Tournament Reset #1

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. The first weekend of March Madness lived up to all of the hype and more. Outside of the wild upsets, the Kendall Marshall (pictured above) wrist-injury was one of the main storylines.

By Matt Murray

If ever there was a year to regroup after the first weekend, this is it. So that’s exactly what we’re going to do. We’re going to forget the first fifty games that have already happened, and re-examine the field as it stands, with the 16 teams left standing.

Before we discuss, here is what the remaining field looks like.

South

#1 Kentucky vs #4 Indiana

#3 Baylor vs #10 Xavier

East 

#1 Michigan St. vs #4 Louisville

#3 Marquette vs #7 Florida

West

#1 Syracuse vs #4 Wisconsin

#6 Cincinnati vs #2 Ohio St

Midwest

#1 North Carolina vs #13 Ohio

#11 NC State vs #2 Kansas

Amidst all the madness of the first four days, it was easy to feel a little bit like the tournament had imploded upon itself; that blue bloods had given way to Cinderellas and that while shocks are good for the tournament, some of this madness had somehow done us a disservice. But now, with four days to breath, it becomes a little bit more apparent that order will likely be restored. The only No. 1 seed playing anything less than a 4-seed is North Carolina, who will strike midnight on this year’s Cinderella, Ohio University, with relative ease (with or without Kendall Marshall).

Wittry’s March Madness Predictions

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. According to our guest blogger Andrew Wittry, John Calipari (pictured above) will be a happy man on the night of April 2nd as he finally gets the monkey off his back and brings home a national championship.

By Andrew Wittry

Andrew Wittry is a senior at St. Xavier High School who literally eats and sleeps sports.  He is looking forward to college and avidly pursuing a career in sports journalism.  Andrew has an already well- established blog called Sports.Eat.Sleep.Repeat., where he posts new content regarding both professional and collegiate sports a few times each week.

Which month would you give up to have more March? While Buffalo Wild Wings jokingly uses this phrase in their recent March Madness advertising campaign, in all seriousness, I would willingly give up a few days of each month to be able to have more of the NCAA Tournament.

After coming home on from practice the other night and looking at the bracket, I could not have been more pleased with the field. When the biggest complaint about a team being left out is Drexel, a team out of the Colonial Athletic Association, who did win nineteen of its final twenty games, but did not have a single quality win out of conference, the committee did an excellent job.  Though Drexel’s amazing late season surge in which they reeled off 19 wins in their last 20 games was highly impressive. I was very excited about how well the local teams fared as Xavier’s run in the A-10 Tournament earned the team a 10 seed and Cincinnati claimed a six spot.  UC’s six was due in large part to giving #2 Syracuse its second loss of the season.

Here are my initial reactions from Selection Sunday:

Is Kentucky’s road to the Final Four too tough?

March Madness 2012 Preview

Photo courtesy of bleacherreport.com. The Road to the Final Four begins tonight in Dayton. Here is a guide to help with your bracket.

By Josh Kramer

For the first time in a very long time, there will be no “Food for Thought” today (Tuesday).  A higher being has taken charge.  And that would be none other than March Madness.  Sure there are other things going on in sports, but what else do you really want to talk about?  Sorry Peyton.  You will be taking a back seat today.

The brackets are finally set.  And as usual, Joe Lunardi did a wonderful job with Bracketology, correctly guessing 67 of the 68 teams in the field.  The guy is unbelievable. But enough speculation.  Let’s talk about the actual tournament bracket.

South Region:  The Region of Prestige

Overall Analysis

-Many are proclaiming this the best region in the field.  I do not agree (I think the East is).  But without question, it is not short on “prestigious” programs such as Kentucky, Connecticut, Indiana, and Duke. In addition, three of last year’s Final Four participants reside in the South (Kentucky, Connecticut, and VCU).  But let’s be entirely realistic.  This region starts and ends with the Big Blue Nation.  If Kentucky comes to play, they won’t lose.

Winner

-Kentucky

Sleeper

-Connecticut

Upset Alert

-Xavier over Notre Dame

Fun Facts

-The Connecticut Huskies are praying that history does not repeat itself. Each time UConn has won the title under Jim Calhoun (1999, 2004) the following year has resulted in a second round exit from the tourney (would be third round this year).

-A number one overall seed has been revealed each of the past eight years.  The top seed has only reached the Final Four three times. The only number one overall seed during this year eight year stretch to win the title was Florida in 2007.  Kentucky is praying that they can accomplish what their SEC rival did five years ago.

One of the good guys

Photo courtesy of http://www.mlive.com. Though Charlie Coles (pictured above) is retiring, he will always be remembered in a positive light in Oxford.

By Josh Kramer

Despite the absence of an NBA team since 1972, the Cincinnati Tri-State area has been known to have some pretty good basketball over the years.  And though some unfortunate events occurred on December 10, 2011 that has mired the national perception of Cincinnati hoops, there is still plenty of good going on in the Tri-State basketball scene.  Not to mention the Bearcats are tourney bound, while Xavier currently is sitting firmly on the bubble.

Often though, due to the many great collegiate basketball programs in the area, there is one team that gets overlooked.  And I guess it makes sense considering both Cincinnati and Xavier are just a jump and skip away, Kentucky is just a little over an hour south, and Ohio State is just a couple of hours north.  But yes, even after the great “Wally World” left the hallowed grounds of Oxford in the spring of 1999, Redhawks basketball continued on.

Over the past 16 years, there has been one mainstay in terms of Miami (OH) basketball.  And that would of course be their beloved Head Basketball Coach, Charlie Coles.  And despite just three tournament appearances in 16 years, Coles is a major winner.  He now has the most wins in Miami history and the most victories in Mid-American Conference play of any coach.  Charlie Coles is one of those guys though that has gotten to the point where the numbers do not matter.  Which is a definite rarity in this day and age. It is not about wins and losses anymore when you are talking about a person that possesses the character of Charlie Coles.  Coles had other priorities such as graduating his players and helping young men mature into respectable grown men.  If and when his players made mistakes, which was a rarity, he punished them accordingly.  Coles always kept his nose clean.  Gave credit to others.  And was a true ambassador of the collegiate game.  He was a guy much like the man who currently runs the show at Cameron Indoor.  A guy who did it the right way.

A Huggins Guy

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Kevin Jones (pictured above) is your typical "Huggins Guy" and will very likely be a lottery pick at the NBA Draft in June.

By Josh Kramer

Bob Huggins is known for three things by the American public.  Winning, toughness, and of course drinking.  Huggins established himself as one of the elite coaches in America during his sixteen year tenure in Cincinnati.  During that time, Huggins won an astounding 399 games (average of 25 a year), went to three Elite Eights, and of course earned UC their first trip to the Final Four in nearly 30 years.  In addition, Huggins lived and breathed toughness.  This was reflected in how his players approached every game.

Many in Cincinnati grew to love the man often referred to as “Huggy Bear.”  They loved his very casual dress, his temper-tantrums, and of course the fact that he won.  And not only did the fans worship Huggins, but so did his players.  Bob Huggins may not be the best X’s and O’s guy.  He also may not be the best recruiter in the country.  But I can safely say that Bob Huggins is the best coach in America at getting the optimum effort level out of his players on a nightly basis.  There will never be questions about effort and backbone when talking about a player on a Bob Huggins team. Huggins developed players to fit his system.  A good few of these guys are commonly referred to as “Huggins Guys.”  I am talking about players like Kenyon Martin, Jason Maxiel, Eric Hicks, and I could go on in terms of Cincinnati.  From a West Virginia standpoint, I am referring to guys like Joe Alexander, Da’Sean Butler, and this list will continue to grow in time.

The following are the characteristics of a “Huggins Guy.”

Mike Brey is okay

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Mike Brey (pictured above) has had his fair share of success at Notre Dame over the past decade. This year may be the best coaching job he has done yet though.

By Josh Kramer

Knute Rockne, Frank Leahy, Ara Parseghian, Lou Holtz, Digger Phelps, and…

Mike Brey?

Typically, when a basketball team enters conference play with a record of 8 and 5, they are in big trouble in terms of tournament aspirations.  To add on to the lackluster record, if the team’s best player and senior leader is already out for the season, they are toast.  Add in the fact that this team participates in the Big East Conference.  You probably have a better shot at winning the lottery than going dancing in March.

Enter Mike Brey.

Big Blue Nausea

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. John Calipari (pictured above) appears well on his way to capturing the first National Championship of his career.

By Josh Kramer

It’s a bird.  It’s a plane.  It’s Anthony Davis?  I will be the first to say that Kentucky is not my favorite team in the world.  To be entirely honest, they are probably my least favorite team in America.  Kentucky, also known as the “Big Blue Nation,” is arguably the most tradition filled program in college basketball and their fans make sure that you are fully aware of it.  They are the end-all be-all of sports in the Bluegrass State.   Either way, there is no denying just how well this team is playing right now.

This year’s Kentucky team has people across the nation saying, “John Wall and Demarcus Cousins who?”  Ever since John Calipari stepped foot in Lexington, the target has been on his back.  And along with his controversial past, he brought an absurd amount of blue chips to Kentucky.  I mean, there have been so many blue chip recruits on the Lexington campus during his three-year run, that he has made the “Fab-Five” sound more like the “Mediocre-Five” on multiple occasions.  People say he is a great recruiter, and unless the NCAA tells us differently, we will have to remain under the assumption that he is playing by the rules.

A moral victory for the Buckeyes

Photo courtesy of sportsillustrated.cnn.com. Ohio State came up just short today without their star Jared Sullinger (pictured above).

By Josh Kramer

Now I am fully aware that the vast majority of you are flabbergasted by the headline of this post.  How could the number two ranked team in all of the land have a moral victory?  Especially when they did not play against the number one ranked team in the country, or even a top ten ranked team for that matter.  Well let me elaborate for you.

Today, Ohio State headed to a very hostile environment to take on the number 13 ranked Kansas Jayhawks at Phog Allen Fieldhouse.  The Buckeyes first road game of the year.  A true road test right off the bat.  In addition, Kansas is no slouch of a team in the own right.  Outside of a very humbling experience at Madison Square Garden against Kentucky, this team has looked very good.  I realize that the same Duke team who Ohio State beat by 22, came in and handled the Jayhawks a couple of weeks ago, but the Jayhawks are still a very solid opponent.

Ohio State had played just one game that had stayed within single digits all year until today (W over Florida).  The Buckeyes have been a team that relies on a stifling offensive attack that is one of the most efficient in all of the land.  In other words, Ohio State is a team that hits over 50% of their shots a game.  This amazing stat is due in large part to their best player, Jared Sullinger.

Doing it the right way

Photo courtesy of zimbio.com. Mike Krzyzewski (pictured above) is now the all-time leader in Division 1 hoops with 903 wins.

By Josh Kramer

Records are made to be broken.  And on this night, another mythical record fell.  Whether you are a fan of Duke or not, you have to tip your cap to Coach Mike Krzyzewski.  The man commonly referred to as Coach K is now the all-time winningest coach in Division 1 NCAA Men’s basketball.  With the still very prevalent Paterno scandal unfolding, tonight demonstrated what doing it the right way is all about.

Coach K played for the great Bobby Knight at Army from 1966 to 1969.  And though he was never a great player, he learned from one of the greats.  Following his very lackluster playing career, Coach K served as an assistant coach under Bobby Knight at Indiana before taking over as the head coach at his alma mater.  After six years at West Point, Coach K took his talents to little-known Duke in 1980.  And well, the rest, is history.

College Basketball Preview

Photo courtesy of koonskollegebball.wordpress.com. North Carolina is my pick to cut down the nets this year. In order to do that, expect Harrison Barnes (pictured above) to lead the way.

By Josh Kramer

The most recent edition of March Madness was one for the ages.  It was a tournament that kept fans on the edge of their seats from Day 1 all the way to the National Championship Game.  And as is typically the case regarding college hoops, the season has started without a bang.

How many of you are aware that real regular season college hoops has been played?  Unless your respective team has opened up the season, I am guessing that this is news to you.  Why does college basketball always start at such a weird time, amid such a lack of publicity?  Nobody knows, but things will heat up.  That is a promise.

With all of the insanity going on in sports at the moment, college hoops may be a good release.  Either way, as is always the case, come mid-January, college basketball will be at the center of the sporting stratosphere.

Here is my top five: