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Late Afternoon Snacks: St. Mary’s almost gave us our first upset of the tourney
Mar 21, 2013, 5:14 PM EDT
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Game of the Day No. 6 Memphis 54, No. 11 St. Mary’s 52: This was as close as we got to an upset, as the Gaels scored to close the gap to two with just seconds left, then alertly face-guarded the Tigers on the in-bounds pass, causing a turnover. Matthew Dellavedova got the final shot…
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Gregg Marshall stood and addressed his Wichita State team today, making reference to a legendary Shocker as he attempted to pump them up for their NCAA tournament game against Pitt. He told the black-and-gold clad group that Antoine Carr had contacted him earlier that same day and told him that his team should “play angry”.…
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Basketball may be a big man’s game, but college basketball is dominated by the teams who land the best ball-handlers, slashers and long-range shooters. Want to get to the Final Four? You have to have one or two elite guards. There are so many who will take the stage before the weekend comes, and I…
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Ten moments that defined March Madness (plus two the NCAA won’t show you)
Mar 19, 2013, 3:00 PM EDT
If you have come recently to the love of college basketball, you may know the term “March Madness”, but have no real grasp on what that vague notion really means. There are some signature moments that have happened over the years that codified the unpredictable beauty of this time of year, and I aim to…
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All of sports are somewhat unpredictable. If they weren’t, nobody would watch. And most certainly nobody would fill out brackets if the outcome were that easy to determine. Athletes would play sports just to – ugh – stay healthy, and there would be no need for competitive fire or excellence. So why is March singled…
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Obviously, 67 eligible teams will fail to win the national title this year. That’s a given. So I’m not going to be ridiculous about this. To be considered for this designation, a team must occupy one of the premium seeding spots: No. 1-No. 4 in other words. These sixteen contenders are expected to win, and will have the blue-chip horses…
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Just a couple of years ago, it would have been difficult to call any game a “must-see”, simply because television coverage of the NCAA tournament was heavily regionalized. If you lived in, say, Tampa and wanted to watch the Salt Lake City pod, your local channel might not show it. It was off to the…
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Just four auto-bids remain to be decided after a busy night in college hoops. Then we find out which bubbles popped and which held firm. Here’s the upshot on what happened on the Night Before Christmas Selection Sunday. Game of the Night No. 4 Louisville 78, No. 19 Syracuse 61: Amazing because it was the…
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The UCLA Bruins showed a crack in the armor tonight, losing 78-69 to the Oregon Ducks in the Pac-12 final. They’ll be going to the Big Dance with or without that auto-bid, but a team with something to prove doesn’t want to show weakness in a big game when so few big games are left…
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Read through the rest of the Cheat Sheets here Conference: Big East Coach: Rick Pitino Record: 29-5 Rankings and Ratings: – Kenpom: 2 – RPI: 3 – AP/USA Today: 4/4 Seeding?: Our Dave Ommen had Louisville as a No. 1 seed playing in Lexington in Saturday’s bracket projection. Man, that has gotta hurt in Big Blue Nation. Names…
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NCAA Tournament Cheat Sheet: Getting to know Northwestern State
Mar 16, 2013, 11:11 PM EDT
Read through the rest of the Cheat Sheets here Conference: Southland Coach: Mike McConathy Record: 23-8 Rankings and Ratings: – Kenpom: 141 – RPI: 96 – AP/USA Today: N/A Seeding?: Our Dave Ommen had Stephen F. Austin, the league’s No. 1 seed, as a 13 in Saturday’s bracket projection. Northwestern State, having pulled the upset, may drop a…
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Read through the rest of the Cheat Sheets here Conference: Mountain West Coach: Steve Alford Record: 29-5 Rankings and Ratings: – Kenpom: 16 – RPI: 2 – AP/USA Today: 15/14 Seeding?: Our Dave Ommen had New Mexico as a No. 2 seed playing dangerous Iowa State in Saturday’s bracket projection. Names you need to know: Kendall Williams (13.5 ppg,…
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Ben McLemore was quiet in the Big 12 title game, scoring just five points, but the Jayhawks won it just the same, 70-54 over Kansas State, and another freshman played a big role. It’s tough for a big man to step on campus as a freshman and dominate. For Perry Ellis, that was certainly true. The…
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NCAA Tournament Cheat Sheet: Getting to know North Carolina A&T
Mar 16, 2013, 7:02 PM EDT
Read through the rest of the Cheat Sheets here. Conference: Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Coach: Cy Alexander Record: 19-16 Rankings and Ratings: – Kenpom: 228 – RPI: 224 – AP/USA Today: N/A Seeding?: Our Dave Ommen had the then-unknown MEAC champs as locks for a 16 seed in Saturday’s bracket projection. Names you need to know: Adrian Powell (12.5 ppg, 5.1 rpg), Lamont Middleton (12.4 ppg, 2.4…
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Aaron Craft can be a first-class irritant. He’ll be in the opposing player’s face from minute one of a game. That doesn’t mean you can smack him in the neck, however. That’s what Derrick Nix did with less than two minutes remaining in the Big Ten semifinal, earning himself a Flagrant 1 at a crucial moment.…
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2013 Mid-American Conference tournament preview: Are you ready for some MACtion?
Mar 11, 2013, 12:01 PM EDT
The MAC tournament has one of the ugliest brackets you’ll ever see. Explaining the twisted branches of that tree would be pointless and boring, so just look at it and know that you don’t have to care until the first round – played at campus sites – is mercifully completed and we get to the…
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We’re getting off to an early start with the March Madness. It was a night full of buzzer beaters, and we have video for those of you who, for some unholy reason, do not sit in front of the television devouring every second of action cable TV can provide. First, we had Trevor Releford’s improbable…
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No blood, no game. Duke destroys UNC in lackluster rivalry matchup
Mar 9, 2013, 11:27 PM EDT
Remember back when a Duke-North Carolina game meant someone – maybe everyone – was going home bloody? Ah, the good old days. This year, the Blue Devils beat the Tar Heels easily, trotting up and down the floor and barely seeming to break a sweat in a 69-53 rout. The perils of small-ball, one supposes.…
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VIDEO: Harvard decides they would quite like the Ivy title, after all
Mar 9, 2013, 11:04 PM EDT
Harvard and Princeton kept very close to one another throughout most of the Ivy League season this year, but the breaking point finally came. Princeton had to take to the road this weekend, and came home with two losses, whereas the Crimson stayed home and clinched the title, beating Columbia on Friday and Cornell 65-56…
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VIDEO: Buzzer-beating Raiders have the Wright stuff in win over Detroit
Mar 9, 2013, 9:30 PM EDT
In terms of pure talent, the Horizon League final seemed destined to be contested by Detroit and Valparaiso. In reality, this is March, and stuff happens. The third-seeded Wright State Raiders, called out as a sleeper in our Horizon League tourney preview, kept the game close with defense, and won it with a wild Miles…
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Kansas claims ninth straight Big 12 title despite loss at Baylor
Mar 9, 2013, 8:16 PM EDT
Even when they lose, they win. Kansas appeared to be sleep-walking at Baylor, losing 81-58 tonight, but still took home a share of the Big 12 title. Kansas has earned at least a share of the league crown in each of the past nine seasons. The Jayhawks were assured of the milestone when Oklahoma State…
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This has been an epic season for the Mountain West. Today was no exception, as Boise State took down Steve Fisher and the SDSU Aztecs 69-65, making a statement that should carry them to the MWC tournament and beyond. The league may get five teams into the NCAA tournament this year – the same total number…
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After UCLA lost at home to Cal-Poly, we were all ready to send Ben Howland off to the broadcast booth. Things still didn’t look so swell even after Shabazz Muhammad finally became eligible when Tony Parker seemed to indicate that he was not entirely happy at UCLA. Howland might be excused for asking “How you…
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In our most recent NCAA bracket predictions, we had Minnesota in as one of seven Big Ten reps, with a rather unimpressive 10 seed. After the Gophers dropped back-to-back games to Big Ten also-rans Nebraska and Purdue, even that seems generous. They’ll finish the season 8-10 in the B1G, with only one league road win…
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Oy, what a mess. For the past decade, the CAA tournament was one of the hottest mid-major tourneys going. Annual battles between VCU, George Mason, Old Dominion and other tough teams from the league presaged Big Dance upsets and even Final Four runs. This year? Not so much. VCU is tearing up the A-10. Old Dominion…
