Conference Tournaments Starting March 4th

Many remember the joy and disappointment provided by a scrappy Belmont squad last season when they took the evil Duke Blue Devils down to the wire in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Located in Nashville, Belmont University became part of the college basketball lexicon for many that night. But if you had been reading this blog...you would have known about Belmont well before that, when I picked them to win the Atlantic Sun Tournament. One of the reasons I fill out 30 Conference Tournament brackets is because the act of doing so is ridiculous. Another reason is that it provides an opportunity (for the readers and for myself) to know about these smaller schools before their coming out party in the Big Dance. You're welcome in advance. Three more Conference Tournaments begin tonight in the Patriot, Atlantic Sun, and Sunbelt. As always, my predicted champion is in bold.

• Patriot League - American - I'm predicting them to win the Patriot League Championship game...providing a dramatic conclusion to my "Props To The Patriot League #2" column. Unfortunately for Bill Simmons, Bob Casey Jr., and many other Holy Cross alumni, American University is better. Should be a good tournament though...last year, all four first-round games were decided by three points or less. Notable Seeds: #1 American, #2 Holy Cross (props to Chaz), #3 Navy, #5 Lehigh, #7 Bucknell (props to Josh)

• Atlantic Sun - Belmont - Jacksonville is somehow the #1 seed in this tournament, but I GUARANTEE they don't win it all. Belmont has won this conference tournament and reached the NCAA's for three consecutive seasons. Mercer is a very intriguing 6 seed as they defeated both Alabama and Auburn on the road this season. Lipscomb is a great sleeper pick here as the #4 seed. They have won 8 games in a row, including victories over all three teams above them in the seeding. I'm going with Belmont to do it again. They've been here many times before and they know what it takes. This class of seniors will cap off their careers by making the Big Dance four times. Notable seeds: #1 Jacksonville, #2 East Tennessee State, #3 Belmont (props to Ben), #4 Lipscomb, #6 Mercer

• Sun Belt - Western Kentucky - South Alabama was one of my bracket busters last season, but they have fallen on hard times. Most of these teams are of no consequence except for Western Kentucky or Troy. Located in Alabama, Troy University is on fire...losing only 2 games since New Year's Day, by a total of 3 points. Western Kentucky is notorious for defeating my adopted Drake team last season in a classic #5 vs. #12 upset. If I can't beat them, I'm going to join them. Notable Seeds: #1 Western Kentucky, #2 Arkansas-Little Rock, #3 Troy, #4 North Texas, #6 South Alabama, #7 Denver, #10 New Orleans, #12 Arkansas State

0201

DON'T GO OUTSIDE THE BLOG

...because your thoughts, opinions, and ideas will get posted anyway.

The following is what transpired Friday, February 27th on an e-mail thread after some mild interaction in the comments section of my first Patriot League post. Phil referred to the league as "uninteresting and depressing" and Matt went on record as saying "yawwwwnnnnn". This was the last straw for Chaz. The Holy Cross graduate had to take a stand. (But he should have taken it on the blog) I'm choosing not to edit any content, but I did add some information in brackets to assist readers in the experience. Enjoy.

Chaz - 12:05 pm

fired up by phil's post, i just wrote up this comment for damon's blog, but after re-reading it I realized that it was heavy on the personal attack and light on anything having to do with the tournament, so i decided that i still wanted to attack phil personally (and let you all in on it) but that i didn't feel the need to advertise it to damon's internet community. liz, for goodness sake, please post something on damon's blog - you're the one with real knowledge in our family and you're the only one, THE ONLY ONE, who graduated from a school (North Carolina) with a real chance of winning this thing. you need to humble Phil (no chance for alma mater [Davidson], adopted another school's [Pitt] team), Annie (no chance for alma mater (does Wheaton play basketball?), adopted new home's [Notre Dame] team (which has no chance), adopted husband's team [Davidson?]), Damon (no chance for alma mater [Robert Morris], adopted another school's [Pitt] team), Craig J (sadly, no chance for the [John Carrol] Blue Streak(s), adopted another school's team [Pitt? Syracuse?]), and me (no chance for alma mater although of course happy that the Patriot League still brings heart and class to the March Madness - and usually a good first round show).

Here is what I was going to write:

It's time.

While D-man has fired up his blog this week, I've been in sunny Simi Valley, California, home to the Ronald W. Reagan Presidential Library and Museum. Simi Valley has also been the home to the Charles Manson Family (in the 1960s), Michael Landon and the cast and crew of 'Little House on the Prairie' (in the 1970s), and the jury in the controversial Rodney King trial (in the 1990s).

Today, after reading D's illuminating post about a little-known NCAA conference and then reading some of the comments, I thought of Rodney King: "Can't we all just get along?"

I know that Phil gets some kind of sick pleasure at insulting Holy Cross basketball and the Patriot League, but it always reminds me of the Republican Senator who can't seem to say enough about how disordered gay people are: he protests too much. Need I remind Phil that in the fall of 2000, while a junior year abroad student at Mansfield College, Oxford, he was basically also a Holy Cross undergrad (all of his friends were Crusaders). May I also remind Phil that he benefited from one year with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, a program which receives no small amount of support from Worcester's college on the hill. And may I remind Phil, ABD [All But Dissertation], of one final thing: he does philosophy. By my lights, there is nothing more "uninteresting (and depressing)" than insecure white elitists exploring the mysteries of the universe by focusing narrowly on what insecure white elitists have written about the universe in the past.

And Matt, step the f off. I don't even know you and you are giving me ultimatums about when I should post? I hope that Annie kicks your as$.

But back to Rodney King. Phil, "Matt", quit trashing the Patriot League and let's get a long. It's not cool. If you would like to learn something about the league, which bares little resemblance to the CAA, read John Feinstein's book 'The Last Amateurs' which according to Amazon.com is the #1 book in the Basketball, College & University category (for Kindle). Nothing to "yaawwnn" at, Matt.

Oh, and Anna Lou leads Lydia Cate for the second week in a row.

Phil - 12:14 pm

CTS (Chaz),

you might as well go ahead and post this. most of the comments don't have to do with basketball anyway. personal attacks are all the rage...that's the beauty of damon's blog!

besides, your arguments for my debt to holy cross are pretty weak.

i also felt some tension between your claim that we should all get along and that matt should step the "f" off (not to mention your description of philosophy).

Chaz - 12:28 pm

my next comment on damon's blog: phil's debt to holy cross, in three parts.

CJS - 12:38 pm

I really feel all of this needs to be on the blog, it may be the only chance I have of seeing JVC [Jesuit Volunteer Corps] on a college basketball blog, or anywhere for that matter.


Thank you to everyone involved with this e-mail thread. It was quite an enjoyable experience. Chaz...never take things outside the blog again! That's what the comments sections are for!

0201

Weekend Wrap-Up - Oscar Edition

"Consistency is the last refuge of the unimaginative" ~ Oscar Wilde

"I love trash...I love it because it's trash" ~ Oscar The Grouch

I'm taking a moment here for self evaluation. I'll fully admit that my writing has not been up to snuff and that I've been recycling bits from last year's blog. I'm not necessarily going to CHANGE anything, I just wanted to disclose this in the hope that this blog will be an enjoyable experience for everyone, and that I'll continue to improve all the time. Thank you kindly. Tidings be.

Only 3 weeks left until selection Sunday. We're dangerously close to the beginning of the conference tournaments so it's time for this blog to push things forward. To do this, I'm going to attempt something never done before in the history of writing: create fake, Oscar'esque categories through which I'll describe some component of college basketball that took place over the weekend. Brilliant!

Best upset of the weekend: Take your pick - North Carolina lost to Maryland in overtime, UCLA got bumped by Washington St. at home, Oklahoma got shocked by Texas after Blake Griffin took one in the head, Robert Morris embarrassingly got tripped up by Wagner, Jerry Lewis continues to defeat death, and I actually ended up at the 31st Street Pub for a rock show.

Best performance picking Bracket Busters games: Not me. I went a passable 8-5 with my picks. I'm still not sure what the purpose was with those picks, except that I enjoy making picks. When in doubt (not the movie), go with the Missouri Valley Conference, they went 7-3 in their non-conference games this weekend. Phil does not win this category either as he went 0-1 with his picks, brashly choosing a shaken Davidson team over Butler.

Best team from Iowa this weekend: The Iowa Hawkeyes...narrowly beating out the Drake Bulldogs to win this category. Jake Kelly set career highs with 23 points and 9 rebounds (while playing all 45 minutes) in Iowa's overtime victory over Michigan on Saturday.

Best team in the Patriot League: American University. In a Patriot League battle for the ages, American U. defeated Holy Cross 56-50 on Saturday. The Crusaders had an opportunity to move into a first place tie in the conference with the Eagles, but it was not meant to be. Although these two squads split the season series...American U. is safely in first place and Holy Cross looks good to be the number two seed for the upcoming conference tournament.

Best props given from the stage during a performance: Bob, to me. Much thanks to you Bob for pimping my blog during the show this weekend. I'm not sure how many rock and roll kids are into the college basketball, but I don't care, it's the thought and props that count. I am truly humbled, though not yet famous. You definitely got the Toby Ziegler in you.

Best player in a "supporting" role: I know the Tar Heels lost this weekend, but after watching a couple of their games recently, I'm thinking that Ty Lawson is the real star of that team. Tyler Hansbrough receives most of the press and a lot of the fanfare...but Ty Lawson seems to be the leader of that squad. He's the player I'd want with the ball in his hands down 2 with under a minute remaining. Lawson has more skills and is more versatile than any of his teammates. He shouldn't be overshadowed by Hansbrough anymore. Am I wrong?

Best team to be ranked #1 in the nation tomorrow: Pitt! I'm giddy.

Best teams not bothering to recruit defensive players: Duke and Notre Dame. Both teams scored over 100 points in their wins this weekend. That's great and sexy and what-not, but come next month, those teams are going to play tough games in the tournament (NCAA or NIT) where that kind of shit ain't gonna fly. Athletic and physical teams win in march. Teams made up of twigs that have a knack for hitting three pointers don't go very far.

Best tirade by a coach: Jim Calhoun. The University of Connecticut head coach decides who is stupid and discusses the economic implications of athletic organizations while making me really want iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts. Enjoy!

0201