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The Morning Mix

Jay bilas photobomb 2

Monday was a light night of college hoops. Brittney Griner dropped 50 points and threw down a dunk during her final home game in Waco. And then there’s the picture you see to your right. Jay Bilas is becoming the Chris Bosh of college basketball. That’s his second photobomb in the last three games. I’m not sure what game he’s doing next, but you can almost guarantee he’s going to photobomb somebody.

Let’s hit the links.

Tuesday’s Top games:
7:00 p.m. - No. 15 Marquette @ Rutgers
7:00 p.m. - St. John’s @ No. 24 Notre Dame
7:00 p.m. - Arkansas @ Missouri
9:00 p.m. - No. 14 Ohio State @ No. 2 Indiana
9:00 p.m. - No. 25 Memphis @ UTEP
10:00 p.m. - Boise State @ UNLV


Top Stories:
Middle Tennessee State could be worthy of an at-large bid: The top team in the Sun Belt is one of the top mid-major teams in the country. But their weak strength of schedule and lack victories over RPI top-100 teams may come back to haunt them if they don’t win their conference tournament, which was the case a season ago.

Louisville gets back to the basics, pulls away from Cincinnati: The Cardinals relied on their turnover-heavy defense, forcing 21 against the Bearcats and earned a 67-51 victory.

Baylor’s NCAA Tournament hopes take serious blow in loss at Texas: Baylor has one of the most talent-rich rosters in the country but has failed to put it all together on the court. Their loss to Texas last night just about put their tournament hopes on ice.

Latest NCAA tourney projections: Duke’s a 1, but who else?CBT’s resident bracketologist Dave Ommen returns to discuss his latest tournament projections.

Elijah Johnson becoming the point guard Bill Self wanted: I’ve taking some strong criticism from head coach Bill Self, Kansas point guard Elijah Johnson is rounding into form as the leader of the Jayhawks.

Hoops Housekeeping:
- New Mexico head coach Steve Alford has indefinitely suspended guard Demetrius Walker for a violation of unspecified team rules. The Lobos are one of the handful of teams vying for a no.1-seed in the NCAA Tournament. (Albuquerque Journal)

- UMBC coach Aki Thomas had his interim tag dropped yesterday and was appointed as the permanent head coach of the Retrievers. (Eye on College Basketball)

- It still looks like C.J. McCollum might not be ready to return in time for the Patriot League Tournament. (Fox Sports)

- Highly touted class of 2014 wing Justin Jackson verbally committed to North Carolina yesterday. (Keeping it Heel)


Observations & Insight:
- According to reports, the Catholic-7 will retain the Big East name and Madison Square Garden. (USA Today)

- The Georgetown Hoyas are among the handful of teams vying for a no. 1-seed. Ben Standig previews Georgetown’s tournament scenarios. (CSN Washington)

- Losing games to teams you should beat doesn’t help, but neither does a weak schedule. Both of these issues hurt Arizona State’s chances to make the NCAA Tournament. (AZCentral.com)

- Former-Syracuse guard Scoop Jardine thinks this team lacks mental toughness. Scoop was never one to mince words. (Watertown Daily Times)

- Nebraska isn’t a team with postseason aspirations, but Brandon Ubell has a bright future. (Lincoln Journal Star)

- Interesting notes from Kansas’ Senior Night. Bell Self asked the fans to thank Ben McLemore. Chants of “One more year” began. Self responded: “Don’t hold your breath on that.”. (KUSports.com)

- Speaking of Senior Night, here’s a nice story on SDSU senior Jeremy Castleberry, who honed his craft being a personal rebounder for former-Aztec Kawhi Leonard. (San Diego Union-Tribune)


Odds & Ends:
- Sports Illustrated is rolling out a new college hoops blog, “One and One”. Andy Glockner, a friend of the program, is the man in charge. Update your bookmarks and RSS feeds. (One and One)

- An outstanding Q&A session with ESPN Analyst and banter extraordinaire, Fran Fraschilla. (Albany Times Union)

- I’ll be honest. I watch more women’s college basketball than I’d like to admit. But I’ve never seen a women’s player as dominant as Brittney Griner. She dropped 50 points on K-State last night and threw down a dunk. (The Dagger)


Picture of the Day:
Jay Bilas’ second photobomb in three days. This will be a meme before you know it. (H/T @Damon_Simpson)

Jay bilas photobomb 2



Video of the Day:
Memphis coach often reminds me of a young child. This video confirms it.




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