Ben's Brain - College Basketball

NCAA early round recap and Sweet 16 preview

Tue, 24 Mar 2009 14:10:00 -0500

I am back in the saddle after a spending the first two rounds of the tournament in Las Vegas, watching most of the action from the Bellagio sports book, though at times the flat screen in my room at the Palazzo was the only viable option based on my "condition" at the time. Now that the cobwebs in my head are clearing (though the memories are still and likely will continue to be hazy), I see that my bracket has held up nicely (how about Cleveland State and Arizona!) through two rounds, though Louisville and Pittsburgh did their best to scare me. I heard from many of you over the past week and want to hear your thoughts on the tournament below in the comments field, but first, here is a recap of the early action with a look ahead to Sweet 16/Elite Eight...

East Region

Best Game, actual and Vegas style: Oklahoma State's thrilling 77-75 win over three-point favorite Tennessee in round one, with Cowboys point guard Byron Eaton scoring the decisive three-point play on a drive with 7.2 seconds remaining after the two sides traded the lead throughout the second half...As an aside, anyone who says the first two rounds were less than thrilling obviously did not enter an office pool or wager. Trust me, it helps a lot.

Best Player: Sam Young, Pittsburgh. The Panthers had their struggles in winning their initial two games, but whenever they seemed to be up against it, there was Young hitting big shot after big shot and often from long range. Young hit half of his 3-pointers (8-of-16) and averaged 23 points and 10.5 rebounds in the first two rounds, including a double-double in the first round followed by drilling Oklahoma State for 32 points, hitting on 12-of-20 shots.

Best Team: Villanova looked anything but a potential Final Four team for much of the game against American and trailed by double digits in the second half. However, with essentially a home crowd cheering them on, the Wildcats came back to roll the Eagles and they dominated UCLA over the weekend, crushing the Bruins on both ends of the court. If they can keep up their defensive intensity for two more rounds to go along with their high-octane offense, the Wildcats will be headed to Detroit.

Final Four bound: Say what you want about the Pitt Panthers, but they just win. Sure it can be scary at times and I suspect members of the Oakland Zoo, the Panthers fan base, have scant amount of fingernails left to chew on. The Panthers have yet to make past the Sweet 16 in the Jamie Dixon era and that my friends is the big hurdle; if they get past Xavier, the weight of the world will feel much lighter for Pittsburgh with that monkey off its back. Even with the winner of Duke-Villanova (should be one of the more entertaining games of the entire tournament) looming, Pittsburgh will survive and advance to the Final Four in Detroit.

South Region

Best moment: Freshman Demetri Goodson's Tyus Edney-like full court dash for the game-winning bank shot in Gonzaga's 83-81 win over 12th seed Western Kentucky in round two.

Best moment, Vegas style: My friend Mike excitedly hugging all those around him in the closing seconds of Akron's stirring 77-64 backdoor cover against Gonzaga in the first round like he just witnessed his beloved Washington Redskins winning the Super Bowl or received an invite to join Hef and the bunnies at the Grotto. The Zips, getting 13.5 points, battled the Zags in the final moments like a Final Four berth was on the line and the crowd at the Bellagio's sports book reacted in kind with the back and forth action. Nothing like a point spread win in Vegas, the best place to watch the tourney.

Worst time for a shooting slump: Arizona State guard James Harden is viewed as a top-10, maybe top-5 pick in the upcoming NBA Draft, but he did not help his cause with his NCAA Tournament play. In two games, the 6-5 Harden connected on only 3-of-18 shots, missing all but one of eight attempts from beyond the arc.

Final Four bound: Despite the return of Ty Lawson boosting UNCs chances and Oklahoma's Blake Griffin dominating the first two rounds like no other player in the field, this chalk region remains the most competitive. Gonzaga has all the tools to take down North Carolina and while I called for the upset on one of my office pool entries, I am not going against Tyler Hansbrough and friends just yet. Oklahoma-Syracuse is must see TV with Jonny Flynn and the Orange squeezing out a win. Jim Boeheim has his team playing their best ball right now and they will…just come up short against a Tar Heels squad that is poised for one more Final Four run.

Midwest Region

Best Game: The braggart in me wants to claim it was Cleveland State throttling Wake Forest, but since that game was never in doubt, I will go with Siena's double-OT win over Ohio State. Paraphrasing Bill Raftery's comments during the broadcast, how about the double order of onions served up by Saints guard Ronald Moore, who nailed the game-winning three pointer after sending the contest into the second extra session with a long bomb from almost the same exact spot.

Best Trio: Arizona's Nic Wise (50 points), Chase Budinger (35) and Jordan Hill (33) scored a combined 118 points in the first two rounds, or 76.1 percent of the Wildcats entire output in wins over Utah and Cleveland State. They will need to keep up that pace and perhaps improve on it against a deep and swarming Louisville Cardinals squad in the Sweet 16.

Best Coaching Job year to date: Seriously, how does Kansas coach Bill Self have the Jayhawks back into the Sweet 16 after losing nearly all of their production following the championship run from a year ago. Sure, he can still roll out talented players like Sherron Collins, the one holdover from the 2008 run, and Cole Aldrich, who dominated Dayton in the second round to the tune of 13 points, 20 rebounds and 10 blocks, but these Jayhawks are ahead of schedule.

Final Four bound: I have been on the Louisville bandwagon for some time and the Rick Pitino version for years and I will not be hoping off either of them now despite the Cardinals uneven play in the early rounds. Their depth should get them by Arizona and their offensive versatility will prove to be too much for Michigan State after the Spartans eke out a win over Kansas.

West Region

Best Team, by far: Connecticut entered the tournament seemingly a little off kilter, as they failed to match their early season level of play following the injury to forward Jerome Dyson. Two uber-dominant wins put any immediate concerns to rest as A.J. Price and crew were clearly the most impressive squad of the early rounds.

Best Sweet 16 matchup: If you love non-stop, back and forth, explosive action, Memphis-Missouri is the game for you. The battle of the Tigers features two squads that want to pressure you all over the court and have the athletes to do just that. If the winner has enough gas left in the tank, they are heading to Detroit.

Best Celeb sightings: For this NFL-based site, I won't go into detail over our group seeing former NBA star Antoine Walker or partying with Paddleball National Semi-finalist and magazine cover boy Jon Lubow. Former Ravens head coach Brian Billick was poolside at the Bellagio, reading from a notebook with a big NFL logo on it. Yes, I know that is hard to top, but I think seeing Mike Ditka maning the first base seat at the blackjack table next to mine will do the trick. While I could not see the table action from my third base perch, I was able to hear him talk to the cards, fist bump his fellow players after a winning hand and get all worked up as if he was still pacing the sidelines. Sweet.

Final Four bound: Yes, UConn has looked unbeatable early on, but I previously predicted Purdue would get by them and following their impressive win over a game Washington crew, I am not about to jump ship. Therefore, the Boilermakers will take care of Huskies in back-to-back games, but then the run ends against the Tigers of Memphis. Memphis was another slow starter in the tournament, but they righted the ship against Cal-State Northridge and then dominated Maryland in round two. Now that they have their sea legs under them, the Tigers should ride the wave into the Final Four.

NCAA Tourney First Glance

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 21:25:00 -0500

Quick thoughts on the bracket and a lively Sunday night in Bristol...

- No arguments out of me over the top seeds. As I stated earlier, I like UConn's overall resume better than Memphis. Also agree with Louisville as the top team overall.

- For the most part, I am down with the 2-4 seeds, though I might have put Florida State over Xavier. Minor quibble.

- Looks like Arizona and Wisconsin were the last two teams in. I can't say I have a huge problem with the Wildcats being in, though the argument against is equally as strong. On the other hand, I was thrilled to the Badgers seeded lower than most had projected. Yes, the Big 10 still have seven teams in, but the low seeds, combined with Penn State not receiving a bid, puts the over zealous conference in place.

- As I stated previously, I had St. Mary's as the last team in (only one I had wrong, with Arizona as #66), and considering the non-power conferences received only four at-large bids, I think the Gaels were the team that got hosed. Truth is, an argument can be made for several teams to be in or out, but the Patty Mills injury was the biggest variable among the bubble teams. Guess it wasn't enough.

- Speaking of the Gaels...I switched over to ESPN after Greg, Seth and Greg wrapped up to watch Dick Vitale and Doug Gottlieb smack down Jay Bilas' silly notion that the mid-to-small majors can schedule whomever they want at home or on a neutral court. I have heard many a silly sports argument in my day, but this is right at the top of the list. It is one thing to argue for a specific power school, like Arizona over a smaller school like St. Mary's, but to say with a straight face that the non-power conferences are on the same playing field with the big boys when it comes to scheduling is preposterous. The bracketolgists can argue all they want about who played the most top-50 teams or who did better over the last 10 games, but until the Goliath's willingly play the David's on the road or at least at a true neutral site, then it is an apples-to-oranges types comparison...Ok Ben, put the bracket argument down and slowly move away from it for another 360 days. Serenity now...

- Splitting hairs here, but let's say the West is the toughest region, with the South just a shade behind.

- I would have to say the Midwest is the weakest of the four regions. I see more first round upsets coming out this region than the others.

- Louisville, playing their early rounds in Dayton, could face Ohio State in the second round.

- UNC and Duke get to play in their home state in the first two rounds. This happens most years so why should this time be any different. Seriously, how does this not get more national attention? According to ESPN, the Tar Heels are 25-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament games played in the state of North Carolina. Yes, Villanova is playing in Philadelphia, but the tournament only sporadically comes to Rocky's hometown.

- Tyler Hansbrough and Blake Griffin, two of the top big men in the country, are poised to meet in the Elite Eight if both teams advance .

- Overall, I would say the top-heavy bracket shakes out well for the Big East schools. Detailed analysis to come tomorrow...

Projecting the NCAA Field - Sunday PM edition

Sun, 15 Mar 2009 14:49:00 -0500

Who are the four top seeds? Who will be dancing and who will crying? FFToolbox tackles those questions in our NCAA Tournament Bracket preview...

My favorite non-game event every year, the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field, is almost here. Whether your team's bid is already assured or they are on that nasty bubble, the reveal of the field is an exhilarating moment that comes with the excitement and drama normally associated with an actual big game and that is before we all get to fill out our own office pool bracket.

Like a kid at Christmas, I cannot wait to tear into the wrapped gifts, so I present my own bracket projections; including naming the top seeds and the squads that will pick up those final at-large bids. Once the official field of 65 is announced tonight, I will post a fast break like analysis tonight with a complete bracket breakdown Monday morning with all the sleepers, keys and predictions you need before filling out your office pool bracket. Of course we all have our take on who should be in and who will win it all so feel free to add your thoughts and predicitions in the comments field below...

Top five seeds per region

East: Pittsburgh, Duke, Kansas, Purdue, Arizona State

South: UNC, Oklahoma, Villanova, Syracuse, UCLA

Midwest: Louisville, Michigan St. Missouri, Florida St., Xavier

West: UConn, Memphis, Wake Forest, Washington, Gonzaga

- The fourth #1 seed comes down to UConn and Memphis and while I suspect the selection committee does not have the stomach to put three Big East schools on the top line, I think the Huskies should be the pick. Each team has solid non-conference wins (both won at Gonzaga; Memphis beat Tennessee while UConn defeated Michigan), but Jim Calhoun's crew has more quality victories. That is before dissecting the conference resumes, where the Huskies fearsome schedule was clearly superior to the Tigers annual beat down of their paper lion opponents. This is not a knock against Memphis, which took care of business in Conference USA from start to finish, though do not confuse this group with the Derrick Rose-led team from a year ago. Even with a loss in the first round of the Big East Tournament, though in epic six-OT fashion, Connecticut had the superior regular season, especially factoring in the highly ranked target they had on their back much of the season.

- Villanova's two regular season wins over Syracuse keeps them ahead of the Orange despite their touted and exhausting Big East tournament run. If the committee rewards the Orange, the Demon Deacons or Jayhawks could drop a line, the latter setting up a potential Roy Williams vs. Kansas reunion.

- The potential Huskies-Zags second round matchup would have the Emerald City buzzing more than a venti coffee with a triple shot of caffeine ever would.

- Purdue and Florida State clinched a top-4 seed with a run to their respective tournament finals, but a win today probably does not bump them up farther.

Bids by Conference

ACC (7) – UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, FSU, Clemson, Boston College, Maryland
Big East (7) – Louisville, Pittsburgh, UConn, Villanova, Syracuse, WVU, Marquette
Big 10 (7) – Mich. St., Purdue, Illinois, Ohio St., Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin
Big 12 (6) – Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M
Pac 10 (5) – Washington, Arizona State, UCLA, California, USC
Atlantic 10 (3) – Xavier, Dayton, Temple
SEC (3) – LSU, Tennessee, Mississippi State
Mountain West (2) – BYU, Utah
Horizon (2) – Butler, Cleveland State
WCC (2) – Gonzaga, St. Mary's

Final Cuts

Last four in: Dayton, Maryland, Wisconsin, St. Mary's
Last four out: Arizona, San Diego State, Creighton, Penn St.
Others out: Auburn, UNLV, Virginia Tech, New Mexico

- If your team is on the outside looking in, feel free to give the stink eye to Cleveland State, Southern Cal, Temple and Mississippi State, as none of those teams would have qualified without winning their conference's automatic bid (Shortly after this post went up, the Bulldogs earned the SEC's automatic bid today. That knocked Arizona, who I originally had as the last team in, out of my field of 65 projection).

- The negatives for Maryland (home loss to Morgan State, 7-9 conference record, four defeats of 20+ points) and Arizona (no significant road wins, lost five of final six games) are significant, but they have the most impressive wins (Terps beat UNC, Michigan State, Wake Forest; Wildcats defeated Kansas, Washington, Gonzaga, UCLA) of all the bubble teams. The Terps were better down the stretch and get the big boy school nod over the Wildcats

- The injury to Patty Mills, along with St. Mary's attempt to schedule a strong non-conference schedule (wins over Oregon, Southern Illinois and Kent State not as impressive as they would be in most years), should give the selection committee folk enough room to warrant putting the Gaels in the field. Yes, they lost three times to Gonzaga (though the Gaels led the Zags on the road at halftime when Mills went down), but they have quality wins over Utah State, San Diego State and Providence to fall back on. Coming off a horrid WCC Tourney, Mills looked solid in the Friday night non-conference win over 12-18 Eastern Washington and that could sway members on the committee, as the Gaels were ranked this season when their point guard was healthy. The eye taste for the Gaels remains blurry, but I see them as in the field and if so, they will receive the most scrutiny of any at-large team.

- On the flip side, San Diego State posted enough good wins in the strong Mountain West - combined with a potent non-conference schedule - to get in, but the loss to St. Mary's on a neutral court is the tiebreaker.

- Sorry Big 10 fans, but despite what the flawed RPI says, your conference is not strong enough to warrant eight bids and one could argue that seven is too many as both Wisconsin and Penn State have flawed non-conference results. They both have significant conference wins, but the Badgers sweep of the Nittany Lions gives them the nod.

- The Missouri Valley is a solid conference that deserves multiple bids most years and Creighton had an 11-game winning streak before being thumped in the conference tournament. That let down, combined with only two wins (Dayton, Northern Iowa) over teams projected in the big dance, is probably enough of an excuse to keep them on the sideline.

- Despite a strong close to the season, the perceived down year for the SEC, along a weak non-conference schedule, has Auburn, along with conference rivals South Carolina and Florida, heading to the NIT.

'Starting Five' - NCAA Tourney Talk with Contra Costa Times Sports Editor Tom Barnidge

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 18:33:00 -0500

Talking Gonzaga, St. Mary's and west coast basketball with Tom Barnidge, Sports Editor for the Contra Costa Times.

FFToolbox.com, one of the leaders in fantasy football coverage, continues to expand our sports coverage beyond the pigskin perspective with a foray into college hoops heaven, better known as the NCAA Tournament. Led by our point guard Ben Standig, we will pose our "Starting Five" questions to a series of sports writers, contributors and fans across the country, assisting our readers as they gear up for the madness of March. The segment will provide an overview of the upcoming NCAA Tournament, from the power conference and mid-major perspective, including teams in both camps hoping that their major post-season bubble will not burst.
Postseason Roster:

3/12 – Tom Barnidge, Contra Costa Times – St. Mary's, Gonzaga, Pac-10
3/11 - Paul Kenyon, Providence Journal - Rhode Island/Providence
3/11 - Greg Schimmel, The Diamondback - Maryland/ACC

Tom, thank you for your time and effort in helping FFToolbox.com with our college basketball post-season coverage. Ok, time for tip off...

1) This time of year, we always hear the chattering class arguing over which type of team should get those precious final at-large berths; a power conference team like a Maryland or Michigan or a mid-major school like St. Mary's. What is your take on this bar room type argument and if, as some on the worldwide leader have suggested, the NCAA should do away with automatic bids?

Tom Barnidge - I'm in favor of automatic bids to regular-season conference champions, who have shown their merit over the length of the schedule. My issue is with automatic bids to the winners of postseason tournaments, which many coaches regard as jokes. A good example from a year ago was the Georgia team that won only four SEC games all season but sneaked into the NCAAs with a 17-16 overall record on the strength of a postseason tournament title. In general, power conference teams deserve the nod over mid-majors because they play better schedules.

[More]

'Starting Five' - NCAA Tourney talk with Providence Journal Sports Writer Paul Kenyon

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 23:08:00 -0500

Talking Big East, bubble positioning for Providence and Rhode Island's late season clunker with Sports Writer Paul Kenyon of the Providence Journal.

Postseason Roster:

3/11 - Paul Kenyon, Providence Journal - Rhode Island/Providence

3/11 - Greg Schimmel, The Diamondback - Maryland/ACC

Paul, thank you for your time and effort in helping FFToolbox.com with our college basketball post-season coverage. Ok, time for tip off...

[More]

'Starting Five' - NCAA Tourney talk with Sports Columnist Greg Schimmel

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 20:41:00 -0500

Talking Maryland basketball, ACC and the national scene with Greg Schimmel, sports columnist for The Diamondback, the University of Maryland student newspaper

First off Greg, let me thank you for your time and effort in helping FFToolbox.com with our college basketball post-season coverage. Ok, time for tip off...

1) This time of year, we always hear the chattering class arguing over which type of team should get those precious final at-large berths; a power conference team like Maryland or a mid-major school like Creighton or St. Mary's. What is your take on this bar room type argument and if, as some on the worldwide leader have suggested, the NCAA should do away with automatic bids?

[More]

Sports hope springs eternal with Tiger back on the prowl

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 16:24:00 -0500

Before breaking down Andre Smith's missteps, Jarron Gilbert's amazing jump and the Maryland Terrapins potential leap into the NCAA Tournament...

My apology to Brendan Jones, but somebody has to be the martyr. Frankly, I had never heard of the Australian golfer prior to scanning the bracket for this week’s Accenture Match Play Championship, but then again I don’t claim to follow the weekly results over in Japan, where the 64th ranked player in the world has won eight times. Frankly, my interest in Jones now is purely tangential to a much greater cause and he is almost assuredly to slip out of my sports conscience by this time tomorrow. So why bring him up at all? Because Jones is set to become the first golfer sacrificed at the altar of one Tiger Woods, the most important presence in all of sports.

Does anyone dispute that claim? Don’t call it a comeback, but the timing could not be more perfect for the debut of the most competitive and compelling athlete around. Upon conclusion of the NFL season, the sports nation lets out a collective, almost instinctive whine because its members do not know what to do with themselves after months of being in a three-point stance. The football diehards will focus on non-events like the draft and more recently, the combine, while the rest of the herd will impatiently wait for the calendar to hurry up so we can get to the next gripping moment.

[More]

Could Beanie Wells slide out of first round?

Fri, 20 Feb 2009 15:34:00 -0500

Before breaking down the can't miss events of the weekend, including the NFL Combine and a massive ACC hoops battle...

At the end of the college football season, Ohio State RB Chris Wells was projected to be a top-10 pick by many a pundit following his back-to-back 1000+ yards campaigns and 30 career touchdowns with the Buckeyes. Yet, with the NFL combine upon us - and the draft just two months away – Wells is now being projected into the bottom half of the round and based on team needs and other projected moves, could the bruising back slip completely out of the first round?

Calm down Buckeye Nation, hear me out before hyperventilating (besides, he is not the only Buckeye dropping on draft boards. In addition and for the record, I did not attend Michigan, though I did stay at an Ann Arbor Holiday Inn once). “Beanie” is still rated as no less than the second running back on most boards, behind Georgia’s Knowshon Moreno and ahead of Pittsburgh’s LeSean McCoy and Iowa’s Shonn Greene, among others and there a many factors that could keep Wells among the top-32 selected.

[More]

Wishing I had Nate Robinson's hops

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 16:25:00 -0500

Before discussing Matthew Stafford, Maurice Jones-Drew and the Pitt Panthers...

There is no way to better illustrate that we are in a dead spot on the sports calendar than to say the weekend highlight was the NBA dunk contest and that I am looking forward to this week's NFL Combine. The latter is true, though that is primarily due to the insane amount of time I spent this weekend debating where to slot Percy Harvin, the merits of the Eagles taking a tight end over a running back in the first round or the potential of having FOUR centers go in the first two rounds of my latest mock draft. Yes, I have need help.

In between watching You Tube clips of Josh Freeman, I filled up my sports plate primarily with college hoops, a side of the rain-shortened Daytona 500 (I tried getting into it as I mentioned in Friday’s post, but somewhere around Kyle Busch’s wreck and finding Godfather 2 on cable, I lost track. Don’t give up on me NASCAR nation, I just need to ditch the remote) and a dash of the rain-delayed PGA tour stop in Pebble Beach.
[More]

Still stuck in first gear when it comes to all things NASCAR..

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 16:44:00 -0500

Before discussing Michael Crabtree, the upcoming weekend in College Basketball and which NFL quarterback I compare to the current cast of Saturday Night Live...

NASCAR Nation – A smart blogger would probably try to pander to you folks with a shiny new post about his or her detailed thoughts on the first race in the Sprint Cup Series, otherwise known as “The Great American Race”, the Daytona 500, regardless of whether he is a gear head or not. That’s just not my style.

I fall into the category of sports fans that simply do not grasp, understand or are not engaged in the world or auto racing, though I have given it more than a college try. I even have a NASCAR Fantasy League championship on my hypothetical gaming resume (though I have to say it would be on the second page, somewhere below my Fantasy PGA Golf title, but ahead of my 2008 American Idol Pool co-championship. Yes, I have a problem).

Truth is, I can enjoy and even at times, understand the actual racing (though for a detailed analysis of the big race, you will want to check out our Daytona preview). I mean, who does not find a tight race, with cars going three and four wide coming around the final turns, to be rather electrifying. We can all relate to being two lanes over on the highway with our exit fast approaching and trying to pass that car that just…won’t...get…out of our way.

[More]