One Shining Moment - 2009

Honestly, they could have just played this at halftime last night and everyone could have gone to bed a little earlier.....

OPENING NIGHT IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL

How Much Better is Jay Cutler than Kyle Orton???

After the huge trade yesterday between the Broncos (received Kyle Orton, a 2009 first round draft pick, a 2009 third round draft pick, and a 2010 first round draft pick) and the Bears (received Jay Cutler and a 2009 fifth round draft pick), everyone has been debating who got the better deal.

In an ESPN poll receiving over 300,000 votes, 54% said that the Broncos made out better. In the state of Colorado, 57% said the trade was better for Denver, where as in the state of Illinois, an enormous 76% went the other way, making the case that the trade was better for Chicago.

This trade was not about the Broncos. It was completely about the Bears and their lack of consistent performance at the quarterback position. They've used 22 different starting quarterbacks in the past 19 years and their starter last year (Orton) led them to a 9-7 record. I'm hearing a lot about how much the Bears players liked and respected Orton and how it will be very difficult for Cutler to come in and quickly prove himself (especially after having received a reputation as a cry-baby...and justly so).

That the Bears were looking to upgrade their QB is not a surprise. Many feel that it is this sole position on the field has kept them from being a perennial Super Bowl contender over the past six years. And that the Bears did upgrade that position by nabbing Cutler is not likely to be argued by anyone who has watched the two QBs over their careers.

So the question is not whether Cutler is better than Orton...it is how much better? Is he so much better that the Bears should be giving away TWO first rounders and a third rounder? On the surface, the answer would seem to be no. Although Cutler is younger and appears to have all the skills necessary to become one of the elite QBs in the game, he is not Tom Brady or Peyton Manning; and Orton is a decent starter. Plus, two first round picks can really help your team...enough to compensate for keeping your average starting QB, right?

Well - the answer to that question completely depends on what you do with your draft picks. Remember, these picks do not represent existing Pro Bowl players...they purely represent talent on paper. This talent may take years to realize, or may never come to fruition at all. Additionally, in today's era, having a first round draft pick means paying an enormous contract and bonus to some yet-to-be-proven talent.

What the Bears have done is upgrade their current QB without changing a single other thing about their current roster. The only other thing they have done is given up the opportunity to draft two players, but have kept a lot of money to do so. So, I can certainly understand what the Bears fans are so thrilled about. However, if their defense starts getting old and they don't have enough offensive weapons for Cutler to get the ball to....they will soon start wishing they had those draft picks back!

As for the Broncos, they should be thrilled as well. They unloaded a complete distraction who was not happy with his situation. Yes - Cutler had talent - but he was never going to live up to the expectations that John Elway left behind, no matter how well he performed. Orton doesn't exactly embody new hope for the franchise, but they can gain some young talent with their newly acquired draft picks (if they draft wisely) and give new head coach Josh McDaniels something to be hopeful about.

So, who got the better end of the trade? This is a question that gets tossed around after every major trade takes place. In this case - as is true of 95% of trades - both teams got what they wanted. They traded for equal value.

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What Could Have Been - March Madness 2009 Edition

If you're a college hoops junkie (like we at Academics at Athletics are), there probably has been a time during this year's N.C.2.A. (I had to say that, just because Doug Gottlieb INSISTS in saying that every dang time anyone else just says "N.C.Double.A.") when you've wondered to yourself..."How would the tournament look if no guys ever left to go pro early out of college or high school?"

The thought is enticing. It's like..."Man, what team would KG be on?" And then you realize he's about as old as Jaime Moyer. "Oh, snap! Where would Kobe have gone to college?" Uh...he's won like 13 titles and would have played college ball in the 80's. "Wasn't LeBron supposed to go to Ohio State?" He's played six years in the pros. Not even close.

Aside from the fact that this exercise reminds us how fast we have aged, we at Academics on Athletics have done a bit of research to create the "What Could Have Been Elite 8" of March Madness 2009. We welcome any miscues to be pointed out by our readers. Our research methodology is based on including every current legitimate NBA player and the remaining players are filled out by either points per game or obvious starter/star if adding up the figures omits an obvious guy. Our research concluded there were a pretty solid nine teams before the parody drops off, so we've included an extra "elite" team. While Louisville or Pitt may have been able to compete with these teams, none of them had a guy that would have made their team any better this year.

So, here we go, ladies and gentlemen: Your 2009 What-Could-Have-Been March Madness Elite Nine, in random order.

MEMPHIS:
G Derrick Rose
G Tyreke Evans
F Chris Douglas-Roberts
F Shawne Williams
F Robert Dozier
TEAM NOTE: Interesting squad...3 guys from the team that choked the championship, plus arguably the best frosh this year plus the only frosh that truly went in the '06 draft. Really hard to detect their winning potential. Undoubtedly, ridiculous talent pool.

OHIO STATE:
G Mike Conley, Jr.
G Daequan Cook
F Evan Turner
F Kosta Koufos
C Greg Oden
TEAM NOTE: This is a scary team. If Greg Oden is healthy and rocking, a hard-to-argue vote for National Champions.

UCONN:
G AJ Price
G Jerome Dyson/Kemba Walker
F Jeff Adrien/Stanley Robinson
F Andrew Bynum
C Hasheem Thabeet
TEAM NOTE: This team is scary just because Bynum is arguably one of the best centers in the NBA, and to put him between Thabeet's heighth and Adrien's linebacker body? I would not want to take a step in that lane. When you really sit down and think about it, this goes down as one of the best college basketball teams ever. Ever.

KANSAS:
G Sherron Collins
G Mario Chalmers
G Brandon Rush
F Julian Wright
C Cole Aldrich
TEAM NOTE: Last year's title team with additional talent. Dangerous if you could get these 5 guys to play together.

ARIZONA:
G Brandon Jennings
G Marcus Williams
G Jerryd Bayless
F Chase Budinger
F Jordan Hill
TEAM NOTE: Ties Memphis with most guys who have left to pro early (3), they must be included. But which one of these guys has done ANYTHING? Even worse is trying to imagine them playing together. We love you Chase and will go to any volleyball game you play in.

DUKE:
G Jon Scheyer
G Gerald Henderson
F Kyle Singler
F Josh McRoberts
G Nolan Smith/Greg Paulus
TEAM NOTE: We know, we know. You hate Duke. We do too (especially after limping around against Nova). But Seth Curry is transferring to Duke, and our loyalty is back. Really, you throw in McRoberts and his thunder-jams to this team, and anyone would realize he just shoulda stayed in school. This would have made a very interesting team.

UNC:
G Ty Lawson
G Wayne Ellington
F Tyler Hansbrough
F Brandan Wright
F Deion Thompson
TEAM NOTE: With Ty Lawson at the point, it don't matter who yo momma is, you are a national contender. Kid is ridiculous. The Brandan Wright thing would be interesting. Would that put Ed Davis on JV? Depth GALORE and hard to argue they wouldn't take home the cake.

UCLA:
G Russell Westbrook
G Darren Collison
F Josh Shipp
F Alfred Aboya/Luc Richard Mbah a Moute
C Kevin Love
TEAM NOTE: Sounds sexy at first glance, but there is substance too...and a lot of Final Four experience.

TEXAS:
G DJ Augustin
G AJ Abrams
F Kevin Durant
F Damion James
C Dexter Pittman
TEAM NOTE: One of the top 5 players in the NBA over the next decade, plus a truly competent backcourt (the secret ingredient for any NCAA champ), and you can't not include them. Pittman could clean up after everyone, too.

To cap this segment off, we at Academic on Athletics have made our prediction for the "What Could Have Been 2009 National Champions". While Ohio State looks really tempting, we can't ignore UNC's off-the-charts-depth and UCONN's -- and you can repeat this -- PERFECT TEAM. A dynamite backcourt (Price and Dyson), a diaper dandy on the bench ready to go off at any point, and a front court of....let's just put it this way...would YOU want to enter a lane comprised of Jeff Adrien, Andrew Bynum, and Hasheem Thabeet all about to eat your lunch? Well...maybe Scottie Reynolds would be up to that challenge...

Posted by The Sideline Sidekick

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Tiger Is Back

In his second tournament back after having knee surgery nine months ago, Tiger Woods captured the Arnold Palmer Invitation at Bay Hill. He overcame a five stroke deficit to Sean O'Heir at the start of the day to serve notice that he is fully back from his injury. This firmly places him as the favorite at the upcoming Masters, where he hopes to claim his 15th major victory.

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AND THEN THERE WERE FOUR

Four teams will be heading to Detroit next weekend in hope of claiming the 2009 NCAA Championship. We have to apologize to second seeded Michigan St for putting them at the bottom of our list in our last post. They dominated play against Louisville and now stand a chance to cut down the nets in their home state next Monday. Their talent may still be inferior to that of the other three teams remaining, but they could get a boost from the crowd if Michigan St fans can get their hands on enough tickets.

Joining them are number one seeds Connecticut and North Carolina, who took care of business throughout their regions, and third seeded Villanova, who advanced by knocking off Pittsburgh in the game of the tournament thus far.

At this stage in March Madness, each team has a great chance to win it all (it only takes putting two quality games together). Having said that, it would be a little surprising to see either Villanova or Michigan St win, considering the pedigree of the UConn and UNC rosters.

Vote in the Academics on Athletics poll on the right hand side to let us know who you think will come away with the title.

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Ranking The Elite

Here's how Academics on Athletics ranks the remaining eight teams in the tournament, in terms of their chances to win the title:

1. Connecticut
2. North Carolina
3. Louisville
4. Pittsburgh
5. Oklahoma
6. Villanova
7. Missouri
8. Michigan St

Check back after this weekend's games for our poll of who will win the championship.

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Japan Wins World Baseball Classic

Last night's WBC Championship game is being labeled as one of the best played and most intense baseball games in recent memory. While it was a great game, whether you think its excitement was on par with the World Series depends on your perspective. Personally, I feel that the World Series is the biggest baseball event, but I can certainly understand how important this game was for the countries that contested it.

In case you missed it, in front of nearly 55,000 screaming fans in Dodger Stadium, Japan defeated South Korea 5-3 in 10 innings. How great it was also to see all the passionate fans packed into stadiums in Seoul and Tokyo to watch the game. Achieving something that the US players wouldn't be able to do by winning, the Japanese players - led by Ichiro Suzuki (4-4 with the game winning hit) - became national heroes by defeating their Pacific Rim rivals and claiming their second WBC title.

This competition represented everything that sports should be about, even if the American fans don't show an interest in it.

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Power Rankings - Sweet Sixteen

Here's a look at how we rank the remaining teams in the NCAA tournament, in order of their chances to reach the Final Four:

1. Louisville
2. Connecticut
3. North Carolina
   
4. Pittsburgh
5. Memphis
6. Villanova
7. Syracuse
8. Oklahoma
9. Missouri
10. Duke
11. Kansas
12. Michigan St
13. Purdue
14. Gonzaga
15. Arizona
16. Xavier

Most of these rankings are based on the difficulty of the regions. The Midwest Region (Louisville) appears to be the easiest, while the East (Pittsburgh) and South (North Carolina) look to be very difficult.

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Japan Advances to WBC Final

Japan defeated USA 9-4 in semifinal play in the World Baseball Classic, setting up a final game showdown with South Korea. After giving up a leadoff homerun to Brian Roberts, Daisuke Matzusaka was able to shut down the US bats and send the squad that most had tabbed as favorites back to Spring Training for their respective MLB teams. Plagued by errors in the field and inconsistent pitching, Team USA - playing in Los Angeles - once again failed to reach the finals of the WBC.

Japan moves on to face South Korea at 9:30pm ET on ESPN and will attempt to win its second WBC Championship.

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Day Four Recap

The first weekend of the 2009 NCAA Tournament came to a thrilling close on Sunday. Syracuse, Xavier, Kansas, and Arizona found their way into the Sweet Sixteen without having to sweat too much on Sunday. The other four victors on the day had to work much harder to move on to the next round. Pittsburgh outlasted an impressive Oklahoma St team 84-76, Missouri got by Marquette in the final seconds 83-79, Michigan St knocked off red hot USC 74-69, and Louisville survived a scare from a very determined Siena squad 79-72.

When the weekend was over and the Sweet Sixteen was set, almost all the major contenders remained. In fact, this 2009 tournament has the lowest combined total when adding up all the seeds of any NCAA tournament in history. Only Arizona (seeded 12th) and Purdue (seeded 5th) are not among the 16 teams originally expected to make it through the first weekend of play, according to seeding, and all the #1, #2, and #3 seeds are still alive. This should make for some terrific matchups in the Regional Semifinals and Finals this weekend.

Check back later in the week for a preview of those games.

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Day Three Recap and Day Four Preview

Eight teams punched their tickets to the Sweet Sixteen on Saturday, none of them surprises. The only lower seeded team to win was 5th seed Purdue, but the Big Ten tournament champ's victory over Washington was hardly a surprise. Villanova and Memphis rolled in their second round matchups after surviving first round scares. Meanwhile, top seeded Connecticut was impressive in another blowout win. Ty Lawson heated up just in time for North Carolina to pull away from a very game LSU squad, and Blake Griffin helped lead the Sooners past Michigan. The final two games of the night provided the most excitement. Gonzaga needed freshman Demetri Goodson's basket with less than a second left to outlast Western Kentucky 83-81 and Duke triumphed in a closely contested battle with Texas 74-69.

These results set up some heavyweight matchups next week. But for now, the focus shifts to today's games, which will determine the rest of the Sweet Sixteen contestants. Here's what to look for today on CBS:

Arizona St vs Syracuse, 12:10
Wisconsin vs Xavier, 2:20
Dayton vs Kansas, 2:30
Cleveland St vs Arizona, 2:40
Oklahoma St vs Pittsburgh, 2:50
Marquette vs Missouri, 4:50
USC vs Michigan St, 5:00
Siena vs Louisville, 5:20

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions

Champions League Draw Revealed

The quarterfinal draw was announced yesterday for the 2009 UEFA Champions League. Here's how it shakes up:

• Manchester United vs FC Porto (April 7 & 15)



• Villarreal vs Arsenal (Aprli 7 & 15)



• Barcelona vs Bayern Munich (April 8 & 14)



• Liverpool vs Chelsea (April 8 & 14)

There is every indication that this year's tournament will live up to the excitement of the past few years.

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions

Day Two Recap and Day Three Preview

The tourney really heated up in day two with wire-to-wire excitement. Oklahoma St held off Tennessee for a two point win, Marquette escaped Utah St, Arizona St edged out Temple, and Kansas and Pittsburgh survived upset attempts from North Dakota St and East Tennessee St, respectively. And all of that happened during the day session.

The night session provided more thrills as 12th seededArizona got past Utah as many had speculated they would. Then came the tourney's first true upset, as 13th seeded Cleveland St knocked off #3 seed Wake Forest comfortably. But the action wasn't finished on Friday. Siena outlasted Ohio St in a double overtime game, and Wisconsin shut down Florida St 61-59 in overtime to cap a competitive day of hoops.

Today's schedule promises more quality games, as we move into the Round of 32. A quick look at today's eight game lineup on CBS:

UCLA vs Villanova, 1:05
Maryland vs Memphis, 3:20
Texas A&M vs Connecticut, 3:35
Purdue vs Washington, 5:40
LSU vs North Carolina, 5:45
Michigan vs Oklahoma, 5:50
Western Ky vs Gonzaga, 8:10
Texas vs Duke, 8:15

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions

Day One Recap & Day Two Preview

The opening day of the 2009 NCAA tournament got off to a slow start in the day session, with only CS Northridge's surprising effort against #2 seed Memphis providing much excitement. In the end, the Matadors couldn't overcome a barrage of three-pointers by Roburt Sallie and Memphis.

Every year, there is one game that really kicks off the tournament, and when the night session started, it quickly became evident that Villanova vs American was going to be that game. Little known players like Garrison Carr and Derrick Mercer came out on fire and helped American build up a 14 point lead against Villanova before the Wildcats' aggressive style got American in foul trouble in the second half and triggered their comeback.

The two last games on the schedule both came down to the wire as Western Kentucky survived Illinois and UCLA edged out Virginia Commonwealth down the stretch. Overall, it was not a bad day of hoops, but expect much more fireworks today.

Here are some of the more anticipated matchups today:

Temple vs Arizona St (two premier players go head-to-head in Christmas and Harden)

Arizona vs Utah (Arizona will be eager to prove they belong in the tourney)

Cleveland St vs Wake Forest (many think there is an upset chance here)

USC vs Boston College (USC tries to continue it's streak over the 7th seed)

Siena vs Ohio State (the Saints look to score an first round upset for the second straight year)

Utah St vs Marquette (a big opportunity for the Aggies vs a banged up Marquette squad)

Dayton vs West Virginia (two scrappy teams will attempt to out-hustle one another)

North Dakota St vs Kansas (Kansas has been upset by Bison before)

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions

May I Have The First Dance?

The day has finally arrived. Butler and LSU kick off the 2009 NCAA Tournament today at 12:20 ET. There are sixteen games today...here is a look at some of the more anticipated matchups:

VCU vs UCLA (VCU is a popular pick to score an upset as an 11 seed)

Texas A&M vs BYU (a rematch of a first round game last year won by TAMU)

Western Kentucky vs Illinois (many favor the 13th seeded Hilltoppers)

Maryland vs California (Cal is favored, but Maryland can beat anybody)

Michigan vs Clemson (a total tossup)

Akron vs Gonzaga (the Zips vs the Zags...that's too perfect)

Miss St vs Washington (can athletic Miss St continue it's upset streak)

Minnesota vs Texas (can Tubby's squad knock off underachieving UT?)

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions

Celebrating Academics WITHIN Athletics

We just wanted to take a moment to recognize all the schools participating in the NCAA tournament with 100% graduation rates. According to a report released this week by The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport, the following teams achieved a perfect graduation rate (based on whether freshmen who entered school between the 1998-99 and 2001-02 school years earned diplomas within six years)

Teams In The Men's NCAA Tournament

• Binghamton
• Florida State
• Marquette
• Robert Morris
• Utah State
• Wake Forest
• Western Kentucky

Teams Women's NCAA Tournament

• Connecticut
• DePaul
• Evansville
• Florida
• Lehigh
• Marist
• Notre Dame
• Ohio State
• Sacred Heart
• Stanford
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Vanderbilt
• Villanova

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions

Do Americans Care About the World Baseball Classic?

Does anyone care about the World Baseball Classic? In the USA, we didn't care....until last night. In a game that was only being broadcast on ESPN Deportes, Team USA scored a huge comeback victory to beat Puerto Rico 6-5 in an elimination game. The players went crazy and the US moved on to the semifinals for the first time in the event's history.

Now the story is all over the news, but I ask....what if the US had lost, or even won without the stunning comeback? Would it be talked about? I'm willing to say the answer is NO, which is a shame.

This competition embodies great spirit, and it is hugely popular in other countries. But Americans are not so accepting of contests involving "outsiders". It is thought that since it is not the ultimate level of competition that Major League Baseball is, that the WBC should be taken lightly. The players are world class, and do take it seriously, despite a more relaxed environment.

Personally, I love being able to turn on the tube and watch a few innings of baseball after a long winter. But, I understand why it is not hugely popular in the US. There is no sense of pride that comes from defeating Venezuela or the Netherlands in baseball, which is considered to be "America's pastime". Besides, it's March - and the focus of the sports world is on college basketball - and rightly so.

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions.

College Hoops Style Watch - 2009

Let's face it: like it or not, fashion plays a central role in sport. That's why we remember things like Agassi's mane surrounded by flourescents, Michael Cooper's knee-high socks, Deion Sanders belly-knotted Florida State jersey, the Fab Five's shorts, or even the rally-cap. Need a recent example? How about the Band-Wade. Basketball is definitely no exception. T-Mobile did a great job of pointing this out in the recent commercial featuring D-Wade and Sir Charles when D-Wade says "Amazing.....how you fit into those short shorts" while watching a clip of Charles dunking decades ago for the Sixers. Any basketball fan with an ounce of curiosity has always wondered or bet with buddies how long it will take for the short shorts to come back. These things take time. One article of clothing at a time.

On that note, let's cut to the chase and talk about the college hoops fashion trends of the 2008-2009 season. There are three ways to characterize the fashion trends of any season: 1) the standard look, 2) what's trend-forward, and 3) what's trend-backward. Definitely the signature look and fashion formula for this season has been the five following ingredients, three of which are required, two are optional. They are: the tight jersey (required), fairly baggy shorts (required), the crew sock (required), the tight-breathy-tech-fit under t-shirt (optional), and headband (optional).

The headband, tight jersey, and crew sock are all trend-forward elements. Academics on Athletics thinks we have to give credit to Carmelo Anthony for the crew sock trend, as we all remember watching him cut down the nets in '03 when few to no other players were sporting the crew socks as noticably as him. And we know that NCAA players emulate pro players, and our hypothesis is that LeBron James started the emergence of the headband in high school. Before that time, there really was not any prevalence of the headband in the college game. The headband is spreading like wildfire and it's hard to imgaine it disappearing anytime soon.

Trend-backward? The amazingly sudden and surprising disppearance of the ankle sock. Not the quarter sock, but the true ankle sock (no sock visible). Only Gerald Henderson of Duke and Goran Suton of Michigan State are sporting remnants of the true ankle sock. These guys are definitely trend-backward.

So, without further ado, here is Academics on Athletics 2008-2009 All-College Hoops Style Watch Team. Criteria: Those who best embody the signature look of the season.

G Tyreke Evans, Memphis

G Jonny Flynn, Syracuse

G Tyrese Rice, BC

F Jeff Adrien, Connecticut

F Deion Thompson, UNC

MVP (unanimous): Jonny Flynn

Anyway, as we embark on March Madness, I offer our readers a competition to view who can point out the person who best embodies the 2008-2009 signature look of tight jersey -- baggy shorts -- crew sock. And, who looks the best in the look.

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions or suggestions.

The Results Are In

Here's a look at how Academics on Athletics fared when the brackets were announced last night.

Teams in the field correct: 64/65
Exact seeds placed: 34/65
Seeds within one seed line: 55/65
Paymon score: 315

The Bracket Project ranked 61 different websites and experts on these categories, and only four came up with a better Paymon score than Academics on Athletics. Our blog was too new to be included in this year's contest, but you can view the results by clicking here.

The top brackets in 2009 by Paymon scoring were:

Bracketography: 325
Yahoo! Rivals: 318
Baseline Stats: 317
Bracketville: 316
Academics on Athletics: 315
Jerry Palm (CollegeRPI.com): 315
Bracketology 101: 315
Joe Lunardi (ESPN): 307

Hopefully, we can improve on that next year. But now that the selections are final, the focus shifts to analyzing the matchups, predicting the winners, and enjoying the games.

Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any questions or suggestions.

FINAL BRACKETOLOGY

Here is the final Field of 65 predicted by Academics on Athletics:

Mississippi State's win today knocked the available at-large bids to three, so San Diego St has been bumped out of the field. Here's a look at the chances for the teams vying for these elusive spots.

Bubble Looking In (Last Teams In) - 3

• Minnesota - 80%
• Maryland - 70%
• St. Mary's - 40%
  

Bubble Looking Out (First Teams Out) - 5

• San Diego St - 30%
• Creighton 30%
• Penn St - 25%
• Arizona - 20%
• Auburn - 5%

Seeding Predictions

#1s: North Carolina, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Connecticut

#2s: Memphis, Duke, Oklahoma, Michigan State

#3s: Kansas, Wake Forest, Villanova, Missouri

#4s: Purdue, Gonzaga, Washington, Syracuse

#5s: Florida State, UCLA, Clemson, Xavier

#6s: West Virginia, Tennessee, Illinois, LSU

#7s: Arizona St, Butler, Ohio State, Utah

#8: California, Brigham Young, Texas, Marquette

#9s: Oklahoma State, Boston College, Dayton, Texas A&M

#10s: Southern California, Utah State, Michigan, Siena

#11s: Wisconsin, Minnesota, Maryland, Temple

#12s: VCU, Northern Iowa, Mississippi State, St. Mary's

#13s: Cleveland St., Western Kentucky, North Dakota St., Akron

#14s: American, Stephen F. Austin, East Tennessee State, Cornell

#15s: Binghamton, Portland St., CS Northridge, Robert Morris

#16s: Morgan St., Morehead St., Radford, Chatanooga, Alabama St.

Play-In Game: Chatanooga vs Alabama State

Please comment if you have any questions

BRACKETOLOGY - 1 DAY TO GO

There are eight hours to go before selections are announced. Let's take a look at how Saturday's games impacted the Big Dance outlook.

Binghamton (America East), Memphis (C-USA), USC (Pac Ten), Missouri (Big Twelve), Temple (Atlantic Ten), Utah (Mountain West), Morgan St (MEAC), Akron (MAC), Louisville (Big East), Alabama St (SWAC), Utah St (WAC), and CS Northridge (Big West) all won their conference tournaments, while an idle Michigan locked up an at-large bid.

San Diego St, Maryland, and Auburn suffered devastating losses, which will cause them to wait nervously today to see which side of the cut-line they will be on. Meanwhile, USC's victory over Arizona St took away an at-large bid from the field. By my calculation, there are 30 at-large selections locked up, leaving just four remaining. This shrinks to three if Mississippi St can score an upset by knocking off Tennessee today. Here's a look at the teams in the running for the final spots, along with the chances I give them of being selected.

Bubble Looking In (Last Teams In) - 4

• Minnesota - 80% (Along with Maryland, they seem to be all but a certainty to lock up one of these final spots, especially being ahead of Penn St in the Big Ten pecking order)

• Maryland - 80% (Along with Minnesota, they seem to be all but a certainty to lock up one of these final spots)

• St. Mary's - 55% (Their selection depends on whether the committee ignores the losses they suffered without Patty Mills late in the season. They should, in which case the only thing St. Mary's can be punished for is losing to a top squad in Gonzaga three times)

• San Diego St - 55% (A week ago, there was talk that the Mountain West could get five teams in the tourney. Now, there are only two locks, and the committee may reward the conference by giving San Diego St its third bid. The strongest thing working against them is that they lost to fellow bubble teams Arizona and St. Mary's)
  

Bubble Looking Out (First Teams Out) - 4

• Creighton - 50% (They haven't played a game in a week. Does that give the committee time to forget about their blowout loss in the MVC semis? Maybe, but it provides other teams chances to make stronger impressions, and San Diego St seems to have surpassed them

• Penn St - 35% (They had very good results in the Big Ten, but ultimately I think the committee will punish them for their weak nonconference schedule, which is a shame)

• Arizona - 20% (At their best, they can play with anyone, but their inconsistency over the course of the season will prove to be their undoing)

• Auburn - 15% (The only way they get in is if the committee decides that the traditionally strong SEC should have three teams in the field. And that argument gets thrown away if Miss St wins today)
  

Teams Preparing for the NIT - 5

• New Mexico - 5%
• UNLV - 2%
• Northwestern - 1%
• Davidson - 1%
• Providence - 1%

Check back at 5:30pm ET for my final prediction for the field of 65, including seedings.

BRACKETOLOGY - 2 DAYS TO GO

What a wild Friday it was for bubble teams. Only three teams clinched spots in the Big Dance (American by winning the Patriot League tournament, and both Ohio St and Wisconsin by locking up at-large bids). A few other teams moved closer to locking up bids, but will still have to wait to see if the upsets continue over the weekend. South Carolina, Florida, and Virginia Tech can all kiss their tourney hopes goodbye as they failed to get the wins they needed yesterday. Also losing yesterday were Big Ten teams Michigan, Minnesota, and Penn St, who now lose control of their destiny.

Scoring big wins were San Diego St, Maryland, Auburn, Temple, and Utah St (who avoided a scare to all bubble teams and came away with a one-point victory over New Mexico St). Yesterday, I would have said that if SDSU beat BYU and Maryland beat Wake Forest, they'd both be locks. However, with upset victories by Baylor, USC, Temple, and yes - Duquesne, it'll be hard to claim an at-large bid until we know just how many will be available. Right now, I'm claiming there are only six remaining, and that number can only go down.

Here's a look at some teams that could steal an automatic bid, thus reducing the at-large bids available:

• Atlantic Ten (Duquesne and Temple have already stolen one; If Duquesne wins, Temple may still be in the picture for an at-large, so the A-10 could be charged for two counts of robbery)
• WAC (Nevada can cause panic in today's final if they beat Utah St, who stand a good chance for an at-large)
• Big 12 (Baylor has reached the final game, and a win over Missouri would surely reduce the available bids)
• Mountain West (San Diego St has a chance at an at-large bid, but can clinch a spot with a win over Utah in today's championship game)
• Pac Ten (USC is one win away from taking an auto bid. If they beat Arizona St, they would become the 5th Pac Ten to lock up a bid, which would be bad news for Arizona)
• SEC (Auburn and Miss St are both in the semifinals, and if either can win two more games, they blow the bubble apart even further)
• Conference USA (Tulsa would create panic across the country if they beat Memphis today)

Alright - who's in as of now? Since yesterday's bracketology, American (Patriot League) clinched an automatic bid, and Temple (Atlantic Ten) is the assumed recipient of another. Ohio St and Wisconsin became at-large locks, thus leaving six spots for 15 bubble teams (not including Temple and Utah St, who are expected to win their conferences). Here are my selections prior to today's games. Selections appear in order:

Bubble Teams Looking In (Last Teams In) - 6

• Michigan
• San Diego St
• Minnesota
• Creighton
• Maryland
• USC

Bubble Teams Looking Out (First Teams Out) - 5

• Arizona
• Penn St
• New Mexico
• Auburn
• St. Mary's
  

Teams Still Hanging On To Hope - 4

• UNLV
• Northwestern
• Davidson
• Providence

TODAY'S GAMES WITH BUBBLE RAMIFICATIONS

1. Tulsa vs Memphis (Potential Theft by Tulsa)
   
2. Auburn vs Tennessee (Elimination game for Auburn)
   
3. Maryland vs Duke (Maryland can clinch bid)
4. USC vs Arizona St (Potential Theft by USC)
5. Baylor vs Missouri (Potential Theft by Baylor)
6. Duquesne vs Temple (Potential Theft by Duquesne)
7. San Diego St vs Utah (Potential Theft by San Diego St)
8. Nevada vs Utah St (Potential Theft by Nevada)
   

BRACKETOLOGY - 3 DAYS TO GO

March Madness is really upon us now, as yesterday marked the first big day of the major conference tournaments. Although nobody managed to punch their ticket, there were several teams whose bubbles were burst during play on Thursday.

The biggest winner yesterday was Creighton, who didn't even play a game. They moved back into the tournament field, although teams like Florida, Virginia Tech, and Temple still have a chance to pass them with victories in their respective conference tournaments today. Another team celebrating is Minnesota, who knocked Northwestern out of contention and should have shored up an NCAA bid, although they can become a lock if they beat Michigan St today. San Diego St also improved its chances with the selection committee with its third victory of the year against UNLV. Over the past week, I've consistently had San Diego St in and UNLV out, although ESPN's well-respected Bracketologist Joe Lunardi has had UNLV in and SDSU out over this same period of time. With similar resumes, I just can't see UNLV being a 4th or 5th team from the Mountain West Conference to make the tourney with three head-to-head losses against SDSU, who moves on to the MWC semis.

Virginia Tech, Maryland, Penn St, Florida, and Michigan also avoided bad losses to keep their hopes alive. And don't forget to keep an eye on Temple, as they battle Xavier today in the Atlantic Ten semifinals. The selection committee seems to always think more highly of the A-10 than most of the "talking-heads" do. This may help Temple, who can improve on it's solid RPI with a win over Xavier, even if they were to lose in the finals.

There were three categories of losers yesterday:

• Those whose tourney hopes completely disappeared (Kansas St, Rhode Island, Miami (FL), Rhode Island)
• Those who are clearly outside the cut-off and now need other teams to lose (Providence, Northwestern, UNLV, New Mexico)
• Those who should still be in the field of 65, but can't feel as confident as they await Sunday's selections (Arizona is the only team falling into this category today)

Lastly, how did yesterday's results impact the idle teams? Mid-major bubble teams like Creighton, St. Mary's and Davidson moved up the board quite a bit. I have Creighton actually making the cut, but St. Mary's and Davidson don't have as impressive resumes and may not get the call from the selection committee with Creighton ahead of them. They need to keep hoping other bubble teams ahead of them lose today and that there are no surprise tourney winners (like Georgia last year). Speaking of which, Memphis survived a scare from Tulane, a game which probably had several bubble teams biting their nails.

Let's get down to it - Today's Bracketology has all the same Automatic Bids and At Large Locks, so there are still nine available spots for 20 teams on the bubble. Here's a look at my selections prior to the start of today's games. Selections appear in order.

Bubble Teams Looking In (Last Teams In) - 9

• Wisconsin
• Ohio St
• Michigan
• San Diego St
• Minnesota
• Penn St
• Arizona
• Creighton
• South Carolina

Bubble Teams Looking Out (Last Teams Out) - 6

• Florida
• New Mexico
• UNLV
• Maryland
• Virginia Tech
• Temple

Teams Still Hanging On To Hope - 5

• Auburn
• St. Mary's
• Northwestern
• Providence
• Davidson

GAMES TO WATCH TODAY

1. Ohio St vs Wisconsin (Winner becomes a lock)
2. Florida vs Auburn (Double elimination game)
3. Minnesota vs Mich St (Minn can become a lock)
4. Virginia Tech vs UNC (Va Tech can become a lock)
5. South Carolina vs Miss St (Elimination game for SC)
6. Michigan vs Illinois (Much can become lock)
7. Temple vs Xavier (Temple can become lock)
8. Maryland vs Wake Forest (Maryland can become lock)
9. San Diego St vs BYU (SDSU can become lock)
10. Penn St vs Purdue (Penn St can become lock)

Of course if enough of these bubble teams were to pull off upsets, they may still not be considered locks. It's hard to expect that more than a few of these teams can knock off their higher ranked opponents, but anything can happen....there's a reason they call it March Madness.

A Game For The Ages

With all that happened on Thursday regarding bubble teams (which I will thoroughly comment on later), I thought that the Syracuse vs Connecticut game was worth making a special mention of. This game is what college hoops is all about...two teams who will make the NCAA tournament no matter what (one of which has a #1 seed all but locked up) battling it out for six overtimes. It stands as one of the most remarkable games I've ever seen.

How historic was this game? In the 30 year history of the Big East Conference, there had only been one Triple OT game in the conference tournament until this. So when it reached Overtime #4, it was the longest game in Big East tournament history. When it reached Overtime #5 it was the longest game in Big East history - regular season or postseason. When it reached Overtime #7, it became the longest game in the history of NCAA Division 1 Basketball (along with Cincinnati vs in Bradley 1981).

It looked like the game was over in regulation when Eric Devendorf hit a 3-pointer to seemingly win the game for Syracuse before it was ultimately overturned by the referees. Clearly the clock started early AND was at zero by the time the ball left his hand. Syracuse did not lead in any of the 5 overtimes, but managed to end each one tied until the game got to its sixth OT.

With the exception of the Devendorf shot that was overturned, the refereeing was questionable to say the least and to the players credit, they didn't complain and kept competing even harder. Players were fouling out left and right, but those remaining kept stepping up. When Hasheem Thabeeet fouled out in the fourth OT, UConn still managed to block four shots without him to send the game into a fifth OT. Syracuse even had to play a guy who has played 21 minutes and scored only FOUR points all season.

Syracuse finally got its first lead since regulation in the sixth OT, and held on to it for a 127-117 victory. As the game finally drew to a close, after 70 minutes of basketball, the players were still battling their hearts out. As the day Big East quarterfinals finally drew to a close, at 1:25AM EST, the fans still stood exhilarated by what they'd seen. And a certain basketball fan couldn't help but feel inspired to post a blog about it.

BRACKETOLOGY - 4 DAYS TO GO

A look at the teams I have making the NCAA Tournament entering Thursday's games:

Automatic Bids Already Awarded - 14

• East Tenn St (Atlantic Sun)
• Radford (Big South)
• Portland St (Big Sky)
• VCU (Colonial)
• Cleveland St (Horizon)
• Cornell (Ivy)
• Siena (MAAC)
• Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley)
• Robert Morris (Northeast)
• Morehead St (Ohio Valley)
• Chatanooga (Southern)
• North Dakota St (Summit)
• Western Ky (Sun Belt)
• Gonzaga (West Coast)

Automatic Bids Remaining - 17

• North Carolina (ACC)
• Binghamton (America East)
• Xavier (Atlantic 10)
• Oklahoma (Big 12)
• Connecticut (Big East)
• Michigan St (Big Ten)
• CS Northridge (Big West)
• Memphis (C-USA)
• Bowling Green (MAC)
• Morgan St (MEAC)
• Utah (Mountain West)
• Washington (Pac Ten)
• American (Patriot)
• LSU (SEC)
• Stephen F Austin (Southland)
• Alabama St (SWAC)
• Utah St (WAC)

At Large Locks (Non-Conference Winners) - 25

• Duke
• Wake Forest
• Clemson
• Florida St
• Pittsburgh
• Louisville
• Villanova
• Marquette
• West Virginia
• Syracuse
• Illinois
• Purdue
• Kansas
• Missouri
• Texas
• UCLA
• Arizona St
• Tennessee
• BYU
• Texas A&M
• Boston College
• Dayton
• Oklahoma St
• California
• Butler

Bubble Teams Looking In (Last Teams In) - 9

• Wisconsin
• Ohio St
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• San Diego St
• Penn St
• Arizona
• South Carolina
• New Mexico

Bubble Teams Looking Out (Last Teams Out) - 8

• Florida
• UNLV
• Maryland
• Providence
• Creighton
• St. Mary's
• Miami (FL)
• Virginia Tech

Teams Still In the Picture - 6

• Temple
• Auburn
• Northwestern
• Rhode Island
• Davidson
• Kansas St

GAMES TO WATCH TODAY

1. Minnesota vs Northwestern (Elimination Game for NW)
2. UNLV vs San Diego St (Double Elimination Game)
3. Miami vs Virginia Tech (Double Elimination Game)
4. Providence vs Louisville (Play-In Game For Providence)
5. Arizona vs Arizona St (Play-In Game For Arizona)
6. Maryland vs NC State (Elimination Game For Maryland)
7. Kansas St vs Texas (Elimination Game For Kansas St)
8. New Mexico vs Wyoming (Elimination Game For NM)

Get Ready For Some Knowledge

Welcome!

This site will largely be used as an outlet to provide sports fans around the globe with another source of up-to-date news from across the sporting landscape. From the World Baseball Classic to the NFL Draft to Wimbledon to March Madness and beyond, I hope that this can become the place to receive the best information and analysis and create the best discussions for those interested in all things sports.

It is my goal to have this site fully up to speed in the next couple weeks. Please keep checking back for any updates and pass along the word - Academics on Athletics has arrived.