With the first set of games in the books tonight both teams, North Carolina and Kansas, not only won, but won with authority. I didn't watch much of the Kansas game so I can't comment much on the game, but I can comment on the days leading up to it. Bill Self did his best to be politically correct when asked about playing double digit seeds. From the looks of the highlights and the score Richmond played like a double digit seeded team. But like he said you can't prepare for them that way. This Richmond team is a very dangerous team, and has a reputation as a giant killer. If overlooked could make for a long night for Kansas. Well, Richmond sealed their fate before the game even tipped off. The two teams "exchanged words" in the tunnel before coming onto the floor. You don't piss of a giant. Apparently this did and KU came out firing. When KU is hot and playing their game no other team stands a chance, and Richmond just added fuel to the fire. KU has by far the easiest path to the final four, the highest seed they play will be Illinois as a 9 seed. Not to take anything away from those teams, but they are seeded like that for a reason. They are seeded because of the entire body of work. KU is the #2 overall seed for a reason. As VCU is an #11 seed for a reason. Kansas fans can downplay it as much as they want to, saying these teams are better than they seem. But, would you rather be Ohio State and have to play George Mason, Kentucky, and possibly North Carolina? Or would you rather play Illinois, Richmond, and VCU/FSU?? I think Duke, Pittsburgh, Ohio State, etc would LOVE to be in KU's position over theirs.
North Carolina played their best game of the tournament tonight. To say the first half was a clinic would be an understatement. After the first few minutes, the Tarheels went on a tear, ripping Marquette a new one. Marquette switched to a zone in the second half and fought as hard as they could, but still couldn't get within 15 points. Both teams advanced with ease, and await the games being played right now. North Carolina plays the winner of the giants. Kentucky wants to show they are for real. If they were in any of the other 3 regionals they would be a final 4 team for sure. I'm interested to see what happens in the VCU v FSU. VCU has been riding that underdog role. Us against the world. Coaches love that attitude and it makes for great pre game and post game speeches. But, after a few games, they talk about these teams and they start getting respect. Then they aren't the underdogs any more, and when that happens, their dream run usually comes to an end. One team that comes to mind is the Colorado Rockies of a few years ago. They had to win a playin game to reach the post season and went on a tear until they ran into the Red Sox in the World Series. VCU has gained publicity and respect and analysts and writers are giving them a chance now, and that diminishes the impact of a game. Can VCU be like Butler and still play to that standard now that they are respected, or will reality catch up to them?
I've made comments on my facebook about Charles Barkley. He joined the CBS crew this year when they added Turner Sports into the mix. He covers mostly NBA games and many thought he wouldn't know much about the college game. Well, so far in this tournament he has embarrased the "know it all's" of college basketball. Seth Davis covers college basketball for Sports Illustrated and CBS sports. Seth Davis has got as many picks wrong as Barkley's got right. If he predicted and upset, there wasn't. If he predicted there wasn't an upset, there was. So, an interesting factoid going into that game, Charles Barkley, who has been consistantly right picked FSU to win this game, and Seth Davis, who has been consistantly wrong picked VCU. I wonder who I'd side with on that one...
Another thing I find funny is Rick Pitino. After his team lost in the first round, he joined the CBS crew. Sunday evening after most of the Big East teams were illiminated Pitino was trying to defend the Big East and Barkley didn't hold anything back, stood up to him, and basically told him off. Now Rick Pitino has moved to ESPN where no one has the balls to stand up to him the way Barkley did. He didn't like being put in his place so he went to ESPN where they will kiss his ass.
In the past week, as well as throughout the season I have heard a lot of criticism about KSU's coach, Frank Martin. He is widely known for his yelling on the sidelines. What coach doesn't yell?? You show me a coach that doesn't yell at their players at some point, whether it be practice, half time, during the game, whatever. I watch Roy Williams, one of the greatest coaches of our time throw a temper tantrum and put in 5 walk-ons in an ACC tournament game. Coach K can yell with the best of them. I don't care who the coach is, you can't tell me he doesn't yell at some point or another. Frank Martin is criticized because he does it with such intensity. A comment was made in the middle of the season about his players being tired of being yelled at, and that they quit on him. Well, they went on a tear in the Big XII and became one of the hottest teams going into the tournament. If that's quitting on your coach, then basketball has really changed. Frank Martin's players a very loyal to their coach. Despite how he yells during the games, they still love and support him. Off the court he is one of the classiest coaches in the Big XII. Before the KSU-KU game in BRAMLAGE COLISEUM he grabbed the microphone and asked the fans to donate to Thomas Robinson's sister's college fund. That's class, to ask your home fans to donate to a fierce rival. Frank Martin is also VERY loyal to his players. Rick Pitino is probably one of the best coaches of our time, up there with Roy Williams, Coach K, and Bill Self. After their first round loss to Moorehead State, he basically threw a few of his players under the bus. Frank Martin would NEVER do what Pitino did. He may chew a kids ass for something they did, but he will NOT blame a loss on a player. He will defend that player like a coach is SUPPOSED to do. If I had the opportunity and the choice, I would send my kids to play for Frank Martin over Rick Pitino or Bill Self. Frank Martin is one of the best recruiters in college basketball. For him to still be able to land players like Jacob Pullen, Will Spradling, Rodney McGruder he's doing something right. If he were the mean hard-ass everyone makes him out to be, these players wouldn't be there. Frank Martin demands your best and nothing less. More coaches should be like Frank Martin.
Friday, March 25, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Here we go...
Over the past several months I'm sure you've all seen the Bud Light commercials with their slogan, "Here we go..." It signals the beginning of a good time. But could also signal the beginning of something special. I think this NCAA tournament is turning out to be something special. You have the "feel good story" in BYU. You have one region with 3 of the 4 remaining teams as double digit seeds and the #1 seed a team with a history of choking. You have 2 teams from the city of Richmond VA in the sweet 16. There are plenty of storylines in this years tournament. Yet certain analysts would like for you to think the field of competition is deminishing. I addressed this issue the other night, but failed to mention the most important issue. When talking about NCAA athletes we forget the most important part of that title. They are STUDENT athletes. They are given something that many people would love to have. Whether it be basketball, football, baseball these athletes are basically given a free education because of their gifts or talents. When they leave school early to play professionally most of them give up on something more important that many people would cherish. They take for granted something that others would give anything for. They use the school to improve their draft stock. In these arguments they state how bad the "one and done" rule is. They want these college athletes to play for more than just one season. While the concept is right, they never talk about the most important part. They never mention anything about the person's education. They never say he should stay to get an education. They want them to stay so they can improve ratings. That's the bottom line in this. They care more about ratings than a young man or woman's education. I would cherish the opportunity to get a free education, but I've accepted that I don't have the opportunity as well as many other working class people. It's just disgusting that such a great gift is used and taken for granted.
Switching gears, back to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. All season long the talk has been concentrated on the "Big 3" conferences. The Big 10, Big XII, and mostly the Big East has dominated the discussions. Most of the top 5 teams throughout the season have been from those 3 conferences. With all the talk about these three conferences the Sweet 16 should consist of at least 75 %, meaning 12 of the 16 teams should consist of the "Big 3" and the precious Big East getting 6 to 8 of those teams. All season long we heard about how dominating the Big East was. They got a record 11 teams into the tournament. Of these 11 teams, only 2 remain still, and those two finished in the bottom half of the conference. 2 of the 16 teams still playing probably wouldn't have even made the field if it were still 65 teams. Marquette was supposedly one of the last teams in, and we all know VCU wouldn't have made the field of 65. After the first weekend of the tournament we learned that maybe the selection committee isn't as stupid as we all thought. The Big East probably did deserve to have 11 teams in the field, but the tournament, as it usually does, exploits the weaknesses of these power conferences. When the tournament comes around we separate the men from the boys. This year is no exception. I said coming into this tournament to watch out for teams outside of the "Big 3". Meaning, watch out for teams like Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and Kentucky. All 4 of those are still playing. The Big 3 has 5 teams remaining in the field of 16. That's just of 25%. The Big XII has 1, Big Ten and Big East with 2 each. Those 5 teams are hardly being talked about coming into this weekend. We've talked all season about the Pac 10, SEC, and ACC as being "Mid-Major" to the other half of the Power 6. Yet these conferences consist of more teams in the Sweet 16 with 6 teams. Then you have the remaining 5 teams coming from "Mid Major" conferences. Richmond and Butler are debatable, but they might not have been included in the field without their run in their conference tournaments. I don't see how anyone can claim the NCAA tournament is on a downhill slide when it's still one of the biggest sporting events in our country.
ESPN calls itself "The worldwide leader in sports." I think that title is not deserved. ESPN should be embarrased. If my team were playing in the NIT, or if I were a women's college basketball fan, I would be FURIOUS with them. I was very mad with ESPN over the fact that they only broadcasted a total of 3 Big XII tournament games, yet didn't miss a single game of the Big East tournament. They always criticezed CBS' coverage of the NCAA tournament with only one network. That is probably more jealousy than anything, but how can they claim this? They have 5 networks, 6 if you include ABC. They have the rights to the NIT and the NCAA Women's basketball tournament. Tuesday night there were 4 teams playing at one time, and only 2 games on TV. Of the 3 quarterfinal matches of the NIT last night, they only showed 2. They have practically unlimited resources, and there is not reason at all they can't show every game of the women's tournament and men's NIT. But hey, we would have missed the opportunity to watch a rebroadcast of the 1988 Championship game between Kansas and Oklahoma. We might miss something if they put a game on ESPN News over Sportscenter. It's unfair, but the women's tournament always takes a back door to the men's tournament. But ESPN just makes it worse. It's hard enough for these women to get some face time, and ESPN just slaps them in the face.
I want to give a shout out to a team that wasn't included in the field of 68. There are a few Mid Major conferences that are better than average. Conference USA put 2 teams in the field. The CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) Mountain West and Atlantic 10 put 3 teams each in. The Missouri Valley is a conference that could claim discrimination. Indiana State finished 3rd in the regular season standings, below Missouri State and Wichita State. Missouri State won the regular season conference title outright over Wichita State, yet neither of these teams got in. The regular season champs of the above mentioned conferences did not win the conference tournament, yet got in for their regular season accomplishments. The selection committee said they wanted to reward the "entire body of work." You don't get a more entire body of work then winning the regular season conference title. So, what's left for those two teams? There is no shame in playing in the NIT. For teams like Virginia Tech, Boston College, Colorado, and Alabama it's like a slap in the face. And they often play like it. Teams like that often feel they are too good for the NIT and shouldn't be there and forget to show up. St Mary's lost their first game. But, for teams like Wichita State, Missouri State, Cleveland State, Kent State this is like the NCAA tournament. They embrace it and play hard. Kent State took Colorado to the very end the other night. Wichita State was given a 4 seed. They have probably had a tougher road to the NIT final 4 than the other three teams. They beat a hot Nebraska team, Virginia Tech, and another hot team in College of Charleston. The NIT Final 4 consists of Alabama v Colorado, and Washington State v Wichita State. I've always like Wichita State. I watched Mark Turgeon succeed at something many of his predecessors failed in doing in building Wichita State into a perennial contender for the Missouri Valley Conference title. I enjoyed watching them make a run deep into the NCAA tournament. When Turgeon left for greener pastures many, myself included wondered what would become of what Turgeon built. WSU went out and hired Greg Marshall, and he stepped in and hasn't missed a beat. They were contenders for the Mo Valley title down to the final game against MSU. I am happy for Greg Marshall and Wichita State's success and I will be rooting for them next week in NYC. They, along with Colorado will be playing in one of the most famous sports venues in America next week. How great would it be to have a Colorado v Wichita State NIT final?? I think it would be pretty great and I will be rooting for that next week. GO SHOCKERS!!
Switching gears, back to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA tournament. All season long the talk has been concentrated on the "Big 3" conferences. The Big 10, Big XII, and mostly the Big East has dominated the discussions. Most of the top 5 teams throughout the season have been from those 3 conferences. With all the talk about these three conferences the Sweet 16 should consist of at least 75 %, meaning 12 of the 16 teams should consist of the "Big 3" and the precious Big East getting 6 to 8 of those teams. All season long we heard about how dominating the Big East was. They got a record 11 teams into the tournament. Of these 11 teams, only 2 remain still, and those two finished in the bottom half of the conference. 2 of the 16 teams still playing probably wouldn't have even made the field if it were still 65 teams. Marquette was supposedly one of the last teams in, and we all know VCU wouldn't have made the field of 65. After the first weekend of the tournament we learned that maybe the selection committee isn't as stupid as we all thought. The Big East probably did deserve to have 11 teams in the field, but the tournament, as it usually does, exploits the weaknesses of these power conferences. When the tournament comes around we separate the men from the boys. This year is no exception. I said coming into this tournament to watch out for teams outside of the "Big 3". Meaning, watch out for teams like Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, and Kentucky. All 4 of those are still playing. The Big 3 has 5 teams remaining in the field of 16. That's just of 25%. The Big XII has 1, Big Ten and Big East with 2 each. Those 5 teams are hardly being talked about coming into this weekend. We've talked all season about the Pac 10, SEC, and ACC as being "Mid-Major" to the other half of the Power 6. Yet these conferences consist of more teams in the Sweet 16 with 6 teams. Then you have the remaining 5 teams coming from "Mid Major" conferences. Richmond and Butler are debatable, but they might not have been included in the field without their run in their conference tournaments. I don't see how anyone can claim the NCAA tournament is on a downhill slide when it's still one of the biggest sporting events in our country.
ESPN calls itself "The worldwide leader in sports." I think that title is not deserved. ESPN should be embarrased. If my team were playing in the NIT, or if I were a women's college basketball fan, I would be FURIOUS with them. I was very mad with ESPN over the fact that they only broadcasted a total of 3 Big XII tournament games, yet didn't miss a single game of the Big East tournament. They always criticezed CBS' coverage of the NCAA tournament with only one network. That is probably more jealousy than anything, but how can they claim this? They have 5 networks, 6 if you include ABC. They have the rights to the NIT and the NCAA Women's basketball tournament. Tuesday night there were 4 teams playing at one time, and only 2 games on TV. Of the 3 quarterfinal matches of the NIT last night, they only showed 2. They have practically unlimited resources, and there is not reason at all they can't show every game of the women's tournament and men's NIT. But hey, we would have missed the opportunity to watch a rebroadcast of the 1988 Championship game between Kansas and Oklahoma. We might miss something if they put a game on ESPN News over Sportscenter. It's unfair, but the women's tournament always takes a back door to the men's tournament. But ESPN just makes it worse. It's hard enough for these women to get some face time, and ESPN just slaps them in the face.
I want to give a shout out to a team that wasn't included in the field of 68. There are a few Mid Major conferences that are better than average. Conference USA put 2 teams in the field. The CAA (Colonial Athletic Association) Mountain West and Atlantic 10 put 3 teams each in. The Missouri Valley is a conference that could claim discrimination. Indiana State finished 3rd in the regular season standings, below Missouri State and Wichita State. Missouri State won the regular season conference title outright over Wichita State, yet neither of these teams got in. The regular season champs of the above mentioned conferences did not win the conference tournament, yet got in for their regular season accomplishments. The selection committee said they wanted to reward the "entire body of work." You don't get a more entire body of work then winning the regular season conference title. So, what's left for those two teams? There is no shame in playing in the NIT. For teams like Virginia Tech, Boston College, Colorado, and Alabama it's like a slap in the face. And they often play like it. Teams like that often feel they are too good for the NIT and shouldn't be there and forget to show up. St Mary's lost their first game. But, for teams like Wichita State, Missouri State, Cleveland State, Kent State this is like the NCAA tournament. They embrace it and play hard. Kent State took Colorado to the very end the other night. Wichita State was given a 4 seed. They have probably had a tougher road to the NIT final 4 than the other three teams. They beat a hot Nebraska team, Virginia Tech, and another hot team in College of Charleston. The NIT Final 4 consists of Alabama v Colorado, and Washington State v Wichita State. I've always like Wichita State. I watched Mark Turgeon succeed at something many of his predecessors failed in doing in building Wichita State into a perennial contender for the Missouri Valley Conference title. I enjoyed watching them make a run deep into the NCAA tournament. When Turgeon left for greener pastures many, myself included wondered what would become of what Turgeon built. WSU went out and hired Greg Marshall, and he stepped in and hasn't missed a beat. They were contenders for the Mo Valley title down to the final game against MSU. I am happy for Greg Marshall and Wichita State's success and I will be rooting for them next week in NYC. They, along with Colorado will be playing in one of the most famous sports venues in America next week. How great would it be to have a Colorado v Wichita State NIT final?? I think it would be pretty great and I will be rooting for that next week. GO SHOCKERS!!
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Better watch out...
Now that the first weekend of the NCAA tournament is winding to a close, there are a few teams who have squeaked through into the Sweet 16 and there are others who have advanced with authority. There are also a few disappointments.
Probably one of the biggest stories of the weekend is the Southwest Region. Of the four teams left, 3 are double digit seeds. This was said by many to be the easiest region in the tournament. In the first round 5 of the 8 games were won by lower seeds. I am not surprised at how poorly the Big East teams are performing in this tournament. I have felt all along the Big East was over rated. Marquette, the supposed last big east team in just beat Syracuse who finished #4 in the Big East. Pittsburgh went down early as they did in the Big East tournament. Louisville dropped their first game to Moorehead State. St John's was considered the hottest team in the Big East, but dropped their first game to an average Gonzaga team. The Big East may have deserved to get 11 teams into the field, but they are clearly not as good as everyone claims them to be. The Big East has 2 of those 11 teams in the Sweet 16, and both teams finished the regular season in the bottom of the conference. The way everyone talks of the Big East they should have at least 6 or 8 teams still playing. Yet the so called "best teams in the country" are preparing for next season.
There are teams that are still playing that are under rated because of all the talk about the Big East teams. North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky, Florida, Wisconsin are a few of the teams still playing that haven't got near enough consideration all year long. Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Georgetown, have been in the top 10 for most of the season, yet they are all eliminated early.
Jay Bilas started the week off by commenting on how much the level of play in the NCAA tournament has decreased over the years. I disagreed with him at the time, and after the first weekend of this years tournament, disagree with him more. This tournament is one of the biggest sporting events in the country. It's right up there with the Super Bowl. Most of America, whether they know anything or not probably fills out a bracket. One of his problems is the "one and done" players. I disagree with that theory. I think that's what's wrong with the NBA. Take the New York Knicks and Miami Heat for example. They have loaded up with stars, yet are struggling to win. When you get 3 or 4 stars on a team they all want to be in the spotlight, fight over it, and it destroys the team. That's one of the greatest things about college basketball is the team play. Basketball is a TEAM sport, and in the NBA it's an individual sport. K-State had a "one and done" player in Michael Beasley a few years ago. They barely made it into the NCAA tournament. Beasley is the ONLY reason that team got in. The next season, minus Beasley and Bill Walker had one of the best seasons in K-State history, loosing to Butler in the Elite 8. Those guys only have one thing on their mind and that's playing in the NBA and getting rich. Let them go. With that attitude they are better off there anyway.
One of the big changes with the tournament this year was adding Turner sports to the network. In years past it was only CBS and they chose wich game you watched, and often switched from it for something else. Under that format I wouldn't have been able to watch KSU v USU thursday night. When the NCAA announced that Turner sports would join CBS, instead of the sports giant ESPN many people, mostly with ties to ESPN were outraged. Personally I was in favor of it. I don't care much for ESPN. Their "Championship Week" was the biggest load of crap I've ever seen. They have rights to 5 of the 6 power conference tournaments. ESPN has 5 networks, 6 if you include ABC. Only 2 of those networks broadcasted conference tournament games and ESPN was dedicated to the precious Big East. They only had 3 Big XII tournament games on ESPN and one was the championship game. There's no excuse for that. With 6 networks and 5 conference tournaments there's no reason every tournament game shouldn't be televised. One of the arguements against Turner sports doing the NCAA tournament is their supposed lack of knowledge of college basketball. Turner does NBA games, so they figured guys like Charles Barkley and Marv Albert wouldn't know anything about college basketball. Well, I am impressed with how well they've done this weekend. I think Charles Barkley has done a better job the Seth Davis, and that's all he does is follow college basketball!! I was particularly impressed earlier when he voiced his opinion about the Big East being over rated with Rick Pitino on the set. I couldn't imagine Doug Gottlieb or Jay Bilas saying what Barkley did. I personally would MUCH rather listen to Marv Albert call a game than Dick Vitale. I still found myself switching games much like CBS to watch the end of certain games, but i was nice to have control over that. When they started that god-awful chant, I could change the channel. I didn't have to watch Purdue's tank job.
I am looking forward to the Sweet 16 round. Matchups like Butler/Wisconsin and BYU/Florida will be fun to watch. After watching the last few Kansas games, they are very similar to last year. They wait until the last 10 minutes or so of the game to turn it on, and like it did last year against Northern Iowa, it's going to catch up with them. Just becuase every other team left is a double digit seed doesn't give them a yellow brick road pass to Houston. Richmond is a giant killer, VCU is riding that "underdog" roll, and Florida State is peaking at the right time and have one of the better defenses they will face this season. They very well might make the Final 4 just to spite me, but it won't be an easy road.
As far as teams that are headed home, I have no sympathy for. It's easy to make excuses, but ultimately you put yourself in that situation in the first place. Kansas State was matched against an underseeded Wisconsin team. Purdue coach Matt Painter suspended one of his key players. Well, KSU put themselves as a 5 seed with their mid-season struggles. Had they played to their potential all year, they'd be a #1 or #2 seed. Purdue had an opportunity at a 1 seed but lost to Iowa to close the season and the first game of the conference tournament against MSU. Texas fans are complaining about the 5 second call, but they put themselves in that situation. They trailed most of the game. If they're that good, they should have been leading. I am very bummed that my 2 favorite teams got eliminated this round, but there's no point in dwelling on it. A million different things could have been done differently, but you can't go back in time to change it. At the risk of sounding like my father, there are more important things to worry about. The sun will still come up tomorrow. Time marches on. The world is still turning. Onward and upward...
Probably one of the biggest stories of the weekend is the Southwest Region. Of the four teams left, 3 are double digit seeds. This was said by many to be the easiest region in the tournament. In the first round 5 of the 8 games were won by lower seeds. I am not surprised at how poorly the Big East teams are performing in this tournament. I have felt all along the Big East was over rated. Marquette, the supposed last big east team in just beat Syracuse who finished #4 in the Big East. Pittsburgh went down early as they did in the Big East tournament. Louisville dropped their first game to Moorehead State. St John's was considered the hottest team in the Big East, but dropped their first game to an average Gonzaga team. The Big East may have deserved to get 11 teams into the field, but they are clearly not as good as everyone claims them to be. The Big East has 2 of those 11 teams in the Sweet 16, and both teams finished the regular season in the bottom of the conference. The way everyone talks of the Big East they should have at least 6 or 8 teams still playing. Yet the so called "best teams in the country" are preparing for next season.
There are teams that are still playing that are under rated because of all the talk about the Big East teams. North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky, Florida, Wisconsin are a few of the teams still playing that haven't got near enough consideration all year long. Pittsburgh, Notre Dame, Syracuse, Georgetown, have been in the top 10 for most of the season, yet they are all eliminated early.
Jay Bilas started the week off by commenting on how much the level of play in the NCAA tournament has decreased over the years. I disagreed with him at the time, and after the first weekend of this years tournament, disagree with him more. This tournament is one of the biggest sporting events in the country. It's right up there with the Super Bowl. Most of America, whether they know anything or not probably fills out a bracket. One of his problems is the "one and done" players. I disagree with that theory. I think that's what's wrong with the NBA. Take the New York Knicks and Miami Heat for example. They have loaded up with stars, yet are struggling to win. When you get 3 or 4 stars on a team they all want to be in the spotlight, fight over it, and it destroys the team. That's one of the greatest things about college basketball is the team play. Basketball is a TEAM sport, and in the NBA it's an individual sport. K-State had a "one and done" player in Michael Beasley a few years ago. They barely made it into the NCAA tournament. Beasley is the ONLY reason that team got in. The next season, minus Beasley and Bill Walker had one of the best seasons in K-State history, loosing to Butler in the Elite 8. Those guys only have one thing on their mind and that's playing in the NBA and getting rich. Let them go. With that attitude they are better off there anyway.
One of the big changes with the tournament this year was adding Turner sports to the network. In years past it was only CBS and they chose wich game you watched, and often switched from it for something else. Under that format I wouldn't have been able to watch KSU v USU thursday night. When the NCAA announced that Turner sports would join CBS, instead of the sports giant ESPN many people, mostly with ties to ESPN were outraged. Personally I was in favor of it. I don't care much for ESPN. Their "Championship Week" was the biggest load of crap I've ever seen. They have rights to 5 of the 6 power conference tournaments. ESPN has 5 networks, 6 if you include ABC. Only 2 of those networks broadcasted conference tournament games and ESPN was dedicated to the precious Big East. They only had 3 Big XII tournament games on ESPN and one was the championship game. There's no excuse for that. With 6 networks and 5 conference tournaments there's no reason every tournament game shouldn't be televised. One of the arguements against Turner sports doing the NCAA tournament is their supposed lack of knowledge of college basketball. Turner does NBA games, so they figured guys like Charles Barkley and Marv Albert wouldn't know anything about college basketball. Well, I am impressed with how well they've done this weekend. I think Charles Barkley has done a better job the Seth Davis, and that's all he does is follow college basketball!! I was particularly impressed earlier when he voiced his opinion about the Big East being over rated with Rick Pitino on the set. I couldn't imagine Doug Gottlieb or Jay Bilas saying what Barkley did. I personally would MUCH rather listen to Marv Albert call a game than Dick Vitale. I still found myself switching games much like CBS to watch the end of certain games, but i was nice to have control over that. When they started that god-awful chant, I could change the channel. I didn't have to watch Purdue's tank job.
I am looking forward to the Sweet 16 round. Matchups like Butler/Wisconsin and BYU/Florida will be fun to watch. After watching the last few Kansas games, they are very similar to last year. They wait until the last 10 minutes or so of the game to turn it on, and like it did last year against Northern Iowa, it's going to catch up with them. Just becuase every other team left is a double digit seed doesn't give them a yellow brick road pass to Houston. Richmond is a giant killer, VCU is riding that "underdog" roll, and Florida State is peaking at the right time and have one of the better defenses they will face this season. They very well might make the Final 4 just to spite me, but it won't be an easy road.
As far as teams that are headed home, I have no sympathy for. It's easy to make excuses, but ultimately you put yourself in that situation in the first place. Kansas State was matched against an underseeded Wisconsin team. Purdue coach Matt Painter suspended one of his key players. Well, KSU put themselves as a 5 seed with their mid-season struggles. Had they played to their potential all year, they'd be a #1 or #2 seed. Purdue had an opportunity at a 1 seed but lost to Iowa to close the season and the first game of the conference tournament against MSU. Texas fans are complaining about the 5 second call, but they put themselves in that situation. They trailed most of the game. If they're that good, they should have been leading. I am very bummed that my 2 favorite teams got eliminated this round, but there's no point in dwelling on it. A million different things could have been done differently, but you can't go back in time to change it. At the risk of sounding like my father, there are more important things to worry about. The sun will still come up tomorrow. Time marches on. The world is still turning. Onward and upward...
Saturday, March 19, 2011
Heartbreak today
This has been an interesting day to say the least. I haven't commented much on the NCAA tournament yet, and I apologize for that. I'm going to make up for that tonight. We started the week criticizing the selection committee for letting VCU (Virginia Commenwealth University) and UAB (University Alabama-Birmingham) into the field while leaving out teams like Virginia Tech and Colorado. I personaly had no problem with this. We are talking about the 67th and 68th team in the field, not the top 1 or 2. Virginia Tech followed their defeat of Duke with losses to Boston College and Clemson. Colorado, I feel, is the only team with a beef, beating KSU 3 times, and Texas, but those are really only their quality wins. Ultimately the ball is in your court as the saying goes. Tad Boyle mad a remarkable turnaround in his first season in Boulder and has the Buffs going places for sure. But there are things they could have done differently or better and wouldn't have been on the bubble in the first place. Lets face it, Colorado or Virginia Tech are not going to win it all, so what's the problem?? I blame this on the expansion from 65 to 68. What everyone had a problem with was UAB and VCU getting in place of other schools. If we stayed with the 65 team fomat these teams wouldn't be in either, and I think most would be happy with the field of teams. But, we would still find something to complain about, I'm sure. We live in a society where nothing is ever good enough. VCU played a tougher non-conference schedule, and the Colonial is a very tough conference. Of the "Mid-Major" conferences, hands down the toughest. UAB won the Conference USA regular season title outright. Memphis got the auto bid winning the conference tournament as the #4 seed. Again, if this were a 65 team field like last year, minus UAB, VCU, and Clemson, there would be nothing to complain about.
I hesitated filling out a bracket, but I couldn't resist. This year I've actually followed CBB quite a bit, so I was curious how well I could do with more knowledge than usual. Midway through the second round, not much different. I did, however, correctly pick a few upsets. I did have Marquette over Xavier and Richmond over Vanderbilt. For the first time in a VERY long time all 4 of my final four teams made it past the first round.
My Final 4 teams are North Carolina, Arizona, Purdue and Florida. I don't see any of the #1 seeds making it to the Final 4. The NCAA tournament is all about matchups. All week we heard about how easy the southeast region was and Pittsburgh had the easiest road to Houston. Yet, like Kansas of a year ago, are done on the first weekend. Seth Davis predicted mostly upsets in the first round in this region. The only upset until this afternoon was one they didn't even talk about, Gonzaga knocking off St Johns. Butler beating Pittsburgh today will probably go down as one of the best games in NCAA tournament history. But this was not a tank job from Pittsburgh like Kansas did last year against Northern Iowa. Butler is a very good team, and lets not forget has many returning players from last years team that played in the championship game. Many have said Florida is overseeded as a 2. They won the SEC regular season title. The four teams, Butler v Wisconsin, Florida v BYU, two games from this region are probably the most watchable games of the Sweet 16 round. I have Florida advancing from this region, but I am personally rooting for BYU. For what they did, deserve that trophy more than any other school. I would love to see a Butler v BYU regional final.
Moving to the other end of this bracket, the Southwest is probably the easiest. Kansas complains every year that they get the toughest region. Well, they can't complain this year. Kansas, Notre Dame, and Purdue, and that's it. I have Purdue advancing to the Final 4 out of this one. Kansas and Bill Self are famous for tanking. They struggled for most of the game yesterday against a 16 seed. They face an Illinois team tomorrow that apparently found it's offense yesterday. I felt Michigan State, Penn State, and Illinois were very similar teams that were backing their way into the tournament. I was not at all surprised at Penn State and MSU loosing, but the way Illinois played yesterday surprised me big time. I have watched them play many times this season, and that was the best I've seen them play. If they play like that again, Kansas will be in for a good fight. On a different note, if Illinois wins tomorrow they will have beaten their previous coaches in consecutive games. Bill Self left for Kansas after replacing Lon Kruger who left of the the NBA and is now with UNLV. With the exception of Purdue, I would love nothing more than to see the Big 10 fail, but I've always believed in supporting team before conference. I feel the same way on the other end of the spectrum. I hate it when someone roots for a team they dislike because "They're in the Big XII." That is one of my biggest pet peeves. Kansas and Oklahoma are 2 teams that I will never root for regardless of conference affiliations. So, probably in a loosing cause, I will be rooting for Illinois tomorrow for two reasons. Notre Dame relies too much on outside shooting, much like Duke, and the NCAA tournament is one and done. One bad shooting night and it's all over. Between that and Kansas' history for tanking, I think Purdue is the best team in this region. My two favorite teams, Kansas State and Purdue, are VERY similar teams, most notably their defense. I was hoping for a KSU v Purdue matchup in the Final 4 but that dream got crushed tonight. KSU lost to Wisconsin tonight, but how cool would it be to have a rematch of last year's elite 8 game against Butler, then BYU, then Purdue. Back to being realistic, with Ohio State playing George Mason, Michigan against Duke, and afformentioned Kansas v Illinois I think it's pretty safe to say that another #1 will go down tomorrow. I don't have much faith in Duke for the same reason as Notre Dame, they live and die by the 3. I feel pretty confident in Purdue and Florida, not so much with North Carolina and Arizona. If the right UNC team shows up, no one stands a chance. They looked good yesterday, but fought from behind in the ACC tournament games. They have the potential to be the best, and if they live up to that, will make my prediction correct. Arizona in my opinion is one of the most underrated teams this year. They got stuck as a #5 seed in the toughest regional but with Derrick Williams I think they can get through it.
I have North Carolina beating Arizona, and Purdue beating Florida in the Final 4, and North Carolina winning a close one against Purdue in the championship game. Not very likely to happen, but it's March Madness. The only sure thing is that there is no sure thing and anything is possible.
I hesitated filling out a bracket, but I couldn't resist. This year I've actually followed CBB quite a bit, so I was curious how well I could do with more knowledge than usual. Midway through the second round, not much different. I did, however, correctly pick a few upsets. I did have Marquette over Xavier and Richmond over Vanderbilt. For the first time in a VERY long time all 4 of my final four teams made it past the first round.
My Final 4 teams are North Carolina, Arizona, Purdue and Florida. I don't see any of the #1 seeds making it to the Final 4. The NCAA tournament is all about matchups. All week we heard about how easy the southeast region was and Pittsburgh had the easiest road to Houston. Yet, like Kansas of a year ago, are done on the first weekend. Seth Davis predicted mostly upsets in the first round in this region. The only upset until this afternoon was one they didn't even talk about, Gonzaga knocking off St Johns. Butler beating Pittsburgh today will probably go down as one of the best games in NCAA tournament history. But this was not a tank job from Pittsburgh like Kansas did last year against Northern Iowa. Butler is a very good team, and lets not forget has many returning players from last years team that played in the championship game. Many have said Florida is overseeded as a 2. They won the SEC regular season title. The four teams, Butler v Wisconsin, Florida v BYU, two games from this region are probably the most watchable games of the Sweet 16 round. I have Florida advancing from this region, but I am personally rooting for BYU. For what they did, deserve that trophy more than any other school. I would love to see a Butler v BYU regional final.
Moving to the other end of this bracket, the Southwest is probably the easiest. Kansas complains every year that they get the toughest region. Well, they can't complain this year. Kansas, Notre Dame, and Purdue, and that's it. I have Purdue advancing to the Final 4 out of this one. Kansas and Bill Self are famous for tanking. They struggled for most of the game yesterday against a 16 seed. They face an Illinois team tomorrow that apparently found it's offense yesterday. I felt Michigan State, Penn State, and Illinois were very similar teams that were backing their way into the tournament. I was not at all surprised at Penn State and MSU loosing, but the way Illinois played yesterday surprised me big time. I have watched them play many times this season, and that was the best I've seen them play. If they play like that again, Kansas will be in for a good fight. On a different note, if Illinois wins tomorrow they will have beaten their previous coaches in consecutive games. Bill Self left for Kansas after replacing Lon Kruger who left of the the NBA and is now with UNLV. With the exception of Purdue, I would love nothing more than to see the Big 10 fail, but I've always believed in supporting team before conference. I feel the same way on the other end of the spectrum. I hate it when someone roots for a team they dislike because "They're in the Big XII." That is one of my biggest pet peeves. Kansas and Oklahoma are 2 teams that I will never root for regardless of conference affiliations. So, probably in a loosing cause, I will be rooting for Illinois tomorrow for two reasons. Notre Dame relies too much on outside shooting, much like Duke, and the NCAA tournament is one and done. One bad shooting night and it's all over. Between that and Kansas' history for tanking, I think Purdue is the best team in this region. My two favorite teams, Kansas State and Purdue, are VERY similar teams, most notably their defense. I was hoping for a KSU v Purdue matchup in the Final 4 but that dream got crushed tonight. KSU lost to Wisconsin tonight, but how cool would it be to have a rematch of last year's elite 8 game against Butler, then BYU, then Purdue. Back to being realistic, with Ohio State playing George Mason, Michigan against Duke, and afformentioned Kansas v Illinois I think it's pretty safe to say that another #1 will go down tomorrow. I don't have much faith in Duke for the same reason as Notre Dame, they live and die by the 3. I feel pretty confident in Purdue and Florida, not so much with North Carolina and Arizona. If the right UNC team shows up, no one stands a chance. They looked good yesterday, but fought from behind in the ACC tournament games. They have the potential to be the best, and if they live up to that, will make my prediction correct. Arizona in my opinion is one of the most underrated teams this year. They got stuck as a #5 seed in the toughest regional but with Derrick Williams I think they can get through it.
I have North Carolina beating Arizona, and Purdue beating Florida in the Final 4, and North Carolina winning a close one against Purdue in the championship game. Not very likely to happen, but it's March Madness. The only sure thing is that there is no sure thing and anything is possible.
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