Memphis blows it

I don't know how you a) win 38 games in a season and b) get to the national championship game and c) have a two point lead with 10-point-something seconds left while shooting free throws and lose a game. Memphis deserved to lose the game. Any team that cannot hit game-clinching free throws should not be a national champion. Even worse, after bricking two free throws, they were able to get the offensive rebound and draw another foul! And the consensus number 2 pick in the coming NBA draft could only hit one of his two tries. I would be remembering that sequence if I drafted Derrick Rose.

Then the Jayhawks Most Outstanding Player, Mario Chalmers, nailed a death-defying three to tie the game and send it to overtime — where Memphis never had a chance. Chalmers' shot, with two Tigers in his face, was about as clutch as you can get. Nearly Kobe- or LeBron-esque.

Now, in retrospect, despite the absence of a cinderella story or even a 2- or 3-seed making it into the championship game or even the Final Four, the fact that two number one seeds duked it out in the final makes both the tournament and especially pools, somewhat more interesting. I had figured it was going to boring for poolies, seeing that many experienced entrants would not go against history and taking four number 1s. But the most exciting part about your pool is now "who took the right 1s?" Anybody who wanted to go against the masses and picked against UCLA and UNC is obviously raking in the dividends now.

The Final Four

This will be, with all certainty the year your NCAA pool was won by the person who knew the least about college basketball going in. North Carolina, UCLA, Memphis and Kansas – all four regional number one seeds – made the Final Four this year. How boring is that? Sure you have great teams but how much of a copout would it have been to take the best teams to make it this far? It’s the first time ever this has happened; and I’m not very pleased with it.

I used to enjoy fleecing people in pools who had all top seeds winning through, now, I’m the one with the busted bracket. Even worse, I have absolutely no shot at winning because of the four possible champions there are now, most people took UCLA like I did. It was fun while it lasted but it looks like I’ll have to wait until next year when hopefully some people will believe that the selection committee will get it right again with the top seeds.

As for the Final, my revised prediction is: UCLA 72, UNC 66.

By the way, the most noteworthy tidbit of this tournament is not the all-top-seeds-final-four, or USC bombing out or Stephen Curry leading Davidson with his amazing scoring ability. It is the fact that Robin Lopez – the one with the hair – is dating Michelle Wie. Both go to Stanford and both are highly touted athletes, seems like a match to me, except for the huge height difference.

For every Cinderella...

For every feel-good, cinderella story that the NCAA tournament can give you, there's always the heartache that this princess just destroyed your bracket most likely. Sure it's really nice that Davidson bounced Georgetown and San Diego faced off against Siena in a battle between a 12- and 13-seed, but who had those two teams in their bracket? One upset maybe, surely not two.

Davidson especially hurt my pool chances, causing me to put several crosses through Georgetown's all the way to the Final Four. Losing the first of your four is always the hardest and it's exponentially tougher the earlier that it happens. I'm not sure if I've ever lost one of my regional champs in the first weekend of play.

Let's hope, for the sake of my bracket, that UCLA, Tennessee and Texas can withstand the pressure and earn me some cashola.

How's your bracket doing?

With the first two exciting days of the NCAA tournament over and done with, are you happy with how your bracket is doing? My answer is somewhere in between "It could be better," and "I'm semi-worried."

While doing alright on Thursday, Friday's upsets didn't really work out for my bracket.

Having lost only three sweet sixteen teams (USC, Drake and Vandy) and none from my elite eight, my prospects don't look so bad. Except for one thing that is. I have the kiss of death working against me. Bill Simmons of ESPN.com fame picked my exact championship outcome: UCLA over Tennessee. I seriously should have changed that at the same time I took USC out of my final four. I really dodged a bullet with that one.

As for the round of 32, I'm feeling confident in Duke going down and some glass (Cinderella) slippers breaking. Siena's looking like the team that's going to go the furtherest out of the possible Cinderella teams. It was good while it lasted San Diego and West Kentucky, who actually play each other next.

Finally, I'm sick of all the "Maybe this year's George Mason will be George Mason!" speak. I'll try to remember not to take them next season.

And in case you wanted to know, I'm currently beating the Intern by 2 points and he's lost 4 Sweet Sixteen teams (Gonzaga, Vandy, Arizona and UConn).

Pryor makes his choice

The number one high school quarterback in the states has finally chosen where he'll go to college. After weeks of deep thought — and much speculation — Terrelle Pryor has picked Ohio State.

Ever since learning Pryor is athletic enough to not only be a top recruited quarterback, but also is talented enough to recruited as a top-end basketball prospect. How could someone that immensely talented not be on of my boys?

Who knows, maybe next year we'll be seeing Pryor lace up his sneakers for Ohio State for the beginning of the NCAA tournament. Maybe he could be coming off leading OSU to Bowl win in January. Now that would be an accomplishment.

The Madness begins

Selection Sunday: the day that kicks off March Madness. Where the brackets are drawn for all to see and for everyone in a pool to start plotting a route to the championship for their team of choice.

I'd be lying to you if I claimed to know anything in depth about all 65 of the teams that qualified for the "Big Dance" so let me tell you what I do know.

— I'm not surprised by any of the number ones. It seemed pretty clear cut this year. North Carolina, Memphis, UCLA and Kansas were the best in the U.S. this season. Anybody dumb enough to take a 16 seed over a one doesn't even deserve to fill out a bracket.

— There might be something wrong with the system if a team that's one game above .500 (Georgia at 17-16) can get into the tourney. I don't care if you fluked your way into winning your conference, well, actually, it'll be easy to pick their demise in the first round. Thanks for giving me an easy one Georgia.

— Did Duke really deserve to be a number 2 this year? I haven't heard a thing about the Blue Devils and they're usually pretty well covered by the media.

— USC vs. Kansas State should be a great game to watch. Michael Beasley, the potential first overall pick this coming NBA draft, vs. O.J. Mayo, a highly touted scorer. Both are freshmen and both can make or break their teams chances in the first round.

— I'm taking George Mason as my 12-over-5 upset. It's a bonus because that 5 happens to be Notre Dame and I have an irrational hate for the Irish.

— Do not discount the fact that North Carolina is basically playing home games in the first four rounds. You would have to be very bold to go against them before the final four.

— Finally, I'm taking UCLA to win it all. It's not because I love Kevin Love or Darren Collison. Not because they won the tough Pac-10 conference championship. No, it's because I've taken them for the past three years, done fairly well and why change something that's working fine? It's not nearly as fun to cheer on a number 1 seed, but hey, they're my team.

I'll no doubt have more on the tournament as Thursday draws near and I actually inform myself about the teams I've already written off and as i begin to doubt the picks I've already made.

College bowl mania!

I have to admit it: when it comes to the bowl time of the year for college football, I'm usually more excited than I am now. This college season seems like a dud to me despite some great stories like Notre Dame sucking and the Appalachian State upset at Michigan. I just don't really care about any of the teams or players this season. There's no true number one or two in my mind and I feel that hurts the game. Both Ohio State and LSU are flawed and have lost but are competing for the BCS crown. I'm not interested in seeing a number one crowned when I know for a fact that they've actually lost to another team earlier on.

As for the BCS system as a whole, I have no quarrels with it. Sure it's flawed and many would love to see a playoff system instituted in college ball, but if everyone has so much trouble picking two great teams to compete for number in one game, how in the world would they be able to pick the eight best? Imagine the controversy behind selecting the number eight seed out of all the one and two loss teams. At least if they did go to a playoff system, there wouldn't be any more yearly columns condemning the BCS anymore. But then we'd all have to deal with BCS supporters clamouring for an about face. What a lose/lose situation the NCAA has here.

And what about the results so far this year? Well the only team I cared about (My Nebraska Huskers) didn't make a bowl game and the other team I liked (Hawaii) just got absolutely murdered at the hands of UGA. There's always next year though.

The saga of Billy Donovan

In one of the strangest turns of events in sports that haven’t involved Ron Artest, A-Rod or Barry Bonds, Billy Donovan took every one in Florida, the media and fans of basketball - both college and NBA - for a nice spin over the past few days.

Donovan, who is coming off two straight NCAA titles with the Florida Gators, built a dynasty of sorts at the school. But with his highly touted five starters leaving school for greener pastures, it seemed Donovan would be in tough for next season at least.

He even had turned down a job opportunity at Kentucky, one of the more prestigious basketball schools in the nation and didn't pay much attention to possible NBA suitors.

So, with the front seemingly calm, a proverbial bombshell dropped when the Orlando Magic announced that Donovan would be making the leap to the NBA to become their coach. It was to the sweet tune of $27.5 M as well.

Here comes the twist, after the ink had dried on the contract and on all of the presses, he changed his mind. Turns out he didn't really want to leave Florida State after all.

Now, with the messy situation of having signed the contract, Orlando now is trying to get Donovan out and bring in Stan Van Gundy.

This whole situation reeks and Billy Donovan claims a spot on the jack ass list for sure. Why leave two teams out of the loop while you hem-and-haw over where you want to work; especially when you're under contract. I wasn't a fan of his coaching work to begin with and his character should now seriously in question, wherever he ends up.

NBA lottery teams release their breath

The teams that didn’t make the NBA playoffs will exhale a loud sigh today when Greg Oden declares for the draft. Oden will be leaving Ohio State for the big time where he can start cashing in on his greatness and can, hopefully, turn around one of the hapless franchises that tanked games in order to get him. Oden’s Ohio teammates and fellow freshmen Mike Conley Jr. and Daequan Cook will also be declaring today but won’t garner nearly as much attention as Oden. It’s going to be a sad season next year at Ohio State.

Virginia Tech Massacre

With at least 33 dead and 20 others injured after a brutal shooting spree at Virginia Tech, it is the deadliest shooting incident in North American history and there is no way that anyone can make a joke out of it. While the event is despicable, this is front page news and needs to be discussed. Furthermore, this is sports blog so this seems like an appropriate forum to discuss this massacre’s effect on the sporting world. It wouldn’t be out of question that memorial tributes and moments of silences will be held in remembrance at sporting events, but how will this whole situation have an impact on recruiting for V. Tech? One can surmise that while this won’t likely happen again (god forbid it does) but would you, assuming you’re a high potential high school prospect, want to sign up for a school that just suffered a blow like this? Also to be taken into consideration is the prior students of the school don’t have the best reputation, namely Marcus and Michael Vick. Virginia Tech has suffered a lot and this will more than likely have a lasting effect of suffering.

Draft Declarations galore!

Kevin Durant ended the speculation that he would return to Texas for at least another year by declaring for the NBA draft. Durant, who won the John R. Wooden award that is given to the NCAA's best player, will either be drafted first or second depending on whom you talk to. The biggest factor, one would think, is the money that is awaiting him at a professional level, especially a shoe deal that should be worth at least $40 million. NBA GMs on floundering teams can breathe a bit easier knowing his intention now.

UCLA's Aaron Afflalo also declared for the draft yesterday after guiding the team to consecutive final fours. Afflalo declared last year but withdrew after some poor showings during evaluation camps. While he did win the Pac-10's player of the year award, he shouldn't figure into a lottery team's plans.

Another talented prospect who has committed himself to the draft is Julian Wright of Kansas. Wright is seen as one of the more versatile players in the draft, announced he would be leaving school on Monday. He should factor into the first five picks of the draft, going as high as third in some mock drafts

Florida repeats! Now what?

Despite Greg Oden’s best efforts and best game of the tournament, Florida’s all-around team play carried them to their second NCAA title in a row. Another factor in the loss that became glaringly obvious towards the end of the game was Thad Matta’s horrendous coaching job of Ohio. With Florida’s big men in foul trouble and Oden clearly dominating down low, the Buckeyes continually threw up ill-fated three point attempts instead of capitalizing on the single coverage and foul situations down low. If the phenom Oden had been able to draw four more fouls, there wouldn’t have been anybody left who could guard him down low while eliminating Al Horford and Joakim Noah on the offensive end. It was a sloppy job in my opinion.

The questions will now start coming up about whether or not college stars will enter the draft for NBA money or if they’ll stick around for an education. Florida could hypothetically bring back four of their starters again and bring a third straight title home. Oden, who admittedly likes going to school, may stay in college because he knows the money will always be waiting for him. Kevin Durant may stay at Texas to help the Longhorns get deeper in the tournament next year. These decisions will have a huge impact on the draft and must have lottery teams like Memphis and Boston, who have blatantly tanked games, praying that the young guns declare.

It all comes down to this

65 teams entered the tournament a bit over two weeks ago and after some tough games, thrilling comebacks and a few (very few make that) surprises, only two teams remain. Tonight it is Ohio State vs. the defending champion Florida Gators. There are a ton of storylines in this game, more than there usually is actually, but that’s hard to say because I know for a fact that journalist can be crafty.

For one, Florida defeated Ohio State at college football’s national championship game. It’s a fairly good bet that Ohio’s basketball team can put up more than the 14 points that their football counterparts did in their loss.

Also, no team has won consecutive NCAA tournaments since Duke accomplished the feat back in the ‘91-92 tournaments. With all of their starters returning from last season, it’s still a good bet Florida can do it.

This could be phenom Greg Oden’s final college game as well as his last chance to show his abilities in a big game. Oden has frequently gotten into foul trouble throughout the tourney and has had his playing time limited because of it. Going up against Jo-Noah and Al Horford will be a challenge to the big man and it wouldn’t be a bad bet to say he racks up a couple of fouls quickly.

And since both of our brackets a done, the Intern and I have decided to bet since we no longer of bias or loyalty to our previous picks.

Dan: Florida 72, Ohio State 60

The Intern: Ohio State 76, Florida 67

Durant named player of the year

Texas freshman Kevin Durant has been named the NCAA player of the year after a spectacular season where he became a household name and cemented himself as a top-2 pick in the upcoming draft. With the announcement, Durant becomes the first freshman to win the award in its history after receiving 70 or a possible 72 first place votes; Alando Tucker of Wisconsin got the other two. Even with this title around his waist, it’s still going to be a tough decision come draft time picking between Durant and Greg Oden who played the entire NCAA season in third-gear and still dominated. Needless to say, if you have a top-2 pick this upcoming draft, you’re team’s going to be set for a while. Unless the unthinkable happens and they both stay in school for another year which would actually be devastating.

The Final 4 are set!

Three out of four isn’t bad for a guy who isn’t as well versed in basketball as most other pundits. By other pundits, I am referring solely to my Intern who only correctly hit 2 out of the 4 final teams.

Next weekend’s game present some good, interesting match ups on both sides of the bracket. In the East/South match up, the phenom Greg Oden faces off against Georgetown’s tenacious defense and big men Roy Hibbert and Patrick Ewing Jr. Georgetown came back against UNC during regulation and flat out destroyed them in overtime while Ohio State beat Memphis by 16 despite Oden playing limited minutes due to foul trouble.

The other side is a rematch of last year’s championship pitting UCLA against the formidable squad from Florida. Both teams didn’t have much trouble in their regional finals where Florida rode Lee Humphrey’s hot hand en route to beating Oregon while UCLA’s Aaron Afflalo led his team to a 13 point win.

While I originally had taken Texas to be in the championship game, that seems fairly impossible now and I’ll have to take a new opponent for my eventual champion UCLA. It seems to me that Georgetown’s two big men could get Oden into foul trouble limit his minutes and take over the game. Look for the Hoyas to roll.

Ohio State completes huge comeback

I never thought I would actually say that the consensus number 1 pick in this year’s NBA draft (Greg Oden) was better off being on the bench during last night’s 20 point come from behind victory against Tennessee. Oden, who got himself into foul trouble, something he does exceedingly well at, was on the bench for a large portion of last night’s game than I’m sure he wanted to be. The weird thing was, in his absence was the time that Ohio actually stepped it up. The play of his back up forward, a white boy named Terwilliger surprised me the most. From the looks of it, the back up had a starter calibre game. If this doesn’t seal the fate of Durant at number one, I’m not sure what does. But it still comes down to how the ping-pong balls fall and if Durant and Oden decide to declare or not.

OJ Mayo. Learn the name in case you haven’t yet.

The best high school basketball player in the States is OJ Mayo; without a doubt. He is heading to USC next year for college and, knowing the current one-and-done trend of top-tier college talent look for him to declare for the NBA as soon as he can. While he is very talented, he is surrounded by controversy including possible drug charges and associating with people the NCAA don’t look too kindly on. There is some actual doubt if he will be able to play next year, but let’s keep our fingers crossed and enjoy the youtube video of his last high school dunk.



The part of this dunk that really gets me is that after he slams it home, he grabs the ball and launches it into the stands. This is all well and fine and shows some intensity but during play? Are you kidding me? David Stern is going to grow to hate this guy if he doesn’t clean up his act by the time he’s drafted.

Bracket-mania!

Let’s hope you didn’t take too many upsets in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament because if you did, your bracket most likely isn’t looking too good right now. Since it’s always a cop out taking all the high seeds, you shouldn’t even feel good about your bracket if you’re leading right now anyway. That is unless you’re somehow winning due to the attrition in your pool, then you can celebrate and gloat all you want.

I’m not in any position to gloating right now; over the weekend I’ve lost two of my elite 8 and one of my finalists (Texas). It could be worse but it could definitely be better. Who would’ve thought that Kevin Durant couldn’t, in fact, lead his team by himself? I certain thought he could; it’s too bad there are no mulligans.

The Intern is doing slightly better but is also down 2 of his elite 8 (Georgia Tech and Texas).

***Update***

The Intern's Final Four are Kansas, Florida, Georgetown and Memphis. He would write to tell you why but he's a very busy man. (Read that last sentence with a sarcastic tone.)

How’s your bracket doing?

Day one is complete and day is about to get underway in the NCAAs and many people are probably kicking themselves for having made silly picks in their brackets. Any one who took Duke should be feeling pretty sad right now as they were bounced in nail-biting fashion by VCU. Vanderbilt straight up jacked George Washington and I know someone personally who had the game going the other way. Penn and Davidson both kept it close before bowing to the higher seeds.

Largely, there weren’t many day 1 upsets but look for day two to potential make up for it.

It's Finally Here!

I our tradition of “friendly” competition, the Intern and I have, like a large percentage of people in North America, have filled out our brackets and are going to face off in a head to head over the next few weeks for bragging rights. Since we wouldn’t want to run our entire brackets here, we’ll just give up our final four picks.

Dan

Florida: They’ve returned their five starters from last year’s championship team but more importantly, have you seen the competition in the Midwest bracket? It’s pathetic. The only team with a chance to unseat them is Wisconsin, but their Centre’s injured.

UCLA: My pick to win it all because, quite frankly, they’re my pick to win it all every year and I have no idea why. I’m not buying into Kansas’s team and I don’t know enough about Pittsburgh and So. Ill to take them. I do know that Duke sucks though.

Ohio State: Mark my words: If Ohio State and Texas A&M reach the elite 8, that will be one hell of a game to watch. Acie Law IV is going to show what he’s made of and Greg Oden is Greg Oden.

Texas: They have, by far, the hardest competition in their region but I can see Kevin Durant shining under the tournament’s pressure a la Carmelo Anthony. They’re going to have to fight through every game, well, except for their first round match up with New Mexico State.

The Intern’s picks will come later…