Saving The Worst For Last?

Connecticut is #1?
In what was easily the WORST NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament Championship game I have ever seen, Connecticut snuck by Butler 53-41.  Connecticut's size intimidated Butler into only making 3 out of their 31 2-point attempts by blocking 10 shots, distracting numerous more, and dominating the boards, 51-40.  It was just UGLY.  Butler played just a little better than a Church basketball team would have played.

All Butler Coach Brad Stevens wanted was for his team
to make more than 12 shots.

But before we pour it all on Butler, Connecticut didn't exactly win in style.  The Huskies turned the ball over 11 times, only scored 19 points in the first half, and went 1-11 from three-point range.  But give the Huskies credit, they stormed through the Big East and the NCAA Tournament with an 11-0 record, and they are the Champs for the third time, having won the title previously in 1999 and 2004.

Kemba Walker and the Huskies were just good enough
to defeat the Butler Bulldogs in the Championship Game.

So Connecticut's the #1 team, right?  Well, the UGLY National Championship win by Connecticut did not convince everyone that they are the Champs.  According to the final ESPN/USA Today Coach's Poll, there is one coach out there who thinks that Ohio State is the #1 team in the country.  Since the final poll of the season remains anonymous, we may never know which of the 31 voters put OSU as the #1 team instead of the 30 other voters that voted for the winner of the Championship game.  By the way, Ohio State lost in the Sweet 16 round...it's not like they reached the Championship game or even Final Four!  Ohio State was ranked #1 for the majority of the year, was the #1-ranked team by the selection committee when the brackets were put together, and were picked by many experts to win the tournament, but they lost when it mattered most!  This is like saying that the New England Patriots were the Super Bowl Champions even though Green Bay actually won the Super Bowl.
I'm thinking there are  a few reasons why a voter might do this (feel free to add your own):

1) He coaches Ohio State
2) His team was upset by a lower seed in the NCAA Tournament and currently hates the "one-and-done" tournament format so he voted for the best "team"
3) He runs the BCS Football Championship where the champion is largely determined by voting
4) He had a "hanging chad" on his ballot
5) He thought he was voting for the team with the most hypocritical football coach

Whoever it was should have to at least be accountable for his vote because it makes a mockery out of College Basketball, the NCAA Tournament, and Connecticut.  Step up and explain, sir!

Jimmer is #1!
While Connecticut may have left doubt in some people's minds about which team is #1, there appears to be little doubt who was the #1 basketball player this year:  Jimmer Fredette.

Jimmer has rolled through the Awards season as easily
as he split double-teams this season.

There may not be another BYU player or even another college basketball player like Jimmer for a long time.  Jimmer will have a chance to add the last of the college basketball awards, the Wooden Award, to his trophy case on Friday, but for now he can enjoy this long list of post-season awards and accomplishments:

Naismith Award
Oscar Robertson Trophy
Adolph Rupp Award
Associated Press NPOY
Sporting News NPOY
Basketball Times NPOY
SI.com NPOY
CBSSports.com NPOY
Lowe's Senior CLASS Award

Jimmer is also a consensus first team All-American, named to teams honored by the USBWA, NABC, AP, Wooden, Sporting News, Basketball Times and many other media outlets.

So, what did you do during your Senior year in college?

This One Is For the Dogs

For the first time in this year's NCAA tournament it appears that I actually got one right (two, actually).  The putrid bracket that I completed prior to the tournament currently sits in the 9.7 percentile on ESPN.com, which means that 90.3% of all men, children, and cheerleaders may actually know more about college basketball than I do, so please excuse me as I pat myself on the back and note that I correctly predicted the outcomes in the two Final Four games on Saturday.  In my previous post, I discussed the keys to each game as well as the predicted winner.  Butler was able to keep VCU from going crazy beyond the three-point line as they held the Rams to 8-22 from the line, and Connecticut was able to pull ahead of Kentucky led by Kemba Walker who scored 18 points and dished out 7 assists to squeak past the Wildcats 56-55.

Walker (15) and Mack (1) will lead their respective
teams in the championship game on Monday night.

The Butler Bulldogs and the Connecticut Huskies face off on Monday night to see who will be the Top Dog in the NCAA (sorry - I couldn't resist).  It will no doubt be a great game no matter who comes out on top.  Both teams have shown the ability to pull out close games throughout the entire tournament.  Neither team will let the other get too far ahead as both teams are talented and mentally-tough.  They have both shown an innate ability to prevent any opponent from making a run by being extremely tough on the defensive end as well as on the boards.

Butler will be celebrating one year
later than they hoped, but they will
get it done in 2011 against UConn.

Butler is the first team since the 2006-07 Florida Gators to appear in back-to-back championship games, and Connecticut is looking to win its third national championship (1999, 2004).  Butler fell to Duke 61-59 in the 2010 championship game as Gordon Heyward's half-court prayer rimmed off at the buzzer.  Many experts had expected the more talented and more experienced Duke team to run away from the Bulldogs and dominate the championship game; however, the Bulldogs, behind their whiz kid 33 year-old coach, Brad Stevens, kept pace with the Blue Devils and showed that they were not going to back down from the big-time, East Coast school.  They won't back down on Monday night, either.  The key to the game will be the rebounding battle. Both teams are willing to play strong defense, be opportunistic on offense, and rely on their big-time guards (Butler-Shelvin Mack, Connecticut-Kemba Walker).  It will all come down to who will be able to control the number of possessions and give their guards chances to make game-defining plays by controlling the glass.  The team with the most rebounds will be the team with the title.  I think Butler will get the most rebounds as well as the celebration they almost had last year, 62-61.

Final Four Fun

From the First Four to the Final Four, this NCAA tournament has been one of the most exciting and unpredictable tournaments in recent memory.  There have been upsets, blowouts, and buzzer-beaters, and VCU has been there all along the way.  All the fun begins to wind down as the Final Four kicks off Saturday night and ends on Monday night with the National Championship Game.  Only 2 brackets out of 5.9 million on ESPN.com correctly predicted the Final Four teams: VCU, Butler, Connecticut (UConn) and Kentucky.  The teams combined to have the highest average seed of Final Four teams in NCAA history: 6.5.  To put it into context, the average seed for all the Final Four teams throughout the years is 2.3 and there has only been one other Final Four with 0 #1 seeds.  But who will come out on top and play for a chance to cut down the nets on Monday?  Here you go:

VCU and Butler continue their Cinderella stories in the Final Four tonight.

VCU vs. Butler
This Cinderella story features the highest sum of seeds (11+8=19) in Final Four history.  Butler brings a coach and a host of players back to the Final Four after a National Championship game loss to Duke last year.  VCU comes with a coach and a team with no fear and sky-high confidence after becoming the first team win 5 straight games and go from the First Four to the Final Four - which is highly unlikely to ever be done again.  Both teams believe they can win and have demonstrated they can win close games in this tournament.  I think the key factor will be VCU's ability to shoot and make the three-point shot.  VCU has shot a Jimmer-like 895 threes as a team this year (almost 30 per game), and if they can shoot 30 against Butler and make at least 12 they will be playing for the National Championship on Monday night.  But I think that will be too difficult of a feat to accomplish against a tough and stingy Butler defense who took the three-point shot out of Florida's arsenal last week in their win against the Gators in the Elite Eight.  I like Butler here - 63-59.

Kemba Walker lifted UConn over Kentucky in November.

Kentucky vs. UConn
Cats versus Dogs.  The Wildcats versus the Huskies.  UConn beat Kentucky way back in November, 84-67, thanks to 29 points by Kemba Walker.  Two legendary, yet highly-controversial, coaches bring their teams and their most recent allegations (John Calipari / Jim Calhoun) into this Final Four.  Calipari, who according to NCAA records, has never technically coached in a Final Four after his 1996 UMass and 2008 Memphis teams both forfeited their games and Final Four appearances after recruiting and eligibility violations were later discovered by the NCAA.  However, his Kentucky team comes in hot after beating the #1 seed Ohio State Buckeyes and #2 seed North Carolina Tar Heels to win the East bracket.  After losing 5 players to the NBA draft in 2010, Kentucky will bring a fantastic point guard in Brandon Knight head-to-head with many experts' national player of the year, UConn's Kemba Walker.  Kentucky used tough defense and big plays down-low to run by the Buckeyes and the Tar Heels, but didn't have to deal with a do-everything player like Kemba Walker.  If Kemba can drive to the basket and create opportunities for his teammates, while still being a potent threat from outside, it will be a long night and a short stay in the Final Four for Kentucky.  If the Wildcats can contain Kemba by holding him to less than 15 points and 5 assists, then the Wildcats should be able to win (let's just hope it stays on the record books this time).  I'm still expecting the Calipari Curse to continue as the Huskies run away from Kentucky in Coach Calipari's "first" appearance in a Final Four - 77-63.

Check in on Monday morning to see the preview of the National Championship game...enjoy the games!

Quick Hits #3

V-C-told-U-so:  VCU has reached the Final Four as an 11 seed after upsetting "power conference" foes USC, Georgetown, Purdue, Florida State, and Kansas along the way.  VCU, George Mason (2006), and LSU (1986) are the only teams to ever advance to the Final Four as an 11 seed.  Incredible.  When the brackets were revealed on Selection Sunday, many experts questioned the Selection Committee's decision to include VCU and UAB in the 68-team field because they felt that many other teams were more deserving based upon their regular season and conference tournament performance.

VCU could be the national champion even though they
should have never been given a shot to get to the Final Four.

VCU's inclusion in the tournament was questioned because they had lost 7 conference games in a sub-par conference, including a home game to lowly James Madison, and had a much lower RPI than other teams that were left out of the tournament.  Many have suggested that because VCU has now made the Final Four, then they must have been deserving of being included in the tournament from the beginning.  I wholeheartedly disagree.  Such a rationale would make no sense given that the Selection Committee's job is to select the tournament teams based upon their resume and previous performance, not to project how a team would perform in the tournament.  Does VCU deserve to be in the tournament simply because they have won 5 games in a row?  Absolutely not.  If that is the case, then teams such as Louisville and Vanderbilt (who both lost their first games to lower-seeded teams) should not have been included in the tournament either.  Good for VCU, but saying that they have validated their inclusion in the tournament would be taking the easy way out.

Let The Jimmer Simmer:  Meanwhile, the debate continues about players that have already exited the tournament - will Jimmer be a good pro?  Many will continue to debate Jimmer's professional abilities leading up to the draft and even throughout Jimmer's career.  But why are so many people so adamant and passionate about this topic?  Because there is no debating the fact that he is one of the best collegiate basketball players in recent memory.  We should all stop being so concerned about how good a pro he may or may not be.

Jimmer Fredette excited the entire college basketball world
this year with his ability to score and lead BYU to wins.

Will his success or failure in the NBA take away from his outstanding college career and all the excitement he created not only at BYU but throughout college basketball?  It shouldn't.  Instead of being so focused on hypothetical situations and what he may not be, let's stop and appreciate some of the fantastic things he accomplished as a collegiate player: Fredette led the nation in scoring with 28.9 points per game, averaged 32.7 points per game in the NCAA tournament, led BYU with 4.3 assists per game, shot 40% from three-point "Jimmer" range, shot 89% from the free throw line, shattered the BYU career scoring mark after scoring a mind-boggling 1,068 points this season.  Even more important:  Jimmer is a winner.  He leaves BYU as the all-time leader in team wins as a player.  Certain writers in the media may not appreciate Jimmer, but he has already been selected by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association as the winner of the Oscar Robertson Trophy which is presented annually to the National Player of the Year as selected by the writers.  By the way, Rick Reilly is not considered a Basketball Writer by the USBWA or Dan Patrick.  That is worth a listen!


Ochocinco Soccer Situation:  With the NFL Lockout now in its third week with no end in sight, it appears that NFL players, including Chad Ochocinco, are bored and need something to do.  Chad Ochocinco, who has successfully kicked an extra point in a recent NFL game, recently went through a five-day tryout with the MLS team, Sporting Kansas City.  Ochocinco, who played soccer in high school, practiced with the team, played in a reserve game this weekend, and has been awarded an honorary reserve spot on the team.  Ochocinco will not be paid for practicing with the team (which is only a little less than what an MLS player actually gets paid), but he is excited about his new-found job:

Ochocinco is just kickin'
it during the NFL lockout.

"This is so awesome I'm an honorary member of SportingKC and can train with the reserve team as long as I want," Ochocinco said in a tweet. "Totally awesome ILuvKC."

Does anyone else now want to see David Beckham take a hit by Baltimore Ravens' linebacker, Ray Lewis, or is that just me?  At least Ochocinco is as they say "staying out of trouble", which is more than can be said for Dallas Cowboys' receiver Dez Bryant.

Quick Hits #2

The first version of Quick Hits may have been too "basketball-heavy", but so is my life during the month of March so here are only a couple more March Madness-related items followed by some other noteworthy sports headlines:


Big L-"East":  The Big East Conference set a record this year with 11 teams in its 16-team conference getting invited to the 68-team tournament.  The Big East snatched up 10 of the 37 "at-large" bids (27%), yet only 2 of the 11 teams remain in the tournament after 2 rounds of play - as many teams as the Big Ten, the Mountain West, and the City of Richmond, Virginia!

VCU is one of the two teams from
Richmond Virginia enjoying the "sweetness"
of the NCAA Tournament

How 'bout the City of Richmond?!:  2 of the 16 teams left in the NCAA tournament (VCU and Richmond) are from Richmond, Virginia.  The 11-seeded VCU Rams and the 12-seeded Richmond Spiders pulled off two consecutive upsets each this week.  Best known as the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War, it is now know as the capital of the Cinderella team.

The NB-Who?:  By the way, has there even been a single NBA highlight on SportsCenter during the past week? Apparently during March Madness people pay attention to the NBA just about as much as the NBA players pay attention to playing defense before the playoffs.

Mario Lemieux may now be regretting his
demands for higher punishment for physical
play after Cook's suspension.

Irony on Ice:  Last month, the owner of the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, Mario Lemieux, lashed out at the NHL for what he perceived to be an insufficient amount of discipline and punishment following a brawl-filled game between his Penguins and the NY Islanders.  Last week, Lemieux proposed tougher suspensions for players that cross the line and inflict unnecessary roughness on other players during games - even suggesting that the teams be fined for the player's conduct.  This week, after elbowing an opponent in the head, one of Mario Lemieux's key players (Matt Cooke) was suspended for the remainder of the regular season and the first round of the playoffs.  Mario?  Any comment now?

Bonds on Trial:  The Barry Bonds perjury trial began on Monday in San Francisco.  You can read the riveting recap of Tuesday's proceedings of this century's "trial of the century" in California here.  Barry Bonds is on trial for perjury and obstruction of justice, charged with lying when he told a federal grand jury that he did not knowingly use performance-enhancing drugs...or eat his teammates' garlic fries.  It's also interesting to note the list of Bonds' perjury trial jurors in the ESPN link above, which has led to the key question that everyone in this perjury trial wants to have answered:  "Juror 21, how exactly did you manage to become a retired cashier without committing perjury yourself or slipping at least a $100 bill in your pocket at the end of every shift?!"

Quick Hits #1

Madness, Madness, and More Madness!:  The tournament started with a tremendous bang! on Thursday when three of the first four games on Thursday afternoon were decided on the game's final possession - Butler, Morehead St., and Temple all won on buzzer-beaters.  The Madness was off to a pretty good start.

Matt Howard (54) got the tournament started in style
with a game-winning shot against ODU.

Don't Miss It!: In February, I wrote about the fact that you could watch every game in its entirety due to the NCAA's new TV deal with CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV, but the real thing was even better than I could have imagined.  Although I admittedly did catch the buzzer-beaters mentioned above on my phone while I was at work, you could find which channel had which game on as well as the scores and time remaining so you could jump over and catch a key moment of any other game.  I'm not the only one who agreed:  TV ratings were up 16% when compared to last year.  On a related note, the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament is also going on right now and can be found on ESPN3.com and ESPNTitleIX.com.

Sorry Mr. President, the Game is on:  While Pres. Obama addressed the nation on Thursday assuring the country that harmful levels of radiation were not expected to reach the United States, CBS did not cut away to hear him live as the other major networks did.  Instead, CBS summarized his report in a 60-second clip during a game's commercial break.  On Friday, when Obama addressed the country regarding potential military action against Libya, CBS  ran a split screen, with audio of Obama and his picture on top, with a silent game on the bottom.  The White House has denied that Obama's reference to wanting to "Jimmer" Libya is not in any way meant to be a threat of a potential war.

No disrespect, Mr. Gadhafi, but if you mess with
us, you're going to get Jimmered.

BYU Runs to "Sweetness":  For the first time in 30 years, Jimmer Fredette, Jackson Emery, and the Cougars have moved onto the Sweet 16 where they will face Florida in New Orleans on Thursday.  The Jimmer has averaged only 33 points in wins over Wofford and Gonzaga leading many experts to wonder if he will ever regain his ability to score.

How Do You Handle The Jimmer?:  Florida's best-defender, Kenny Boynton, missed practice on Monday after spraining his ankle in Florida's win over UCLA on Saturday.  Florida Gator Coach Billy Donovan expects him to play against BYU on Thursday, but that Boynton's history of ankle injuries does not give him confidence that Boynton will be ready to go mentally. "I think there's a mental hurdle for him that he's going to have to get over, that he does feel good and he's not playing in pain."  Ankle injury or not, the same could be said to the mental anguish Jimmer has caused to anyone who has tried to defend him this year.

Florida fans are hopeful that Kenny
Boynton's ankle will enable him to try
and stop The Jimmer.

Cinderella Story

One of the most intriguing parts about March Madness is trying to pick which lower-seeded team is going to upset a higher-seeded team.  It's going to happen.  It does every year.  2009 was the only time since the tournament expanded to 64 teams in the mid-80's that all four 1, 2, and 3 seeds made the Sweet 16.  Not convinced?  According to people that are smarter than me, there are 147.57 quintrillion possibilities for predicting the possible winners in a 68-team bracket.  How confident do you feel with your bracket picks now?!

Now before you pick UC-Santa Barbara to go to the Final Four, remember this: The lowest seed to ever reach the Final Four?  George Mason (2006) and LSU (1986)? Only twice.  Villanova (1985) was the lowest seeded team to win a National Championship as a #8 seed.  But there is still going to be a team or two that is going to make you think that this year has to be another exception to the rule.

Will the slipper fit Tai Wesley
and Utah State this year?

Another case for Cinderella: A #12 seed has beat a #5 seed four years in a row and in 9 of the last 10 years.  This is not too surprising because the 5-12 game always seems to match up at least one #5-seeded team with glaring flaws (or else they'd be a higher seed) usually from a "power" conference against an underrated team from a mid-major conference that somehow didn't earn the respect of the Selection Committee.  Utah State is a #12 seed this year in the Southeast Region and is a veteran group of players that are tough defenders and do not allow a lot of second-chance points.  And they don't appreciate the way their invitation to the ball was delivered.  Cue Senior Power Forward Tai Wesley: "Our seed is a slap in the face.  We could have won three more games, then we probably could have gotten a 10 seed." (If Utah State had won three more games this year, they would have been 33-0)  Oh really, tell me how you really feel...I like it.  Upset.  Cinderella?  Maybe.

A similar scenario seems to be playing out in that same part of the Southeast bracket between another 30-win team, Belmont, and Big Ten "power" Wisconsin.  No slaps in the face here, but the result is the same: Upset.  Wisconsin has been iffy away from Madison this year and the #13-seeded Belmont Bruins can play.  The Bruins are second in the nation in 3-pointers per game and they have only lost once since Christmas.  It would set up a Second Round game between a #12-seeded Utah State and #13-seeded Belmont to go to the Sweet 16.  Is that crazy?  It's actually happened eight times, which is more times than I would have guessed.  One of these teams will go home on Saturday as a team that only pulled a First Round upset, while the other team will go on to be this year's Cinderella story going into the second weekend.  Unfortunately, Utah State should expect midnight to strike well before the Final Four.  LSU's and George Mason's records are safe.

Cinderella is a huge fan of
the NCAA Tournament...and Utah State.

Book it.  Fill in your brackets.  It's gotta be one of the 147.57 quintrillion possibilities, right?

"So, you're saying there's a chance!"  - Lloyd Christmas

Yes, Lloyd, but there is more than a chance for the Aggies this year.

Bracket Picking 101

March Madness is officially here!  The 68-team tournament bracket is set and will start with the "First Four" on Tuesday & Wednesday.  The First Four is a new wrinkle to the tournament this year and it consists of 4 play-in games between 8 different teams who were the teams that were seeded #61-68 by the Selection Committee.  The NCAA Tournament will start in full force on Thursday and continue through the Championship Game on April 4.  Now is the time for millions of people who may or may not watch College Basketball to pick up the bracket and fill in the predictions from the "First Four" all the way to the "Final Four".

There is no one right or wrong way to pick your brackets.  There will be upsets, Cinderellas, no one will have a "perfect" bracket, and there will be a lot of money that is won and lost (if you're into that sort of thing).  There are multiple methods that you may use to fill out their brackets, but here are ten things to think about as you pick up your pen:

10. Pick as many upsets as you can.  History says this will not be nearly as successful, but it sure will be fun when Oakland actually beats Texas and you can say, "I picked that one!  I picked that one!"  Careful though, 16 seeds are 0-104 all-time against 1 seeds, 15 seeds are 4-100 against 2 seeds, but the 8 seeds actually have a losing record against the 9 seeds (48-56).

Hampton, a 15 seed, beat Iowa State in 2001.  Only 4
Number 15 seeds have ever won a game in the tourney.

9. Pick the team that has the best school colors.  This totally would depend upon which colors you like, but if it was me, then I would have North Carolina vs. UCLA in the championship game this year.  UCLA has won 11 national championships while North Carolina has won 5.  Hmmm...this one seems to have worked before.

8. Pick the team with the best star player.  It seems that there are always 2 or 3 players every year that carry their team further than where they were expected to go.  18 of the 20 Naismith Award (College Basketball's "Heisman") finalists are going to be playing in the tournament.  Check them out.  They could be the key to cutting down the nets.

7. Pick the team with the best road record.  A team that proves themselves throughout the season and goes into a hostile environment (as opposed to a "neutral" court) is prepared to play in a plethora of environments and situations.  Teams such as Michigan State and Connecticut continually schedule tough road games throughout the season in order to prepare for the NCAA tournament (Michigan State has been to 8 Final Fours and Connecticut has been to 3).  Interestingly, San Diego State led the country with a 12-1 road record while BYU was percentage points behind at 10-1.  Does anyone else wonder what Jimmer said to Kawhi Leonard at the end of the MWC championship game on Saturday?  "See you in Houston!"  Maybe?

6. Pick the team that had the highest finish in its conference tournament.  Since there are 31 teams in the tournament that won their conference tournaments, you may have to resort to another method for a tiebreaker, but how well a team is playing coming into the NCAA tournament can spill over into a national championship run.

The mascot method may not be for you, but the Long
Island Blackbird loves it!

5. Pick the best mascot.  Similar to the "school color" method, this one may be much more subjective but if I  employed this method, this year's championship game would feature the Long Island Blackbirds and the St. Peter's Peacocks.  I think I just realized that I subconsciously really like birds.

4b. Pick the same team to win the championship every year.  This was my wife's "go-to" for years until she got tired of picking Duke and resorted to another method in 2010.  Do you happen to remember who won the national championship last year?  I'll give you a hint...the team's name rhymes with "fluke".

4a. Pick the team whose students enjoy the best weather throughout the year.  I believe this is the method my wife resorted to last year and believe it or not, she still didn't get the 2 final teams: Duke (North Carolina-it's not terrible in the winter, but there are too many hurricanes) and Butler (Indiana-Freeze out in the winter and too many tornadoes...not even close).  Looks like the forecast calls for a championship game between San Diego State and Florida this year.  Mmmm....interesting.  Sorry, Pittsburgh, I know you're a #1 seed and all, but I've seen those Steeler playoff games in January.

3. Pick the team with the best overall record.  The team that wins the most games throughout the season should win the most in the tournament, right?  Kansas, San Diego State, and Ohio State all tied with 32 wins this year.  All the "experts" seem to be picking Kansas and Ohio State, so maybe we should all get paid to go on TV and count a team's number of wins, too?

2. Always pick the highest seed.  The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee spent an entire week narrowing the field and selecting the teams by putting them in order from #1-#68, so they should know something, right?  Well, only once (in 2008) have all four #1 seeds actually reached the Final Four.

1. Be Loyal.  That's right, pick your favorite team no matter what and you may leave everyone saying, "Oh man, my bracket just got Jimmered!"

BYU fans would love it if the phrase
"My bracket got Jimmered" catches on.

MWC Bracketology

What a season for BYU and San Diego State!  There are very few people who would have predicted that the MWC Championship game would feature two top-ten teams.  In fact, who would have predicted that all three matchups between the two teams this year would have taken place while both teams were ranked in the top ten?  BYU finishes 30-4 while SDSU finishes 32-2 - and 31-0 against all teams without Jimmer Fredette.  Both teams knew they were going to the NCAA tournament before the game. The MWC Championship game was all about seeding, Sundays, and geography.

SDSU did the "Jimmering" in

the MWC Championship game.

On Saturday night in the MWC Championship game, San Diego State exhibited all the traits of a team that could make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament (senior leadership, powerful frontline, good guard play, and an experienced coach).  Being the champion of the #4-ranked conference in the country during both the regular season and the tournament merits a No. 1 seed when the brackets come out tomorrow.  But if I'm San Diego State, I could care less if I am a No. 1 seed or not, all I care about is being in the West bracket.  Even a No. 2 seed in the West bracket is more favorable than a No. 1 seed in any other bracket (East, Southeast, Southwest) because SDSU would be able to play their first and second round games in Denver/Tucson while potentially playing their regional games a short bus ride away from San Diego in Anaheim. I predict that SDSU will end up as the No. 2 seed in the West when the brackets come out on Sunday night.  I'll take a bus ride to the Sweet 16 over a No. 1 seed any day.

BYU has long been projected to be a No. 2 seed in the West by many "bracketologists" because their well-rounded team was cruising through the MWC while defeating SDSU twice during the regular season.  They were even projected a couple of weeks ago (which seems like a month ago) to be the No. 1 seed in the West.  The No. 2 seed in the West is favorable for BYU due to the geographical advantages as well, but it is also one of the "pods" within the bracket that allow for "No Sunday" play throughout the tournament.  BYU's unwillingness to compete on Sundays is a regulation that the NCAA committee considers when placing BYU in the NCAA tournament.  In years past, it has seemed that BYU was placed into a lower seed in order to accommodate the "No Sunday" rule.  The "No Sunday" rule combined with a 3-2 record since the suspension of Brandon Davies will most definitely move them out of the West No. 2 seed Denver/Tucson-Anaheim preferred bracket, and considering the other "No Sunday" location options they may be moved out of the West Region entirely.

Jimmer would love a No. 2 seed in the West,

but a No. 3 or 4 is more likely for the Cougs.

Given BYU's RPI rating, star power (The Jimmer), and strong season, BYU should receive no lower than a No. 4 seed (or else the committee will have some serious explaining to do), which in the West bracket would put the Cougars in Tampa or Tucson for the first and second rounds, and if they were to advance to the Sweet 16, back to Anaheim.  Another alternative is that they could be shipped to the Southeast regional as the No. 3 seed.  This would give the Cougars a sense of accomplishment going in as a high No. 3 seed, but may not be preferable from a travel standpoint.  Going from Utah to Tampa/Tucson to Utah and potentially back to New Orleans may be difficult on a team that already appears slightly fatigued from an emotional couple of weeks and three intense MWC tournament games.  Although it really shouldn't be taken as a sign of disrespect, I believe the committee will put BYU in as the No. 4 seed, citing the loss of Davies and BYU's loss of momentum down the stretch as the key factors.

Hey, 2 No. 5 seeds made the Final Four last year, including Butler, who advanced to the Championship Game.

I love Mormon rap songs about Jimmer - check it out:  Teach Me How To Jimmer

Championship Week!

Welcome to Championship Week!  Each Division I conference (with the exception of the Ivy League) follows up the regular season with a tournament to determine who will be receiving the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.  As there are 31 Division I conferences, there are 31 teams that will automatically be included in the 68-team field as selected by the NCAA Selection Committee as a conference champion.  For the first time this year, the traditional 65-team tournament is expanding to 68 teams, which means that 37 teams will rely on the Selection Committee to select them as a participant in March Madness.  Given the expansion from 65 to 68 teams, it means that there is slightly more wiggle room than in years past, but the absolute, guaranteed way to get into March Madness is by marching through and winning the conference tournament.

Jimmer loves to talk about the NCAA Selection Committee.
BYU has a #4 RPI ranking.

The teams that are not able to win their conference tournament are referred to as "at-large" teams and will be at the mercy of the Selection Committee on what has become known as Selection Sunday, when the Selection Committee reveals the 68-team field.  Thankfully, the Selection Committee doesn't just choose the teams with the best name recognition or the teams whose fans will buy the most tickets, but they will meet during the latter part of this week leading up to Selection Sunday and be responsible for discussing the teams, comparing performances, and seeding the teams from 1-68.  There are 10 members of the Selection Committee made up of Athletic Directors and Conference Commissioners from around the country who come from both large and small conferences.  The NCAA also ensures that the committee consists of representatives from various geographical regions of the country.

Kansas is #2 in every
poll except the all-important
RPI ranking.

Now, to say the Committee has a difficult job is an understatement.  These 10 people are responsible for the fates of many coaches, players and athletic departments.  Remember, they are athletic directors and conference commissioners themselves, so they understand what the effects of their decisions will have on the individual teams.  In addition, to help the public better understand the grueling process of selecting the tournament field every year, the NCAA hosts a "mock" Selection Committee for certain members of the media.  A couple of experiences from this year's mock Selection Committee can be found here and here.  Good stuff!

As I wrote about in one of my previous posts, the AP rankings we often refer to throughout the season are determined by Associated Press writers, so there is little correlation, at times, between a team's rankings and their seed in the NCAA Tournament. One metric that is often discussed but never described is a team's "RPI".  RPI stands for Ratings Percentage Index.  It's a rating system used by the Committee (and other prognosticators) to determine a team's "worthiness" to be selected to the tournament.  A team's RPI score and ranking is based upon a team's own winning percentage (25% of the RPI score), the winning percentage of their opponents (50%), and even the winning percentages of their opponents' opponents (25%).  With 75% of an RPI score based upon strength of schedule, the use of this ranking encourages teams from both "major" conferences (Big East, Pac-10, Big 12, etc) and the "mid-major" conferences (MWC, Atlantic 10, WAC, etc) to schedule a balance of games throughout the season that are both winnable yet against good competition.  The RPI is definitely not an easy thing to understand, but all you need to know is this:  It is good to be #1!

Ohio State is positioned for a #1 seed
because of their current #2 RPI ranking.

The official NCAA RPI rankings can be found here.  Where is your team?

Don't Miss It!

As a BYU / Mountain West Conference fan in New York City, I have struggled during the past 6 years to consistently watch BYU in action thanks to the MWC television contracts and the mtn (and yes, it deserves to be written in lower-case letters because you can barely see it).  As an alternative, I have become best friends with Greg Wrubell (BYU Football and Basketball radio announcer) while scanning the ESPN.com Gamecast.  So you can imagine that when I have a chance to actually watch a BYU game because it's on national television, you know I'll be watching.

Now that BYU has ascended to a projected #1 seed in both the ESPN and SI.com tournament brackets, March Madness will become a must-watch TV event in our home as well as many of your homes as well.  As an aside, my two-year old turned to me earlier tonight as we were watching the SportsCenter anchors discuss the new projected NCAA tournament brackets and said, "Dada, I na watch BYU! I na watch BYU!".  I hear ya, girl.

For years, CBS has been the sole broadcast channel for the March Madness NCAA tournament.  However, it has still been frustrating at times because in 2007, for example, Syracuse was playing their first-round tournament game at the exact same time that BYU was playing Xavier, so our New York region broke away from the BYU game after only 10 minutes, and I was forced to watch the rest of BYU's close loss to the Musketeers on my 12 inch computer screen.  The internet feed, even in 2007, was pretty archaic and I ended up seeing the word "Buffering..." more than the actual score of the game.  However, just in time for BYU's projected deep run through this year's NCAA tournament, CBS has partnered with Turner Sports in a multi-billion dollar deal in order to give fans everywhere the opportunity to serve as their own TV Guide during March Madness because all of the tournament games will be available live in their entirety across four national networks: CBS, TBS, TNT, and truTV (formerly CourtTV).

Jimmer is excited that no one will be forced
to miss his team's run through the tourney. 

In all, CBS will broadcast 26 games throughout the tournament, TBS will broadcast 16 games, truTV will televise 13 games, and TNT will broadcast 12 games.  With BYU projected to head to the West bracket, it is most likely that the first and second-round games will be on either TBS, TNT or truTV.  You can read more about the programming details here, but one thing is certain - you better make sure you get truTV because I, for one, know what it's like when it's possible that BYU may have to play on a channel with a name in lower-case letters!  I just checked - whew!  I have truTV, so sorry, Greg, I'm going to be able to actually watch the Cougars in the NCAA tournament this year, but I promise I'll listen to the post-game show...

We're #1...But Who Cares?

You've heard it a thousand times: "We're #1! We're #1! We're #1!" When you think about it, this cheer is utterly pointless and even outright wrong most of the time unless your team is actually ranked #1.  But does being highly-ranked or even being ranked #1 really matter in College Basketball?  Absolutely not.

Every week, the Associated Press Top 25 College Basketball Poll is compiled from votes by 64 sportswriters from across the country.  The list of voters (and their latest poll) can be found here.  The ranked teams are then allocated a certain amount of "points" based on where they fall on each individual poll.  The #1 team in each poll is given the most points all the way down to team #25 which is given the least amount of points.  The points from all the 64 voter polls are added up and the team with the most points is the AP #1 team for that week.  As a BYU fan, I find it interesting that 2 voters (John Feinstein & Mark Berman) gave #7-ranked BYU a #1 ranking last week even before BYU beat down #6 SDSU on Saturday.

When the new poll comes out tomorrow, you should expect that BYU will pass SDSU in the overall poll.  BYU may also pass Texas, Pitt, and Duke (who all lost this weekend) on their way to a potential #3 ranking!  Incredible.  But what if the AP sportswriters still rank Texas, Pitt, or Duke ahead of BYU even if they lost this weekend and may all have more losses than BYU?  Who cares?  It doesn't matter.  A team's ranking this week or next week will have zero impact on their upcoming seed in the tournament when the brackets are announced on March 13. Why?  Because the NCAA committee members that determine the championship brackets and each team's "seed" are not among the 64 AP sportswriters that rank the teams from week to week throughout the season!

Duke was #1 in 2010 after beating
Butler in the Championship game

Take 2010 for example, Butler was ranked #11 in the AP poll just before the tournament, but when the brackets came out Butler was given a #5 seed in the West bracket, which means that the NCAA committee felt that there were at least 16 teams better than Butler (4 brackets x 4 seeds = 16 teams).  BYU was ranked #17 in the same AP poll when Butler was ranked #11, so BYU should get a #5 seed, right?  Nope - BYU was given a #7 seed.  The committee felt that there were at least 24 teams better than BYU.  Were the lower seeds a sign of disrespect to Butler and BYU?  Doesn't matter if it was or wasn't.  The tournament for the NCAA Championship is a playoff and not a Championship awarded by rankings (such as College Football).  Each team has the opportunity to win each game and advance in the tournament - just as Butler did all the way to the National Championship game last year.  By the way, do you remember who was the #1 team last year going into the tournament?  Kansas.  Where did that #1 ranking get Kansas?  Only to the second round when they lost to Northern Iowa.

So, whether BYU is ranked #3, #10, or even #1 in this week's AP poll, just tell yourself:  "It doesn't matter...when do the brackets come out?"