NCAA Hoops Digest

FINAL Bracket

2010-03-14T15:55:00.002-05:00

Midwest
Oklahoma City
1. Kansas (1) v. 16. Lehigh/Arkansas Pine-Bluff
8. Clemson v. 9. Louisville

Spokane
5. Tennessee v. 12. Siena
4. Wisconsin v. 13. Murray St.

Buffalo
6. Richmond v. 11. Old Dominion
3. Georgetown v. 14. Montana

Milwaukee
7. Gonzaga v. 10. Georgia Tech
2. Ohio St. v. 15. Morgan St.

West
Jacksonville
1. Duke (4) v. 16. East Tennessee St.
8. Oklahoma St. v. 9. UNLV

New Orleans
5. Vanderbilt v. 12. Utah St.
4. Pitt v. 13. Wofford

San Jose
6. Xavier v. 11. Virginia Tech
3. New Mexico v. 14. Sam Houston St.

Milwaukee
7. Northern Iowa v. 10. Missouri
2. Villanova v. 15. UCSB

East
Jacksonville
1. Kentucky (2) v. 16. Robert Morris
8. Notre Dame v. 9. UTEP

San Jose
5. Maryland v. 12. Minnesota
4. Baylor v. 13. New Mexico St.

New Orleans
6. BYU v. 11. California
3. Temple v. 14. Houston

Providence
7. Texas v. 10. Wake Forest
2. West Virginia v. 15. Vermont

South
Buffalo
1. Syracuse (3) v. 16. Winthrop
8. Florida St. v. 9. San Diego St.

Spokane
5. Texas A&M v. 12. Cornell
4. Michigan St. v. 13. Oakland

Providence
6. Butler v. 11. Washington
3. Purdue v. 14. Ohio

Oklahoma City
7. Marquette v. 10. St. Mary's
2. Kansas St. v. 15. North Texas

Last Four In: Minnesota, Virginia Tech, Utah St., Cal
First Four Out: Illinois, Mississippi St., Ole Miss, Florida

I have decided to switch my final two at-large teams of Illinois and Minnesota. Minnesota has the better Top 50 record, but the worst loss between the two. I believe that Illinois has the better wins (slightly), but Minnesota's win at Illinois will be the tiebreaker for the committee. Also, the committee may have well decided the teams' fate by this time. After all, they went on record a few years ago as saying the Big Ten Championship Game didn't matter that much since it finishes so late. I think that helps Minnesota as well.

Bracket after Games of 3-13

2010-03-13T23:54:00.003-06:00

Midwest
Oklahoma City
1. Kansas (1) v. 16. Robert Morris
8. Clemson v. 9. Louisville

Spokane
5. Tennessee v. 12. Siena
4. Wisconsin v. 13. Murray St.

Buffalo
6. Richmond v. 11. Old Dominion
3. Villanova v. 14. Montana

Milwaukee
7. Gonzaga v. 10. Georgia Tech
2. Ohio St. v. 15. Morgan St.

West
Jacksonville
1. Duke (4) v. 16. East Tennessee St.
8. Oklahoma St. v. 9. UNLV

New Orleans
5. Vanderbilt v. 12. Utah St.
4. Georgetown v. 13. Wofford

San Jose
6. Xavier v. 11. Virginia Tech
3. New Mexico v. 14. Sam Houston St.

Milwaukee
7. Marquette v. 10. Missouri
2. Purdue v. 15. UCSB

East
Jacksonville
1. Kentucky (2) v. 16. Lehigh/Arkansas-Pine Bluff
8. Notre Dame v. 9. UTEP

San Jose
5. Maryland v. 12. Illinois
4. Baylor v. 13. New Mexico St.

New Orleans
6. BYU v. 11. California
3. Temple v. 14. Houston

Providence
7. Texas v. 10. Wake Forest
2. West Virginia v. 15. Vermont

South
Buffalo
1. Syracuse (3) v. 16. Winthrop
8. Florida St. v. 9. San Diego St.

Spokane
5. Texas A&M v. 12. Cornell
4. Michigan St. v. 13. Oakland

Providence
6. Butler v. 11. Washington
3. Pittsburgh v. 14. Ohio

Oklahoma City
7. Northern Iowa v. 10. St. Mary's
2. Kansas St. v. 15. North Texas

Last Four In: Illinois, Virginia Tech, Utah St., Cal
First Four Out: Minnesota, Mississippi St., Ole Miss, Florida

Seeding Update 3-12

2010-03-12T10:30:00.002-06:00

The following seeding listing snakes just like the S-Curve. An actual bracket with matchups and modified seeds is likely to come either after tonight's games or tomorrow's games. The bubble continues to be a mess, and Ole Miss makes its way in nearly by default.

1: Kansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, Duke
2: Purdue, West Virginia, Kansas St., Ohio St.
3: Villanova, Pitt, New Mexico, Temple
4: Baylor, Georgetown, Michigan St., Wisconsin
5: Tennessee, Texas A&M, Maryland, Vanderbilt
6: Butler, Richmond, Xavier, BYU
7: Gonzaga, Texas, Oklahoma St., Marquette
8: Louisville, Notre Dame, Florida St., Northern Iowa
9: UTEP, Clemson, UNLV, Missouri
10: Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, St. Mary's, Cal
11: Utah St., Florida, Old Dominion, Georgia Tech
12: Siena, Illinois, Cornell, San Diego St.
13: Washington, Ole Miss, Oakland, Murray St.
14: Montana, Sam Houston St., Wofford, Akron
15: UCSB, Vermont, North Texas, Morgan St.
16: (Lehigh, Arkansas-Pine Bluff), Robert Morris, Winthrop, East Tennessee St.

Bracket Update 3-8

2010-03-08T11:29:00.004-06:00

Midwest
1. Kansas (1) vs. 16. Winthrop
8. Louisville vs. 9. UTEP

5. Maryland vs. 12. Illinois
4. Vanderbilt vs. 13. Murray St.

6. Georgetown vs. 11. Florida
3. Temple vs. 14. Vermont

7. Oklahoma St. vs. 10. Virginia Tech
2. Ohio St. vs. 15. Sam Houston St.

West
1. Duke (4) vs. 16. Troy
8. Missouri vs. 9. Marquette

5. BYU vs. 12. Memphis
4. Michigan St. vs. 13. Siena

6. Butler vs. 11. St. Mary's
3. New Mexico vs. 14. Weber St.

7. Northern Iowa vs. 10. Florida St.
2. West Virginia vs. 15. East Tennessee St.

South
1. Syracuse (2) vs. 16. Quinnipiac
8. Clemson vs. 9. California

5. Texas A&M vs. 12. San Diego St.
4. Tennessee vs. 13. Kent St.

6. Xavier vs. 11. Utah St.
3. Pittsburgh vs. 14. Wofford

7. Texas vs. 10. Wake Forest
2. Purdue vs. 15. UCSB

East
1. Kentucky (3) vs. 16. Lehigh/Jackson St.
8. UNLV vs. 9. Notre Dame

5. Baylor vs. 12. Cornell
4. Wisconsin vs. 13. Washington

6. Gonzaga vs. 11. Old Dominion
3. Kansas St. vs. 14. Oakland

7. Richmond vs. 10. Georgia Tech
2. Villanova vs. 15. Morgan St.

Last Four In: Washington, Memphis, Illinois, San Diego St.
Last Four Out: Arizona St., UAB, South Florida, Ole Miss

Seeding Projection 3-5

2010-03-05T12:56:00.002-06:00

1: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Villanova
2: Ohio St., Purdue, Kansas St., Duke
3: West Virginia, Pitt, New Mexico, Vanderbilt
4: BYU, Michigan St., Tennessee, Temple
5: Wisconsin, Texas A&M, Maryland, Georgetown
6: Butler, Xavier, Gonzaga, Baylor
7: Texas, Richmond, Oklahoma St., Clemson
8: Marquette, Northern Iowa, UNLV, Missouri
9: Florida St., Louisville, Wake Forest, Cal
10: Virginia Tech, Florida, Georgia Tech, UTEP
11: Utah St., Notre Dame, Old Dominion, UConn
12: Rhode Island, San Diego St., UAB, Illinois
13: Cornell, Siena, Kent St., Murray St.
14: Weber State, Coastal Carolina, Wofford, Oakland
15: UC-Santa Barbara, San Houston St., Morgan St., Jacksonville
16: Lehigh, Jackson St., Quinnipiac, Troy, Stony Brook

Seeding Projection 3-1

2010-03-01T17:27:00.002-06:00

1: Kansas, Syracuse, Kentucky, Duke
2: Ohio St., Purdue, Villanova, Kansas St.
3: West Virginia, Pitt, New Mexico, Vanderbilt
4: Michigan St., Tennessee, Georgetown, Temple
5: Gonzaga, Texas A&M, Xavier, BYU
6: Maryland, Wisconsin, Butler, Baylor
7: Texas, Richmond, Oklahoma St., Wake Forest
8: Louisville, Missouri, Clemson, Northern Iowa
9: UTEP, Marquette, UNLV, Georgia Tech
10: Virginia Tech, Cal, Florida, UConn
11: Utah St., Florida St., UAB, Notre Dame
12: Mississippi St., San Diego St., Old Dominion, Illinois
13: Cornell, Siena, Kent St., Murray St.
14: Weber St., Coastal Carolina, Wofford, Oakland
15: UCSB, Sam Houston St., Morgan St., Stony Brook
16: Lehigh, Jackson St., Quinnipiac, Troy, Lipscomb

FINAL Projection

2008-03-16T16:28:00.002-05:00

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

Last Four In: Arizona St., Villanova, South Alabama, Arizona
Last Four Out: Illinois St., Oregon, VCU, Ohio St.
Next Four Out: Virginia Tech, New Mexico, Massachusetts, Ole Miss

Seeding Update 3-15

2008-03-15T12:43:00.002-05:00

1. North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA, Tennessee
2. Georgetown, Duke, Texas, Kansas
3. Wisconsin, Stanford, Louisville, Xavier
4. Butler, Drake, Notre Dame, Connecticut
5. Purdue, Pittsburgh, Indiana, Vanderbilt
6. Marquette, Michigan St., Southern Cal, Washington St.
7. Clemson, BYU, West Virginia, Oklahoma
8. Mississippi St., Arkansas, Texas A&M, Gonzaga
9. Kentucky, Kent St., UNLV, Kansas St.
10. Davidson, Baylor, Miami FL, St. Mary's
11. Arizona, St. Joseph's, South Alabama, Temple
12. Illinois St., Villanova, Western Kentucky, Arizona St.
13. George Mason, San Diego, Siena, Oral Roberts
14. Austin Peay, New Mexico St., Cal St.-Fullerton, Cornell
15. Belmont, American, Winthrop, Portland St.
16. Mississippi Valley St., Northwestern St., Mount St. Mary's, Morgan St., UMBC

Last Four In: South Alabama, Arizona St., Villanova, Illinois St.
Last Four Out: Oregon, VCU, Virginia Tech, Ohio St.
Next Four Out: Ole Miss, Massachusetts, New Mexico, Dayton

Seeding Update 3-11

2008-03-11T17:09:00.002-05:00

1. North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA, Tennessee
2. Kansas, Texas, Duke, Georgetown
3. Xavier, Wisconsin, Louisville, Stanford
4. Connecticut, Purdue, Notre Dame, Drake
5. Indiana, Washington St., Vanderbilt, Butler
6. Clemson, Southern Cal, BYU, Michigan St.
7. Marquette, Oklahoma, Pittsburgh, Gonzaga
8. Baylor, Mississippi St., Kansas St., Kentucky
9. Kent St., West Virginia, Texas A&M, Miami FL
10. Arizona, Arkansas, UNLV, Davidson
11. South Alabama, Massachusetts, Arizona St., St. Mary's
12. Western Kentucky, Ohio St., Oregon, Syracuse
13. George Mason, San Diego, Utah St., Oral Roberts
14. UC Santa Barbara, Siena, Stephen F. Austin, Cornell
15. Austin Peay, Belmont, Winthrop, American
16. Alabama St., Sacred Heart, Morgan St., Portland St., UMBC

Last Four Out: Illinois St., New Mexico, Villanova, Ole Miss
Next Four Out: VCU, UAB, Dayton, St. Joseph's

Seeding Update 3-3

2008-03-03T14:47:00.002-06:00

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

Bracket Projection 2-11

2008-02-11T19:38:00.000-06:00

South
1. Memphis v. 16. Lamar
8. Baylor v. 9. Florida

4. Wisconsin v. 13. Kent St.
5. Butler v. 12. Syracuse

2. Georgetown v. 15. American
7. St. Mary’s v. 10. Maryland

3. Xavier v. 14. Cal St.-Northridge
6. Washington St. v. 11. UNLV

West
1. UCLA v. 16. Portland St.
8. BYU v. 9. Ohio St.

4. Louisville v. 13. Davidson
5. Texas A&M v. 12. Ole Miss

2. Tennessee v. 15. Austin Peay
7. Arizona v. 10. St. Joseph’s

3. Drake v. 14. Utah St.
6. Marquette v. 11. VCU

East
1. Duke v. 16. Morgan St.
8. Arkansas v. 9. Gonzaga

4. Michigan St. v. 13. Siena
5. Kansas St. v. 12. Oregon

2. Stanford v. 15. Maryland-Baltimore County
7. Clemson v. 10. Dayton

3. Connecticut v. 14. Cornell
6. Indiana v. 11. Oklahoma

Midwest
1. Kansas v. 16. Sacred Heart/Alabama St.
8. Southern Cal v. 9. Vanderbilt

4. Notre Dame v. 13. Oral Roberts
5. Purdue v. 12. South Alabama

2. North Carolina v. 15. Belmont
7. Rhode Island v. 10. Mississippi St.

3. Texas v. 14. UNC-Asheville
6. Pittsburgh v. 11. Arizona St.

Teams Going In Opposite Directions

2007-12-13T18:04:00.001-06:00

Let's start off with the good side of things. One of the feel-good stories so far this year has been New Orleans and their new 30-year old coach, Joe Pasternack, who wanted the head coaching job that other coaches left for assistant gigs down the benches at other, higher-profile schools.

So far, it seems that Pasternack was the perfect guy for the job, as the Privateers have now beaten NC State and Colorado on the road. Add to that four other wins, and UNO is 6-1.

The Privateers are also doing it with senior leadership with guys like Shaun Reynolds, James Parlow, Bo McCalebb and Ben Elias. Parlow and McCalebb are from New Orleans and had their families affected two and a half years ago by Hurricane Katrina.

McCalebb can flat out score on anybody, and even declared in the spring for the draft, before water-testing and coming back to school. He's one of the players at the mid-major level that college basketball diehards know probably doesn't get his due from the national powers that be.

The revelation for UNO this year has been juco transfer Kendall Dykes, who is averaging nearly 15 a game on 52% shooting and is his team's leading rebounder to boot. While Western Kentucky are still the favorites in the Sun Belt, teams like UNO, South Alabama and, yes, North Texas all look like contending for the crown.

On the bad side of things there's Louisville, a team that is really in shambles right now.

The most intriguing game of the many I watched last Saturday was Dayton and Louisville. In the first half, you could have removed the names from the jerseys and it would have been Dayton who looked like the preseason Final Four contenders and Louisville the consensus bubble/NIT team.

The final score wound up 70-65, but was only that close because Dayton had a prolonged cold spell from the floor in the first part of the second half. Brian Roberts of Dayton was simply amazing and went for 28 on 10-17 shooting.

Here were the weird things, both on the Louisville side.
1) Rick Pitino benching PG Edgar Sosa with around 10 minutes remaining and the game very close. This is a Louisville team without David Padgett and Juan Palacios. They suited up just eight scholarship players.

Sure, Sosa was playing poorly, but to bench a key player for the last 10 minutes of the second half on a team with little-to-no depth seemed bizarre.

2) The other is Derrick Caracter, who should have to have his named changed for media purposes to Derrick Caracter 'Issues'. This is a guy that, without Padgett available, absolutely needs to perform for his team to have a chance in a close game. Instead he chooses, on one play in particular, to sulk in the lane after being denied the ball on the right block by good Flyers defense. There were other times where Caracter looked content with being fronted in the post.

He led his team with 16 in that game, but that fails to tell any part of the story.

A couple days ago, it was learned that Caracter has been suspended indefinitely for violating team curfew. So, if you're scoring at home, this is a team whose point guard is in his coach's doghouse (for whatever reason, no one ever knows these things when we're talking about Pitino) and is down to seven scholarship players.

But yet, this is analogous to last December when Louisville was 5-4 and looked to be going nowhere then. Watch out for another 'They've really gotten things together" kind of run in last January and February, even though it seems like a stretch right now.

The Hardly-Live Blog: North Texas @ Texas Second Half

2007-12-05T23:39:00.000-06:00

11:40 - FG% for the first half: UNT 32%, Texas 50%. Augustin and Abrams each have 14.

11:43 - Keith Wooden returns to start the second half, and his two illegal picks in the first two minutes started to set the tone for the first nine minutes of this game.

11:46 - It is truly amazing how much better Connor Atchley is this season than last. I look at him and wonder if it's even the same guy. He's about nineteen steps quicker as well.

11:50 - 15:54 remaining, and it's 59-37 Texas. Josh White is still playing great, but so are Augustin and Abrams.

11:54 - Keith Wooden is starting to play better down low, and just had a nice offensive rebound, put back and plus one sequence. 61-40, Texas.

11:58 - Josh White is so exciting to watch, and will go in for rebounds at 5-10 to boot.

11:59 - Josh White is former Oklahoma player Quantas White's brother? How did I not know this? Quantas' little brother hits his fourth and fifth threes. Lead goes to sixteen points.

12:01 - White with another 3! That's six! And the lead's just 13! 64-51! Woo!

12:04- Wooden from 15 feet! 11 point game! (I need to stop with the exclamation points!)

12:05 - Wooden again with a tap in! Single digit ball game. UT on an 18-3 run in the last 5 minutes. 64-55, Texas.

12:08 - UT comes back with baskets from Damion James and Abrams, but Wooden puts one in after that, 68-57, Texas.

12:09 - 7:34 remains in this game and it's a slightly manageable 13 points, 70-57, Texas.

12:12 - I can't help but think if only UNT had played better D in the first half...and those turnovers...

12:14 - Augustin and Abrams are beginning to get their unstoppability cloak back, after a bit of a lull when UNT made their run. 76-61, Texas, 5:43 remains.

12:18 - Quincy Williams misses a 14-footer from the baseline, and he's been off tonight, 80-64, Texas with 4:58 to go.

12:20 - Augustin drives and finishes (common theme tonight) and the lead is back to 19 points. Augustin has a Josh White-like 27.

12:21 - This just in: Augustin and Abrams are really good. They've combined for 50 and somehow, after all that UNT work, the lead is to 20.

12:23 - Wooden muscles his way down low for a bucket and he now has 17 in the second half. Lead is still 18 points, but I've seen so many good things out of them in this half.

12:27 - The Longhorns have had about a 90-second possession after some offensive boards, and the game is coming to a close. Final score in Austin, about three and a half hours ago, 88-72, Texas.

Awesome performances by Josh White (all game) and Keith Wooden (second half), but Abrams and Augustin were just so bloody good all the way through.

The Hardly-Live Blog: North Texas @ Texas First Half

2007-12-05T22:25:00.000-06:00

10:25 PM - Ladies and gentlemen, if you are reading this, you may be reading history. Because, to my knowledge no one has EVER done a live blog of a game three and a half hours after the fact. Have I researched that? Absolutely not. And don't try to doubt me with your fact. Don't even try.

10:28 - So it's undefeated Texas, coming off a win at Pauley Pavilion against mighty UCLA, and North Texas, coming off of a comeback win against New Mexico State that they had to fight hard, 75-72.

10:30 - This game was to appear on FSN Southwest at 10:30. But just as I thought, the Stars probably went into overtime, and FSN is having postgame on a game that about 20 people watched. By the way, I worked with FSN SW for my senior year high school internship, and if I hadn't have lost the tape room number they'd be getting an earful right now.

10:33 - This gives me a chance to say screw you, who ever was doing the radio play-by-play for NMSU on Saturday night. We are NOT North Texas State University. And we haven't been since about 1983.
(Note to any Sun Belt fans: This gets us pissed off beyond almost anything else. Like you didn't know that.)

Of course, UNT's broadcasters were covering the Mean Green football game, which at the Sun Belt level of D-1A means absolutely nothing.

10:36 - If this is STARS postgame, then why am I seeing a Cowboys segment on my TV?

10:38 - And the broadcast is on! If North Texas is to win this game they have to play up-tempo and have Keith Wooden and Quincy Williams control the glass. The last time the Mean Green played against a team with this much talent, it was against Memphis in the NCAA First Round, a game where they hung around for a half and then some.

10:42 - It's almost criminal for me to not mention what Texas has done, how everyone is chipping in and how well they are shooting.

10:43 - Opening tip.

10:44 - First three by Texas, this could happen often. And on the other end three possessions, three turnovers for UNT.

10:46 - 7-0 Texas, Johnny Jones needs a timeout. Connor Atchley with five early ones.

10:48 - Make it four early turnovers for UNT. There's some silly play going on out there and they need to calm down.

10:49 - This...is..not..good. Under 16 timeout, and it's 17-3 Texas. UNT is not closing down on these shooters and Texas is making them pay for it. The Mean Green went down quickly against NMSU, but this is a totally different animal. And Keith Wooden has two early fouls on illegal picks. Ten possessions, six turnovers for UNT. Ken Pomeroy is not pleased.

10:55 - The problem with trying to play uptempo for UNT is that Texas is just as fast as they are in transition defense. And I'm starting to sound like I actually thought UNT would be in this game in the first half.

10:58 - Under 12 timeout and it's 23-8, Texas. Texas is obviously playing well, but UNT can do so much better on defense.

11:00 - Oh come on, guys, it's not like you're Hartford or anything! (Coincidentally, this is UNT's next opponent.) Nine turnovers already. Ben Bell and Collin Dennis don't even have their D games tonight.

11:04 - 29-8 Texas. This could be a horror show before all is said and done.

11:05 - Collin Dennis just got a great steal at midcourt...before missing the layup. Oh dear, Oh dear.

11:07 - Did the announcers just say UT's Dexter Pittman had a body fat percentage of 41 when he stepped on campus??? How do you get a scholarship being that out of shape? Thankfully, for UT, Pittman has lost 70 pounds since then.

11:09 - Josh White converts a four-point play for the Mean Green, 29-12 Texas.

11:12 - Things just a wee bit better for UNT, who are hitting some shots and playing better defense (although it couldn't have been any worse to start), 33-16 Texas.

11:14 - Longhorns have been playing 2-3 zone for much of this game, and UNT isn't able to exploit the holes. Hell, UCLA couldn't crack it either and the pollsters told me they were the number one team in the nation.

11:18 - AJ Abrams is now 5-5 from the floor. 37-18, Texas 4:30 left in the first half.

11:19 - Abrams finally misses a triple, and it's 37-20 with 3:58 left.

11:21 - Josh Bell, commentator X???? That would be Ben Bell. Or perhaps you meant Josh White.

11:24 - Johnny Jones gets T'ed up and basically for just asking why UNT had a foul go against them after DJ Augustin performed a rugby manuever. Ok, maybe not just that.

11:27 - Josh White now has 13 points, and is clearly the best player tonight for UNT. 41-24 Texas with 1:38 left in the half after Rick Barnes takes timeout.

11:29 - Harold Stewart gets an intentional foul called on him for doing nothing with intent seemingly. It's now 46-24 after an Atchley three.

11:31 - End of the first half, and it's 48-26 Texas. Great performance so far by the Longhorns and they are living up to that top-five billing. I don't have the possession stats, but I'd estimate Texas' O-PPP being somewhere in the 1.3 range. The Mean Green's best chance to keep this game close was with rebounding and the transition game, and Texas has more than answered on both fronts.

UNT has, however, been about even for the last 10 minutes in this game. If they can keep that up, play better defense against Augustin and Abrams (tough ask, I know), and have more than just Josh White contribute offensively; that will be a fair showing against one of the best teams in the nation.

Patrick Mills, You Star

2007-12-05T15:07:00.000-06:00

The seven-month absence of college hoops in our lives is something that, while somewhat necessary, sucks. So I needed a sport to follow in the bright, skin-reddening summertime.

I've gradually soured on baseball for a variety of reasons to the point where I only watch select LCS and World Series games. The one MLB game I have attended in the last three years, a Rangers-Yankees game this past April, happened on the same night as two NBA playoff games. I felt for my friends, who were surely distracted by my constant use of binoculars to look at the TV's in the suites for score updates/live action.

Eventually, I turned to Aussie Rules Football, a sport I was turned on to a few years back by a lovely brunette foreign exchange student from Tasmania and before that by accident watching the now-defunct Fox Sports World channel one night. The clip at the beginning of this post is of that great sport.

After a summer of following the real AFL (please just go away arena football, you're wasting everyone's time and money with this drivel) and the fast-paced exciting game of Aussie Rules, it was in a word, cool, to see the best individual performance of the first month of the college basketball season come from an uber-talented Aussie in Patrick Mills. (Mills, who is from Canberra, probably grew up preferring rugby and rugby league [two different sports] to aussie rules, however.)

If you don't follow St. Mary's, or can't remember why you think you heard the name 'Patrick Mills' on Sportscenter about three weeks back, the freshman (yes, just a frosh) put up 37 against Oregon in just his fourth college game.

It's said that Mills is adored by the aboriginal Australian community, and if you've even so much as watched him play on TV in his young college career, you'll be able to see why.

Programming note: I'll be back later tonight with what I believe to be is the internet's first ever 'Hardly-Live Blog' of a game when my school, North Texas, plays at Texas in a game that is being played as I type.

(This was facilitated by two things: not enough people paying for the $35 bus and ticket package being offered by UNT athletics, and FSN Southwest picking up the game at the 11th hour, but on tape delay at 10:30 CT due to a hockey game 10 people will watch. [Damned state that cares more about football than hoops and damned televised hockey rights.])

Props to Butler

2007-12-03T22:59:00.000-06:00

Is it possible that this Butler team is even better than that 29-win, Indiana-Notre Dame-Tennessee-Gonzaga slaying squad? Well, anything's possible and that previous question makes me sound like some windbag on Around The Horn.

The four power-conference teams Butler has beaten probably won't turn out as good as the aforementioned quartet. (Especially after something like this. Sweet revenge for Tommy Amaker!) But the point is this. Butler's shooting was downright unconscious in Alaska and included a 56-possession, 81 points scored game against Texas Tech (that's 1.44 per if you're scoring at home).

On Saturday against Ohio State, their the same could not be said offensively. They shot 25% in the first half, but their defense kept them within reasonable distance at 30-20. Then, the defense went into complete overdrive, forcing turnovers on 38% of Ohio State possessions and holding them to just 16 second-half points.

Butler also 'took what the defense gave them' (hey, I can use cliches, too!) by using Matt Howard to eviscerate the Buckeyes' let's-defend-the-three defense for 23 on 9-for-13.

Butler opens up their conference slate on Thursday against Detroit (of the Mercy variety, and it might fit in this game) and then has the grudge match from last year at Wright State on Saturday.

FINAL Bracket Projection

2007-03-11T15:56:00.000-05:00

Midwest
1. Ohio St. (1) v. 16. Central Connecticut St./Florida A&M
8. Villanova v. 9. Georgia Tech

4. Washington St. v. 13. Wright St.
5. Tennessee v. 12. Davidson

2. Texas A&M v. 15. North Texas
7. Southern Cal v. 10. Michigan St.

3. Memphis v. 14. Miami (OH)
6. Marquette v. 11. Winthrop

West
1. UCLA (4) v. 16. Weber St.
8. Vanderbilt v. 9. Indiana

4. UNLV v. 13. Holy Cross
5. Virginia Tech v. 12. Stanford

2. North Carolina v. 15. Belmont
7. Butler v. 10. Syracuse

3. Texas v. 14. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
6. Creighton v. 11. Old Dominion

South
1. Kansas (2) v. 16. Niagara
8. Arizona v. 9. Xavier

4. Maryland v. 13. George Washington
5. Notre Dame v. 12. New Mexico St.

2. Georgetown v. 15. Penn
7. Virginia v. 10. Texas Tech

3. Southern Illinois v. 14. Oral Roberts
6. BYU v. 11. Purdue

East
1. Florida (3) v. 16. Jackson St.
8. Boston College v. 9. Virginia Commonwealth

4. Oregon v. 13. Albany
5. Louisville v. 12. Gonzaga

2. Wisconsin v. 15. Eastern Kentucky
7. Duke v. 10. Kentucky

3. Pittsburgh v. 14. Long Beach St.
6. Nevada v. 11. Kansas St.

Last Four In: Purdue, Kansas St., Old Dominion, Stanford
Last Four Out: Arkansas, Drexel, Air Force, West Virginia

Say hello to the champions

2007-03-10T21:10:00.000-06:00

Specifically, Oregon, George Washington, Jackson State, UNLV, Florida A&M and Miami University. The last two mentioned won their bids at the buzzer.

Florida A&M won it after a tip-in from a halfcourt inbounds pass with 1.1 seconds left. Miami U won after Akron missed the front end of a one-and-one that could have seen them up go up by four, but Miami got the rebound and raced back down to win it when Doug Penno side-stepped an defender to get an open look for a bank shot winner. There was some timing controversy that put .6 on the clock but fortunately didn't really end up mattering.

In those games that weren't as dramatic at 00.0, Oregon put a beatdown on USC thanks to a perfect game from the floor and the line from underrated junior guard Bryce Taylor, who had 32. G-Dub won the A-10 with four guys getting in double figures. Jackson State had 33 from super-scorer Trey Johnson and UNLV withstood 34 from Keena Young to beat BYU on their home floor. I just wish that Mountain West game could have been played in Denver, with no home court to either team (the home team won all three meetings).

NC State wins again

2007-03-10T17:08:00.000-06:00

NC State has now beaten Duke, and the ACC's number two and three seeds on three consecutive nights. They now will go for the one, two, three sweep against North Carolina.

Now, on to a couple of teams that will definitely be in the show.

Notre Dame and Georgetown equally impressed me in that matchup last night. It was truly a top five game this year, along with four others probably involving Texas.

Notre Dame showed that they can force the tempo against a truly elite team (yes, Georgetown is that good) that does not play the high-tempo offensive game. Conversely, for Georgetown, they showed that they can hang in a game when they are not controlling the tempo with what I like to call "The Princeton Offense for Major-Conference Talent". After Notre Dame had their double-digit lead early in the first half, Georgetown decided to run with them and count on the turning point in the game being halftime. That's exactly what the Hoyas ended up doing, playing more of their style in the second half.

It was also a very hard-fought game for being so high-scoring and showed that Notre Dame can play a little defense when it was needed with the Irish down seven late.

The contest, regardless of what happens tonight against Pittsburgh, affirmed my belief that Georgetown can go very deep in the tournament. For Notre Dame, it made me think that, with the right draw, that they could be a Sweet 16 or Elite 8 team.

The next set of games on this oh-so-beautiful day of hoops features a bunch of conference title game with the A10, Pac-10, MEAC, SWAC, MAC and MWC winners all to be decided in the next three hours or so.

The Eighth ACC Team?

2007-03-10T15:37:00.000-06:00

No, I'm not talking about Florida State. I'm talking about NC State. They are currently up on Virginia Tech, a team they swept in the regular season. If they win, they get UNC in the final to possibly knock a bubble-dweller out.

In other news, I hate Illinois. I can't believe that this pathetic, no offense team will likely be in the tournament. Sure the defense is good, maybe bordering on top 10 in the nation. BUT THEY CAN'T HIT A SHOT!!! AT ALL!!! I can't watch this team or their game with Wisconsin, who is like them but whose offense is like Tennessee's compared to Illinois'. I would be thrilled tomorrow if the committee keeps both them and Air Force out. I'm afraid (not only for my wishes, but the tournament overall) that Illinois will still be in, however.

Kansas State and Purdue, meanwhile, while no one is confusing them with Top 4 seeds, I feel (and the committee should feel) did enough today to challenge elite teams to get in.

I promise to talk about teams that are actually going to be in the field for my next entry.

Albany wins in "The Cathouse"

2007-03-10T13:16:00.000-06:00

Vermont had the ball down by one against Albany with 30 seconds left and didn't even get a shot off before turning it over with about five seconds to go. Why? The held the friggin' ball for the last shot.

I will acknowledge that if holding the ball works, the coach looks like a genius. But you're down by one! In that case, even if you want to hold the ball for a little bit of time, you should start the play by 20 seconds have a shot off at the very latest by 10. That way, you can get an offensive rebound or foul if the other team gets the rebound.

All this strategy talk takes away form the fact that Albany went into a really difficult place to play, and allowed their star and conference player of the year to take over. Jamar Wilson had 20, but his most important plays came when he was able to drive and then dish to guys like Jason Siggers (Dallas product) and Carl Ross who were able to hit open jumpers after Vermont collapsed four guys on Wilson.

In other action, UNC is controlling BC and an overrated Jared Dudley, and Purdue and Kansas State are playing their potential top-seeded oppositions close. Memphis won, and Arkansas is beating Mississippi State with under twelve to go.

Quick seeding update

2007-03-10T12:04:00.000-06:00

Here's an S-Curve update after the craziness of yesterday and last night:

1: Ohio St., Kansas, Florida, UCLA
2: Texas A&M, Georgetown, Wisconsin, North Carolina
3: Pittsburgh, Memphis, Southern Illinois, Washington St.
4: Maryland, Virginia Tech, UNLV, Texas
5: Oregon, Notre Dame, BYU, Tennessee
6: Marquette, Creighton, Southern Cal, Louisville
7: Nevada, Virginia, Boston College, Duke
8: Villanova, Kentucky, Vanderbilt, Butler
9: Xavier, Georgia Tech, Arizona, VCU
10: Michigan St., Syracuse, Indiana, Texas Tech
11: Purdue, Winthrop, Old Dominion, Kansas St.
12: Akron, Davidson, Illinois, Gonzaga
13: George Washington, New Mexico St., Wright St., Vermont
14: Penn, Texas A&M-CC, Oral Roberts, Holy Cross
15: Long Beach St., Belmont, Delaware St., North Texas
16: Miss. Valley St., Central Conn. St., Weber St., Eastern Kentucky, Niagara

The first of many

2007-03-10T11:51:00.000-06:00

The first two of the eleven conference championship games today are underway and Memphis is unsurprisingly leading Houston. Houston just keeps hanging in there though, and are doing it on very tired legs as Tom Penders has hadly made any subs during the three game conference tournament run. However, Houston is in some foul trouble which could lead to a widening of Memphis' current lead, hovering around double digits. Memphis and their penetration to the basket has been good, so they shouldn't have many problems coasting to the win on their home floor.

In a somewhat surprising result after a half, Albany leads Vermont. Just that phrase doesn't surprise me as much as how the Great Danes are doing it by basically out-toughing one of the toughest teams in the country. Albany's post players are crashing the glass in an excellent manner on the nation's top rebounding team. It also helps that Albany has the truly great Jamar Wilson, who has superior quickness to anyone else on the floor (by far) and might just single handedly take this game over.

Bubble-shrinking Friday

2007-03-10T08:47:00.000-06:00

And, perhaps, Saturday and Sunday could turn into bubble shrinking days as well.

So much happened yesterday that I don't know where to start. But I will start with a couple of the definite games that watched a couple of spots get eaten up from the at-large pool. In the WAC, Nevada lost again to Utah State, meaning that the Aggies will take on....the Aggies (of New Mexico State) for the auto bid. The game is on NMSU's home floor, where they haven't lost this season, and I would be shocked if Utah State pulled this one out. Nevada's definitely in, but these two losses in about a two-week span may drop their seeding a couple of lines.

George Washington and Rhode Island will play for a dance ticket after the Rams beat Xavier, who is on rockier footing than Nevada, but should still be in.

Yesterday also brought us a few bubble teams capitalizing on their opportunities in their respective conference tournaments.

Kansas State put a defensive beatdown on Texas Tech in a 66-45 win. I have no doubt that the committee was saying to themselves yesterday afternoon, "That's quite a statement." I feel that they should be in now. However, I felt Florida State would be in after beating Clemson Thursday afternoon, and after the uninspired performance against UNC, nothing could be farther from the truth. In short, if the Wildcats stay in the game today against Kansas and don't get blown out, they should be fine.

Purdue slapped Iowa in a similar matter in the Big Ten, and Illinois beat Indiana. If I was on the committee, I would surely have Purdue in right now, and Illinois still out. However, I'm not on the committee (obviously) and I feel that if the Illini don't get thrashed by Wisconsin today that the group of ten will pick them.

The bubble could shrink further in the next 30 hours after NC State has made a surprise run to the ACC semis, one of Arkansas or Mississippi State will play for a Sunday SEC bid, Oklahoma State is in the Big 12 semis after beating an offensively stagnant Texas A&M team. Also, let's not forget that Houston could beat Memphis and take a bid away in the C-USA title game. Will all four of these conferences turn up surprise auto bid winners? Probably not. But could one or two? Don't be surprised.

Today is also my day of marathon blogging starting up in about an hour and a half and not ending until the Big West crowns a champion around 1 am eastern time. Nineteen games will be played today, 17 on national TV, and 11 of which will punch dance tickets. Today is also the the day where so many of the pieces of the puzzle fall into place, ranging from mid-major conference bids to major conference seedings to be officially determined tomorrow.

Brackets as of 3-8

2007-03-09T11:26:00.000-06:00

Midwest
1. Ohio St. (1) v. 16. Mississippi Valley St.
8. Kentucky v. 9. Texas Tech

4. Nevada v. 13. Wright St.
5. Maryland v. 12. Old Dominion

2. Georgetown v. 15. Delaware St.
7. Southern Cal v. 10. Georgia Tech

3. Memphis v. 14. Oral Roberts
6. BYU v. 11. Winthrop

West
1. UCLA (4) v. 16. Weber St.
8. Boston College v. 9. Villanova

4. Texas v. 13. Davidson
5. UNLV v. 12. Purdue

2. North Carolina v. 15. Belmont
7. Creighton v. 10. Michigan St.

3. Pittsburgh v. 14. Penn
6. Tennessee v. 11. Stanford

South
1. Kansas (2) v. 16. Eastern Kentucky
8. Butler v. 9. Xavier

4. Virginia Tech v. 13. Holy Cross
5. Notre Dame v. 12. Gonzaga

2. Wisconsin v. 15. Long Beach St.
7. Vanderbilt v. 10. Syracuse

3. Southern Illinois v. 14. Toledo
6. Oregon v. 11. Florida St.

East
1. Florida (3) v. 16. Niagara
8. Arizona v. 9. Indiana

4. Virginia v. 13. Vermont
5. Louisville v. 12. Missouri St.

2. Texas A&M v. 15. North Texas
7. Duke v. 10. Air Force

3. Washington St. v. 14. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
6. Marquette v. 11. Virginia Commonwealth

A special bid; The second phase of Championship Week

2007-03-08T09:11:00.000-06:00

What I like to call Act I of Championship Week (plus a few days) is now over. It has left us with a Old Dominion vs. Drexel debate somewhat analogous to the George Mason vs. Hofstra debate a year ago, Missouri State with an identical wait from last year's snub and countless ESPN askings of the question of "Who is this year's George Mason?"

More importantly though, fourteen teams have played their way into the field, the most important to me being North Texas winning the Sun Belt.

If you try and look through this blog, I'm not sure you will find one mention that I go to the University of North Texas. In fact, I think I have made only one passing reference to "my Mean Green" back in January. I just never talk about them on here because I didn't want to overdo this blog with Sun Belt/UNT talk, and have this be a total homer-ass website. But yet, I have been following this team for several years now, and Tuesday night was one of the more special ones I have had as a college hoops fan.

In the numerous amount of games I have attended at the UNT Coliseum (colloquially known as and always referred to as the Super Pit) over the past few years, dating back to when I was in high school, I always (at least once a game) took a look up at the banner saying "NCAA TOURNAMENT 1988". The 1988 is positioned below and to the left side of the text to have the room to put more years up on the banner, and to confidently say, "Yeah, we'll be back."

Games and wins and losses went by and I would always say to myself, "Man, it would be great if we could put up another year up there while I'm here." And two nights ago, after a thrilling and sometimes tense four-game conference tournament run, they earned the right to put another year on that banner.

Now back to Championship Week (plus a few days) and these next two days, usually the second wildest pair of back-to-back days coming behind the first two days of the big dance.

Today (and actually about an hour from now) will feature the most significant 8-9 game in ACC history between Clemson and Florida State. This isn't a play-in game, but it sure as hell is a play-out game. The loser would be well-advised to start lobbying for NIT home games right when the final buzzer sounds. A couple of other bubbilicious games include West Virginia probably needing a win against Louisville in the Garden to get in and Stanford trying to avoid a potential fall out of the field against USC.

A slight bracket update

2007-03-07T08:43:00.000-06:00

Hardly any changes. This is just to reflect our new auto bid winners.

1: UCLA, Ohio State, Kansas, Wisconsin
2: Georgetown, Texas A&M, Florida, North Carolina
3: Southern Illinois, Memphis, Maryland, Pittsburgh
4: Marquette, Virginia, Tennessee, Washington St.
5: Virginia Tech, Texas, Nevada, Notre Dame
6: Louisville, Southern Cal, Vanderbilt, UNLV
7: Oregon, Duke, BYU, Arizona
8: Butler, Indiana, Creighton, Boston College
9: Xavier, Air Force, Kentucky, Villanova
10: Georgia Tech, VCU, Texas Tech, Syracuse
11: Stanford, Clemson, Michigan St., Winthrop
12: Davidson, Old Dominion, Purdue, Missouri St.
13: Gonzaga, Wright St., Vermont, Holy Cross
14: Penn, Toledo, Texas A&M-CC, Oral Roberts
15: Long Beach St., Belmont, Delaware St., North Texas (more on this later)
16: (Miss. Valley St., Central Connecticut) Weber St., Eastern Kentucky, Niagara

Seeding S-Curve 3-5

2007-03-05T15:45:00.000-06:00

Basically, the order of number one seeds is one through four, left to right across your computer screen and then going down the order like a snake. For example, Maryland is my number 11 overall seed.

1: UCLA, Ohio State, Kansas, Wisconsin
2: Georgetown, Texas A&M, Florida, North Carolina
3: Southern Illinois, Memphis, Maryland, Pittsburgh
4: Marquette, Virginia, Tennessee, Washington St.
5: Virginia Tech, Texas, Nevada, Notre Dame
6: Louisville, Southern Cal, Vanderbilt, UNLV
7: Oregon, Duke, BYU, Arizona
8: Butler, Indiana, Creighton, Boston College
9: Xavier, Air Force, Kentucky, Villanova
10: Georgia Tech, Michigan St., Texas Tech, Syracuse
11: Stanford, Virginia Commonwealth, Clemson, Winthrop
12: Davidson, Old Dominion, Purdue, Missouri St.
13: Gonzaga, Wright St., Vermont, Holy Cross
14: Penn, Toledo, Texas A&M-CC, Oral Roberts
15: Western Kentucky, Long Beach St., Niagara, Belmont
16: (Miss. Valley St., Central Connecticut) Weber St., Eastern Kentucky, Delaware St.

The last teams out (and in this order): Florida St., Drexel, Illinois, West Virginia, UMass, Kansas St., Appalachian St., Arkansas

A major conference championship game

2007-03-03T13:26:00.000-06:00

Well, not technically. However, the game between Kansas and Texas did decide the number one seed in next week's Big 12 Tournament, making it a defacto Big 12 title game.

Basically, a couple of incredibly efficient offensive halves were played, one by each team (Texas in the first, Kansas in the second). So naturally, the team that played the best defense when they were on offensively won the game. And that happened to be Kansas, who came out with a sense of purpose in the second to erase a 12-point halftime deficit quicker than it took three field goals to be made in the Michigan St.-Wisconsin game (I'm not kidding).

The incredible Kevin Durant had 20 by the eight-minute break in the first half, but was shut down in the second half much like he was in the second half of the Texas-Villanova game. The should-be national player of the year went down later in the half with an a rolled ankle and was not the same after coming back noticeably injured, but was not being able to do a whole lot before the injury.

Look, I'm not going to blame Rick Barnes for not setting up a bunch of iso plays for Durant, but I will blame the team's youth. The common thread in both this game and the Villanova game was that Durant was taken out of his rhythm when the opponent got their offensive game moved into the next gear. Texas' young players got rattled defensively in each game and that carried over to the offensive end. Even Durant, as great as he is, doesn't move as much without the ball when the other team is on a game-changing run. That's an extremely minor complaint about Durant's game, however, which is just about as complete as any 18-year old's game has ever been.

Also, be prepared to hear that this injury will really damage Texas, but Durant will be fine on the ankle after a couple days of rest.

Another night, another upset

2007-03-03T08:30:00.000-06:00

The Southern Conference tournament was supposed to conclude with a battle royale between the two teams that ate up select national headlines at times, Davidson and Appalachian State. Each team had 25 wins, but needed to win the SoCon tournament for bids due to the (very) weak underbelly of lower-tier SoCon teams.

Dontaye Draper and Charleston had other ideas, and took down the only conference team that beat Davidson in the regular season by winning 89-87 in OT. Draper had eight threes and finished with 38 points in one of the season's great performances. Charleston was a sick 11-of-21 from behind the arc.

So now, instead of the rematch between teams with 32 combined conference wins, the focus switches to whether or not Bobby Cremins can return to the NCAAs in his first year at the helm in the Lowcountry by beating a Davidson team led by freshman Stephen Curry.

In other conference tourney action, form actually held in an Arch Madness quarterfinal round for what seems like the first time this millenium. The victories by Creighton and Missouri State likely mean that this conference is a lock for three bids and will not have to be sweating (as hard as last year) on Selection Sunday. However, if Bradley can knock off Southern Illinois this afternoon, it sets up and intriguing Sunday scenario where the Valley could get their four bids from a year ago.

My dream of Yale sending the Ivy into apocalypse was officially killed off by Penn last night, clinching the first of the 31 auto bids for the Quakers.

Four conferences that decide things like they should give out their invites today. In addition to the aforementioned SoCon title game, East Tennessee State plays Belmont in the A-Sun, Winthrop and VMI get together in the Big South and Austin Peay takes on Eastern Kentucky in the Ohio Valley.

VMI shocks the world

2007-03-01T22:56:00.000-06:00

...or at least those who follow the Big South. VMI, who had lost to 22-win High Point twice in the regular season by an average of 14 points, took down the Panthers and their shot for the auto bid, 91-81. VMI will take on Winthrop, who swept them as well during the regular season, for one of the first automatic bids.

VMI took down the team that was basically a forgone conclusion for Saturday afternoon in Rock Hill based on their ability to shut down newly-crowned Big South POY Arizona Reid. Reid was just 5-of-14 for 13 points, eight below his season average. VMI also found just about every open shot on the night from just about every spot on the floor and dominated points in the paint. Likely national scoring champion Reggie Williams scored 28 (right at his average) on 9-of-18.

(By the way, I have an beef with the people who put together those graphics for ESPN. Obviously, VMI is going to score the most points in the country. They play the fastest pace! And obviously, they are also going to give up a lot of points. Why? They play the fastest pace! I feel like so many poor folk are missing out on a beautiful, tempo-free world.)

(Oh, and for the record, VMI is 127th in offensive efficiency and 288th in defensive efficiency.)

Speaking of pace, two of the fastest in North Carolina and Georgia Tech got together and Georgia Tech came out on top by catching absolute fire during a 25-or-so-minute stretch that went from about 15 minutes left in the first until about 10 were left in the game.

It's that time of year again...

2007-03-01T17:19:00.000-06:00

Say what you want about the holidays, but this is the most wonderful time of the year. In November and December you have your three holidays, but in this one month, you have so many memorable days and nights that cannot be found in any other sport.

The first jewel of March, Championship Week (plus a few days), started in earnest two days ago as the first set of conference tournaments got underway. For the most part, things have held to form, except for Army defeating Lehigh in the Bucknell-Holy Cross League and VMI beating Liberty in the Big South in a slow-for-the-Keydets 79-78 game.

And right now, VMI is beating No. 2 seed High Point, with under eight to go.

More after the jump (to use a trite blog phrase that I've never understood).

Bracket Time 2-26

2007-02-26T16:27:00.000-06:00

West
1) UCLA (1) v. 16) Weber St.
8) Air Force v. 9) Creighton

4) Maryland v. 13) Vermont
5) Vanderbilt v. 12) Syracuse

2) Georgetown v. 15) South Alabama
7) UNLV v. 10) Texas Tech

3) Memphis v. 14) Oral Roberts
6) Oregon v. 11) Illinois

South
1) Florida (4) v. 16) East Tennessee St.
8) Butler v. 9) Arizona

4) Pittsburgh v. 13) Wright St.
5) Boston College v. 12) West Virginia

2) Wisconsin v. 15) Austin Peay
7) Louisville v. 10) Old Dominion

3) Virginia Tech v. 14) Penn
6) Texas v. 11) Purdue

Midwest
1) Ohio St. (2) v. 16) Jackson St./Central Connecticut St.
8) Kentucky v. 9) Stanford

4) Duke v. 13) Holy Cross
5) Southern Cal v. 12) Virginia Commonwealth

2) Texas A&M v. 15) Sam Houston St.
7) Michigan St. v. 10) Xavier

3) Southern Illinois v. 14) Toledo
6) Tennessee v. 11) Villanova

East
1) North Carolina (3) v. 16) Delaware St.
8) Indiana v. 9) BYU

4) Nevada v. 13) Santa Clara
5) Notre Dame v. 12) Winthrop

2) Kansas v. 15) Long Beach St.
7) Marquette v. 10) Missouri St.

3) Washington St. v. 14) Marist
6) Virginia v. 11) Davidson

Seedings 2-20

2007-02-20T18:04:00.000-06:00

1: UCLA, Wisconsin, North Carolina, Florida
2: Texas A&M, Pittsburgh, Kansas, Ohio St.
3: Washington St., Georgetown, Memphis, Southern Illinois
4: Duke, Virginia Tech, Air Force, Nevada
5: Butler, Virginia, Vanderbilt, Marquette
6: Stanford, Indiana, Kentucky, Boston College
7: Texas, Southern Cal, BYU, Tennessee
8: Maryland, Notre Dame, Arizona, Oregon
9: Louisville, UNLV, Alabama, West Virginia
10: Villanova, Oklahoma St., Creighton, Xavier
11: Purdue, Clemson, Winthrop, Clemson
12: Virginia Comm., Akron, Davidson, Syracuse
13: Wright St., Santa Clara, Rhode Island, Holy Cross
14: Penn, Vermont, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Oral Roberts
15: Marist, Long Beach St., South Alabama, Austin Peay
16: Jackson St., Central Conn. St., Delaware St., Weber St., East Tennessee St.

Random-ness, Why I Don't Have Seedings/a Bracket here

2007-02-19T18:22:00.000-06:00

To answer the second part first, it's because I'm simply waiting for the Kansas-Kansas State game tonight. If K-State wins, they are in for this week. The Wildcats lose and they are out and Purdue jumps in to take their place. I also ended up having to do something this week that I absolutely hate doing, and that is replacing a team in the bracket after they haven't lost during the week (Illinois in this case). But I refuse to ignore an 8-5 team in the Big East (Syracuse). This is also the time of year where "if the season ended today" plays a gi-normous role.

Look at Purdue's remaining schedule: @ Iowa, @ Northwestern, Minnesota, Northwestern again. Very real possibility to go 4-0 in that stretch (although I think I jinxed them there)

Syracuse has @ Providence, G-Town and @ Villanova. Very real chance to go 0-3 right there.

Now on to notes:
-This past Saturday with the BracketBusters is just so awesome. I started watching games at 11 am (Central) and didn't stop until New Mexico State had defended their seemingly impenetrable homecourt against Ohio around 1:10 the next morning. I will be doing the same thing in three weeks on the eve of Selection Sunday. Except I will be blogging the entire day for that. (Event brought to you by Full Throttle energy drink)

-Missouri State fans must be thinking, "Please don't let this come down to those 10 guys again." Bears fans, DO NOT look at this image.

-A ridiculous stat from that Missouri St.-Winthrop: The Eagles shot 67.4% in eFG for the game. Yes, including the first 10 minutes of the game.

-A team that started 17-0 has a very real possibility of not making the NCAA Tournament, and it hasn't shocked very many people.

-Andy Glockner on ESPN.com had a great point about Vandy beating Florida, and that is that the Commodores decided to throw the milk-the-clock logic out the window in the second half and just play the way they had been. All teams should take a pointer from Kevin Stallings with a decent second half lead. Sure, if you lose playing your offense, you're going to get burned for not clock-milking, but it's a whole hell of a lot better than losing after taking awkward 30-second possessions.

-I love Butler, but I have had this feeling ever since they had that first conference loss to UIC that this team will get screwed in seedings by the committee (eg Gonzaga in 2002, when they were still a borderline mid-major)

-Under the radar BYU, who might be in position to get as high as a 5 seed, is scoring an unbelievable 1.18 points per possession in Mountain West play. If they had been doing that in non-conference play, the Cougars would lead the nation in that stat.

The Xavier Corollary

2007-02-14T17:37:00.000-06:00

To be fair, this "theory" could just as easily be named after West Virginia from two years ago or Bradley from last year.

But if you remember the seasons that the aforementioned two teams had, you know what I am talking about. So, The Xavier Corollary is a team that was once left for dead as far as tournament hopes go, but catches fire in the last month or so to end up not only making the dance, but makes a Sweet 16 run.

The best example, and the name sake of this self-created term comes from a 2004 Xavier team that was 10-9 going into their annual Crosstown Shootout against Cincinnati on February 3. At that point, the Musketeers were on the outside of the NIT bubble with a 2-5 A10 record. Eighteen games later, they were thisclose to beating Duke in the Elite Eight and going to the Final Four.

Last year's Sweet 16 Bradley club was 13-9 and 7-7 in the MVC after a February 8 loss against Indiana State. Two years ago, West Virginia was 12-7 and 2-6 in the Big East after February 1 and made it to the Elite Eight and lost in overtime to Louisville.

Prime candidates to keep the yearly Xavier Corollary going this season include San Diego State, Ole Miss, Old Dominion and DePaul. Or maybe none of those teams. You just never know in college basketball.

Updating the Bracket 2-12

2007-02-12T15:28:00.000-06:00

South
1. Florida v. 16. East Tennessee State
8. UNLV v. 9. Missouri St.

4. Indiana v. 13. Akron
5. Nevada v. 12. Maryland

2. Kansas v. 15. Long Beach St.
7. BYU v. 10. Notre Dame

3. Washington St. v. 14. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
6. Virginia v. 11. Vanderbilt

West
1. UCLA v. 16. Weber St.
8. Duke v. 9. Texas

4. Southern Illinois v. 13. Oral Roberts
5. Air Force v. 12. Gonzaga

2. Ohio St. v. 15. Austin Peay
7. Stanford v. 10. Florida St.

3. Georgetown v. 14. Vermont
6. Butler v. 11. Alabama

East
1. North Carolina v. 16. Delaware St.
8. Oklahoma St. v. 9. West Virginia

4. Kentucky v. 13. Davidson
5. Oregon v. 12. Winthrop

2. Pittsburgh v. 15. Penn
7. Tennessee v. 10. Kansas St.

3. Memphis v. 14. South Alabama
6. Virginia Tech v. 11. Virginia Commonwealth

Midwest
1. Wisconsin v. 16. Miss. Valley St./Central Conn. St.
8. Villanova v. 9. Creighton

4. Boston College v. 13. Holy Cross
5. Arizona v. 12. Illinois

2. Texas A&M v. 15. Marist
7. Southern Cal v. 10. Xavier

3. Marquette v. 14. Wright St.
6. Clemson v. 11. Georgia

Climbing up the Ivy

2007-02-09T23:31:00.000-06:00

The Ivy League, from the perspective of someone who also follows European soccer, is a lot like the Scottish Premier League. Two teams dominate it (Celtic FC and Rangers FC in our Penn and Princeton roles), and you know that one of them is going to win that league's title every year.

But what if...one of them doesn't win? Wouldn't that just tear a hole in the fabric in both universes?

Well, I'm here to tell you no, and this is part of the reason why the Ivy League needs to have a conference tournament.

Among college basketball super-nuts, I feel like the consensus with the Ivy is something along the lines of, "Well, who cares if they have a conference tournament, Penn or Princeton will win it anyway." And justly so. This year, however, I am paying far more attention than would usually be the case, and that is because of Yale.

The school that brought us the skull and bones is leading the Ivy League with a 6-1 record and is right up there with Penn in overall efficiency in the Ivy. And hopefully, if this stays true, and Yale does the nearly unthinkable, it will push this conference into a tournament.

I know exactly what the Ivy brass would tell me, "The Ivy League does not award athletic scholarships and therefore would not deem it appropriate to have a postseason moneymaking venture." (Or something more lawyerspeak than that.)

Two words for all that crap: Patriot. League.

They only started allowing a limited amount of scholarships a couple years ago and even had a tourney when they were exclusively non-scholarship athletes. And they do it by playing all games at campus sites.

And that is why I will, for the at least the next month, be rooting for the Bulldogs to break this mold in hopes of them joining all of us less-intelligent folk in the greatness, fun, tension and heartbreak that is Championship Week. And the double-layered underdog thing is cool too.

Seedings after February 8

2007-02-09T17:41:00.000-06:00

The aforemention Ivy League rant will have to wait for later tonight, as will my first bracket matchups and site pairings. But here are the seeds after I adjusted my S-Curve to eliminate intra-conference matchups.

No. 1: Florida, UCLA, North Carolina, Wisconsin
No. 2: Pittsburgh, Marquette, Ohio St., Texas A&M
No. 3: Washington St., Kansas, Kentucky, Oregon
No. 4: Georgetown, Butler, Memphis, Boston College
No. 5: Duke, Southern Illinois, Indiana, Air Force
No. 6: Nevada, Arizona, Virginia, Clemson
No. 7: Florida St., Virginia Tech, Stanford, Southern Cal
No. 8: BYU, Villanova, Oklahoma St., Creighton
No. 9: Missouri St., Texas, UNLV, Notre Dame
No. 10: Vanderbilt, Alabama, Gonzaga, Tennessee
No. 11: Kansas St., Illinois, West Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth
No. 12: Texas Tech, Winthrop, Xavier, Arkansas
No. 13: Davidson, UMass, Holy Cross, Akron
No. 14: Long Beach State, Tex. A&M-Corpus Christi, South Alabama, Oral Roberts
No. 15: Marist, Vermont, East Tennessee State, Austin Peay
No. 16: Yale, Central Conn. State, Delaware St., Jackson St., Weber St.

Fun Time Stat-ness!

2007-02-08T14:58:00.000-06:00

I don't give nearly enough creedence as I should to the genius of tempo-free stats. Let me just sum it up like this: these things don't lie.

Most of the time a TV presentation will tell you how well how well a team is shooting with just a percent number. But the most important statistic(s) in my oh-so-very humble opinion (IMOSVHO?) is (offensive and defensive) points per possession.

Let's take the small sample of two Big 12 teams. First, Texas Tech, which is in a freefallin' tailspin, losing four in a row, after once upon a two weeks ago co-leading the Big 12 (including one of the biggest kick-in-the-nads games against Nebraska on Tuesday). In all four losses, they have fallen below the recognized average point of one in the offensive category and allowed more than the one defensively.

The same exact thing has happened to Oklahoma State in their four conference losses. And if I talked about all the examples of this, I would not only kill my own bandwidth, but all of Blogger's as well.

Also, one of the things that I love that Big Ten Wonk does along the O-PPP/D-PPP lines has been expanded by the great K-Dub. Now, I just need to figure out how to sneak in these kind of stats into my write-ups on Dallas-Ft. Worth area high school games I cover without having to go on a 15-minute explain-a-stat lecture to them.

Look for a new bracket and an Ivy League rant coming tomorrow.

Tourney Projected Seeds after Jan. 29

2007-01-30T11:23:00.000-06:00

No. 1: Wisconsin, Florida, North Carolina, UCLA
No. 2: Kansas, Oregon, Ohio St., Pittsburgh
No. 3: Duke, Oklahoma St., Marquette, Texas A&M
No. 4: Memphis, Air Force, Virginia Tech, Butler
No. 5: Washington St., Nevada, Kentucky, Clemson
No. 6: Southern Illinois, Arizona, Texas Tech, Indiana
No. 7: Stanford, Notre Dame, Texas, Georgetown
No. 8: Creighton, Tennessee, Boston College, USC
No. 9: UNLV, Michigan St., Vanderbilt, Georgia
No. 10: Alabama, Villanova, Arkansas, Maryland
No. 11: Missouri St., Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga
No. 12: George Washington, New Mexico St., Virginia Commonwealth, Xavier
No. 13: Davidson, Winthrop, Toledo, Holy Cross
No. 14: South Alabama, Penn, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Oral Roberts
No. 15: Vermont, Cal St.-Fullerton, East Tennessee St., Austin Peay
No. 16: Central Conn. St., Loyola(MD), Weber St., Delaware St., Jackson St.

The First Seedings of the Year

2007-01-23T16:10:00.000-06:00

1: UCLA, Florida, Wisconsin, North Carolina
2: Texas A&M, Ohio State, Oregon, Pittsburgh
3: Duke, Oklahoma State, Clemson, Washington St.
4: Butler, Arizona, Air Force, Kansas
5: Virginia Tech, Marquette, Tennessee, Indiana
6: Nevada, Texas Tech, Alabama, Memphis
7: Kentucky, Boston College, Southern Illinois, USC
8: Florida St., Texas, LSU, Notre Dame
9: Michigan St., Villanova, Georgia Tech, Arkansas
10: Creighton, Northern Iowa, Georgetown, UNLV
11: Gonzaga, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Missouri St.
12: Drexel, New Mexico St., Davidson, Virginia Comm.
13: Holy Cross, Winthrop, Toledo, Western KY
14: Rhode Island, TAMU-CC, Oral Roberts, Penn
15: East Tennessee St., Long Beach State, Idaho St., Vermont
16: Jackson State, Loyola (MD), Sacred Heart, Delaware St., Austin Peay

Games to keep an eye on the ticker for... Jan. 22-26

2007-01-22T16:51:00.000-06:00

In my early Sunday morning post, I forgot to give props to Southern Illinois on a clutch win at Creighton and finishing the job at the Qwest Center where MO State couldn't.

And here are the weekday games to keep an eye on. With an addendum to the national TV part. I simply can't ignore the games that end up on ESPNU and Versus. I will still ignore CSTV because Conference USA is crap.

Monday
High Point at Coastal Carolina
-One of these two teams should be playing at Winthrop on March 3 for the Big South title.

Chicago State at Kansas State
-Don't keep an eye on this, actually. But let me stand up in the Stephen A. Smith Memorial Speaker's Circle and ask WHAT BUSINESS KANSAS STATE HAS PLAYING THIS GAME IN JANUARY????

Norfolk State at Delaware State
-Top two teams in the MEAC standing and the only ones with records at .500 or better.

Tuesday
Florida State at Boston College
-Seminoles have a drop-dead gorgeous RPI, but they need more marquee wins that just the Florida one for Al Thornton to make his first trip to the Big Dance.

Northern Iowa at Southern Illinois
-Not one guy on Northern Iowa is a complete standout, but there are a bunch of good players and their level of teamwork is up there with anyone in the country.

San Diego State at UNLV
-The Aztecs are underachieving at need this kind of win to get back into the MWC/at-large race.

Wednesday
Drexel at UNC-Wilmington
-Again, you don't really have to keep an eye on it, but I have to make a point. A lot of people criticized Brad Brownell for leaving UNCW for Wright State last spring, and now it looks like he knew exactly what he was doing. Wright State is second in the Horizon (bid stealers, possibly) while UNCW is 4-13. The Raiders also have a possible HL 2008 POY in 5-11 guard Dashaun Wood.

Kentucky at Georgia
-Georgia must have been so pissed to let that game against Alabama get away from them. what better way to get that taste out of their mouth than by giving Kentucky a second straight unexpected loss.

Creighton at Missouri State
-Think there's just a little bit of an element of revenge here?

Michigan at Wisconsin
-I feel like the same script goes on with Michigan every single year. Hot start, big marquee win, then collapse.

Winthrop at High Point
-If Winthrop doesn't drop this game, they should go undefeated in conference.

East Tennessee State at Belmont
-Due to possibly the nation's biggest example of Ewing Theory this season (ETSU graduating shot-loving Tim Smith), the two-team A-Sun Battle of Nashville has officially turned into a three-way Tennessee Tussle.

Oakland at Oral Roberts
-First of three meetings, anybody?

Saturday Observations

2007-01-21T01:27:00.000-06:00

-You can officially move Washington to the "Left for Dead" column after their latest version of Leave Everybody Open On Defense against Washington State for all the apples.

-Wichita State is real close to that same column, but something just gives me the feeling this team will make a late-season run. There's just too much talent there to stay in their current Valley spot.

-Poor Iona.

-Appalachian State got a gorilla-sized win at Davidson and showed the rest of the SoCon that they will be in this race for the long haul.

-If this UConn team had South Florida or Baylor across their chests, they wouldn't even be considered on the bubble at this time.

-I have no idea which Alabama or LSU team will show up at what time and for how long during the course of any game and/or week.

-The AP headline for the New Mexico State-Nevada game said, "...NMSU stuns [national ranking censored] Nevada". That game is not a stunner in the least bit. The Land of Enchantment State Aggies have the best team speed in the conference and are an excellent team that has won 14 of 15 (the one a head-scratcher against LA Tech).

Games to keep an eye on, Weekend Edition

2007-01-13T09:20:00.000-06:00

Saturday
Providence at Louisville
-A team possibly underrated and a team possibly overrated

Florida at South Carolina
-If you remember, the NIT champs were the only team to beat the NCAA champs twice last season

Virginia at Boston College
-BC is off to a quiet 3-0 ACC start, while Virginia is constantly up-and-down

South Dakota State at Butler
-I would have said this was an upset possibility at the beginning of the week, but I can't see Butler losing again after the loss to UIC.

Albany at Vermont
-The two best teams in the AmEast square off

Missouri State at Southern Illinois
-It'll be interesting to see if the Bears can keep up their uber-offense against the Salukis' uber-defense

Colorado State at San Diego State
-Remember when I said that Utah was the only easy out in the Mountain West earlier in the week? Well, I forgot TCU.

South Carolina State at Florida A&M
-Two teams breathing right down Delaware State's neck in the MEAC standings

Kansas State at Missouri
-Oh-fer teams in Big 12 play that didn't expect to start that way

Drexel at Old Dominion
-The CAA is becoming like the Valley in that there are two or three games every week that have two quality teams playing

Air Force at Wyoming
-The Falcons are so damn good, but then again, so is Brandon Ewing

Tennessee-Martin at Morehead State
-Morehead State has surely been the surprise story of the OVC so far this year

Loyola(IL) at Illinois-Chicago
-UIC doesn't get an easy day after the giant win over Butler

Washington at Cal
-The Huskies have time to turn around their 1-4 Pac-10 start, but they've got to find ways to play good defense and perform in crunch time. Also, of all the highly touted frosh this year, Spencer Hawes is the most overrated.

Robert Morris at Fairleigh Dickinson
-RMU has the best overall record in the NEC by far, but they are just 2-3 in conference to FDU's 3-0.

Bradley at Indiana State
-Two teams in The Valley that are dark-horse NCAA possibilities, and are both coming off huge wins

Xavier at Saint Louis
-Musketeers are finally starting to realize some of that preseason potential

BYU at UNLV
-UNLV is only 1-2 in the MWC, but has a super-high RPI of 19. Meanwhile, BYU is riding a seven-game winning streak

Nevada at Hawaii
-This trip is normally hell for Nevada, and they won't have Fazekas. However, Sessions and Kemp have emerged to be big-time players in his absence

Sunday
Samford at Tennesee Tech
-All three of the Tennessee OVC teams are doing worse than I thought they would be doing. Samford is leading the conference, meanwhile.

Games to keep an eye on the ticker for...January 8-12

2007-01-08T15:28:00.000-06:00

As always, no national TV games on here.

Monday
Old Dominion at Hofstra
Two of the top four team in the CAA with Drexel and surprising VCU.

Tuesday
Clemson at NC State
NC State is probably one of the two worst teams in the ACC, and they're not an easy out.

Loyola(MD) at Siena
Siena is leading the MAAC at 4-0, with the east coast Loyola at 3-1 after Gerald Brown and company beat Marist last week.

Wednesday
Pittsburgh at DePaul
DePaul is just an awful team away from home. At Allstate Arena, though, they haven't been beaten.

Loyola(IL) at Wright State
Both of these teams have a good shot to be first runner-up to Butler in the Horizon.

Hofstra at Drexel
Talent wise, the two best teams in the CAA.

Southern Illinois at Bradley
The theme early on in The Valley is that the top six teams are protecting their home court against each other. At Bradley is a game that the eventual conference winner will probably snatch.

UNLV at Wyoming
Utah is truly the only bad team in the Mountain West.

Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Northwestern State
This, I believe, will end up as a "passing of the torch game" in the Southland when all is said and done.

Thursday
Washington State at Cal
This Cal team has the potential to lose or win by 25 to just about anybody. The latter won't happen. This Wazzu team finds ways to stay in (and win) games.

Friday
Lipscomb at Belmont
The first round of the Nashville A-Sun supremacy fight. There's going to end up being three rounds.

Creighton at Northern Iowa
In an unrelated Valley note, does anyone realize that Indiana State's RPI is higher that Wichita State's now? And that they have wins over Butler, Purdue and Creighton?

It's time for everyone's favorite feature...

2006-12-18T16:15:00.000-06:00

Which until bracket projection time comes around (mid-January, folks) is the only feature.

To refresh your memory, this is Games to keep an eye on the ticker for, with the restriction of nothing on the national tube.

Tonight
Davidson at Chattanooga
-Two upper-division SoCon teams that are likely to have top conference tourney seeds
UAB at Old Dominion
-UAB has not been impressing anyone, but is 25th in RPI
South Florida vs. Texas A&M-Corpus Christi in Las Vegas
-USF: 7-1 and loving the cupcakes; TAMU-CC: 4-3 with less sweetening to their slate.
Missouri State at Saint Louis
-Why is Missouri State not getting any Wichita State-style love? They beat Wisconsin on a neutral floor you national hacks!!!
Charleston vs. Coastal Carolina at Myrtle Beach
-I'm a South Carolina native, so from now on, all in-Palmetto state games go in this space. The Cougars and Chanticleers should make for a decent game, though.

Tuesday
Appalachian State vs. Virginia at San Juan, Puerto Rico
-Will Appalachian stay Hot! Hot! Hot! after their national championship in football?
Drexel at Syracuse
-I correctly predicted one upset for Drexel, but I'm not as confident on this one.
North Texas at Western Kentucky
-My Mean Green are so completely schizo that it wouldn't surprise me if they lose by 30 or win by 15.
Illinois-Chicago at Mississippi
-Rebels are 9-2, but only against the teams they should obviously beat. This isn't that obvious a win.
Stanford at Fresno State
-Fresno State is showing how good UCSB could be (that's their only loss on a slate that saw Creighton last Saturday)

Wednesday
Savannah State at Louisvile
-These two teams have the same number of wins. (That's a true statement, now stop laughing.)
Wyoming vs. Nebraska at Honolulu
-Cowboys have a starting backcourt that is averaging over 40 a game

Thursday
North Carolina A&T at Arizona State
-This game is only on here because it is called the "ASU Sleep America Classic". Worst. Promo. Ever.
Charlotte vs. Houston in Honolulu
-Oh, two teams whose hype I fall into every year! Joy!
San Diego State vs. Washington State in Seattle
-These two teams are great in the efficiency margin statistic
Valparaiso vs. Creighton in Honolulu
-A poll of the same Valley media might not even have Creighton as even the fourth-best team today. Shooting, something that was assumed to be solid for Creighton before the season, has been below average and is why they are only 4-3.

Friday
Georgia at Georgia Tech
-Right now, of these two teams, Georgia is playing the better basketball.
Massachusetts at Kentucky
-If UMass can win this game, they establish themselves as the team to beat in the A-10 when conference play starts.
Hofstra at Syracuse
-Hofstra can surely put those struggles of November away if they can win this one.
Drexel at Temple
-When was the last time we could say that Drexel was the better team of these two?
Nevada at Akron
-This would be a great game for BracketBuster Saturday, but the Zips have been struggling too much on defense to make this matchup happen again.
Evansville at Butler
-Matt Webster! A.J. Graves! It's the White Scorers Bowl brought to you by Daisy Sour Cream! Live from beautiful Hinkel Fieldhouse!
Oral Roberts at Arkansas
-For the Eagles, there was really no where to go but down after winning at Allen Fieldhouse. But not one of their five losses has been horrible.
Wichita State vs. New Mexico in Las Vegas
-Do the Shox play any non-conference home games?
Cal at DePaul
-Cal shot better than and outrebounded San Diego. But lost. How? You got it. Turnovers.
Dayton at Pittsburgh
-"at Pittsburgh" is always a daunting assignment, but Dayton is playing amazing defensively and will keep this game close

Games to keep an eye on the ticker for...

2006-12-11T16:16:00.000-06:00

There's a light schedule this week, and that's because of good ol' finals week at most schools.

Monday
Mississippi State at Miami FL
-Two teams very likely to be in the three letter tournament
Arkansas-Pine Bluff at New Mexico State
-UAPB could be a top 3 SWAC team, but that won't get into NMSU's level

Wednedsay
UMass at Louisville
-Very interesting matchup in a game named for Rick Pitino's late best friend and brother-in-law, Billy Minardi
Belmont at Arkansas-Little Rock
-Road game where the so-called "low-major" should win comfortably

Friday
Eastern Washington at Oregon
-First big upset for Stuckey and Co.? Probably not.

Saturday
Purdue vs. Butler at Conseco Fieldhouse
-Let's see if the Indiana State game was an abberation for the non-power conference media sensation of the first month of the season
Temple at Towson
-Pat Kennedy's team will make things tough for a Temple team in a down year
DePaul at Rhode Island
-Which of these wins doesn't belong: Eastern Illinois, Chaminade, Kansas or Chicago State?
Akron at Illinois-Chicago
-Some nice "mid-major on mid-major action" as Kyle Whelliston would put it
Western Kentucky at Tennessee
-Should be some good offense put up in this one
Utah State at BYU
-A surprising Utah State team takes on a good BYU team
Northern Iowa at Loyola-Chicago
-See Akron-UIC
Indiana State at Missouri State
-If that Butler game wasn't the fluke I think it was, Missouri State will need to play up to the standard that they beat Wisconsin with
Alabama vs. Southern Miss at Mobile
-Does anybody realize Southern Miss is undefeated? No...well, they won't be after this game
Loyola Marymount at San Diego State
-Two good SoCal teams, one of which is likely to play the annual "WCC Runner-Up to Gonzaga" role in the college basketball play
Creighton at Fresno State
-The Xavier win was a good way for the Bluejays to get back on track, and this road win would surely put them squarely back on that track

Never in a million years...

2006-12-09T13:31:00.000-06:00

did I think that Jim Nantz and Billy Packer would be doing a game involving Texas A&M.

Winthrop: Princeton of the New Millenium?

2006-12-05T17:23:00.000-06:00

Every time I see Winthrop just nearly miss out on upsetting a giant, I can't help but think of those Princeton teams that gave Georgetown, Arkansas, Villanova and Syracuse edge-of-your-seat near-upsets in succession the 1989-1992 NCAA Tournaments. I wasn't too old then, so the only real recollection I have of those games are watching the old highlight shows where an announcer says something like, "Everyone's underdog Princeton came close once again in 19__, but it was not to be as ______ beat them (some score in the 50s to 40s)."

These words were accompanied by an image of Jim Boeheim one of the other great coaches (Thompson, Richardson, Rollie) with a look that said, "Oh my god, we just barely beat Princeton. I'm glad that's over."

But eventually, Princeton had their amazing 1996 and all that heartbreak was essentially forgotten. You really have to think that a huge win like that has to come for Winthrop one of these years.

Another thing that I have heard asked about Winthrop is what it will take for them to get an at-large bid, should they lose in their conference tournament. Three things must happen in order for the Eagles to be one of the 34 non-champions:
1. Win at Old Dominion on December 29
2. Run the table in the Big South
3. Win in their BracketBuster game

This is assuming, however, that Winthrop beats Mt. St. Mary's and East Carolina, but loses at Texas A&M (a game which I will be attending). The only real precedent set here in recent memory is Pacific two years ago, who went 18-0 in the Big West, but lost in the Big West final to a hot shooting (and now departed from the conference) Utah State team. That team finished 24-3 against D1 teams, while Winthrop would be 22-4 assuming all of the above. The four defeats would be high-quality road losses with marquee wins over ODU and their BracketBuster opponent. That would, in my opinion do it, but the Big South is not as good a conference as 2005's version of the Big West, making all three of the scenarios very important.

Enough with speculation for tonight, though. Time to watch the Jimmy V games.

Games to keep an eye on the ticker for...

2006-12-04T20:04:00.000-06:00

Tuesday
Loyola-Chicago at Purdue
-Once Horizon League favorites would love to notch up BCS-conference road win
Charleston at South Carolina
-In-state rivals each looking to turn things around
Northern Iowa at Iowa
-What kind of backwards world do we live in when you could make a strong case of UNI being completely better going into this one?
Texas A&M at LSU
-Only on ESPN FC...
New Mexico at New Mexico State
-I guess rematches come early for these two
Gonzaga at Washington State
-Interesting clash of tempos here

Wednesday
Providence at Florida
-Note to Florida: Don't wear those atrocious black unis and you might win. Oh, that and foul trouble.
Old Dominion at Virginia Tech
-Both will be, at very least, NIT teams
NC State at West Virginia
-Would have been just a little more attractive last year
Utah at Utah State
-USU might not be head for that lull after all...
Fresno State at Cal-Santa Barbara
-Two very underrated teams

Friday
Ohio at Louisville
-Louisville has no excuse to lose to another Ohio team this early (Dayton, if you were wondering)

Saturday
Oral Roberts at Georgetown
-Maybe my Big East pick won't disappoint...AGAIN
Missouri at Purdue
-Didn't expect even Mike Anderson to have it turned around this quickly.
Nebraska vs. Oregon in Portland
-Oregon is better, but still an interesting matchup
George Washington vs. USC in Anaheim
-USC is currently hanging in there at Kansas as we...uhh...write?
Wichita State at Wyoming
-What's another long road trip for the Shockers anyway at this point?
South Carolina at Baylor
-Baylor should not be underestimated under any circumstances
Charlotte at Davidson
-2-4 is definitely not what the Niners had planned right now
Drexel at Villanova
-Fire off the upset alerts...
Southern Illinois at Western Kentucky
-Two mids whose names should be called out on March 11
Kansas State at North Dakota State
-First, Marquette, now, K-State?
Xavier at Creighton
-Really solid matchup between two excellent teams without numbers next to their names
Arizona at San Diego State
-Great clash of big men in this one
Washington at Gonzaga
-Might be the last time we see this normally excellent matchup for a while

The Oden Era Begins

2006-12-02T13:51:00.000-06:00

On Wednesday night, Dan Shulman and Dick Vitale made it sound like the earliest that Greg Oden could suit up would be on the 16th against Cincinnati. Guess not...

I highly doubt he gets more than 15 minutes a game before the Florida game on the 23rd, but just having him adds a new element to the currently jumpshooting-heavy Buckeyes.

Two signs that the season is really getting ramped up: the 06-07 debut of games on CBS (and therefore Billy Packer) and no less than 15 conference games over the course of the day.

Speaking of that game on CBS, Tubby's eyebrows are Andy Rooney-style out-of-control. As for the game, it's observation time.

-Kentucky seems like they are on perfect course for the same kind of season as they had last year.
-Randolph Morris needs to have more of those kinds of performances. Hopefully the next time he goes 11-12 from the floor and shuts down a great big man defensively, someone on his team wakes up on the offensive end.
-Brendan Wright may not be among the freshman scoring leaders, but he needs to be mentioned in the same breath with players like Kevin Durant.

It looks like the ESPN idiot who forgot to schedule Wichita State-Syracuse was reading the blog and then scheduled it for the 400 of us who get ESPNU. To steal a British phrase, good on you, mate!

Games to keep an eye on the ESPN ticker for...

2006-11-28T17:49:00.000-06:00

....because games to watch is all-too blog generic. And look for this feature on Monday's from now on. The caveat here would be that no game I pick from will be on the national TV schedule.

Tonight
Charleston at Kentucky
UAB at Western Kentucky
Oral Roberts at Tulsa
New Mexico State at New Mexico
UNLV at Arizona

Wednesday
Oregon at Georgetown
Robert Morris at Pittsburgh
Old Dominion at Marist
North Texas at Nebraska
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Oklahoma State
Iowa State at Northern Iowa
Wake Forest at Air Force
Kansas State at California

Thursday
Villanova at Stony Brook

Saturday
Northern Iowa at Bucknell
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi at Mississippi State
Saint Louis at Southern Illinois
Fresno State at Oregon State
Wichita State at Syracuse (what ESPN genius forgot to schedule this one???)
Villanova at Penn (you know the season has began when we start getting Big Fived!)
Holy Cross at Dayton
Boston College at UMass
Charlotte at Indiana
Akron at Oral Roberts
Loyola Marymount at USC

Sunday
Bradley at Michigan State
Evansville at Missouri
Bucknell at George Mason
Pittsburgh at Auburn
Virginia Tech vs. George Washington @MCI Center
Notre Dame vs. Maryland @MCI Center

Observations About Last Night in Vegas

2006-11-26T15:52:00.000-06:00

Now THAT game had a late-season atmosphere. I'm not going to just bandie around terms like 'March-like atmosphere', but it had all the intensity of a mid-February conference game between two powers ramping up for March. Oh who am I kidding... it was a great game and it doesn't need a corresponding month of importance. Even if it is at the poor-man's Allen Fieldhouse.

I could hear a collective "What the hell?" from my fellow college hoops fans when The Deuce had the proverbial "technical difficulties" with 1:30 left in a tie game. The next six and a half made up for it, and then some.

It was nice to see Darrell Arthur succeed on a national stage like that, as he could end up being the Dallas area's best product since Kenyon Martin.

For the first 30 minutes the game seemed like a soccer match where one team has repeated chances to extend their lead, but just can't because the team they are playing is so strong. In fact even in the first half, as Kansas played their best basketball all season, I felt the game would come down to the wire as the Jayhawks just couldn't pull away.

An extreme rarity in that game was that a team with a lead made ALL its free throws down the stretch and still managed to throw-away a two-possession lead. That's what happens when the leading team fouls for no reason.

I really questioned Florida's bench and the quality of their depth before this game. In the first half, they made my questions seem very viable. I'm still not impressed with Walter Hodge, but Chris Richard made some key defensive plays in the second half and down the stretch to ensure that Florida kept it real close. But now, teams know that they can make Florida look oh so mortal if they can get a couple of those 'Big Five', if you will, in foul trouble.

Thriller in Vegas

2006-11-26T00:25:00.000-06:00

What an amazing game of basketball. What a classic nail-biter. I'll come back and organize my thoughts later (today).

Conference Champions

2006-11-22T17:32:00.000-06:00

Here we go and very quickly in a quick-hit manner. And, by the way, these have nothing to do with results thus far.

America East – Albany
Atlantic Coast – North Carolina
Atlantic Sun – Lipscomb
Atlantic 10 – Xavier
Big East – Georgetown
Big Sky – Eastern Washington
Big South – Winthrop
Big Ten – Wisconsin
Big 12 – Kansas
Big West – Long Beach State
Colonial Athletic – Hofstra
Conference USA – Memphis
Horizon – Wisconsin-Green Bay
Ivy League – Penn
MAAC – Marist
Mid-American – Akron
Mid-Continent – Oral Roberts
MEAC – Delaware State
Missouri Valley – Southern Illinois
Mountain West – BYU
Northeast – Long Island
Ohio Valley – Tennessee Tech
Pac-10 – UCLA
Patriot – Holy Cross
SEC – Florida
Southern – Charleston
Southland – Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
SWAC – Jackson State
Sun Belt – Western Kentucky
West Coast – Gonzaga
WAC – Nevada

Highlights of the First Full Week

2006-11-20T12:11:00.000-06:00

And by far my favorite highlight of the first week was Rick Majerus abbreviating Pierre Marie Altidor-Cespides as P-Mac during the Gonzaga-Rice game.

Other highlights would have to include Winthrop nearly beating North Carolina, then taking it to Mississippi State, a team some think will surprise in the SEC this season. Up next for the Eagles is 5-0 Maryland tonight.

The two biggest upsets to this point happened as well in the past week with Oral Roberts over Kansas and Georgetown getting beat by an Old Dominion team that didn't realize that on-campus games for the Hoyas were supposed to be walkovers. Twenty-four years of walkovers in fact.

Michigan St.-Maryland Reaction

2006-11-17T22:43:00.000-06:00

Ok, the officials screwed up twice. First, the obvious shot clock violation (what horrible shot as well) and secondly, Ibok was just controlling the ball, spawning the dive (I don't even think contact was made). You see that kind of play in so many games and it is correctly no-called.

Gary Williams chose a very savvy move to foul the on-fire Drew Neitzel in the final seconds, though.

Speaking of Neitzel, I can't believe that this is the same guy from the February and March of last year. It's almost like he morphed into Gerry McNamara. Michigan State will be absolutely fine this season if that solid play can continue.

A Knight Controversy? Oh goodie...

2006-11-14T21:14:00.000-06:00

The thing is it shouldn't really be much of a controversy at all. In fact, just in covering high school games in the DFW area last season, I saw the same type of thing happening from a hard-nosed girls' coach. Perhaps it would have been news if she had more career wins (but likely not).

Besides, when Bob Knight is talking to you, Michael Prince, you might want to look at him. He's won more games at this level than you have played in just about your entire life. He knows what he's doing.

Another thing I'd like to mention is how pleased I've been with the media on this one, as (for the most part) the consensus seems to be that this is not a big deal. Another good thing has been their mention of Knight's kicking Jarrius Jackson off the team for a couple weeks to get his grades up as a very refreshing thing Knight has done thus far in the fetal stages of this season. That's what we call fair, ladies and gentlemen.

As for the actual games, pretty much everything (from a national scale) has held serve, except for Virginia opening up their new barn against 'Zona's highly-touted team. And while that may seem like a big upset, it's truly not. Virginia has a very talented team, a superb backcourt and should be a force in the ACC.

The bigger upset, by far, was the good ol' Catamounts beating 30-percent shooters Boston College by 14 on the road in what could start out another America East championship campaign.

More is coming in the next few days, with my makeshift season predictions and other good stuff.

Annnnddd.....we're back

2006-10-14T15:55:00.000-05:00

Due to my lackluster blogging of a year ago, I imposed NCAA restrictions on myself that I could not blog until after the Friday closest to October 15. I guess I could have started at 7 pm last night.

In any event, I’ll try and avoid gems like this for the 2006-07 season:

“Here is a very narrow limb I am willing to go out on: Florida will not win the SEC East or even come in second. Yes, you heard it here first.”

And the funny thing is that if Kentucky beats Florida on the final day of the regular season at Rupp, I end up being right!

What the national media are usually failing to tell you in the obligatory “Can Florida Repeat?” story is that after Florida started 17-0 against largely crap, they went 5-6 and were 8-6 in the SEC going into March.

Who was also 8-6 in the SEC going into March? Kentucky.

At that point in the season the odds Florida wins a national title and gets mentioned in the same breath as 1992 Duke would be about the same at Rutgers being undefeated in football in mid-October (wait…)

After one round...

2006-03-18T14:09:00.000-06:00

(At least my final four are all still in...)

Nevada, I touted you to people as the best mid-major all year, as that's what you go off showing people. Other than Kemp and Fazekas, the rest of the team might as well have not shown up. Everyone might as well have not shown up on defense.

You can't help but be happy for Northwestern St. I thought they got jobbed by the committee being a 14, and would subsequently lose. They proved me and the country wrong...I did know, however, how good they could be (as if that counts).

Speaking of the committee, I'm going to bitch about them some more and blame them for giving me bad karma after messing up the selections *cough Air Force cough* so profusely. Yeah, that's it...

Hopefully, I wont be this bitter after the next round.

This...is Life

2006-03-16T11:34:00.000-06:00

Watching Milwaukee-Oklahoma and Wichita St.-Seton Hall at the same time.

Here is my bracket, so at least I'm accountable for something.

This UWM-OU game looks like it will be very well-played and close.

The Hall are acting like brick-layers early on against the Shox.

Much more later.

The Final Bracket Projection

2006-03-12T15:45:00.000-06:00

Atlanta Region
Greensboro
1. Duke (1) v. 16. Southern/Hampton
8. Wisconsin v. 9. UNC Wilmington

Jacksonville
5. Washington v. 12. Seton Hall
4. Florida v. 13. South Alabama

Detroit
6. Syracuse v. 11. San Diego St.
3. Illinois v. 14. Montana

San Diego
7. Nevada v. 10. Northern Iowa
2. UCLA v. 15. Pacific

Oakland Region
Jacksonville
1. Memphis (4) v. 16. Belmont
8. Indiana v. 9. Arizona

Dallas
5. West Virginia v. 12. George Mason
4. LSU v. 13. Northwestern St.

Dayton
6. George Washington v. 11. Bucknell
3. Pittsburgh v. 14. Murray St.

Dayton
7. Wichita St. v. 10. Alabama
2. Ohio St. v. 15. Penn

Washington Region
Philadelphia
1. UConn v. 16. Monmouth
8. Southern Illinois v. 9. UAB

San Diego
5. Kansas v. 12. Kent St.
4. Tennessee v. 13. Milwaukee

Greensboro
6. Michigan St. v. 11. Cincinnati
3. North Carolina v. 14. Winthrop

Dallas
7. Marquette v. 10. Bradley
2. Texas v. 15. Oral Roberts

Minneapolis Region
Philadelphia
1. Villanova (3) v. 16. Albany
8. Kentucky v. 9. California

Salt Lake City
5. Oklahoma v. 12. Missouri St.
4. Boston College v. 13. Xavier

Detroit
6. Georgetown v. 11. Texas A&M
3. Iowa v. 14. Iona

Salt Lake City
7. NC State v. 10. Arkansas
2. Gonzaga v. 15. Davidson

Seeds after Saturday

2006-03-12T08:26:00.000-06:00

The final bracket prediction will be released after the SEC, ACC and Southland games are complete.

1: UConn, Duke, Villanova, Memphis
2: Ohio St., Gonzaga, Texas, UCLA
3: Illinois, North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Iowa
4: LSU, Florida, Tennessee, Boston College
5: Washington, Kansas, West Virginia, Oklahoma
6: Georgetown, George Washington, Michigan St., Syracuse
7: Marquette, Nevada, Indiana, Wichita St.
8: NC State, Wisconsin, Southern Illinois, Kentucky
9: Arizona, UNC Wilmington, Arkansas, UAB
10: California, Alabama, Bradley, Northern Iowa
11: Texas A&M, Seton Hall, Cincinnati, Bucknell
12: George Mason, San Diego St., Missouri St., Kent St.
13: Xavier, Milwaukee, Northwestern St., South Alabama
14: Iona, Winthrop, Montana, Murray St.
15: Penn, Pacific, Oral Roberts, Davidson
16: Albany, Belmont, Monmouth, (Southern, Hampton)

Brackets after 3-9

2006-03-10T08:31:00.000-06:00

Washington Region
Philadelphia
1. Villanova (1) v. 16. Delaware St.
8. Arizona v. 9. Kentucky

Detroit
5. Boston College v. 12. St. Joseph's
4. Iowa v. 13. Milwaukee

Dallas
6. George Washington v. 11. Seton Hall
3. Texas v. 14. Montana

Greensboro
2. North Carolina v. 15. Davidson
7. Wisconsin v. 10. Northern Iowa

Oakland Region
Dayton
1. Ohio St. (4) v. 16. Monmouth/Southern
8. Arkansas v. 9. Southern Illinois

Dayton
5. Oklahoma v. 12. George Mason
4. Pittsburgh v. 13. Kent St.

San Diego
6. Marquette v. 11. Bucknell
3. UCLA v. 14. Iona

Jacksonville
2. Memphis v. 15. Oral Roberts
7. NC State v. 10. Bradley

Minneapolis Region
Philadelphia
1. UConn (2) v. 16. Albany
8. Indiana v. 9. UNC Wilmington

San Diego
5. Kansas v. 12. Missouri St.
4. Florida v. 13. South Alabama

Dallas
6. West Virginia v. 11. Texas A&M
3. LSU v. 14. Murray St.

Detroit
2. Illinois v. 15. Penn
7. Nevada v. 10. Syracuse

Atlanta Region
Greensboro
1. Duke (3) v. 16. Belmont
8. Alabama v. 9. UAB

Salt Lake City
5. Georgetown v. 12. San Diego St.
4. Washington v. 13. Northwestern St.

Jacksonville
6. Michigan St. v. 11. Cincinnati
3. Tennessee v. 14. Winthrop

Salt Lake City
2. Gonzaga v. 15. Pacific
7. Wichita St. v. 10. California

So, I had a bracket made...

2006-03-09T17:29:00.000-06:00

but Syracuse, Temple and Wake Forest all busted it in the highest degree, however.

What do these games mean?

Well, first of all, the Big East is going to have nine in, creating the surreal sight of teams from the same conference in the same half of a region.

Either Villanova or Duke is getting the No. 1 overall seed.

I can't see the Valley getting more than four (I know, great way to backtrack from a week ago, right).

Was anyone else reminded of Xavier-St. Joe's from two years ago when you found out that GW was knocked off today? Of course, an undefeated A10 record and an A10 quarterfinal loss are about the only similarities you can make between those two teams.

As for the rest of the A10 tournament, I will be rooting for La Salle. If you could see Steven Smith play, you would want him in the dance as well.

I'm going to put back together my busted bracket tonight during the Washington-Oregon game.

CAA Talk, New Bracket

2006-03-06T15:57:00.000-06:00

Last week, I proclaimed that Hofstra needed to get to the CAA final to truly have a shot at an at-large.

Now that they did, and beat George Mason for the second time in a couple weeks the CAA might get three bids.

The best thing that could happen tonight for the league is for Hofstra to win. George Mason is a lock, and UNC Wilmington is likely in barring an embarrassment. The Patriots did probably kill off any chance that they would have had of a single-digit seed.

With Hofstra's win, they improve to 3-1 against the Top 50 and take the last spot in my bracket (for now, and I stress for now) over Florida St.

Yes, I am leaving a 9-7 ACC team out. Let's look at the facts though.

Against the Top 100, Hofstra is 7-4, with Florida St. at 6-7.

FSU has the 317th best non-con schedule, Hofstra is at 278 (both awful, but Hofstra less so). Meanwhile the Seminoles' best win outside of the ACC is Nebraska (RPI 111) in a game played in south Florida, while Hofstra's is a road win at LaSalle (RPI 92).

Even with a loss tonight, Hofstra's RPI in the 20s means that it would make no sense to leave them out, even you don't like RPI.

However, if Florida St. wins in a potential ACC quaterfinal against NC State, then you can book 'em.

The next team out in that case: Missouri St. Of course, everything can and will change before Sunday rolls along.

Watch out for St. Peter's and Keydren Clark tonight against Iona. Iona is heavily favored, but Clark is the active career points leader in the NCAA (yes JJ, I am correct), and sixth all-time. The Peacocks also pulled off a shocker last night in beating regular-season champ Manhattan.

Thanks to Davidson for making me look like a genius for my pick in the SoCon tournament.

Without any further ado, here are the brackets:

Washington Region
Philadelphia
1. UConn (1) v. 16. Albany
8. Alabama v. 9. Michigan

Salt Lake City
5. Kansas v. 12. Hofstra
4. Washington v. 13. Milwaukee

Dallas
6. Nevada v. 11. California
3. Texas v. 14. Penn

Greensboro
2. North Carolina v. 15. Davidson
7. Wisconsin v. 10. Northern Iowa

Oakland Region
Dayton
1. Ohio St. (4) v. 16. Fairleigh Dickinson/Southern
8. Seton Hall v. 9. Kentucky

Dayton
5. Boston College v. 12. Missouri St.
4. West Virginia v. 13. Western Kentucky

San Diego
6. Marquette v. 11. Texas A&M
3. UCLA v. 14. Pacific

Jacksonville
2. Memphis v. 15. Oral Roberts
7. Arkansas v. 10. George Mason

Minneapolis Region
Philadelphia
1. Villanova (2) v. 16. Delaware St.
8. Indiana v. 9. Arizona

San Diego
5. Florida v. 12. Bucknell
4. George Washington v. 13. Northwestern St.

Dallas
6. Oklahoma v. 11. Bradley
3. LSU v. 14. Iona

Detroit
2. Illinois v. 15. Murray St.
7. NC State v. 10. Cincinnati

Atlanta Region
Greensboro
1. Duke (3) v. 16. Belmont
8. Wichita St. v. 9. UAB

Detroit
5. Pittsburgh v. 12. San Diego St.
4. Iowa v. 13. Kent St.

Jacksonville
6. Michigan St. v. 11. UNC Wilmington
3. Tennessee v. 14. Winthrop

Salt Lake City
2. Gonzaga v. 15. Northern Arizona
7. Georgetown v. 10. Southern Illinois

Quick Hits

2006-03-05T03:01:00.000-06:00

It looks like someone forgot to tell Georgetown that South Florida's only Big East wins were supposed to be in football.

Hilton Armstrong, you sir, are the best defensive player in the country (I'm looking right at you Shelden). Without Armstrong getting 9 blocks against Louisville, UConn loses at home today.

The 2006 Missouri Valley season will forever be known as the benchmark for any other mid-major conference in any other year.

George Washington had absolutely no business winning today. Let's forget about Leemire Goldwire's idiot play in OT, and focus on the front end of the 1 and 1 he missed with :39 to go. He makes those two, and the game is pretty much iced, with GW shooting very poorly from 3 at the time.

Seeding Update after a truly mad Saturday

2006-03-05T02:53:00.000-06:00

1: UConn, Villanova, Duke, Ohio St.
2: North Carolina, Illinois, Gonzaga, Memphis
3: Texas, LSU, Tennessee, UCLA
4: West Virginia, Washington, George Washington, Iowa
5: Pittsburgh, Kansas, Florida, Boston College
6: Georgetown, Marquette, Michigan St., Oklahoma
7: Wisconsin, Nevada, Arkansas, NC State
8: Kentucky, Alabama, Wichita St., George Mason
9: UAB, Arizona, Indiana, Michigan
10: Cincinnati, Seton Hall, UNC Wilmington, Bradley
11: California, Southern Illinois, Missouri St., Texas A&M
12: San Diego St., Florida St., Northern Iowa, Bucknell
13: Western Kentucky, Kent St., Milwaukee, Northwestern St.
14: Winthrop, Penn, Pacific, Manhattan
15: Murray St., Oral Roberts, Davidson, Northern Arizona
16: (Fairleigh Dickinson, Southern), Belmont, Delaware St., Albany

Peoria in Bliss

2006-03-04T15:38:00.000-06:00

Bradley is in as in can get after beating the Shockers. To deny seven Top 50 wins at this point would be theft of the highest order. This also probably clinches a four-bid Valley. Five might be cinched up with an SIU win later this afternoon. Of course, five could happen regardless.

Bracket Update 3-3

2006-03-03T19:27:00.000-06:00

Washington Region
1. UConn (1) v. 16. Fairleigh Dickinson/Southern
8. Kentucky v. 9. Michigan

5. Boston College v. 12. Bucknell
4. George Washington v. 13. Milwaukee

6. Oklahoma v. 11. Cincinnati
3. LSU v. 14. Manhattan

2. Illinois v. 15. Murray St.
7. NC State v. 10. Bradley

Minneapolis Region
1. Ohio St. (4) v. 16. Albany
8. Arkansas v. 9. Missouri St.

5. Kansas v. 12. San Diego St.
4. North Carolina v. Northwestern St.

6. Florida v. 11. Texas A&M
3. West Virginia v. 14. Penn

2. Memphis v. 15. Georgia Southern
7. Wichita St. v. 10. UNC Wilmington

Atlanta Region
1. Duke (2) v. 16. Lipscomb
8. Arizona v. 9. George Mason

5. Michigan St. v. 12. Southern Illinois
4. Pittsburgh v. 13. Kent St.

6. Georgetown v. 11. Creighton
3. UCLA v. 14. Pacific

2. Texas v. 15. Oral Roberts
7. Alabama v. 10. Indiana

Oakland Region
1. Villanova (3) v. 16. Delaware St.
8. Nevada v. 9. UAB

5. Washington v. 12. Florida St.
4. Iowa v. 13. Western Kentucky

6. Wisconsin v. 11. California
3. Tennessee v. 14. Winthrop

2. Gonzaga v. 15. Northern Arizona
7. Marquette v. 10. Northern Iowa

Teams blowing bubbles: Syracuse, Seton Hall, Air Force, Colorado, Hofstra

Team X of 65

2006-02-28T14:32:00.000-06:00

I am seeing a bunch of fans and media say stuff like 'If x team wins game against x, they get in'. They do it seemingly every year.

I have even been guilty of it, saying that Hofstra can not get in unless the go to the CAA final. However, I believe that to be true, since it would take beating George Mason or UNCW to get to that point would get another top 50 win for them. But most of the time, it is a use of a dumb edict.

For example, this time last year, Northern Iowa lost to Missouri St. (then SMS) in the Valley quarters. Many bracketologists like me thought that not advancing even one round would be the downfall for the Panthers. A week later, Miami U lost in the semis of the MAC, Maryland had their third loss of the year to Clemson in the ACC tourney. My point is that in these next 12 days, anything can happen. And frankly, that's one of the things that makes this sport great, is the fact that there aren't magic numbers, and that we don't know if Air Force or Southern Illinois will get in until 6:00-6:40 ET on the 12th.

Conference tourneys begin tonight for the Big South, SoCon, OVC, Horizon and A-Sun. The OVC is the only conference where I see a no-doubt hands-down winner in Murray St. For the Big South, I like Winthrop, but I have doubts. Coastal Carolina is playing really well under Buzz Peterson, and If they are hitting from outside in a potential final with Winthrop, watch out.

For the Horizon, Milwaukee and Butler should meet in the final, since both have a double bye to the semis. Milwaukee should get through, because they have underachieved while Butler has overachieved to an extent. But like Winthrop, Milwaukee has shown that they are very beatable.

In the SoCon, I still like my preseason pick of Davidson, and think that they can live up to their potential for three games.

The Atlantic Sun may be the most wide open tournament in the country, with Lipscomb, Belmont, Florida Atlantic, Gardner-Webb and East Tennessee State all having a reasonable shot and the title. Again, I will default to my preseason pick of East Tennessee State behind the play of conference player of the year Tim Smith, despite the Bucs being a 5 seed in the A-Sun.

Brackets for 2-27

2006-02-27T17:10:00.000-06:00

Atlanta Region
1. Duke (1) v. 16. Georgia Southern
8. Cincinnati v. 9. George Mason

5. Washington v. 12. Indiana
4. George Washington v. 13. Northwestern St.

6. Kansas v. 11. UAB
3. Pittsburgh v. 14. Penn

2. Illinois v. 15. Albany
7. Wichita St. v. 10. Kentucky

Oakland Region
1. Memphis (4) v. 16. Belmont
8. Nevada v. 9. Arizona

5. West Virginia v. 12. Bucknell
4. Wisconsin v. 13. Milwaukee

6. NC State v. 11. Colorado
3. UCLA v. 14. Pacific

2. Texas v. 15. Oral Roberts
7. Alabama v. 10. Syracuse

Washington Region
1. UConn (2) v. 16. Southern/Fairleigh Dickinson
8. Michigan v. 9. Creighton

5. Florida v. 12. UNC Wilmington
4. North Carolina v. 13. Western Kentucky

6. Georgetown v. 11. San Diego St.
3. Tennessee v. 14. Winthrop

2. Ohio St. v. 15. Murray St.
7. Oklahoma v. 10. Missouri St.

Minneapolis Region
1. Villanova (3) v. Delaware St.
8. Arkansas v. 9. Northern Iowa

5. Boston College v. 12. Air Force
4. Iowa v. 13. Kent St.

6. Michigan St. v. 11. Bradley
3. LSU v. 14. Manhattan

2. Gonzaga v. 15. Northern Arizona
7. Marquette v. 10. California

Seeding Update as of 2-24

2006-02-24T22:35:00.000-06:00

1: Duke, Villanova, UConn, Memphis
2: Gonzaga, Texas, Ohio St., Tennessee
3: Illinois, Iowa, Pittsburgh, Kansas
4: Florida, UCLA, LSU, North Carolina
5: West Virginia, Michigan St., Washington, NC State
6: Georgetown, Marquette, Wisconsin, George Washington
7: Oklahoma, Boston College, Wichita St., Michigan
8: Syracuse, Northern Iowa, California, Nevada
9: Creighton, George Mason, Alabama, Cincinnati
10: Kentucky, Missouri St., Arizona, Arkansas
11: Seton Hall, San Diego St., Colorado, Bradley
12: Bucknell, UNC Wilmington, Utah St., UAB
13: Northwestern St., Kent St., Milwaukee, Western Kentucky
14. Penn, Murray St., Pacific, Manhattan
15: Winthrop, Georgia Southern, Albany, Northern Arizona
16. (Delaware St., Southern) Lipscomb, Fairleigh Dickinson, IUPUI

Brackets as of Games of 2-20

2006-02-21T10:03:00.000-06:00

Atlanta Region

1. Duke (1) v. 16. Southern/Delaware St.
8. Seton Hall v. 9. Michigan

4. Kansas v. 13. Bradley
5. George Washington v. 12. UAB

2. Ohio St. v. 15. Murray St.
7. Washington v. Syracuse

3. Pittsburgh v. 14. Penn
6. Northern Iowa v. 11. Utah St.

Oakland Region

1. Memphis (4) v. 16. Belmont
8. Nevada v. 9. San Diego St.

4. West Virginia v. 13. Pacific
5. LSU v. 12. Southern Illinois

2. Illinois v. 15. IUPUI
7. Oklahoma v. 10. Cincinnati

3. Tennessee v. 14. Winthrop
6. UCLA v. 11. Missouri St.

Washington Region

1. Villanova (2) v. 16. Albany
8. George Mason v. 9. Colorado

4. Florida v. 13. Iona
5. North Carolina v. 12. Western Kentucky

2. Gonzaga v. 15. Northern Arizona
7. California v. 10. Creighton

3. Michigan St. v. 14. Milwaukee
6. Marquette v. 11. Arkansas

Minneapolis Region

1. UConn (3) v. 16. Fairleigh Dickinson
8. Alabama v. 9. Wichita St.

4. NC State v. 13. Northwestern St.
5. Wisconsin v. 12. Bucknell

2. Texas v. 15. Davidson
7. Boston College v. 10. Arizona

3. Iowa v. 14. Kent St.
6. Georgetown v. 11. Kentucky

SEC, Valley Talk

2006-01-26T12:05:00.000-06:00

Here is a very narrow limb I am willing to go out on: Florida will not win the SEC East or even come in second. Yes, you heard it here first.

Of course the event spawning this prediction is Florida's second straight loss, this one to South Carolina. When you look at Florida's schedule, you see just one real quality win against Syracuse. The rest, even with 5 other RPI Top 100 wins, are teams that they should have handled.

But since that one quality win came in the final of a preseason, nationally televised tournament, the Gators not losing until their 18th game game got them to #2 in the polls (did anyone seriously think they were better than UConn?).

Meanwhile, Kentucky, as maligned as they have been, has just as many Top 100 wins and one more Top 50 win than the Gators. Let's not forget as well that Kentucky still has a very talented backcourt, one that is an incredibly deep one when clicking. Also, Randolph Morris at least gives them some stability in the middle.

In mid major new, my fellow hoop blogger Kyle "K-Dub" Whelliston has a good piece on ESPN.com about how The Valley gets four teams into the Dance. I'm actually not sure it will be that tough to hit the four-banger.

Northern Iowa, barring injury or collapse, is in, as their RPI is in the teens, and they are 5-2 against the Top 50.

Creighton, even without Nate Funk, has (amazingly) been 3-1 against the RPI Top 50.

Southern Ilinois, behind Matt Shaw and Jamaal Tatum, is tied for the conference lead at 8-2 with UNI and Wichita State.

Speaking of Wichita State, this team, IMO, is the fourth best, and likely to pick up the last spot of a "4BV". However, their RPI is in the low twenties and their conference record is outstanding.

I don't want to say that Missouri State is out of it, as I love the way Blake Ahearn plays, but it will be tough to come back from 5-5.

However, the resumes of the former four are stellar, and I'd say that there is a 60 percent chance they all make it.

Brackets for this week

2006-01-25T12:19:00.000-06:00

Washington Region
1. UConn (1) v. 16. Sacred Heart (NEC)
8. UAB v. 9. Michigan
4. UCLA v. 13. Manhattan (MAAC)
5. NC State v. 12. Alabama

6. Arizona v. 11. S. Illinois
3. Florida v. 14. Northwestern St. (Southland)
7. Syracuse v. 10. Oklahoma
2. Michigan St. v. 15. UC Irvine (Big West)

Oakland Region
1. Texas (4) v. 16. Delaware St. (MEAC)
8. Marquette v. 9. North Carolina
4. Ohio St. v. 13. Tennessee Tech (OVC)
5. Washington v. 12. Old Dominion (CAA)

6. Creighton v. 11. Wisconsin-Milwaukee (Horizon)
3. Wisconsin v. 14. Penn (Ivy)
7. Maryland v. 10. Iowa St.
2. Villanova v. 15. Northern Arizona (Big Sky)

Atlanta Region
1. Duke (2) v. 16. Elon (SoCon)
8. Vanderbilt v. 9. Wichita St.
4. Pittsburgh v. 13. Winthrop (Big South)
5. Iowa v. 12. Akron (MAC)

6. Cincinnati v. 11. Clemson
3. Gonzaga (WCC) v. 14. San Diego St. (MWC)
7. Bucknell (Patriot) vs. 10. Kentucky
2. Illinois v. 15. IUPUI (Mid-Con)

Minneapolis Region
1. Memphis (3) v. 16. Binghampton (AmEast)/Southern (SWAC)
8. Georgetown v. 9. Boston College
4. Tennessee v. 13. Western Kentucky (Sun Belt)
5. George Washington v. 12. Colorado

6. Northern Iowa v. 11. Kansas St.
3. Indiana v. 14. Louisiana Tech (WAC)
7. LSU v. 10. Xavier
2. West Virginia v. 15. Florida Atlantic (A-Sun)

Bubblicious outsiders: Nevada, Arkansas, Air Force, Miami (FL), Missouri St., Iona, Missouri

Wow, An Update is a Novel Idea

2006-01-05T20:41:00.000-06:00

Was there any more irrelevant night of the season than last night? Even on Super Bowl Sunday hoops is more noticeable.

Marquette had essentially a “beginner’s luck” win against UConn in their first Big East game.

This game changes nothing, however. Things like these happen to excellent teams in conference play. How quickly we forget UConn’s Jekyll-and-hyde January (and part of February) two years ago during their championship season.

Unfortunately, with the inconsequential concept of polls in college basketball, UConn will drop even when it is obvious that this is still a top five team.

Meanwhile, the Golden Eagles’ win really cements the Big East as the conference that will likely get the most teams into the tournament.

Mark my words, a 6-10 team will get in from the Big East.

Texas’ win over Memphis was something that was desperately needed for the school where one Vincent Young has moved up to permanent God status.

It is alarming, though, that the Longhorns are getting underachieving performances out of players not named Gibson and Tucker. Even so, Chad Ford has LaMarcus Aldridge number one on his NBA potential…I mean NBA draft board.

The Washington-Arizona game on New Year’s Eve was a classic and again, it was a game where a team had to make a statement. And did.

Oh, and how about Ohio State coming back to win a game where they were outplayed for 35 minutes.

The lack of mid-majors in this blog is putrid at best. If I don’t clean up my act, I might as well call this the BCS, A10 and Memphis digest.

Therefore, I will run through all mid-major conferences weekly starting tomorrow.

Slow Down, National Wonks

2005-12-23T16:17:00.000-06:00

It’s not of this blog to be a media critic, but I just can’t stand what so many of the national college basketball media (or the Gang of 500, according to Yoni Cohen) are doing in already talking about player of the year.

To say that either JJ Redick or Adam Morrison is a lock for the award(s) would be like saying that either Peyton Manning or Shaun Alexander was a lock for NFL MVP this season after Week 7. There’s just too much that can happen between now and then.

Besides, to only highlight two players thus far discredits players who are having awesome seasons to this point like Paul Davis, Dee Brown and Je’Kel Foster. Players from smaller conferences are also having dynamite years like LA Tech’s Paul Millsap or Western Kentucky’s Anthony Winchester.

West Virginia picks up a very nice (essentially) road win, while Oklahoma State takes care of previously unbeaten, Longhorn-slaying Tennessee.

Cincinnati gets revenge on their sluggish loss to Dayton, and really has turned the corner since early December. Andy Kennedy found out that starting a turnover-prone guy named Jihad at the point can never be good, and promptly adjusted his lineup. The post-Huggins era might not be that bad after all.

The Return of Randolph

2005-12-15T21:28:00.000-06:00

Just when you think that Kentucky may be in a chronic tailspin, the NCAA reverses its decision on Mr. Morris.

The reason for the reversal: a misplaced fax from Morris, lost by Tubby deep in the annals of his desk.

The letter addressed to ‘Orlando Smith’ simply says this: “First of all, I would like to thank you and your staff for the many opportunities and benefits afforded me this year. However, I would like to announce my intentions to 'test the waters' in the 2005 NBA draft. My intent is not to obtain an agent so as to maintain my collegiate eligibility.”

Three sentences and they probably saved Kentucky’s season.

Kentucky fans have to be asking themselves questions like, all that beating around the bush for this? Couldn’t we have taken care of this sooner? Can I organize Tubby’s desk for him?

Just be grateful Cat fans, you could have been stuck with Shagari Alleyne, Lukasz Obrzut and Jared Carter the whole season.

Morris will be eligible to return for the conference opener Jan. 10 against Vanderbilt.

First Field of 65 of the Season

2005-12-15T20:40:00.000-06:00

I decided not to get concerned with potential tournament matchups this early in the season. Don't expect those until about mid-January, once everyone has gotten a few conference games under their belt.

No. 1s: UConn, Duke, Villanova, Washington
2s: Florida, Memphis, Gonzaga, Illinois
3s: Texas, Michigan St., Louisville, Oklahoma
4s: UCLA, Indiana, North Carolina, Maryland
5s: Houston, Iowa, Boston College, Iowa St.
6s: NC State, Wisconsin, Ohio St., Vanderbilt
7s: Wake Forest, Michigan, Bucknell, LSU
8s: Kentucky, George Washington, Arizona, Syracuse
9s: Nevada, Arkansas, Northern Iowa, Notre Dame
10s: DePaul, Kansas, Xavier, Cincinnati
11s: St. Joe's, West Virginia, Alabama, Georgetown
12s: Oklahoma St., Iona, Indiana St., Utah, Temple
13s: Ohio, Western Kentucky, Old Dominion, Wis.-Milwaukee
14s: Davidson, Winthrop, Pacific, Oral Roberts
15s: Murray St., Gardner-Webb, Penn, Montana
16s: Northwestern St., Fairleigh Dickinson, Vermont, (Southern, South Carolina St.)

Yes, it was a pretty big crap shoot but I awarded teams that have shown something so far (Washington, North Carolina), and put underachieving teams in lower spots than what most expected (Kansas, West Virginia, Wake Forest).

Odd anomalies from this first field: nine from the Big East (!), seven from the Big Ten, just three from the Pac-10, and four from the A-10.

Also, the mid-majors were basically picked according to a variety of factors including RPI, record (conference for some), and most importantly, just who I think is the best of the conference, even if you lose an early conference game (Old Dominion).

Big Games This Week

2005-12-13T16:28:00.000-06:00

Wednesday
Winthrop @ South Carolina
No one should have been the least been surprised at Winthrop’s near takedown of Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Saturday. It would be purely utopian to suggest that this win would boost Winthrop’s potential at-large candidacy because once Big South play kicks off, the Eagles current RPI will plummet faster than you can utter “There’s a Charleston Southern?”

Thursday
Wisconsin-Milwaukee @ Wisconsin
Ladies and Gentlemen, we present to you the battle of the Tuckers! Whatever you do, however, don’t expect this contest to be exciting. Each team is coming off of wins in the fifties, and that should stay true.

Missouri St. @ Arkansas
This is the test of the week for a mid-major team as the Bears take their undefeated record into Fayetteville. Last week, they got a nice win over a good Oral Roberts team. The Razorbacks have not lost since Maui, but this will be their toughest test since then. The Bears have five players averaging double-figures, including guard Blake Ahearn, who is averaging more than 21 a night. Arkansas runs through Ronnie Brewer, but 6-10 C Darian Townes will be a key factor against a smaller Bears lineup.

Saturday
UCLA @ Michigan
Big man Courtney Sims has been a pleasant surprise for Tommy Amaker, who has felt his seat become a little less warm with a 7-0 start. Sims is currently the leading scorer and rebounder on the team, and is shooting over 68 percent(!). Meanwhile, UCLA should win this contest because of the play of Arron Affalo and Jordan Farmar, who were excellent in the much needed statement win over Nevada on Saturday.

Louisville @ Kentucky
Will Kentucky fail to show up for a third consecutive Saturday on national TV? I wouldn’t bet against Louisville.

Arizona @ Utah
The Wildcats could use a quality non-conference win badly. However, with their play being so erratic and usually bad, a smart Utah team could wipe the floor with them. Or the ‘Cats might blow the Utes out by actually showing their potential for a game.

Ohio St. @ Iowa St.
A good sign for the Buckeyes is that five guys are currently in double figures, and neither of the top two are named Terence Dials. However, the Buckeyes’ leading glass cleaner is off-guard JJ Sullinger. Iowa State also has three 6-10 or over players who have been getting significant minutes. If those players can clean the glass against a small Ohio State team, Curtis Stinson and Will Blalock will look like cyclones all day long.

Virginia Tech vs. Stanford @ Las Vegas
Stanford needs a win so bad right now it hurts.

I am currently putting together the first of many bracket projections to be first shown on this site.

Gonzaga, Washington Go Racing

2005-12-06T17:03:00.000-06:00

The Gonzaga-Washington game was simply a blast to watch. Ken Pomeroy’s pace statistics had it as a ‘NASCAR’-type game.

Meanwhile, Adam Morrison is such a scoring powerhouse that it almost seemes he had a quiet 43 points, as ridiculous as that sounds. With this Gonzaga team, one knows that Morrison will be getting the ball just about every time down the floor.

It shouldn’t be that way, though. This team is more loaded than the counterparts of Zags past.

Morrison shoots a high percentage for the type of player that he is, but there are other options like Jeremy Pargo, JP Batista, Sean Mallon, and the back-bruised Derek Raivio.

Northwestern State at Gallagher-Iba, easy tune-up for Gonzaga, right? WRONG. Versatile forward Clifton Lee poured in 24 points to go along with 9 boards. The Demons’ win ended Oklahoma State’s 44 game home win streak against lesser known teams between the end of fall and start of winter. Or something like that.

Palo Alto, it’s time to panic. Next possible tree-chopper: Denver with C Yemi Nicholson.

Much is being made about the frontcourt in tonight’s Michigan State-Boston College matchup. However, guard play will decide this game.

Louis Hinnant at the point has a size advantage over Drew Neitzel, his Spartan counterpart, and thus has a slight advantage getting the ball inside to Jared Dudley and Craig Smith.

However, at the two spot Maurice Ager is far better than Sean Marshall. That’s no knock against Sean Marshall, it’s just that Ager is so skilled shooting and off the dribble. His presence will lead the Spartans to victory tonight.

You can bet that the Sojka will be rocking when Villanova comes to Lewisberg to play Bucknell as the two best teams in the Quaker State face off (sorry Pitt) (oh wait, no I’m not).

Buknell really should have chance in the game, but Chris McNaughton has got to rise his toughness level in order to make himself the best player in the game. Also, his role will be crucial when Allan Ray, Randy Foye or Kyle Lowry comes barreling into the lane.

The quickness of Bucknell’s guards and the ability of their bench actually matches up better to the Wildcats than Oklahoma did.

Villanova Takes It To the Sooners

2005-12-04T08:49:00.000-06:00

Villanova’s four-guard attack (and Jason Fraser, too) was great against Oklahoma. Randy Foye’s career-high 32, Allan Ray’s 21, and a 57% shooting clip were more than enough to take the small, quick lineup to victory over the powerful, strong one.

The matchup problems for Oklahoma were glaring at times, with Kevin Bookout getting trapped on the perimeter on occasion and subsequently eating the dust of the smaller player. Also, after Taj Gray, Bookout and Terrell Everett, Oklahoma does not have players who like taking shots in tough spots. With Gray and Bookout prone to fouls, this problem may come to haunt the Sooners in a conference (or even non-conference) game(s) to be named later.

Going back to the Wildcats, if ‘Nova can get performances like the one Jason Fraser had on Staurday, the shadow of Curtis Sumpter in the frontcourt will keep gettting smaller and smaller. Perhaps the biggest play of the game was Fraser’s dunk with 6:11 to go to make the lead 13.

There is one word that comes to mind when talking about Kentucky’s performance today: uninspired. Every time that they needed someone…anyone to make a play in the second half, it was not there. Yes, that means you, Rajon Rondo.

Credit should be given to UNC in the meantime as the freshmen made solid plays as the elder statesmen of Reyshawn Terry and David Noel are proving that they will be good leaders for the kiddies.

Houston and Oliver Lafayette: proving a bunch of unenlightened pundits wrong about C-USA being a one-bid league.

Does anyone realize that this happened Friday night?

Another week, another major conference team beaten at home by Bucknell. Up next for the Bison: Villanova.

Carolina on Right Track

2005-11-30T16:18:00.000-06:00

Last night, North Carolina impressed, even in a loss. This Carolina team seems a lot like the ’03 Carolina team, when May, McCants, Felton and most notably, Noel were freshmen. That team had moments of brilliance in the first half of the season, before Sean May went down for the year. It’s not right to compare those two teams, but this is a very talented bunch that just has to be more disciplined.

For example, even though Illinois had two more turnovers than UNC, the Tar Heels’ giveaways were costly, as usually some kind of world-beating pass was trying to be made with someone open on the perimeter. Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard and the rest of the newbies will learn in time.

Also, in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge, something doesn’t seem to be right with Wake Forest still. With no Chris Paul, this team should not be winning the same way as last year. Currently, the way they are going to win most of their games is by Justin Gray hitting his shots and make his free throws. He did both last night. And with freshman Harvey Hale running the point, and making freshman type plays at times, the Deacons just look erratic.

Oh my Purdue, how bad have you fallen?

I knew Houston would make some noise out of conference.

The first bad loss of the Andy Kennedy era at Cincinnati happened last night…to a very mediocre Dayton team.

For Indiana to beat Duke tonight, the combination of Marco Killingsworth and Sean Kline has to shut down Shelden Williams. Frankly, the Hoosiers should even allow JJ Redick to get 25-35 points. If Williams is consistently getting the ball like he did against Memphis in his 30-point night, the Hoosiers will not even come within 10 points of winning.

The next best game on the schedule also comes from the lovable made-for-TV extravaganza, and that game would be NC State and Iowa.

The striking thing about both teams is their depth. NC State has eight players averaging at least 10 minutes a game, while Iowa has nine guys who are at double-digits in minutes.
Each team is incredibly balanced offensively and superb defensively as well. This may be a 58-54 game, but it will be good to watch to two teams that have played great so far.