The Madness Begins Even Earlier Than Expected: Day Two Recap

Posted on March 3, 2010 by bry

After a relatively tame Day One, we didn’t really expect the madness to start yet.  There were only 6 conference tournament games on tap Wednesday night, and 4 of them were on the home courts of the favored teams.  But, whenever you rule out the madness, the madness gets you.  And, The Challenge is fully underway with what-if’s and big losses.  For Day Two, Lohse continues his dominance (though he did actually get one wrong).  But, he does have to share the spotlight with Lynch, as they tie for today’s title.

DAY TWO SCORES:
34 – Lohse
34 – Lynch
30 – Bry
30 – J
30 – Teddy
26 -Doogan
26 – KA
26 – Waters
16 – Ina
16 – Lil Lohse
12 – Alexi
12 – Stri

OVERALL STANDINGS (days won):
92 – Lohse (2)
78 – Teddy
72 – Lynch (1)
70 – Bry
70 – Doogan
68 – J
60 – Ina
58 – KA
56 – Alexi
54 – Waters
44 – Lil Lohse
40 – Stri

PATRIOT LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS:
In the great Patriot League, you never know what is going to happen.  And, we did get a gigantic upset on the first night.

#1 Lehigh 64 – #8 Army 45.  A game that was close at the half (Army actually led 20-18 at the break) turned into a blowout win for the League’s top seed.  Everyone got this one right.

#4 American 62 – #5 Navy 60.  A Navy three-pointer got the Midshipmen within 1 point with :07 seconds left, but they couldn’t finish the job, as American (led by Stephen Lumpkins with 29 points and 15 rebounds) held on and will now travel to top-seeded Lehigh for a semifinal on Sunday.  J, Doogan, and Waters all missed on this minor upset pick.  Waters was hit real hard, as he had Navy winning this whole tournament.

#7 Holy Cross 67 – #2 Bucknell 64.  And, here it is.  Madness!  Holy Cross, 7th place in the regular season, rolls into Bucknell and knocks off one of the favorites to win the whole thing.  The Challenge was rocked, as Alexi and Lynch both lost their PL champion picks.  Bry, Stri, and both Lohses had Bucknell in the finals.  The big winners were Doogan, Waters, and KA, who had this upset.  And, the biggest winner may turn out to be Teddy, who not only picked HC to win this game, but he also has them winning on Sunday and going to the finals.

#3 Lafayette 73 – #6 Colgate 65.  The biggest beneficiary (other than Teddy) of the Holy Cross win was Lafayette, who now gets to host Sunday’s semifinal game, after their 8-point quarterfinal win over Colgate on Wednesday night.  KA, Alexi, Stri, and Bry all missed on this upset pick.  J and Doogan dodge a bullet, as they have Lafayette winning this whole thing.

PATRIOT LEAGUE STANDINGS (prior PL titles):
26 – Teddy
22 – Doogan (’08)
22 – KA
22 – Waters
12 – Ina
12 – Lil Lohse
12 – Lohse
12 – Lynch
8 – Alexi (’09)
8 – Bry
8 – J
8 – Stri

ATLANTIC SUN QUARTERFINALS:
The first day of the A-Sun quarters featured the top two seeds in action in their quarterfinal games.  And, the Madness got started before most of American had even left work.

#8 Kennessaw St. 72 – #1 Lipscomb 69.  MADNESS!  The strange 2:30 front-end of a double-header led to the elimination of the top seed in the A-Sun.  Down 69-68 with :19 seconds left, Kurtis Woods hit what proved to be the game-winning bucket for the 8-seeded KSU Owls as they shock the Atlantic Sun and The Challenge in one fell swoop.  Amazingly, four contestants (Bry, Lohse, Lynch, and J) all hit this upset pick.  Lil Lohse and KA lost the most with this result, as they had Lipscomb winning this tournament.  No one has KSU going any further.

#2 Jacksonville 76 – #7 N. Florida 69.  About 5 hours after watching the top-seed get eliminated, the #2-seeded Jacksonville Dolphins took care of business, knocking off 7th-seed N. Florida.  They will now get a day off before taking on the winner of #3 Belmont and the hosts Mercer.  Not one of the 12 contestants picked N. Florida in this one.  The most happy with this result are Lohse, Lynch, Waters, Alexi, Ina, and Bry, who all have Jacksonville winning this tournament.

ATLANTIC SUN STANDINGS (prior A-Sun champs):
22 – Bry
22 – J (’08, ’09)
22 – Lohse
22 – Lynch
4 – Alexi
4 – Doogan
4 – Ina
4 – KA
4 – Lil Lohse
4 – Stri
4 – Teddy

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Picking a Pretty Good Year to Have a Pretty Good Year

Posted on March 3, 2010 by bry

So, as the resident die-hard Temple fan among my friends, I always have to answer questions for Temple and the A-10, in general.  Well, a couple of weeks ago, I was talking to two of my friends (fans of St. John’s and Rutgers) about the state of college hoops.  One of them looked at me and said, “So, is Temple a Sweet Sixteen team?”  My immediate reaction was “no way.”  I guess the ten years since the second-round Seton Hall debacle has jaded me a bit.  I no longer think that a semi-decent Temple team is a national contender.  And, my knee-jerk reaction was that this is a semi-decent Temple team.  So, my first reaction was “Sweet Sixteen?  No, I don’t think so.”

But, then I thought about it.  They are ranked in the top 20, and have been since mid-December.  They are in first place in a conference that has as many as seven teams with NCAA tournament aspirations.  They have swept the Big 5, which includes a Villanova team that has an outside shot at a 1-seed.  Their worst loss is to a St. John’s team with 6 Big East wins.  They are well on their way to a 4- or 5-seed.  In fact, if they win out and then win the A-10 tourney next week, they would probably be in the discussion for…gasp…a 2-seed!  So, how is this team not a legitimate Sweet Sixteen candidate?  The answer is:  they most definitely are.  But, it’s not because they jump off the page, talent-wise.  It’s a combination of great team defense, a great coach, a multi-faceted offense that makes up for its lack of a pure scorer with decent, streaky scorers at the perfect positions, and, most importantly, a very weak college hoops landscape.

After I answered, “No way,” the question that followed was, “Okay, well name me 16 clearly better teams.”  (Obviously, because we were drinking and like to throw out random college hoops questions.)  And, I absolutely could not.  Think about the major conferences. 

The ACC, Pac-10, and SEC, combined, have only two–maybe three–teams clearly better than Temple.  I’ll give you Duke and Kentucky.  I will probably give you Vanderbilt (though it’s arguable).  After that, can you really say that the Floridas, Tennessees, Marylands, or Cals are clearly better than the Owls.  I don’t think so. 

Yes, the Big East is dominant this year, but after Syracuse and Villanova, are these teams really that much better than Temple?  West Virginia?  Probably.  Pitt?  Maybe, but it’s definitely an argument.  G’town?  Marquette?  Louisville?  It’s really hard to say that they are definitely better than the best team in the A-10.  UConn?  Notre Dame?  Cincinnati?  No way.

The Big XII is having a terrific year.  But, who in that conference is clearly better than Temple?  Kansas and Kansas St.?  Definitely, but that’s probably it.  Texas A&M, Oklahoma St., Texas, and Baylor have all been really good at times this year, but I wouldn’t say that they’re clearly better than the Owls.

The Big Ten was supposed have a great year.  I would give you Ohio St., Michigan St. and even a Hummel-less Purdue, but I would probably take the Owls over Wisconsin and definitely over Illinois.

What about the so-called mid-majors?  Gonzaga and Butler are outstanding, but would they win the A-10?  Probably, but not definitely.  The Mountain West four good teams, but only BYU and New Mexico are even in the conversation, and it’s an interesting argument.

So, in recap, though the Owls do not really appear to be an “elite” team this year, we may have to consider the field against which they will be pit in two weeks.  If Syracuse, Kansas, and Kentucky are clear #1-seeds.  Barring any disasters down the stretch, Duke, Ohio St., Villanova, and Kansas St. will all be ahead of Temple on the ole S-curve.  But, after that, it’s hard to imagine that, with all the conference cannibalism that is bound to happen in the next two weeks, do you really think that there are 9 more teams out of a jumble of Tennessee, Michigan St., New Mexico, Gonzaga, etc., will be seeded above the Owls?  Maybe, but maybe not.  Which means, that if our boys take care of business in AC next week, we could be watching the Owls wear white for not only the first round, but possibly for the entire first weekend.

They have definitely picked a pretty good year to have a pretty good year.

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BSB Conf Tourney Challenge: Day 2 Preview

Posted on March 3, 2010 by bry

As the Challenge slowly ramps up to the first weekend, we had three tournaments get underway last night.  All three have the day off today, but two more get started.  The big question of the day:  Will Lohse ever get one wrong?

PATRIOT LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS:
Amidst all the hoop-la of big-time college hoops these days, with talk of NBA riches and big TV contracts and 20,000-seat arenas with million-dollar luxury suites, sometimes we forget just how pure the game can be.  Well, look no further than the Patriot League to remind yourself that these are just kids–student-athletes–playing a game, representing the school which they attend.  In the Patriot League, there are 8 teams–the same 8 teams as have been for decades.  They play a home-and-home round-robin.  There are no scholarships.  There are “travel partners.”  The games are played on Thursdays and Saturdays.  This is pure, old-school college basketball.  And, this tournament begins tonight in four separate arenas across the northeast.  Defending PL champ, Alexi, tries to defend his crown tonight.  Doogan won the PL in ’08.  Waters has finished last in this league in back-to-back season, so he will try to improve on that this year.

#8 Army (4-10) at #1 Lehigh (10-4).  Lehigh, led by C.J. McCollum, the only freshman in the country to win his conference’s player of the year honors (at least until the SEC announces John Wall as POY) opens their quest for The Dance tonight against the Army.  No one picked Army in this one, but the game is most important to both Lohses, Bry, Ina, and Stri because they all have Lehigh winning this tournament.

#7 Holy Cross (5-9) at #2 Bucknell (9-5).  The Bucknell Bison, who have been probably the most successful PL team of 00’s open postseason in the 10’s with a game against Holy Cross.  Doogan, Waters, KA, and Teddy must all be fans of the Sports Guy because they have his alma mater, HC, winning this game.  Teddy even has them going to the finals.  It is a bit surprising to see that, despite their history and their #2-seed, only Alexi and Lynch have Bucknell winning this tournament.

#6 Colgate (6-8) at #3 Lafayette (8-6).  Former Villanova star and high school classmate of my mom, Fran O’Hanlon, leads his Lafayette Leopards into postseason action tonight against Colgate.  Bry, Stri, Alexi, and KA have all picked the Colgate upset.  There is a lot at stake for J and Doogan, as they have Lafayette winning the whole thing.

#5 Navy (7-7) at #4 American (7-7).  The Naval Academy versus The American University.  Interesting.  Well, the top two seeds in last year’s PL tournament face off in the first round this year.  Navy, who had a shot at the PL regular season title, before sliding at the end, now how to play a road game against the defending champs.  J, Doogan, and Waters all have Navy in the minor upset.  Waters went even further, as he has the Midshipmen winning the whole tournament and going to The Dance.  KA is also patriotic in her pick of American winning the whole thing.

ATLANTIC SUN QUARTERFINALS:
The A-Sun had a crazy regular season, in which there was a 4-way tie for first place, and then E. Tennessee St. only one game back.  Throw in another loop to the tournament is that the 6-seed, Mercer, is hosting the tournament, so they will have, essentially, home games for as long as they last.  The way the A-Sun tourney works is that it splits up the quarterfinals, to give the top two seeds a slight advantage moving forward.  So, the top two seed play their quarterfinal matchups today, then get a day off.  #3 and #4 will play tomorrow.  This year, we may be looking at a three-peat (how much do I owe Pat Riley for that word?) in The Challenge.  J has won the A-Sun, outright, in back-to-back seasons.  In fact, he went perfect in ’08, before only missing two first-round games last year in his title defense.  His quest for three in a row begins tonight…

#8 Kennessaw St. (7-13) vs. #1 Lipscomb (14-6).  Lipscomb won the 4-way tiebreaker to get the top seed.  Kennessaw St. held off the three bottom teams in the 11-team conference to get the last seed in the A-Sun tourney.  And, despite their 7-game losing streak, four contestants (Bry, J, Lohse, and Lynch) somehow picked the heavy underdog, the team Lohse calls “the other KSU,” to win this game.  Surprisingly, KA and Lil Lohse are the only two to have the top-seed winning this tournament, so they are really rooting against the upset.

#7 N. Florida (8-10) vs. #2 Jacksonville (14-6).  Jacksonville grabbed the #2-seed, which was important because they avoided a good ETSU team and the host Mercer squad.  Their reward is a quarterfinal date with Jacksonville.  No one has N. Florida winning this game.  Bry, Ina, Alexi, Waters, Lohse, and Lynch all have Jacksonville winning this tournament, so this game is biggest for those six.

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Day One Recap: A Couple of Rookies Announce Their Arrivals

Posted on March 3, 2010 by bry

The 2010 BSB Conf Tourney Challenge is officially off and running, and Day One belonged to a couple of newcomers.  Most of all, it belonged to Lohse, who went an astonishing 12-for-12 on a day that did not feature a ton of upsets, but enough to make 12-for-12 a pretty amazing Challenge debut for Mr. Lohse.  Teddy, another newcomer, went 11-for-12 and is sitting in second place after Day One of the competition.  Lil Lohse did not fare as well as his big bro, as he joins Waters and Stri 30 points behind the leader.  But, needless to say, in a competition that will most likely be won with over 2000 points, a 30-point deficit is not going to be tough to overcome.

DAY 1 SCORES (days won):
58 – Lohse (1)
48 – Teddy
44 – Alexi
44 – Doogan
44 – Ina
40 – Bry
36 – J
36 – Lynch
32 – KA
28 – Lil Lohse
28 – Stri
28 – Waters

BIG SOUTH QUARTERFINALS:
The first round of the Big South tournament is in the books, and the home teams (and favorites) all prevailed.  Eight of the twelve contestants nailed all four games in the Big South on Tuesday.  J and Lynch did struggle, only going 2-for-4, but no one lost any team that they had going any further than tonight.

#1 Coastal Carolina 82 – #8 VMI 73.  Defense prevailed, as the Chanticleers hung on to knock off VMI to avoid the ignominy of having the semifinal double-header played in their own gym without them.  Only Waters got this game wrong, but he didn’t have VMI going any further, so it might not be a huge loss for him.

#4 UNC-Asheville 84 – #5 High Point 73.  Asheville (who does not have Kenny George, unfortunately) looked like they might give away a lead late in this game, but they held on and hit their free throws to end up winning by 11.  They now move on to play host Coastal Carolina in the semis on Thursday night.  Lynch and J both missed on this upset pick.

#2 Radford 64  -#7 Charleston-Southern 61 (OT).  In avoiding what would have been our first MAJOR upset of the conference tournament season, the Radford Highlanders held on to knock of Charleston-Southern in OT.  Though he doesn’t actually get the points for it, Stri looks good as the only one to pick this major upset that almost came to fruition.  Ina can breathe a sigh of relief, as she has Radford winning this tournament.

#3 Winthrop 80 – #6 Liberty 72.  Winthrop hangs on to beat Liberty and advance to the semifinals, where they will face Radford.  J and Lynch both missed on this upset pick.  KA, Lil Lohse, and Alexi all keep their Big South champion alive.

BIG SOUTH STANDINGS (prior Big South titles):
16 – Alexi
16 – Bry (’09)
16 – Doogan
16 – Ina
16 – KA
16 – Lil Lohse
16 – Lohse
16 – Teddy
12 – Stri (’08)
12 – Waters
8 – J
8 – Lynch

OHIO VALLEY QUARTERFINALS:
The OVC kicked off with their quarterfinals at campus sites on Tuesday night, as well.  There was a little bit more drama, as it wasn’t completely chalk, like the Big South, though the big guns of this conference did flex their muscles on Day One.  Lohse was the only one to nail all four of these games, though Lynch and J both got three of the four, including the big upset.  KA went for some big splashes, but fell short, going 0-for-4.

#1 Murray St. 84 – # 8 Tennessee St. 51.  Murray showed the conference that they are for real, hammering Tennessee St by 33 at home.  Everyone except KA got this one right.  In fact, KA is the only one that doesn’t have the Racers winning next round also.

#4 E. Illinois 68 – #5 E. Kentucky 61.  The most popular upset pick of Day One of the Challenge falls short, as EIU knocks off E. Kentucky at home to advance to the semis in Nashville on Thursday, where they will take on the top seed, Murray St.  Only Teddy and Lohse picked the home team here; neither has EIU going any further.

#2 Morehead St. 87 – #7 Jacksonville St. 54.  As impressive as Murray St. was in their opener, Morehead was just as good, as they destroyed JSU by 33.  KA and Lil Lohse both had JSU in the upset here.  Morehead’s impressive performance give Stri and Lohse some hope that they can go all the way and win this thing.

#6 Tennessee Tech 68 – #3 Austin Peay 65.  The biggest upset of the first night of the conference tournaments happens in Clarksville, TN, as the Governors get beat by the Golden Eagles of Tennessee Tech.  J, Lynch, and Lohse all had this great upset pick.  Lynch even has Tech beating Morehead St. in the semis and going all the way to the finals, so this was a big result for his OVC bracket.

OHIO VALLEY STANDINGS (prior OVC titles):
22 – Lohse
18 – J
18 – Lynch
12 – Teddy
8 – Alexi (’09)
8 – Bry (’08)
8 – Doogan
8 – Ina
8 – Stri
8 – Waters
4 – Lil Lohse
0 – KA

HORIZON LEAGUE OPENING ROUND:
The Horizon League had their opening round on Tuesday night at various campus sites, and though there were some scares, there was only one minor upset.  Five of the twelve contestants nailed all four Horizon games Tuesday night.

#4 Milwaukee 73 – #9 Illinois-Chicago 67.  In a game that was tied with less than a minute to go, the UW-Milwaukee Panthers, behind their home fans, hit a couple big baskets and a couple free throws to ice the Flames of UIC.  Bry was the only one that paid for this one, as he was the only one to pick UIC in what would have a been a very big upset pick.  KA can breathe a sign of relief, as she has Milwaukee in the finals.

#5 Cleveland St. 80 – #8 Loyola (IL) 66.  Cleveland St. wins at home and will be Milwaukee’s opponent in the quarters on Friday on the campus of #1-seed Butler.  The game was closer than it probably should have been, but the Vikings held on, much to the relief of Lynch, who has them winning this whole tournament.  KA missed on a nice upset pick here with Loyola.

#3 Green Bay 81 – #10 Youngstown St. 67.  Another game that went to the home, favored team, but was much closer than it should have been all game long.  Youngstown St., who only won two conference games all year, hung with the #3-seeded Phoenix, but didn’t have enough at the end.   Green Bay moves on to the quarters.  KA has Green Bay winning this tournament, so this is a big win for her.

#7 Detroit 89 – #6 Valparaiso 82.  The red-hot Titans of Detroit University went into Valparaiso and came away with a nice upset.  They now move on to the quarters on Friday, where they will play #3-seeded Green Bay.  This game had, by far, the greatest ramifications on The Challenge of any of the 12 games contested Tuesday night.  A good number of contestants nailed this upset pick (Teddy, KA, Lohse, Alexi, Doogan, Ina, and Bry).  Some (Doogan, Alexi, and Teddy) have Detroit winning again in the quarters.  And, Lohse even has Detroit going all the way to the Horizon League championship game.  While on the other side, J and Lil Lohse both lost a semifinalist in Valparaiso; Stri and Waters both lost a finalist.

HORIZON LEAGUE STANDINGS (prior Horizon champs):
20 – Alexi
20 – Doogan
20 – Ina (’08t)
20 – Lohse
20 – Teddy
16 – Bry (’09)
16 – KA
12 – J
12 – Lynch
8 – Lil Lohse
8 – Stri
8 – Waters (’08t)

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BSB Conf Tourney Challenge: Day 1 Preview

Posted on March 2, 2010 by bry

Here we go, everyone.  It’s the moment we’ve all been waiting 12 long months for.  The BSB Conf Tourney Challenge gets underway tonight.  I just got all the picks in for the three tourneys that start tonight, so let’s get it going.

We have the same 8 contestants from last year (Bry, Doogan, Ina, J, Stri, Alexi, Waters, and Lynch), plus 4 new ones (Lohse, Lil Lohse, KA, and Teddy).

Every day during the Challenge I will try to update the night before’s action, including the ramifications on The Challenge and preview that night’s action and the potential swings in The Challenge that each game could provide, so check back periodically.  (Both the previews and recaps will be somewhat sorted according to Challenge ramifications.)  So, without further ado, let’s get to tonight’s action.

BIG SOUTH QUARTERFINALS
The Big South tournament gets underway tonight with four quarterfinal games on the home courts of the top seeds.  Coastal Carolina is the #1 seed and if they can win this tourney, they should be a tough out in Doogan’s “Nickname Pool,” because Chanticleers is a pretty amazing nickname.

#6 Liberty (10-8) at #3 Winthrop (12-6).  The Golden Eagles of Winthrop open their Big South tourney at home against Liberty.  J and Lynch went out on a limb and took the road team, Liberty, for the upset.  KA, Lil Lohse, and Alexi all have Winthrop winning this whole tourney.

#8 VMI (5-13) at #1 Coastal Carolina (15-3).  The top-seeded Chanticleers (and best defensive team in the conference) take on a VMI team that plays faster than a Mike D’Antoni team (averaging over 90 points per game, but close to 100 points given up per game).  Waters is the only one that is drawn to that style enough to pick VMI in this game.  If they come through, that is a huge upset pick.  Everyone else has C. Carolina.  More than half of the contestants (7 out of 12) have C. Carolina winning this whole tourney, so those that don’t wouldn’t necessarily mind a big upset on day one.

#7 Charleston-Southern (7-11) at #2 Radford (13-5).  Radford, the defending conference champs open this year’s tourney at home as the #2-seed.  They play Charleston-Southern tonight.  11 of the 12 contestants have Radford winning this game at home, as only Stri went out on a limb and took Charleston-Southern.  This is a big game for Ina, as she is the only one with Radford repeating as Big South champs.

#5 High Point (10-8) at #4 UNC-Asheville (11-7).  UNC-Asheville and their 8-foot giant center, Kenny George (I think he’s still there, isn’t he?) open at home against High Point.  J and Lynch took the minor upset of High Point in this one.  Waters has a lot at stake here, as he has UNC-Asheville winning the Big South.

OHIO VALLEY QUARTERFINALS:
The Murray St. conference gets going tonight, as the Racers dominated the regular season, and we will see if they can finish it off and get the auto bid.  There is even some talk that they may be in the running for an at-large, but I would highly recommend that they don’t leave it up to the Committee to select them out of a conference such as the OVC.  The opening round games are all on the campuses of the higher seeds, and then the final two rounds move to Nashville.

#8 Tennessee St. (6-12) at #1 Murray St. (17-1).  The Racers open with the 8-seed Tennessee St.  KA was the only one brave enough to take Tennessee St. in what would be a huge upset.  In fact, only 3 contestants (KA, Lohse, and Stri) do NOT have Murray St. winning this tournament.

#7 Jacksonville St. (7-11) at #2 Morehead St. (15-3).  If someone is going to take out Murray St., it will probably be Morehead, who had a really nice year.  They open, at home, against Jacksonville St.  KA’s bravery is joined by Lil Lohse, as they both have JSU in this big upset.  Lohse and Stri both have Morehead winning this tournament.

#6 Tennessee Tech (8-10) at #3 Austin Peay (11-7).  The Governors open their postseason at home tonight against Tennessee Tech.  J, Lynch, and Lohse all have Tennessee Tech in this upset.  KA is the only one who picked the Governors to win the whole thing.

#5 E. Kentucky (11-7) at #4 E. Illinois (11-7).  A nice matchup in the 4-5 slots here as E. Illinois hosts E. Kentucky.  Surprisingly, only Lohse and Teddy picked the home team here.  Everyone else has the minor upset of E. Kentucky.  But, after this game, everyone except KA (who has E. Kentucky in the final) has Murray St. winning the semifinal, so no one else is in jeopardy of losing a finalist here.

HORIZON LEAGUE OPENING ROUND:
The Horizon League, with the smartest conference tournament format of any mid-major gives the top two teams double-byes, and gives the regular season champ the home court advantage througout.  But, the bottom 8 teams open on campus sites in the opening round.

#7 Detroit (9-9) at #6 Valparaiso (10-8).  One of the darlings of our NCAA tournament memories is Valpo and Bryce Drew.  They open their postseason tonight at home against a red-hot Detroit team.  This game actually has a LOT of Challenge implications.  Teddy, KA, Lohse, Alexi, Doogan, Ina, and Bry all have Detroit in the upset.  Lohse actually has them going all the way to the finals.  On the other hand, both Stri and Waters both have Valpo going all the way to the finals, so this is big already in the course of the Horizon League.

#8 Loyola (IL) (5-13) at #5 Cleveland St. (10-8).  Gary Waters’ Cleveland St. Vikings open their postseason at home against Loyola (IL).  Everyone has Cleveland St. in this game except KA.  Lynch is the only one with the Vikings winning the whole thing.

#10 Youngstown St. (2-16) at #3 Green Bay (11-7).  Green Bay just missed the double-bye, so now they have to win 4 games to get to The Dance.  They open with a bad YSU team tonight at home.  Stri, Waters, and Lil Lohse actually took the chance to pick up monster upset points with YSU tonight.  KA’s interest in this game is peaked, as well, because she has Green Bay going all the way in the Horizon League.

#9 Illinois-Chicago (3-15) at #4 Milwaukee (10-8).  The Flames of UIC go into Milwaukee tonight.  Bry is the only one that has the Flames in this upset.  KA has Milwaukee going the furthest, as she has them reaching the finals.

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Calling All Junkies…

Posted on February 26, 2010 by bry

It’s that time of the year again.  The BSB Conference Tournament Challenge.  Every year since I can remember, Doogan, J, and I have been picking every conference tournament bracket from the ACC to the Patriot League.  Stri joined us about 6 or 7 years ago.  Stri was shortly followed by Ina.  Alexi joined us two years ago.  And, Waters and Lynch jumped in last year, as we had a record 8 competitors.  No one has ever dropped out of this pre-Madness madness (because it’s awesome), so I’m assuming we’ll have at least 8 again this year.  But, all are welcome.  All it takes is filling out a ton of brackets when you get them in your email and sending them back to me before the games start.  Then, follow along on BSB and see if your pick of Oral Roberts to win the Summit League takes you to eternal bragging rights (or at least for one year).

The results from the night before, the updated Challenge standings, and a “preview” of that day’s action will be posted each day on BSB beginning March 2 (with the Big South, the Horizon League, and the Ohio Valley) and running all the way through Selection Sunday.  All you have to do is email me (or post a comment to this post) and you’ll get the first batch of brackets to fill out.  There is no official entry fee, but feel free to make any side bets you’d like.  It’s a good way to get into the best month of basketball you can possibly dream of.

PS…If you haven’t been following the Sun Belt Conference, then you are missing out.  Before last night’s full slate of 6 crazy games, there were 7 Sun Belt teams within one game of the top spot.  Now, we have 6 more games on Saturday to decide the regular season title and the subsequent seedings heading into the tournament in Hot Springs, AR.  Don’t worry, I couldn’t name one player in the Sun Belt, but I did get way too much excitement when I saw this morning that Western Kentucky prevailed, in OT, at Florida-Atlantic and that North Texas held off LA-Lafayette at home to keep pace with the leaders in the conference.  It just gets me ready for The Challenge.

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Charting a Course to March: 7 Games For the Final Stretch

Posted on February 25, 2010 by Doogan

 As of today, the first day of the 2010 NCAA Basketball Tournament is exactly three weeks away.  That means it’s time for cramming.  Below are listed the seven games over these last few weeks of the regular season that every college hoops fan should try to catch. 

hummel1. February 28th: #14 Michigan State at #3 Purdue

Reasons To Watch:  The loss of Robbie Hummel for the rest of the season with a torn ACL is really sad.  I had become a big believer in Purdue and thought they actually had a shot at winning the national title, but without Hummel, that will be impossible. You have to feel bad for those Purdue fans in Indiana.  I mean, what else do they have going for them?  At least Drew Brees won the Super Bowl.  They do still have guard E’Twaun Moore, who is one of my favorite players in the country.  He’s not the quickest guy or the best shooter, passer, or defender, but he does everything well and he repeatedly makes big shots for the Boilermakers.  JaJuan Johnson is one of the best centers around, and the return of point guard Lewis Jackson from an injury gave them a lift over the past few weeks.  But it all comes back to Hummel, their best all-around player.  They were headed for a #1 seed, and their remaining games will be very important because the selection committee will only have a handful of games to decide how far they drop from the #1 line, and it’s hard to imagine that they won’t drop at least a seed or two. 

Michigan St. came into the season with huge expectations, but also some question marks, and it seems like those questions have not been answered.  They come into this game having lost 4 of their last 6 games.  They don’t have a good road win all year, and they actually only have two wins over tournament locks (Gonzaga and Wisconsin).  They needed Delvon Roe to make a big leap, and it hasn’t happened at all.  Raymar Morgan continues to disappoint.  Kalin Lucas is an elite college guard, and Draymond Green has been one of the most improved big men in the country, but how far can that get them?  If they’re to be taken seriously in the tournament, they need to go to Purdue and beat the Hummel-less Boilermakers in this game.

How far can they go?:  It’s very hard to know what to make of Purdue right now, which is why they’ll be a team worth watching.  Coach Matt Painter will be earning his paycheck, and I think they could still get to the Sweet 16, but any further than that seems doubtful.  Michigan St. is looking like they’d be lucky to make the Sweet 16.

2. March 2nd: Illinois at #9 Ohio State

Reasons to Watch:  A couple of interesting teams here worth gathering some more information about.  Illinois could turnerlock up a tourney berth with a win here, but they probably don’t need it.  They have a load of good wins on their resume, but a couple of bad losses as well.  Point guard Demetri McCamey is one of the lesser-known star players in the country.  He averages 15 points and 7 assists, and racked up 16 assists in a loss to Purdue last week.  But he’s unique because he doesn’t look like your typical assist-machine point guard, with a wide body that allows him to outmuscle a lot of other guards.  The front-court combination of 7-footer Mike Tisdale and super-athletic Mike Davis help to make this team dangerous.

Ohio St. is definitely an interesting team right now.  First off, they have the Player of the Year front-runner in do-everything forward Evan Turner, who is averaging 20 points, 9 boards, and 6 assists.  Secondly, because they lost three games in a 6-game stretch that Turner missed with a back injury, their national stature is probably slightly below what it otherwise could be.  And finally, coach Thad Matta has taken an interesting tactic of shortening his rotation to the point where there IS NO rotation.  Matta has basically just been playing six guys, with Turner and a trio of big, talented guards (David Lighty, Jon Diebler, and William Buford) rarely coming off the court.  It seems to be working for them, as they’ve won 9 of 10, with the only loss to Purdue.

How far can they go?:  Illinois will be a prime candidate for a minor first-round upset, and has Sweet 16 potential.  Ohio State has arguably the best player in the country, which means they are capable of beating just about anyone on any given night.  But will they be fatigued from playing so many minutes?  With the injury to Hummel, the Buckeyes might now be the best team in the Big Ten, and don’t rule them out from a trip to the Final Four. 

3. March 3rd: #6 Kansas State at #1 Kansas

Reasons to Watch: I previewed the January 30th game between these teams, which Kansas won in an OT thriller.  That result is one reason to watch this game.  Another is to get a better read on this Kansas St. team.  Right now, they’re looking at a possible #2 seed in the tournament.  They’ve earned that seed, but I’m wondering if, even in a season of parity, there is 2-seed talent on this team.  Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente form an awesome backcourt, but if they’re not making their jump shots, how else does K-State beat you?  Now, they don’t have any bad losses, so it seems like they find a way, but I’ll be watching this game to see how K-State matches up with the #1 team in the country when they don’t have their home crowd behind them.

How far can they go?:  KU is the national title favorite at the moment.  K-State is getting Final Four buzz but I’m not completely buying it.  I see them going down in the Sweet 16, but maybe some favorable matchups could get them to the Elite Eight.  This game will tell us more.

vasquez4. March 3rd: #5 Duke at Maryland

Reasons to Watch:  You wouldn’t guess it if you watched the Duke/Maryland game on February 13th, when Duke demolished the Terrapins, but this game could determine the regular-season ACC champion.  Maryland sits at 10-3 in the conference, a game behind the Dukies.  That alone makes Maryland an interesting team, because when was the last time you saw a team at 10-3 in the ACC, and already at 20 wins on the season, but not ranked in the Top 25?  The bottom line is, they have the resume of a ho-hum solid team.  They’ve been fairly consistent and gotten the job done against the likes of Florida State (twice), Clemson, and Georgia Tech.  They haven’t lost a home game in conference play.  I’ve always been a pretty big fan of versatile senior guard Greivis Vasquez.  His supporting cast features two other solid seniors, Eric Hayes and Landon Milbourne, and no doubt all three of those guys will be motivated to take down Duke in the final home game of their careers.  Is Maryland a legit 2nd place ACC team that will be heard from next month, or are they an also-ran, unranked non-factor?  This game may be the answer.

How far can they go?:  Duke could end up with a 1-seed, but I’m not a believer.  Their ceiling is probably the Elite Eight.  I’m not completely sure what to make of Maryland yet, but I don’t expect to see them playing in the second week of March Madness. 

5. March 6th: #7 West Virginia at #8 Villanova

Reasons to Watch: You look at the rosters for these two teams and it really makes you wonder why programs like St. John’s, Seton Hall, and Rutgers are not a lot better.  8 of the 10 starters for these teams (including all 5 for West Virginia) hail from the greater New York City area, and that’s not including Nova’s talented reserve guard Dominic Cheek.  Despite all that talent, and the fact that these teams have been in the top 10 almost all season, they also both have some flaws. 

Nova lost back-to-back games for the first time this season last week.  They are really deep, but it seems like maybe that’s become part of the problem.  Defensively, they’re not measuring up to Nova teams of the past few years.  In their loss to Georgetown a couple weeks ago, the Hoyas just had their way with them at the offensive end.  The team has loads of talent, but maybe Jay Wright needs to focus on finding the mix that will get some stops.

West Virginia has three forwards that look like future pros in Da’Sean Butler, Devin Ebanks, and Kevin Jones, but butlerBob Huggins will have to pull off some coaching magic to get a team with guards this mediocre to advance far in the tournament.  Considering it’s been 14 years since a Huggins coached team made it past the Sweet 16, the odds may not be in their favor.  But when Butler is going well he is really special, and he’s the type of player that can put a team on his back and carry them to a win.

How far can they go?:  These two teams are similar in talent-levels, but I like Nova more, especially since they have the experience of a Final Four run last season.  I think they could get that far again, but they probably don’t have a title in them, and I don’t expect them to be playing on that final weekend in Indianapolis.  West Virginia probably doesn’t have the guards to get it done in the tourney, they’ll bow out out in the second or third round.

6. March 6th: #21 Texas at Baylor

Reasons to Watch: This is a matchup between a team that was apparently over-hyped most of the season (Texas) and a team that has probably been under-hyped (Baylor).  The pressure in this game will be on Texas to take some positive momentum into the Big 12 tournament.  All the talk about Texas early in the year was that they had a ridiculous amount of talented depth.  Here we are, on the verge of March, and they have exactly two players that they can count on consistently: F Damion James and G Avery Bradley.  With every other player on the team, either due to injury, foul trouble, or just general inconsistency, they’re left crossing their fingers and hoping for a good performance.

Baylor has one of the top backcourts in the country (talent-wise and name-wise) in PG Tweety Carter and SG LaceDarius Dunn.  At 6-4, and with the ability to score any way he wants, Dunn looks like a future NBA 2-guard.  Also with impressive names and impressive games are forwards Ekpe Udoh and Quincy Acy, who is one of the better sixth men in the country.

How far can they go?:  Texas just seems to be a mess, so they’re worth watching to see if they get it together in time.  They probably have Final Four talent, but it’s not impossible to see them going down in the first round if they get a bad matchup.  Anyone’s guess right now.  Baylor, on the other hand, looks to be a sleeper pick that could potentially make an Elite Eight run.

w johnson7. March 6th: #4 Syracuse at Louisville

Reasons to Watch: Louisville put themselves on the right side of the bubble with a win at Syracuse a couple weeks ago, and they would definitely nail down a bid with another win in this one.  They’ve had an up and down season, with a home loss to Western Carolina in December, and a blowout loss at St. John’s just before the big ‘Cuse win.  They’re led by three of the key contributors to last year’s team that earned a #1 seed: star big man Samardo Samuels, much-improved Edgar Sosa, and steady 2-guard Jerry Smith.  But despite all the experience and talent, they haven’t been able to put it together.

Syracuse, however, has pretty much had it all put together from Day One this season.  They only have one loss besides the Louisville one, and it would take a couple of stumbles for them to fall off the #1 line come tourney time.  Wesley Johnson is still in the Player of the Year conversation, but his production has dipped a bit in February.  Like Ohio State, ‘Cuse doesn’t go deep (basically a 7-man rotation), so you have to wonder if Johnson is running out of gas, especially considering he sat out last year after transferring.  Besides Johnson, Andy Rautins is one of the best shooters in the country, and two Philly natives who were teammates at St. John Neumann, F Rick Jackson and G Scoop Jardine, have both had breakout seasons. 

How far can they go?:  Syracuse is a national title contender.  Louisville is a tough team to predict, but unless they show something in these last few weeks, they’re probably a team that won’t be able to win more than one game in the tourney.

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Not the Best of Days…

Posted on February 24, 2010 by bry

In 2015, I will not be celebrating my birthday.  I will never again buy three dozen eggs.  If anyone ever asks me what six-squared is, I will simply say, “I don’t want to talk about it.”

The number 36 has officially been retired from my life.

Yesterday, the Eagles announced that they were parting ways with the best running back I have ever seen don the green and white.  Brian Westbrook (and his #36 jersey) is officially a former Philadelphia Eagle.  And, this one kind of hurts.

It’s not unexpected.  It’s not tragic (even in the overused sports sense of that word).  It even kind of makes sense from a football perspective.  In fact, it’s a move that -gulp- I think I would have made if I were running the team.  But, that doesn’t make it any easier to cope with the fact that I will never again get to see Brian Westbrook play for the Eagles.

The guy did it all, and he did it with quiet confidence and off-the-charts classiness.  Here is a guy who was never once given a real “break” in the game of football–at least compared to his NFL peers.  He didn’t get a D-I scholarship, so he went to Villanova.  He dominated there on the field and in the classroom.  He set all sorts of all-purpose yardage records, but did the NFL coming knocking down his door, like it did with LaDainian Tomlinson, who parlayed a simliar career at a slightly more respected program into a top 5 overall draft choice?  No.  The Eagles picked him in the third round…THE THIRD ROUND.  And, who is to say if anyone would have picked him if he played in a small school in, say, Kansas, where there is no NFL team in the backyard to see him play on a weekly basis? 

So, he shows up to the Birds as a third-down back/punt returner, and he turns into probably the best Eagle during the best decade of the franchise’s existence.

There are plenty of memories of B-West that I will hold with me for as long as I understand the game of football.  But I think the one overarching memory I will have of Westbrook is the feeling of security that he gave me, as a fan, while watching him play for my team.  We all know that I am an admitted McNabb apologist.  I think he gets a bad shake with the Eagle fans and the Philly media.  HOWEVER…there is one thing that I will freely admit–never, in a big game, does McNabb make me feel confident that he will get it done.  He does get it done WAY more than people give him credit for, but even at his best, he does not instill any confidence in us Eagle fans–even me, an ardent McNabb supporter. 

But, Westbrook, on the other hand, was the exact opposite.  No matter what the situation, no matter what the opponent or the circumstances, I always felt that if we had Brian Westbrook on our team, we had a chance.  Be it a screen pass, a grueling third-down conversion, or, when the chips were really down, a punt return.  Hell, this undersized “scat back” even turned himself into, arguably, the best pass-blocking halfback in the NFL.

I know that Westbrook’s days are probably over, so I’m not bitter at the Eagles (a la the Brian Dawkins fiasco), but I am in a bit of mourning for the great career and the great memories created by one of the most intelligent, hardest-working, humble, and GREATEST players that we will ever see.

You left your mark, Mr. Westbrook, you left your mark.

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Why The Winter Olympics Are Awesome

Posted on February 11, 2010 by Doogan

I hate cold and I hate the winter.  That partly explains why I don’t ski, snowboard, or ice skate.  If it’s 30 degrees, I’m not exactly looking around for reasons to hang outside for hours at a time.  I like watching snow fall out a window while I’m warm inside (as I’m doing right now), and I can enjoy the occasional snowball fight, but other than that winter does nothing for me.

Accordingly, I don’t particularly enjoy watching skiing, snowboarding, speed skating, or figure skating competitions.  But, speed skatefor two weeks every four years, I LOVE watching these sports.  Those two weeks have come around again and will start on Friday night and I can’t wait for the start of the ski jumping competition that night. 

I know I’m not alone here.  I know a bunch of people that would never consider watching a downhill skiing event who suddenly don’t want to miss the Super G semis when it’s Olympics time.  Why is this?  Do we all just buy into the hype of the Olympics?  Are these legitimately decent spectator sports that we don’t give enough respect to 99% of the time?

Actually, there’s a simple reason that the Winter Olympics are awesome: in so many of the events, absolute disaster can (and often does) happen at any time.  Now, obviously this is true of these sports all the time, but who cares if a random figure skater falls on his face in the Paris Open, or whatever events figure skaters do besides the Olympics.  For most Olympic athletes, the main goal of their entire lives has been to get to this stage.  They’ve spent the last four years pouring everything they had into this sport so they could represent their country at the Olympic Games.  They’ve spent many more years than that learning the craft, and dreaming about this very moment that we’re now watching.  And, in the blink of an eye, it can all go horribly wrong.

lugeI guess that sounds morbid, but it’s not like we’re rooting  for them to fail.  I mean, sometimes we are, but usually not.  It’s just the combination of the fact that disaster could  strike, and that the stakes are so high for the competitors, that these events become riveting.

A downhill skiier could lose his edge and go flying through the air.  A speed skater could slip coming around the last turn and nail the wall.  A ski jumper could do this (0:50 mark).  A figure skater could go for the quadruple lutz, and not make it.  A bobsled team could flip right over.  You never know when the moment could come, so you have to keep watching.  And, not to get sappy now, but when a competitor makes it through and avoids all the pitfalls and gives the performance they always dreamed they would, that can be pretty cool to watch too.

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2009 NFL Preview: BSB-Style (Final)

Posted on February 10, 2010 by bry

FINAL:  Well, the 2009 NFL season has ended and it was another phenomenal season for the league.  And, the NFL offseason is like no other sport, but before we get into that, we still have the most exciting part of the end of the season–the recap of the BSB Season Preview.  At the midway point in the season, it was pretty up in the air.  We counted 13 solid picks for Bry and 12 solid for Doogan, with 7 very much in play.  But, even though Bry held the slimmest of leads in solid points, Doogan was looking good on 5 of the 7 points in play, so the halfway mark saw Doogan as the favorite to win for the second straight year.  We’ll see how it played out…

(NOTE:  Final points and recaps are below in underline.)

UPDATE:  Well, we are now 10 games into the NFL season, so we are getting a sense of where everyone is.  Honestly, this season has been really lacking in the normal excitement of an NFL season, so far, but this league never lets us down, so I expect the excitement and drama to pick up real quickly.  But, 10 games in is a good time to update the BSB Season Preview Challenge between Doogan and Bry, so we’ll do that.  Look below for the updates to each pick (ALL UPDATES IN ITALICS).  We’ll track the picks we think are solid, those that are shaky, and those that are pretty much lost already.  So, check the picks below for the updates.   

Well, friends, it is almost football season.  Every year, for some reason, I kind of put the NFL aside from like March through July.  I don’t miss it.  I don’t really think about it.  I immerse myself in college basketball and baseball, with the tennis and golf majors in there, as well.  Plus, the weather is beautiful and softball and tennis “playing” seasons are in full swing.  So, then when the NFL season sneaks up in August and we start talking about football, I start to get really, really excited about the season.  And, every year I think to myself, “am I always this excited about the start of the football season.”  This year, I even said it out loud, to my wife last night, to which she said “Yes, yes you are.”  So, I guess it’s time for some serious football talk, starting with the BSB-style preview.  Doogan, who won the whole thing last year, will get the first pick (I took the Patriots and the under on 16 wins last year with the first pick.)  So, without further ado…

DOOGAN 1. Detroit Lions – OVER 0 wins:  I’ll make the obvious first pick this year and predict that the lowly Lions will, in fact, win a game this year.  I probably don’t need to make an argument for why, but with Jim Schwartz taking over as head coach, you have to think there will at least be some solid improvement on the defensive side of the ball and the Lions should be able to win a couple games.

Doogan has already clinched his easy #1 pick, as the Lions already have twice as many wins as they needed to get Doogan this point.  A bit off-topic, how crazy was that Lions-Browns game on Sunday?  What a performance by the rookie QB!

An easy win for Doogan here with pick #1, as the Lions finished 2-14–enough to win the OVER. 

POINT:  DOOGAN
Doogan 1 – Bry 0

BRY 2. St. Louis Rams – OVER 2 wins:  I’m not as high on the Rams as a lot of people are, but they have to be at least 3-13, right?  They subtracted Scott Linehan (a bad head coach) and added Steve Spagnuolo (a great defensive coordinator), so they will probably improve at head coach and almost definitely on defense.  I just don’t think they 2-14 bad again.

Amazingly, Bry had 31 teams from which to choose, and it looks like he might lose his #1 pick.  The Rams are currently 1-9, and looking at the remaining schedule (Sea, @Chi, @Ten, Hou, @Ari, SF), it’s pretty hard to find two more wins, even though they’ve been playing better lately.  If I had to make a prediction right now, I would say that they get to two wins, but not to three, which gives Doogan the point.

We haven’t done the research, but it’s hard to imagine that anyone has ever gotten their first pick wrong…until now.  Bry took the Rams with the #2 overall pick and actually got it wrong, so they were WORSE than their 2-14 record in 2008.

POINT:  DOOGAN
Doogan 2 – Bry 0

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