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.
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.