Broad Street Believers

After a solid four games yesterday at the World’s Most Famous Arena, we’ve got four more today, as the four winners from yesterday take on the next four teams to enter the tourney.

#8 West Virginia vs. #9 Connecticut
Everyone knows who Kevin Jones is, but do we really know how good he is?  Yes, he is averaging 20 and 11, which is amazing.  But, the offense isn’t exactly fast-paced and he’s still putting up these numbers.  Plus, he seems to save his best games for the biggest spotlights and the toughest frontcourts.  He had 30 & 12 against K-State.  He had 28 & 17 against the monstrous Baylor front line.  And, he had 26 & 14 against Syracuse.  If the Mountaineers weren’t in 8th place in their conference, he might be getting more talk for national POY.  Well, he’s still got a shot to shine, and it starts today against UConn, who took care of DePaul yesterday afternoon.  8 people have UConn in this mild upset (Dave, Gersh, KA, Primm, RDoc, Rikey, Stri, Waters).  Gross and Teddy both have West Virginia winning this game and tomorrow against against #1 Syracuse, so this is a big one to keep alive that big upset possibility.

#5 Georgetown vs. #13 Pittsburgh
What a game this is.  I think it’s safe to say that this is, easily, the game of the day.  G’town has potential Final Four talent.  Pitt was supposed to have Final Four talent, but it all went wrong.  After beating St. John’s yesterday, they continue their chance to make up for the disappointment of this season.  The winner here gets Cincinnati tomorrow.  This is a pretty big game as far as CTC implications go.  Bry and Gross both have this pretty big upset pick.  While 18 people have the Hoyas winning here, 11 people have them beating Cincy in the quarters (Alexi, Dave, Gersh, J, KA, Lynch, Primm, Rikey, RDoc, RSmith, Teddy).  J, Lynch, and Teddy have them going to the finals.  J and Lynch have them winning it all.

#7 Louisville vs. #10 Seton Hall
The Hall got a big bubble win last night against Providence and now they can probably cement their at-large chances with a win over Louisville.  As for L’ville, remember when they were in the Top-5?  Seems like forever ago because this team is not that great.  But, they are one of the best coached teams in America and they do have some talent, so they could be a tough out in this tournament and next week’s.  The winner here gets the #2-seed, Marquette.  J, Lohse, Lynch, and RDoc have a nice upset pick here.  The other 16 have the Cardinals.  Dave and Mac have Louisville reaching the semis.  Primm has them in the finals.

#6 South Florida vs. #14 Villanova
Oh, the USF Bulls.  Nothing like a conversation about them being on the bubble to get the talking heads to pretty much implode.  “They had a soft Big East schedule.”  “But, they finished 6th in an elite conference.”  Blah, blah, blah.  Today could go a long way to ending these debates.  Villanova actually looked pretty good last night, ending the Rutgers season with a 21-point win in the nightcap.  Today the ‘Cats go for two straight to earn a trip to the quarters to face #3 Notre Dame.  Primm is the only one with Villanova winning again here, so this would be a HUGE game for him, if they can do it (90 points gained on the rest of the field).  KA, RDoc, Scoot, Teddy, and Waters have already lost this game with Rutgers.  The other 14 all have USF.  The biggest USF fans today are Dave, J, and Lynch, who all have the Bulls going to the finals.  Gross could also use a win here, as he has them in the semis.

The time is now.  Here we go…

Championship
Patriot
NEC
Big Sky

Second Round Double-Header
MAC

Second-Round Quadruple-Header
Big East

Opening Round Doubleheader
Big XII

Opening Round Quadruple-Header
Pac-12
Conf USA

Quarterfinal Doubleheader
MEAC

Quarterfinal Quadruple-Header
Southland

Quarterfinal Doubleheader
SWAC

(NOTE: Due to a glitch in the scoring system, upset points were not being fully counted, so there were some minor changes to the scores.  J actually won Day 8, and Lohse ended Day 8 in the lead.)

Day Nine was a preview of what is to come in spades in the next couple of days – some big-time scoring opportunities, in which people can make serious runs up (or down) the leaderboard.  Gross had another terrific day and has moved all the way up to 2nd place in the overall standings.  But, even with the great day, he is only able to gain 23 points on the leader, as the Lohse Train just keeps rolling along, finishing in second place on the day.  Lynch and Doogan made the biggest moves upwards today.  Lynch jumped 4 spots to 12th, while Doogan climbed 3 spots to 9th.  Both have put themselves in position to really be a factor in the second week.  Gross jumped 2 spots to 2nd, and Dave went up 2 spots to 6th.  The biggest fall of the day was for RDoc, who fell 3 spots to 16th.  RSmith (now 8th), Stri (now 11th), and Rikey (now 13th) all fell 2 spots in the standings thanks to Day Nine.  Lohse became the first 2012 CTC’er to hit the 1000-point mark and was joined by 3 others on the day.

Reminder – while it seems like it is getting late, we’re not even really at the midpoint, if you consider the winner last year had well over 2,500 points.  So, there is plenty of time and opportunity to make moves – those opportunities are just going to come (and go) really quickly…

DAY NINE SCORES (days won):

1. Gross – 195 (1)
2. Lohse – 172 (3)
3. Doogan – 153
4. Lynch – 152
5. Dave – 137
6. Bry – 111
7. Primm – 111
8. Teddy – 109 (1)
9. Stri – 107 (1)
10. Alexi – 102
11. Lil Lohse – 102
12. Scoot – 102 (1)
13. J – 100 (1)
14. Mac – 94
15. Rikey – 94 (1)
16. Gersh – 92
17. RDoc – 91
18. RSmith – 87
19. Waters – 70
20. KA – 67

OVERALL STANDINGS (confs won):

1. Lohse – 1135.5 (BSouth, Horizon, OVC, ASun)
2. Gross – 1096.5 (ASun, CAA, Summit)
3. Alexi – 1055.5 (OVC, WCC)
4. Bry – 1034
5. Teddy – 995 (ASun, MAAC, Sun Belt)
6. Dave – 973 (OVC)
7. Mac – 960.5 (ASun)
8. RSmith – 959 (MVC)
9. Doogan – 941.5
10. Primm – -937
11. Stri – 934.5 (OVC, ASun)
12. Lynch – 896
13. Rikey – 895 (OVC, ASun)
14. Scoot – 877.5 (ASun)
15. J – 875 (BSouth)
16. RDoc – 868
17. Gersh – 811.5 (ASun)
18. Lil Lohse – 799 (SoCon)
19. Waters – 674.5
20. KA – 621.5

Ray Ray is ready for the Dance, and so are his Titans.  A pretty fantastic Horizon season comes to a close, and Detroit is the champion.  It was a really nice season in the Horizon, which is quickly becoming one of the top mid-major conferences in the country – maybe even challenging the MVC for mid-major supremacy in the Midwest.  Even with Butler completely retooling (and they will be back with a vengeance next year and beyond), this league showed some real promise, going 7-8 teams deep.

Lohse completes a very impressive Horizon bracket, where he only missed one opening round game.  Dave wins the “money” division over Bry with the win.  J brings up the rear in the Horizon, finishing with just 18 points.

#3 Detroit 68 – #1 Valparaiso 50
The 18-point margin does not do this game justice, as it was a good, close game most of the way through.  It was the Detroit stifling defense that got it done, and they are dancing.  I would not want to be matched up with them next week.  They have a star player who will not be intimidated by anyone at any level, they’re battle-tested through a tough Horizon in which they started slow, so they’ve been playing important games for several weeks now, they seem to have the ability to play at just about any tempo, and they seem to have that certain something that makes them dangerous.  Dave, Gross, and Lohse all pick up the 60 points that goes along with this correct championship pick.

FINAL HORIZON STANDINGS:

1. Lohse – 165 (’12)
2. Dave – 147
3. Gross – 123
4. Waters – 111 (’08)
5. Alexi – 105
6. Mac – 87
7. Scoot – 87
8. Bry – 78 (’09/’11*)
9. Primm – 78
10. Stri – 66
11. Rikey – 60
12. Doogan – 54 (’10*)
13. RDoc – 54
14. RSmith – 54
15. Gersh – 48
16. Lynch – 42
17. KA – 30
18. Lil Lohse – 18
19. Teddy – 18 (’10*)
20. J – 12

A solid season in the Summit got what they needed – their most marketable player getting to take a trip to the Dance (and should avoid any 16-seed, let alone the First Four).  The conference tournament was marked by one small upset (S. Utah taking out three-time defending champion Oakland in the quarters) and one huge upset (W. Illinois taking out heavy favorite ORU in the semis).  And, in the end, we had an overtime championship game between two teams that had never been to the Dance.  Pretty solid tournament.

As for the CTC side, Gross completed another impressive bracket here to take the 2012 Summit trophy home to his ever-growing trophy case.  He actually blew away the field, nearly doubling the next closest competitor.  Dave, KA, and Waters dropped 110 points to Gross thanks to the Summit League’s results.  Gross’s victory was his second straight, as he was part of that 8-way tie last year.  The win also snapped a two-year streak for both Bry and Lohse, who each had shares of this title in ’10 and ’11.

#2 South Dakota St. 52 – #4 Western Illinois 50 (OT)
When you barely get 100 points, combined in an overtime game, it’s either great defense or a bad game.  Well, it was more good defense, but there was a little “bad game” in there, as well.  Doogan, Gross, Lynch, Primm, and Teddy all hit this 32-point championship pick.

FINAL SUMMIT STANDINGS:

1. Gross – 118 (’11*/’12)
2. Doogan – 64 (’09)
3. Lynch – 64 (’11*)
4. Primm – 64
5. Teddy – 64 (’11*)
6. Bry – 52 (’10/’11)
7. Scoot – 40
8. Gersh – 32
9. Rikey – 32
10. RDoc – 32
11. Stri – 32 (’09/’11*)
12. Alexi – 24 (’10)
13. Lil Lohse – 24 (’11*)
14. Lohse – 24 (’10/’11*)
15. J – 16
16. Mac – 16 (’11*)
17. RSmith – 16
18. Dave – 8
19. KA – 8
20. Waters – 8 (’08*)

Welcome to the First Four…Western Kentucky!  This conference this year shows a lot of red on the page (but those that hit the upsets were pretty happy about it).  Only one of the top 4 seeds made the semifinals (#3 Denver) and promptly lost.  The final was the 7-seed “upsetting” the 5-seed, as the Hilltoppers, despite their losing record for the season, are in the Dance…sort of.

Teddy wins the Sun Belt with a nice effort.  And, Dave’s goose egg saves the three people with 8 points from a last place finish here.  This was sort of the conference of haves and have-nots, as the guys who nailed the couple upsets scored huge, while the majority of the field struggled mightily.  Congrats to Gross for winning the money division.

#7 Western Kentucky 74 – #5 North Texas
Another heartbreaking loss for the Mean Green in the championship game, and another huge job for the WKU program.  No one had this pick.

FINAL SUN BELT STANDINGS:

1. Teddy – 110 (’12)
2. Lohse – 104
3. RSmith – 94
4. Gross – 64
5. Alexi – 44 (’08)
6. Lynch – 40
7. Rikey – 36
8. Stri – 36 (’10)
9. Bry – 28
10. J – 28 (’11)
11. RDoc – 28
12. Scoot – 28
13. Mac – 24
14. Primm – 24
15. Lil Lohse – 20
16. KA – 16
17. Doogan – 8
18. Gersh – 8
19. Waters – 8
20. Dave – 0

Since the great expansions that the CTC has seen over the past couple of years, it is not often that we can say this, but this final game doesn’t matter, in the least.  No one has either of the remaining teams winning this tournament, so the bloodbath that has been the Sun Belt tournament will mercifully end tonight. 

With the WKU upset of Denver last night, Teddy clinched the Sun Belt title for 2012.  Dave will finish with 0 points in this tournament.

#5 North Texas vs. #7 Western Kentucky
Two teams that always compete for this title, but were written off for most of the season will battle it out for a spot in the First Four.  No one has either of these teams, so all of a sudden, this game has kind of lost my attention…

This has been a really intriguing tournament, even if the individual games haven’t been overly exciting.  And, now, Valpo, on their home floor, will try and send Bryce Drew back to the Dance.  If not, it will be the “other” mid-major father-son coach-player combination Ray McCallum, Jr. and Sr.

Waters, who is perfect so far, has Valpo to try and clinch the perfect Horizon bracket.  If not, Lohse will win yet another conference.  The way this CTC is going, my money is on the Lohse Train.

#1 Valparaiso vs. #3 Detroit
Valpo is coming off an impressive hammering of Butler in the semis, while Detroit has had a week of tough tests, including a 5-point win over Cleveland St. last night.  Dave, Gross, and Lohse are the only three with Detroit winning this tournament.  9 people have Valpo (Alexi, Bry, Doogan, Mac, Rikey, RDoc, Scoot, Stri, and Waters).  The other 6 have already lost.

The Summit League circled the wagons last night, as the two teams that are bolting for other conferences were promptly eliminated from the tournament, so the auto-bid will  be given to a team with more loyalty.  By the way, is it shocking to anyone else to hear that Oral Roberts hasn’t been to the tournament since 2009?  And, that streak is going to continue.

Gross has already clinched a landslide victory in the 2012 Summit League, but he can complete a very impressive run through this bracket if SDSU comes through tonight.

#2 South Dakota St. vs. #4 Western Illinois
Nate Wolters is one win away from becoming front-page news next week.  He will be the topic of an annoying number of “watch out for that guy” comments if they win tonight and secure a bid.  “You know who I like as a sleeper?  South Dakota State!  They have this guy named Wolters…”  Just wait for it.  No matter what happens tonight, the field is going to get a pretty solid sleeper for the nickname pool, as it will either be the Jackrabbits or the Leathernecks.  Only one person had WIU even making the finals (Gross), and he doesn’t have them winning it.  Doogan, Gross, Lynch, Primm, and Teddy all have SDSU winning this tournament, so the other 15 will be rooting for Western.