Welcome to Bracketville. We all reside in this state of mind for a month out of the calendar, a month which all of America is transfixed on sheets of integrity of their own bracket predictions. Predictions which many times will falter on the first day of the NCAA Tournament. Conference tournaments get underway this week with the mid-majors tipping off in the tourneys that actually mean something; not the collective four day money-grubbing fan fests. So this week belongs to the little guys, carving out their spot on the corner of the dance floor. We will have previews of each conference tournament on the day they tip.
First, this weekend featured teams clinching regular season titles and some bubble teams making some big performances as well as some teams maybe coming out of the woodwork to be legit national contenders.
Teams of the weekend
- Kansas. The Jayhawks throttled Missouri in a big time revenge game on national television to snag their 13th win in 14 games. The Jayhawks are peaking at the right time, and completed a great week where they got the big win in Norman against a top five Oklahoma team (sans Blake Griffin) and then a game they needed after blowing a second half lead against Mizzou two weeks ago. Sherron Collins and Cole Aldrich are playing like two players who have won a national title before and KU captures a regular season Big 12 title this week. Again.
- Georgetown. Could absolutely positively could not afford another loss, and needed a big time win. They accomplished both on Saturday afternoon by traveling to Philadelphia and beating Villanova. The Hoyas are now 16-12 and have the toughest schedule in all of America. They have road wins at 'Nova and UCONN and really have no poor losses on the entire schedule. The problem is the quantity of those losses, 12 of them. If they end the season in the Big East semis with 13 losses, GTown is making the dance.
- Virginia Tech. The Hokies went into Saturday knowing they could control their own destiny. Three games in seven days against ranked teams, two of which at home against UNC and Duke. By no means an easy task, but at the same time, they hold a spot which alot of bubble teams wish they could have. Tech has alot of losses on their resume and not alot of meat to speak for other than a diminishing road win at Wake Forest when they were number one. Who knows, that maybe enough, but not enough to feel confident especially after dropping the first one to Duke. Tech has got to get one of these last two and a win or two in the ACC tourney.
- BYU. They had the nation's longest win streak destroyed earlier this year when Wake went in to the Marriott Center and punched the Cougars in the mouth. BYU has been up and down all season in a real tough Mountain West. Not exactly a bubble team, the Cougars have figured prominently in most mock brackets all year, but they picked up the biggest win of the year against rival Utah Saturday. Utah has exceeded all expectations, leading the Mountain West wire to wire and BYU beating them cements their spot in the field. The Mountain West is by far the most underrated league in the country. They should get four teams in the field (UNLV, Utah, BYU, SDSU) and could possibly squeeze in New Mexico with a late surge by the Lobos.
- Florida. Why do you do this to college basketball fans? The Gators were playing for seeding as far as most advanced basketball minds were concerned, and then last week happened. Just win one game. Florida visits LSU and gets beat in the last few minutes, then hosts Tennessee on Sunday. Florida could have knocked Tennessee out of NCAA talks, but instead put themselves in a dicey situation. Bruce Pearl's Vols went into "The Swamp" and came out with a sticky 79-75 win. Florida now faces two games they better win; a contest in Starkville against Mississippi State on Wednesday night and then a home showdown against two bubblers, Kentucky on Sunday. If not, the SEC Tournament becomes vital for Florida, a team in the top 20 just two weeks ago.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Column: Bracketbusters: Just one big bust?
There is a series of teams playing made-for-tv blockbuster matchups this weekend expected to boost possible NCAA at-large resumes for mid major programs, presented of course by ESPN. ESPN has created BracketBuster Weekend, a chance for smaller schools to possibly get some national recognition with a rare television game and a chance to play a non conference opponent with a similar RPI in hopes of impressing the committee for later March. In 2006, the fourth year of the BracketBusters George Mason used a huge win at Wichita State to squeeze into the field of 65 and spring board their way to a Final Four appearance, without question the best instance of the BracketBusters. In 2008, Siena who had no chance for an at-large berth got to travel to Boise State for an untelevised, unexciting, half-filled game. Boise got to return to Siena this season in the legal BracketBuster return game. The whole idea of this grandiose weekend to celebrate successful mid-majors is fantastic in theory, and I love seeing mismatched games of teams I normally wouldn't see play. But I do not need to see VCU travel across the nation to play at Nevada on a Friday night, two nights after snatching first place in the CAA. Wisconsin Green Bay has no chance of gathering an at-large bid, being in second place in the Horizon league behind Butler. Yet UWGB gets the privilige of taking a trip to Long Beach State on a Saturday and then coming back into their league schedule this Tuesday night. Not a single team with the exception of maybe Butler will get an at-large from this slew of BracketBuster teams. Yet, nearly all of them have taken a weekend out of their season to play a meaningless money-grubbing game that will not get any ratings and just waste the time of both teams. Now the BracketBuster committee is not all bad; in the non-television games they pit teams against each other geographically to make it much easier on the teams that don't have a future. But really, what are the players from Cal Poly thinking? They get to host the South Dakota State Jackrabbits on Saturday afternoon. I'm sure the students will be a rowdy bunch for that one, both teams with middling records in the lower part of their leagues.
BracketBusters can help some mid-major teams in some seasons, but overall it is really just a made for tv waste of time that does not contribute anything to college basketball. One game will get decent ratings on Saturday, Davidson hosting Butler, and neither team will be in next week's top 25. Yet almost a hundred other mid major programs will travel all throughout the nation playing games that in a month nobody will remember because nobody cares. All thanks to ESPN.
BracketBusters can help some mid-major teams in some seasons, but overall it is really just a made for tv waste of time that does not contribute anything to college basketball. One game will get decent ratings on Saturday, Davidson hosting Butler, and neither team will be in next week's top 25. Yet almost a hundred other mid major programs will travel all throughout the nation playing games that in a month nobody will remember because nobody cares. All thanks to ESPN.
The Daily Gus: February 20th
UCLA was happy to get home on Thursday night after their Arizona swing last weekend went terribly wrong. The Bruins dropped back to back games to Arizona State and Arizona, tumbling in the polls from six to 20. They returned to Pauley Pavilion welcoming a tough Washington team who had won three in a row going into the showdown with UCLA. UCLA placed five guys in double figures and won the game in a way they are not accustomed to, scoring 85 points, 51 in the second half. Josh Shipp had 20 and Darren Collison had 17 for UCLA who avenged their loss to UW on Jan. 24. UCLA is not nearly as bad as they played on their Arizona swing, but I think them being ranked in the top ten is slightly overrating the Bruins. They struggled on big stages in the non conference and have really showed no signs of brilliance on the road in the Pac-10. The UCLA issue will be finding guys to score to take pressure off Collison in the clutch. Collison may very well be the best point guard in the land, but he cannot make the Bruins better by scoring 25 and trying to get 10 assists, it just won't work. Shipp and Aboya both better start to bring their games every night, and if they do, UCLA is still the best team in the Pac-10. If not, they can get crushed just as they did in Tucson last Saturday.
Shoot-Around- Gonzaga got very lucky that Patty Mills from St. Mary's got injured...the Zags clinched their ninth consecutive WCC regular season title, a feat that is truly remarkable. The longest active streak in the NCAA, Mark Few has continually done an outstanding job, overcoming different programs every year that seem to be on the cusp of getting the Zags at the right time. Steven Gray had a career-high 23 points and Gonzaga continues its balance within the conference. The task will be if that holds up in March...Gonzaga beat Loyola Marymount last night to clinch; Loyola is now (gasp!) 2-25! Loyola has been a 20-plus point underdog at Gonzaga for the last six seasons!!!
- Xavier goes on the road to 9-15 Charlotte, where the 49ers had not had a home win over a ranked team in over four seasons to Cincinnati. Bobby Lutz's Charlotte team has had a miserable time since joining the A-10, and Lutz has been on the hotseat as of late. Charlotte gets a huge win to beautify their schedule a bit and increase fan interest, beating the Muskies 65-60. Xavier is still ranked in the top 20, and is currently at 21-5. The issue is Xavier is by no means the same team that was down in Puerto Rico in November, an interesting turn to see where their seed will be.
Shoot-Around- Gonzaga got very lucky that Patty Mills from St. Mary's got injured...the Zags clinched their ninth consecutive WCC regular season title, a feat that is truly remarkable. The longest active streak in the NCAA, Mark Few has continually done an outstanding job, overcoming different programs every year that seem to be on the cusp of getting the Zags at the right time. Steven Gray had a career-high 23 points and Gonzaga continues its balance within the conference. The task will be if that holds up in March...Gonzaga beat Loyola Marymount last night to clinch; Loyola is now (gasp!) 2-25! Loyola has been a 20-plus point underdog at Gonzaga for the last six seasons!!!
- Xavier goes on the road to 9-15 Charlotte, where the 49ers had not had a home win over a ranked team in over four seasons to Cincinnati. Bobby Lutz's Charlotte team has had a miserable time since joining the A-10, and Lutz has been on the hotseat as of late. Charlotte gets a huge win to beautify their schedule a bit and increase fan interest, beating the Muskies 65-60. Xavier is still ranked in the top 20, and is currently at 21-5. The issue is Xavier is by no means the same team that was down in Puerto Rico in November, an interesting turn to see where their seed will be.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
The Daily Gus: February 17th
Another fantastic top-ten matchup occurred on Big Monday last night, putting up #1 UCONN at home against #4 Pittsburgh. Going into the game, I figured UCONN would be a manageable favorites at home, but would run away with the game. The Huskies are more athletic at every spot than Pittsburgh, or at least everyone thought so. That was before DeJuan Blair stepped up for Pitt after Sam Young got in foul trouble. Blair might have put in the performance of the season so far at its biggest stage, he went for 22 and 23. The most amazing thing about the Pitt sophomore forward was that he surrendered six inches to Hashim Thabeet of Uconn, and literally took it to him. He looked him in the eye and took Thabeet and the rest of the Huskies' manhood. Now take a gander at Pittsburgh, who I considered just a normal run of the mill Pitt team who would falter early in the NCAAs. But now, they have a scorer in Sam Young for the first time in years, they have a point guard who just needs to distribute in Levance Fields. Reflect back at past Pitt squads who were in the top ten. They had an interior forces all the time, but on the perimeter their distributor was also their scorer, Carl Krauser and Brandin Knight and Ronald Ramon to name a few. I am not a fan of the brutal Big Ten style that Pitt normally plays, but do not stereotype this Panther team. After watching Monday, I am a believer, I think they will win the Big East and end up being a top seed in the NCAAs. As for UCONN I think losing Jerome Dyson will be a bigger deal than most believe. Now UCONN has no real perimeter threat who they have had in their national title runs in the past. They got Adrien and Thabeet inside, yes, probably the best interior in the country. But match that with a team with some depth and size in the frontcourt and that may be negated. Not to mention, a 2-3 zone literally shuts down Connecticut now without a knock down shooter. The positive thing Conn can take from this showdown was Thabeet only played 20 some minutes, he was in foul trouble all game and could not perform at his best with a tweaked shoulder. But, I think things got flipped in the Big East Monday night. And maybe the national title picture.
Shoot-Around
- VMI is not going to win the Big South. Yes they still lead the league and have pretty much gone wire to wire, but they went down to Presbyterian last night and struggled from the field, shooting 19% in the first half, notching 15 first half points. The biggest problem with VMI is their style, if they are not shooting well or scoring they ain't gonna win. There is no "D" in VMI and it has proven evident in their losses. They managed to scratch and claw their way back to a six-point game before going cold again. VMI could get homecourt throughout the tournament which would be vital to the campaign, but at some point they are going to have to rely on a defensive stop to win a crucial game and they will not get it. Liberty and Radford will.
- For the first time in years there is trouble in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns dropped their fourth in sixth contests to state rival Texas A&M, who had lost three in a row in their own right. Texas got down by as many as 19, and the loss of D.J. Augustin is really prevalent, A.J. Abrams cannot do it by himself and Connor Atchley is far from the remedy. Texas now lies sixth in the Big 12 at 6-5 and could be in serious danger of falling on the bubbling bubble. Three of their last five are against teams above them, including a finale at Kansas.
- Action pretty light on Monday night.
Shoot-Around
- VMI is not going to win the Big South. Yes they still lead the league and have pretty much gone wire to wire, but they went down to Presbyterian last night and struggled from the field, shooting 19% in the first half, notching 15 first half points. The biggest problem with VMI is their style, if they are not shooting well or scoring they ain't gonna win. There is no "D" in VMI and it has proven evident in their losses. They managed to scratch and claw their way back to a six-point game before going cold again. VMI could get homecourt throughout the tournament which would be vital to the campaign, but at some point they are going to have to rely on a defensive stop to win a crucial game and they will not get it. Liberty and Radford will.
- For the first time in years there is trouble in Austin, Texas. The Longhorns dropped their fourth in sixth contests to state rival Texas A&M, who had lost three in a row in their own right. Texas got down by as many as 19, and the loss of D.J. Augustin is really prevalent, A.J. Abrams cannot do it by himself and Connor Atchley is far from the remedy. Texas now lies sixth in the Big 12 at 6-5 and could be in serious danger of falling on the bubbling bubble. Three of their last five are against teams above them, including a finale at Kansas.
- Action pretty light on Monday night.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
The Daily Gus: February 10th
Kansas led rival Missouri by 14 at halftime and by 11 with under seven minutes to play before allowing Missouri to creep back into the game and eventually win it 62-60. KU had 27 turnovers, but managed to lead the entire way due in large part to their tremendous advantage on the glass. Tyshawn Taylor was KU's leading scorer with just 11 points, but the Jayhawk defense was the reason they were in the game. Kansas held Mizzou to 36% shooting, a season low and a dismal 24% in the first half. Although KU surrendered the ball 27 times unnecessarily, this is a young team that went out on the road to an upstart rival squad and faired very solid. Kansas may be slightly overrated to have a #16 ranking, but as of last night I feel they deserve in the top 20. Winning at Missouri is a tall task, but for 35 minutes KU had this game in its arms. It was Missouri's 16th consecutive home win (21-4), a mark head coach Mike Anderson has got to take pride in and feel comfortable welcoming Big 12 teams to Columbia. The two teams were a combined 4 of 29 from three point range; it was 40 minutes of defensive strife which has become the Big 12 mainstay. Looking forward, Missouri might be able to play a role in the Big 12 championship race. Although Oklahoma controls its own destiny as the only unbeaten team in the league, the Sooners must travel to Columbia and Missouri's schedule is favorable the rest of the way, having only a tough road test in Lawrence which will certainly be a revenge game. This win could very well boost Missouri into some consideration for a top 25 mainstay the rest of the season. A far cry from the dismantling they took from Illinois back in December.
Shoot-Around
- Fresno State has been tremendously disappointing in the WAC this season, compiling a 1-7 league record going into Monday night's home game against Boise. Boise came in at 6-3 and was trying to put some distance between themselves and third place Nevada, but faltered on the road, giving up a 16-point halftime lead to Fresno. Boise clawed their way back, cutting it to four with 30 seconds remaining, but could not stop Paul George all night. George had 29 and 10 for Fresno on 9 of 11 shooting in 37 minutes. Boise allowed Fresno to shoot over 50%, the main reason why Boise is now caught in a WAC mish-mash with Nevada and New Mexico State. They are all eons behind Utah State; bubble teams everywhere will pray for Utah State to win the WAC tournament.
- Radford is having its first significant season since the late 1990s within the Big South this season, being the team to beat alongside VMI. Monday they entertained Coastal Carolina where they almost squandered the game to the eighth place Chanticleers. In a game that featured 34 turnovers (17 each) between the two teams, it went to overtime where Radford captured a 71-67 win, their 11th in 12 games. It was only the second single-digit win for Radford all season long, proving their Big South dominance. Radford now sets out on a three game road trip concluding with a contest in Lexington against 20-4 VMI, a trip they must go 3-0 on to maintain hope for a Big South regular season crown.
- A team not getting nearly enough national love is MAAC leader Siena. Siena won again last night, beating Loyola (MD) 73-60 at home, making them 12-0 at home this year. It moved the Saints to 12-1 in the league and 19-6 overall, their only league loss coming last Saturday at Rider by a last second basket. Siena's losses include Kansas, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Oklahoma State, all of which credible losses for a mid-major team to have. They are a balanced attack with three players averaging in double figures and the main core returning from last season's second round NCAA team. If Siena gets beat in the MAAC tournament, they will be an interesting case with a tremendously high RPI. They will be favored in every game the rest of the way, their toughest game at Niagra on Feb. 27. An RPI of mid 30s, a 25-7 record with a fantastic SOS when Selection Sunday comes a-hollerin? Watch out.
Shoot-Around
- Fresno State has been tremendously disappointing in the WAC this season, compiling a 1-7 league record going into Monday night's home game against Boise. Boise came in at 6-3 and was trying to put some distance between themselves and third place Nevada, but faltered on the road, giving up a 16-point halftime lead to Fresno. Boise clawed their way back, cutting it to four with 30 seconds remaining, but could not stop Paul George all night. George had 29 and 10 for Fresno on 9 of 11 shooting in 37 minutes. Boise allowed Fresno to shoot over 50%, the main reason why Boise is now caught in a WAC mish-mash with Nevada and New Mexico State. They are all eons behind Utah State; bubble teams everywhere will pray for Utah State to win the WAC tournament.
- Radford is having its first significant season since the late 1990s within the Big South this season, being the team to beat alongside VMI. Monday they entertained Coastal Carolina where they almost squandered the game to the eighth place Chanticleers. In a game that featured 34 turnovers (17 each) between the two teams, it went to overtime where Radford captured a 71-67 win, their 11th in 12 games. It was only the second single-digit win for Radford all season long, proving their Big South dominance. Radford now sets out on a three game road trip concluding with a contest in Lexington against 20-4 VMI, a trip they must go 3-0 on to maintain hope for a Big South regular season crown.
- A team not getting nearly enough national love is MAAC leader Siena. Siena won again last night, beating Loyola (MD) 73-60 at home, making them 12-0 at home this year. It moved the Saints to 12-1 in the league and 19-6 overall, their only league loss coming last Saturday at Rider by a last second basket. Siena's losses include Kansas, Pittsburgh, Tennessee and Oklahoma State, all of which credible losses for a mid-major team to have. They are a balanced attack with three players averaging in double figures and the main core returning from last season's second round NCAA team. If Siena gets beat in the MAAC tournament, they will be an interesting case with a tremendously high RPI. They will be favored in every game the rest of the way, their toughest game at Niagra on Feb. 27. An RPI of mid 30s, a 25-7 record with a fantastic SOS when Selection Sunday comes a-hollerin? Watch out.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)