Category: College Basketball (Page 74 of 153)

      Couch Potato Alert: 3/12

      March 11, 2009 /

      No fewer than ten bubble teams will be in action on Thursday. If any of these teams lose, they’re looking at the NIT, so these are virtual playoff games. Also, don’t forget the NBA doubleheader on TNT — Lakers/Spurs at 8 PM and Cavs/Suns at 10:30 PM.

      All times ET.

      12 PM: Providence vs. #5 Louisville (ESPN)
      The Friars are on the hot seat and really need a win against Louisville to earn a spot in the tourney. A loss probably knocks them out.

      12 PM: Northwestern vs. Minnesota (Big Ten Network)
      The Gophers are on the bubble and they need a win against the feisty Wildcats. If they lose, they’ll really be squirming on Selection Sunday.

      12 PM: Virginia Tech vs. Miami (ESPN 360)
      Both teams are on the bubble, and the winner probably needs to beat North Carolina in the next round.

      2:30 PM: #21 Marquette vs. #13 Villanova (ESPN)
      This game will have an effect on the seeding for the Big Dance.

      2:30 PM: Iowa vs. Michigan (ESPN2)
      The Wolverines can’t lose to the Hawkeyes and expect to get an NCAA berth.

      3 PM: Arizona vs. #23 Arizona St. (FSN)
      I think this is the game of the day. The Sun Devils can probably end their arch-rival’s season if they can hang a loss on the Wildcats.

      3 PM: Texas vs. Kansas St. (ESPN360)
      The Wildcats really need a win against Texas to get back into the conversation.

      5 PM: Penn St. vs. Indiana (ESPN)
      This is pretty much a must-win game for the Nittany Lions.

      7 PM: Maryland vs. N.C. State (ESPN2)
      The Terps need to make a run in the ACC tourney to get a look from the committee.

      7 PM: West Virginia vs. #2 Pittsburgh (ESPN)
      The Mountaineers are safely in, but could improve their seeding with a win over Pitt. Meanwhile, the Panthers need to win to secure a #1 seed.

      9 PM: USC vs. Cal (FSN)
      The Golden Bears are already in, but they can end the Trojans’ season with a win. USC needs to make a run and a win over Cal would really help.

      9:30 PM: #20 Syracuse vs. #4 UConn (ESPN)
      If the Huskies want a #1 seed, they’re going to have to beat the Orangemen and (probably) make the Big East Championship final.

      College Basketball, Couch Potato Alert, March Madness, NBA, Television

      Providence takes care of business

      March 11, 2009 /

      The Providence Friars (19-12) fought off a feisty DePaul team, 83-74, keeping its tournament hopes alive, at least for now. Unfortunately, they really need a win against Louisville to earn a bid. If they give the Cardinals a great game, it will probably keep them in the conversation, but at 19-13, they’d likely to be on the outside looking in when it’s all said and done.

      The bottom line is, if you’re a fan of one of those other teams on the bubble, you want Providence to lose, and lose bad.

      College Basketball, March Madness

      Genius post at ESPN

      March 11, 2009 /

      Lately, I’ve been hitting the Joe Lunardi bracketology page over at ESPN on a daily basis — the guy knows his stuff. But I scrolled down and found myself intrigued by one of the comments (by EliSilverman):

      Here’s some math to prove just how much better the Big East is than any other conference. The Big East has the lowest average projected seed amongst the top conferences (3.7), surpassing the ACC (4.2), Big 12 (5.5), PAC 10 (6.4), SEC (8.0) and Big 10 (8.1). Now, here’s a bit more math….I predict there’s a 75% chance that the semi-finalists of the Big East tournament also become the Final Four in the Big Dance.

      All right, I’m not a math major — I just have an engineering degree — but in order to prove conference strength, it’s not accurate to only average the projected seeds of the teams that get in the tournament. By that logic, Conference USA is the strongest conference because its average projected seed is 2.0 (Memphis).

      Eli might say, “Everyone knows that C-USA isn’t the toughest conference because it only has one team in the tournament.” Well, by that logic, the Big 10 is the strongest conference because Lunardi projects that it will get eight tourney bids, one more than the Big East. You can’t have it both ways.

      What makes the strongest conference? Is it the quality of the teams at the top? Or is it the strength of the conference from top to bottom. If it’s the former, then the Big East has a great argument. Pitt, UConn and Louisville are legitimate Final Four threats (and are all ranked in the top 5), while the ACC, Big 10 and Big 12 only have one team ranked in the top 7. If you’re going by total conference strength, then it’s hard to beat the Big 10 since it looks like eight of its 11 teams (73%) could get bids. (I know, it’s dumb to have 11 teams in a conference called the Big 10, but that’s another post.) The Big East has 16 teams (a fact glossed over by Big East supporters), so seven bids out of 16 teams (44%) isn’t quite as impressive.

      Personally, I go by Jeff Sagarin’s computer rankings. The guy knows his stuff, so if he says that the ACC is the strongest conference top-to-bottom, then I believe him. And if he says that the Big 10 is second, then I’ll believe that too.

      And as for the “more math” part of Eli’s post, where he says there is a 75% chance that the Big East semifinalists will make up the Final Four, I’d take that bet any day. First, that’s not “math,” that’s a prediction, and an arbitrary one at that. Second, for that prediction to come true, Pitt, UConn, Louisville and a fourth Final Four team (Villanova/Marquette/Syracuse/West Virginia) all have to be in separate regions. It’s likely that Pitt, UConn and Louisville will be split up, but I’d say that the chances of all three making the Final Four (PLUS a fourth Big East team emerging from the fourth region) aren’t quite 75%. Maybe 5%, and that’s being generous.

      College Basketball, Humor, March Madness

      Cleveland State upsets #17 Butler, gobbles up an at-large bid

      March 11, 2009 /

      Tuesday brought some bad news for the bubble teams — 17th-ranked Butler lost in the Horizon League final, 57-54, and since Butler is getting in regardless, there is one fewer at-large bid to be had.

      This makes things tougher for bubble teams like South Carolina, Penn State, Arizona, San Diego State, Creighton, Saint Mary’s, Florida and Miami — Joe Lunardi’s “Last Four In” and “First Four Out.”

      College Basketball, March Madness

      North Dakota State is going to the Dance

      March 10, 2009 /

      In their first year of Division I eligibility, the North Dakota State Bison (26-6) won the Summit League Championship, 66-64, earning a berth in the NCAA tournament. NDSU trailed for much of the game, and was down by 12 with 9:05 to play before going on an 18-4 run, capped by Ben Woodside’s leaning jumper with just three seconds remaining. That gave the Bison the lead for good.

      Why am I blogging about the Summit League Championship? Well, two reasons: a) it was an exciting game that deserves attention, and b) I played college ball with the NDSU coach, Saul Phillips. Saul is the kind of guy that had “future coach” written all over him even then. He was an assistant under Bo Ryan at UW-Milwaukee for two years and was an assistant at NDSU for three seasons before getting the head job in 2007. He’s a great guy and clearly a very good coach.

      When the two teams played in early January, Oakland hung a loss on the Bison. NDSU was 8-5 at that point, so they have rattled off 18 wins in the 19 games since. Transitioning to the D1 level is tough, and Phillips has handled it well. With the job he’s done at NDSU, he’s a rising star in the coaching world.

      Go Bison!

      College Basketball, March Madness

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