And.....March is over.

I apologize for not posting last night. After my time series final, it was uptown with the other Econ peeps for the rest of the day, relaxing and catching our collective breaths after a very busy last few weeks. Today, I did no work, instead heading to the golf course. Hueston Woods played extra tough with sustained winds of 10-15 mph with gusts up to 25. But I played pretty well, shooting 89, even making a birdie on the 183 yard, par 3 16th, which is all carry over water.

Another Survivor, another Kuror win in the immunity challenge, which sent Ibraheim home, leaving Oolong with 2. In the Apprentice, Stephanie's decision to leave her team and go to Brooklyn to deliver pizza got her fired as Magna won for the 4th straight time. Chris seems to be next on the chopping block with his fiery temper and lack of experience. After that, there's no clear-cut favorite, unlike the previous couple of shows.

Well, March comes to an end in less than an hour, meaning March Madness is almost done, so let's look at the Top 10 March Madness moments from this past year:

10. Fairleigh Dickinson. I'm going to put a personal one on here. I can't describe the buzz that was in the RCA Dome during the 1st half of FDU/Illinois. In front of 27,000+ predominant orange-clad fans, the worst team in the Tourney, in my opinion, played Illinois shot for shot in the 1st half, hitting a deep 3 that even got a yell from Dick Enberg and Jay Bilas to only trail by 1 at the half. Illinois played well enough in the 2nd half to earn a 12 point win, but for 20 minutes, I was watching Cinderella.

9. West Virginia. I have never seen a team go from being off the bubble in February to on it in March, going to their conference championship, then going on to the Elite 8, losing in overtime. Not since Indiana in 2002 has a team shot the ball that well from the outside, almost carrying them to St. Louis.

8. Vermont. The Catamounts didn't have that big-time win which would put the finishing touches on their arrival in big-time college hoops until they knocked off Syracuse, many a Final 4 sleeper pick, in the 1st round. It also gave coach Tom Brennan and his seniors the sendoff they deserved.

7. Championship Week, Saturday night. In what seems like a long time ago, as many as 4 teams saw their NCAA hopes die in a rash of upsets in conference championships. Victories by George Washington, Ohio U., New Mexico, and Utah St. most likely eliminated St. Joe's, Miami, Maryland, and Notre Dame from the NCAA tournament.

6. Texas Tech. The Red Raiders were picked to finish 7th in the Big 12 at the beginning of the year. But Bob Knight did it again, maximizing what his players could give him and then some to lead them to the Big 12 finals, then the Sweet 16, which included an upset win over Gonzaga. I consider Bob Knight the greatest college basketball coach ever because he hasn't had as much to work with like a Dean Smith or Mike Kryzewski, but he's been just as successful in terms of 20-win seasons and NCAA tourney appearances. If he were only as good a person as he were a coach.

5. 40,331. The attendance for the 2nd round games in Indianapolis at the RCA Dome (of which I was there). The marquee matchup was Kentucky-Cincinnati, their first meeting in 15 years. This just represents how big the NCAA Tournament is.

4. Bucknell. Going into Friday night's 1st round games, I told my dad, "You know, we haven't had the absolute shocker yet that no one expected." In the final session of 1st round games, Bucknell delivered that shocker. A Patriot League team had never won an NCAA tourney game until Bucknell knocked off Kansas, who were in many people's Final 8.

3. UW-Milwaukee. Usually, the popular upset pick doesn't pan out. That wasn't the case this year as the Panthers made it to the Sweet 16, even giving Illinois a competitive fight.

2. Oakland University. Props to the Golden Grizzlies, who came into the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament with a 9-18 record. Thanks to the beauty of March, they won their tourney on a 3 with 2 sec. left, sending them to the Dance. Then, they added to their story by winning the play-in game.

1. Regional Final weekend. An obvious #1 choice, with 3 of the 4 games going to at least one overtime period, with the 4th not being decided until the last minute. If this weekend is half as good as last weekend, we're in for a real treat.

In other sports, Andre Agassi will get another shot at Roger Federer tomorrow night in the Nasdaq 100 semifinals, probably tennis's 5th major. Lance Armstrong is being accused of using anabolic steroids by his former bike mechanic, who filed suit in an Austin court today. Let's just say I'd be crushed if these allegations were found to be true.

Now, what should I do for April Fool's Day?????

Will time be on my side?

It all comes down to tomorrow. Time series final exam, where I must do well to stay on track. Today's preparation went well. I even impressed myself with how long I stuck with it today because I'm usually only good for a couple of good hours a day. All I need is the strength to get through tomorrow, that's all I ask. If I can have that, then I have a chance.

Here on Oxford, the temperature got very close to 70, with beautiful, sunny skies. Tomorrow is supposed to be even better with Thursday also supposed to be nice. Thursday may be a golfing day.

I guess I will mention the Women's Final 4 consists of Baylor, LSU, Michigan St. and Tennessee. The NIT final is set with St. Joseph's set to play South Carolina. I will say Phil Martelli did a great job with his St. Joe's club. Nothing was expected of the Hawks at the beginning of the year after losing Jameer Nelson and Delonte West to the NBA. But he's molded his freshmen with his upperclassmen well to create a really nice team.

I think I've caught up on my Reality TV now. The Eastside won their first bout as Peter Manfredo took advantage of his 2nd chance, scoring a close victory over Miguel Espino. Peter's daughter is very cute. The night before the fight, he's being pessimistic and she says, "I don't want to hear that." Now if that doesn't get you going, nothing will.

In the Amazing Race, Ray and Deana were eliminated, as they were beaten in a foot race by the brothers, who overcame a significant car accident during the leg. At least I won't have to hear Ray whine at Deana anymore. I was getting tired of hearing, "This is unacceptable, I don't deserve to be in last place." Ray, last I checked, there's no "I" in team buddy. You've gotta hand it to the old folks, Meredith and Gretchen, who are still in it even though she took a bad fall in the caves and they were stripped of all money and belongings. It was a bad move for Survivor's Rob and Amber not to at least slow down and see if the brothers were ok after their car accident.

I don't think I have anything else tonight. I'm just hoping tomorrow goes as well as today went. Just taking it one day at a time.

So, what do I talk about

No basketball to talk about, so what does this leave me? Well, let's see where I go with it. I was able to get through today's test and presentation ok, so we'll see what happens. The weather perked up late in the day, so I got an impromptu run in. It's supposed to be really nice the next couple of days, possibly reaching 70 Wednesday.

Finally, golf's 5th major ended as The Players Championship crowned Fred Funk as their winner, definitely the biggest win of his career. I didn't get to watch any of it, but as I understood, the wind blew, with sustained winds of 20 mph and gusts as high as 36 mph. This made the island green (17) play a half stroke over par, which is ridiculously hard. Bob Tway, major championship winner, took a 12 on 17, hitting 4 balls in the water. Any course that makes Tiger Woods shoot 75 and Phil Mickelson 77 is hard.

On the same exact fault line where the tsunami originated from an earthquake 3 months ago, there was yet another earthquake, registering 8.7 on the Richter scale, with aftershocks above 6.0 following. Thankfully, there was no 2nd tsunami, but unfortunately the death toll will be between 1,000 and 2,000. Please keep those people in your prayers and if you have any travel plans there, I'd reconsider for your own safety.

I watched the premiere of the new Bachelor. Think a classier MTV, with still a considerable amount of sluttyness. Yes, the girls are attractive, very attractive, but there doesn't appear to be much there, if you know what I mean. There's the girl who left because she was uncomfortable in the bar, but came back because she didn't get a chance to know the guy???? Pllllllease. Then, there was the swimsuit model who read him the poem in the 1st 2 minutes, the love poem at the rose ceremony, saying she had fallen in love with him after a week. Come on!!!! Then there was the Bachelor himself, very drunk in the bar with 8 girls on a group date. I just don't see himself settling down with anyone, especially anyone of these 23, 24 year olds.

So, I guess that leads me into what I'm looking for in a woman. I've been in 2 noteworthy relationships I guess I you could say. I don't consider them to have been serious, but we made it past the honeymoon period in both, so they were very significant. So after these 2 relationships, I think I have a pretty good idea now of what I want. So here's my ideal woman:

• The first thing I notice is a girl's smile. If I find myself smiling just from them smiling, that gets me interested. That kind of a smile fills up the room with so much warmth, and I like that.
• Next is probably hair. I have to admit, I usually go for brunettes with at least close to shoulder-length hair, but that doesn't mean I don't like blonds or red-heads. I like the way hair can fall over a girl's face in a certain way.
• Third is probably eyes. I don't necessarily prefer a certain color, but I like women with engaging eyes.
• She needs to be athletic, not buff or razor thin necessarily, but athletic enough that she takes care of herself, which shows self-respect and high self-esteem, and likes to work up a little sweat. If she can dance, that's a BIG bonus.
• I'd like someone who I can have an intelligent conversation with, who's up to date with what's going on in the world, and can hold their own when in the company of educated people.
• Yes, she'll need to be somewhat of a sports fan. I will gladly reduce my sports viewership, I know I'll be able to do it (because I have), but she needs to be interested in some of the things I'm in.
• I need someone who is open with their thoughts and not afraid to share. I'm gonna tell you how I feel every day. You don't have to be like that, but you've gotta let me know what's going on in your mind and how you feel.
• I don't think sexual chemistry is important. I think if you're meant to be together, that will all come in good time. I mean, think about it, there is great sexual chemistry in one-night stands, but there's nothing else.

So, I hoped I showed I'm more than just basketball, I'm very multi-dimensional. I don't know what made that come out tonight, it was going to come out eventually, but tonight felt right, I guess.

Anyway, tomorrow is an all day time series affair, fun, fun, fun.

Song of the Night: "My Dad's Gone Crazy", Eminem

Craving: My ENTIRE Easter basket, yessss!!!

Here comes Peter Cottontail...

Happy Easter to you all. Easter is a very low-key holiday that is more relaxing than Christmas. I enjoyed a nice brunch with my family and grandparents (all you can eat at Hueston Woods). I have my bunny cake and my Easter basket, dominated by Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs and Peanut Butter Amazing M&M bars, which are really good.

Easter usually signals the real start of spring and the beginning of warmer weather, but that was definitely not the case here in Oxford. The temperature hung around in the high 40s, rained on and off all day. I told my friend Noah, that job I'm looking at in San Francisco may not be as attractive if the weather does this all year, even if the temperature is a little warmer.

The next 3 days I'm going to compare to an end of a Tour De France mountain stage. Tomorrow represents the Col de la Madeline, which is a vicious climb of about 15 kilometers at an average road grade of around 7%. Once I get over tomorrow, I enjoy a short descent before I begin the climb Tuesday, getting ready for my exam Wednesday. Wednesday represents the short, but brutal ascent to Sestrieres, Italy. There's not much left, but it'll require a huge effort to make it.

Now that I've lost you all in my cycling analogy, let's talk hoops:

• North Carolina 88, Wisconsin 82. Despite an unfocused effort for most of the game, the Tar Heels did enough at the end to earn their ticket to St. Louis. I mentioned last night that in order for the Badgers to stay close, they needed to make shots. At the beginning of the game, they didn't, which UNC took advantage of by getting some easy transition baskets. But, the Badgers kept getting open looks against the lackluster UNC defense, and finally started to make shots as the 1st half went on, specifically guard Clayton Hanson. The game was tied at halftime, and stayed close the rest of the way as the Badgers, looking to control tempo, didn't mind trading baskets with the Heels as they kept getting open looks. But the Heels were too good offensively, espeically down the stretch with Sean May and Rashard McCants making big shots and Raymond Felton making free throws. The Badgers didn't have the firepower in the last minute to pull off the upset, but fought gallantly in the game. Of the Final 4, I think the Tar Heels have the most question marks. Can they put together a 40 minute game? Can Jawad Williams overcome his injuries to be the offensive threat UNC needs? Can McCants be the complementary scorer for May? And finally, can Felton play under control against better competition?
  
• Michigan St. 94, Kentucky 88, 2OT. I was as giddy as a school girl watching the end to this one. At the end of regulation, it looked as if the basketball gods had exacted revenge against Patrick Sparks of UK. Earlier in the year at Louisville, Sparks was fouled at the end of the game while shooting a 3, earning and making all 3 free throws to give UK the win. Sparks appeared to, excuse the pun, "bunnyhop" into the defender to draw the foul. Tonight, Sparks came in for the injured Ramel Bradley to shoot a 1and1 that would give UK the lead, but he missed the front end. Sparks got another chance at the end though, and used every square inch of the rim to send the game to overtime. After UK couldn't get a shot off at the end of the 1st overtime, the Spartans took control early in the 2nd. I question Tubby Smith's decision to sit Sparks and Chuck Hayes early in the 2nd overtime, saving them for the latter stages of the 2nd overtime, protecting them against fouling out. TUBBY, YOU CAN'T DO THIS, THERE IS NO TOMORROW, PUT THEM IN THE GAME!!! While Sparks and Hayes were on the bench, the Spartans built a 5 point lead, which is huge, and almost insurmountable, in an overtime period. All the credit goes to the Spartans, who went as deep as UK and didn't let the Wildcats go on their patented run in the last 10 minutes of the 2nd half, which is when the effect of UK's superior depth usually takes shape. Drew Neitzel only committed 1 turnover against the UK D, which allowed shooters like Maurice Ager and Shannon Brown to get the ball in positions to score. Kentucky has so much young talent it's ridiculous. Next year will be disappointing for them if they don't make it to the Final 4. They might even be preseason #1 next year, depending on how many of North Carolina's guys come back. Michigan St. is playing well at the right time and can very much win this Tournament. Chris Hill though is going to have to find his shot again if MSU is going to win the whole thing.

This was the first NCAA tourney in history to see 3 of the 4 regional finals go to overtime. The stage is set, I think, for one of the greatest Final 4's we've had in awhile. The last really good one we had (semifinals and final) I can remember was in 1999, when UConn and Duke won close semifinals, finishing with UConn pulling the upset on Duke in the final. One thing I can guarantee is that this may be the most athletic group of teams the Final 4 has ever seen. All 4 teams like to get the ball up and down the floor, they all have some depth, and they're all capable of huge, momentum-changing scoring runs.

And in some other sports that you may have watched during commercials of the basketball games:

• Annika Sorenstam won her 8th major, dominating the Dinah Shore, earning the victory leap into the pond next to the 18th. She is on pace to be the best women's golfer EVER.
• The US men's soccer team lost a World Cup Qualifier in Mexico City 2-1 to Mexico. The US has never beaten Mexico in Mexico City. In fact Mexico has only lost 1 World Cup qualifier ever in Azteca Stadium. They host Guatemala Wednesday.
• The Players Championship was suspended again due to heavy rain. They'll try and finish tomorrow.

One last thought: Thank goodness Michigan St. beat Kentucky because the words, "Go Big Blue", will not be heard again until November. I'm rooting for an Illinois-North Carolina final, and I still think Illinois will win it all.

You cannot be serious!!!!

I think the famous John McEnroe quote is appropriate for today's basketball. If you still don't like college hoops after these two games today, you need to have your head examined.

• Louisville 93, West Virginia 85, OT. In the rarified air of Albuquerque, Louisville came back from a 32-13 1st half deficit to send the game to overtime. Then, despite a banged up Taeqan Dean and an unavailable Francisco Garcia due to fouls, the Cards still found a way to pull away and head to St. Louis. As great as a coach Rick Pitino, he nearly cost his team the game by playing zone in the 1st half. Pitino's trademark is pressure man defense, so why switch??? The zone allowed WVU to settle in, get open looks, and build the lead that they did. For the game, WVU went 18/27 from 3, but they hit 16 of their first 21!!!! Louisville got back into the game by going back to their pressure man defense, which took WVU out of their rhythm offensively. But, it looked like the Cards would come up short when Garcia fouled out and Kevin Pitsnoggle still, inexplicably, got free for open 3s in the 2nd half. But the Cards turned the defensive screw a little more and wore down WVU in overtime to win. My buddy Chris made a good point during the game, saying no one has shot 3s in the NCAA like that since Indiana in 2002, which carried them to the Finals. That's how well Louisville is playing right now. They overcame a regional final record 18 3s and a 19 point deficit to win the ballgame.
• Illinois 90, Arizona 89, OT. And as if the day couldn't get any better, this game was the game of the year. Even if Illinois didn't come back, it still would've been a great game because Arizona played 36 minutes of perfect basketball. I had never seen an Arizona team play that well in awhile. Channing Frye was unstoppable in the paint with 24 points (11/14 shooting) and 12 rebounds, schooling James Augustine on both ends of the floor. Hassan Adams was the best athlete on the floor, continually breaking down the Illini defense (21 points on 9/13 shooting. And despite being shut down scoring wise, Salim Stoudamire showed his maturity as a player by finding other ways to contribute (9 points, 7 assists, 5 rebounds). I said last night you have to play your best game to beat Illinois. Illinois proved that to be the case because Arizona fell 4 minutes short. Somehow, someway, down 14, the fatigue showing in their faces, the shots not falling, the bench demoralized, with 4 minutes left, Illinois came back, willing in 3s and creating turnovers with their defensive pressure. Illinois again showed that although they aren't the most talented team in the nation, they are the hungriest, most intense, toughest team in the country. They just and would not accept losing this game. Their frontcourt weakness was exposed as Jack Ingram and especially Augustine were dominated by Frye and Ivan Radenovic. But no one could match the hearts of Dee Brown, Luther Head, Roger Powell, and especially Deron Williams, who stepped up bigtime in the last 4 minutes and the overtime. What a heartbreaking loss for Arizona, what a great comeback by Illinois, and what a great college basketball game.

And we still have tomorrow:

• North Carolina/Wisconsin. What style of play will win out? Will it be the run and gun style of Carolina or the methodical play of Wisconsin. If Carolina plays hard on both ends for 40 minutes, they'll win. Unfortunately for Carolina, that's only happened a couple of times this year. If the Badgers can hit some shots early and gain some confidence, they'll be in it until the end. How effective can Mike Wilkinson be against Sean May? The Badgers' effort will match the Tar Heels' athleticism, but for how long? The key man will probably be Raymond Felton, who if he can stay out of foul trouble, won't be able to be stopped by Wisconsin's guards. Look for Roy Williams to use his bench generously to wear out Wisconsin as the game goes on.
• N. Carolina 71 Wisconsin 65
• Kentucky/Michigan St. Kentucky all year has had the advantage against everyone they have played because of their superior depth. This will not be the case tomorrow because the Spartans have depth as well, that is also experienced and, if you can believe it, more athletic. Paul Davis played like a man Friday night against Duke. When he plays like a man, he is unstoppable in the post. Still, the big question for Sparty is can Drew Neitzel handle the ball pressure that Kentucky applies so well on the opposition. Neitzel did a great job Friday night, getting the Spartans into their offense and providing positive minutes. Michigan St. is the more talented team and should win because, in my opinion, the only reason why UK has gotten this far is their depth and that no longer is in their favor from this point on.
• Michigan St. 77 Kentucky 73

If you can believe it, I got a great deal of schoolwork done as well also, so overall, it was a great day. My brother got 2nd in the Hueston Woods 5K this morning, running it in 17:19. I'm waiting for the Red Brick, which is in 3 weeks, to run my usual 22:30. I can run 21:30 by myself, but in a race, I can't seem to break 22.

HAPPY EASTER!!!!

The Big Three

So at the beginning of the year, if I would've told you one conference would have 3 of the Elite 8 teams, you would most likely say the ACC, maybe the Big East. I bet you no one would've said the Big 10. That's why the NCAA Tournament is the greatest sporting event in America.

Here's your recap:

• Michigan St. 78, Duke 68. Tom Izzo finally beat Coach K and Sparty got their biggest win since winning the National Championship 5 years ago. Under Izzo, the Spartans had never been able to match Duke's mental and physical toughness. Tonight, they did that and then some. MSU grabbed 16 offensive rebounds and forced 22 turnovers with their incredible man-to-man defense, specifically their on-ball defense. Paul Davis outshone Shelden Williams with his 20 points and 12 rebounds while J.J. Redick was held to 13 points on 4/14 shooting. MSU let their athleticism and experience shine through tonight, taking control in the 2nd half, then maintaining their lead by getting the ball inside to Davis and getting stops on defense.
  
• Wisconsin 65, NC State 56. A rare game that I predicted correctly in this Tourney, as the Badgers overcame a poor 1st half to get to 60 first and win the game. The Badgers may have had the easiest road to the Elite 8 in the history of the NCAA Tournament. Northern Iowa, Bucknell, and NC State aren't exactly giant killers. After a quiet 1st half, Wisconsin's main cogs, Alando Tucker and Mike Wilkinson got going in the 2nd, finishing the game with a combined 39 points. The Badgers were overall more aggressive in the 2nd half, getting to the foul line more and got better shots, finishing with 50% shooting. Julius Hodge for the Pack was shut down in the 2nd half, only going 4/16 from the floor for the game. Wisconsin is one of those teams that if you don't take seriously, you'll be going home.
• Kentucky 62, Utah 52. Utah did more to lose this game then Kentucky did to win it. UK was solid, but not spectacular. They made the plays when they had to and Tubby Smith did a great job of using his depth again to make the difference, despite playing the game at Utah's pace. By my count, Utah missed 7 point blank looks at the basket and only made 14/28 free throws. Andrew Bogut wasn't awesome, but he did his part, getting 20 points and 12 rebounds, but everyone else disappeared (as I thought they would last week). While Bogut was 8/18 from the floor, everyone else was 9/22.
  
• North Carolina 67, Villanova 66. In the best game of the night, Nova came out hot behind Randy Foye and led 21-9. But Carolina got back within 4 at the half, tied it with 10 minutes left, then went up 9 with 5 minutes to go. Nova though wouldn't quit, having a chance at the end until a controversial traveling call was called on Allen Ray. It appeared Ray only took 2 steps, then actually was bumped and hit the shot, so he could've had a chance for a 3 point play that would've tied the game. After the travelling call, Rashard McCants hit 1/2 from the line to put UNC up 4. Kyle Lowry came down and hit a leaning 3 to cut UNC's lead to 1 with 3 sec left. Then, Ray almost stole the inbounds. Finally UNC threw the ball down the floor to run out the clock, literally escaping with this one. What a game effort by Nova as they played a great game without their best player. Foye did his best part by getting 28, but outside of him and Lowry, everyone else struggled offensively in one of Nova's poorest offensive performances of the year. Carolina needs to play a 40 minute game. If they're caught sleeping against Wisconsin, Wisconsin isn't the type of team to let you back in the game.

Now, let's preview tomorrow's Regional Finals:

• West Virginia/Louisville. If Louisville plays anything like they have in the past month, they will win. WVU needs to slow the game down, change defenses frequently to keep UL offbalance, and make shots to have a chance. I just don't see UL slowing down in this one. Despite having a couple of guys banged up, they have too many weapons and shouldn't be bothered by WVU's different defensive looks. Francisco Garcia continues to improve his draft stock as the Tourney goes on.
• Louisville 76 West Virginia 62
• Arizona/Illinois. By the way, Illinois is now the only team left in my bracket, haha. Arizona is going to come ready to do whatever it takes to win because you could see it in their eyes after the win last night. The Illini haven't seen anything like Channing Frye or Salim Stoudamire. This is where the home court advantage Illinois will have will come into play I think. All year, Illinois have found ways to win ball games, whether it be tough defense, streaky outside shooting, or getting the ball inside. UA isn't a great defensive team by any means, which means Illinois will get good looks, and when the Illini can get good looks, they usually take advantage of them.
• Illinois 75 Arizona 72

Is anyone else wondering how they came up with this year's combination of regional sites. I like The Pit, but the Erwin Center in Austin and the old Rosemont Horizon in Chicago??? Wasn't the United Center available??? In Austin's case, what about the Alamodome in San Antonio, or American Airlines Arena in Dallas???

I could listen to Rick Majerus talk all night about basketball. If you could measure basketball IQ, I bet he'd score the highest of anyone in the nation.

I've caught up on my Apprentice, as I was surprised to see Erin go down in the boardroom against Angie and Chris. Erin got too confident and showed her looseness with her "Do you have to listen to them?" Your looks couldn't even get you out of that one. I don't think Chris will be able to quit his chewing tobacco habit. He won't survive. I was surprised to see Craig actually step up to be project manager, then have the balls to stick with his idea, which won in the end. I agree with his team though, he isn't articulate enough.

West Virginia, Country Home

Opening thought: Well, everything is done that needs to be done for tomorrow, but unfortunately I'm not home free until Wednesday, so the work will continue this weekend.

Ok, let's recap tonight's games:

• Louisville 93, Washington 79. The Cardinals are the best team in the Tournament right now, which includes North Carolina and Illinois. I didn't think the Cards would be able to get away with playing zone against UW, and for the first 10 minutes they didn't. The Huskies found the gaps and got easy buckets early to go up 7. Then, Taeqan Dean and Francisco Garcia got hot, turning the deficit into a 12 point halftime lead. The Huskies could only get as close as 6 in the 2nd half, as Garcia & Co. ate the usually strong Huskie perimeter defense alive with ball screen pick and roll and running staggered screens for the shooters which gave them open looks for jump shots. When U of L went back to the pick and roll, UW got caught in mismatches which led to easy buckets inside. It didn't help things that Nate Robinson and Tre Simmons got in early foul trouble for UW, taking them out of the flow of the game. Right now, Louisville is the team to beat.
• Illinois 77, UW-Milwaukee 63. Even though it's hard to believe at this stage of the year, but Illinois is getting better. They are finding their groove again now that they're out of the Big 10. Tonight, they showed their versatility by running with the Panthers, unafraid to play the frantic pace the Panthers like. Despite a career high 32 from Joah Tucker, the rest of the Panthers struggled, including other star Ed McCants who only made 4/17 shots to score 13 points. Also, after living off the 3 last weekend, the Panthers died by it tonight, only making 7/29, most of them ill-advised shots. Illinois shot 49% from the floor and only committed 9 turnovers, remarkable against a team that presses for 40 minutes. Don't count out the Illini, they will find ways to beat you, and you must play your best game to beat them.
• West Virginia 65, Texas Tech 60. The Mountaineers did a great job of changing defenses and challenging the Red Raider guards outside, pressuring them into mistakes they hadn't made since December. Add to that the play of Kevin Pittsnogle and WVU had enough to hold off the late Tech run to win. This was the poorest I'd seen the Tech guards play since the beginning of the year. They never settled down, especially Ronald Ross, who seemed to be trying too hard in his home state. He made some great defensive plays to get some easy baskets, but he was never comfortable against the Mountaineer defense. Giles and Dora did a good job underneath for Tech, but Giles was in foul trouble most of the game, limiting his effectiveness. I'm still in shock that just 2 weeks after fighting for their NCAA lives, West Virginia is in the Elite 8. Ahh, the beauty of the NCAA Tournament.
• Arizona 79, Oklahoma St. 78. In by far the best game of the night, Salim Stoudamire put all questions about whether or not this Arizona team is for real by knocking down 2 clutch shots to give UA the win. First, was his remarkable clutch 3 while hanging in the air off balance that put the Cats up 1 with 53 sec. left. Then, after a Joey Graham floater put OSU up 1, Stoudamire hit a hanging, 16 foot fadeaway to put UA up 1 with 2.8 sec left. I'm convinced he's the best shooter in America, not just because he leads the nation in 3 point shooting, but because he can come up with the big shot more consistently with J.J. Redick. But what also was impressive was how hard and smart UA played. 4 starters were in double figures. Channing Frye was strong, assertive and confident, making big shots down the stretch. And how about the determination the players and Lute Olson showed after the game. They believe they have more basketball beyond Saturday night to play. It's hard to beat a team when they shoot 66% from the floor, which is what UA did tonight, but OSU came close. The Cowboys' inconsistency on defense cost them a return Final 4 trip.

I only won 1 of 4 games tonight, how pathetic is that? Oh well, this is too much fun to worry about something like that. Hopefully, all 4 games tomorrow are like the last 2 tonight.

Let's Get It Started, Again

Opening thought: So last night's entry didn't make it, which was a shame because I actually talked things other than basketball, which was a nice change of pace. Unfortunately, my thoughts on a couple of things didn't make it, so let me recap.

Monday saw the worst school shooting since Columbine, when a 17 year old killed 7 people. Before September 11th, the day I remembered where I was at when I first heard the news was April 20, 1999 when Columbine took place. As many school districts did, mine didn't inform us of what happened. I didn't find out until around 5pm because I had something tennis-related, but the rest of the day, I watched CNN and couldn't believe my eyes that people my age were capable of such horror.

I also talked about Barry Bonds and his being "tired" of everything. I wish I could just say I were "tired" and take a year off. I know Barry hasn't been convicted of anything, but it sure seems like he's running, which won't help his image.

Ok, the Madness resumes tomorrow, so let's preview all of the Thursday/Friday games and get some predictions:

• Illinois/UW-Milwaukee. Obviously, the biggest thing working against the Panthers is their lack of Tournament experience. But, that didn't seem to bother them last weekend, especially against an Alabama team that went to the Elite 8 last year. To have any chance, the combo of McCants and Tucker must continue to light it up from the outside and somehow, UW-Milwaukee must hang with the Illini on the glass. UW-Milwaukee will bring their pressing defense, but I don't think the Illinois guards will have much trouble. Illinois 78 UW-Milwaukee 68.
• Arizona/Oklahoma St. This game will depend on which Arizona team shows up. If they come ready to play smart basketball, they'll win. If they're making silly mistakes early, they're in trouble. No one on OSU has the size and skill of Channing Frye, but the Cowboys have more overall toughness than the Wildcats. The Pokes will be in trouble if JamesOn Curry gets stuck on Hassan Adams. But, the Cowboys made it to the Final 4 last year, and for the most part, experience has been the difference in this year's tournament. This is one game where Salim Stoudamire won't be able to do it by himself.
• Oklahoma St. 73 Arizona 66.
• Louisville/Washington. This is the most intriguing matchup of the regional semifinals. The key to this game is whether or not Louisville can make 3s. If they can, that will put pressure on Washington to score, which they may not be able to under Pitino's pressure D. If the Cards are cold, that will create fast break opportunities for UW, the best transition team in all of college basketball. If the Huskies play the kind of perimeter defense they're capable of, they should slow the Cards' 3 point attack.
• Washington 79 Louisville 70.
• Texas Tech/West Virginia. Can Bob Knight's motion offense be successful against the ever changing defenses of John Bielein? The difference makers for Tech again will have to be Dora and Giles inside. They only have to contend with D'or Fischer, the man in the middle for WVU who protects the basket with his rebounding and shot-blocking ability. Dora and Giles were the reason Tech came back to beat Gonzaga, they will be the reason the Red Raiders advance.
• Texas Tech 67 West Virginia 61
• Duke/Michigan St. The Spartans have the athletes and the depth to beat Duke, but do they have the mindest and the basketball savvy to do it? Another thing working against the Spartans, is their freshman point guard, Drew Neitzel. He will be harassed by Sean Dockery and Daniel Ewing for 40 minutes, and he is susceptible to turning the ball over. Duke will slow the game down and pound the ball inside to Shelden Williams, who is much more physical than Paul Davis. If Williams can stay out of foul trouble, Duke should win. Michigan St. hasn't beaten anyone better than them all year.
• Duke 70 Michigan St. 62
• Utah/Kentucky. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that these two teams find a way to meet up in March. Andrew Bogut has proven he can carry his team, either by scoring, rebounding, passing, or all of the above. The Utah guards must prove they can keep hitting shots to take some of the pressure off Bogut. UK wouldn't have survived the opening weekend if it wasn't for their depth. They will be at a disadvantage because the Utes will slow the game down, making UK's depth a nonfactor. UK will have to value every possession, which can be hard for a young team to do.
• Utah 61 Kentucky 58
• N.Carolina/Villanova. Nova is at a huge disadvantage now that Curtis Sumpter is out with a torn ACL. That won't stop me from sticking with my pick. Nova still has the outside firepower along with the inside brute that will give Carolina trouble. There are many intriguing matchups in this one. Can Mike Nardi contain Raymond Felton? Can Jackie Manuel stop Allen Ray. Can Randy Foye do the same to Rashard McCants, and can the Nova frontcourt hang with May and the Williamses inside? Carolina will have to play their best game of the year to win because Nova is that good. And you know the Syracuse crowd will get behind Nova because of their Big East association. Sorry Roy, this isn't your year; your team just isn't as consistent as it should be.
• Villanova 77 N. Carolina 75
• Wisconsin/NC State. First to 60 wins in this one. Both teams run deliberate offensive patterns while playing tough man-to-man defense. The Badgers won't be fooled by the Princeton offense and may just have too much strength and athleticism underneath for the Wolfpack.
• Wisconsin 57 NC State 53

In Survivor, after winning reward, Oolong lost immunity again, which ended up in James going home because his "unpenetrable" knot wasn't.

Tomorrow begins The Players Championship and the annual drama at the 17th, where I believe ESPN Classic, beginning at noon is televising action from just the island green all day. I don't know if I could hit that green because 135 yards is a little 8 iron for me, but too much for a 9 unless the wind blows.

Springtime

Opening thought: The week of massive productivity started out well. I'm looking forward to getting some sleep and getting after it again tomorrow.

If you're looking for NIT analysis, you came to the wrong spot. As big of a basketball fan I am, the NIT is second-rate and I have a hard time watching it. I may watch the Final 4 in New York, but that's about it.

You're also in the wrong spot for any Women's NCAA Tourney analysis. Around Y2K, the women were more fundamentally sound and I did watch some games. Now, I believe the women's game has regressed, lacking the star power of the UConn teams of Diana Taurasi, Sue Bird, and other players such as Chamique Holdsclaw, Ruth Riley, Lisa Leslie, Dawn Staley, and Kate Starbird. Just look at the WNBA. Consistently, you see low scoring games with neither team shooting better than 35%. Who wants to watch that? I did watch the Olympic team this past summer because they are the cream of the crop and are very good. But, the depth still isn't there on an individual basis even though UConn and Tennessee are no longer the dominant programs in women's college basketball.

Let's see, what else:

• Curtis Sumpter, star forward for Villanova, is out with a torn ACL. This badly damages Nova's hopes of upsetting UNC. Villanova is deep with Markus Austin, Will Sheridan, and Jason Fraser, but Sumpter will be hard to replace. Sumpter could power it up strong inside, then take you outside and hit the 3. He would've created a matchup problem for UNC.
• Game times have been released for Thurs./Fri. Thursday begins with Washington/Louisville and Illinois/UW-Milwaukee followed by Texas Tech/West Virginia and Arizona/Oklahoma St. Friday begins with Duke/Michigan St. and Wisconsin/NC State followed by Utah/Kentucky and N.Carolina/Villanova.
• John Chaney will coach Temple next season. I believe he should've resigned to avoid further tarnish on his Hall of Fame record.
  
• Charlie Villaneuva of UConn will declare for the NBA draft. He originally wanted to skip college altogether and was considered the #2 prospect behind LeBron James, but went to UConn for 2 years that greatly benefitted him. I think he could've used another year to develop more consistency, but he definitely has the tools to be successful and should go in the 1st round.

I got to thinking about the most famous games played in the RCA Dome now that I can add that to the other arenas I've been (UD Arena, Nutter Center, Cincinnati Gardens, St. John Arena).

• Duke/UNLV, National Semifinal 1991. UNLV was undefeated and were defending national champions with Stacey Augmon, Greg Anthony and Larry Johnson among others. They had just beaten Duke 103-73 in the finals a year earlier and were big favorites to repeat. But Duke pulled the upset, setting the stage for the run they currently enjoy, winning 79-77 behind Bobby Hurley, Christian Laettner, and a young freshman named Grant Hill.
• Princeton/UCLA, 1st round, 1996. I would've loved to have been there for this one. Last game of the day, and none other than a back door, the defending National Champs as a 4 seed, were knocked out by the 13 seed Tigers 43-41.
  
• Arizona/Kentucky, Championship, 1997. Kentucky were defending National Champs, but the upstart Wildcats who knocked off #1 Kansas in the Sweet 16, outlasted UK in overtime. Miles Simon and Mike Bibby were unstoppable while Ron Mercer for UK couldn't buy a basket.

And while I'm at it, here are some of the greatest games I've ever seen in person:

• Dayton/Bradley, 1988. This has to make the list because this was the first game I ever went to. I don't remember much of it, but I do remember the 2nd half performance Hersey Hawkins put on. Hawkins would go on to play for the Sonics and 76ers among others in the NBA. This night, he scored 22 of his 27 in the 2nd half to lead Bradley to victory.
• Dayton/Miami, 1992. I don't remember much about this game except Miami was really good and Dayton was really bad. But, you always throw out the records when these two teams get together. Miami had a double digit lead in the 2nd half at UD, but the Flyers came back and took the game to overtime. Then, with time running out, Darnell Hahn (don't ask me how I remember him), hit a 3 to send the game to double overtime. The game would eventually go to a 3rd overtime I believe with Miami winning in the end.
• Michigan St./Wright St. 1999. In a homecoming for Trotwood grad Andre Hutson, the Spartans were ranked 7th in the country when they came to a rarely packed Nutter Center. Wright St. was terrible, an RPI somewhere in the 270s and were severly overmatched. But the Spartans were without star point guard Mateen Cleaves and were unable to overcome cold shooting, keeping the Raiders in it. Wright St. pulled out a 51-49 win, one of the more improbable results in college bball history. It was made even more improbable after the Spartans went on to win the National Championship.
• Temple/Miami, 2000. My first Miami game as a student and I got to see the 17th ranked Owls and John Chaney come into town just after playing #1 Duke to the wire. Temple couldn't miss in the first 10 minutes, jumping out to a 19-8 lead. But the Hawks came back, behind the hot shooting of Jason Grunkemeyer, Doug Davis, and the inside play of Alex Shorts. Add the funniest head and shoulder fake by Rich Allendorf that I've ever seen and it still is the greatest Miami game I've seen in person. Oh yeah, we won, we stormed the court, and saw ourselves on Sportscenter!!!

It's always nice to go back down memory lane.

Song of the Day: "Zombie Nation" (thanks Brad) and our 50 year old balding headband wearing Illinois fan jumping up and down to it. Just wait until you see this picture.

Sweet

Opening thought: The next week and a half will be busy, busy, busy, and that's not because of basketball. I have 4 different things due on Friday, plus 2 exams next Mon. and Wed., so it'll be lotsa work with not much rest in between. That's ok, because the light at the end of the tunnel is near. After next Wed., work really backs off and I'll actually have some time to do more exit paper work and job hunting.

Let me just say this was the best Spring Break I can remember because I got to enjoy the game I love with some really close people. Thanks Dad, Nick, and Brad, especially Brad for making the trip up from IU to join us Thurs. and Sat. Thanks Brad, you're the man.

So first, here are the highlights from Indianapolis, beginning with Thursday (there will be pics forthcoming in the near future):

• I'd like to see how tailgating for UK bball compares to UK football, because there were quite a few tailgating outside of the Dome.
  
• The RCA Dome isn't the most impressive arena I've been in, but they configure it very nicely for bball. We were in the 2nd deck and our seats were better than Upper Arena seats at UD Arena. The court is well lit and sight angles are very good.
• From start to finish, our 1st game, Kentucky/Eastern Kentucky was the best game. UK maintained a nice lead throughout, but EKU made a run in the last 10 minutes, getting within 5 a couple of times to make it interesting. It's fun to watch the neutral crowd get behind the underdog. The noise gives you goose bumps and reminds you why you're there and why you love bball. Sadly, there was no Ashley Judd, which was a huge disappointment to us all.
  
• The 2nd game was UC-Iowa, and although I strongly felt Iowa shouldn't have been in the Tourney, I picked them. That was a mistake, along with letting Iowa in the field. UC toyed with them, showing off, including pulling the play of the day, Jason Maxiell's dunk off an alleyoop in the 2nd half which brought the crowd of 27,000+ to their feet. Iowa was never really in the game.
• Then, there was the appearance of Nick Lachey at the game. WHAT A POSER!!!! He had 1st row seats, wearing a UC jersey with his name on the back. My brother got a great picture of him taking a pic with a very cute UK girl (picture will be shown later after my bro sends them to me) near the end of the game. There were no MTV cameras or Jessica, which was interesting. Instead of Ashley Judd, we get Nick Lachey instead, give me a break.
• Also, during the game, about 5 rows in front of us was a UC fan, a probably in his 70s, who would do his best Richard Nixon impersonation everytime UC scored. He would raise his arms and give the Victory sign, dancing in his place. He would've easily won Craziest Fan, if not for a guy we saw on Saturday.
  
• Dinner was spent in the Mall at Johnny Rockets, which have the best hamburgers and atmosphere. Nothing but Motown hits and dancing waitresses, which was a perfect intermission from basketball. Downtown Indianapolis was very nice. There were a lot of sports bars around, and it being St. Patrick's Day, there were a lot of people downtown, so it was fun.
• Game 3 was Texas/Nevada, a close, but not real exciting game. Many of the fans in the house at that were point were Illinois supporters, who had been there all day waiting for their team. The loudest ovation during the game was for the Illinois pep band coming out.
• Finally, it was time for Illinois/FDU, a game where we, and the rest of the Orange Crush around us thought would never be close. The loudest roar of the day came when Illinois took the floor in pregame warmups. But, the 1st half was close, with FDU playing out of their mind. Illinois came out flat, making silly mistakes, keeping FDU in it. The Kentucky fans who had stayed, and us were going nuts. When FDU hit an NBA 3 to cut the Illini lead to 1 at halftime, the place went nuts, while the Illini faithful were stunned. Would we be present for the first 16 to ever beat a 1? Illinois woke up and edged the lead out to win, but that first 20 minutes was unbelievable. I don't know if I've ever been on the edge of my seat as much as I was for that 1st half.

Now for Saturday:

• The undercard was Illinois/Nevada, with the main bout to be UK/UC. We knew we were in for a treat when we walked in and saw people sitting in the obstructed view seats behind the court. Illinois came ready to play and were in control throughout. The Illinois fans are more of your bandwagon sort honestly. I compare them to Michigan St. and how big their following became once they became a Top 15 team. Illinois has never had this big of a following, so they're not as intense, which is evidenced by so many Illini taking pictures. You don't see UK fans taking pictures because they expect to be there every year.
• Some of the Illinois coeds sitting around us deserve simply a "Wow". You didn't have to go down south to see some beautiful women, let's just say that.
• Fan of the Weekend: This goes to the balding 50 year old Illinois fan who was a couple of rows in front of us. In addition to having his orange shirt, he had his matching Dee Brown orange headband. Let me remind you this guy was 50 and balding. I told my dad I never want to see him wearing a headband. Then, to top it all off, when the Illinois pep band broke in that song (don't know the official name, sorry), "Oooohh ooohhh" (the one where you jump and down, more commonly heard at hockey), this guy started jumping up and down as well. Priceless.
• Then it was time for UK/UC, who hadn't played each other in 15 years. The UK fans went nuts when their team took the floor. I'm trying to remember if I've ever heard a louder roar at a sporting event and I don't think I have. 20,000 UK fans were louder than 100,000 Michigan football fans, no joke. I've never been in such an electric atmosphere. This game was what tournament bball is all about. The crowd was into it on EVERY possession, allowing the noise to hang over the court. As UC got back into the game, they became more vocal, more confident after being intimidated by the early UK roars. But, Nick Lachey's presence wasn't enough for UC to hang on in the end.
• After the game, the UK fans became really obnoxious. They let you know every step of the way out of the arena that their team was the best. If I hear the words of "Go Big Blue" again, I may seriously hurt you.
  

All in all, a great weekend, and I can't wait to get back, now let's look at the Sweet 16:

• 9 of my Sweet 16 made it, 5 of my final 8, 3 of my Final 4, and my winner (Illinois).
  
• After watching them in person twice, Illinois is definitely not the most talented team in the country, but whenever they needed a big play, they got it, and that's a true sign of a winner. As good as Deron Williams is, Luther Head is their go-to guy. Whenever they need a big shot, they go to him and he delivers.
  
• Still, the best thing Kentucky has going for them is their depth. They beat UC because they wore them out in the end, forcing UC to miss 15 of their last 16 shots by taking away their legs. Kentucky was saved by halftime last night because UC was dictating play, but after the extended halftime, UK got their composure back and took control of the game. Rajon Rondo was really impressive last night, making 3s and athletic plays.
• Louisville may be the hottest team in the country right now. The Ragin Cajuns were game Friday night, but ran out of gas, while the Cards jumped on Georgia Tech with hot 3 point shooting. Francisco Garcia was the best player of the weekend I saw, making plays, and more importantly, making some shots as well. If Louisville can keep shooting well, they'll be tough to beat.
• North Carolina, Arizona, and Washington were also impressive, having little trouble in their first 2 games while everyone else seemed to be tested at least once. But, it's fair to say both will be challenged in the next round.
• Duke is like a prize fighter on the ropes. They're really vulnerable, but no one can seem to knock them out. This is the best defensive Duke team I've ever seen.
• Michigan St. gets a rematch with the Dukies. They played them tough earlier in the year at Cameron, losing by 7. Sparty though hasn't beaten anyone that's better than them all year. They have the athletes to knock off Duke, but can they match Duke's toughness?
• Oklahoma St. had 2 tougher than expected games in Oklahoma City, but they survived both. They still need to be more consistent, especially defensively if they're going to beat Arizona and get their shot at Illinois.
• I still think Villanova will knock off North Carolina. If they get their normal games from their starters and get production off the bench, UNC will be stunned by how Villanova can match them in overall talent.
• If Darryl Dora and Damon Giles play like the way they did in the 2nd half vs. Gonzaga, Texas Tech will go to the Final 4, no joke, assuming their guards continue to shoot the ball well.
• West Virginia and UW-Milwaukee need to keep shooting the ball well if they're going to keep advancing. UW-Milwaukee is a smaller version of Illinois, literally. They rely on the perimeter shot from Ed McCants and Joah Tucker, as does WVU with Kevin Pittsnoggle.
• I hope I don't have to watch Wisconsin/NC State. This will be a game in the 50s, with whoever is able to make more shots and limit turnovers winning the game.
• Then there's Utah, who looked so pedestrian in losing to New Mexico last week, now in the Sweet 16 after their guards decided to play this past weekend. Who would've thought Utah would win a game when Andrew Bogut would only score 10 points? Thanks for busting my bracket Utah.

For some other thoughts:

• After making runs in their conference tournaments, Syracuse, Florida, and Georgia Tech are all gone. They are the prime reason for why bigger conferences don't like playing conference tournaments. Teams make the excuse they are already emotionally rundown after playing conference tourneys and can't get back up for the NCAAs. Take a look at the smaller conferences, where every game is an elimination game of some sort, yet they seem to do just fine.
• Oklahoma's guards let me down. How do you lose a game when you attempt 29 more shots than your opponent, yet make one less field goal???
• After having a great February, UConn's backcourt regressed in March. Marcus Williams and Denham Brown were more erratic, reverting their old ways. I wonder if the return of Rashard Anderson disrupted the nice chemistry they had going.
• Wake Forest needs to do nothing but work on defensive drills all summer. How do you give up 50 points to West Virginia in a half???
• Bill Self needs to go out and recruit some guards who can SHOOT!!!! They made 1 3, ONE against Bucknell in the 1st round. As great as Wayne Simien was, he can't overcome that by himself.
  
• Sweet 16 breakdown: ACC (3), Big Ten (3), Big 12 (2), Big East (2), Pac 10 (2), SEC (1), Horizon (1), Mountain West (1), C-USA (1)

Obviously, I'll have more on the upcoming weekend and more thoughts from this past weekend as the week goes on. But for now, I must rest as the long week begins.

Songs in my head: "Set Me Free", the Supremes and "Disco Inferno", 50 Cent.

Craving: MORE CORNED BEEF, yummy!!!! (It's great to have a little Irish blood in ya.)

Ready to go dancin

Opening thought: Tomorrow, Thursday, March 17th finally arrives. We will leave here at 9:30am, arriving in Indy around 11:30am. We will meet Brad at 11:45, locate our seats and settle in for an entertaining day of hoops.

Ok, my bracket is official, so I'll reveal the highlights:

First round:

• Upsets: Ohio over Florida. Except for the year they made it to the finals, the Gators have been an NCAA dud under Billy Donovan, not making it past the 2nd round since 2000. Don't be fooled by their SEC tourney title, they aren't deep and are inconsistent offensively. The Bobcats are young, but athletic and won't be intimidated by the name on the jersey. The Gators aren't exceptional in one specific facet, which is why OU will hang, and beat the Gators. George Washington over Georgia Tech. Every year for 16 of the last 17 years, a 12 has beaten a 5, so this is my 12/5 upset. The Colonials are more athletic than Tech and have a more dominant post presence in Pops Mensah-Bonsu. As much as I like Tech, the Colonials present huge matchup problems.
  
• I also like NC State, Iowa, Pittsburgh, Nevada, Iowa St., and UTEP to win, although none are really upsets in my book. The 1st round may be the easiest to pick; it's the 2nd round on that gets tricky.
  

Later rounds:

• Sweet 16: Illinois, Alabama, Arizona, Oklahoma St., Washington, Louisville, Gonzaga, Wake Forest, N. Carolina, Villanova, Kansas, UConn, Duke, Syracuse, Oklahoma, Kentucky
  
• Elite 8: Illinois, Oklahoma St., Washington, Wake Forest, Villanova, UConn, Duke, Oklahoma
  
• Final 4: Illinois, Washington, Villanova, Oklahoma
  
• Final: Illinois 65 Oklahoma 61
  

I like Villanova over UNC because of their offensive balance, inside and out. All of Nova's guards are offensive weapons, and Villanova can hang with the Tar Heels inside. Curtis Sumpter will have a big NCAA tourney. UNC is talented, but too inconsistent for my taste. I like Oklahoma because of their guard play and big men inside. They can match Kentucky's depth and will be too physical for Duke. I think Duke/Oklahoma will be a case where Duke doesn't have enough players, and will lose key guys to foul trouble. Washington got a great draw because all of the teams in Albuquerque are similar offensively, but UW plays the best defense, which will carry them through. Illinois is the best team in the country and got the best draw. They are too big for Oklahoma St., too strong defensively for Washington, and their guards are better than Oklahoma's.

If you can get great guard play, which is good shooting, good defense, and a minimal amount of turnovers, you will go far. If you have the presence inside that can get you the occasional easy basket, you will win the whole thing.

By no means will I be correct, my last great year was 2002 when I correctly had Maryland, Kansas, and Oklahoma in the final 4 with Maryland winning the whole thing. Hopefully I will relive my glory days of the 90s when I correctly had Arkansas and UCLA winning in 94 and 95 respectively (would've been 3 straight if Chris Webber hadn't called timeout in 93 to deprive Michigan of the title).

If you're watching any of the Indianapolis games, look up into the first few rows of the upper deck, that's where we'll be.

Snubbed

Opening thoughts: Greetings from the Englewood public library, where I have 20 minutes left on my computer time, so I'm going to get to as much hoops as I can. The things I don't get to, I'll cover most likely on Wednesday.

As you can guess, I'm upset that Northern Iowa and Iowa were given at-large bids over Miami. The Redhawks are now the highest-rated RPI team to never make the NCAA tournament as an at-large. They are also the first team to win a Top 10 rated conference and not get in. That's what you get for losing to Marshall I suppose. As much as I don't like Iowa getting in, I'll probably pick them to beat UC, because UC looked absolutely horrible Thursday night. Northern Iowa is a joke. Yes, they're a solid team, but how can you include a 4th place Missouri Valley team over the 1st place MAC team, who lost in the quarterfinals of their conference tourney???? It makes perfect sense when the Chairman of the Selection Committee used to be the AD at Northern Iowa and is now the AD at Iowa. The only reason that explains why 3 teams from the Valley got in was because on Bracket Buster Saturday, the Valley went 2-1 against the MAC in head-to-head.

Ok, some thoughts on some teams and some matchups:

• I can't believe Louisville only got a 4 seed after winning the C-USA regular season and tournament championship. They should have had at least a 2 seed. They will have to beat a good La-Lafayette team and either Georgia Tech or George Washington just to make the Sweet 16.
  
• The Albuquerque bracket in general is made up of teams who can score and don't play great defense. Whoever can play any kind of defense will win. I think either Louisville or Washington will come out of this region. I don't think Wake or Gonzaga are good enough defensively to go to the Final 4.
  
• I don't think Duke has the depth to make it to the Final 4, even if Sean Dockery comes back. Kentucky and Oklahoma have the depth to wear them out physically and beat them.
  
• I don't like how North Carolina is playing. It would'nt surprise me if they don't make it to the Final 4.
  
• Don't put too much stock in teams like Georgia Tech, Syracuse, and Florida just because they played well in their conference tournaments. GT can guard, but they're still inconsistent offensively. Syracuse finally played like they should have all year, hands up on defense and active on the glass. Can they sustain that type of effort??? Florida is young, but playing well. I think they'll find life outside of the SEC difficult.
  
• Illinois will win the National Championship. I think they'll regain their outside shooting touch and be able to run more now that Big 10 play is over.
  
• Possible Cinderella teams to look out for: Penn beating Boston College since the Eagles can't blow you away with outside shooting. Utah St. beating Arizona because the Aggies could frustrate UA with their hard-nosed defense and physical play.
  

Game times should be released in the next day or two. Don't make any picks until those are released. Here's why: More upsets occur in the 12pm and 10pm games because at 12pm, teams will come out flat, while as the day goes on, teams tighten up as they wait for their 10pm game.

Current Final 4: Illinois, Washington, Oklahoma, Villanova (subject to change)

1 day until Spring Break

Opening thoughts: Today was Green Beer Day in Oxford, where the bars open at the crack of dawn and the beer is green. Sadly, around 5am, a Miami student's car was hit by a train, sending him to the hospital in critical condition. Alcohol is a possibility. Remember, especially with Spring Break, DON'T DRINK AND DRIVE!!!!!

Due to my limited internet access at home, my updating won't be as frequent, but I will do the best I can. If you're looking for my Tournament Preview and weekend wrap-up, tune in Monday, I will have the longest post in history.

The Madness is in full gear, let's discuss:

• ACC. In today's 3 1st round games, 3 bubble teams were on display and only 1 took advantage and survived. Maryland is on its way to the NIT after losing to Clemson for the 3rd time this year. Even with a sweep of Duke, there's no way they can be chosen over an NC State team who beat them twice and has advanced to the ACC quarters. NC State held off a late Florida St. rally to get a rematch with Wake Forest tomorrow. Chris Paul is suspended for this game because of his altercation with Julius Hodge, so this will be an interesting affair. Finally, The U were upset by Virginia. Welcome to ACC Tournament bball Miami.
• Atlantic 10. The top 4 teams held serve to advance to tomorrow's semifinals. None of the teams were really challenged, except for Dayton coming back from an early 18 point deficit to get within 4 with 4 minutes left, but the Owls were too much in the end. The stage could be set for a St. Joe's/Temple final. Ohhh baby!!!!
  
• Big East. While many teams played their way out of the NCAA Tourney, West Virginia may have played their way in with their win over top seed Boston College. WVU ran out to a 22 point halftime lead, then held off a BC rally to advance to tomorrow's semifinals. The other top seeds won, although UConn made things interesting against Georgetown, continually letting them back in the game. The Hoyas had a chance to tie in the waning seconds, but couldn't. Syracuse/UConn will be an interesting semifinal.
• Big 10. No upsets in the 1st round, although Penn St. almost took advantage of Ohio St.'s hangover from beating Illinois. The Bucks had to rally from 15 down to beat the lowly Lions. In the other two games, Northwestern held off Michigan while Iowa sent Gene Keady off into retirement with yet another loss. The game of the tourney is tomorrow as Minnesota takes on Indiana in what could be an elimination game for the NCAAs.
• Big 12. While there were no surprises in the afternoon, the evening saw upsets as Kansas St. severly damaged any NCAA hopes for Texas A&M, and Colorado knocked off Texas. The Longhorns should be ok, but they would've certainly liked to have won this game. Meanwhile, Missouri and Iowa St. advanced, the Cyclones' win may have secured their NCAA berth.
• Big West. Cal State Fullerton has advanced to the semis to play Pacific tomorrow, while Cal St. Northridge leads UC Irvine in the 2nd half currently of the other 2nd round game. The winner will play Utah St.
• C-USA. In a potential elimination game, UAB came from behind to beat DePaul to advance to a semifinal date with Louisville. I think DePaul is in, but we'll see. In the evening, tourney host Memphis walked over Charlotte, again raising questions about the 49ers' toughness. Then, South Florida continued their run, upsetting a flat Cincinnati team. The Bearcats appeared as if they'd rather be somewhere else, getting outrebounded by the smaller Bulls. I said to be wary of Memphis before the tourney, and I will say it again, especially now that the draw has opened up for them.
• MAC. There were no real surprises in the quarterfinals, except for the way Miami and OU advanced to the semis. 7 seed Buffalo beating 2 seed Toledo isn't an upset, by any means. One more win for the Redhawks might get them in as an at-large, but it'll be Miami-OU in the opening semifinal, where anything is possible. Expect nothing less but a close game.
• MEAC. Coppin St. and South Carolina St. advanced to tomorrow's semifinals, meaning the top 4 teams in the league are still alive.
• Mountain West. No upsets thus far, Utah is the top seed here. Currently, 3 seed Air Force leads 6 seed San Diego St. at the half. The tourney is being played in Denver.
• Pac 10. Arizona advanced comfortably, but Washington needed overtime to beat Arizona St. UCLA fell to Oregon St, making the next couple of days a little more uncomfortable for them. The same could be true of Stanford if they continue to trail Washington St.
• SEC. Only Mississippi St. survived among the favorites in the 1st round. Mississippi knocked off South Carolina at the buzzer, Tennessee destroyed Arkansas, and Auburn knocked off Vanderbilt, ending the Commodores' slim NCAA hopes.
• Southland. The top 2 teams will square off in Sunday's final as Northwestern St. will take on SE Louisiana.
• SWAC. The semifinals will see top seed Alabama A&M play Jackson St., followed by 2 seed Alabama St. playing Southern, who upset 3 seed Grambling in overtime.
• WAC. So far, everyone has held serve, although top seed Nevada is currently in a dogfight with Boise St. UTEP will take on Rice in the other semifinal, where a win for UTEP may clinch an NCAA bid.

I apologize for no reality TV take tonight because I was doing more important things, like watching basketball. If you're going on Spring Break, may you have a great time and safe travels. I'll catch you after the great weekend of basketball. In less than a week, I'll be in Indy baby!!! It'll be awesome baby with a capital A!!!!

2 days until Spring Break

Opening thoughts: The micro test went ok, except for a couple of parts, so we'll see how it goes. It looks like I'm going to have some grading to do over break, yuck! I'm not really thinking about either right now. I'm just glad to have essentially made it to Spring Break with a chance to recharge my batteries for the stretch run. After break, 2 of my classes will end, freeing up time to really kick the exit paper and job search into high gear. Exciting stuff.

As for today's hoops, it looked as if we'd go the whole day without an upset, but a couple of teams prevented that from happening:

• Fairleigh Dickinson 58, Wagner 52. FDU is going dancing after holding off a late Wagner rally to win the Northeast Conference championship. The Knights clinched on their home floor, after they were led by 7-footer Andrea Crosariol, who scored 18. He was the difference in the game as both teams could get nothing going from the perimeter. Wagner slowed the game down to a tempo of their liking, but they had no one who could matchup with Crosariol's height. FDU led by as many as 11 in the 2nd half, but then inexplicably, they stopped feeding the big fella, which allowed Wagner to get back in it. In the end, Mensah Peterson was money at the foul line, and hit the clinching 3 with 23 sec. left. This game was played at a snail's pace. The tortoise moved faster against the hare than these two teams. FDU will be one and done in the NCAA.
• Montana 63, Weber St. 61. Another candidate for the play-in game was denied as the Grizzlies erased a 7 point halftime deficit to win the Big Sky championship. Montana looked to have the game all wrapped up, leading by 10 with 4 minutes to go, but some hot 3 point shooting and a couple of mental errors got Weber St. within 1 with 4 seconds left. But Montana hit enough free throws, and Weber's desperation half-court shot was off target. After doing absolutely nothing on offense in the 1st half, the Griz were much more fluid in the 2nd, getting the shots they wanted, getting everyone involved.
• Atlantic 10. The only upset occurred in the 2nd game, where LaSalle knocked off UMass in overtime, 70-64. The other higher seeds won and moved into tomorrow's quarterfinals.
  
• Big East. 3 bubble teams were on display and 2 took care of business. West Virginia jumped all over Providence, never letting them in the game to move on to a quarterfinal against Boston College. Georgetown's road was tougher, overcoming an 11 point 2nd half deficit to beat Seton Hall. This ended a 5 game losing streak for the Hoyas. Unfortunately, Notre Dame fell victim to the upset bug, getting bit by Rutgers 72-65. The Irish were without Chris Quinn for most of the game after getting knocked woozy in the 1st half. Regardless, the Irish should've been able to handle the last qualifier for the Big East tourney, but Ricky Shields wouldn't let that happen. The Rutgers senior went for 21, leading an outside shooting barrage that shot 46% for the game. Notre Dame has so much talent, but so little basketball savvy. Chris Thomas, despite 17 points, had 5 turnovers, all careless. Jordan Cornette was still chucking 3s, along with Colin Falls, ignoring Torin Francis on the inside. Despite wins over Boston College and UConn, the Irish are probably headed to the NIT after suffering their 3rd straight loss to end the year.
• Big West. UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara advanced to the 2nd round. Pacific is the top seed here.
• C-USA. The 6 seed Houston, where Tom Penders has done a great job turning that club around, were upset by South Florida 69-64, ending their long shot at an NCAA berth. The other seeds won, including tournament host Memphis, who have the potential to create havoc because of their talent, and the tournament is being played on their home floor.
• MEAC. The top 2 seeds, Delaware St. and Hampton advanced to the semifinals. The other 2 quarterfinals will be played tomorrow.

14 teams are now in the tournament. No more automatic bids will be handed out tomorrow, but the remaining conference tournaments that haven't started, get underway tomorrow. I can't believe Notre Dame lost and is most likely out of the NCAAs.

3 days until Spring Break

Opening Thoughts: Even though the temperature dropped to 27 and there was a 15 minute blizzard here, it was a great day. An A on my huge econometrics test puts me in good shape in the class, after thinking a B would be great. Once again, my best academic performance is coming at the time of year where I would be most distracted, so go figure. Hopefully, that can hold for one more day with a big advanced microecon test tomorrow. Then, I can relax a little more than normal.

Alright, 3 more teams are in, let's talk about it:

• Oakland 61, Oral Roberts 60. This is why nothing beats March Madness. Oakland University, located just outside of Detroit, known more for being the only team that has their players' names below their numbers on the back of the jersey, is going to the Dance for the first time in school history, after finish a whopping 7th in the Mid-Continent and compiling a record of 12-18. Add to the fact they did this on ORU's home floor, and their effort becomes more amazing. The Golden Grizzlies were able to control tempo from the start, playing a sagging 2-3 zone, forcing ORU to take bad shots, become impatient, then get nervous and become passive against the zone. ORU, behind most of the 2nd half, finally hit some shots late and led by 2 late until Pierre Dukes hit a tough NBA 3 with 1 sec left to win the game. ORU lost this game at the foul line, only making 11/21. Despite their 25-7 record, they're heading for the NIT. Oakland is coming to Dayton for the play-in game.
• La-Lafayette 88, Denver 69. It wouldn't be March if the Ragin Cajuns were somehow involved. They're heading to the Dance for the second straight year after pulling away in the 2nd half to win the Sun Belt title. This game was tied at 32 at the half, but the Cajuns' athleticism took over, along with Tiras Wade, who scored a game high 30 points. Denver looked to tire in the 2nd half, as the tempo the Cajuns set was too much. If you're a potential 3 or 4 seed in the Tournament, you don't want to see these guys in the 1st round, they are dangerous, and they won't be intimidated of you or the environment.
• UW-Milwaukee 59, Detroit 58. In a gutty, back and forth game, the Panthers came from behind to win the Horizon League title on their home floor. Detroit teams are always well-coached, are physical, and make you play 40 minutes, and tonight was no exception. Tough man-to-man defense slowed the explosive Panthers down, while Brandon Cotton went through the Panther defense, making big shot after big shot. But, the Titans seemed to tire in the 2nd half as the Panthers got to every loose ball and rebound, giving guys like Ed McCants additional chances, which he took advantage of, leading the way with 18 points. The Panthers will give someone fits in the 1st round of the NCAAs because they can play defense, rebound, and score, but I don't think they have the depth to beat some teams.
  
• Big Sky. In tonight's semifinal action, the 2 seed Montana St. has already fallen to Montana, and currently, top seed Portland St. trails by Weber St. by 6 at halftime. The championship will be played tomorrow night.
• Mid Eastern Athletic. In the final 1st round game, Bethune-Cookman defeated North Carolina A&T. Quarterfinal play begins tomorrow.
• Southland. The top 3 seeds advanced to the semifinals, with 5 seed Lamar defeating 4 seed UT-San Antonio. Northwestern St. is the top seed.
• WAC. In first round action, Hawaii has already advanced, and Boise St. is currently ahead in the 2nd half over Tulsa. Quarterfinal action begins Thursday in Reno with Nevada being the top seed. The Wolfpack are in the Dance no matter what happens, but UTEP needs to make the finals at least to get a bid.

Championship Week starts to kick into high gear tomorrow as the major conferences begin play. 12 teams are now in the Field, 2 more will enter tomorrow.

In tonight's Amazing Race, the Survivor couple of Rob and Amber made it to the center of Santiago, Chile first. I must say, Santiago is a beautiful looking city. Even though visiting South America hasn't really crossed my mind, I think I'd like to go to Santiago. Miami University dream team Susan and Patrick fell back in the pack, but came in 8th, living for another leg.

If I can just put in a good effort on this test tomorrow, I'll be in really good shape.

4 days until Spring Break

Let's not waste anytime, let's get to it:

• Old Dominion 73, Virginia Commonwealth 66, OT. Alex Loughton played like a conference player of the year should play in the conference final. He scored 28 points on 12/19 shooting and grabbed 11 rebounds, including the 3 point play that sent the game to overtime. Loughton seemed to be the only Monarch player that wanted the ball down the stretch, as his teammates got tight after VCU went on an 11-0 run early in the 2nd half to tie the game. Loughton was unguardable in the post, making jumpshots, dropsteps, taking it strong to the hole. He will present matchup problems for whoever draws ODU in the NCAAs. If the Monarchs lost, they would've been an interesting bubble case. A 27-6 record that contained 0 wins against NCAA teams. Luckily, ODU doesn't have to worry about it, they have the automatic berth from the Colonial.
• Niagara 81, Rider 59. In what started as a track meet, by the end, the Purple Eagles were literally running circles around Rider, winning the Metro Atlantic championship, clinching their first NCAA bid since 1970. Niagara doesn't play much defense, they're the smaller version of Wake Forest, but they played enough in the 2nd half to make the game a blowout. Rider made it hard on themselves, taking quick shots, which they often missed, while playing minimal defense, letting Juan Mendez dominate with 27 points and 13 rebounds. Niagara could present someone problems the way they get up and down the floor and score, but I don't think they play good enough defense to beat anyone.
• Creighton 75, SW Missouri St. 57. Creighton won their 5th Valley title in 7 years beating SMS, who lost in the finals for the 2nd straight year. Creighton led 52-50 with 7 minutes left, but cranked it up on offense, making big 3s, while SMS took quick shots and failed to take advantage of their strength inside. Creighton is a team that lives and dies by the 3, and tonight they lived, making 12/25 from deep. The Blue Jays, if they can stay hot, will give someone fits with their 3 point shooting, but they don't have much inside, something the SMS coaching staff should be kicking themselves for not taking advantage of.
• Gonzaga 80, St. Mary's 67. In the year that was supposed to see someone knock the Zags off as West Coast Conference top dawg, all Gonzaga did was win the regular season and conference tourney titles. St. Mary's rode hot 3 point shooting early to run out to a 9 point lead, but the one-dimensional Gaels lost their only dimension, and the Zags worked their way back into the game, then took control early in the 2nd half led by Adam Morrison. Gonzaga probably played their way to a 3 seed with the win while St. Mary's, most likely in, still must play the waiting game until Sunday.
  
• Mid-American. Surprisingly, there were no upsets in the 1st round of the MAC in games that were played on campus. The top 8 teams will be in Cleveland for the quarterfinals that start Thursday.
• Mid-Continent. It will be top seed Oral Roberts vs. 11-18 and 7 seed Oakland for the automatic berth tomorrow night. An Oakland win most likely sends them to Dayton for the play-in game next Tuesday.
• Mid Eastern Athletic. Morgan St. and Florida A&M advanced to the quarterfinals that will be played on Wednesday and Thursday. Delaware St. is the top seed.
• Sun Belt. It will be a showdown between the Best of the West as Denver beat Western Kentucky, and the Ragin Cajuns of La-Lafayette took care of Florida International to advance to tomorrow night's championship.
  

9 teams are now automatically in the tournament. 3 more will punch their tickets tomorrow night.

I watched tonight's premier episode of The Contender, and I came away impressed. I like how the families are around the fighters, especially before and during their elimination bouts from the show. Sylvester Stallone doesn't dominate the show, which is a very good thing. The show allows each individual's story to be told, which is good. It was like watching a mini-Rocky. I'm hooked.

WOW

Opening thoughts: I think it's fair to say, we, as sports fans, were spoiled with today. You won't see many days as exciting as today was.

Let's talk hoops:

• Ohio St. 65, Illinois 64. Well, I was due to correctly predict a big game, but the way the Buckeyes did it was shocking to say the least. The Illini led 51-39 with 12 minutes to go and seemed to be in control when the Bucks started slowly chipping away. Terrence Dials became a nightmare for Illinois in the paint, scoring 21 points and 8 rebounds while Matt Sylvester created matchup problems in the perimeter, leading the way with 25. But it looked like OSU would run out of gas after a James Augustine dunk put Illinois up 6 with 3 minutes left. But a tough Dials shot in the lane, followed by a sweet duck under left-hand by Sylvester cut it to 2 with 90 sec. left. Then, a big block by Dials and a contested 3 set the stage for Sylvester, who after a timeout, buried the go-ahead 3 with 5 sec. left. Roger Powell's 3 fell short at the other end, and the Bucks, for one day, were national champs. Illinois saw their weakness, athletic big guys who can rebound and make things happen as Dials and Sylvester gave Illinois fits. But this game was more Ohio St. winning it more than Illinois losing it. OSU didn't have one single turnover in the entire 2nd half, an astounding stat against the Illinois guards. OSU's defense was superb on the perimeter, contesting every 3. I still think Illinois is the favorite to win it all, but they should be wary of a team with athletic big men.
• Florida 53, Kentucky 52. This was Florida's first win over UK in 4 years, proving the Gators have the potential to do some postseason damage. Florida kept it close during the last 10 minutes, which is when UK's depth starts to take its toll. Anthony Roberson played smart basketball down the stretch, and David Lee was a man inside, getting a double-double.
  
• Missouri 72, Kansas 68. With the loss, Kansas lost the 1 seed for the Big 12 tourney, and for now, a 1 seed in the NCAA tourney. In addition, Keith Langford left the game early with a sprained ankle. His status is up in the air right now, although he thinks he'll be ready for the Big 12 tourney. Give credit to the Tigers, they really played hard, outrebounding the bigger Jayhawks 30-23 and getting to the foul line 34 times.
• N. Carolina 75, Duke 73. How can you top 3 Top 10 teams getting beat, including the last undefeated? How about another Duke/Carolina classic. This game was unbelievable for many reasons. First, Duke hung in and led for most of the 2nd half without a single J.J. Redick field goal. Lee Melchionni made 5 2nd half 3s to lead the Duke attack. The Dukies led by 9 with 4 minutes left, this one appeared to be over. But the Tar Heels came back, led by Sean May, who had one of the best individual performances in a Duke/Carolina game. 26 points, 24 rebounds, 12 coming on the offensive end for the big man, who had a big 3 point play late to cut the Duke lead to 2. May had more offensive rebounds by himself than Duke had as a team. After Raymond Felton got fouled, he made the first, but missed the 2nd of his 2 free throws. The loose ball came to freshman Marvin Williams, who incidentially hadn't played very well until this point. Williams came down with the loose ball, went back up, kissed it off the glass and got fouled to put Carolina up. Redick's 3 went in and out, Ewing airballed from 17, and Carolina clinched its first ACC regular season title in 12 years. Just another normal Duke/Carolina game. Why do they have to be so predictable, hehe.
• Wake Forest 55, NC State 53. And if you hadn't had enough yet, this game provided the encore. Wake led 35-27 at the half, executing offensively and defensively. The second half was a different story as the Wolfpack were able to slow the game down, only allowing 10 points in the first 16 minutes. NC State came back, and were up 3 with 20 seconds left when Justin Gray hit a tough 3 to tie things up. Inexplicably, NC State's Engit Atsur rushed a 3 and missed (may have gotten fouled) to give the ball back to Wake with 4 sec. left. Then, on a well-designed play by Coach Skip Prosser, Chris Paul inbounded to Vitas Danelius, who threw it right back to Paul. Paul had gotten by his defender and ran the ball down the court, hitting a fading one-hander from about 14 feet to win the game and all but end NC State's at-large hopes for an NCAA bid. Despite their great second half effort, NC State lost this game at the foul line, only hitting 9/21 from the line.

Now, for tonight's Championship Week roundup:

• America East. On their home floor, Binghamton played Vermont tough, but the Catamounts were too much, winning 76-65 and advancing to the championship game, which will be in Burlington on their home floor against Northeastern, who knocked off Maine. Vermont's big 2 were superb as Taylor Coppenrath went 12/15 from the floor, 10/12 from the line to score 34, while TJ Sorrentine added 25 on 9/16 shooting to lead the way. The championship will be played Saturday morning.
  
• Colonial. It will be the league's top 2 teams going at it as Old Dominion and Virginia Commonwealth advanced to tomorrow's championship game. ODU only has a small chance at an at-large bid, so they must essentially win to make the field. VCU did beat ODU earlier this year.
• Metro Atlantic. We got the rematch we were looking for. It will be Niagara/Rider III for the automatic bid tomorrow night. In the prior two meetings, the winning team has scored more than 100 points, and the last game went to overtime.
• Mid-Continent. The other two quarterfinals saw IUPUI advance in the first game, while Chicago St. is giving Valaparaiso a run for their money currently.
  
• Missouri Valley. Today was a good example of why the MVC tourney is the most underrated in the country. Top dawg Southern Illinois lost to 5 seed SW Missouri St. 65-61, opening the door for Wichita St. to get back in the NCAA mix. But Creighton quickly ended that, beating the Shockers for the 3rd time this year, 70-60. Southern Illinois is a lock for the Tourney, but it was still questionable that the MVC would get 2 bids. Southern Illinois losing probably knocked someone out.
• Northeast. The top seed, Monmouth was upset in the semifinals, setting up the unlikely championship game matchup of 12-16 Wagner vs. Fairleigh Dickinson. The championship will be played Wed. night at FDU.
• Patriot. Another rematch that everyone was hoping for as the top 2 teams, Holy Cross and Bucknell, will square off in the championship, at Holy Cross Fri. afternoon. Whoever wins this game is very capable of knocking off someone in the NCAAs.
• Sun Belt. In the other 2 quarterfinals, Western Kentucky has advanced while Louisiana-Lafayette seems to be on their way. As it stands right now, the semis will be: Denver/W. Kentucky and Florida International/La-Lafayette.
• West Coast. Gonzaga has already advanced to the finals with a convincing win over San Diego. The second semifinal has just gotten underway between Santa Clara and St. Mary's. A St. Mary's win pretty much cements their NCAA status, but it will have to come on Santa Clara's home floor, as they're hosting the conference tourney. All bubble teams are rooting for Gonzaga to win this tourney.

Tomorrow, 4 more automatic bids will be handed out, which will bring the number of teams that have automatically qualified up to 9.

And, as if the basketball weren't enough, there was the Duel at Doral between Phil Mickelson and Tiger Woods. In what felt like a major championship, Tiger made a 20 foot birdie on 17 to go up 1, then watched as Phil's tying chip lipped out on the last hole to give Tiger his 2nd win of the year. Who knew golf could have some March Madness?

March Madness also found its way to tennis as Croatia finished their upset victory over the US in 1st round Davis Cup play. Ivan Lubjcic knocked off Andy Roddick in a 5 set classic to give Croatia the win.

This is going to be a tough week to get things done, as it always is.

You gotta love it

Let's get right to it:

• Louisville 66, DePaul 62. You know this was a big game when 16,000+ came out to the old Rosemont Horizon for this one. The home crowd saw the Blue Demons outplay the Cards for most of it, but give it away at the end to keep the Blue Demons on the bubble. Despite another subpar performance from Francisco Garcia (He's thinking too much about the NBA), Larry O'Bannon and Taqean Dean (in the 2nd half) picked up the slack. Louisville made 11/21 3s, which ended up being the difference as DePaul's Quemont Greer took a bad shot at the end in an effort to tie the game.
  
• Seton Hall 66, West Virginia 63. Bad, bad, bad, bad loss for the Mountaineers, who finish 8-8 in the Big East and now must win at least one game in the Big East tourney. WVU came from 16 down in the 2nd half to make it close, but the Hall got their biggest win of the year by making plays down the stretch to win.
• Xavier 74, Dayton 65. A UD Flyer basketball team now hasn't won a basketball game in the city of Cincinnati in 24 years. This loss forces the Flyers to play 4 games in 4 days if they want to make the NCAAs. The Muskies never trailed, scoring the first 14 points of the game, then holding off every UD challenge to win. UD was within 3 with 3 minutes to go when Will Caudle got 3 the old-fashioned way to seal the deal.
• Georgia Tech 64, Clemson 56. It wasn't pretty, but Tech got to 8-8 in the ACC behind 18 from Jarret Jack and 17 from B.J. Elder. The Jackets are playing better and should be in, but they need to win a game in the ACC tourney to assure their place in the field.
• Texas A&M 84, Baylor 76. The Aggies took care of business, finishing 8-8 in the Big 12. They might need 2 wins in the Big 12 tourney to get in.
• Pittsburgh 85, Notre Dame 77. The Panthers finish the regular season strong, getting back-to-back impressive road wins, clinching the last 1st round bye in the Big East tourney. Chris Taft and Chevy Troutman combined for 48 points and 20 rebounds to lead the way as Pitt shot 57% from the floor, getting an astounding 23 assists. When Taft plays like this, he can be a difference maker and propel Pitt to a higher level. In his last home game, Chris Thomas only went 2/13 from the floor, 0/8 from 3. The Irish are still in good shape, but they can't slip up against Rutgers in the Big East tourney.
• Marshall 54, Miami 47. Bad, bad, bad, bad loss for the Redhawks. At the end of the day, Miami still was able to back into the outright MAC championship thanks to Akron and Ohio losing, but their at-large chances are severly damaged with the loss. 33 of the Redhawks' 52 field goal attempts were 3s, way too many.
• Stanford 77, Washington 67. After the bad loss to Washington St. Thurs. night, Stanford bounced back, literally, into the NCAA tourney, denying the Huskies a share of the Pac 10 title. Stanford did a great job of controlling tempo and getting to the foul line, going 33/40 compared to just 4/6 for UW.
  
• UConn 88, Syracuse 70. I don't want to play UConn right now. Charlie Villaneuva had 14 rebounds, Rudy Gay had 16 points, Demond Brown had 21 points, and Marcus Williams had 11 points and 10 assists for the Huskies. 19 turnovers is still way too many, but 54% shooting and going 30/36 from the line make up for it. The Cuse shot just 31% from the floor, 2/22 from 3. They haven't beaten one great team this year. They have the talent, but there are too many holes in the zone and they take too many bad shots.
• Virginia Tech 86, Maryland 76. So, who do you take if you're the committee? Maryland swept Duke, but finished 7-9 in the ACC, getting swept by NC State and Clemson. Va. Tech beat Duke and Maryland, but got clobbered by NC State recently and haven't beaten anyone else at the top of the league. Tech had all 5 starters in double figures and outrebounded the Terps 39-30, 16-7 on the offensive glass. I'd be worried if you're Maryland. Yes, sweeping Duke counts for something, but so does getting swept by Clemson.
• Indiana 77, Northwestern 55. The Hoosiers finish 10-6 in the Big 10, which usually means an invite, but they need to win at least 1 game, 2 to be safe, to make the Dance.
• South Florida 85, Charlotte 73. Another 49er headscratchter. When will this team ever play with a consistent drive and intensity? Charlotte got outrebounded 42-34, 16-10 offensively. I rest my case.
• Providence 68, Georgetown 65. The Hoyas are on the outside looking in, stumbling to an 8-8 Big East record. They need to win a couple of games in the Big East tourney, because West Virginia has a better at-large profile and would get in over the Hoyas if the season ended today.
• UCLA 73, Oregon 61. Regardless of what happens in the Pac 10 tourney, although they should win their 1st game just to make sure, the Bruins are in after taking care of business at home.
• Texas 74, Oklahoma St. 73. The Longhorns are definitely in after finding a way to win in Stillwater on Senior Night to get to 20 wins. Brad Buckman took on the OSU front line by himself practically, scoring 27 and grabbing 9 rebounds, and the Longhorns outrebounded the more physical Cowboys 33-22. Buckman almost let OSU off the hook, fouling Terrence Crawford as he was heaving a half-court prayer, giving him a chance to tie things up, but he only made 2/3, letting Buckman off the hook.

Let's get into some Championship Week action:

• Winthrop 68, Charleston Southern 46. The Eagles claimed the Big South title, pulling away late to beat the upstart Buccaneers. Winthrop pulled away in the last 10 minutes, making timely 3s while playing tough man defense. The Eagles made 11/22 3s for the game to go to 27-5. Despite their tough defense and shooting, it would take a really bad day by a Top 10 team for Winthrop to have a chance of advancing into the 2nd round.
• Central Florida 63, Gardner-Webb 54. The Golden Knights won the Atlantic Sun title for the second straight year, playing their trademark defense. This team played Pitt tough last year for 35 minutes before falling, and with a lot of guys back, they could give someone a run for their money. It looked as if top seed GW was exhausted from having to go to the buzzer 2 nights in a row just to make it to the finals. The Bulldogs only scored 16 points in the 1st half, and only shot 35% for the game.
• Eastern Kentucky 52, Austin Peay 46. There will be no chants of "Let's Go Peay" in the NCAAs as the Colonels of EKU are going dancing for the first time since 1979. Congrats to former UK star and coach Travis Ford for leading EKU to a school record of 22 wins. This was an ugly game, with neither team shooting better than 40%. I don't see the Colonels giving anyone a scare in the NCAAs, they're just not big enough and won't scare anyone offensively.
• UT-Chattanooga 66, UNC Greensboro 62. Despite almost blowing a 10 point lead with 4:30 left, UTC won the Southern Conference title on their home floor, and are going dancing for the first time since 1997. This team could give someone a run for their money. They're athletic and are good offensively.
  
• America East. 3 seed Boston U. fell 47-45 to Maine, making the road a little easier for top seed Vermont. If the Catamounts knock off Binghamton (on their home floor) in the semis, they will host the championship next weekend against the winner of Northeastern/Maine.
• Big Sky. Montana and Weber St. advanced to the semifinals where they will play Portland St. and Montana St. respectively. Portland St. is the top seed.
• Colonial. Hofstra pulled a mild upset in beating Drexel, but the top 3 teams all advanced to the semifinals comfortably.
  
• Horizon. Detroit upset UW-Green Bay to advance to the finals where they will have to knock off UW-Milwaukee on their home floor to go dancing.
• Metro Atlantic. Iona pulled a mild upset, beating St. Peter's, advancing to the semis to play Niagara, who finally gets to play. This could work against Niagara because it does take some time to adjust to the tournament atmosphere. The length of time it takes Niagara to adjust will determine if they can win and advance to the finals. Rider and Fairfield will play in the other semifinal.
  
• Mid-Continent. Top seed Oral Roberts advanced, but 2 seed UMKC was upset by Oakland. The other 2 quarterfinal matchups take place tomorrow. Oral Roberts has homecourt advantage.
• Missouri Valley. Southwest Missouri St. ended the slim at-large hopes of Northern Iowa by knocking them out in the quarters. The other top seeds advanced to the semis.
• Sun Belt. Denver advanced, but Arkansas-Little Rock was upset by Florida International in the quarterfinals. The other 2 quarterfinal matchups take place tomorrow.
• West Coast. San Diego has advanced to play in Gonzaga in one semifinal, while currently Santa Clara is on their way to playing St. Mary's in the other semifinal.

Now, let's preview tomorrow's action:

• Illinois at Ohio St. This is the National Championship for the Bucks. They are ineligible for postseason play, so they will put everything into this game, and you better believe Thad Matta will have OSU ready. Remember, Matta led his Xavier team to a thrashing of undefeated St. Joe's in the A-10 quarters, starting Xavier's Elite 8 run. Add to that it's an early start and James Augustine is banged up, OHIO ST. WILL BEAT ILLINOIS. (Just to avoid any confusion)
• Duke at North Carolina. A win by UNC sews up a 1 seed in the NCAA tourney. But, can they beat Duke without Rashard McCants? Can Duke beat a quality team without Sean Dockery?
• Wake Forest at NC State. The Deacons still have work to do to earn a 1 seed in the NCAAs. The Wolfpack must win to have any chance of an at-large bid. Can the Deacons play defense on the road?

5 teams have automatically qualified, there are 26 automatic spots left. You gotta love this time of year!!!!!

Also, the US trails Croatia 2-1 in Davis Cup play after the Bryan brothers lost in the doubles. This means Andy Roddick and Andre Agassi must win tomorrow for the US to advance. Phil Mickelson shot 66 to lead by 2 after the 3rd round at Doral. Lurking is Tiger Woods, who shot 63. They will play together in the final group tomorrow.