Pledge Phi Slamma Jamma

Now that the semester is over, I need something to keep me busy before I really get serious on my exit paper. Enter www.whatifsports.com.

This website, for free, lets you play simulated games between teams from the past, for instance the 85 Bears vs. the 89 49ers. It also, for free, lets you come up with your own teams using players from all eras to compete in leagues. For a cost, you can play a full season. So, because I'm bored right now, I decided to create an Ultimate NCAA Basketball Tournament pitting the best against the best (or what the website could offer). I picked, to the best of my knowledge, the 64 best college teams ever. Now, because the website didn't have every team from the past, there are some notable teams missing. Larry Bird's Indiana St. team, none of the Walton/Alcindor teams from UCLA, the Texas Western Team, Bill Russell's San Francisco teams, and Jerry Lucas's Ohio St. teams. But most of the big boys were there, so here are 1st round results.

East Region

• 81-82 N. Carolina 82 01-02 Kent St. 65. I included a couple of mid-majors just to spice things up. The Kent St. Elite 8 team didn't have enough to compete with the #1 overall seed of the tournament. James Worthy scored 28 on 12/12 shooting.
• 04-05 Illinois 85 91-92 Michigan 80. The Fab 5 couldn't get it done vs. the Orange Crush. Deron Williams had 19 pts., 7 rebs., and 6 assists for UI.
• 97-98 Kentucky 82 85-86 Duke 76. Tubby Smith's first national championship team was too much for Coach K's 1st Final 4 team. Nazr Mohammed, who was dominant in that Final 4, had 13 points and 10 boards for UK.
• 88-89 Seton Hall 85 80-81 Indiana 73. P.J. Carlesimo's runner-up team from 89 beat Isiah Thomas and Bob Knight's 2nd national championship team. Ramon Ramos had 16 pts and 16 boards for the Hall.
• 85-86 Louisville 72 80-81 Virginia 65. Despite a double-double from Ralph Sampson, Denny Crum's 2nd national championship team advanced. And yes, Pervis Ellison is still "never nervous"
• 00-01 Duke 92 01-02 Indiana 77. This was a rematch from the Sweet 16 in '02 when Indiana pulled off the upset, except Duke had Shane Battier for this game, and he was the difference with 18 pts and 8 boards.
• 88-89 Michigan 88 96-97 Kansas 84. In what would become a theme, a Roy Williams coached team lost in the 1st round. Rumeal Robinson had 19 pts, 8 assists, and 5 boards, eliminating a Kansas team that dominated that season, but underachieved in the Tourney.
• 94-95 UCLA 79 02-03 Texas 74. Before Jim Harrick got in trouble, he had a pretty good team that won it all in '95. Tyus Edney outdueled T. J. Ford, scoring 18 with 10 dimes (assists).

Midwest Region

• 75-76 Indiana 83 98-99 Ohio St. 78. The top seeded Hoosiers remained perfect, but barely as Bob Knight's alma mater gave him all he could handle. Quinn Buckner had 16 pts, 10 boards, and 5 assists.
• 87-88 Kansas 77 95-96 UMass 75. Danny and the Miracles pulled out another one, beating a strong UMass team that was ranked #1 for much of '96. Manning had 26.
• 95-96 Kentucky 93 99-00 Florida 91. Rick Pitino's only national championship team survived an upset bid from former assistant Billy Donovan's Gators. Tony Delk hit 6 3s for UK, scoring 26.
• 73-74 NC State 91 00-01 Arizona 86. Old school beat new school as David Thompson led the Wolfpack with 27. My dad has said that David Thompson was the best basketball player he ever saw, and maybe the greatest athlete before drugs cut short his career. He had a 40+ inch vertical leap, in the 70s!!! In the few clips I've seen of Thompson, I agree with my dad, he would've been fun to watch.
• 77-78 Kentucky 89 99-00 Cincinnati 75. Joe B. Hall's club took care of a UC team that was a favorite to win it all in 2000 until Kenyon Martin broke his leg in the C-USA tournament.
• 77-78 Duke 89 04-05 N. Carolina 83. A huge upset as the most recent national champs went down to a Duke team that was the '78 runner-up. Even with Sean May and the Williamses, Mike Gminski was unstoppable, scoring 25 and grabbing 9 boards.
• 86-87 Syracuse 87 79-80 Louisville 72. 23 points and 9 boards from Dr. Dunkenstein himself, Darrell Griffith was not enough to slow down Jim Boeheim's '87 Orange who were runners-up. I loved this Syracuse team with Sherman Douglas, Rony Seikaly, and Derrick Coleman.
• 78-79 Michigan St. 82 03-04 St. Joe's 80. The Hawks were game, getting 48 points from Jameer Nelson and Delonte West, but these Spartans had some Magic, who scored 22, had 8 assists and 7 boards.

Southeast Region

• 91-92 Duke 90 98-99 Gonzaga 74. The top seed Dukies got 23 pts and 14 boards from Christian Laettner to knock off the first Gonzaga team to go deep in the NCAAs.
• 82-83 Houston 86 84-85 Villanova 70. Not even a perfect game would've knocked off the team they called Phi Slamma Jamma. Akeem, spelled with an A then, had 12 points, 9 boards, and 7 blocks.
• 01-02 Maryland 80 03-04 Ga. Tech 77. Lonny Baxter had a double double for the Terps in this ACC matchup.
• 95-96 Syracuse 78 86-87 Indiana 75. This Hoosiers team beat Syracuse for their national championship, but the 95-96 edition got the better of them this time. John Wallace, who dominated the '96 Tourney, was the same in this one, scoring 25.
• 96-97 Arizona 86 89-90 Duke 84. Lute Olson's sole national championship team beat another Coach K entry behind 18 from Miles Simon.
• 79-80 UCLA 80 99-00 Michigan St. 78. Larry Brown was up to his old tricks again, leading his 2nd team into the 2nd round, upsetting the Flintstones. Kiki Vandeweghe had 19 pts and 10 rebs for the Bruins.
• 87-88 Oklahoma 92 76-77 Marquette 79. An underrated team in the history of college ball because they didn't win a national title, this team defined the term "run and gun". Al McGuire's boys, a fine team themselves, couldn't slow down Boomer Sooner and Stacey King.
• 03-04 UConn 87 84-85 St. John's 84. Emeka Okafor had 22 points and 16 boards for UConn, holding off Chris Mullin and coach Lou Carneseca's upset bid.

West Region

• 89-90 UNLV 89 03-04 Wake Forest 77. The team everyone loves to hate are the top seed in this region. Larry Johnson and David Butler combined for 35 points and 26 boards.
• 98-99 Duke 89 82-83 NC State 80. Maybe the best team to never win it all was this Duke team with Elton Brand, Will Avery, Corey Maggette among others. Jim Valvano was probably looking for someone's shoulder to cry on instead of someone to hug after this one.
• 93-94 Arkansas 84 97-98 Utah 78. Corliss Williamson & Co. got it done as the big fella led the way with 17.
• 92-93 N. Carolina 94 74-75 Kentucky 93. Dean Smith's 2nd national championship team got 25 points and 9 boards from Eric Montross (remember him) to win.
• 02-03 Syracuse 84 93-94 Duke 79. Jim Boeheim-led teams went 3-0, as they knocked off this Grant Hill-led Duke team led by 21 points and 10 boards from Carmelo Anthony.
• 98-99 UConn 79 03-04 Stanford 76. The team that upset Duke in '99 held off the team that almost went undefeated last year. Kevin Freeman had 14 points and 12 boards for UConn.
• 61-62 Cincinnati 80 02-03 Kansas 79. The oldest team in the tourney knocked off Roy Williams, sending him to an 0-3 record in the tourney. UC was a real force in basketball starting with Oscar Robertson in the late 50s, and continued without him into the early 60s. If I remember correctly, they made 6 straight Final 4s, winning 2 national championships.
• 03-04 Oklahoma St. 83 83-84 Georgetown 66. Clearly, the upset of the day as the Cowboys weren't intimidated by Patrick Ewing's 8 blocked shots.

The 2nd round will be played tomorrow. I love college basketball. I hope you enjoy this little tournament I'm doing. It's much better than watching the horrendous officiating in the NBA playoffs or the Cincinnati Reds blow lead after lead. NBA officiating may be the biggest reason why I can't watch the NBA. These guys know ZERO basketball.

In the Amazing Race tonight, Gretchen and Meredith were eliminated, ending a miraculous run for the old folks. Survivor Rob and Amber seem to be the favorites to win in next season's finale. And I'll be watching American Idol tomorrow night, well, the ABC Primetime Investigation special that is hehe. It's time for "American Karaoke" to stop.

I don't think I've said anything on the Runaway Bride. This is turning out to be better than the movie. I can't believe this guy is still going to marry her. HELLO!!! She went all the way to Vegas, called 911 to make up a story, I think someone's trying to tell you something. I hope she has to pay back all of the money used in the search for her, she is crazy. Is anyone else freaked out also by her eyes in the pictures of her??? That would be enough to scare me.

And, who can forget our boy Kellen Winslow Jr., who injured himself by flying over the handlebars of his motorcycle. His knee is being treated at Cleveland Clinic and he could miss some time, maybe the whole season I heard. But, don't forget, HE'S A SOLDIA!!!!

Song of the Night: "Anytime You Need a Friend" Mariah Carey. Old-school Mariah, when she wasn't hip-hop and just sang.