SilverPhoenix

Don't worry, Maryland IS going to the NIT. If they don't, you can snipe the committee at will.

ACC Tournament is on right now with Duke and Miami opening up the festivities. Redick is still cold, but its only early in the game. We'll see if this continues. Penn State is beating Ohio State early, and the Memphis fans are all cheering their asses off for the Nittany Lions.

Well Maryland has its one last chance against Boston College tomorrow. Thanks for nothing, Georgia Tech. The Golden Farce rolls on, when USC couldn't win. As for the Mountain West, it is now 99% certain to be a one bid league. Their best At-Large Candidate (Air-Force) got beaten by Wyoming who is a miserable 12-17 with a RPI of 190, which speaks for itself. BYU (who has won 10 of 11 and 6 straight) does not have strong enough of a profile with a RPI number above 50, a 3-4 record against the Top 50 and 3 bad losses (100+ RPI applies here) to end their hopes if they lose. And even though San Diego State is the Regular Season Champion of the Conference, they too suffer from a RPI above 50, which is the point of no return for the Majors like the Mountain West. To make things worse, they have 5 Bad Losses, RPI wise. With the bubble as it is, they would end up in the same situation as Western Kentucky, and be left out should they not win.

I wasn't going to bring this up till the selection Sunday Thread I'm making, but it might as well be stated now. (And no, I'm not sensing you're attacking them. I just thought this would be the perfect lead in.) Why is the MVC getting so much flack? It's very simple, They have literally cracked the RPI code. Their Conference have been able to schedule teams that they know they can beat, and won't be totally horrid (avoiding the "buy game" trap). Almost every one of the teams did well in the OOC slate, guaranteeing them a gaudy record, and in turn a Great RPI, which will only rise with competition with each other. It worked, and no one else has thought of this. Except every Power Conference. However, due to such power, some members can have tough schedules while the others schedule light. The powerful teams have great records and great SOS off the bat. While the weaker teams (or cowardly teams) have just great records, but a strong conference to siphon off. Don't believe me. Let me show you a few schedules of some Power Conference Teams. Especially Bubble Teams. Exhibit A Exhibit B Exhibit C Exhibit D What is the common thing here? That is the word, Cupcake!! Each one of these teams and many more feasted on a healthy diet of the stuff. However, these are teams that fell way too short of their expectations and now have problems. The theory to their type of scheduling is simple when broken down. These teams would have no signature wins, except in-conference. They would coast off the same thing the Valley is doing now, and have been for years. And now people want to bitch about the system, even though the system is already broken? Bullshit. And before anyone brings up the Mid-Majors need to schedule tougher, because it is expected of them. Let me just say this, being from a Mid-Major School and learning the harsh reality first hand. You can't schedule tougher when most of these power conference schools when they won't return your phone calls, period. Not for a Home and Home, series, but for a one shot deal. No one in these conferences wants to play a GOOD Mid-Major team. Cause they can actually lose to them. Right now it doesn't make sense for them to do so. Of course, there is the theory of having the Good Mid-Majors play each other more, but that has already happened, and the Bracket Buster is the banner of these match ups. In my opinion, the best scenario for College Hoops is for the Valley to get 5-6 Bids and the CAA to get 3 Bids, along with this message. Get your butts on the road, and start playing better games against these schools that want to play you. While people may bitch, it'll even out the playing field a lot, as many more will want the best schedules possible. Is this realistic? Probably not, but it'll be the NCAA’s loss if it doesn't. (And no, I understand that not every team does this, or that this should be taken as a blanket statement. But the writing is on the wall.)

Of course I'm in. I'm aiming to win this shit.

The Big East Tournament has been fucking crazy. Syracuse has not only made 1, but 2 last second shots to give themselves chances to win. The Bearcats and the Marquette barely miss their 3 pointers to tie or win. UConn goes down, Notre Dame loses another heart breaker, Pittsburgh kicks the shit out of Louisville, and then goes on to only win by 5. Due in large part to the fact they don't score a field goal in the last 14 minutes. And tonight we shall run the table as we'll be getting a full scale blowout of Rutgers by Villanova. And to end the day, we have another potential classic in WVU/Pitt III

YES!!! I mean...what a shame....

You have a point here, Leena. Gerry the point guard is inferior to Gerry the Shooting Guard, last season proved that. If they had a better point man, Cuse is a 1 seed and is probably in the Final Four. But after the last 4 games, two of those losses, where Gerry has played his heart out, there is no way you can't say he isn't a good leader in his own right. After his performance today, despite his poor shooting, he's not just the cog that makes Syracuse go. He is the Orange for 2006. Without him, Syracuse is just as bad, if not worse than South Florida, and no one can deny this. And I may be biased cause I like the Cuse, but G-Mac is the kind of player who makes teams better just by being on the court. His unselfish play is what Adam Morrison and Redick lack at points (and I'm being nice to them) . And if he had their talent...he would be player of the year, no question. If Syracuse can win a 3rd Game tomorrow, I would not be surprised to see them become the first team to win 4 Games in 4 Days in the Big East Tournament. And no, this isn't an attack on you, Leena. Just my opinion, albeit an emotional one.

You're right. Now there is almost no way that the CAA gets 3 teams in. For that to happen, Maryland has got to lose to Wake Forest later today, and Texas A&M has to get blown out tomorrow. Not to mention that the Cal farce has to end tonight or tomorrow by somebody in the Pac 10. And it would help immensly for Flordia State to get knocked out too. You mixed it up a bit--Maryland hits Georgia Tech, and Florida State plays Wake in the opener. I don't know why people are still touting Maryland as a possible tournament team; I don't think they've been in it since they picked up the 8th conference loss. They're not a threat to anyone's spot unless they get to the ACC final. FSU beats Wake and I think they're in, as 10 total ACC wins--one of which is over Duke--should be enough. Mid-majors and high-majors always get screwed, and I think the committee will be much more likely to take that 5th ACC team than a 5th MVC team. Oh my bad. In all honesty I have Maryland out in the cold, as they should be. But losing tonight will end any hopes they may have. Gary acutally thinks that if he beats Tech tonight and Boston College (It's so wrong to see them in Greensboro, and not in NYC.) tomorrow he's going to get a bid. I can't wait to see his face when he doesn't. FSU HAS to lose tonight or they're a lock. No way they get left out after their win over G...I mean Duke. And I have to add this note. Nevada winning the WAC becomes critical, or the bubble will literally explode on somebody. Iggy: Hofstra probably is fucked, but the Skinn thing may come back to screw George Mason instead of Hofstra. And if Nevada loses...both may be screwed.

You're right. Now there is almost no way that the CAA gets 3 teams in. For that to happen, Maryland has got to lose to the YellowJackets later today, and Texas A&M has to get blown out tomorrow. Not to mention that the Cal farce has to end tonight or tomorrow by somebody in the Pac 10. And it would help immensly for Flordia State to get knocked out too. Otherwise, the CAA is going to get screwed, big time. Figures the ONE time I'm cheering for Cuse to lose, Mcnamara shows his true colors, and confirms how great of college ball player he really is. Jimmy B. is totally vindicated for his apeshit rant yesterday. At this point, all I got to say is, Go Nova!! You can enter the tournament as the number 1 team in the nation!

You know, I would love to see Kentucky aganist anyone of those teams. Cause I would take a modest wager ($20) on anyone of those 3 teams aganist Kentucky if they made it to the NCAAs and happened to meet up with them.

Not exactley, but the curses are there, and every single comment was said, but not in that order.

Somebody cracked under the pressure. That or he just had enough of his kids taking shots from people when none of them have deserved it. And Cinn should not be in the NCAA tournament. 12 losses to me is an automatic "bubble burst". Maryland's bubble burst when they lost to Florida St. and the Noles took their spot. The Big East should get six bids at the most. You're going to be very dissapointed on Selection Sunday. I can gurantee you this, 99%. Escpecially, if the Mid-Major screwjob does happen.

Jim Boeheim goes apeshit on ESPN. He goes on record and says that without Mcnamara, his team wouldn't win 10 fucking games this year. Calling all the papers (including the student paper), and assisstant coaches (Who he says, will never be Head Coaches.) full of bullshit. Draw your own conclusions people.

That shit was bananas. Mcnamara hits his best 3 pointer since the 2004 BYU Game where he single-handley beat that team. What a finish. Syracuse survives its turnovers and blowing a 12 point lead to win the game at the last second. Despite the errors, it was a well fought game, and the Bearcats suffer no shame in losing that game, escpecially after fighting back. But with a very weak and crowded bubble, Cincinnati may be in trouble on Sunday. We'll see.

Well, it's doom or die time for Syracuse today up aganist Cincinatti. If they lose this game, Syracuse is heading to the NIT and G-Mac's carrer in college is going to end uncermoniously unless they win the NIT. Even then, I don't think he even wants that. Nethertheless, either he, Devendorf, Roberts, Watkins, any combination or all 4 of them have a great game, then they're sure to be a 1 seed in the new NIT.

Wow, it seems like all 3 Championships games are itching very close to a blowout city. Oral Roberts handled Chicago State to redeem itself from last year's loss to Oakland 85 - 72 Wisconsin-Milwaukee defeated Butler 87-71 South Alabamba is handling Western Kentucky 81 - 55

I don't Gonzaga will lose their first game, unless the whole damn team goes cold in every aspect of the game. (And no, i wouldn't be surprised if one, the other, or both happened. But if they don't pull it together, find another scoring option and play unselfish ball, then the Zags will be out by the second round to some hungry 7th Seed. IMO, the first round game is going to show us whether they have a run in them or not. They play this way. They're done.

You haven't watched Morrison all year. The man is anything but unselfsih most of the time, and gets schooled on defense all day. Acutally I have and i so agree with your statement. If anything I'm kinda shocked as to how he played in this game. Hell, I'll go one futher and say that Morrision's inabality to be unselfish at times is part of the reason that causes Gonzaga to nearly lose to scrubby teams when they should win by 20. Like I said, he still has alot to prove, lets see him do that stuff aganist a Wisconsin, Boston College, Pitt or even a Nevada type of team. Then we'll talk about whether he can silence those critics. This stuff shows me he can play defense and pass the ball when he wants to. But is it only aganist this level of team in front of a full house at his own home court? We'll find out in 9 - 10 Days.

Leena, let me just apolgize for the TNA attack. It was unwarranted, and I overreacted. As for the asskissing remark..considering that Bored usually does great work with the Football side of college sports. I took it as a major complement. Time to take the high road here and take this E-Spat to the PMs if you wish to continue it there. Otherwise, I don't want to soil this any futher. I've already done so by taking it to you in the first place. Now for the Gonzaga game. The thing that impressed me the most was Morrison's (and everyone else who played) unselfishness and abality to create shots for the rest of his team. While he only had 26 points, (it's morrison so that's the only reason why I said, only there were many key shots and buckets that helped create for Batista and the other players on his. I would use these past two days to support the evidence that Morrision is damn complete player who can not only shoot, but pass and play good defense. But the WCC is down this year, and for Morrision to truly silence all questions, he's going to have to perform big in the tournament.

And speaking of misspelling, I wouldn't talk if I were you (Thank god I'm not). Before you talk about Hofstra's Bubble chances again, learn our players names, let alone spelling them right. Moving on from your failed attempt of a dig, lets recap tonight in full. UNCW wins over Hofstra. I gotta give special props to my school for leaving it all out on the court, and making a game out of a sure blowout. Nothing would make me happier than to see Hofsta get the call on Sunday. But there's still 5 days left, and lots of games to be played and a weekend full of decisions to be made. With that said UNCW looked sharp, and complete as a team. They're going to be tough game for anyone they come up against In the MAAC, despite Iona losing the regular season title and the bye to the Semis to Manhattan, they complete the destiny that was pre-ordained for them since December. Handling St. Peter's easily, Iona heads into the NCAA tournament after winning the ultimate prize the conference has to order. As for St. Peter's, they say goodbye to Keydren Clark who has lead that program from the abyss to 3 straight winning seasons. Clark is the all time leading scorer in the MAAC, for the state of New Jersey College Wise, the Mid Majors and 6th all time as of Monday Morning. Despite not making the NCAAs, he will go down in the record books. One can only hope that he gets a shot at pro-ball. Finally in the WCC, Gonzaga does it again, winning their 8th WCC Championship in dubious fashion, needing every minute of the clock to beat the powerhouse that was Loyola Marymount with a record of 12-18. The Lions were fueled by emotion and great inside play until the last second where they choked a winning layup. Gonzaga wins their 40th straight road game and their 28th in the K-2, which brings them to 28-0 (The New Kennel). Despite some urges to do so. Common sense prevailed and the fans decided not to rush the court. With the 6 Bids already handed out, these 3 join them to bring the total up to 9. So far, the wall of champions looks like this. Big South: Winthrop Atlantic Sun: Belmont Ohio Valley: Murray State Southern: Davidson Missouri Valley: Southern Illinois Ivy League: Pennsylvania Colonial: UNCW MAAC: Iona WCC: Gonzaga

Oh yeah. Before I begin today's Championship Previews, I just want to thank Bored and 2GOLD for the complements. It's an honor coming from you both. It is now Monday, March 6th, 2006. The regular season is officially over, and we are now in Championship Week. Championship Week is loved by some, loathed by others as it is filled with both good and bad aspects. No matter how you feel about it, you can't the hype or the drama it creates. And like the BCS, it is a flawed event that we can't all help but watch (and get more behind it, but that's for a blog entry). For the past week and last weekend, numerous small and mid-major (and a certain conference that is about to push its way into the major category) conferences have all begun their tournaments. In fact 5 Tournaments finished on the weekend and all of these teams join Pennslyvania as the first teams guranteed a spot in the tournament. And they are Big South: Winthrop Atlantic Sun: Belmont Ohio Valley: Murray State Southern: Davidson Missouri Valley: Southern Illinois And there you have it. The first 6 Teams in the tournament. Congratulations to them all Now onto the real business at hand. 3 Conference Championships will be decided within the next 12 hours. These are the Colonial, MAAC and WCC Conferences. Each of these games promises to be a very exciting one with enough storylines to live up to what March Madness is all about. And here we go. First the Colonial Dates: March 3rd - 6th Location: He...Richmond Virginia (Richmond Coliseum) TV: ESPN @ 7PM Teams #1 Seed Vs. #3 Seed Roads to the Championship Game #1 UNC Willmington Seahawks (24-7 (15-3) 37 RPI 115 SOS) def #9 Deleware 69-56 def #5 Northeastern 69-54 #3 Hofstra Pride (24-5 (14-4) 25 RPI 141 SOS) def #6 Virginia Commonwealth 72-66 def #2 George Mason 58-49 Past Tournament Champions 1983 James Madison 1984 Richmond 1985 Navy 1986 Navy 1987 Navy 1988 Richmond 1989 George Mason 1990 Richmond 1991 Richmond 1992 Old Dominion 1993 East Carolina 1994 James Madison 1995 Old Dominion 1996 Virginia Commonwealth 1997 Old Dominion 1998 Richmond 1999 George Mason 2000 UNC Wilmington 2001 George Mason 2002 UNC Wilmington 2003 UNC Wilmington 2004 VCU 2005 Old Dominion

I think as of tonight, George Mason or Hofstra/UNCW are going to be interchangable as to who in this group of 3 gets left out. However with GM, they would be the first team with an RPI in the Top 30, should their numbers even out as such to be left out of the tournament. Needless to say, I think the scenario that everyone is fearing is going to come to pass. Someone who is very deserving is going to get screwed. The comittee is going to be extremely tested in the next week. Lets hope it does the right thing. One more factor, Mason star player Tony Skinn has been suspended for the first postseason game after punching Hofstra's Loren Stokes down there. The absence of Skinn will no doubt be taken into account by the NCAA selection committee and significantly hurt the Patriots' chances of getting into the dance. *Watches the tape and goes "Oh Fuck!"* And I think the CAA went "fuck" collectively. That is pretty damn huge, Skinn IS what makes that team go, and is the reason why George Mason was nationally ranked until Hofstra kicked its ass. And now that I think about it (and I will write about this my full thoughts in a couple of posts.) George Mason really could be the first top 30 team to be left out. Escpecially since Hofstra swept them this season. Forget about the OOC SOS for a second here. If I had 1 final bid and I had to pick Hofstra or George Mason, I'd pick Hofstra just because they beat them twice. Congrats Skinn, you may have just robbed the CAA of 3 bids.

I think as of tonight, George Mason or Hofstra/UNCW are going to be interchangable as to who in this group of 3 gets left out. However with GM, they would be the first team with an RPI in the Top 30, should their numbers even out as such to be left out of the tournament. Needless to say, I think the scenario that everyone is fearing is going to come to pass. Someone who is very deserving is going to get screwed. The comittee is going to be extremely tested in the next week. Lets hope it does the right thing.

Speaking of Upsets. Two #1 Seeds go down in their conference tournaments. As Manhattan lost to St. Peter's and George Mason lost to my Alma Marta in Hofstra. Even though George Mason has gone down in defeat. It has had a great season, and due to its strong conference (it aint crappy this year, Cabbageboy) and strong RPI as of today George Mason should find itself in the tournament. (At large prognosis coming later) Manhattan however like Georgia Southern has found its way into the NIT due it's regular season championship and it's loss in its Conference Tournament. Speaking of the NIT. As some of you know (and all of you will now know), the NIT was acquired by the NCAA as the conclusion to a lawsuit where the NIT took the NCAA to court accusing it of monopolistic practices. This has lead to sweeping changes of the NIT tournament. Which include. - Seeding the Teams from 1 - 40 and the RPI will be used as a tool for seeding - The Higher seeds will host all games. - There will be a selection committee. - Teams under .500 are eligable to be selected - All Regular Season Conference Champions that don't win their conference championships are guranteed a bid. Personally I feel that these rules have the potential to make the NIT more interesting again as long as they are used correctly. I'm escpecially happy that all champions that lose in their tourney's are guranteed. Far too often we have seen many champions of smaller conferences have good year's...only to not be rewarded with any post season play at all. While bad Power Conference teams get in because they beat up on the SWAC in the non-conference slate. This now evens out that playing field. The one thing that concerns me however is the under .500 rule. How will this be used? Could it be used in rare occasions for teams that are good, but have had bad years. Or used to help Power Conference teams into the post season. We will know in the next 6 days.