NCAA Basketball Tournament

FanHouse Talks to Coach John Wooden

Will Brinson — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:20:00 EST

Filed under: ACC, Big Ten, Tourney Coaches, Tourney Fans

John Wooden is, without question, one of the greatest college basketball coaches to ever set foot on the hardwood. A (seriously) spry 96 years old, Coach Wooden was kind of enough to take some time out of his Championship Monday to speak with FanHouse. From his upcoming Gatorade commercial (it debuts tonight, you can get a sneak preview of it here), to how he feels about the money and attention that college coaches receive, to who he has pegged to win Monday night's big game, Coach Wooden had plenty to say. Hit the jump to read the full interview.

Will Brinson: Good afternoon, Coach Wooden, this is Will Brinson, with FanHouse.com, how are you today?
Coach John Wooden: Fine, Will, good to talk to you.

WB: Well, Coach, first of all, I just wanted to ask about the inspiration behind the poem in your new commercial, "The Little Chap That Follows Me," and the background behind it.
JW: It was given to me when my son was born, and I liked it so much that I had it framed immediately and it's been on the wall where I will see it whenever I'm home every day since then. I just like the thought that is expressed. [Coach Wooden recites the entire poem by heart at his point.] But it represents, I think, what a parent should be thinking about as far as their children are concerned, and it made quite an impression on me.

WB: I know that Gatorade is trying to pinpoint - with the new commercial - kind of a one moment, a "G Moment," do you think that sums up your "G Moment" pretty well?
JW: Yes, I think it does, very much so. And certainly, that's extremely important.

WB: I was curious to know, Coach, what college coaches in the game today do you admire - there are a lot of good ones including Tom Izzo and Roy Williams in the championship game tonight ...
JW: This may surprise you, but this is the first year that I can remember - usually when the brackets are chosen I go all the way through and pick a winner. This year, I said, "I'm only going to pick a winner." And I picked North Carolina, and, now they certainly have a chance to do that. I like Roy Williams very much. I've known him when he coached other places, I've talked with him often. I like his approach to the game, I like the way he works with his players and he's the type of person I think we need working with our young people.

WB: Excellent. Does anyone strike you the same way as Coach Williams does?
JW: I've been very impressed with Michigan State, particularly their half-court play. They're well-disciplined, fundamentally sound and certainly they're a very tough team. You can't take them for granted. I still would go with North Carolina against them because I think they have a little better overall balance and outside shooting.

WB: Sure thing. How about in terms of when you were coaching: who are the best player and coach you ever went against?
JW: Well, there are certainly so many good coaches. I would say the most valuable player that we ever went up against - and I think he became the most valuable player that the NBA has ever had - is Bill Russell. Although I know we played against many other great players too ... I like particularly Jerry Lucas of Ohio State; he's one of the best we ever went up against. And I think I can name many others too. And there were so many outstanding coaches; to pick one over another would hardly be fair.

WB: That certainly seems reasonable. John Calipari recently signed on to coach Kentucky and he's getting a huge amount of money to do that; do you think the amount of money coaches make today has changed the way they do their job?
JW: I think so. I think they're doing it for money -- or the hopes of money -- a little more than they were in the past. And I think that takes a little away from the purpose that they're there to begin with. And I'm not pleased with it, but I don't blame the coaches for changing at all, but it seems out of line.

WB: Kind of along those same lines, do you think the media makes too much out of coaching searches these days?
JW: Oh, I definitely think so. There's just much more emphasis put on it, and it makes it more difficult to live up to it, and I think too much is ... It's still a game. It's not education, it's a game.

WB: Right, exactly. I'd also be curious, when you picked your winner this year, to know how far you had Purdue going?
JW: I had Purdue going the exact amount of time going as they did ... in my own mind. But as I told you, I didn't pick at all, I just had North Carolina going all the way. My daughter, she picked Purdue going all the way. [Mutual laughter]

WB: That's okay, coach, I picked Wake Forest going all the way ...
JW: Oh well, they were good. Wake Forest, they certainly showed it throughout the year.

WB: Speaking of Wake, they have several young players who might be leaving after this year. Do you think the one-year rule is good for college or do you think more college should be required?
JW: I personally think it should be more time. I personally think it should be all the way, for four years. It's not going to be that, I know, but I don't think one year is nearly enough and I'd like to see them extend that.

WB: Well, Coach, I wanted to find out who your pick tonight was, but since you've got Carolina winning, is there anything you're expecting to see out of tonight's game?
JW: I don't think I can expect anything different from the style of play of both. I like the style of Michigan State -- their soundness, their half-court offense and defense I think is outstanding and they're extremely fundamentally sound. But I also feel that North Carolina and Roy Williams' teams have shown that they fast break a little better and they also are sound fundamentally. I believe they have a little better shooting than Michigan State, but we'll find out tonight.

WB: We definitely will ... Coach Wooden, I can't thank you enough for taking the time to talk to FanHouse and for working up a great commercial with Gatorade. Thanks for talking to us.
JW: Well, thank you, Will, and take care.

FanHouse Talks to Coach John Wooden originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Live Updates from Carolina Country

Pat Lackey — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:07:00 EST

Filed under: Tourney Fans, South Region, East Region

I'm here at a bar deep in Tar Heel country surrounded by powder blue and tangible energy. The packed masses here hope to see UNC defeat Villanova in this Final Four contest and advance to the NCAA tourney final. Win or lose, I'll be providing on-site updates and commentary. Join me after the jump.

Live Updates from Carolina Country originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Sat, 04 Apr 2009 22:07:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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In Detroit, Question Is Who to Cry For?

Kevin B. Blackistone — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: Tourney Fans, Midwest Region, West Region, South Region, East Region

DETROIT -- In an earlier journalistic life, Friday would've been a really big day for me. The reason: the government, each first Friday of the month, issued its most-important piece of economic news -- the unemployment report -- and I covered economics. The report it issued this Friday was an instant Page 1 story, which is what they called the first thing you saw on this thing I worked at forever called a newspaper. Friday's report revealed the recession we're in pushed the unemployment rate to its highest mark in a quarter century, 8.5 percent.

Ground zero of the misery, the report indicated, was Michigan -- 12 percent unemployment -- where I arrived Thursday for the Final Four. I'm staying in a hotel next door to GM headquarters, a poster company for our worst economic collapse since maybe the Great Depression.

It is enough to make me want to violate one of the rules of my current journalistic life as a sportswriter and root from press row Saturday night for the Final Four participant from Michigan, Michigan State. What a nice balm, no matter how temporary, a national title for one of Michigan's state schools would be for economically suffering Michiganders. Unless you're from any part of North Carolina except Durham, or from the Philadelphia area, or Connecticut, I began to think, you'd be hard pressed not to root for the home-state team in this weekend's Final Four.

But not only would doing so be against the rule of no cheering in the press box, it also would be insensitive. North Carolina is represented here, too, and it is like Michigan, one of seven states with a double-digit unemployment rate, just over 10 percent. How about cheering for the Tar Heels to provide some salve for its hurting home-state fans?

Upon closer review, there is so much misery around that it is impossible to pick one team to cheer for -- or cry for -- more in this Final Four. Villanova hails from the Philadelphia area where unemployment is just under 10 percent. Connecticut just suffered its largest job loss since the recession officially was called four months ago.

What played out Friday in Detroit at Ford Field when the home-state team came out for practice, and what played out afterward in Troy, Mich., where Michigan State held a pep rally, probably would've been replicated in North Carolina, Philly and Connecticut , too, if this Final Four was in those locales. Everybody could stand a little feel-good in these times.

Someone said the Michigan State crowd that turned out for the Spartans' practice at Ford Field numbered at least 30,000, the largest crowd one reporter familiar with Michigan State said he'd ever seen. Undoubtedly, some of them were there because, sadly, they hadn't anything else to do in the middle of a workday at the end of a work week.

NCAA Tournament Action

GREENSBORO, NC - MARCH 21: Wayne Ellington #22 of the North Carolina Tar Heels drives against Garrett Temple #14 of the Louisiana State University Tigers during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Greensboro Coliseum on March 21, 2009 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Wayne Ellington;Garrett Temple

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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: A Washington Huskies cheerleader performs during a break in the action against the Purdue Boilermakers during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Rose Garden on March 21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images)

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Manny Harris #3 of the Michigan Wolverines jumps to the basket for a lay up against Taylor Griffin #32 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Manny Harris

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Zack Novan #0 and Zack Gibson #32 of the Michigan Wolverines vie for the loose ball with Blake Griffin #23 of the Oklahoma Sooners in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Zack Gibson;Zack Novak;Blake Griffin

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Willie Warren #13 of the Oklahoma Sooners makes contact as he goes to the basket with Zack Gibson #32 of the Michigan Wolverines in the first hafl during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Willie Warren

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Taylor Griffin #32 of the Oklahoma Sooners goes up for the short jump shot against DeShawn Sims #34 of the Michigan Wolverines in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Taylor Griffin;DeShawn Sims

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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: JaJuan Johnson #25 of the Purdue Boilermakers goes up for a shot over Jon Brockman #40 of the Washington Huskies in the second half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Rose Garden on March 21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** JaJuan Johnson;Jon Brockman

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Taylor Griffin #23 of the Oklahoma Sooners and Zack Novak #0 of the Michigan Wolverines vie for position to the loose ball in the first half during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Zack Novak;Taylor Griffin

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KANSAS CITY, MO - MARCH 21: Head Coach Jeff Capel of the Michigan Wolverines yells from the sideline during their game against the Oklahoma Sooners in the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Sprint Center on March 21, 2009 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Capel

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PORTLAND, OR - MARCH 21: Lewis Jackson #23 of the Purdue Boilermakers goes up for a layup as Quincy Pondexter #20 of the Washington Huskies looks on during the second round of the NCAA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament at the Rose Garden on March 21, 2009 in Portland, Oregon. (Photo by Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Lewis Jackson;Quincy Pondexter

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Spartans sophomore guard Durrell Summers from Detroit was asked whether anybody close to him had been hurt by the recession.

"Oh, yeah," Summers said simply. "My mom, my dad, my uncles. I could go on. I know a lot of people who've been touched by it.

"They got laid off and had to get smaller jobs for the time being, looking for other jobs and still trying to support families and things like that," Summers explained. "My dad used to work at General Motors. He's working at a post office. My mom used to work at Receiving Hospital as a lab assistant, and she's also at the post office."

"They're trying to see when the next thing is coming in," he continued. "Even through the bad times, they're constantly excited and cheering me on, telling me not to worry about it and keep doing what I'm doing. I've been kind of helping them through it as well, but this is big for them. They were just speechless and in tears, [with my team] making it this far.''

After their 50-minute practice and interview session, Summers and his teammates headed from Ford Field to Somerset Collection, a mall in Troy, where of upwards of 7,000 Michigan State fans in green crowded every inch of an atrium on three levels for a pep rally to spur on their Spartans. The Detroit News reported that Michigan State President Lou Anna Simon called Somerset Collection "Spartan Land" for the day and praised the Spartans as examples in rebounding that the state of Michigan could emulate as it tries to get back on track economically.

Of course, there is nothing a college basketball team can do to stem the hemorrhaging of jobs and money in this hardest-hit state or anywhere else in the country. But if sports can ever be a diversion, this is the time and this is the place.

All you had to do was hear coach Tom Izzo address the pep rally crowd in his typical late-season raspy voice, which this time cracked with undeniable emotion.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think we would be able to put on a show like this for all of you," Izzo told the crowd. "You made this the proudest day of my life, no matter what happens tomorrow."

Moments later a television reporter pulled Izzo aside and asked him about the afternoon.

"This is a dream come true for me," the Michigan-tough coach said before he wiped away his tears.

This can be a momentary awakening from a nightmare for so many here and elsewhere, too.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, the Shirley Povich Chair in Sports Journalism at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland, and a former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News. He lives in Silver Spring, Md.

In Detroit, Question Is Who to Cry For? originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Fri, 03 Apr 2009 21:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Michigan State Fans Being Forced to Buy Lodging With Final Four Tickets

Matt Snyder — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:50:00 EST

Filed under: Big Ten, Tourney Fans, Midwest Region

When the Michigan State Spartans clinched a Final Four berth -- the fifth in the already-storied career of Tom Izzo -- it was a source of joy in the state most drearily affected by the state of our nation's economy. What was once a sunny day in the midst of a gloomy month now has a large black cloud, because the Michigan State fans are being price-gouged by the NCAA and/or the University -- depending on your point of view.

The basic gist of the situation is that the NCAA provides each of the four Final Four schools with 500 hotel rooms in the Detroit area, but it requires the schools to pay for them. Michigan State, in turn, is automatically charging people for a room when they buy a set of tickets.

Now, it wouldn't seem so unreasonable for North Carolina, Villanova, or Connecticut fans, because they need to stay somewhere if they want to go to the Motor City. Michigan State, however, is only an hour and a half away. Plus, many MSU fans live in Detroit. Simply put, most MSU fans were probably just going to drive the game and back home.

Instead, they'll be saddled with $175 hotel rooms for four days -- which could possibly be farther away from the game than their actual residence. If you don't want the hotel room, you'll be paying a $50 surcharge per ticket. I guess it would have been too much work for the NCAA to judge each school on an individual basis or let the schools decide on their own. It's not like the Final Four is going to be hurting for patrons.

To be clear about this, Michigan State could just eat the money and allow fans to buy tickets from them without the hotel rooms. They could also offer the hotel room package to those who might want to stick around or alumni who live farther away. In this sense, you could argue the university shoulders some of the blame. In doing so, however, you'd be ignoring that this public institution has been saddled with $300,000 worth of hotel rooms by the NCAA -- in a state with a 12 percent unemployment rate, which is the highest in the nation.

It should be noted that fans can buy tickets through other avenues, though through your own school is easily the cheapest way to do so -- and that's with the tickets ranging from $250-$350.

This situation is one that could cause the Spartans to lose what was perceived to be a home-court advantage in the Final Four. If you want to watch them play, you've either got to be doing pretty well financially or really love Sparty.

Michigan State Fans Being Forced to Buy Lodging With Final Four Tickets originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Thu, 02 Apr 2009 13:50:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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On Campus With 'Cinderella' Arizona

Shane Bacon — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:00:00 EST

Filed under: Pac-10, Tourney Fans, Midwest Region

After winning two tournaments in the NCAA and advancing to the school's first Sweet 16 since 2005, Tucson is buzzing with excitement for a super-size-d Cinderella. We talked with the Arizona Daily Wildcat's associate sports editor Lance Madden about the entire experience (and their cool video of the run).

FanHouse: As a student and reporter, how surprised were you when it first hit you that, "Oh my goodness, the 2008-09 Arizona Wildcats are going to be in the Sweet 16?"

Madden: When talking with my colleague, Bryan Roy, I distinctly remember saying before the NCAA tournament began that the Wildcats had a great shot at winning their two games in Miami. I didn't look at the matchups, the venue or anything statistically measurable. I just felt like this has been such a wacky season, anything any everything could happen. The season has been almost story-book like, and as time goes on, more absurdities unfold. It would only make sense that they go onto the Sweet 16, if not farther.

Now, when the buzzer sounded and Jamelle Horne wrapped his long arms around Nic Wise's head and fans in AmericanAirlines Arena began chanting "Sweet 16, Sweet 16," I can honestly say I had goosebumps. After watching these players go through everything they have been through this season, it gave me a good feeling within, even as a reporter. It makes for a great story that isn't yet finished.

FanHouse: Of all the Wildcat teams you've seen come through Tucson, what is different about this squad? Do you see something that might have produced such a run in the NCAA tournament?

Madden: I was born and raised in Tucson, so I know some things about past UA teams. Arizona has seen plenty of talented players go through its program, but I don't know if there has ever been a team that has come together as a brotherhood quite like this one has. There certainly hasn't been a situation quite like this year's. Every single player -- I guarantee it -- questioned whether they should be playing for Arizona this season. And every player, with the exception of two, banded together and decided to give their very best for themselves, for coach Lute Olson, for Russ Pennell, for the city of Tucson and for the program's reputation. That mentality is simply irreplaceable.

FanHouse: What is the campus like? When I was a junior at U of A, we made the run with Salim Stoudamire to the Elite Eight where we lost to Illinois and the Standard (apartment complex) had stadium seating around the pool with big screens. Anything you heard of like that going on?

Madden: The community has been extremely supportive of the current Wildcat team. The most meaningful moves made by the members of Wildcat Nation have also been the most creative. T-shirts with Olson's face and the words "Thanks" have been distributed around campus. A 6-foot-tall cardboard cutout of the Silver Fox even made its way into McKale Center. The standard "Hi Coach!" chant toward Olson at the beginning of games from the UA pep band has been sometimes replaced with "Hi Russ!" The Zona Zoo has also done a tremendous job this season at keeping student fans interested in the program. Their "BELIEVE" signs were probably most affective.

The thing that probably speaks the most for itself is McKale Center attendance. At the beginning of the season, Tucson almost lost hope completely. The team, however, did not. In the final two home games of the season, the attendance was greater than any other game since Olson became the head coach of the Wildcats in 1983.

Also, the boom of technology has brought with it enhanced Wildcat support. Facebook statuses and wall comments have given players instant notification of their success this season. It's almost like Web-based fan mail.

NCAA Tournament Action

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FanHouse: Do you see anything different with the players before the tournament and now, after the two wins?

Madden: Smiles. This team is a happy team. Of course, every team loves to win, but it is how this team is winning. The players simply don't want the season to end. As Horne put it, they are on the road to redemption. America counted Arizona out at the beginning of the season and when it was 11-8. For the first time in 25 years the Wildcats almost didn't make it into the NCAA tournament. Now they are in and are making a run. They are the only one of six Pac-10 teams remaining. They're trying to show the nation that they belong.

FanHouse: What is the key to extending the run?

Madden: If you look at the stat sheet, you would think the Big Three -- Nic Wise, Chase Budinger and Jordan Hill need to get some rest. They are each playing upwards of 40 minutes per game. But that's not the key you asked for. Sure, there are only 11 roster players and a 7-to-8-man rotation. But Jim Krumpos, Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach, has done a phenomenal job with the players and keeping them game-ready.

But the key does have to do with the Big Three. Simply stated, each one needs to stay sharp. Arizona is a tripod, and Hill, Budinger and Wise make up each leg. When one collapses, the entire set collapses.

Budinger must stay fierce. If he isn't hitting his shots, he must drive to the bucket to score. Wise and Hill must stay out of foul trouble. Wise is the team's only true point guard. When he comes out, Budinger must play at the point, taking a scorer out of the equation.

On top of the Big Three being solid, the Wildcats need their role players to play their roles. Kyle Fogg has to be his usual defensive self. Zane Johnson and Brendon Lavender could also be useful on the defensive end. Fendi Onobun is the designated screener, but he can't play at the same time as Hill. So if Hill is out, Onobun is your replacement big man. Jamelle Horne has been the X-factor the entire season. When he plays well, the entire team plays well. His biggest issue is staying focused, which he has been able to do very well in the NCAA Tournament.

FanHouse: Any chance they take down Louisville?

Madden: Flip a coin. They've got a 50-50 chance. Nobody thought they had a chance to beat Houston when they were down by 10 points with less than a minute to go. They have already beaten two current Sweet 16 teams (Kansas and Gonzaga) and made it this far when many critics were trying to send them to the NIT. I wouldn't count Arizona out just yet.

On Campus With 'Cinderella' Arizona originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 18:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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No Reason to Be Here?

Shane Bacon — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:39:00 EST

Filed under: Pac-10, Tourney Fans, Midwest Region

It was pretty simple, actually. All Arizona had to do in the last seven days was get in a tournament they had no business being in, catch a lucky draw against a squad that couldn't handle the speed or pressure the Wildcats could bring and hope for the only 13-seed upset of the tournament to be their opponent in the second round. Pshhhh. That was simple.

In the second-round meeting against 13th-seeded Cleveland State, the Wildcats did what they've done best all year: rely on the big three and hope the reserve players don't hack the opposition with two seconds left when the game is tied. Oh, and in related news, Jamelle Horne had 15 points.

It has been an interesting couple of days as a Wildcat fan. Since the moment Arizona was announced in the NCAA Tournament for the 25th straight year -- the active record -- people have been questioning the inclusion of Russ Pennell's crew. They weren't good enough. They lost five of their last six in the regular season. They didn't win enough games on the road. They just weren't the right team for the tournament. WHAT ABOUT ST. MARYS?!?!

Friday was point numero uno in their favor. A beatdown of fifth-seeded Utah got the Wildcats into the second round, making the lowly Pac-10 a scrappy 5-1 in the first round. A win in the second round has Arizona in a place that used to be familiar, but hasn't been so much since 2005, when Salim Stoudamire was Doctor Swoosh. The Wildcats are in the Sweet 16, thank you very much. Do not pass Go, do not collect $200.

In the Sweet 16, Arizona will face the Louisville Cardinals. They are the top seed in the tournament and bring a swagger not seen in Tucson since Luke Walton, Rick Anderson and Jason Gardner were walking between the Social Sciences building and Old Main. The Wildcats have a squad with two lottery picks, a guard that is tougher than his tights allow and a bunch of players that aren't necessarily Arizona-esque.

It doesn't matter. Arizona will probably lose to Louisville. The thing is, the Wildcats weren't even supposed to be here. Arizona 1, Critics 0.

No Reason to Be Here? originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:39:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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First Round Observations

Shane Bacon — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 14:27:00 EST

Filed under: Tourney Fans, Midwest Region, West Region, South Region, East Region

For the last two days, I have basically watched more television than any person should be legally able to do. I've watched basketball at my house, on a computer, at a bar, at a restaurant and even attempted to on my cell phone. Here are some observations from a guy who has watched too much basketball but still can't get enough.

-- If you're a Tennessee fan you probably should go ahead and start the fire Bruce Pearl talk. At one point in their first-round loss to Oklahoma State on Friday, the announcers said that the players didn't know a timeout had been called and were seen waving to family in the stands. In the second half! Of a close NCAA Tournament game! That team continues to underachieve on a massive level yet nobody is in an uproar about Pearl. His team shot 33 3-pointers yesterday, making just 11 of them, and had the opportunity to pound it inside at will. That team is a disaster and if I'm a Tennessee fan, I'm writing very nasty things on message boards today.

-- If Dayton wins one more game, expect a lot of "Chris Wright is the 2009 Stephen Curry" talk. He had 27 points on Friday in a dominating performance against West Virginia.

-- The Arizona Wildcats have some good karma going right now. Just six days after being put in a tournament nobody thought they deserved to be in, Russ Pennell's crew destroyed Utah and now have Cleveland State up next, a 13 seed. This might be one of the most unexpected Sweet Sixteen runs if Arizona can win on Sunday, but it obviously justifies them making it in the tournament as one of the 65 best teams in the nation.

-- Speaking of the Pac-10, James Harden had just nine points in Arizona State's first round defeat of Temple. If he can find his shooting touch again with the way his teammates are playing right now, Syracuse could be in for a long, long afternoon.

-- Oh, one more thing on the Pac-10 ... it is 5-1 so far. Just throwing that out there President Obama.

-- Things I will not do next year: pick mediocre basketball teams that rely heavily on 3-point shooting. We've seen it with Duke the last few years and we saw it with Butler and California. Nope, not going to do it.

-- Money-line bets with all the 12 seeds? Yeah, that is basically what you want to do for the rest of your life. The 12 seeds went 3-1 this year, making this column look a hell of a lot more justified.

-- Sans the Siena game, buzzer beaters were few and far between. The best one of the weekend came on a three by Utah State at the end of a game it lost by one.

-- If you are a one seed, hope to the heavens you don't see East Tennessee State in your bracket. The game against Pittsburgh was the second time ETSU gave a one seed a run for its money, and with a few more made free throws, might have been the first team in 100 tries to knock off a top dog.

-- Teams that are likely to make the Sweet Sixteen that nobody thought would: Xavier, Arizona, and Western Kentucky.

--Name me better second-rounds games in recent years than this list : UCLA vs. Villanova, Texas vs. Duke, Connecticut vs. Texas A&M, Gonzaga vs. Western Kentucky, Oklahoma vs. Michigan, and Pittsburgh vs. Oklahoma State. I bet you can't. March Madness is awesome.

First Round Observations originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Sat, 21 Mar 2009 14:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Third Day Is a Charm

FanHouse Newswire — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Tourney Fans, West Region, South Region, East Region

There's no rest for the weary in Bracketville. After a wild finish to the first round of the NCAA Tournament, the Round of 32 gets under way Saturday, with plenty of juicy storylines to go with it. Click through the gallery to see what's on tap.

Day 3 at a Glance

3. Villanova vs. 6 UCLA | 1:05 PM Bring the Band-aids because this one will get physical. UCLA's pursuit of a fourth-straight Final Four was nearly derailed by VCU in the first round, while Villanova struggled with American for nearly 30 minutes. But Nova gets to play in front of its hometown crowd.

Carolyn Kaster, AP

2. Memphis vs. 10. Maryland | 3:20 PM The Tigers received a surprise 10 3-pointers from reserve Roburt Sallie to survive Cal State-Northridge in the opener. But John Calipari's team now has to deal with Maryland and bench boss Gary Williams, whose coached a turnaround season for the undersized but improving Terrapins.

G. Newman Lowrance, Getty Images

1. Connecticut vs. 9. Texas A&M | 3:35 PM The biggest story here may be the return of UConn coach Jim Calhoun, who missed the Huskies' opening-round 56-point rout of Chattanooga while hospitalized. Both teams rebound well and create little pressure on the perimeter, but the Aggies will need a lot of calls in their favor. Nearly 25 percent of their points come from the charity stripe, more than any team in the field.

Carolyn Kaster, AP

4. Washington vs. 5. Purdue | 5:40 PM The Boilermakers are playing well with an apparently healthy Robbie Hummel, but will have to hit a high percentage of their shots. There will be no second chances against the Huskies and Jon Brockman, who ranks in the top 25 in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage.

Rick Bowmer, AP

1. North Carolina vs. 8.LSU | 5:45 Everyone will be focused on the toe of Tywon Lawson, who is a game-time decision to play. But the Heels focus should be on the Tigers, the SEC's best team in the regular season and a senior-led club.

Streeter Lecka, Getty Images

2. Oklahoma vs. 10 Michigan | 5:50 PM Blake Griffin was flipped in the Sooners' opener, but it was Oklahoma that put Morgan State down for the count. Still, the Sooners slid to the finish in the Big 12 and they'll have to figure out Michigan's 1-3-1 zone in a hurry Saturday.

Orlin Wagner, AP

4. Gonzaga vs. 12. Western Kentucky | 8:10 PM The Hilltoppers are trying to become a more Midwestern answer to Gonzaga, a continuosly successful mid-major, following on the heels of last year's Sweet 16 run and a first-round upset of Illinois. And there's no shortcut to the top like knocking off the fourth-seeded Zags.

Rick Bowmer, AP

2. Duke vs. 10. Texas | 8:15 PM The Blue Devils actually looked impressive in the NCAA tournament for the first time in three years, albeit against an undersized Binghamton. We'll find out tonight what happens when they pick on someone their own size, or more aptly larger, against 6-foot-10 center Dexter Pittman and the Longhorns.

Streeter Lecka, Getty Images

Saturday's Scores | View Bracket | Day 2 Recap | Friday's Scores

Third Day Is a Charm originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Sat, 21 Mar 2009 10:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCAA Tourney Live Chat

Shane Bacon — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:27:00 EST

Filed under: Tourney Fans, Midwest Region, West Region, South Region, East Region

Today marks the second day of March Madness first-round action, where we all hope a few upsets actually go down so this tournament doesn't turn into 2008 2.0. Join us now for our second day of live chatter, but this time with less wing sauce! It's March Madness, so swing by and make some upset picks (go Utah State!)

Marquette Avoids Upset | Oklahoma St. Edges UT | Scores | Watch Live

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=af9595429e&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;NCAA Tournament Live Chat&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

NCAA Tourney Live Chat originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 11:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCAA Tournament Live Chat

Shane Bacon — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:28:00 EST

Filed under: Tourney Fans, Midwest Region, West Region, South Region, East Region

What else is there to say? It's March and there are 64 teams trying to cut down some nets without getting into trouble. Hoops fans have been tangoing with their brackets all week, but now it's time to sit back and enjoy the insanity that is March Madness.

This year's tournament is off to a fast start. Despite an early scare, Memphis has advanced to the second round, along with LSU and Texas A&M. So what's going down right now? Join our LIVE CHAT to stay on top of all of Thursday's action.

More Coverage: Watch Games Live | Sallie Saves Memphis

&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;a href=&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot;http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php?option=com_mobile&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;task=viewaltcast&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;altcast_code=18aa91828e&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;quot; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;NCAA Tournament Live Chat&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/a&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;

NCAA Tournament Live Chat originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:28:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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FH Podcast 6.2: Eamonn Brennan

Will Brinson — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:18:00 EST

Filed under: Media Watch, Tourney Gambling, Tourney Coaches, Tourney Fans, FanHouse Exclusive, Midwest Region, West Region, South Region, East Region

'HouseCast is FanHouse's podcast. Watch out. Or you might just get what you're after.

Can you take any more March Madness inundated into your domepiece? Of course you can. It's the number one reason why you keep coming back to FanHouse's NCAA Tournament Coverage, and it's definitely the reason why you were waiting, desperately, of course, for the second half of FanHouse's NCAA Podcastactular.

In 6.2, Ryan Wilson and Will Brinson chat with FH's own Eamonn Brennan (who moonlights on the very, mucho excellente college basketball blog The Dagger) about nostalgic brackets, hating on North Carolina or Duke, sleepers, whether you should fill out a single bracket or not, and a myriad of other college basketball topics.

Hit the jump to listen to the whole thing in our embeddable player.

FH Podcast 6.2: Eamonn Brennan originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Thu, 19 Mar 2009 07:18:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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West Roundtable: Is Memphis a Lock?

Shane Bacon — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:45:00 EST

Filed under: Tourney Fans, West Region

The NCAA tournament is just one day away, so FanHouse writers and editors got together to talk over each region. The Midwest Region got the ball rolling, followed by the East. The South looks like it could go to the top seeds, but what about the West? Here is the last installment of our NCAA FanHouse Roundtables.

Chris Burke: Unlike the other three regions, where it's the top seeds' bracket to lose, UConn may not have the same stranglehold over things due to Jerome Dyson's injury. The Huskies have lost two straight and are just 4-3 since Dyson hurt his knee, so they look, to me, like the most vulnerable of all the No. 1 seeds. It doesn't help that, after the first round, they may not have another easy game. The other six teams in the top-half of this bracket can be considered threats, from Washington right on down to Mississippi State and Northern Iowa.

Personally, I think Purdue's looking really, really dangerous at the moment. The Boilermakers are finally healthy, and showed that in the Big Ten Tournament. They really cause issues because of how they get up and guard people. If they get out of the first weekend, UConn could have its hands full big-time. Washington-UConn would be an interesting meeting, too, just because of the Hasheem Thabeet-Jon Brockman potential down low. Thabeet's been a monster at times, but not everyone has a big guy that can challenge him physically. Pitt, one of the teams that does in DeJuan Blair, swept UConn pretty handily in the regular season, so Brockman's presence could cause some worry.

I don't see Cal or Maryland being able to bring down Memphis, and Marquette would have a tough time in the Sweet 16 with its injury issues. It looks fairly apparent that Memphis' strongest challenge prior to the Elite 8 could come from Missouri. The Tigers showed flashes of brilliance throughout Big 12 play, and are athletic enough to hang around there.

Still, there's a reason Memphis is getting picked a ton to come out of this bracket. With Dyson out, the Tigers look like the strongest team.

Matt Snyder: I think Memphis is going to steamroll everyone. I don't have anything factual upon which to base this notion. I just think they have enough talent and now selection committee-provided motivation to take down anyone in their path. It's too bad Mizzou got the three seed in this region, too, because they are playing great basketball right now. They just won't be able to hang with Memphis.

I totally agree about Purdue being very dangerous. They were picked in the top 10 in many preseason polls, but they failed to meet expectations for different reasons. Keaton Grant didn't have much offseason rest, and Robbie Hummel has fought through back issues for the entire conference season. Thus, both had relative off-years. In the Big Ten Tournament, though, we saw what the preseason expectations were based upon. This is how good they can be. I see them getting to the Sweet 16 and giving UConn a very tough test, if not pulling off the huge upset.

I don't know how many first round worse-seeds we'll see winning games. Northern Iowa is dangerous, but I like Purdue right now. Utah State has a tall order against Marquette, and Mississippi State can't keep the ball rolling against Washington, in my view. Can Andy Bernard's alma mater take down Missouri? Very doubtful.

Chas Rich: UConn still has enough to get to the Elite Eight. 4-3 without Dyson. The three losses have been twice to Pitt and the 6-OT game to Syracuse. The 4 wins came against a Dominic James-free Marquette team, Seton Hall, South Florida and Notre Dame. So are they really struggling or just not good enough against the upper-tier teams? I definitely put them in the Sweet Sixteen, and I think they still get to the Elite Eight.

I really like Mississippi State for the 4-13 upset. Just the way the Bulldogs have been playing since late January. Heck if you look over their season, even in their losses they rarely went quietly. In conference, only Auburn seemed to have their number.

What is the hourly status on Hummel's back? Isn't that the big question for Purdue. If the rest is helping and he can play through the discomfort, yeah. Purdue is a lot better team. I still do not see them getting past UConn, though.

The lower bracket is all Memphis. That is a consensus thing. They are set up. They have the disrespect card. They have match-ups that seem to play to their strengths. If they do not make the Final Four, that will be more surprising to me than Pitt or even North Carolina.

I like Utah State over Marquette. Marquette still has not figured things out without Dominic James. Mizzou, though, should rip through that pod to the Sweet Sixteen to play a tough, brutal game with Memphis. A Mizzou-Memphis match-up might be the best of the potential Sweet Sixteen games.

Snyder: I agree with the statement about Memphis. I think they are the surest team to the Final Four in the entire field. (Which is really weird from a 2-seed)

Adam Papagiorgio: Another agreement on Memphis. Having the No. 2 seed is beneficial here. Nobody will motivate better than John Calipari. That is really bad news for Cal State-Northridge. Incidentally, that Calipari vs. Bobby Braswell matchup might be the worst coaching miss-match in NCAA history.

UConn does not impress me when they have a No. 1 next to its name.

I hate Mississippi State. Georgia made a huge, improbable run in the SEC tournament last year and flamed out. And this might be the West Coast homer talking, but Washington is really good. Isaiah Thomas is a guy I believe can be a star in this tournament.

Utah State is going to get blown out. The Aggies lost to St. Mary's without Patty Mills. The lose of Dominic James doesn't hurt them here.

Memphis vs. Washington in the Elite 8, but I'll take the Tigers to take this bracket.

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller: Well, Georgia also went 4-12 in the SEC last year; MSU was 9-7 this season. They're underseeded at 13; I mean seriously, would you rather play them or Portland St.?

Even beyond round 1, Washington has an absolutely killer draw; Purdue is the best 5 by far, and even if they beat them they'd be looking at UConn and then probably Memphis (or Mizzou). I think the Boilermakers take care of business at least to the Sweet 16 though, and have a decent shot at knocking off UConn.

I also like BYU to give UConn a game this weekend. But I'm going to have to join the chorus in picking Memphis to come out of this one, they have a pretty favorable draw (except for Mizzou), and that defense has just been playing unbelievably well.

Shiloh Carder: First off, the NCAA made an error in this bracket. Texas A&M faces off against BYU for the second straight year in a No. 8 vs No. 9 game in the West Region. C'mon! Give these guys someone else to play. Mix it up. You could have switched A&M with Oklahoma State (No. 8 seed in the East).

Most people believe that we are destined for a UConn-Memphis regional final. That could happen and, if it did, I think Memphis comes out on top.

The problem is that I'm not sure that Memphis will get there. Another Tiger team, Missouri, is hell on wheels and will press the heck out of Tyreke Evans. The weird thing is that if Missouri gets to the Elite 8, I don't think they will beat UConn. The best team in this region is Memphis. However, it is all about matchups and I really want to see that Missouri-Memphis game.

I'm really pulling for Utah State to beat Marquette (by the way, the state of Utah has three teams in this tournament. So does the state of North Carolina).

Other than that, this is the one bracket that seems to have the Sweet 16 already set: UConn-Purdue and Memphis-Mizzou. That's when this thing will get cooking.

Papagiorgio: Washington won the Pac-10 -- a conference that got in six teams. Mississippi State would be playing in the NIT if it hadn't won the conference tournament.

Ray Holloman: I think this could turn out to be the most exciting region.

In the first round, I really look forward to the Cal-Maryland matchup in the 7-10 game. Cal is a great 3-point shooting team and led the nation with a 43.2 percent clip from behind the arc, which is just a ridiculous number. How nuts is that? Remember all the praise J.J. Redick stockpiled by the bushel for being such a great shooter? Yeah, he never shot that high a percentage individually. Cal did it as a team. But don't be confused, this isn't VMI, their offense isn't stand around the 3-point line and jack, they only get roughly a quarter of their points from behind the arc. So it'll be interesting how Gary Williams defense this team. He's not going to be able to pack the lane like he did against Wake Forest or Jerome Randle will absolutely bury the Terrapins from the arc (if you saw the end of the Cal-Arizona game the last weekend of the regular season, the loss that should've knocked Arizona out of the tournament, that's what would happen), so I'd expect to see a lot of pressure out of Maryland.

On the other side of the ball, Greivis Vasquez is going to be able to drive against the Cal man-to-man as freely as he wants, so if the Venezuelan alleged proprietor of Cameron Indoor is shooting the ball well, don't be surprised if he flirts with a triple double.

Neither team rebounds particularly well and both teams take care of the ball. But the Terps do turn teams over, which the Bears don't. That should mean more possessions for Maryland. But I love teams that shoot well and Cal is a great shooting team. Don't be surprised if the Bears make noise in the bottom of that bracket, particularly with Mike Montgomery at the helm. Look at how well this team has done despite being so radically different from the classic Stanford teams Montgomery built around big men, and that should tell you all you need to know about how good a coach he is. I like Cal, but this could be one of the best games of the first round.

Elsewhere, I like Missouri, but I'm really curious how Mike Anderson's pressure defense is going to work away from home. The Tigers won at Texas and at Oklahoma State this year, but the turnover percentage for the Tiger defense was lower than their season average. Look at those big time wins against Oklahoma and Kansas. Against Oklahoma, they posted a 30 percent turnover rate. Against Kansas it was 35 percent. Can the Tigers come anywhere close to that on a neutral floor against Memphis? Or could Marquette even slip in and give Missouri trouble in the second round?

On Memphis, like everyone else, it's hard to say exactly what you can expect. The Tigers hammered Gonzaga, and that certainly means something, but we've haven't seen them against any other NCAA tournament level teams in months. I don't want to minimize Conference USA, but it's just hard to know what a team is going to react in that situation. It's like a boxing prospect who looks tremendous against the club level guys, but then takes that first punch from a gateway fighter. You don't know how they're going to react. Frankly, I think back to the 2004 tournament where St. Joe's entered as a one seed and everyone belittled the Hawks until they actually got into the tournament, went to the elite eight and came within a few John Lucas heroics of going to the Final Four. So I think Memphis will show nicely in the tournament. But again, that's part of what makes this region so exciting.

On the top side of the bracket, I agree with Jacob that Purdue could be a dangerous team. They're seeded off a season in which Robbie Hummel played with a few health issues, and now that he's finally healthy (or so it seems) I think that's a much better team than they've been seeded. Having said that, though, Washington is a brutal matchup and Connecticut is just as bad. If Purdue's jump shots are falling, they're going to be tough to beat, but if they're not, the Boilermakers aren't going to be able to rebound against either team. At Washington, Jon Brockman just sucks down rebounds. He's in the top 25 in both offensive and defensive rebounding percentage. Watching he and Mississippi State shot eraser Jarvis Varnado battle in the paint is going to be must-see TV. I'd probably go chalk and take Washington over Purdue, but look at how well Arizona State shot the ball against the Huskies in the Pac-10 tournament. If Purdue gets hot from outside, Purdue Pete marches on.

Up top, it's hard to construct an argument against Connecticut except that the only NCAA tournament team the Huskies have beaten since Jerome Dyson went down is Marquette, which is obviously without Dominic James. The one thing that really worries me, though, about this Connecticut team is that it doesn't shoot free throws well and its poise in overtime against Syracuse made it seem like a long time since AJ Price hit that ridiculous 3-pointer to send the Gonzaga game into overtime. And these things will kill you in the NCAA tournament. At some point, you will be tested down the stretch and you'll need to hit free throws and get the ball to someone who will win you the game, not shoot 25-foot 3-pointers as Connecticut seemed to do again and again at the end of overtimes against 'Cuse. But frankly I worry about the first one more. Calhoun can draw up plays, but he can't make his players hit from the charity stripe.

Shane Bacon: I have one very important rule when picking teams to make long runs in the NCAA Tournament -- unless they are incredibly talented, I don't like teams trying to continue a streak. Memphis, by all means, might be the best team in the nation, but we wouldn't really know that. They played a total of three teams that were ranked at the time the Tigers tipped off with them and lost two of those games, to Georgetown (yikes) and Syracuse (oy!). Even as impressive as their Gonzaga win (on the road, nonetheless) was, I just don't think you can expect a team to win games against teams they haven't faced when they just reeled off 22 straight. It's too tough.

Memphis might have to play California (tough Pac-10 team that can shoot lights out from outside), Missouri (sleeper in the bracket if you ask me), and then Connecticut or Purdue to advance out of this region. I just don't see it happening.

My money's on the Boilermakers, but this is the bracket is one you could argue has five teams that could be in Detroit and you wouldn't even be that surprised.

Snyder: Regarding Hummel, there haven't been any concrete updates from Purdue. It seems like he's as healthy as he's going to get. What we do know is that prior to the Big Ten Tournament he had four full days of rest. In the first two games, he scored 39 points on 14-24 shooting. In the championship -- the third straight day Purdue played -- Hummel went 2-10 from the floor, though he did amass a game-high 11 rebounds.

It seems like the conclusion is that he needs rest. When the Boilers take the court Thursday, he'll have had three full days of rest. Throughout the tournament, he'll always have had at least one full day off.

Bottom line, I think he's going to play like he did in the first two games of the Big Ten Tourney.

West Roundtable: Is Memphis a Lock? originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Wed, 18 Mar 2009 15:45:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Add More Teams? That's Madness

Matt Snyder — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EST

Filed under: Tourney Fans, Tourney Rumors

Every year, Selection Sunday officially kicks off the beginning of March Madness. Usually, the three-day lull between the release of the almighty brackets and the actual beginning of games is marked by complaining, whether it's Memphis not getting a No. 1 seed -- which is going to end up being the best thing that ever happened to the Tigers, by the way -- the Big Ten or Pac-10 being allegedly overrated, or the dwindling of mid-major entrants. It's always something.

Still, we can put up with that. Debate and discussion are good things. There is one suggestion, however, that is so absurd I'm almost embarrassed to dignify it: Some people, including several predominant commentators, want to expand the tourney field to 128.

More NCAA Tournament Coverage: Morehead State Marches On

Usually this talk stems from a team who all of a sudden becomes America's sweetheart. This year, it's St. Mary's. People who can't name more than one player (Patrick Mills) on the Gaels have anointed themselves Gaels' apologists on talk-radio shows and internet message boards. We hear cries about what is fair, and what conferences have been given too many teams. Their best player was injured, after all (I don't know if you heard, because it hasn't been mentioned much). Please understand, their fans have every right to complain; I have no bone to pick with their real fans. I've just never heard so many "St. Mary's fans" across the country. They have assembled a Dallas Cowboys-sized following in just one weekend.

Honestly, much of it is valid. St. Mary's had a better resume than Arizona, and I agree it should be in the tournament. On the other hand, the Gaels were not a lock to make it. So the next logical step is for people like Bob Knight to proclaim the tournament should include 128 teams.

Why stop there, Bob? What if Portland State (RPI 113!) got screwed out of the field of 128? Oh, I know ... it's time to expand to 256 teams. I mean, we're all about socialism, right? If every team doesn't get a chance to play, it's just not fair. They've really got to find a way to include all 343 Division 1 teams in the tournament. That's the only way we can ensure a fair shake. Otherwise someone gets "screwed," and we can't have that. This is a life and death matter, you know. We can't squeeze out a potential 11-seed.

How laughable, only it's not funny. Teams have the chance to play themselves into the tournament. It's called the regular season. You want to make the NCAA Tournament? Be better. Control what you can control. You can't control the selection committee, so take care of your own business. Don't lose to UTEP at a neutral site, as St. Mary's did in November.

Bracket Busters

Florida State Seminoles: How tall are the Seminoles? Let's just say they could change every light bulb in your house without borrowing a ladder. They're long and athletic and have Toney Douglas, a dynamic guard who is exactly the type of player you want to avoid in the NCAA tournament.

Kevin C. Cox, Getty Images

American Eagles: Coach Jeff Jones says he hasn't watched the whole tape from last year's opening-round loss to Tennessee, but the Vols might not have either. American put a scare into Tennessee last year and return with seven seniors, including Garrison Carr, the school's all-time leading 3-point shooter.

Evan Vucci, AP

Siena Saints: How do we know Siena can turn your brakcets into scrap paper in a single game? The Saints did it last year, dispatching Vanderbilt as a No. 13 seed. Led by Kenny Hansbrouck, they return their three top scorers from a year ago and played a schedule that took them to Kansas and Pittsburgh.

Tim Roske, AP

Virginia Commonwealth Rams: Mike Krzyzewski couldn't stop this team in the opening round two years ago, and the Rams have only gotten better. Back is point guard Eric Maynor, who almost single-handedly beat Duke and this time he's part of one of the best inside-outside combos in college basketball with double-double forward Larry Sanders. They don't have the depth of a power conference school, but they've probably got better coaching with Anthony Grant, Billy Donovan's former right-hand man.

Scott k. Brown, AP

Boston College Eagles: The Eagles seem to be a team in need of motivation. They knocked off North Carolina in Chapel Hill only to lose to Harvard. They beat Duke only to lose to N.C. State and then came within a single point of knocking Duke off again in the ACC tournament. Needless to say, no one takes teams lightly in the NCAA tournament, so good luck stopping a fired up Tyrese Rice.

John Bazemore, AP

West Virginia: You might like the Mountaineers, but the computers love them. A year after their surprising run to the Sweet 16, West Virginia is one of only three teams with efficiency ratings in the top 16 on both offense and defense, a great sign that they'll outperform their seed. The other two? Duke and Gonzaga.

Julie Jacobson, AP

Gonzaga: Gonzaga turned a Cinderella 1999 run into a regular spot in the NCAA tournament and has now almost made the leap in the public's mind to overrated major. But this year, the 'Zags are for real. They've lost just once since January and are the only team in the nation in the top 10 in both adjusted offensive and defensive efficiency.

Jae C. Hong, AP

North Dakota State Bison: They punched their ticket to the dance in their first opportunity (Take notes, Northwestern) and have a great formula for mid-major success, an excellent senior core and a great touch from 3-point range. The Bison shot better than 40 percent from long range, 10th best in the nation.

Eric Landwehr, AP

BYU Cougars: The Cougars are rated 18th in the nation by Ken Pomeroy, which suggests they could vastly out-perform their seed. They haven't lost a game by more than six points since Jan. 17 and do the single most important thing in basketball well, shoot. They're effective field goal percentage is seventh in the nation.

Ethan Miller, Getty Images

Michigan Wolverines: The Wolverines have already proven they can beat the nation's best, ousting UCLA on a neutral court in November and dumping Duke at home in December, and they're exactly the kind of team that can cause trouble in any one-game scenario -- nearly half of all Michigan shots are 3-pointers. Don't pick them to win six, but watch out in the first round.

Jonathan Daniel, Getty Images

You also have the conference tournament. Don't get blown out by 25 points on national TV in the finals. Be more than a one-man team. Oh, I know they aren't, but the way everyone is painting the picture, you'd have thought they were helpless without the services of Mills. On Feb. 7, in fact, they were. They lost by 18 to a team ranked almost 200 in the RPI. If they aren't a one-man team, they've got to play better in that game. Again, be better if you want to dance by controlling what you can control.

The part St. Mary's couldn't control was the injury to Mills. If we're going to give them a free pass for those losses without him, though, that's a really slippery slope. Are you going to go through and check out every team in America who had injury woes and adjust their value? Injuries are part of the game. Sure, it's not fair, but life ain't fair. The Gaels suffered a huge setback when their star player got hurt. It happens. From a personal standpoint, I do feel sorry for the players on the team -- it really sucks how things transpired over the past month and a half. Then again, things that suck happen in life from time to time. When it happens, you are allowed to complain, but eventually you have to turn the page.

Expanding the tournament field to 128 teams is not the way to reconcile with a team who suffered an unfortunate circumstance. It would be a way to further deteriorate the meaning of each regular-season game.

Worst of all, it would change March Madness, the greatest event in sports.

You know what you do with something that's not broken, right?

Add More Teams? That's Madness originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 16:30:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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NCAA Roundtable: Midwest Region

Shane Bacon — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST

Filed under: Tourney Fans, Midwest Region

The NCAA Tournament is so close we can smell it, so FanHouse's college basketball experts took some time away from their busy schedules to talk about who will come out of each region First up, the Midwest Region.

Shane Bacon: Louisville is the top seed in the NCAA tournament and, thus, the top seed in this bracket. As crazy as college basketball has been this season, this bracket looks to be the easiest march for any of the top seeds. I see the Cardinals advancing to Detroit. I don't think Michigan State can take them down (if they advance that far), Kansas is a cute three seed but not old enough to make a deep run and Wake Forest isn't the team they once were.

I like Louisville getting out of the bracket, with the "big" upset being USC over Boston College.

Chas Rich: I definitely have a hard time not seeing Louisville out of the Midwest. Michigan State just hasn't been consistent this year. First it was injury, then it was illness. It's always something with the Spartans.

West Virginia seems like a scary team in that half of the bracket. Seeded sixth, I can see them getting to the Sweet 16, upsetting Kansas in the second round. The wild card in the lower bracket is USC. Did they really and truly put it together in the Pac-10 or just get hot for a while with their season in the balance? They have the talent, but I don't trust them for more than one or two more games.

Kevin Blackistone: Of all the first round games, the one I want to see features Siena against Ohio State. Siena is like Gonzaga was back in the day. It's very balanced with a bunch of guys who can score. Kenny Hasbrouck and Ronald Moore make a nice backcourt, with Hasbrouck as the scorer and Moore as the efficient, slick ball-handling point who always finds the open man. Siena has a couple of post guys who can rebound. The Saints don't do anything spectacular but they don't have any flaws, either, like Louisville, whose free-throw shooting will kill them in a close game. And you gotta like a team with a Saint Bernard for a mascot? C'mon.

Adam Papagiorgio: I've seen Louisville play once this season -- and it was smoked by UNLV at home, without Wink Adams. Not a great sample size, I admit that. But the point is, nobody is that above reproach here. Nobody is so dominant that they can't lose.

When teams are that even, coaches end up making such a huge deal. Rick Pitino is a great coach, and I like them going into the Elite 8. But Tom Izzo gives Michigan State a great chance to not only survive this regional, but win the whole thing.

Sure, Michigan State lost to Ohio State -- badly. But for some reason -- and I have no scientific proof of this -- I like my teams to win a conference tournament game or two, then bow out. Like it's a spring training game or something. I like MSU to pull the upset in this bracket.

SB: I don't hate your theory on a conference team winning a tournament game or two and then bowing out. I had a conversation with a friend on Monday about how hard it is to win 10 straight collegiate basketball games and that is what you have to do if you win your conference championship and the NCAA tournament. With that said, I'm not saying that Louisville is the horse I'm riding all the way to the nets, but I just don't see enough competition in this bracket to challenge them.

Matt Snyder: I agree MSU has had trouble staying consistently dominant, but they have the talent to put together a strong run. A Sweet 16 match-up against either West Virginia or Kansas -- and I agree about WVU, Chas -- will be a classic game. I firmly believe they have the horses to take down Louisville. Wake, like Michigan State, has enough talent to make a run at Louisville as well. The way the tourney is set up, one-and-done instead of a series, means sometimes a team with lots of talent can just flip the proverbial switch.

On USC, I agree they will take down Boston College, but they won't have enough firepower to beat Michigan State.

One game I'm particularly excited to see is the 8 vs. 9 game. Though those sometimes tend to pit two "blah" teams against each other, this one has Ohio State vs. Siena. Siena is the best mid-major not named Gonzaga or Butler this year, and Ohio State is a young team who just started finding their stride during the Big Ten tournament.

I don't know why, but I'm really leaning against picking Louisville. I agree this is the "easiest" regional, but I just can't stop thinking about how they avoided playing Pitt and UConn on the road or in the Big East Tourney. How would they have fared? We'll never know, but I can't shake that feeling. Plus, they lost to Minnesota on a neutral court!

Jacob Wheatley-Schaller: I'm going to be obnoxious and declare that nobody can have USC as an "upset" pick; they're -2 in that game. Arizona, as a 12 seed, is also a slight favorite against Utah. This is a weird region.

I tend to agree that, while they were probably deserving of the No. 1 overall seed, Louisville has become a bit overrated over the last few weeks. Yeah, they've won 10 in a row, and the win at WVU was nice (although I'm not going to hold my breath waiting for Terrence Williams and Earl Clark to combine for 7-of-8 from three again), but what is the second best victory in that stretch? Beating a Syracuse game that had won four games in three days? Beating Villanova in the semis? And let's not forget that they lost to Notre Dame by 33 before this run started.

I think Michigan St., WVU and even Kansas all have realistic chances of winning this region, but it's just hard to pick them because the bottom half of the bracket is so much more difficult than Louisville's draw; Wake and Utah just aren't that good, although OSU has the potential to shock some people in round two. Upset-wise I'll go with CSU over a Wake team that has really fallen off over the last two months; NDSU over KU wouldn't shock me either.

CR: Louisville spent the last two years stumbling through the non-con before righting the ship. In the prior two, injuries slowed them. This year it was Pitino trying to find a point guard amongst all his shooting guards, before realizing he was better off with Terrance Williams acting as a point-forward. Once that happened, things really started clicking for the Cardinals.

The Minnesota loss was not a surprise simply from a scheduling perspective. They played in Cincy on December 18 against Ole Miss (Big East-SEC Challenge), then had to fly to Arizona to play Minnesota on the 20th. The Siena-Ohio State game should be something. Does OSU get an additional edge for having the game in Ohio? I like Siena, but they've been just good enough to lose. Wake, I just don't trust. They seem too fragile or maybe just too young. That first loss in conference seemed to shake them and they never seemed to recover, playing very inconsistently after that.

Chris Burke: I don't think you can overlook the impact great coaches have, particularly in the tournament. The best coaches in this bracket lead the top three seeds, with Rick Pitino at Louisville, Tom Izzo at Michigan State and Bill Self at Kansas. Izzo, particularly, has gotten deep tournament runs out of teams less talented than this one, so the Spartans have to be a team to be reckoned with. They play defense, like you would expect from a Big Ten team, but also have the horses to get up and down the court -- so should it come to it, they would be a difficult matchup for either Self's Kansas squad or Pitino's Louisville club.

That said, I could see any of five teams coming out of the bottom of the bracket: MSU, West Virginia, Kansas, Boston College or USC. I don't think this bracket is as weak as people think. Up top, Louisville looks like the strongest team by a decent margin, but it's hard to overlook Ohio State playing in Dayton. That's basically a home game for the Buckeyes, and you can't count out any team that has its conference's MVP like Ohio State does in Evan Turner.

Oh, and I know I said Self is a great coach, and Kansas is a Final Four threat, but heads up for North Dakota State in that first-round game. A veteran team with good 3-point shooters is always, always dangerous in the dance.

MS: We might want to clarify that Kalin Lucas was the Big Ten player of the year, but Burke is saying Turner was the most valuable player ... and I certainly would not argue.

AP: May I add one thing to this discussion? Utah has the weight of all the mid-majors riding on its shoulders. The Utes have to win that game, otherwise it validates the committee. Therefore, I imagine that Arizona will get so many calls that even Duke coach Mike Krsyurjhnmjhujyeruski will think it's excessive. Utah will be playing 8-on-5.

If Utah does win this game, USC should have to play a game at Rice-Eccles next year.

SB: I hate to be the one that disagrees with this since I'm an Arizona guy, but the refs aren't going to give either team calls just because "the weight of the mid-majors is riding on a team's shoulders." Maybe I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but Arizona -- as a 12 versus a 5 -- is a favorite in this game. That should say everything that needs to be said about mid-majors.

Trust me, I root for the little guy. I loved the Davidson, George Mason and Valpo runs. Those stories are why we watch the NCAA tournament. I just want anyone to find a guy who plays for a mid-major who wouldn't go to a big school (like Kentucky, Florida or Arizona) if he could start there. It wouldn't happen. Mid-majors are good stories because sometimes teams get hot by playing team ball with good chemistry and catch a team that doesn't want to be there at the right time.

I just think if Arizona wins that game, blaming it on the refs or committee isn't giving certain teams the respect they deserve.

AP: Just a quick clarification, point spreads are not a prediction of what the sports book believes will happen. The lines are set to induce betting on both sides. Even Colin Cowherd got that wrong on the radio today.

JW-S: That doesn't mean they're not a good predictor of what is going to happen, Adam. Or else we'd all be rich.

Ray Holloman: It's no accident Pitino's teams really come together after the winter break. When school is out of session, those NCAA practice limits (20 hours a week for "athletically related activities" I think is what the rule book refers to it as) do not apply and every year, Pitino really capitalizes on that. Nobody works harder during the winter break than Pitino and it's almost a boot camp for his team.

I think Louisville is obviously the favorite to come out of that bracket, but I expect everything in this tournament to play out as unpredictably as the season has. We've had a different No. 1 in each of the last five polls of the season, something that's never happened before in the 64-team era. You have to go back all the way to the poll week ending Dec. 14 to find a week in which all these No. 1 seeds each won (at least, according to the best of my back-of-the-envelope stat checking), so I don't think it's going to magically end here.

And consider that Louisville has its own weaknesses. We'll have to see how that downright Old Testament full-court press works away from home against an Elite Eight type team. They're shooting the ball a lot better now, but that was a big problem earlier in the year. And they still stink from the free throw line. Leaving points at the charity stripe will kill you in the NCAA tournament. Just ask Memphis.

Having said that, I'm not sure exactly which team of this draw is going to challenge Louisville. You might be tempted to talk about Wake Forest, but I think Gary Williams really drew out the blueprint on how to beat that team with marginal talent. Williams packed the lane with a 3-2 zone and dared the Deacons to shoot 3-pointers, which they're wholly not comfortable with. Wake was fourth from the last in the nation in percentage of 3-pointers taken as a portion of its field goal attempts, and shoot in the low 30s when they do attempt from distance. And while James Johnson hurt Maryland, the Terps minimized that impact with the body-by-beer pong Dave Neal. For a team with three NBA first-rounders on it, Wake's offense is a whole lot of standing around. Defense is a great thing, but it's those scoring droughts that kill you in the NCAA tournament (think North Carolina's collapse against Georgetown two years ago).

I really like West Virginia in the bottom half of that bracket. Their underlying fundamentals are much better than their final record suggests. They rank in the top 15 in both adjusted offensive efficiency and adjusted defensive efficiency, which is a great predictor of postseason success. And they seem to be getting better. Just look at Devin Ebanks' game-by-game log to see the evolution of a player.

Shiloh Carder: I agree that this sets up nicely for Louisville. They get the first two rounds a few hours away in Dayton and then the Regional semifinals and finals up the road in Indianapolis. Doesn't get much better.

The only team I can see that can upset the Cardinals is Wake Forest. Wake has the talent, the size, the speed and the depth to go blow-for-blow with Louisville. However, the Deacs aren't playing their best basketball right now and could buckle under the pressure.

I don't like Michigan State at all. Kansas could make a run but I don't like the fact they've laid an egg twice in about a week. They could lose to the North Dakota State Bison just like they lost to the Bucknell Bison a few years ago. I think this corner of the bracket is all Louisville.

What I find interesting is that Arizona was the one surprise getting into the tournament yet people are picking them to upset Utah in the first round. I really want to see how this plays out because I think the Mountain West received no respect from the selection committee and the Pac-10 was given some love.

Also, this is an interesting bracket for coaches. You have Rick Pitino, Bill Self and Tom Izzo who have won titles (all the other regions have exactly two head coaches who have led their teams to titles). Thad Matta is a hell of a coach and Bob Huggins brings his unique style (both have been to Final Fours).

NCAA Roundtable: Midwest Region originally appeared on NCAA Basketball Tournament on Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:00:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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