Aka: "I Love Brackets" OR "How I chose to take 8 weeks and devote even more time to something I'm already kind of obsessed with"
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Tourney Notes, Tips, Anecdotes, & Fun Facts
With the opening round games tipping-off in a mere 55 hours...it's time for some notes, tips, anecdotes, thoughts, musings, and fun facts to help get you up to date with the tournament, as well as this blog.
CJS...I'm aware that you're in Boston, Mass. for St. Patrick's Day, but I must say that I'm disappointed you didn't comment on the (real) Syracuse/UConn post, after rooting so intently during the game and bitching so profusely when there wasn't a comprehensive post afterwards. I look forward to your return to the comments sections.
Hopefully I'll get around to a proper requiem post for this year's Davidson team in the next couple of days. Until then, for those who care deeply (Phil), Stephen Curry's Wildcats begin their NIT run tonight against South Carolina. It's a 7:00 pm game that will be nationally televised on ESPN2. Here's to hoping Curry stays around for his senior year and one more NCAA Tournament run.
Speaking of our resident Davidson alum, here is a quote Phil sent me featuring Dejuan Blair talking in the third person: Blair on Hasheem Thabeet before Pitt's second meeting with UConn, "I hope he shows up with an 'I'm going to kill DeJuan' attitude, because DeJuan already has that attitude for him. It should make for a beautiful game." Blair also referred to that game as a "celebrity death match" at some point. Anytime a sports star speaks in the third-person, I'm going to be a BIG fan.
I happened upon some interesting information regarding the graduation rates of this year's tournament teams. Here are the grad rates of the No. 1 seeds: North Carolina 86%, Pittsburgh 69%, Louisville 42%, and UConn 33%. Is there really any surprise here? UNC and Pitt clearly show they are the best two teams in this tournament when one combines academics and athletic ability. Not only does Jim Calhoun make "way more" than 1.6 million a year...he makes that money and doesn't bother to make graduating college a priority for his kids. What a trashy program. The exact opposite of a trashy program would be the Robert Morris Colonials, who were one of seven teams in the field with a 100% graduation rate. Nicely done boys. (The other six were Binghamton, Florida State, Marquette, Wake Forest, Utah State, and Western Kentucky) Cal St. Northridge had the worst grad rate of anyone in the field at 8%. Maryland was a close second at 10%. Great job Gary Williams, how do you sleep at night? I couldn't find the graduation rates for the Villanova or Holy Cross teams. Sorry. I'm guessing that Holy Cross' number would be quite high, as they won the "All-Academic NCAA Bracket" two years ago. Here is this year's All-Academic Bracket. A very fun way to waste some time.
We all know Pitt and UNC are dominant both on the court and in the classroom. But things may not be as dominant on the hardwood if the two No. 1 seed's injury problems don't improve. Ty Lawson's toe might keep him out of UNC's opener against Radford on Thursday. Levance Fields won't miss any time for Pitt because of his groin injury, but Pitt fans must be concerned that he might not be 100%.
A word of advice: PLEASE don't get caught up in the "sexy" upset picks this year. EVERYONE is going to be picking VCU over UCLA. When the bandwagon gets too crowded for any one underdog...it basically guarantees that underdog won't win. It's the reverse bandwagon effect in action. With that said, No. 11 seeds are 6-10 over the last four years while No. 12 seeds are 5-11. There will be upsets, you just have to be smart in picking the right ones.
I have to bring Duquesne's valiant run in the A-10 Tournament to attention. The Dukes did their best to get all three D-1 schools from Pittsburgh into the Big Dance by upsetting #2 Rhode Island and #3 Dayton on their way to the A-10 Championship Game where they lost to Temple. Duquesne's program has shown marked improvement over the past couple of years, winning 21 games this season after the on-campus shooting of 5 players just two and a half years ago. Interestingly enough, the Dukes play Virginia Tech in the first round of the NIT tomorrow night...another university that knows all-too-well about tragedy, sadness, and the painful process of healing.
What's the difference between a No. 1 seed and a No. 2 you may ask? In the last four years, all 16 No. 1s made it to the Sweet 16. Only nine of the 16 No. 2s made it that far. Oops...I may have just jinxed some number one seeds near and dear to the reader's hearts.
Matt...I'm thinking that when you and the family are back in the States for March Madness next year, you should seriously consider taking some pictures of you kids wearing Villanova gear. I don't know where your wife stands on this issue, but you know I'm a sucker for that stuff on the blog.
I have to talk about the Division III college basketball tournament because it includes some schools of interest. Carnegie Mellon (Pittsburgh) made the "little dance" and advanced to the second round only to lose to John Carroll University by a mere two points. JCU is of course one of 28 institutions that make up the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities. Regarding John Carroll...props must be given to CJS, R.B., and Sara (sorry if I forgot anyone). The team of note performing the best is Franklin and Marshall (props to Bryan). They reached the D-III Final Four and will battle a feisty Richard Stockton squad on Friday. My money is on Guilford, who beat John Carroll in the quarterfinals and play Washington U. on the other side of the bracket on Friday. Wheaton Ill. (props to Annie) won two games before losing to Wash. U. in the "sweet sixteen". We covered a lot of people, schools, and ground right here. I have officially conquered the 2009 D-III Tournament.
The play-in game (now called the opening round game) is tonight and pits Morehead State against Alabama State. The winner earns the right to get demolished by Louisville on Friday. I'm taking Lewis Jackson's Alamaba State squad featuring Chief Kickingstallionsims in a blowout.
Finally...as Chaz informed us in the comments section, Jay Bilas and Dick Vitale got into a good argument during a "Bracketology" segment on ESPN. The video is featured below. Things really kick into high gear around the 3:00 mark. The best part is when a frustrated and chippy Vitale says to Bilas, "I know you went to Duke, and I didn't go to Duke. But I'm telling you now, I don't buy it [Jay's point] at all". Fun stuff. The only thing that could have made this clip better was if Bilas was wearing the puffy winter coat from his photo shoot with Annie and Lydia Cate.
Jay Bilas is a clown. Dick Vitale was right-on in this clip. Does Bilas really think that it's fair that in order to play the elite schools, mid-level teams have to play away every time? If the tournament is going to continue to privilege the power conferences to this degree then the NCAA should enforce some standards on game scheduling - so that every mid-level team has a chance at getting a strong schedule and a fair one.
But I want to be the first on the record to point out anti-Catholicism in the selections for this tournament (anti-Catholicism being the last acceptable prejudice). Does anyone else think that it's suspicious that St. Mary's (run by the good Brothers of St. John Baptist de La Salle) and Creighton (run by the Jebbies) were so unfairly "left behind"?
What the heck was Digger doing at the very end of the clip?
Anti-Catholicism being the last acceptable prejudice? Strategic placement of the phrase "left behind"? The entire first paragraph being a thinly-veiled argument in favor of the proletariat vs. the bourgeoisie?
I absolutely LOVE it! This is what I expect and demand from Chaz. It's moments like this where I'm so proud I'm doing this blog...I'm pumping my fist in agreement while laughing hysterically at the same time.
Thanks for the F&M shout out, D. Gotta respect the little guys. Good ball is being played at academically-minded, small liberal arts schools across the country, and not only in the Patriot League. In fact, I'd bet the DIII finals will offer a higher quality of play and be more interesting than the Patriot League Conference Championship...
Wow, I don't know this Bryan person, but I like his attack on the Patriot League. I will stay away from blasting the Patriot League as my boys have American in the first round, so I don't want to bad mouth too much and potentially be embarrased later.
I think I can try to pull together some pics of the kids with 'Nova stuff on, I will also try to thrown in some China people/stuff in the background to make it more interesting.
One last thing, what was Digger doing at the end of that ESPN video, who the heck is pointing his finger out and why does it look like he is going to beat that person up?
Although I hate Jim Calhoun, I never understood why people blame the basketball coach when players don't graduate. Shouldn't we be blaming the parents for raising their kids so poorly. The parents should have raised their kids to take advantage of a free education, because 95% of them will not be pro basketball players, not even in Europe.
Matt & Chaz...I assume that Digger Phelps was getting some production assistant fired off camera with his frantic pointing.
AJ...I agree with some of your point. And I'm going to throw Jim Calhoun under the bus at every given opportunity. Graduation isn't (obviously) entirely on the coach. But the head coach and assistant coaches to play a large part in the academic progress of these kids. Their attitudes and priorities (for better or worse) are passed down to their players. Now you're going to get some dumb-ass kids, that's a given. I've just never heard of Calhoun talking with pride about graduation like Bob Knight or Dean Smith did.
With the opening round games tipping-off in a mere 55 hours...it's time for some notes, tips, anecdotes, thoughts, musings, and fun facts to help get you up to date with the tournament, as well as this blog.
Jay Bilas is a clown. Dick Vitale was right-on in this clip. Does Bilas really think that it's fair that in order to play the elite schools, mid-level teams have to play away every time? If the tournament is going to continue to privilege the power conferences to this degree then the NCAA should enforce some standards on game scheduling - so that every mid-level team has a chance at getting a strong schedule and a fair one.
ReplyDeleteBut I want to be the first on the record to point out anti-Catholicism in the selections for this tournament (anti-Catholicism being the last acceptable prejudice). Does anyone else think that it's suspicious that St. Mary's (run by the good Brothers of St. John Baptist de La Salle) and Creighton (run by the Jebbies) were so unfairly "left behind"?
What the heck was Digger doing at the very end of the clip?
Anti-Catholicism being the last acceptable prejudice? Strategic placement of the phrase "left behind"? The entire first paragraph being a thinly-veiled argument in favor of the proletariat vs. the bourgeoisie?
ReplyDeleteI absolutely LOVE it! This is what I expect and demand from Chaz. It's moments like this where I'm so proud I'm doing this blog...I'm pumping my fist in agreement while laughing hysterically at the same time.
Thanks for the F&M shout out, D. Gotta respect the little guys. Good ball is being played at academically-minded, small liberal arts schools across the country, and not only in the Patriot League. In fact, I'd bet the DIII finals will offer a higher quality of play and be more interesting than the Patriot League Conference Championship...
ReplyDeleteWow, I don't know this Bryan person, but I like his attack on the Patriot League. I will stay away from blasting the Patriot League as my boys have American in the first round, so I don't want to bad mouth too much and potentially be embarrased later.
ReplyDeleteI think I can try to pull together some pics of the kids with 'Nova stuff on, I will also try to thrown in some China people/stuff in the background to make it more interesting.
One last thing, what was Digger doing at the end of that ESPN video, who the heck is pointing his finger out and why does it look like he is going to beat that person up?
Although I hate Jim Calhoun, I never understood why people blame the basketball coach when players don't graduate. Shouldn't we be blaming the parents for raising their kids so poorly. The parents should have raised their kids to take advantage of a free education, because 95% of them will not be pro basketball players, not even in Europe.
ReplyDeleteMatt & Chaz...I assume that Digger Phelps was getting some production assistant fired off camera with his frantic pointing.
ReplyDeleteAJ...I agree with some of your point. And I'm going to throw Jim Calhoun under the bus at every given opportunity. Graduation isn't (obviously) entirely on the coach. But the head coach and assistant coaches to play a large part in the academic progress of these kids. Their attitudes and priorities (for better or worse) are passed down to their players. Now you're going to get some dumb-ass kids, that's a given. I've just never heard of Calhoun talking with pride about graduation like Bob Knight or Dean Smith did.