Last Saturday morning, ESPN’s College Gameday crew had a discussion about which conference tournament was going to be the one a person had to watch. Now, for entertainment purposes, that is surely going to be The Big East Tournament; however, their tourney may not have the impact on the bubble that other tournaments may. As I mentioned a couple weeks ago, there are going to be a few tournaments to watch this year. With their wins over the weekend, Butler (Horizon) and Northern Iowa (Missouri Valley) both solidified their at-large berths by defeating Siena and Old Dominion. Fans of teams on the bubble are going to want to pay close attention to the Horizon and Missouri Valley tournaments as one slip-up by Butler or Northern Iowa will end the dream of a team riding that bubble line.
As for California, the main subject of my blog post from two weeks ago, I still do not see enough evidence to warrant them of at-large status. I know their RPI is 24; however, California got blown out by the worst team in the Pac-10 on Thursday (Oregon State). ESPN’s Joe Lunardi has California slotted as a 10 seed and the only team from the Pac-10 in the NCAA Tournament as of February 19. California is going to want to at-worst go 3-1 in the next two weeks and make the finals of the Pac-10 tournament; otherwise, it is going to be a rough selection Sunday for the boys in Berkley. Prior to the release of the bracket I’ll post my at-large teams and we will see how my selections stack up to the committee.
If you read my twitter, I’ve made daily bashings at NBC and their pathetic Olympic coverage. Alpine Skiing (and the 8 USA medals) has completely got the shaft from any live coverage, despite the fact that NBC or MSNBC could be showing the events alive, instead we get edited footage about 7 hours after it happened. While Canada and Europe get to see whatever they want live, Americans are treated to the crappy NBC coverage. Hey, NBC, its not 1988 anymore! With this thing called The Internet, we can find out what happened as it happens or just seconds after it happens. You can argue that your ratings are up, but the bottom line is that you are still losing $250 million on these Olympics and you are penalizing your viewers by this garbage. Even events that occur during the evening are getting tape delayed coverage, including Canada winning their first ever gold medal on its own soil in Moguls. Viewers in America saw that happen 30 minutes after completion, when many already knew what happened.
The United States beating Canada in Men’s Hockey on their home soil tonight by a score of 5-3 was the second coolest thing of The Olympics. Shaun White still holds that spot in my mind and his spot on my “5 coolest people in the world” remains secure. The win by the U.S. tonight forces Canada to now play 4 games in its effort to win the Gold Medal, while the U.S. will only need 3. With one hockey game to go tonight, it is too early to know if the U.S. and Canada could matchup in the next week. Should Canada get another shot at the U.S. and win, then this victory tonight would be rendered meaningless. Until then, let us (Americans) celebrate a victory over America’s hat.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
NBA Trade Deadline: Darko Milicic traded? Really?
NBA Trade Deadline Update
Each year, the NBA trade deadline comes and goes and once in awhile that blockbuster trade goes down that changes the course of a team’s season and propels them to a Championship. Then, in other years, a trade goes down at the deadline that makes you shake your head and makes a person ask questions that makes them think back, oh six or seven years.
Today, it was announced that The New York Knicks traded Forward/Center Darko Milicic to The Minnesota Timberwolves for Forward Brian Cardinal. Now, on paper this trade makes sense in a stat-wise point of view (even if the stats are terrible).
Darko Milicic 8:54 min per game, 2.0 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 0.5 ASP
Brian Cardinal 9:00 min per game, 1.7 PPG, 0.9 RPG, 0.7 ASP
Not much of a difference here. In fact, some columnists are saying this is one of the most pointless trades in NBA history. However, I beg to differ. The fact that this trade went down today gives me the reason to reminisce over one of the worst draft picks made in the history of the NBA, if not sports all together. I mean, as a casual NBA fan, I had no idea that Darko Milicic was still in the league. I thought he was out of the league three years ago! At one point, Milicic was the #2 overall pick in the NBA draft, while Brian Cardinal was the 15th overall pick in round 2 and has done a nice job of making a long NBA career (9 years) out of being a 2nd round pick.
Now, let’s go back in time here. The year is 2003; the NBA Draft Lottery is upon us. The Detroit Pistons are in the Eastern Conference Finals and have the rights to the Memphis Grizzlies 1st round pick, as long as the Grizzlies did not win the Draft Lottery. As the ping pong balls came out, it was revealed that Cleveland would pick 1st, Detroit 2nd, and Denver 3rd. Video cameras were set up to show the reactions of recent High School Graduate Lebron James, the so-called Sports Illustrated “chosen one”, Darko Milicic, a rising 17 year old star who already measured 7 feet tall, and Carmelo Anthony, a one and done college player who by the way won Most Outstanding Player at the 2003 Final Four in leading Syracuse to a National Championship. Out of the three, Carmelo Anthony at the time showed success at the highest level, that being the NCAA. Now, everyone knew Cleveland would pick Lebron James, the near hometown product, who has lived up to all expectations, short of winning an NBA Championship.
Now, you have Detroit, who lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to New Jersey sitting there with the second pick. To me it was an easy choice. You take the sure thing and there was nothing less of a sure thing in that draft other than Carmelo Anthony. By drafting Anthony, the missing piece could be put in place to lead Detroit to a title. So, no sweat, make the pick: TAKE MELO!
Of course, we all know the story, Detroit took Darko Milicic (the highlight of Darko's NBA career right above), who never panned out for them and was out of the organization after three years after averaging less than 2 points per game. Now, Darko did go to Orlando and have some minor success there; however, that minor success was short lived and after a stint with Memphis, Darko found himself on the Knicks bench most of the year. Now, this former #2 pick was just traded for the last guy on Timberwolves roster.
Now, Darko is only 24. He probably still has a long career in basketball, although it may not be in the NBA. Perhaps the Timberwolves see something in Darko, who knows. However, you can be assured that the Denver Nuggets are not losing any sleep over their decision to draft Carmelo Anthony in 2003. Oh yeah by the way, the teams who picked #4 and #5, Toronto and Miami, both made smart decisions with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade.
So in the end Detroit loses out on three All-Stars. They did win their NBA in 2004, made another trip to the final, and had deep NBA runs since that ill-fated decision to draft Darko; however, Piston fans can only wonder just how many additional NBA titles they may have if they chose Anthony, Bosh, or Wade over that so called 17 year old star. Not that I need to, but let’s compare their career stats anyway
1. Lebron James 40 MPG, 27.8 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 6.9 ASP
2. Darko Milicic 17 MPG, 5.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 0.7 ASP
3. Carmelo Anthony 36 MPG, 24.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.1 ASP
4. Chris Bosh 37 MPG, 20.1 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 2.2 ASP
5. Dwayne Wade 38 MPG, 25.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 6.6 ASP
Even a Second Grade student could be asked the question, which one of the following names listed above does not belong with the others, and get the question right with ease.
Each year, the NBA trade deadline comes and goes and once in awhile that blockbuster trade goes down that changes the course of a team’s season and propels them to a Championship. Then, in other years, a trade goes down at the deadline that makes you shake your head and makes a person ask questions that makes them think back, oh six or seven years.
Today, it was announced that The New York Knicks traded Forward/Center Darko Milicic to The Minnesota Timberwolves for Forward Brian Cardinal. Now, on paper this trade makes sense in a stat-wise point of view (even if the stats are terrible).
Darko Milicic 8:54 min per game, 2.0 PPG, 2.2 RPG, 0.5 ASP
Brian Cardinal 9:00 min per game, 1.7 PPG, 0.9 RPG, 0.7 ASP
Not much of a difference here. In fact, some columnists are saying this is one of the most pointless trades in NBA history. However, I beg to differ. The fact that this trade went down today gives me the reason to reminisce over one of the worst draft picks made in the history of the NBA, if not sports all together. I mean, as a casual NBA fan, I had no idea that Darko Milicic was still in the league. I thought he was out of the league three years ago! At one point, Milicic was the #2 overall pick in the NBA draft, while Brian Cardinal was the 15th overall pick in round 2 and has done a nice job of making a long NBA career (9 years) out of being a 2nd round pick.
Now, let’s go back in time here. The year is 2003; the NBA Draft Lottery is upon us. The Detroit Pistons are in the Eastern Conference Finals and have the rights to the Memphis Grizzlies 1st round pick, as long as the Grizzlies did not win the Draft Lottery. As the ping pong balls came out, it was revealed that Cleveland would pick 1st, Detroit 2nd, and Denver 3rd. Video cameras were set up to show the reactions of recent High School Graduate Lebron James, the so-called Sports Illustrated “chosen one”, Darko Milicic, a rising 17 year old star who already measured 7 feet tall, and Carmelo Anthony, a one and done college player who by the way won Most Outstanding Player at the 2003 Final Four in leading Syracuse to a National Championship. Out of the three, Carmelo Anthony at the time showed success at the highest level, that being the NCAA. Now, everyone knew Cleveland would pick Lebron James, the near hometown product, who has lived up to all expectations, short of winning an NBA Championship.
Now, you have Detroit, who lost in the Eastern Conference Finals to New Jersey sitting there with the second pick. To me it was an easy choice. You take the sure thing and there was nothing less of a sure thing in that draft other than Carmelo Anthony. By drafting Anthony, the missing piece could be put in place to lead Detroit to a title. So, no sweat, make the pick: TAKE MELO!
Of course, we all know the story, Detroit took Darko Milicic (the highlight of Darko's NBA career right above), who never panned out for them and was out of the organization after three years after averaging less than 2 points per game. Now, Darko did go to Orlando and have some minor success there; however, that minor success was short lived and after a stint with Memphis, Darko found himself on the Knicks bench most of the year. Now, this former #2 pick was just traded for the last guy on Timberwolves roster.
Now, Darko is only 24. He probably still has a long career in basketball, although it may not be in the NBA. Perhaps the Timberwolves see something in Darko, who knows. However, you can be assured that the Denver Nuggets are not losing any sleep over their decision to draft Carmelo Anthony in 2003. Oh yeah by the way, the teams who picked #4 and #5, Toronto and Miami, both made smart decisions with Chris Bosh and Dwayne Wade.
So in the end Detroit loses out on three All-Stars. They did win their NBA in 2004, made another trip to the final, and had deep NBA runs since that ill-fated decision to draft Darko; however, Piston fans can only wonder just how many additional NBA titles they may have if they chose Anthony, Bosh, or Wade over that so called 17 year old star. Not that I need to, but let’s compare their career stats anyway
1. Lebron James 40 MPG, 27.8 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 6.9 ASP
2. Darko Milicic 17 MPG, 5.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 0.7 ASP
3. Carmelo Anthony 36 MPG, 24.6 PPG, 6.2 RPG, 3.1 ASP
4. Chris Bosh 37 MPG, 20.1 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 2.2 ASP
5. Dwayne Wade 38 MPG, 25.3 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 6.6 ASP
Even a Second Grade student could be asked the question, which one of the following names listed above does not belong with the others, and get the question right with ease.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
UFC Update, Olympics and a TV viewing alert
Well, I do not think it took ten minutes for the UFC to render my blog post about UFC 112 meaningless. Sometime Friday, perhaps before my blog post, it was announced that Demian Maia, fresh off a win over Dan Miller on February 6, 2009, will take on Anderson Silva on April 10, 2010. This leaves Maia a little over eight weeks to train for the biggest fight of the year against some people consider to be the best fighter in the world. Maia is a top six middleweight according to the UFC and has a victory over Chael Sonnen at UFC 95, who has earned a title fight in the near future. So big props to Dana White for keeping two title fights on their first card to the United Arab Emirates.
I stayed in Friday and caught the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. Granted, nobody will ever top what China did, but I did enjoy the following events from Friday.
The guy who tapped dance to the Seinfeld theme.
The shadow shot of the fake moon where Batman was playing the fiddle.
The Peter Pan remake.
The shot on Wayne Gretzky's face as one of the parts of the Olympic torch stand was not rising.
Wayne Gretzky standing up through the roof of a truck driving through Vancouver to the outdoor Olympic torch, while citizens of Vancouver were doing their best to channel the two dudes who ran along side Hank Aaron after he hit Home run 715.
For now, I encourage everyone to watch The Amazing Race on CBS tonight. Who wouldn't want to watch this person try to compete in this event?
I stayed in Friday and caught the Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony. Granted, nobody will ever top what China did, but I did enjoy the following events from Friday.
The guy who tapped dance to the Seinfeld theme.
The shadow shot of the fake moon where Batman was playing the fiddle.
The Peter Pan remake.
The shot on Wayne Gretzky's face as one of the parts of the Olympic torch stand was not rising.
Wayne Gretzky standing up through the roof of a truck driving through Vancouver to the outdoor Olympic torch, while citizens of Vancouver were doing their best to channel the two dudes who ran along side Hank Aaron after he hit Home run 715.
For now, I encourage everyone to watch The Amazing Race on CBS tonight. Who wouldn't want to watch this person try to compete in this event?
Friday, February 12, 2010
Random Thoughts
Bad News Kansas City Royals fans: Pitchers and Catchers report in 4 days. But there is good news. On this very blog, there will be daily updates of the Royals quest to 100 losses starting with opening day on April 4, 2010, against The Detroit Tigers in Kaufmann Stadium.
UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi was setting up to be a good card with two title fights on April 10, 2010. Late yesterday, it was confirmed that Vitor Belfort will not challenge UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva on the card, as he had to go undergo shoulder surgery. Silva has not defended his title since April and last fought in August, moving up to Light Heavyweight to knock out Forrest Griffin in the first round (one of the best knockouts ever). Silva himself was hurt pushing back this fight and now Belfort is the one with the injury bug. Chael Sonnen, who earned a title shot at UFC 109 just this past weekend, is not able to train until March 9 and suspended from fighting until March 24. One could assume that one month is not sufficient time to train for a battle against “The Spider.” That leaves UFC with two options. Have the winner of the February 20, 2010, contest between Michael Bisping and Wanderlei Silva fight Silva on April 10, 2010, with only 7 weeks between fights or perhaps move Silva up to 205 and have him fight another light heavyweight such as Thiago Silva or Rashad Evans. Dana White has said Silva will remain on the card; however, a suitable opponent for a Championship match in the Middleweight Division may be hard to come by.
Considering the Los Angeles Lakers have won their last 3 games against Western Conference opponents by a comfortable margin without Kobe Bryant, we can now scratch Bryant off as being an MVP candidate. No offense to Kobe, he is still the guy I would want the ball with the game on the line, but Lebron James is well on his way to a second consecutive NBA MVP (with Kevin Durant finishing 2nd).
I understand that Vancouver had an indoor stadium in place with the BC Lions indoor football stadium being used as Olympic stadium; however, not having an outdoor venue for Olympic stadium is a major, major, Olympic fail. Another Olympic fail is having to hear everything pronounced in French and then English. If there is one thing I really want to happen at these Olympic Games is to have The United States defeat Canada in the gold medal hockey game (not gonna happen tho).
On an Entertainment note, it may be too hard to ask Elton John and Lady Gaga to tour together; however, they could cut a record with their pianos and it would be fantastic.
UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi was setting up to be a good card with two title fights on April 10, 2010. Late yesterday, it was confirmed that Vitor Belfort will not challenge UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva on the card, as he had to go undergo shoulder surgery. Silva has not defended his title since April and last fought in August, moving up to Light Heavyweight to knock out Forrest Griffin in the first round (one of the best knockouts ever). Silva himself was hurt pushing back this fight and now Belfort is the one with the injury bug. Chael Sonnen, who earned a title shot at UFC 109 just this past weekend, is not able to train until March 9 and suspended from fighting until March 24. One could assume that one month is not sufficient time to train for a battle against “The Spider.” That leaves UFC with two options. Have the winner of the February 20, 2010, contest between Michael Bisping and Wanderlei Silva fight Silva on April 10, 2010, with only 7 weeks between fights or perhaps move Silva up to 205 and have him fight another light heavyweight such as Thiago Silva or Rashad Evans. Dana White has said Silva will remain on the card; however, a suitable opponent for a Championship match in the Middleweight Division may be hard to come by.
Considering the Los Angeles Lakers have won their last 3 games against Western Conference opponents by a comfortable margin without Kobe Bryant, we can now scratch Bryant off as being an MVP candidate. No offense to Kobe, he is still the guy I would want the ball with the game on the line, but Lebron James is well on his way to a second consecutive NBA MVP (with Kevin Durant finishing 2nd).
I understand that Vancouver had an indoor stadium in place with the BC Lions indoor football stadium being used as Olympic stadium; however, not having an outdoor venue for Olympic stadium is a major, major, Olympic fail. Another Olympic fail is having to hear everything pronounced in French and then English. If there is one thing I really want to happen at these Olympic Games is to have The United States defeat Canada in the gold medal hockey game (not gonna happen tho).
On an Entertainment note, it may be too hard to ask Elton John and Lady Gaga to tour together; however, they could cut a record with their pianos and it would be fantastic.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Pac 10 Hoops: What happened this year????
Life on the bubble is especially tough and a gut wrenching experience for many teams, especially during Championship week. Year after year, teams that normally would not qualify for the NCAA Tournament win their conference tournament and steal a bid from maybe a more deserving team. This year, bubble teams will have to focus on one conference tournament in particular, and its not a conference that Butler or Gonzaga is a member (although keep an eye on those as well). This year, the Pac 10 conference is in a position where they may only get one bid, the winner of its conference tournament.
Now, most bracketologists have slotted California as having that bid, and it is with good reason, as on paper, California has an RPI of 26 and a schedule ranked 3rd toughest in the country, according to realtimerpi. Usually a team in a power conference with these credentials is automatically included in the NCAA Tournament. However, taking a closer look at California (15-8, 7-4 in the Pac 10), shows that the Golden Bears are no lock for the big dance, even if they do not win the Pac 10 tournament.
Looking at California’s schedule shows that they have played four non-conference games against teams ranked 10th or higher in the RPI. California won none of these games and lost each of them by an average of 12.75 points. Their most impressive non-conference win was a 75-70 victory over Murray State (90th RPI) and their best wins in terms of RPI purposes was a 78-70 road victory over Arizona State (76th RPI) and a 67-59 home win over USC (80th RPI). Keep in mind that although California leads the Pac 10 with a 7-4 conference record, the difference between first and last place is just 2.5 games. The good news for California is that out of their last seven games, the four toughest will be at home. One can assume that should Cal finish 12-6 in the Pac 10 and have a decent showing in the conference tournament, finish with an RPI in the 30’s, then they will get a bid; however, that remains to be seen. California has no top 50 RPI wins and at most has an opportunity to pick up two or three more top 100 RPI wins.
Ultimately, the bracketologist in me does not see another team from the Pac 10 dancing in March if California wins the Pac 10 tournament. At that point, California’s tourney fate will be in the hands of the NCAA Tournament committee.
Other conference tournaments to watch should the league favorite lose and fall to at-large status. Bubble teams will want to root for these guys. I am not ready to slide a team from the Colonial Athletic conference in here as they have no clear leader and several teams with RPI’s from 35 to 54. I believe the first three teams are clear locks should they continue at their current pace all the way to their conference tournaments and that UAB and Siena are approaching lock status.
Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa)
Horizon (Butler)
West Coast (Gonzaga)
Conference USA (UAB)
Metro Atlantic Athletic (Siena)
Now, most bracketologists have slotted California as having that bid, and it is with good reason, as on paper, California has an RPI of 26 and a schedule ranked 3rd toughest in the country, according to realtimerpi. Usually a team in a power conference with these credentials is automatically included in the NCAA Tournament. However, taking a closer look at California (15-8, 7-4 in the Pac 10), shows that the Golden Bears are no lock for the big dance, even if they do not win the Pac 10 tournament.
Looking at California’s schedule shows that they have played four non-conference games against teams ranked 10th or higher in the RPI. California won none of these games and lost each of them by an average of 12.75 points. Their most impressive non-conference win was a 75-70 victory over Murray State (90th RPI) and their best wins in terms of RPI purposes was a 78-70 road victory over Arizona State (76th RPI) and a 67-59 home win over USC (80th RPI). Keep in mind that although California leads the Pac 10 with a 7-4 conference record, the difference between first and last place is just 2.5 games. The good news for California is that out of their last seven games, the four toughest will be at home. One can assume that should Cal finish 12-6 in the Pac 10 and have a decent showing in the conference tournament, finish with an RPI in the 30’s, then they will get a bid; however, that remains to be seen. California has no top 50 RPI wins and at most has an opportunity to pick up two or three more top 100 RPI wins.
Ultimately, the bracketologist in me does not see another team from the Pac 10 dancing in March if California wins the Pac 10 tournament. At that point, California’s tourney fate will be in the hands of the NCAA Tournament committee.
Other conference tournaments to watch should the league favorite lose and fall to at-large status. Bubble teams will want to root for these guys. I am not ready to slide a team from the Colonial Athletic conference in here as they have no clear leader and several teams with RPI’s from 35 to 54. I believe the first three teams are clear locks should they continue at their current pace all the way to their conference tournaments and that UAB and Siena are approaching lock status.
Missouri Valley (Northern Iowa)
Horizon (Butler)
West Coast (Gonzaga)
Conference USA (UAB)
Metro Atlantic Athletic (Siena)
Friday, February 5, 2010
Youtube Channel Launch
And here is the first email I uploaded to youtube. This is from October 23, 2008.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
The Minnesota Twins needs Joe Mauer and Joe Mauer needs the Minnesota Twins.
I broke a smile earlier this week when news broke that Joe Mauer and the Minnesota Twins had agreed to a 10 year contract. I am not a fan of the Twins by any means; however, I have spent the better part of 20 years cheering on the Kansas City Royals, another small market team, and I was glad to finally read that possibly the greatest player to ever put on a Twins uniform was going to remain in Minneapolis for the long haul. Those reports were quickly refuted and by the end of the day no deal had been agreed upon and that is where things stand right now, just two weeks before pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training. If a contract is not agreed upon soon, Mauer will enter Spring Training without a contract past the 2010 season.
Look, I know the Twins are a small market team, and usually small market teams are not able to agree to long term deals that normally the Yankees, Red Sox, Mets, and Angels can only pull off. However, Joe Mauer is a Minnesota native, spending his high school days in St. Paul, where he was a three sport star, earning a football scholarship to play quarterback at Florida State (where Bobby Bowden I believe still had that offer upon prior to his retirement). Mauer chose to pass up football and agree to terms with the Twins who took him as the overall #1 pick in 2001. Mauer quickly reached the majors and has excelled in his roll, averaging .327 since breaking into the majors in 2004.
With the Twins set to open a new ballpark, Target Field, Mauer is a must sign. There are talks that some of the money that Mauer will be set to earn could be deferred, with the possibility that Mauer could end up being in the Twins ownership group when his time as a ballplayer is done. Whatever the case, the Twins and Mauer have to figure out a way to come to terms on a deal. This must be done for Mauer, the Twins, and overall the game of baseball. I mean, could all the Yankee and Red Sox haters out there stand the thought of Mauer entering free agency in the winter of 2010 knowing that they would both be gunning for Mauer’s services? I know for one I could not, and I’d much rather have Mauer in Minnesota, playing him 18 times a year as a Royals fan, than watching him play in front of those arrogant, awful, no good greedy Yankees or Red Sox fans.
The signing of Mauer, even to a deferred contract, provides an opportunity for the Twins to build their team around him for the next decade. Baseball fans already know that the Twins have a great scouting department and are very good at developing talent. In the past, when it was time for that talent to move on for bigger paydays, they often made trades for younger players that also turned out to perform very well. Money should not be too much on an issue for Mauer, he already has more than enough. His parents are retired because of him and Mauer even has a cabin in the woods in Minnesota which also has a studio where he records rap demos (I’d love to hear some of those).
So, I doubt anyone from the Twins organization and/or Joe Mauer reads this, but please, do me and all of small market baseball a favor, and get this deal done.
Monday, February 1, 2010
From 65 to 96???????
Upon opening up my Twitter account today, my jaw dropped seeing the report from Sports by Brooks that expanding the NCAA Men’s Tournament from 65 to 96 teams was a “done deal.” (Late edit to my blog post, the NCAA is denying this and saying there is "continuous dialogue about it). Considering that many people already de-value the importance of the College Basketball regular season, I myself started to think this format change would de-value it even more. However, after some thinking, I realized that there could be something positive made about of this probable change.
Currently, 65 teams are able to participate in the NCAA Men’s Tournament. 31 teams receive automatic berths, while a committee selects the remaining 34 schools. The automatic bid from each conference comes from the winner of each conference postseason tournament (usually a 3 or 4 day event) and the other 34 teams are composed of teams from power conferences (much to the delight of Billy Packer, Digger Phelps, and Jim Nantz). This potential change brings into the fold 32 more at-large selections; however, if the NCAA wants to get this right, they don’t necessarily have to have 32 more at-large selections.
Since the NCAA has taken over the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), the regular season champion of a conference that does not win its own conference tournament and is not selected by the NCAA as an at-large selection is automatically invited to the NIT. Now, fans of those “power conferences” will not like this; however, I think more emphasis should be given to those teams who win their conference in the regular season. Regardless of conference, every regular season conference champion should be invited to the NCAA Tournament in the new format.
Now, I know what you fans in the “power conferences” are thinking: “Don’t do that. All these little conferences will have their champion tank in their conference tournament so another team can get in.” Actually, that opinion would be wrong and make you a hypocrite. College Basketball coaches and players have a sense of pride and they are not going to "tank" to let perhaps a bitter rival make the NCAA Tournament.
In fact, I’ll even point you to two power conferences in 2009, where sixth seeded USC won the Pac-10 conference tournament, going from a NIT team to a NCAA team (and no, nobody tanked in order for them to win). In fact, the SEC had a similar tournament, as Mississippi State came out of nowhere to win their league’s automatic bid, and knocking another team out of the big dance. So please don’t entertain me with that thought.
In addition, I checked some records, and only four regular season conference champions in one-bid leagues in 2009 failed to win their conference tournament and were subsequently sent to the NIT: (Weber State-Big Sky, Bowling Green-Mid American, Jacksonville-Atlantic Sun, and UT-Martin-Ohio Valley). Now, I understand four may seem low, so I’ll even be more realistic and go with a number of six to eight in a normal year, but that’s still 24 to 26 extra bids available for those borderline mid-major teams that get squeezed more and more each year since George Mason’s incredible run in 2006 (OK now I’m getting to opinionated) and for any other team that made last year’s NIT. Please see the following link for last year’s NIT bracket. (http://www.gocreighton.com/pdf5/389502.pdf?ATCLID=3691532&SPSID=89381&SPID=69&DB_OEM_ID=1000).
So please NCAA, give the regular season more importance and put the NIT to bed once and for all.
I welcome your thoughts in the common section or on my twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/JoeinBugaha
Currently, 65 teams are able to participate in the NCAA Men’s Tournament. 31 teams receive automatic berths, while a committee selects the remaining 34 schools. The automatic bid from each conference comes from the winner of each conference postseason tournament (usually a 3 or 4 day event) and the other 34 teams are composed of teams from power conferences (much to the delight of Billy Packer, Digger Phelps, and Jim Nantz). This potential change brings into the fold 32 more at-large selections; however, if the NCAA wants to get this right, they don’t necessarily have to have 32 more at-large selections.
Since the NCAA has taken over the National Invitational Tournament (NIT), the regular season champion of a conference that does not win its own conference tournament and is not selected by the NCAA as an at-large selection is automatically invited to the NIT. Now, fans of those “power conferences” will not like this; however, I think more emphasis should be given to those teams who win their conference in the regular season. Regardless of conference, every regular season conference champion should be invited to the NCAA Tournament in the new format.
Now, I know what you fans in the “power conferences” are thinking: “Don’t do that. All these little conferences will have their champion tank in their conference tournament so another team can get in.” Actually, that opinion would be wrong and make you a hypocrite. College Basketball coaches and players have a sense of pride and they are not going to "tank" to let perhaps a bitter rival make the NCAA Tournament.
In fact, I’ll even point you to two power conferences in 2009, where sixth seeded USC won the Pac-10 conference tournament, going from a NIT team to a NCAA team (and no, nobody tanked in order for them to win). In fact, the SEC had a similar tournament, as Mississippi State came out of nowhere to win their league’s automatic bid, and knocking another team out of the big dance. So please don’t entertain me with that thought.
In addition, I checked some records, and only four regular season conference champions in one-bid leagues in 2009 failed to win their conference tournament and were subsequently sent to the NIT: (Weber State-Big Sky, Bowling Green-Mid American, Jacksonville-Atlantic Sun, and UT-Martin-Ohio Valley). Now, I understand four may seem low, so I’ll even be more realistic and go with a number of six to eight in a normal year, but that’s still 24 to 26 extra bids available for those borderline mid-major teams that get squeezed more and more each year since George Mason’s incredible run in 2006 (OK now I’m getting to opinionated) and for any other team that made last year’s NIT. Please see the following link for last year’s NIT bracket. (http://www.gocreighton.com/pdf5/389502.pdf?ATCLID=3691532&SPSID=89381&SPID=69&DB_OEM_ID=1000).
So please NCAA, give the regular season more importance and put the NIT to bed once and for all.
I welcome your thoughts in the common section or on my twitter page at http://www.twitter.com/JoeinBugaha
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