Unfortunately there hasn't been a lot of content lately considering we're in the midst of the greatest sporting event in the world. To make up for it I'm going to try to do a running diary of my most anticipated Sweet 16 Match up: #1 Kentucky vs #12 Cornell. I can see this game going one of two ways. I can see Kentucky running them out of the building right away or I can see Cornell leading most of the game and then Kentucky's athleticism taking it back at the end. I hope I'm wrong. Unfortunately for Cornell, Butler already had a big upset tonight so I don't know how much room there is for two in one night.
The line is Kentucky -8.5 which does seem kind of high since Cornell is legit but I couldn't touch it. For fun though I took Ryan Wittman Over 3.5 three pointers made. I figure for Cornell to win Wittman has to hit shots and if they get blown out they'll be chucking threes to get back in it. It seemed like a low number for such a great shooter so it's obviously a trap.
10:08 - Tie up, taking a charge! Cornell came to play!
10:11 - Wittman 1!!!! Big 4 minutes. Now I'm glad I did this running diary.
10:16 - There is nothing like fighting a cat off who is trying to knock over your wine glass...I mean beer stein.
10:20 - This 12-0 run is no fun. 14-10 Kentucky.
10:27 - This is part of the beauty of this game, Jeff Foote was a walk on at St. Bonnies and transferred to Cornell and now he's backing down potential NBA players and is on pace for a double-double in a Sweet 16 game.
10:38 - I thought guys from Cornell were supposed to be smart? Why is Louis Dale setting up run outs for Kentucky?
10:42 - Maybe it's because I'm not 6'9" and have never played above the rim but I never understand how guys don't understand when they are goal tending. 23-16 Kentucky.
10:45 - Kentucky is impressing the hell out of me. I knew they were athletic and awesome but I thought their youth would be stymied my Cornell's patience and that hasn't happened. Kentucky is up 9 but if you told me they were up 9 with only 25 points with less than 3 minutes left in the first half I'd have thought you were some unbelievably creative analogy for crazy.
10:52 - 30-16 Kentucky. I'm saying it now. Cornell is done. 13 minutes since Cornell has scored. I hope I'm wrong.
10:54 - 32-16 at the half. How is Cornell supposed to score when they can't even complete a pass? The first 5 minutes of the 2nd half are going to be huge. Cornell has to come out on some kind of 12-2 type run to get the crowd back in it.
Keith's Self Serving Half Time Rant - I'm a die hard St. John's fan. As if the season wasn't embarrassing enough, we got turned down by a guy (in Paul Hewitt) who once pretty much said St. John's was his Dream Job. A part of me thinks he left the decision was left all up to his family. He's been a Georgia Tech for awhile now and he has tween and teen daughters that probably don't want to switch schools. His wife was quoted as saying "no news is good news" when asked about the potential of Paul Hewitt coming to St. John's which makes me believe his wife was against it. Either way it looks like it's Seth Greenberg and Cornell's Steve Donahue. I'm going to assume that guys like Pitino are off the table so if I had my choice, I would go with Greenberg first and Kevin Willard second. I know Willard would almost be the same as Norm Roberts experience-wise but if you're going to strike out with the A-List, why not go with the Pitino bloodline. Hewitt was no great shakes. Look at the Georgia Tech message boards. They are pissed Hewitt is staying. I'll take that as a sign.
11:19 - How Steve Donahue starts off this half is huge in my irrelavent recommendation for St. John's next coach. CBS as actually switched games.
11:26 - I finished my 1.5 liter bottle of wine. Moving on to Smithwick's. It's beer after wine and you'll be fine, right?
11:34 - I'm on Kansas State/Xavier now. I want Gus Johnson there for the birth of my son in June.
11:40 - CBS switched back to the Kentucky game. I don't know how I feel about that. There is something about the game flow that makes me believe that Cornell bettors aren't getting their cover. CBS has to devolop the split screen.
11:47 - Kentucky is playing Cornell's game but telling them they can do it better. 40 points with 6:20 left. They can score 40 in a half blind folded.
11:52 - 10 point game with 4:23 left. They've been respectable but not the game I expected.
11:59 - I think I'm done with Kentucky/Cornell. It was a nice dream. Lets go to Kansas State/Xavier OT!!
12:08 - The fact that we got Gus Johnson in this K-State/Xavier game is a gift. 86-84 K-State
12:11 - Holy crap!!!! K-State/Xavier going to double overtime. This Kentucky/Cornell game will finish as a 12 point game but it wasn't that close. I'm done posting til I feel like doing it at the end of this session. Kentucky up 15....Xavier with the first bucket in OT
12:26 - This K-State/Xavier game is fun. Xavier down 1 with 25.1. It's Gus Johnson time!!!!
12:33 - K-State held them off. If betting were legal I would have taken them -5 and would have pushed ;)
Now that we have the winners tonight I think Kentucky is the team to beat. Kentucky did not seem freaked out at all by what Cornell was throwing at them. I can't believe Butler or Kansas St is going to make the Final 4.
Goodnight everyone
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
The Ball is Tipped...
The best day fo the year. The greatest sporting event in the world.
Just want to go on record now with my Final 4 picks of Duke, Ohio State, West Virginia and BYU
Ohio State over West Virginia in the Championship
Just want to go on record now with my Final 4 picks of Duke, Ohio State, West Virginia and BYU
Ohio State over West Virginia in the Championship
Monday, March 15, 2010
Bracket Thoughts
It's been a long standing tradition now for Pete and I to try our hand at predicting the brackets. This is what we came up with this year:
We had Florida, Utah State and UTEP out of the bracket while we included Illinois, Virginia Tech and Mississippi St.
We left UTEP out of the bracket because, while they dominated Conference USA, their two best wins were probably against UAB who didn't even make the tournament. I guess the committee weighed their splits against tournament teams Houston and New Mexico State higher than we did. As for Florida, when it came to comparing them with our last 3 in, we held the fact that they have a sub-200 RPI loss (South Alabama). Looking back, they did beat Michigan State, Florida State and bubble(ish) teams like Mississippi State and Ole Miss so I can see their case but I would still leave them out in favor of Illinois. Illinois finished the regular season losing 5 of 6 which probably hurt but they did have three top 25 RPI wins to Florida's one. With Virginia Tech the committee chose to send a message about scheduling. We put them in the tournament because all things being equal, they were the 3rd place team in 3rd best conference in the country. We didn't hold their non-conference schedule against them, the committee didn't weigh their conference schedule in their favor.
Our last debate was between Mississippi State and Utah State. We were in agreement that if we were making the real tournament we it would be a no-brainer that we would put Utah State in. Mississippi State went in to the SEC Tournament knowing they had to win it to make the NCAA Tournament and they didn't. But we're trying to predict what the committee would do. We made the call that their run through the SEC Tournament and taking Kentucky to overtime would have Miss St. pass the committee's eye ball test. I'm actually happy they didn't. Utah State deserves it.
There are some seedings that I do have a problem with:
Villanova - They are not playing well going in to the tournament and I think Georgetown leap frogged them as the 3rd highest seeded Big East team. Maybe I'm just a little disappointed that by Nova being a 2 seed makes Duke's road to the Final 4 easier.
Temple - The A10 got screwed on this one. Temple deserved a Top 4 seed. Winning the A10 regular season and conference tournament doesn't mean that much anymore I guess. And to face Cornell in their first round game in unfortunate. I thought Cornell deserved a better seed as well.
Gonzaga and Vanderbilt - I'd swap them. Vandy screams 8/9 game and Gonzaga is more of a 4 to 5 seed in my opinion.
We had Florida, Utah State and UTEP out of the bracket while we included Illinois, Virginia Tech and Mississippi St.We left UTEP out of the bracket because, while they dominated Conference USA, their two best wins were probably against UAB who didn't even make the tournament. I guess the committee weighed their splits against tournament teams Houston and New Mexico State higher than we did. As for Florida, when it came to comparing them with our last 3 in, we held the fact that they have a sub-200 RPI loss (South Alabama). Looking back, they did beat Michigan State, Florida State and bubble(ish) teams like Mississippi State and Ole Miss so I can see their case but I would still leave them out in favor of Illinois. Illinois finished the regular season losing 5 of 6 which probably hurt but they did have three top 25 RPI wins to Florida's one. With Virginia Tech the committee chose to send a message about scheduling. We put them in the tournament because all things being equal, they were the 3rd place team in 3rd best conference in the country. We didn't hold their non-conference schedule against them, the committee didn't weigh their conference schedule in their favor.
Our last debate was between Mississippi State and Utah State. We were in agreement that if we were making the real tournament we it would be a no-brainer that we would put Utah State in. Mississippi State went in to the SEC Tournament knowing they had to win it to make the NCAA Tournament and they didn't. But we're trying to predict what the committee would do. We made the call that their run through the SEC Tournament and taking Kentucky to overtime would have Miss St. pass the committee's eye ball test. I'm actually happy they didn't. Utah State deserves it.
There are some seedings that I do have a problem with:
Villanova - They are not playing well going in to the tournament and I think Georgetown leap frogged them as the 3rd highest seeded Big East team. Maybe I'm just a little disappointed that by Nova being a 2 seed makes Duke's road to the Final 4 easier.
Temple - The A10 got screwed on this one. Temple deserved a Top 4 seed. Winning the A10 regular season and conference tournament doesn't mean that much anymore I guess. And to face Cornell in their first round game in unfortunate. I thought Cornell deserved a better seed as well.
Gonzaga and Vanderbilt - I'd swap them. Vandy screams 8/9 game and Gonzaga is more of a 4 to 5 seed in my opinion.
Friday, March 5, 2010
March is Awesome
If I won the lotto the thing I would be the happiest about is that I would be able to quit my job and not have to work during March. This week, with the start of Conference Tournaments, there isn't enough time in the day to watch the kind of college basketball I want to watch. If I had my way, this is how my work schedule would look for March.
March 4-7: St. Louis - Missouri Valley Conference
This conference tournament has been on my Sports Bucket List for quite some time.
March 8 - Richmond, VA - Colonial Final
The final is going to come out of a pool of Old Dominion, George Mason, Northeastern, William & Mary and VCU (Hofstra has been hot lately but I'm not counting on it). No matter which of these two teams it is, it's going to be a great final for the conference's only tournament birth.
March 9-11 - New York City - Big East Tournament
Best conference in college hoops. I'd take off for my next destination after the semi-finals assuming that the two teams in the finals aren't going to be largely affected by the outcome. If it's a team that wasn't going to make the tourney without the win (ahem...St. John's) I'd stay around.
March 12-13 - Cleveland, OH - MAC Conference Tournament - Semis and Final
I've been to this tournament a few times and it is a blast. It'd be most a nostalgia trip but if Buffalo makes the semis then it becomes huge for me (Buffalo is my alma mater). Either way it's a highly competitive tournament
March 14 - Atlantic City - A10 Final
What better way to end Championship Week than in a place where a can play some table games after I see a potentially good tournament finale.
The rest of the month, being that I would be a millionaire, I would get a villa somewhere in Vegas for the NCAA Tournament. I've been to the tourney before and as fun as it was, I'm not seeing my favorite teams, and I'm missing EVERYTHING else that goes on those days.
March 4-7: St. Louis - Missouri Valley Conference
This conference tournament has been on my Sports Bucket List for quite some time.
March 8 - Richmond, VA - Colonial Final
The final is going to come out of a pool of Old Dominion, George Mason, Northeastern, William & Mary and VCU (Hofstra has been hot lately but I'm not counting on it). No matter which of these two teams it is, it's going to be a great final for the conference's only tournament birth.
March 9-11 - New York City - Big East Tournament
Best conference in college hoops. I'd take off for my next destination after the semi-finals assuming that the two teams in the finals aren't going to be largely affected by the outcome. If it's a team that wasn't going to make the tourney without the win (ahem...St. John's) I'd stay around.
March 12-13 - Cleveland, OH - MAC Conference Tournament - Semis and Final
I've been to this tournament a few times and it is a blast. It'd be most a nostalgia trip but if Buffalo makes the semis then it becomes huge for me (Buffalo is my alma mater). Either way it's a highly competitive tournament
March 14 - Atlantic City - A10 Final
What better way to end Championship Week than in a place where a can play some table games after I see a potentially good tournament finale.
The rest of the month, being that I would be a millionaire, I would get a villa somewhere in Vegas for the NCAA Tournament. I've been to the tourney before and as fun as it was, I'm not seeing my favorite teams, and I'm missing EVERYTHING else that goes on those days.
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