Thoughts about the Field

My final 4 in the field were:

South Alabama, Arizona St., St. Joe's, and Villanova

My final 4 out of the field were:

New Mexico, Ohio St., Illinois St., and Virginia Tech

Therefore I got 64 of the 65 teams correct this year!

First impressions:

• Butler was drastically slighted by the committee... a 7 seed? Come on? 29-3... Pathetic
  
• A 9 seed for Oregon seems extremely high
• I believe Arizona St. was left out of the field following Georgia's win in the SEC tourney

I will have more thoughts later. Now I will watch Coach Knight pick his bracket, which should be very interesting. Then I will watch the NIT selection show and hopefully my Lobos will get a #1 seed and have 3 games in the Pit prior to traveling to MSG.

Disgusting News: Naismith Official of the Year Award

Scott Thornley was given the Naismith Official of the Year Award. I heard this despicable news during the first half of the UNLV TCU game. I feel sorry for the MWC tourney for having to put up with garbage like Scott Thornley. I don't believe I have ever seen him officiate a game well. If he is winning awards for outstanding officiating, there is an OBVIOUS problem with they way college basketball assesses officials. I can only hope the Lobos do not end up with another TERRIBLE official tonight with David Hall. Don't think I haven't gotten over the TCU UNM game from earlier this season.

Thursday So Far

Conference USA took a major hit today with both of their bubble teams losing. UAB and Houston should tune into ESPNU if they want to hear their name for a post-season tourney. I also believe Dayton and Villanova ended their NCAA hopes, but they are still under teams considered. Arizona St. definitely endured a tough loss this afternoon due to a controversial call which basically decided the game. Pac-10 officiating has definitely been under a lot of scrutiny of late just ask Trent Johnson how he feels. West Virginia is in the NCAA tourney which means Doug Gottlieb is going to have to find new material and another school to criticize. My guess will be Kentucky.

The Red Raiders season has officially ended. Maybe they still have an outside shot at a NIT bid, but I'd rather just end one of the most frustrating up-and-down seasons I can remember watching.

Thoughts for Thursday

First I want to say how much I enjoyed listening to Coach Knight throughout ESPN's coverage of the Big East Tourney tonight. I can't wait to hear what he has to say about his former Red Raiders tomorrow when they play OK State. Being a Tech student I'm not looking forward to playing one of the hottest teams in the Big 12.

New Team In: Mount St. Mary's

Old Teams Out: Sacred Heart

Teams Playing to Stay Alive

• Villanova: Beat the Hoyas and the Wildcats will be permanently in my bracket
  
• UNLV: Must avoid a first round loss to the Horned Frogs
  
• UNM: Must avoid a first round loss to the Utes
  
• Dayton: Interesting situation if they beat Xavier tomorrow
  
• West Virginia: I believe they sealed their bid this afternoon by beating the Friars, but a win over UConn would put a stop to Doug Gottlieb's ongoing hatred of Huggybear
  
• Oregon: The Ducks must beat Washington St. tomorrow to even be considered
• UAB and Houston: Must win and meet each other in the semis and probably still need to beat Memphis
• Florida: Message to the Gators don't even think about losing
• Mississippi: See message sent to Florida
• Arizona: I'm putting the Wildcats in my final bracket regardless if they beat Stanford or not. Could the Cardinal really lose 3 straight games? Simple answer: Yes

Enjoy tomorrow's games I have special interest in two games:

Texas Tech vs. Oklahoma St.

Utah vs. New Mexico

I expect the bracket to clear up some questions tomorrow... Hopefully?

Go Raiders and Lobos!

Post UNC Duke Game

Following today's action four teams are now in the field of 65: Cornell (Ivy), Winthrop (Big South), Belmont (Atlantic Sun), and Austin Peay (Ohio Valley). Tomorrow is a key championship game for bubble teams between Drake (in the tourney regardless) and Illinois St. (on the bubble). Most likely the MVC will get both teams into the field based on their league's history.

I watched Baylor today, against the hardest team to figure out in America, my Red Raiders, and I was very impressed at how they came out and competed like a team that knew a win would virtually lock them into the NCAA tournament.

Other games/teams of note:

• Syracuse over Marquette: The Orange kept themselves in the hunt with a huge win in the Carrier Dome
  
• West Virginia over St. Johns: Mountaineers avoided a BAD loss in overtime today.
• Georgetown over Louisville: I have not been impressed with the Hoyas all year, however, after their win today they look to be a solid 2 seed again.
• North Carolina over Duke: The Tarheels looked up a 1 seed in my mind tonight. At the moment they also have a nice path to San Antonio, Raleigh and then Charlotte. Dick Vitale needs to start making deodorant ads after seeing vast amounts of perspiration clearly on his shirt.
• New Mexico over Colorado St.: The Lobos continue to roll now 24-7 and make their case for an at-large bid ever stronger. However I would like to see Alford win the MWC tourney so Loboland does not have to sweat it out on Selection Sunday.
• UCLA over Cal: Amazing game! PAULY MAGIC or words to that effect from Musburger's mouth. How 'bout seeing Lavin commentating at the place that fired him? Personally I like Lavin and think he is a great analyst, and probably has a much less stress filled job working along side Brent, or maybe not?
• USC over Stanford: Trent Johnson is not having a good week. Should've beat UCLA and now is looking like a 3 seed. The Trojans however are looking very good and are one of those teams you don't want to play in the NCAA tournament.
• UTEP over Houston: Cougars must win the C-USA tourney to make the NCAA tourney.
• Memphis over UAB: Interesting how much better Memphis plays when they respect their opponent.
• Dayton over St. Joe's: Goodness me, last weekend I had the A-10 down to 2 teams Xavier and whoever wanted to win a couple games. Now St. Joe's beats Xavier and then goes on the road and gets beat pretty solidly by a desperate Flyer's team. So currently I am back to 4 A-10 teams: Xavier (Lock), UMass (solid bubble), Dayton (iffy next to last team in), and St. Joe's (last team in).

Alright another important game Arizona at Oregon is not over yet, but a win by Arizona should pretty much lock up a bid, and Oregon needs to win this and a couple in the Pac-10 tourney.

Sunday's Games

• Florida at Kentucky: Florida needs this game badly. Billy G thinks his team is ready for a deep NCAA tourney run according to ESPN's Andy Katz' blog. Mr. B's opinion: win this game first Billy G and then you can start conjuring up images of March Madness.
• Oklahoma St. at Texas: Texas can get a share of the Big 12 title and the #1 seed in the Big 12 tourney with the head to head victory over Kansas.
• Illinois St. vs. Drake: I think both teams are in, but if Illinois St. wins both teams WILL be in.
• New Orleans vs. South Alabama: Bubble teams want the Jags to win the Sun Belt tourney.
• Kent St. at Akron: Interesting game in the MAC could be a preview of the MAC final.
• Maryland at Virginia: Terps need to figure out how they want to end their season.
• North Texas vs. Western Kentucky: Although S. Alabama swept Big Red (best mascot in a non-BCS league) in the regular season, but I like Hilltoppers to win the Sun Belt tourney, which means I think the Sun Belt will get 2 teams in the field of 65 (I just heard a bubble pop!)

College basketball is AWESOME baby with a capital A! Gotta Love Dickie V!