Does Size Matter?

Two teams that we have believe are final four teams Pitt and Gonzaga are drastically different. Somehow Pitt's rotation doesn't have a guy over 6'8 and they only have 3 guys taller than 6'7 on the roster and only one gets any playing time. On the other hand Gonzaga's top three leading scorers are all above 6'7 and 4 out of the eight guys in their rotation are above 6'7. Just a minute isn't Pitt the bruising big bodied team and Gonzaga the more guard oriented finesse team-Yes. Each team is led by a gutsy inner city senior point guard in Levance Fields (NYC) and Jeremy Pargo (CHI) respectively.

Pitt still bruises though just height wise they are undersized. Sam Young is only 6'6 yet is one of the top forwards in the country. Dajuan Blair, the first Pitt player from Pittsburgh in thirty years is a beast downlow. He is only 6'7 but with his wide body, array of post moves and his 7'1 wingspan he is the best big man in the Big East (not named Gody). Along with Fields the big three for Pitt put up 50 a game with regularity. Then add solid role players in Gilbert Brown Tyrell Biggs and impact freshman Jermaine Dixon (from Baltimore) and you have one of the toughest most physical teams in the country.

Gonzaga on the otherhand is poised to finally crack the final four as well but with a different style. The most physical player on the team is probably Pargo or lockdown defender (and sudden 3 point god) Stephen Gray. Problem is Pargo is 6'2 and Gray is 6'4 both guards. They have 6 guys that can be in double figures on any given night including 6'5 Matt Bouldin (everyone forgets he led them in scoring last year), 6'10 Austin Daye who prefers to be a perimeter player, and 6'8 Micah Downs. Downlow they have 6'11 Josh Heytvelt who finally seems to have regained his pre-shrooms prowess (we still remember him outplaying Tyler at the Preseason NIT that year). Off the bench they have Demetri Goodson a freshman point guard out of Pargo's mold and Sacre a 7ft sophomore who will try to replace Kuso. The thing about the Zags is that Daye, Downs and Heytvelt would rather spot up than post up. Yet its effective.

Both these teams we feel will make the final four but using size as an arguement for why a team is inherently better than another doesn't neccessarily work. Just look at these teams one is a rugged tough Big East school while the other is a UMPNW (Unamed Major Program from the Northwest) that relies on drilling threebombs and midrange jumpers over postups. Both ways are successful and this year both teams we think will make the tournament. Style just is very different.

Monday

Pretty decent weekend for college basketball in general, UCONN held on against Miami to prove more Big East supremacy as the best conference in the country. Iona almost upset Wisconsin proving that after Purdue and possibly Michigan St. the Big 10 is very very down this year. Duke won the coaches vs. cancer but not before Michigan could add a statement game to their resume in beating a much worse UCLA team than the prior four years. Mercer proved that they are for real yet again vs. a major conference team this time taking Georgia Tech to overtime. USC proved that the PAC 10 is not strong this season by losing not only to Big East bottomfeeder Seton Hall and Bobby Gonzalez but to Big 12 bottomfeeder Missouri (Keyon Dooling aint walking through that door). Rutgers proved that they couldn't make it to UNC undefeated by flopping big time in losing at home to perennial bottom of the A10 (really A14) St. Boneventure (WNY stand up). Samardo Samuels beasted it up (what else is new) in Lousiville's route of South Alabama and Seton Hall added to the Big Easts great weekend with wins over USC and Virginia Tech. Xavier topped Memphis and overrated Tyreke Evans for the Puerto Rico title. Xavier still has a good core back from a team that should have made the final four last year.

Today/tonight we have some interesting games (aka thank you Maui for starting)

St. Joes v Texas
Decent first round matchup, Ahmad Nivens and Damion James are both in contention for their conferences POY (Although if Blake Griffen doesn't die he has Big 12's locked up already). A.J. Abrams is still a stud from 3 but I think Texas's toughness goes down with Conner Atchley down low although he can shoot. Look for Tasheed Carr and Nivens to put up a fight but Texas to win.

Indiana v Notre Dame
They have to travel all the way to Hawaii to play this battle for Indiana supremecy. Indiana has nothing but Tom Crean's wizardry while Notre Dame is a final four team. Gody, Tory, and Kyle will cruise to victory.

NJIT at Towson
Will NJIT get their first win in nearly two years here: NO

Syracuse v Florida
Syracuse is overrated, Florida is led in all three categories by Nick Calethas. Calethas would be a CDTN favorite but one charactersitic makes him a CDTN hated. He is a gimmick and won't dunk because he belives "2 points are 2 points". Well Nick, take a look at a Vince Carter commercial and realize that your old coach couldn't dunk. Werner and Calethas take down the Cuse.

UConn v Wisconsin
UConn proves yet again that the Big East is the best conference in the country. Kemba shuts down Trevon Hughes and lets his name be known to the non-junkies. Kemba will have to be the spark for this team to make a run come March. Also without Butch or Stiemsma Wisco has no match for Thabeet down low.

UNC v Chaminade
Chaminade can only hope for a Ralph Sampson like UVA choke from UNC. Not going to happen. Why couldn't they match up with Indiana here, at least that would've been entertaining. UNC cruises.

Kansas v Washington
Brockman is the best player in this game but Kansas has more depth and the Morris twins up fron have 10 fouls to use. Also the Pac10 is down as seen this past weekend. Look for Kansas to win but Brockman to beat as usual.

Thursday Night Preview

We only see four real games of note tonight and two of them are in NY.

Predictions:

Southern Illinois v. Duke
Contrasting styles meet. Chris Lowery is one of our favorite coaches and his squad is ready to forget last season's disastrous 18-15 record. Lowery's squads are known for lockdown defense and being feisty. Duke led by Coach K and the familiar cast of America's most hated team. Happy thought is that Paulus isn't even starting this year. Duke gets up and down and loves to put up points. We like Duke in this matchup but it will be closer than the 13 point spread.
Pick: Duke 77 So Ill 66

USC v. Seton Hall
Demar Derozan is one of the top freshman in the country this year. Tim Floyd one of the "how did I get here" slimeballs. Seton Hall is missing Brian Liang one of the most underrated players in the country last year. Seton Hall doesn't have an answer for Taj Gibson (right) downlow and Derozan and Daniel Hackett outside. Look for USC to move on.
Pick: USC 83 Seton Hall 71

Michigan v. UCLA
The Beilein era at Michigan is underway and has started 2-0. Manny Harris is a stud, one of the better players in the country but doesn't have too much help. If Michigan wants to make a tourney run this year this would be the necessary major resume win. Unfortunately for Michigan, they don't have the interior play to compete with the Bruins. The matchup at the 3 Josh Shipp v. Manny Harris is good but aside from that they will have trouble with the many weapons UCLA has. Darren Collison is the best point guard in the country and will be hard to stop.
Pick: UCLA 68 Michigan 58


Illinois v Vandy
Illinois was the unluckiest team in the country last season according to Ken Pom. Vandy seemed like the luckiest and has the biggest homecourt advantage in the country. Luckily for Illinois they are playing in Puerto Rico. Vandy has 3 stud freshman to go along with A.J. Ogilvy who is now the second most talked about Aussie in college basketball (thanks to Jay Bilas and ESPN calling Patty Mills the next Stephen Curry, despite the fact they are different players and anyone that saw the Olympics would know that Mills was already a stud). The Illini still have a young team and are athletic but may take a year more until they are poised for any type of run.
Pick: Vandy 76 Illinois 68

All Aboard the Mercer Bandwagon

We are jumping on the Mercer bandwagon right now, should have done it after the Alabama win. They just did a SEC Alabama two step in beating on the Alabama and Auburn both on the road. New coach Bob Hoffman's uptempo offense has worked so far. Give Hoffman a lot of credit schedule wise they are playing a lot of nonconference giants to make up for their ultra weak Atlantic Sun conference. Along with these two big road wins they get Georgia Tech at home on Saturday and then still have to travel to Dayton, Oklahoma St. and UCLA. Talk about a nonconference.

James Florence is so far the CDTN player of the year. Last year you may remember him matching OJ Mayo in Mercer's upset win and highlight of the year. Florence the stud junior who averaged 19 a game his freshman and sophomore years has been the go to scorer leading this team. and Western Kentucky transfer Daniel Emerson has been a beast on the boards outrebounding Jaymichael Green for Bama. In the Auburn game the most staggering statistic was that the Atlantic Sun outrebounded the SEC squad 36-18, they doubled the rebounds with a frontline of 6'6 6'6 and 6'8.

Next stop Saturday back at home, hopefully they don't let down and can get a few more marquee wins nonconference wise. If they do they could make a case for them being a At large if they run the A Sun like they should.

Tuesday Picks

Ok, so far our upset picks haven't worked out, but that will change-its early.

Games we find interesting tonight and our picks for them:

St. John's at BC-Interesting game here, a former big east rivalry renewed. A trip to the Garden on the line and making the semis of the preseason NIT. Both teams have started well and are 2-0. We like BC here because although Malik Boothe is a good pg, its a tough matchup for anyone going up against stud Tyreese Rice. Look for Rice to make sure that BC doesn't lose on their homecourt in a close game.
Pick: BC 84 St. Johns 79 and Tyreese Rice with 33

Tennesee Martin at Tennessee- While Tennesee has lost Romar Smith and Chris Lofton they still have Tyler Smith, J.P. Prince, Bobby Maze and Wayne Chism back plus superb freshman Cameron Tatum and Scotty Hopson. Tennessee Martin on the other hand has only one player you need to know Lester Hudson (right). Flat out Hudson is a beast, the 6'1 24 year old senior returned this year after putting up a good showing in the draft combine (under 6' without shoes on yet nearly a 6'9 wingspan and a 3.4 bodyfat you kidding me) He also has that will to score. Don't look for this one to be too close but look for Hudson to go off.
Pick: Tennessee 93 Tennessee Martin 77 and Lester Hudson with 38

Buffalo at Canisius- Buffalo is 1-0 Canisius 0-1 I'll take it. This rivalry will likely be close but I got the Bulls being road warriors agian and advancing to 2-0
Pick: Buffalo 72 Canisius 68

Kentucky at UNC- No Tyler no problem in this one for UNC. Don't buy into Kentucky's loss to VMI though aside from their horrible defense. It was a poor gameplan where Coach Gillispie shouldn't have tried to play VMI's style. This one will be a closer game than expected and I can assure you know one in Lexington wants to go 0-2 to start the year. Interesting matchup down low with Patrick Patterson up against Dion "Morpheus" Thompson.
Pick: UNC 85 Kentucky 77

Nevada at San Diego
A great mid-major matchup that is going under the radar. San Diego were the tourney darlings last year if it werent for Davidson. For Nevada it is the start of the Luke Babbit era. Babbit a McDonalds All American had 20 and 12 in his first game-nice start. After the Jayvale McGee travesty look for Nevada to get back to the promise land under Babbit and pick up a nice road win here.
Pick: Nevada 69-63

UAB at Arizona
In another NIT semifinal we have a good wing matchup here with Robert Vaden up against Chase Budinger. Both teams are looking for big years after last years dissapointment. For either team a win over the other would be nice for their already bubble bound resumes.
Pick: Arizona 77 UAB 68

Best Game of the Night
Davidson at Oklahoma- This is two of the best three teams in the preseason NIT (Purdue is the third) facing each other in the second round-Go Figure. Two candidates for the Wooden award in Steph Curry and Blake Griffen. Steph blew up nationally in the tournament last year but we have been a fan of his since the beginning of his freshman year. Blake is an NBA player in college, he can dominate when he wants to so is a matter if he tries or not. Either way this will be a fun game to watch no matter who wins and will set up a nice matchup v. Purdue in the NIT championship game.
Pick: Oklahoma defends home court. Oklahoma 76 Davidson 73

Tonight's Predictions

Look for Umass to put up a very good game behind a solid effort from Section 1 PTP’er Chris Lowe and play Memphis very tight. I gotta take Memphis by no more than five or six.

Purdue rolls past Eastern Michigan and advances to 2-0.

Cornell beats St Johns in one of the few games you’ll ever see an Ivy league team beat a Big East team.

NJIT loses convincingly at Penn St, proving once again they are not a division 1 team.

Kenny Horton, a former Section 1 great, scores 25 and dunks on Colgate several times en route to a convincing Central Connecticut St win.

Uconn starts the season 2- 0 after handling in state archrival University of Hartford a thirty point loss (Tha beet goes on).

In closing, not too much of an exciting CBB night, but then again November 17 rarely is. We should find out a little bit about Jim Calhoun’s rotation and how good Memphis is in the Post-CDR phase. Umass should give them a game. And big ups to Umass coach Derek Kellogg, a Calipari disciple pictured right, for scheduling both finalists last year, Memphis and Kansas. Tomorrow night should be interesting to see how much UNC beats up on Kentucky and BU against Bucknell for personal reasons.

Rutgers Nonconference

Here at CDTN we like Fred Hill and Rutgers, we think they are on the verge of becoming a big time program within the next few years but this year Coach Hill is pulling a Jim Boeheim to the extreme. Syracuse is always known for not leaving their home and playing jobbers for the first two months of the season before big east play to pad their record. Well, Rutgers is doing the exact same this year.

That is why we are predicting Rutgers to be 12-0 going into Chapel Hill on December 28th. They have a young core which could be a good reason to schedule 3 MAAC teams, 2 independents, and an assortment of low major Northeast schools but they will be overwhelmed when they take on UNC.

Look at this nonconference schedule it puts Boeheim to shame even with the game @UNC
Marist
@Delaware
Robert Morris
St. Boneventure
Lehigh
St. Peters
@Rider
Binghamton
@Princeton
Delaware St.
Bryant
NJIT
@UNC (Something doesnt look right here)

They are 2-0 so far with a nice 8 man rotation of all capable Big East starters which is nice. They have an abundance of great guards with Anthony Farmer, Mike Rosario, Mike Coburn and Corey Chandler. And downlow Hamaday N'Diaye (in the picture) a former project is Hibberting into a very nice big east player and impact downlow (he scored his career high 26 points yesterday vs. Delaware)

I think this soft schedule may help them gain confidence heading into conference play and with 12 wins early on they will only need to stay at around 500 in the dominant big east to be on the bubble.

Next year with a more experienced team hopefully Coach Hill broadens the difficulty of the schedule early on because too many cupcakes can hurt your RPI while waiting it out on Selection Sunday.

Notes From Saturday

UNC cruised to beat Penn for their first win of the season. Tyler "No im Not Hansbrough" Zeller led them in scoring with 18

Florida St. barely held on to beat Jacksonville by a mere 2. Chris Singleton had 17 boards for the Noles

After losing to Michigan in the Coaches V. Cancer, Northeastern added a big road win to their resume beating Providence in the Dunk. This is not good for Providence who wanted to be the tenth tourney team for the Big East. Also not the way Geoff McDermott wants to start his sr year I am sure.

Buffalo beat Youngstown St. on the road in all but assuredly Coach Spoons last year. After last year where they couldn't buy a road win at least its a start. 1-0

Bad News for CDTN sleeper #2 Washington. Despite 30 and 14 from Jon Brockman (the Pac 10s answer to Harangody and Hansbrough) they were upset by Portland. At least they can regroup and put this game behind them because its early.

Washington St. started out up 28-0 to against Miss Valley St. Nice way to start the season.

Night Watch

Update 1:
UPSET ALERT
VMI up 35-15 on Kentucky no this is not a typo.

Update 2 8:02 pm
2:01 left in the first half VMI still up now only up 13 but have put up 56 in 18 minutes. Their gimmick offense is working very well tonight. 56-43 Kentucky looks flustered. They need to get within 10 by halftime.
Going to cut to the American Oklahoma game at half

Update 3 8:33 pm
VMI came out strong in the second half. Kentucky cant play defense. They can score at will but can't get one stop. I wouldnt be surprised if VMI gets to 120 this game that is how bad Kentucky's defense is right now...In the other game Blake Griffen and Oklahoma are showing their big athleticism is a lot for small American to handle early on.

Update 4 9:33 pm

VMI wins 111-103 FIRST MAJOR UPSET OF THE YEAR. Gillispie walking off the court was comical. The gimmick offense beat the giant. How great it would be to watch a Kentucky practice tomorrow. VMI has the ability to be the first 16 seed to beat a one. They certianly aren't very good but can put up tons of points.

Update 5 10:28pm

Well American blew tonight. Oklahoma showed why they are ranked so highly and are extremely athletic. American has a lot to work on but its a long season and I am not leaving the bandwagon this early. As for VMI it was very impressive but I don't see them being a real factor this year, much like Gardner Webb last year I see this as a laughable game more than something to take stock into. Still tonight the Keydets can celebrate they deserved it putting up 111 in Rupp.

First real night of the season

After a few days of some Coaches v. Cancer opening rounds where not much happened outside of
-Michigan running away in their region
-Charlie Coles getting his 300th career win for Miami Oh on a 4 pt play then the next night going the distance vs. UCLA losing only by 5
-Southern Illinois adding a big non conference win to their resume over UMASS
-Nolan Smith overtaking Greg Paulus for the starting job at Duke then having jobber games against the Blue Hose and Georgia Southern to advance to NY

Tonight we begin non tournament non conference games

Starting with the upset pick
American over #8 Oklahoma

March 15th this year I wrote in the team capsule for American

"The Verdict: Wait ‘til next year. This team will be back again next year, with 9 juniors this trip will be very valuable to give them confidence but don’t expect them to come in and upset anyone. Next year, that’s another story but right now in the 2009 NCAA tournament I’m picking American to the sweet 16 hop on the bandwagon now while there is plenty of room."

Despite future lottery pick Blake Griffen leading this hyped Oklahoma team into the season look for American to shock the Sooners. This is where American will start their sweet sixteen run led by great backcourt play from Garrison Carr and Derrick Mercer two of the most electrifying guards in the country. They return 3 starters and 9 players from a team that almost shocked Tennessee last year in the tourney. Thus look for the upset here. And hop on with me cause come March there won't be much room.

Other Games of note:

Stanford at Yale in a battle for the best school in the country not named Harvard. Look for a easy Stanford win but still a battle of brains (especially without airheads Brook and Robin there).

Look for Maryland to beat Bucknell in the beginning of the post Flannery days for the Bison.

Look for Illinois Chicago to beat Bradley especially after Bradley lost to a D3 team in an exhibition game.

Nova over Will Brown's Albany making coach Brown realize even more how much he misses Jamar Wilson days.

Clemson over Hofstra making coach Pecora await Chaz Williams even more.

Then big east giants Pitt and Uconn should have easy wins

Tonight Prediction

Predicting our first upset of the season tonight. Our pick at CDTN is UMass led by CDTN favorite pg Chris "C-Low Low" Lowe over the home team and 4.5 point favorites Southern Illinois. Last night our prediction didn't go too well with So Ill being rather unimpressive and giving up a staggering 52 points to Cal (no not the real Cal this one is located in of all places PA).

UMass has a pretty formidable team this year Chris Lowe(right) is very very solid at point guard and is faster than any guard in the country. Up front Tony Gaffney is looking for a breakout senior season starting off with a double double in his first game this year. Also look for freshman Tyrell Lynch to crack the rotation and make an influence later this year. We could be talking about this team late in the season I for one wouldnt be suprised so our first upset pick of the year. UMASS over So Ill.

Other Picks for tonight
UCLA killing Prairie View A&M by at least 30 point margin with Jrue scoring at least 20 in his debut and the first game in the post Lorenzo era

Miami OH over Weber St. in the second best game of the night gettting the MAC off to a good start.

Michigan over Northeastern advancing to NY. NE has no one to cover Manny "Fresh" Harris (right)

Random Pick: Manny Harris to have most points on the night
(Random Pick Record 0-1 damn Salukis)

Jack's Final Four Picks

UCLA- Collison is the best pg in the country, Jrue is the best freshman in the country, Howland gets the Bruins to the final 4 every year.

Purdue- Surprise team from last year builds on it this season with everyone but Scott Martin returning. Plus, the Big Ten is weak this year. Chris Kramer is a CDTN favorite for his sheer toughness and one of the best stances around.

UNC- Just because if they don't make it, the CBB world wll be shocked. I could hear Tyler yelling in the weight room all offseason. This is Ty Lawson's year to establish himself as a lottery pick.

Louisville- Out goes Padgett, in comes Samardo. That's an upgrade at center. Earl Clark is also a CDTN favorite. Best NBA prospect in the country in my opinion not named Blake Griffin. Basically everyone else returns. Derrick "No Character" Caracter is gone, but who can honestly say they didn't expect that?

Random Prediction of the Night

Tonight's random prediction is that Southern Illinois doesn't allow over 25 points vs. Cal (PA). After a very disappointing year last year CDTN favorite Chris Lowery and his Salukis known for their defense will look to get off to a good start. And although we respect what Coach Lowery's squad does, I think he would be on our list of least favorite coaches to play for solely based on the difficulty of his practices.

So lets go Saluki's play that D. and get our random prediction record to 1-0.

Sleeper #2

Sleeper #2
Washington
“U-Dub” hasn’t been quite the same since the departure of Brandon Roy in 2006. In the last two seasons the Huskies are 15-21 in the Pac 10 and 0-5 against in state rival Washington St. But Lorenzo (no, not that Lorenzo) Romar is one of the best coaches in the conference and behind the leadership and dominant inside play of Jon Brockman this team has all the makings of a sleeper.

Washington’s problems last year manly centered around inconsistent perimeter play. Ryan Appleby is gone, which may not be the worst thing for the team. Much of the success of this team falls on guards Justin Dentmon (good slasher, not great shooter 28% 3s) and fresman pg Isiah Thomas. There’s a joke there about Isiah and the Knicks but I won’t go there. My guess is Thomas starts 6-8 games in once Lorenzo realizes how talented he is. He lead South Kent Prep last year and is definitely a Pac 10 caliber Pg. This will enable Dentmon to move to the 2 where he’s more comfortable and Quincy Pondexter (6-6 buck 0 5) to play the 3. Brockman will play the 4/5, but the team is in a better spot with him at the 5. He is more than a good enough rebounder (11.6 rpg) and will cause mismatches for the bigger centers in the conference. For 3 point shooting, senior Joel Smith (42%) and freshman Scott Suggs will be called on. Joe Wolfinger is a 7 footer who will eat up some minutes.

Overall this is a very talented team with more experience. They only won 16 games last year and will surprise people this year. I have them at a 6 seed. Lorenzo is due this year and in a much weaker Pac 10, this team should capitalize. Isiah Thomas could make a serious run at Pac 10 Freshman of the year if it weren’t for Jrue.

Sleeper Pick #1

Over the next few weeks we here at CDTN will be picking some sleepers this year. These are teams that have not started ranked or receiving votes in the coaches poll but will be in there at some point and will cause a ruckus come March.

Our first team profiled are the:

UTAH Utes
Last year the Utes were 18-15 overall and mere 7-9 in the MWC. But this year they have the experience to cause damage. They return all 5 starters including major senior big man Luke Nevill. Nevill averaged 15 and 7 last season but was plagued by foul trouble. Another season under his belt with depth behind him (Kim Tillie and freshman top 100 recruit Jason Washburn) as well will make Nevill fiery to stay on the floor.

The key thing that they have that will make them a threat is the fact that they are heavy senior laden. With Senior PF Shaun Green who averaged nearly 8ppg they have a guy that will guard the bigger defender but can also stretch the defense out with his ability to shoot the three ball. At guards they have Seniors Tyler Kepkay at the point, a JUCO transfer who transitioned roughly last year but is poised for a big senior year. He spent the summer playing for the Canadian National Team. Lawrence Borha another senior and runner up Mr. Basketball in Kansas Jordan Cyphers will make impacts at wing positions.

Playing in the not so mid-major MWC will provide valuable experience against strong teams but coach Jim Boylen (a Tom Izzo disciple) scheduled a rigorous non-conference schedule. Getting LSU, Oregon, Cal and Gonzaga at home and traveling to Oklahoma and a neutral site game against Ole Miss gives them many chances at the wins that will help their tourney resume. If they can pull off a few upsets and get hot in MWC play they can go into the tourney on a hot streak and are a tough matchup for any team with their senior leadership and depth up front.

Preseason Coaches Poll Commentary

The Season's first coaches poll has been released and no surprise UNC is the unanimous number one.

1) UNC 775
2) UCONN 707
3) Louisville 694
4) UCLA 650
5) Duke 578
6) Pitt 576
7) Michigan State 572
8) Texas 538
9) Notre Dame 525
10) Purdue 465
11) Gonzaga 437
12) Memphis 425
13) Tennessee 408
14) Oklahoma 387
15) Arizona State 304
16) Miami 233
17) Marquette 219
18) Georgetown 175
19) Florida 161
20) Davidson 158
21) Southern California 153
21) Wisconsin 153
23) Kansas 130
24) Wake Forest 129
25) Villanova 122

Others Receiving Votes
26) UNLV 60
27) St. Mary's 59
28) Ohio St. 54
29) Baylor 47
30) Xavier 27
31) Syracuse 23
32) LSU 19
32) Texas A&M 19
34) Arizona 18
35) Virginia Tech 15
36) BYU 13
37) West Virginia 10
38) Siena 8
38) Washington 8
40) Kentucky 7
40) Vandy 7
42) Oklahoma St. 4
43) Clemson 2
44) Washington St. 1

Initial Thoughts on the poll:
-UConn is way overhyped they are not the second best team in the country, they aren't even the second best team in the Big East (Notre Dame, Louisville and Pitt)

-The Big East is by far the best league in college basketball, most years its a stretch to get 7 teams from one league into the tourney, the big east has 10 legitimate teams this year including 7 in the preseason poll.

-It won't take too long before Cornell and Siena enter the top 25.

-This will be an interesting year for everyone's most hated team Duke. It is proving time for Paulus and co before they supplant themselves as a failed group. Gerald Henderson came into his own last year and will light up the ACC this year and frosh Elliot Williams will make a impact as an athlete.

-Memphis is a pretender this year, don't buy the Tyreke Evans hype he won't make a major impact.

-The Freshman class nationally is pretty weak, but Jrue Holiday (UCLA) Kemba Walker (UConn) Demar DeRozan (USC) could all be major players come tourney time.

Final 4 Picks September

Welcome back
With weeks still to go until official practices begin we will like to take our stab at final four picks.

Aaron's Final Four Picks:
UCLA- As long as Ben Howland is there this is a Book it pick. They are the safe championship pick each year cause they can nearly guarantee you a final four appearance and thats all you can ask for.
Louisville- Adding Samardo Samuels to the already stacked Cards give Slick Rick a good chance
Gonzaga- A wild card of sorts but as you all may know I am a sucker for Jeremy Pargo and as a senior i gotta stick with him. Guard play gets you wins in the tourney so I am going with my favorite guard.
Notre Dame-McAlarney is a experienced guard and Harangody is one of the best players in college basketball. He is the big east's version of Tyler Hansbrough 20-10 every night.

Notable Exception: UNC- Ty Lawson always seems injury prone and its almost as if they have too many options that they won't know how to mesh. Although Tyler is the best player I just don't feel it with them.

Plea to Joe Alexander

Joe Alexander, West Virginia's star scorer who has been deemed the CDTN player of the year has entered the NBA draft but hasnt hired an agent. So to Joe, you are projected to be late first round early second round. Why don't you come back to Morganstown for your senior year and lead this West Virginia team to the NCAA tournament and be drafted higher? We promise you we here at CDTN will write many an article promoting you. We just want to see you dunking on UCONN again rather than riding the pine in NBA arenas. Also Kevin Jones will be a nice addition don't you think?

CDTN Blast From The Past: James White

One of our favorite players when he was at Cincy and the L didn't quite work out for him. Despite the NBA not realizing who to invite last year to the dunk contest, James White didn't get mad. He just soaked up the sun in San Antonio won a championship ring and bounced. He now is playing in Turkey but don't think less of him for it. The boy can dunk and is the best dunker in the world. Watch this video and see why James White is the best dunker in the world. He is like a fine wine he gets better with age. Also shout out to Khalid El-Amin who must be the Damon Jones of Turkey Basketball leagues (Always present at the dunk contest).

Ten Coaches who will be in Different Positions this time Next Year

1. Tony Bennett: I am worried that by the time I finish this sentence Bennett will have taken the job at Marquette or somewhere else. His name is all over the place in coaching vacancy discussions among those who know college basketball. What he did very quickly after taking over for his father, Dick Bennett, at Washington St is remarkable. His teams play a very physical, grind-it-out type of basketball. To me he would have been a good fit at Indiana, where you need to be able to defend and grind out low possession games in order to win in the Big Ten. Even though that job has been filled, I still think his name should resurface elsewhere.
2. Sean Miller: This guy can coach. There has not been any drop off at all since Thad Matta left the Xavier program because Miller gets the most out of his players. The Musketeers made an elite 8 run this year and even though Miller just signed a big extension with a large buyout, many programs should be interested. He loses seniors Josh Duncan, Stanley Burrell, and Drew Lavender, so the team will not be as good next year. A good fit in my opinion would be Oklahoma St or Marquette.
3. Chris Lowery: One year ago, Lowery was one of the hottest coaches in the country. He had taken his Southern Illinois Salukis to the Sweet 16 and put up a great fight against Kansas. He interviewed at a couple schools including Michigan, but chose to remain at SIU. This year was a down year for the Salukis (18-15), but the trademark pressure defense was still there (a respectable 29th adjusted defense ranking). His ability to teach defense is sorely needed at programs like Alabama, Virginia, or Penn St (101, 123, 141 respectively). Then again, Penn St isn’t a promotion up from a Missouri Valley powerhouse like SIU. Dave Leitao seems secure for now at UVA, but Mark Gottfried could be on the hot seat with another 17-16 or worse record next season (unlikely with Ronald Steele coming back).
4. Scott Drew: The Baylor basketball program was in shambles only three years ago. They were perennial doormats in the Big 12 and had a murder suspect on the team. Drew, the brother of Bryce, is only 37 but has shown he can turn a program around quickly (NCAA berth this year). He might not even have to switch conferences and could work out as a backup plan for Oklahoma St.
5. Anthony Grant: Never before has one first round game meant more to a coach than last year’s upset over Duke was for Grant. It gave him instant credibility in the coaching business. As a disciple of Billy Donovan, he has that working to his advantage as well. In the last two seasons he has lead Virginia Commonwealth to a 52-14 record, one which not many schools can match. My guess is that he’ll take a job in the SEC at Auburn maybe or Georgia.
6. Norm Roberts: He took over in the middle of the 2004 season for Mike Jarvis and has put St John’s into a deep state of mediocrity. Actually mediocre is generous. He had a class of eight freshmen this year, but that is his only point of leverage with the AD. The Johnnies struggle to get a couple thousand people to the Garden, and it is my belief that he will be fired if he doesn’t at least get St John’s into the top 12 of the Big East next year.
7. Leonard Hamilton: Florida State is eternally on the bubble. They always manage to pull off one big marquee win, but then lose two games at home and are left NIT bound. It’s not that the recruits haven’t been there. Toney Douglass, Von Wafer, and Al Thornton were all big time talents. The NCAA berths just haven’t been there. Something tells me if they don’t crack the field of 65 next year, they’ll go in a different direction.
8. Bill Carmody: Let’s face it. Northwestern isn’t exactly a program with great tradition (Zero all time tournament berths). They’re in the Big Ten but aren’t even the best program in Chicago. I’d give it to Depaul or even Loyola. They went 1-17 this past season and are consistently dominated in the Big Ten. Carmody’s gotta be gone soon.
9. Jeff Lebo: Auburn is a football school. Don’t tell Sir Charles that, but with Lebo at the helm, the Tigers have fallen into SEC obscurity. They have gone 4-12 in conference the last two seasons. Lebo hasn’t done much recruiting-wise since he got there in 2004 and will be probably be gone sometime in the near future. I think Anthony Grant would be a good fit there in 2009.
10. Bobby Gonzalez: I actually think Gonzalez deserves another two years before the AD thinks about firing him. But, given the hotbed of the New York-New Jersey area for high school basketball talent, there is no excuse for not getting the players he needs. The Pirates of Seton Hall made the Big East Tournament this year (12 out of 16 teams make it), but that isn’t good enough. Soon enough the team will need to make the jump to the NCAA Tournament. Will Gonzalez be able to take them there in two years?

Ranking the top 12 conferences

Major Conferences

1. Big East- the Big East is the biggest and the best. With 16 teams and a minimum of seven making the NCAA tournament annually the Big East is the number one conference. They have the historic programs like Louisville, Syracuse, Georgetown and the next tier of prestige with Villanova, St. Johns, Pittsburgh and UCONN. The Big East ranks first in number of NBA players on opening night rosters for the NBA which shows players succeed coming out of the powerful eastern conference.

2. ACC- The Big 12 and Pac 10 each had a strong case for this spot but the reason the ACC comes in second is the lack of a bad team. Every program within the ACC is capable of making the tournament in any given year (thank you Oliver Purnell for resurrecting Clemson). Also the ACC only has one less NBA player than the Big East. Lastly there is something they call Tobacco Road which holds possibly the two most prestigious programs in Duke and UNC.

3. Pac 10- Done with Big 12

4. Big 12- Originally I had the Big 12 in the 3 spot and Pac 10 here but I reevaluated. There are 45 NBA players who played in the Pac 10 only 36 from the Big 12. Adv: Pac 10. The Pac 10 has UCLA the Big 12 has Kansas Adv: Push Each year in the Pac 10 there seems to be only one truly bad team sometimes two (Oregon St. and sometimes Wash St.) in the Big 12 there are usually three or 4. Adv: Pac 10. Arizona and Texas Adv: Push Overall Pac 10 won.

5. SEC- Real Close with the Big 10 and because of Florida has certainly become a premier conference and gets the nod here. In the past few years the SEC has been on the rise considerably with LSU making the final four, Florida winning the tournament twice and programs like Tennessee being resurrected. Not to mention one of the top programs in all of college basketball in Kentucky.

6. Big 10- I know this was a down year for the Big 10 but there are some things that are consistent that make this the 6^th best conference (Northwestern for one). Northwestern basketball is pathetic they have fewer NCAA tournament appearances then Mississippi Valley St. (No offense Delta Devils). Despite the Bob Knight and Indiana’s esteemed history, Bo Ryan and his great homeland recruiting, and Tom Izzo making Mich. St. a top power year in year out the Big 10 is the 6^th best conference.

Above Mid Major but Not Quite Majors

7. Conference USA- Only here because of Memphis but having the second best team in the country will propel you to here. Also UAB is a program that has had success and we can’t forget Houston’s glory days.

8. A-10- If Xavier had made the final four they would have jumped Conf USA. Despite being called the A-10 they have 14 teams which leads me to beg the question what are St. Bonaventure, St. Louis, Charlotte, and Richmond doing in this league?

High Mid Majors

9. Missouri Valley- Southern Illinois and Creighton made this middle of the pack league into a perennial power. Teams like Drake this year just add to that. Also there are 5 NBA players from the MVC and without looking I can name Kyle Korver, Patrick O’ Bryant and Blake Ahearn.

10. Mountain West- Every year UNLV kills me in the tournament by winning when I pick them to lose. Also it seems that BYU, New Mexico and Utah are consistently good. With 4 consistently solid teams this team rounds out our top 10.

Regular old Mid Major (The Way we like it)

11. Colonial- This conference can thank Jim Larranaga for this spot. Anytime your conference makes a final four you mooch it for as long as you can. Also this is a hotbed for up and coming coaches as Jeff Capel, Jay Wright and soon Anthony Grant schools’ know.

12. West Coast Conference- This year was the first good year for the conference in recent memory. But the reason this conference is at the 12 spot and deserves this spot is Gonzaga plain and simple.

Bonus:

What would an all-star conference be that didn’t include BCS teams?

The Cross Continent Conference would be the name and the teams would be

1. Memphis
2. Xavier
3. Gonzaga
4. Southern Illinois
5. Nevada
6. Butler
7. Kent St.
8. BYU
9. UNLV
10. Creighton
11. Western Kentucky
12. UAB

Well I was wrong

This tournament could have been my worst showing ever. I have consistently picked underdogs and when four 1 seeds make it-well it makes it real tough to do well. The one final four team i had winning was UCLA and i was almost sure that they would win the title. They seemed to find ways to win all season and I thought for sure Memphis' free throw shooting would catch up with them like it almost did against Mississippi St. (my do or die pick this tournament).

About the games last night:

Memphis beat UCLA and had everything going right for them. Seriously, even Taggert stepped outside in hit a three (his first of the year). Derrick Rose and Michael Beasley are the only two studs that will be in the draft next year (that being said the Knicks will get the 3rd pick). All year UCLA and Ben Howland found ways to win and had an experience advantage over everyone. When Josh Shipp came out hitting from long range it seemed only another game in their redemption for the last two final fours. Yet Darren Collison, a point guard I have been praising all season as the one I want the ball with choked. Consistently he would get burned by Rose and he got into foul trouble. Russell Westbrook seemed to be the only Bruin who showed up for most of the game. Kevin Love should return to Westwood for another year. He didnt play the way he had all season and can't go out with that sore taste in his mouth. For this team next year I think that Westbrook will go to the draft, everyone else will stay (except for graduation of Mata) and Jrue Holiday will be a sufficient fix for Westbrook and they are my pick to win it all next year.

As for Memphis, If they play like that I don't think Kansas will be able to beat them. CDR and Rose are probably the best 1-2 threat in the game. In fact I think the Knicks would like to see CDR and Rose in the back court/wing rather than Jamal (who is very good) and Fred Jones(not so much). If Dorsey is a beast like he was in this game and Kansas can't stop AASAA then Coach Cal and his boys will be cutting down the nets.

In the other game Kansas came out on fire. They were up 38-10 in a game that was supposed to be a even match up. Us here at CDTN have been saying that North Carolina has been overrated all season but even we were surprised when they were down 28 in the first half. Kansas has great depth in the back court. Collins, Robinson and Chalmers all played very well. But Bill Self's most pleasent surprise was the play of Cole Aldrich. Aldrich you may remember as that customary Big White guy McDonald's All American (Last year we had an abundance: Love, Aldrich and Koufos). He then came into Lawrence and slimmed down but couldn't crack the rotation (10 mpg). I don't really blame him he was behind Darnell Jackson and Darrell Arthur two of the most athletic bigs in the country. Well last night when he came in he looked like a future NBA star. He outplayed Tyler Hansbrough (National POY) and was running the floor, blocking shots, and surely making NBA scouts scratch their heads as to why the hadn't been up on him longer. Kansas led UNC back in the game and it was just a matter of whether they could hold them off. When it was a 6 point game with about 12 minutes to go I thought for sure UNC would come back in win but Kansas showed gritt and determination and held them off.

For UNC Tyler dissapointed. Usually his pleas for contact on the offensive end are what makes him so effective at times but last night they werent helping because the Kansas guards were swiping and stripping him on occasion. Also Tyler is a liability on defense. Arthur and Aldrich each held him in position and caught easy entrance passes for lay ups. Danny Green was the lone bright spot. Green is tall athletic and can shoot. He kept them in the game with his shooting abilities. At a certain point Marcus Ginyard is going to have to hit a jump shot or he can't start on UNC. It is that simple, he may be a great defender but you need some scoring ability out of your off guard. Quentin Thomas ended his career last night. It was a disappointing career to most, but he does go out as the all time winningest player in Carolina history. He also will be missed in the locker room because he was liked by all. Thomas' freshman year he was on the team that won it all with Felton, May, and Marvin. Tyler should stick around for his senior season and Ellington and Ginyard need to really work on their shots. Lawson needs to stay healthy and they should be back next year. If they can get Deon Thompson to be a force down low will be the x-factor.

For the championship game I like Memphis over Kansas. This one i didn't really know who to pick over the other but I'm gonna go with the more experienced coach in Coach Cal.

Wrap Up

Well, college basketball failed us devotees this year. In a down year which I already posted about we have a down final four. The cool stories of the tournament have been mid-majors. Stephen Curry and his boys at Davidson abominated two of the best defenses in the by raining threes on Georgetown and Wisconsin. On that point, Stephen Curry has been overhyped by the national media recently, which is what happens when you average over 30 ppg in the tournament. He’s definitely coming back next year and will be a target of everyone and their grandma to watch for from the opening tip. I feel more major conference players should do what Stephen did (Steph wasn’t by choice really) in going to a mid-major conference where they can light it up. I doubt that Stephen Curry is better than A.J. Abrams or Mario Chalmers or Ronald Ramon from downtown yet he has the ball in his hands all the time and gets to score more points and average more than 25 ppg. Abrams, Chalmers, and Ramon’s all go to the big time program because it will give them better exposure when in reality it limits their opportunities. If you are a shooter you are probably better off at a mid-major.

Western Kentucky, Belmont and San Diego also provided us with excitement. The Western Kentucky-Drake game was the best of the tournament and had that “only can happen in march” game winning shot. Belmont put a scare into Duke and took a team full of non-winners (callout: Paulus, Scheyer, Henderson) to the last second in the first day’s only exciting game. San Diego beat Connecticut in a very exciting game. Even with their two best scoring options out they still found a way to beat a Big East squad and salvage something of the three bid tournament showing for the WCC.

On Coaching Changes. Tom Crean, you are one of my favorite coaches but I really don’t understand your decision making on this one. I know you feel that Indiana is a top 7 job (no order: UNC, Kansas, Duke, UCLA, Kentucky, Louisville, Indiana) but your going to a team that was a 8 seed and doesn’t have one starter returning. Not one. And whoever inherits the job at Marquette should send Tom Crean a huge thank you. They on the otherhand inherit a team returning 4 starters and their four best players. The triumvirate of Wesley Matthews, Dom James, and Jerel McNeal are as good as any guards in the country and they all are seniors. The Marquette coach should get to the sweet sixteen next year in their first year: looks like a pretty good job to me.

Another one of CDTN’s favorites Jim Christian is leaving Kent St. and I feel settling for the TCU job. Is it really an upgrade? At Kent he had one of the top mid-major programs year in year out. Now he is going to TCU where memories of Lee Nailon are long gone. I would have been happy to see him end up at Providence but I’m kind of disappointed here.

Duke’s former lead “Jumping Jacked Towel Waver” Taylor King is transferring. His two leaders are Villanova and Gonzaga and both can use a shooter like King (Just as long as they make him sign that he won’t resort to the Jumping Jack’s anymore).

Watch out for Niagara in the upcoming year, they have impact transfer that had to sit out this year but next year watch out MAAC.

With all four 1 seeds hopefully we get some great basketball games this weekend. Cutting Down The Nets Pick: UCLA over Kansas

North Carolina Comparisons

Tyler Hansbrough - vs. I couldn't really find someone Psycho-T looked like but I can tell you who dances on his level: Elaine Benes from Seinfeld. Tyler's dance vs. Elaine's dance. Close but no Cigar: Mark Madsen.

Ty Lawson - Ty is the College Version of the road runner


Danny Green - looks like his teamate last year Brandan Wright

Deon Thompson - Looks like Lawrence Fishburne

Quentin Thomas- Looks exactly like that plays a coach at the end of the new NCAA student athlete commercials (No picture available at this point).

Wayne Ellington and Alex Stepheson I couldn't think of adequate comparisons for so I won't make an attempt. If you have any post a comment and I'll update it.

Xavier and UNC to Elite 8

UNC - Washington St.
Well, Washington St. didnt show up to fulfill the upset special. In fact outside of Baynes they looked downright awful. It was close for the first 12 minutes and then UNC went on to roll. Wash St. is a poor man's Wisconsin it seemed. UNC has looked dominant throughout the tournament and are in for a bigger test than anything they have seen in the elite 8.

Xavier - West Virginia
The other game was much more exciting. Xavier was up 18 in the first half before West Virginia cut it to 7 by halftime. I still don't know how they did because both Joe Alexander (CDTN favorite) and Darris Nichols had two fouls and sat for the majority of the half. In the second half it seemed that it was West Virginia's game and just a matter of time before they got over the hump (taking the lead). Well, they took the lead with about 5 minutes left in the game and without senior leadership from Josh Duncan I don't think this game gets to overtime. In the final minute Xavier was up 2 but couldn't get a good possession up so West Virginia had a chance to tie or take the lead. They dumped it down to Alexander and he hit a tough bank shot and got fouled in doing so. He missed the free throw and Drew Lavender's last second attempt was off the mark so they went to overtime.

On an aside, it was a pleasure to have Bill Raftery calling this game. It was obvious he has called scores of games this season and knew about every player on both teams. He even made the calls of the players names before Lundquist (the set PxP guy) on many plays.

In overtime it was a game of who can keep their guys in for longer. C.J. Anderson and Derek Brown both fouled out for Xavier and it seemed that West Virginia was winning that battle until down low Josh Duncan got bumped by Alexander which sent Alexander out with his 5th personal. Great job by Duncan playing with fouls and still remaining aggressive. He had picked up his 4th with 12 minutes to go in regulation yet he remained on the floor and a factor for the entirety. West Virginia got up 4 with two minutes left in this one and it seemed that even without their leader Alexander they were getting enough from contributors Alex Ruoff and Joe Mazzula to hold on. Then after Duncan went 1/2 from the line and Xavier got a stop on D, Drew Lavender hit a 3 to tie the game up. It was a big shot for Lavender who was virtually silent for the entire game. West Virginia answered with a 2 and then B.J. Raymond decided he was ready to join the game. He received the ball at the top of the key and despite not scoring yet in the game he let it fly- wet. Xavier was up 1 and got another stop. Xavier had possession and Wellington Smith punched Drew Lavender's shot out of bounds with 2 seconds left on the shot clock. On the inbounds play West Virginia misscomunicated and left Raymond open on the opposite side of the court as the ball. Stanley Burrell bounced it over to him and he cocked back and hit the biggest shot of his life. It was the dagger in West Virginia's spine and it was just a matter of free throws and clock running out before it was final. Xavier had avenged last year's tough loss to Ohio State and are now one win away from the final four.

Upset Special

Tonight the upset special is Washington St over Carolina. This incredibly overhyped Carolina team is going to encounter Defense and a lot of it. Even though the game is in Charlotte I am picking the Cougers. Hey, both of UNC's losses have been at home this year. Kyle Weaver and D-Low need to be hitting shots for the Cougers for this to happen but with both as seniors I expect that to happen. Oh, it would also put me back into contention in all my brackets so lets hope for the Cougers tonight. Cmon Tony Bennett dont fail me now.

Powerade Jamfest Preview

Tonight the best part of the McDonald's All American Game occurs. The game in itself is nice but is just like any other all star game. Hardly anyone remembers who won the all star game but everyone remembers the dunk and three point contests. Like James White (still don't know why he wasn't in the NBA version this year) or B-Easy last year someone new will give us a taste of overathleticism we aren't used too.

The Three Point Contest contestants are:
Luke Babbit
Willie Warren
Samardo Samuels
Ed Davis
Tyreke Evans
Sylven Landesberg
Mike Rosario
Larry Drew

Of this group my favorite to win it is Mike Rosario. I think the championship will be Rosario vs. Luke Babbit and Rosario will win in the end. On a sidenote it is very interesting that Sylven is out in Milwaukee this week because his season is still happening with Holy Cross HS. His team will play this weekend and NYS bended the rules for him because it was such a acheivement to make the McDonald's game. Also about this competition Samardo will surprise me mightily if he doesn't finish in last. Samardo will be a top 5 center in college basketball next year at Louisville.

The Dunk Contest (the more exciting competition) contestants are:
the rest
Scotty Hopson
Brandon Jennings
Elliot Williams
Iman Shumpert
and the real contestants
Demar DeRozan (right)
Al-Farouq Aminu (left)

this competition will come down to just DeRozan v Aminu. These two athletes are two of the most electrifying players to come out of high school in a while. This is a dunk contest I am really looking forward to. Also it may be looked at as a copout for someone athletic like Tyreke Evans to not participate in the dunk contest.

Round 2 Recap

East Region
There were three blowouts and one close overtime thriller in this region.
-UNC ran past Arkansas very quickly, jumping out to a 35-11 lead after only 11 minutes. Wayne Ellington lead the way with 20, followed by Ty Lawson with 19 and 7 assists. Tyler had 17 and 10 rebounds. UNC looked very good in this one, but lets not forget that it was basically a home game for them, since 90% of the fans there were in Carolina Blue. UNC won 108-77.
-Washington St dominated Notre Dame in this regions 5-4 seeds matchup. The story in this one was Tony Bennett’s team’s defense. Notre Dame shot only 24% from the field and 17% from the 3 Point line. Luke Harangody had 10 points and 22 rebounds, but shot only 3-17 from the field. Washington St jumped out to a 13 point halftime lead and never looked back. They won 61-41.
- Louisville killed Oklahoma on Sunday, proving to everyone that Oklahoma’s #6 seed was completely absurd. They were a 9 seed at best. Just one of many mistakes the committee made this year. Louisville dominated this game in every facet, and their 2-2-1 press really got to the Oklahoma guards. They won 78-48. Watch out, Louisville is clicking and is one of the most dangerous teams in the remaining 16.
-Tennessee beat Butler yesterday, but needed overtime to do so. I watched this game and was rooting hard for Butler. They trailed by 6 or 8 for most of the game but came storming back late in the 2nd half. They forced overtime thanks to some clutch free throw shooting by AJ Graves and his tremendous defense on Chris Lofton (9 pts). What made the difference, though, was Butler could not get sharpshooter Pete Campbell any open looks in the last 15 minutes. Tennessee played a very sloppy game (20 turnovers) and did not look great in the 2nd half. One bright spot for them was the play of Wayne Chism, who was unstoppable late in the game (16 pts).


Midwest Region
With two double digit seeds headed into the sweet 16, the Midwest Region has surely busted a few brackets already.
-Kansas handled UNLV pretty easily, winning 75-56. They had very balanced scoring as usual, and shut down everyone on UNLV except Wink Adams, who had 25 pts and was 15-17 from the foul line. UNLV only shot 27% as a team, and was 5-22 on threes. That won’t cut it against a 1 seed.
-Villanova handled Siena pretty easily behind Scottie Reynolds’ 25 point, 8 rebound, 5 assist performance. I said it on Selection Sunday, and I stand by my point now. Villanova should not be in the tournament. They didn’t play anyone out of conference, went 3-6 against the top half of the Big East, and lost to teams like NC St, Rutgers, Depaul, St Johns, and Cincinnati. To me, Arizona St was far more worthy. Anyway, this wasn’t much of a game. Villanova sliced through Siena’s defense and shot 54% from the floor.
-Wisconsin cruised past Kansas St 72-55. Wisconsin is the most underrated team in the country, period. All they do is win. Since December 8th, they’re 25-2. 25-0 against teams not named Purdue. They did a great job frustrating Mike Beasley the entire game and got Bill Walker to foul out. One key stat from this game: Kansas St. was 0-13 on three pointers.
-Davidson has been the best story of the tournament so far. A school of 1,500 students with the son of a former NBA player as its star, the Wildcats have defeated two national powerhouses in three days. Davidson was down 16 with 15 minutes left. Once again, I think Georgetown was a little overrated this year. They had a lot of good players, but no very good players. Jeff Green was their star last year, and without him they had no go to scorer. For all of you that took Stephen Curry in your drafts, nice work. He’s put up 70 in two games.




South Region
This was the region with the best games. All four of them came down to the wire.
-Memphis barely got by Mississippi St, 77-74. In the process many of Memphis’ weaknesses were exposed. They are only 7 deep, and of those 7, three had at least four fouls. They have issues with free throws (47% yesterday). This was a great game because Mississippi St played a remarkably clean game (8 turnovers, 43% shooting). Calipari had to sweat this one out since Dorsey, Dozier, and Taggart each had four fouls with 14 minutes left. Derrick Rose showed great maturity (17 pts, 9 rebs, 7 assts).
-Michigan St outlasted Pittsburgh, 65-54, behind a great game from Drew Neitzel. He had 21, and was 5-8 from behind the arc. Michigan St did a great job of pushing the ball with Kalin Lucas, Neitzel, and Travis Walton. When they get out in transition, they are tough to stop. In the halfcourt, they can be stopped. Outside of Levance Fields, Pitt shot 27%.
-Brook Lopez’s shot from behind the backboard was enough to beat Marquette 82-81. He hit it with 1.3 seconds left to give Stanford the lead. Coach Trent Johnson was ejected right before halftime, but Assistant Doug Oliver came up with a great game plan for the remainder of the game (get Brook the ball every possession). The Lopez brothers combined for 48 and were too much for Marquette’s frontcourt, especially after Lazar Hayward fouled out.
-The score of the Texas-Miami game doesn’t indicate the true story. Texas led by 12-15 for most of the game until the final two minutes. In fact Texas led by ten with two minutes left. Some threes began to drop for the Canes and that is why it seems so close. Some late free throws were needed to put them away. One interesting storyline is that Frank Haith used to be Rick Barnes’ assistant at Texas, and he considers Barnes a father figure.




West Region
This was another region filled with great second round games. All four were pretty tight.
-UCLA trailed Texas A&M for most of the game, until their defense buckled down in the second half. They held A&M to 20 points, 5 in the last ten minutes. Darren Collison and Kevin Love combined for forty, but they needed a driving layup from Collison with 9.5 seconds left to take their first lead of the second half. Josh Shipp and Russell Westbrook only combined for 5 points.
-Western Kentucky defeated San Diego to move on to the Sweet 16. Courtney Lee had 29 (he clearly tried in this game) and Tyrone Brazelton chipped in with 15. The final score was 62-53. Look for Western Kentucky to give UCLA a game, especially if Courtney Lee (an NBA prospect) can play as well as he did against USD.
-Xavier knocked off Purdue behind Drew Lavender’s 18 pts and 9 assts. It was Lavender’s clutch free throw shooting at the end that made the difference (8-8). If you haven’t seen Xavier play, they are an incredibly balanced team that plays suffocating defense. I’m calling it now. Purdue will be in the 2009 final four. They return everyone.
-West Virginia defeated Duke 73-67 on Saturday. Duke’s 8 McDonald’s All Americans couldn’t do much against Joe Alexander and company. Duke’s downfall was not having a single post presence. If you’re only going to shoot 23% on threes, you need someone to get you points in the paint. Joe Alexander dominated in that aspect with 22 pts and 11 rebs. Duke has been awful in the tournament the last three years (since Paulus got there). Once again Greg Paulus chokes by letting the opponent’s average point guard look like Jason Kidd in the tournament. Remember Eric Maynor last year? Well Joe Mazulla had 13 pts 11 rebs 8 assts. And how about Demarcus Nelson’s “senior leadership” in the tournament? He was 3-18 from the field with 8 points.

Credit Bo Ryan

Class of 2002

Jason Chappell- 6’10 PF New Berlin WI

Alando Tucker- 6’5 SG Lockport IL

Ray Nixon- 6’7 PF Whitefish Bay, WI

Maurice Wade- 6’3 SG Milwaukee WI

Class of 2003

Brian Butch- 7’ 215 lbs.C Appleton, WI 5 Stars

Zach Morley- 6’8 PF Maryville MO 3 Stars

Kammron Taylor- 6’2 158 lbs. Minneapolis MN 3 Stars

Class of 2004

Sharif Chambliss- 6’1 PG Racine WI 2 Stars

Michael Flowers- 6’2 SG Madison WI 3 Stars

Greg Stiemsma- 6’11 225 Randolph WI 4 Stars

DeAaron Williams- 6’4 SF Bartonville IL 3 Stars

Class of 2005

Joe Krabbenhoft- 6’7 SF Sioux Falls SD 5 stars

Marcus Landry- 6’7 PF Milwaukee WI 3 Stars

Class of 2006

Jason Bohannon- 6’3 PG Marion IA 4 Stars

Trevon Hughes- 6’2 PG Delafield WI 4 Stars

J.P. Gavinski- 6’10 C Wisconsin Dells WI 3 stars

University of Wisconsin may be the most pure state university basketball team in the country. Nearly all the players in the program are from the state of Wisconsin, a true rarity in college sports today. Many of their stars are from their home state as well. On this year’s team Butch, Stiemsma, Landry, Flowers and Hughes are 5 of the 7 guys that play significant minutes. On North Carolina, not one of the players from the state of North Carolina sees a significant minute in most games (GravesMinnesota, Illinois (x2), South Dakota, Iowa are all real close to Madison and the furthest recruit is Zach Morley who came up from Missouri. To show the complete opposite extreme Duke (a team who has had less success then Wisconsin these past three years) doesn’t have one player from the state of North Carolina and has a greater connection to New Jersey (2 players), Oregon, Arkansas, California, Oregon, Colorado and Lithuania than the state of North Carolina. comes in for like 30 seconds-doesn’t count). Also the guys that come in from out of state aren’t being flown in cross-country they are from neighboring states.

Not only does Coach Ryan recruit unbelievably well in his home state, once he gets his players to Madison he makes them better. If you are asked which state is home to the best basketball in the country, Wisconsin isn’t even in your top 20. Yet using Wisconsin born players Coach Ryan consistently makes them a top 10 team in the country. Brian Butch for example came into campus as the most highly recruited player Wisconsin has had since 1993. He was a McDonald’s All-American yet he redshirted. He agreed with Coach Ryan that he wasn’t ready for the physicality of the Big 10 and gained 20 lbs. of muscle and is now the best player on a sweet sixteen team as a senior. Kam Taylor was said to be too skinny when he was recruited by Coach Ryan. He came to Madison as a 158 lb. scrawny point guard but left as the best point guard in the big 10 (did I mention he was 175 lbs. and physical). The best example is probably the bruiser on this year’s Wisconsin team Greg Stiemsma. Stiemsma was pretty highly viewed coming out of high school and was given 4 star status but was said to be to slow and not big enough to bruise down low in the big 10. Now he is the classification of bruiser. He has gained 35 lbs of muscle since entering Madison and outmuscled Kansas St. on Saturday for the win.

Maybe teams like North Carolina and Duke should stop going cross country looking for the next big star and instead start working on recruiting in their own backyards. They each missed on Stephen Curry (40 pts in the first round) and now he is starring at Davidson. They both missed on K.C. Rivers who was probably the best shooter in the ACC this year (Duke isn’t that what you pride yourselves on). They should learn from coaches like Bo Ryan who develops his talent and uses homegrown talent. People of Wisconsin can be proud of their team. They are a true state university team that represents the whole state. Congrats Bo, you built a winning program the fans can be proud of.