should be great.

11/29: Virginia at Minnesota
11/30: North Carolina at Illinois
11/30: Ohio State at Florida State
11/30: Michigan at Clemson
11/30: Georgia Tech at Northwestern
11/30: Iowa at Wake Forest
12/1: Michigan State at Duke
12/1: Purdue at Virginia Tech
12/1: North Carolina State at Wisconsin
12/1: Indiana at Boston College
12/1: Maryland at Penn State

The Devil & Kentucky

Rumblings out of Chicago mention the Bulls interest in chasing John Calipari to be their next head coach. There are the usual immediate denials but it's known that Claipari would "love", so I've read, to coach Lebron and he is a free agent, you know....

Kentucky fan...you made the deal...

Ciaching Carousel Continues

Oregon, after reaching for the stars (Few, Dixon, Izzo, etc.) hired Creighton's Dana Altman. Altman was a hot commodity a few years back - actually leaving for Arkansas and then deciding against it. He led Creighton to 5 straight NCAA appearances from 1999-2003. Since then, he's only made it twice. Altman may find success at Oregon but this hardly seems to be the hire they wanted. Prior to Creighton, Altman had coached at Kansas State, going 68-54 with 1 tournament appearance.

Replacing Altman is Greg McDermott of Iowa State. McDermott left Northern Iowa following the 2006 season so he is quite familiar with the Missouri Valley. Interesting that Creighton has now hired its last two coaches from the Big 8/12. McDermott was probably facing a make or break season in Ames and saw the writing on the wall. He left UNI having taken them to 3 straight Big Dances so he's had success here before.

I'll be curious as to which lasts the longest in their newest position. Some think Oregon with all the Nike money and facilities is a sleeping giant and the Pac-10 is wide open but I like McDermott's chances at Creighton..

Marquette & Big 11 Expansion

No, Marquette will not be joining the Big 11 but now that we've moved past Tournament expansion, we should revisit the likely expansion of the Pac-10 and Big 11 and how this will directly affect Marquette.

Though the Big 11 has publicly stated expansion is just being evaluated, it's more likely a matter of time before you see expansion and likely the creation of the first real super conference - a 16 team football AND basketball conference. We can guess at the schools but it'll hardly matter. Current rumblings have conference officials trying to push current members to stop scheduling non-conference games against Notre Dame to force its hand and basically strong arm them into joining.

It's possible the Pac-10 moves first and expands to 12 teams. Though BYU seems a natural fit, member school presidents don't like the idea of adding an academically inferior school which BYU falls under. Utah seems certain with a strong possibility of pursuing Colorado.

What does this mean? Well, the ACC & SEC would more than likely react by expanding themselves cherry picking the Big East leftovers and with the SEC pushing hard to bring Oklahoma and Texas in the fold - which would in turn bring Oklahoma State and Texas A&M with them. The Pac-10 would expand again and the Big 12, WAC & Mountain West desirable leftovers would create a 5th Super Conference.

But what about Marquette? The Big East because of its non-football schools would see Notre Dame (Big 11), UConn (ACC), Syracuse (ACC), Rutgers(Big 11), Louisville(Big 12?), Cincinnati(Big 12?), South Florida(?), Pittsburgh(Big 11) & West Virginia(ACC) leave. The non-football schools could theoretically stay in the Big East but it would be more likely that if a Big East were to survive, it would have little choice but to try and keep Louisville, Cincinnati & South Florida and expand with schools such as Memphis and the non-affiliated BCS Florida schools (UCF, etc.).

It's possible the Big East does that and keeps Seton Hall, Villanova, Marquette, DePaul, Providence, St. John's & Georgetown for basketball. The question will be does Louisville, Cincinnati & South Florida want to play in what will be considered a non-BCS conference? In all likelihood, no. To keep them would likely lead to some very interesting decisions in regards to the non-football members.

I firmly believe we will see 5 power conferences within the next two years being formed and Marquette scrambling to find a new home, possibly a basketball only conference including old guard Big East schools. If you're a Marquette fan, you should pay attention to how all of this plays out.

68

68 works.

Kyle Singler coming back.

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=5115934

ESPN Out?

In one good bit of news on tournament expansion, according to ESPN themselves, CBS and its broadcasting partners (TNT & TRU TV) have the highest bid for broadcast rights and ESPN does not intend to offer more than what they have on the table.

No Digger or Mike Patrick is a great thing.

Expansion Explosion

In reply to expansion, more is better, you see. It's like 11 on an amp.

All the NCAA wants to do Brian, is have more kids get to experience the joys of the tournament. Really, that's it. Half, Half! the D-1 football teams get to play in bowl games enhancing the college sporting experience for the student athlete. Would you turn down a chance to visit Mobile or Detroit or Boise or Charlotte in December? Think of the enrichment these young lads get visiting these fine cities and learning about their culture and history. The bowl game itself is really secondary and a reward for the loyal fans of these programs.

But in basketball, only 65 of about 330 get to play in the tournament. Only 65! I think Bo Ryan said it best in pointing out the horrible (THE HORROR!) inequity in this. Sure, sure the conference tournaments are really an extension of the tournament itself but now 23 whole more teams will be able to continue their season after these conference tournaments. Isn't that wonderful? Think of the valuable life lessons and cultural enrichment these young men will now experience. You don't think Evan Turner appreciated his time in Milwaukee, learning of our fine brewing history or of our coupon-clipping ways? Now 23 teams of 12 or so young men will also get to experience this. It's really a shame that they're only expanding to 96. Think of all those kids that didn't earn their way to the tournament. How is that fair? Just because they didn't earn their way on the court doesn't mean they shouldn't be included in the field, should it? That seems pretty harsh. It's all about the children. Think of the children, God Dammit!

Expansion

Its sounds like when the tournament expands the new first round (seeds 9-24) will play Thursday/Friday and the second round Saturday/Sunday. The third round would be Tuesday/Wednesday, fourth round Thursday/Friday, and Final Four Saturday/Sunday. So, the top seeds get a bye but then have to play 4 games in an 8 day period. How is that helpful?

ACC Coaching Shakeup

At Clemson, I think the Tigers upgraded bringing Brad Brownell in to replace Oliver Purnell. In 4 years, Brownell took UNC-Wilmington to the tournament twice and managed to win one Horizon League title over Butler while at Wright State. Brownell runs a style similar to Tony Bennett's, so the ACC now has two programs that'll be grinders. Clemson has a reputation as a bit of an underachieving program (Sounds like the football program) but I think a guy like Brownell can find some success here.

Boston College brought in one of the hot guys from the tournament, Steve Donahue of Cornell. They dumped Al Skinner in hopes of bringing a more dynamic offensive to BC and Donahue has promised to try and turn them into 75-80pt. per game team. The Al Skinner era probably ended sooner than anticipated thanks to the move to the ACC. I like this hire, too.

The one move that leads me to scratch my head is the Wake Forest hire of Jeff Bzdelik, who in three years at Colorado, didn't get his team to a single post-season berth. Bzdelik has a NBA pedigree and two wildly successful years at the Air Force. Considering the timing of the Gaudio firing, I'd have imagined a bigger target.

The final tally for the Perfect 64

Congratulations to Duke on their 4th Men's NCAA Basketball Championship and to Coach K who get a little justice from the hoops God's for taking on the albatross that is USA basketball.

As we know, this was likely the 26th and final 64(5) team tournament. Here's a look at the Final Four participants based on conference affiliation:

1. ACC - 24 Teams - Duke 11, UNC 9, Maryland 2, Georgia Tech 2

2. Big 10 - 18 Teams - Michigan State 6, Indiana 3, Michigan 3, Illinois 2, Ohio State 2, Wisconsin 1, Minnesota 1

3. Big East - 14 Teams - Syracuse 3, UConn 3, Georgetown 2, Villanova 2, Seton Hall 1, Providence 1, West Virginia 1, St. John's 1

4. SEC - 13 Teams - Kentucky 4, Florida 4, Arkansas 2, LSU 2, Mississippi State 1

5. Big 8/12 - 12 Teams - Kansas 7, Oklahoma 2, Oklahoma State 2, Texas 1

6. Pac 10 - 9 Teams - Arizona 4, UCLA 4, Stanford 1

7. Conference USA - 3 Teams - Marquette, Louisville (2005), Memphis (2008)

8. Big West - 2 Teams - UNLV 2
9. Metro - 2 Teams - Louisville (1986)& Memphis State (1985) 1 each
10. Great Midwest - 1 - Cincinnati (1992)
PCAA - 1 - UNLV (1987)
Horizon - 1 - Butler
A-10 - 1 - UMass
Colonial - 1 - George Mason
WAC - 1 - Utah (1998)
SWC - 1 - Arkansas (1990)

Todd vs. Brian

Horizon vs. ACC. Demski vs. Dachel. A feud is born. Queensryche should write a song about it.

If Duke wins, that'll be 5 ACC National Champs in 10 years (Duke '01, Garyland '02, UNC '05 & '09). Like the SEC in football, it's about National Titles.

The Ol' 96er

Brian-

Can you get those brackets for next year to me on a single sheet? Thanks.

Kudos to John "Junior" Feinstein for embarrassing the NCAA - not very difficult - yesterday during their news conference, er sales pitch about tournament expansion. Since when was class time a concern for the NCAA? Class time. That argument only works when they poo-poo a football tournament. Class time. Watching the NCAA operate is great comedy. Class time! C'mon John, seriously? Class time!

Anyway, just play this when you think about why the tournament is expanding:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1hkt2i0m4g

Class time!

Butler?

Who had Butler in the Final Four? Me, in my preason bracket. Too bad I also had Notre Dame and Kansas.

Izzo Knows March

All year I say never bet against Michigan State in March and I bet against them in March. Who would you rather have? Bo Ryan or Tom Izzo?

Evan Turner ready for the NBA

He has his NBA whining down pat. Poor guy gets fouled on every play. He must know LeBron pretty well, too. Liked the walk off the court w/o the handshakes.

What?

No love for the Horizon League!? Better get used to them...they'll be back next year in the same position. Welcome to the new Gonzaga.

Poor Xavier

Best tournament since...? You tell me. Come on K-State! Beat Butler!

Rick Jackson has good hands

And ball control. He makes Hasheem Thabeet look like a wizard.

Picks to run from: EAST REGION

Cornell vs. Kentucky: Can Cornell win? Yes, they can. If they shoot lights out like they're capable of, Kentucky will be limited in their ability to run in transition. I suspect Jeff Foote will be a load for Demarcus Cousins. No stats here. Kentucky can defend you inside and out and are way more athletic than what Bucky showed the Big Red. But they're careless with the ball far too often.

This'll be a fascinating game. Will Kentucky come out the aggressor like they have the first two games? If not, can they withstand an early Cornell barage? Kentucky has been taken shots throughout the year and have shown a capability of winning from behind. To me, you should know alot about this game in the first ten minutes. If Kentucky is aggressive from the tip, they win even if they fall behind early. But if they fall behind and play in a reaction mode, trouble could be brewing.

I'm picking Kentucky 84 Cornell 70 but won't be surprised either way.

Washington vs. West Virginia: As we know, Washington likes to push tempo. They also don't play much defense. Washington has been lights out offensively (Shooting well, protecting the ball) through two games and while we think of West Virgnia as a defensive team, they are 51st in scoring defense and only 91st in FG% defense. KenPom has them 23rd, just 12 spots ahead of Washington.

West Virginia has an edge on the boards, sharing the ball and committing fewer fouls. Ball control is a push. At some point, UW has to go cold and WVU has more athleticism than they've seen so far. If UW shoots well again, they can win this thing but I'm hedging my bets a trip across country and shooting in a dome slows them down and West Virginia forces them into tougher shots and sets.

West Virginia 72 Washington 64

Picks to run from: WEST REGIONAL

Butler vs. Syracuse: Syracuse has rolled through their first two games and Butler has handled UTEP and Murray State. Syracuse has a superior offensive team (6th in scoring, 1st in FG%) whose main two problems are turnovers (272nd) and FT shooting (216th). Butler holds opponents down in scoring (10th) but their defensive FG% defense is worse than Syracuse. Syracuse doesn't have a large advantage on the boards but does block the 7th most shots in the land. And while Onuaku may not playing, Rick Jackson leads the team in blocks and Wes Johnson leads them in rebounds.

Butler is good enough to spring an upset but I like Syracuse 70 Butler 65.

Xavier vs. Kansas State: As I read Badger fans defend Bo Ryan's March resume, I remind them of the success of Xavier who is making this Sweet 16 thing look easy. I like this matchup a lot. Both teams statistically matchup almost evenly, with Xavier having a slight advantage in both offensive and defensive FG%. Rebounding is about dead even, too.

The K-State red flags for me are a 67% at the free throw line vs. Xavier at 71%. K-State is 227th in turnovers while Xavier is 100 - though K-State forces more sort of equaling that out. K-State also commits 4 more personal fouls per game.

I think this is a toss-up. K-State is slightly better in the backcourt but not significantly so. Give me Xavier in a slight upset, 77-73.

I got your winning bracket

Every. Single. Game. Right.

Amazing.

More Omar Samhan

A collection of recent quotes, this guy is awesome. He even addresses the low tops.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/sports/ncaabasketball/21nova.html?hp

Bo Ryan fears the second weekend

Told you that's why he wants to expand. That second weekend has to be easier that way. Getting to the tourney every year is great for a program that languished for years but at some point, you have to get further. One elite eight in a year where he missed Kansas and UConn and one win over a lower seeded team. Bo don't know the dance.

But at least this year's Charlie Wills winner for Super Douche, J-Bo made a basket or two today.

Get your Gus on.

All things Gus Johnson.

10 Random Thoughts from the Opening Round

1. Thursday was the best day of the tournament in recent years. Friday was a case of Red Dog.
2. Wisconsin better be tougher on the glass because their offense is Dick Bennett bad at this point. To get outrebounded by Wofford despite a clear advantage is redonkulous. Every trip where Leuer doesn't get a touch should result in Bo Ryan's head exploding in rage. I read that he's a lottery pick and he plays like it.
3. Jordan Williams could be the poor man's Blake Griffin.
4. Ohio proved the easiest way to upset a team is by making every shot possible.
5. Speaking of which, the Big East is 4-4 as of right now and 'Nova looked terrible but Marquette and Notre Dame were overseeded and Georgetown ran into the wrong team on the wrong night. It happens.
6. I still think the Rick Pitino era at Louisville is very close to being over. If Oregon's athletic department wasn't such a mess, wouldn't Phil Knight waving a check at Rick be tempting?
7. Xavier is quickly becoming my second favorite team in college basketball. They're fun to watch.
8. On seeding again, Cornell is not a 12 and that wasn't some kind of epic 12-5 upset. Hell, Cornell might be better than a 5.
9. Jimmer!
10. New Mexico State fan is outraged over the ending of their game. They should be outraged their best player made two insanely dumb fouls and they went the last 8 minutes running offensive sets like a rec league team. Look in the mirror, gents.

Need a job?

DePaul is covering all of its bases.

Bracket Conspiracy

Deadspin links you to various bracket conspiracies.

And you thought it couldn't get worse...

Illinois not only misses the Big Dance, they can't host a NIT game because Cirque du Soleil is in town. The humanity of having to go to Stony Brook as a member of the Big 11.

Things I Think...

Now if I can stay away from talking heads and get my head cluttered by cliche speak, this is what I think by looking at the numbers...

EAST REGION - Bucky and Marquette did not get good draws despite what I heard from the locals. I think they both win round 1 (Both could lose, too) but will not get to the second weekend...The committe put the two biggest underachievers against one another in Texas and Wake...People will go on and on about Kentucky getting slowed down by some of the potential matchups but they do more than run and gun and can play in the halfcourt just because of John Wall

SOUTH REGION - I like the 12 & 13 (Utah State & Siena)...Richmond and St. Mary's could be one of the better matchups in round one and are Sweet 16 capable...I like ODU over Notre Dame...Baylor will get to the Elite 8...Duke could walk to the Final 4, this is the weakest bracket by far

MIDWEST REGION - This region is brutal...New Mexico State can beat Michigan State (I'm not picking it, though)...Keep an eye on San Diego State as a sleeper to get to the Sweet 16, Georgetown will be overrated by a lot of people...If the bracket holds, Kansas-Ohio State would be one of the best Regional Finals in years

WEST REGION - I like UTEP & Murray State as potential upsets. UTEP is pretty good...I was convinced Kansas State was the easy choice out of this bracket but I like BYU over them. I am very tempted to pick BYU to go the Final Four...I also like Xavier to get to the Sweet 16...This bracket is weak 3-5 but I think the committee undervalued UTEP and BYU which means both should get bounced early...I wouldn't be stunned to see Oakland beat Pitt

I am Awful

Geez, almost dead last on the Bracket Matrix. Obviously I've spent too much time working and not enough time figuring out how Florida should be a 10 seed. I suck.

Enough, espn.

If you are 19-14 you don't belong in the tournament. I'm looking at you, Illinois.

That will be all.

Washington

Out of the watered down Pac-10 comes Marquette's first foe, the Huskies of Washington.

Washington is an offensive minded-team that plays very little defense. They're 13th in the nation in scoring and 216th on defenensive scoring. For a team that scores alot, they don't make many 3's (258th) or shoot them particularly well (226th). They're okay at defending the 3 - Marquette's weapon of choice (71st in 3pt. FG% defense).

To compound their struggles on defense, the Huskies should send Marquette to the line an awful lot. They commit a ton of fouls (318th). So, attack the rim Jimmy and Lazar! They help themselves on the boards (45th). They're about average protecting the ball (103rd) and sharing it (88th). If Marquette stays stingy protecting the ball like they have, that should help slow down the Husky tempo.

Marquette will have to keep up with diminuative 5' 8" guard, sophomore Isaiah Thomas and senior forward Quincy Pondexter who can score and board.

I think Villanova is the closest Big East comparison. Washington's best win came at home in December over Texas A&M otherwise the rest of the resume is dotted with Pac-10 wins.

If they can control tempo and be productive from outside the arc, Marquette should win but it's far from a certainty and no lock. For what it's worth, Marquette is 28 in KenPom and Washington is 29. Looks like another pepto game.

ok...I'll ask...

why is Kansas not playing the winner of the play-in game?

Florida a 10?

Get me a trash can, too.

Commence barfing

Minnesota? Come on.

You posted too early.

Now Lunardi has a chance to copy you.

Picture It

FINAL

Minnesota gets crushed and is replaced by Illinois.

1 seed vs 16 seed
Kansas - (B12) vs Arkansas-PB - (SWAC)/Winthorp (BigSouth)
Kentucky - (SEC) vs LeHigh (Patriot)
Syracuse vs Robert Morris - (NEC)
Duke - (ACC) vs E. Tennessee State - (Asun)
2 seed vs 15 seed
West Virginia - (Beast) vs Vermont - (Aeast)
Ohio State - (Big10) vs North Texas - (Sbelt)
Kansas State vs Morgan State - (MEAC)
Georgetown vs Montana - (Big Sky)
3 seed vs 14 seed
New Mexico vs UC-Santa Barbara - (Big West)
Villanova vs Ohio - (MAC)
Temple - (A10) vs Wofford - (SoCon)
Pittsburgh vs Houston - (CUSA)
4 seed vs 13 seed
Tennessee vs Sam Houston St - (Southland)
Baylor vs Murray State - (OVC)
Wisconsin vs Oakland - (Summit)
Purdue vs New Mexico State (WAC)
5 seed vs 12 seed
Vanderbilt vs Virginia Tech
Maryland vs Utah State
Butler - (Horizon) vs Illinois
Michigan State vs Wake Forest
6 seed vs 11 seed
Richmond vs Cornell - (Ivy)
BYU vs Washington - (Pac10)
Texas A&M vs Siena - (MAAC)
Gonzaga vs Missouri
7 seed vs 10 seed
Georgia Tech vs UNLV
Xavier vs Louisville
Marquette vs San Diego State - (Mwest)
Northern Iowa - (MVC) vs UTEP
8 seed vs 9 seed
Notre Dame vs Oklahoma State
Florida State vs California
Old Dominion - (CAA) vs Texas
Clemson vs St. Mary's - (WCC)


Last Four Out
Minnesota
Mississippi State
Florida
Mississippi
Next Four Out
Rhode Island
Arizona State
Wichita State
Seton Hall
Also Considered
Memphis

Latest Update

I'm leaving Virginia Tech in and 10-6 conference record. I'm pulling out Mississippi State for good. The last spot for me is going to be Illinois or Minnesota....

Bracket Rules

So all are aware there are certain rules where teams from the same conference have to be spread out and this allows for teams to be seeded 1 up or 1 down from where they fall on the S-Curve. An example at this moment is Marquette who I have as a 8 seed needed to be moved to a 7 seed so my bracket is legal.

Also, I was ready to put Minnesota in and pull Mississippi State out but now OSU is pulling away.

Barf

That's what I'll do if Minnesota and Illinois make it in.

Bubble Status

I think Mississippi State did enough to grab the last spot. I have Minnesota out and will see how the game goes today. Win and their in, stay close is in, blown out is a loss. Here's how I see it at 2:30

In
Wake Forest
Virginia Tech
Mississippi State
Out
Minnesota
Illinois

If I have to put Minny in, I'm probably pulling VaTech out.

Back to number crunching

Biggest Questions of the Day

1. Who is the fourth #1 seed? Duke or West Virginia

2. Who's the fourth #2 seed? Purdue, Villanova, New Mexico?

3. Where to put Butler or Gonzaga?

4. How far do UTEP and Utah State fall after losing last night?

5. If Minnesota and Mississippi State win whose bubble gets burst?

6. Who's the surprise team that gets left out? Virginia Tech, Louisville, Wake Forest, or Missouri?

7. Who's the surprise team that gets in? Wichita State, William and Mary, Seton Hall, or UNC?

Christmas Time

It’s Christmas in March as today is Selection Sunday.

Let’s start out with the auto-bids handed out yesterday

SWAC – Arkansas – Peanut Butter – welcome to the play out game, thanks for coming

America East – Vermont beat Boston early and probably grab the lowest 15 seed

MEAC – Todd Bozeman leads Morgan State to the MEAC title and probably a date with K-state. They can hang for a bit but will ultimately get crushed

Big West – UC Santa Barbara grabs the bid and a potential 14 seed

MAC – The biggest upset of the day as Ohio wins. Surprisingly, even through they were an 7 seed in the MAC tournament their RPI is a respectable 94.

Southland – Samuel Houston Sr. beats Steve Austin for a possible 13/14 bid

WAC – The Aggies upset the Aggies to grab a bid and send bubble teams running. Is the WAC a 2 bid conference now?

Mountain West – thankfully we didn’t get to watch this 55-45 mess. San Diego State finishes the job and goes from last 4 out to an RPI of 18 in 3 days.

C-USA – There goes the UTEP winning streak and in comes Houston, who I had projected getting in here during my preseason ramblings. Funny how that worked.

Pac-10 – Washington secures a bid and the Pac-10 is a two bid conference. Read that again because a lot of bracketologists are saying California is not safe. I am telling you a conference title and a top 20 RPI is going to be enough.

Big East – West Virginia holds off Georgetown and are now in line for a #1 seed. Is it Duke’s to lose today or do they now grab Syracuse’s?

Big 12 – Kansas State better hope they don’t run into Kansas down the road again.

Below is the bracket as of this morning. There is potential for more changes as I still have Mississippi State and Minnesota out. Depending on how they look will depend on whether I put them in or if they win, have to put them in. The bubble teams that are sweating the most are Illinois and Virginia Tech. I also think there is another group that also should be somewhat worried due to their early tourney exist or last week fadings. That group includes Wake Forest, Missouri, Louisville, UTEP, and Utah State. I’ll be crunching through some numbers and retain the right to move things around a bit more but for now, this is what I got for you.

1 seed vs 16 seed
Kansas - (B12) vs Arkansas-PB - (SWAC)/Winthorp (BigSouth)
Kentucky - (SEC) vs LeHigh (Patriot)
Syracuse vs Robert Morris - (NEC)
Duke - (ACC) vs E. Tennessee State - (Asun)
2 seed vs 15 seed
West Virginia - (Beast) vs Vermont - (Aeast)
Ohio State - (Big10) vs North Texas - (Sbelt)
Kansas State vs Morgan State - (MEAC)
Villanova vs Montana - (Big Sky)
3 seed vs 14 seed
New Mexico vs UC-Santa Barbara - (Big West)
Georgetown vs Ohio - (MAC)
Temple - (A10) vs Wofford - (SoCon)
Pittsburgh vs Houston - (CUSA)
4 seed vs 13 seed
Purdue vs Sam Houston St - (Southland)
Tennessee vs Murray State - (OVC)
Vanderbilt vs Oakland - (Summit)
Wisconsin vs New Mexico State (WAC)
5 seed vs 12 seed
Baylor vs Washington - (Pac10)
Maryland vs Illinois
Butler - (Horizon) vs Wake Forest
Richmond vs Virginia Tech
6 seed vs 11 seed
Michigan State vs Cornell - (Ivy)
BYU vs California
Texas A&M vs Siena - (MAAC)
Gonzaga vs UNLV
7 seed vs 10 seed
Northern Iowa - (MVC) vs Missouri
Xavier vs Louisville
Marquette vs Utah State
Georgia Tech vs UTEP
8 seed vs 9 seed
Florida State vs Oklahoma State
Notre Dame vs San Diego State - (Mwest)
Old Dominion - (CAA) vs Texas
Clemson vs St. Mary's - (WCC)

Last Four Out
Mississippi State
Minnesota
Florida
Mississippi

Next Four Out
Rhode Island
Arizona State
Wichita State
Seton Hall

Also Considered
Memphis

Your Broadcast Teams

Jim Nantz - "Special K' Clark Kellog
Dick Enberg - Jay Bilas (Was Bilas ever on Little House on the Prarie? - NO!)
Verne Lundquist - Bill "Happy Hour" Raftery
Gus Johnson - Len Elmore
Kevin "White Man's Gus Johnson" Harlan - Dan Bonner
Ian Eagle - Jim "Super-Scintilating-Stunning-Stupenodus" Spanarkel
Spero Dedes - Bob Wenzel
Tim Brando - Mike Gminski

Good Lord, three Dukies. Just think, next year, Brent Musburger and Dick Vitale and Mike Patrick will get to call games and maybe even Pammy Ward! YES!

This begs the question, who did Craig Bolerjack piss off?

Lunardi Update

For naughty word (YEAH) and giggles..

His latest bracket has Marquette as a 9 seed taking on Texas out West in...Jacksonville. It has UW as a 4 seed out West in San Jose taking on Rhode Island. That would put both schools on a collision course in the Sweet 16. Marquette would totally destroy Texas and Duke (If they beat the 16.). But I doubt UW would get past BYU or Siena, so nevermind.

He projects Kentucky-Play-In & Oklahoma State- Louisville...Northern Iowa-Missouri & Ohios State-North Texas in Milwaukee. Not bad, John Wall & Evan Turner in town as we watch and salivate over the possibility of winning the lottery (Thanks, Bulls!).

I have to go break down UTEP, Utah State...and bury Bryan.

If I show up Thursday there better not be any drinking. You can't get my calculator and laptop wet with drunken spillage.

Wow.

Well done Bryan, well done. Goddamn.

Geek dice.

PreSelection Saturday

Only 36 hours to brackets. Time to bring this one home.

Out
Mississippi – A shaky profile and a loss yesterday probably sealed the deal. Out for now

In
Washington – getting hot at the right time. Baring a blow-out tonight against California they might be a lock

Pop
Dayton – my preseason pick in the A-10 just hasn’t done enough

Auto Bids
Patriot – LeHigh takes the Patriot bid and marches towards Syracuse

Today’s Bids

SWAC – Texas Southern vs Arkansas – Peanut Butter
No analysis for a play out game loser

C-USA – UTEP vs Houston
Shockingly I had Houston in my preseason bracket. UTEP is a lock at this point so a Houston win steals a bid from a bubble team

Pac-10 California vs Washington
I have to believe that barring a Husky no show both are in

MAC Ohio – Akron
The battle for a 14 seed. Akron had a chance to be dangerous. Ohio has a chance to lose by 22.

Mountain West - UNLV vs San Diego State
The unlikely is now a lock as the Mountain West is officially a 4 bid league. Can’t wait to bust out the Mountain West envelope.

Big West – Long Beach State vs UC-Santa Barbara
Not much to say here. Neither should be able to sniff a win in the Big Dance

Big East – West Virginia vs Georgetown
Playing for seeding, it is possible for West Virginia to steal a 1 seed.

WAC – Utah State vs New Mexico State
Utah State, like UTEP, is a lock at this point; the Aggies could steal a bid if the Aggies upset the Aggies. Yep, you read that right.

American East – Boston vs Vermont
A likely 15 seed for the Catamounts while Boston is possibly a 16. First game of the day so read the blog and turn on ESPN2

MEAC – Morgan State vs South Carolina State
Morgan State could give a 2 seed a solid half of basketball. SC State cannot. Guess who we should be cheering for here?

Southland – Sam Houston vs Stephen Austin
Apparently a game of one on one between Mr Houston and Stone Cold Steve Austin. Stunner! Stunner! Stunner!

"Bracketologist" Jerry Palm

For those who don't know this is CBS's bracketologist. He was on CBSC last night and posted a new bracket at 3am this morning. Oh, and he appears to be clueless. First he has California as a 12 seed. I know they are having a down year but there is not way that the winner of a BCS conference, who will be playing in their conference tournament and has an RPI of 19 is going to be a 12 seed. Is he saying if California loses tonight they are out? Secondly, Seton Hall not only in but as an 11 seed while Cornell sits at 13, Utah State with their 15 game win streak at a 12, and the above mentioned California at 12. The 9th Big East team with a higher seed then the Pac-10 champion? I could go on but it's too easy. How does he have a job?

The ACC

Duke now must overcome the 2010 powerhouses of 12 seeded Miami, 7 seeded Georgia Tech, and 10 seeded North Carolina to get #1 seed. Can they do it? Stay tuned.

Random Musings

Now, I'm not some famous bracketologist who's in demand from the local Homer or "bracket website" or anything. I'm a simple man. I don't understand your "Bob Morris" or "Colonial Athletic Conference". I fell on some ice and was later thawed by some of your scientists. Your world frightens and confuses me! But I do know a few things:

1. Not such a good day for the Wisconsin teams. Probably the flattest I've seen Marquette all year, dont know if the third game in 3 days was it or what, but just never really looked with-it. Interesting that before tonite they were one of only 6 teams in D-I without a loss of 10 or more points, thats pretty impressive. There goes that stat. Didnt see UW, but monitored using the internet, which also frightens and confuses me. For quite a while, they were averaging a point a minute. That aint gonna get it done....unless you're playing the aforementioned UAB and their go$#%am 44 points. Speaking of which, why cant we say goddamm? Is this blog now too classy with all the newfound fame? heh...heh....

2. Sweet shot by Evan Turner, It never looked like it got more than 4 inches above the rim. i guess that makes it even more impressive. But not as impressive as the 'fro.

3. Feeling good about a solid tournament with some close games. Its been a while, thats for damn sure. Or should I say d@#m sure. or darn sure. dag-nabbit.

4. Memphis, my how far we've fallen. UNC, my how far we've fallen.

5. The opening line on the quarter barrels is set at an over/under of 5.25. Like #3, feeling good about the tournament.

6. Make sure if you get on Homer, you mention geek dice. or geek captain. Or your homeboys who hang out in your basement. Dont forget what got you there, baby!!!

7. Does Bob Huggins always need to wear that jumpsuit?

8. Is Harangody's head as big as Buzz Williams' head?

9. The Buzz Williams walk-dance-running man is truly awful. You asked if they teach that at Marquette. The answer is no, they didnt teach it. We studied it as an example of how gravity could be defied....by all accounts, his head shouldnt be able to be supported in that kind of gyrating motion.

10. And, to wrap it up, I may be the only person who was actively rooting for Oakland (Mi). Guy who sits across from me at work went to Oakland. Who woulda thunk it?

Thats all for now. Hurry up and read the post before its buried in 17 layers of Summit League analysis.

Marquette's Unlikely Run

Well, that stunk.

Georgetown is playing like a team with 3 future NBA players and Marquette went ice cold equaling a crazy, un-delish whooping.

To put things into perspective, though...let's look at the contribution from the 2007 recruiting class who are juniors tonight. Trevor Mbakwe..uh..how about that Scott Christopehrson...er...uh..and Pat Hazel...oh..yeah..

At least there's Tyshawn Taylor from the '08 class.

A nice hat tip to Buzz and co. for a great season thus far. Good luck, next week Warriors!

Basketball at its absolute worst

Let me be the first to thank Tony Bennett for bringing such an exciting style of basketball to the ACC. After years of dreadful teams, dreadful play and brutal fundamentals, it's a pleasure to watch your team. That is, if you're a sadomasochist.

Morning Update

Is it me or do the Bubble teams not understand that to get in or stay in, one must win? An awful day for the bubble and no auto bids.

Out
Memphis - couldn't get the job done and unless UTEP loses Conference USA will remain a 1 bid league.
UAB - 44 points? That's all? 44 Go%&%^amn points? Shhhhh, you can say Go%&%^amn on a blog. It doesn't matter, nobody's listening anyway. Thank you Major League. The loss hurts but the fat that they never showed up is killer. UAB is done.
Kent State - the #1 MAC seed falls opening the door for Akron to claim a 14 seed.
Jackson St - missed this one two days ago. It's the SWAC so we're talking play-out game anyway

In
Illinois - I've said it plenty of times, beat Wisconsin and your in, lose and your out. An RPI in the 70's and losers of 5 of 6 is not the way to end a season
Rhode Island - Best of the last teams out is not saying much
Akron - MAC 2 seed
Arkansas - Pine Bluff - um, yeah.

Bubbles Popped
Cincinnati - needed 1 more win to be taken seriously

Bids handed out today:

Patriot
LeHigh vs Lafayette
Winner of this game will be in consideration for the play out game along with Ark-PB and Winthrop. Make sure you leave early to catch in on ESPN2

Bubble teams that need to win today
Illinois over Wisconsin - won't happen
Rhode Island over St. Louis - Rams win a close one
Mississippi over Tennessee - Should be fun, I'm calling the Rebel upset
Dayton over Xavier - Dayton's bid ends here
San Diego State over New Mexico - The Aztecs lose and are left out again
Washington over Stanford - Washington is starting to hit their stride

Bracket Buster: Oakland

This'll be the last of the brackt busters as I'll focus on potential Marquette matchups after this (Unless Carolina wins the ACC, then we'll look at them ;). And Siena has busted brackets the last two years. If you're surprised this year, well, you're dumb.

Surprisingly, Oakland (MI) out of the Summit has a nice RPI of 52. They've also won their last 10 heading into the tourney. They have zero significant wins but played a tough schedule that included Bucky, Kansas, Syracuse and Michigan State. Bad thing? They got trounced in those games.

Other than scoring, Oakland doesn't do much else. They don't play defense (253rd). They turn it over too much (221st). They don't make many bombs and shoot too many, 212th in 3pt. FG %. Everything else is pretty middle of the road or worse. They have a nice rebound margin and block shots, a lot of that built against their weaker opponents.

They do bring something that may give problems to a small team, in they have a bona fide center in junior Keith Benson. He can be a productive offensive player and a solid rebounder but he is prone to foul trouble and has a reputation (Among NBA scouts, anyway) as being soft. He held his own against Bucky and Kansas.

Currently sitting as a likely 14 seed in Brian's bracket, take a look at them if you think this is a year a 14 could upend a 3 (First time since Northwestern State shocked Iowa in 2006 - Also the year Xavier and Murray State hung around as 14's).

Fear the DJO

Coming to a Big East arena near you. You've been warned.

Blah...Wake...

Here's a one and done donkey. Hee-haw.

And Memphis Pops Their Bubble

End Communication

Syracuse poops the bed

To be totally honest, Syracuse hasn't looked very good their last two games out, almost as if they're out of energy and if Arinze Onuaku is seriously injured, that's not good.

Georgetown got a career game today out of Chris Wright. Considering their ability to make 3's (24th in the nation), one wonders why they don't take more, as they only average 6 per game. If they could protect the ball, they'd be so much more dynamic.

EDIT: Hoyas were only 6-18 from beyond the arc today but shot 58% overall. The difference was Syracuse turning it over, 5 each by Rautins and Jackson.

Thursday Bracketology

1 seed vs 16 seed
Kansas - (B12) vs Jackson St - (SWAC)/LeHigh - (Patriot)
Kentucky - (SEC) vs Winthorp - (BigSouth)
Syracuse - (Beast) vs Robert Morris - (NEC)
Duke - (ACC) vs Vermont - (Aeast)
2 seed vs 15 seed
West Virginia vs E. Tennessee State - (Asun)
Purdue vs North Texas - (Sbelt)
New Mexico - (Mwest) vs Morgan State - (MEAC)
Kansas State vs UC-Santa Barbara - (Big West)
3 seed vs 14 seed
Ohio State - (Big10) vs Montana - (Big Sky)
Pittsburgh vs Wofford - (SoCon)
Villanova vs Sam Houston St - (Southland)
Tennessee vs Oakland - (Summit)
4 seed vs 13 seed
Vanderbilt vs Murray State - (OVC)
Temple - (A10) vs Kent State - (MAC)
Wisconsin vs Arizona State
Butler - (Horizon) vs Mississippi
5 seed vs 12 seed
BYU vs Florida
Georgetown vs Memphis
Michigan State vs San Diego State
Maryland vs Notre Dame
6 seed vs 11 seed
Baylor vs Cornell - (Ivy)
Xavier vs Georgia Tech
Gonzaga vs Utah State - (WAC)
Texas A&M vs Siena - (MAAC)
7 seed vs 10 seed
Northern Iowa - (MVC) vs Virginia Tech
Richmond vs Missouri
Texas vs UNLV
Clemson vs St. Mary's - (WCC)
8 seed vs 9 seed
Lousville vs California - (Pac10)
UTEP - (CUSA) vs Marquette
Oklahoma State vs Wake Forest
Florida State vs Old Dominion - (CAA)

Last Four Out
UAB
Illinois
Rhode Island
Dayton
Next Four Out
Mississippi State
Washington
Wichita State
Minnesota
Also Considered
Cincinnati

Thursday Morning Updates

There were a couple great games for bids last night and the Bubble gets smaller

Northeast - Robert Morris outlasts the home team and beats Quinnipiac 52-50. A solid game to start the evening and Bob Morris makes it two years in a row.

Big Sky - Up by 20 at halftime, Weber State lets a bid slip away by not stopping Anthony Johnson who scored 42 of the team's 66 points including their last 21. A great individual performance to carry his team to the big dance

Bubble Action - Seton Hall and South Florida lose to end their bid, for a bid. Notre Dame and Marquette are officially locks and are now looking to improve seeding.

No Bids will be awarded this evening but there are plenty of Bubble games throughout the day

Houston - Memphis - The Tigers are one of my last 4 in and need to keep winning to stay on the right side of the Bubble

Southern Miss - UAB - UAB is on the opposite of the Bubble and will need this one and tomorrow's to get back in

UNC - Georgia Tech - I think Tech is safe but better to win this one and not give the committee a reason to leave you out

Auburn - Florida - Another one of my last 4 in, Florida has lost 3 straight. A win here keeps them in but by no means moves them to lock status

Colorado State - San Diego State - Keep winning Aztecs, keep winning...

Utah - UNLV - most bracketologists have UNLV as a lock, I'm not so sure. An RPI in the high 40's will be in the 50's with a loss here. Utah beat them already this year. Could this be another upset?

Shrinking Bubble

Marquette is offically a lock. We are now talking seeds; I'm thinking 9-10 now, with the chance of higher with a win

South Florida is done and so is Seton Hall. Can't imagine Notre Dame not getting in now which is a relief since I had them in my preseason Final Four with Kansas, Duke, and Butler.

Marquette's Official Sponsor

Today's Games

For tonight there are two championship games as well as a ton of bubble action in the Big East.

Northeast - the top two seeds meet here for a chance at will probably be Kentucky in the first round next Thursday. Quinnipiac over Robert Morris in a low scoring affair

Big Sky - Who can forget Harold "The Show" Archineaux and his performance 15 years ago against North Carolina? There's no Show at Weber State anymore but they still have enough firepower to outlast Montana

Today's Bubble - I think Marquette's safe but I suggest not losing to St. John's to cast doubt in the committee's eyes. Seton Hall and Notre Dame might be an elimination game. The Hall can't get in with a loss but the Fighting Irish might be able to grab a bid without a win here. The same goes for South Florida who needs a win to stay alive. Georgetown doesn't need a win to grab a bid but their seeding is falling like a rock.

Last Night's Games

Three more bids went out last night in addition to a ton of A-10 Bubble action. It's getting down to the nitty gritty.

Sun Belt - Second seeded North Texas springs the mild upset beating Troy to grab a bid for the Mean Green

Horizon - No upset here as Butler crushes Wright State by 25 thus saving a bid for all the Bubble teams out there

Summit - Not as high scoring as I hoped and not an upset as predicted as the Golden Grizzlies of Oakland outlast IUPUI for the Summit bid. Oakland could be a dangerous 14 seed come late next week

Bubble Teams - The Atlantic 10 and Big East had a good showing as Rhode Island, Dayton, Seton Hall, and South Florida all won to hang on to their hopes of a bid. Yesterday's win might not be enough to get them in the bracket but a loss would have certainly ended all hope. Jus

Bracket Buster: Old Dominion

From Brian's favorite conference comes another potential bracket buster, the Monarchs of Old Dominion. This will be ODU's 10th trip to the dance and if history is an indicator, they'll be a tough out. In 1995, led by the indomitable Odell Hodge, the 14th seeded Monarchs upended the 3rd seeded Villanova Wildcats. They've also played teams tough in their last 3 appearances.

As for this season, ODU currently stands 30th in RPI. Their season includes a win at Georgetown. Save a loss to George Mason, all their losses have been against top 100 RPI teams.

ODU hangs its hat on playing tough defense. The Monarchs currently stand 6th in scoring defense, 42nd in FG% defense, 3rd in rebounding and don't foul (18th). KenPom likes them, too. They are 18th in AdjD.

They are limited offesnively. They don't score much (203rd) and unlike some bracket busters, they don't rely on 3 pointers at all making only 4.5 per game (306th). They're okay protecting the ball, terrible at the line (288th) but the rebound margin indicates a propensity for second chance opportunities.

Like other teams profiled, ODU is very well-balanced. They only have one guy averaging over 10 points a game in Gerald Lee (14.8). They do have 5 guys that average over 4 boards a game.

They'll be a tough out for whoever gets them and won't be intimidated.

Reason #12 Why the Tournament should not expand

This man will get to call games after ESPN bankrolls expansion. And while Jabba the Hutt would make more sense...we'd get Mike Patrick.

Big East

South Florida wins to hang on to their slim hope of a bid. Connecticut is doen 19 with 4 minutes left. Put a fork in them; they're done.

Today's Games

Tournaments Concluding Tonight

Sun Belt - The top 2 seeds meet for the chance at a 15 seed. North Texas won the regular season match 75-72 but I look for Troy to hang on and grab the win

Horizon - All bubble teams will be watching this game as Wright State could steal a bid with an upset over Butler. Too bad that's not going to happen as Butler concludes an undefeated Horizon season and looks for a 4-6 seed in the bracket

Summit - IUPUI and Oakland battle it out as the top seeds. I'm calling for an "upset" here as IUPUI outscores the Grizzlies in an high scoring affair, 84-78.

Bidmania

Four more bids went out last night with three more on tap for tonight. Let's hit them and an updated Bracket

Southern - The top seeded Wofford Terriers hold off a late run by Appalachian State to grab a bid for the tournament. Wofford is looking at a 14 seed as of this writing

Colonial - Old Dominion beats both Bill and Mary to leave the Colonial as a one bid league. William and Mary's RPI floating around 60 isn't going to be enough for an at-large

MAAC - Siena needs overtime but they eventually put away Fairfield to grab the MAAC bid. Their seeding could go anywhere from a 10 down to a 13 based on other conference tournaments. We'll be watching them closely

West Coast - St. Mary gets the auto-bid and won't have the sweat out Selection Sunday. I think a third loss to the Zags would have been devastating. Gonzaga, surprisingly as a very low RPI and may be looking at a 6 seed this year

Buzz Williams

I know you've probably all seen this already but in case you haven't. Demski, is this the sort of thing they teach at Marquette?

Projections from ESPN & CBS

The Real Evil Empire projects UW as a 4 seed matching up against Murray State in Spokane and has Marquette playing UNLV a 9 seed in Oklahoma City.

They project the Milwaukee teams to be Mizzou-Wake and Purdue-Troy and then Kentucky-Play-In and Oklahoma State-Notre Dame. Putting Notre Dame in Milwaukee would be interesting based on the number of Chicago alum for the Axis of Evil member.

Jerry Palm projects UW as a 5 seed taking on Cornell in Spokane and Marquette going to to Buffalo to play Richmond in a 8-9 game.

He projects similar games for the Milwaukee audience. Mizzou-Florida and Purdue-Troy and then Kentucky-Quinnipiac and UNLV-Wake Forest. Get your Wake on.

No Vermont for the 'Cuse (Go Boston U!)

Think Jim Boeheim wants to relive that night?

With a little more than a minute left in overtime and Vermont clinging to a 56-55 lead, (TJ) Sorrentine stood thirty feet from the basket, dribbling down the shot clock, (Tom) Brennan waved him near the beanch, and over the din, yelled, "Run red, TJ!"

"Red" was an end-of-the-shot-clock play in which Sorrentine would try to penetrate, bringing the defense to him, and then slide the ball to Coppernath. Sorrentine shook his head. "It's okay, Coach," he said. "I got it."

Sorrentine waited until the shot clock was under ten seconds then shouted, "Run the play," for the benefit of the Syracuse defenders, who backpedaled just a tad, expecting Sorrentine to make some kind of move to the basket. Instead, he took one dribble and let fly from 27 feet. "I didn't realize I was that far out," he said later, smiling. "But when it left my hand it felt good."

It was good. And even though there was still work to do in the final minute, Sorrentine's shot was the dagger in Syracuse's heart. - John Feinstein, Last Dance

Monday Afternoon Bracketology

1 seed vs 16 seed
Kansas - B12 vs Jackson St - SWAC/LeHigh - Patriot
Kentucky - SEC vs Quinnipiac - NEC
Syracuse - Beast vs Vermont - AEast
Duke - ACC vs Winthorp - BigSouth
2 seed vs 15 seed
West Virginia vs E. Tennessee State - Asun
Purdue vs Troy - Sbelt
New Mexico - Mwest vs Morgan State - MEAC
Kansas State vs UC-Santa Barbara - Big West
3 seed vs 14 seed
Ohio State - Big10 vs Wofford - SoCon
Pittsburgh vs Weber State - Big Sky
Villanova vs Sam Houston St - Southland
Tennessee vs Oakland - Summit
4 seed vs 13 seed
Butler - Horizon vs Murray State - OVC
Vanderbilt vs Kent State - MAC
Temple - A10 vs Arizona State
BYU vs Mississippi
5 seed vs 12 seed
Georgetown vs Florida
Michigan State vs Memphis
Wisconsin vs Cornell - Ivy
Maryland vs San Diego State
6 seed vs 11 seed
Gonzaga - WCC vs Notre Dame
Xavier vs Georgia Tech
Baylor vs St. Mary's
Texas A&M vs Siena - MAAC
7 seed vs 10 seed
Northern Iowa - MVC vs Virginia Tech
Richmond vs Marquette
Florida State vs Oklahoma State
Clemson vs Utah State - WAC
8 seed vs 9 seed
Texas vs California - Pac10
UTEP - CUSA vs UNLV
Missouri vs Louisville
Wake Forest vs Old Dominion - CAA

Last Four Out
UAB
Illinois
Rhode Island
Dayton
Next Four Out
Mississippi State
Seton Hall
Washington
William & Mary
Also Considered
South Florida
Wichita State
Minnesota
Connecticut

Bids Tonight

Four more bids go out tonight.

Colonial

Old Dominion vs Bill and Mary
Old Dominion is a lock at this point so I'm hoping both Bill and Mary show up to play tonight so my favorite conference gets two bids.

MAAC
Siena vs Fairfield
Should be an entertaining game but I look for Siena to pull away in the last 8-9 minutes to lock up a bid

Southern
Wofford vs Appalachian State
No College of Charleston. Guess that win over UNC means nothing when they suck this year. This should also be a tight game between the top 2 seeds. Wofford could get a 14 seed with a win. App State is probably a 15.

West Coast
Gonzaga vs St. Mary's
What a surprise, the Zags and St. Mary's. St. Mary's would do themselves a big favor by winning this and getting the auto-bid. They have good numbers and an above average RPI of 43 but if they lose it'll be 3 against Gonzaga and the committee might take that to mean they can't win against good teams. Man, I'd like to stay up and watch this one but it's got asleep on the chair by halftime all over it.

That TIme of Year

I just love this time of the year. Spring is right around the corner. Baseball will be starting up. The Conference Tourney's are in full swing followed by selection Sunday. Then stuffing my face with Fiery Hot Cheetos, pucker bombs, Busch Light and then capping it all off with a 5 hour energy drink at Dachels! Good times!!!

4 More invitations handed out tonight!

Colonial: ODU vs William & Mary
MAAC: Siena vs Fairfield
Southern: Wofford vs Appalachian St
WCC: Gonzaga vs St Mary's

Morning Update

Out
Illinois - That 73 RPI just isn't going to get it done. A date with Wisconsin gives them one last chance to play themselves in
Stony Brook - the #1 seed in the America East loses in the Semi-Finals

In
Arizona State - what? A second Pac-10 team in the bracket. That's how weak the bubble is this year. Tentative at best
Vermont - the 2 seed in the American East. Don't look for TJ Sorrentine or Taylor Coppenrath on this year's squad

Bubble Popped
Northeastern - the Colonial preseason pick can peddle their wares in the NIT. Say Hi to North Carolina

Tickets Punched
Northern Iowa - I had them as a lock anyway. RPI of 18 leaves them in the 7-10 range.

Bracket Buster 2: Northern Iowa

I doubt I'm breaking new ground in telling you to watch out for Northern Iowa (28-4) in two weeks. With an RPI of 22 and time spent in the top 25, the Panthers seem like a Sweet 16 capable team. In 5 previous trips, Northern Iowa has one win, upsetting 3rd seed Missouri in 1990.

Northern Iowa predicates itself on its defense. They are 2nd in the nation in scoring defense. They are 71st in FG% defense (41%). Surprisingly, they don't turn the opposition over that much (296th in steals) but they don't turn it over themselves (15th). Playing good defense is a trademark for them. They'll defend you without fouling (26th in personal fouls per game). They seem an awful lot like Dick Bennett's UWGB teams.

If you saw them in the MVC tourney, you also know they can go 10 deep. They are led by MVC Player of the Year, Green Bay native Adam Koch.

Offensively, they're not dynamic at all. 280th in scoring and 184th in FG %, it's clear they are not going to run away and hide. I believe the stat used in today's game was, they are 18-0 (Now 19-0)when they score 60 or more points. They do make their throws (12th) at a 75% clip.

I'll be curious to see who they match up with in the dance. If they get a young team, I can see them giving them fits.

Bracket Buster: Murray State

Murray State is back in the NCAA's for the 14th time with a 30-4 record and the auto bid from the OVC. The Racers have an RPI of 59 and all 4 losses came on the road. Can they do something they've only done once in their previous 13 trips (1988 over NC State), win a game?

They have a shot. They play both sides of the ball wall ranking 25th in scoring and 29th in defense. The FG% offense (2nd), 51% shooting and FG% defense (14th), 38.8% is outstanding as well. On the interior, they rebound well (21st) and block shots (17th). They obviosuly didn't play great competition but they won't get pushed around. They also rank 5th in the nation in steals.

The big blemish is they turn the ball over way too much (264th) and don't make many 3's (164th) but the % made is okay at 37%. But competition withstanding (262nd SOS), this is a solid team.

To say the Racers embrace the team concept, might be an understatement. Nobody scores more than 11 a game and 6 average 9 or more a game.

If the matchup is right, they are more than capable of springing a trap (In honor of Popeye Jones).

Quick Hits - Bracketology Later

Out
UAB and Rhode Island - both have an chance to get back in during their conference tournament

In
Memphis and Mississippi - gross

North Carolina - Heartless

It's pretty inexcusable to show up against your rival and play without conviction, passion or heart. That's real embarrassment. There's no shame in losing but there's real shame in the way you're playing tonight. Even in 1995 when Duke was w/o Coach K, at least that team made UNC earn their win - the Capel bomb game. Be shamed, UNC.

The bubble is on acid today

In, out, and all about. Figures Alice in Wonderland opened this weekend.

Add Rhode Island and Mississippi State to the UConn NIT bandwagon. Those last two might open the door for Memphis and UAB.

Notre Dame is still Satan

At least your basketball team isn't irrelevant like your MAC level football team, I suppose.

Dis-Connecticut

Say hello to North Carolina and UCLA on your way to the NIT.

Response -eee

Of course, what we'd like to see probably won't happen. How can you take a Campbell over Cincinnati? Sarcasm intended.

Response

I like the conference tournaments as it gives teams like E.Tennessee State the chance to play into the tournament even though they were only 1 game worse then the leader. What I'd like to see "when" the tournament expands is for both the conference leader and tournament champion get an auto-bid. I figure that'll add about 14-15 small schools of the 32 additional teams. Yes, all the 7-9 Big East teams will get in now but by giving additional auto-bids out it should help avoid giving at-larges to the 5-11 Big East or ACC teams.

Atlantic Sun Quick Hit

To be fair to East Tennessee State, they did go 13-7 in conference finishing one game out of a five-way tie for first. The conference was pretty top-heavy.

And Mercer has the luxury of playing on its home court. I'll ask you guys, conference tournaments from a NCAA tournament standpoint, good or bad?

More Cornell?! Yes, more Cornell..

At 26-4, Cornell has had a wildly successful season by any measure. 2 of their 4 losses were to likely #1 seeds ('Cuse and Kansas) and while they don't have a great, signature victory they did travel to St. John's and Alabama and beat these two schools.

There's a lot to like about Cornell. They shoot well (29th), make bombs (3rd), hit those bombs (2nd) and make 72% of their freebies. They share the rock and are about average in protecting the rock. There are some defensive deficiencies that will likely get exposed in March. While they don't give up a ton of points (47th) they will give up some easy buckets (83rd in FG % defense). They rank 133rd in AdjD. They do have a bugaboo on 3pt Fg% D (215th). The rebound margin is okay but one wonders how they'll stack up against a BCS opponent.

The star player is Ryan Wittman, son of Randy Wittman. The Senior F likes to shoot the 3, making 3 a game.

Looking at Cornell, if they come out shooting lights out, like they're capable of doing any night, don't be shocked to see them as the annual 5-12 upset. If they play your team and they're making buckets early, be nervous.

Gus Johnson

Cornell

Congratulations to Cornell who snare the first bid of the year. They can rest knowing they will be a very dangerous 11-12 seed. Other things of note from yesterday is the Missouri Vally top 3 all advance to the semi-finals. Should be some interesting games there today.

Other Bids going out today:

Atlantic Sun
5 seeded East Tennessee State vs 6 seeded Mercer - yuck. Welcome to the play in game who ever wins

Big South
3 Winthorp vs 1 Coastal Carolina - CC has been solid all year and I expect them to win again today. A 15 seed is there spot

Ohio Valley
2 Morehead vs 1 Murray State - should be fun to watch, too bad it's up against Duke-UNC. Murray State is a 13 seed and could get pushed to a 12 if there are a lot of upsets. Morehead is a 14-15 seed.

Conferences kicking off today

Ameican East
Stony Brook has run away with this league; expect that to continue

Big Sky
Harold "The Show" Achineaux may not be there anymore but Weber State is still the team to beat

Summit
Oakland has a solid RPI in the 70's and is looking as a very dangerous 13 seed. Look out Tennessee

Sun Belt
Western Kentucky has owned this league for many years but they are only the 4 seed and have to play in the opening round. Troy, North Texas, and Middle Tennessee State all tied for first. The Sun Belt isn't as competitive as in previous years. Heck if I know who wins...let's just go with my second favorite jelly, Western KY.

I only have 4 words for you.....

Hot.....Tub......Time......Machine.....



Come on, someone has to add some levity to this blog. You guys and your crazy ass analysis have even driven Ben to quit posting. Its like I'm 79 and waking up to read the obituaries. Ah, come on, thats funny stuff, no offense intended. Dorks. Now that we have that out of the way.

Random comments:
1. Fear the 'fro. Nice post of the NW St highlight. Remember this one? About 7 seconds after the shot is when Dachel came trucking down the stairs with the classic "what did I miss?" look on his face. Man, that was a fantastic year.



2. Nice pull on the re-post of the "Things I Think, err, Know About This Year". I can respect a re-visit to see what you were right and wrong about. Good call on esp. 4 and 5. Horrid call on #9, but hey, whatcha gonna do.

3. Butler is a vastly improved player over last year, and the Lazer is definitely underrated. Something to think about....if they would make the sweet 16, they will be more successful in one "rebuilding" year than the heralded McNeal/Matthews/James trio were in their 4 years. Crazy Wack. I hope they put a couple wins together, its been an entertaining year, I'd hate to see it end in one game.

4. Out of time. I'll let Freeway close it out. It kicks in at 0:20. You may be surprised, but there is limited Freeway on you tube.