Previewing the Final Four

Four teams remain after another great weekend of college basketball. Let's take a look at the Final Four matchups.

(5) Butler vs. (5) Michigan State
Butler is in a similar position that the Spartans were in last year, playing in front of a hometown crowd. Butler topped Kansas State in their regional final, and beat Syracuse in their semifinal. Michigan State beat Tennessee in the Midwest Regional Final. Overall I think Butler will advance to their first national title appearance.

(1) Duke vs. (2) West Virginia
The one final four matchup that many predicted features top seeded Duke against the second seeded West Virginia. The Blue Devils topped Baylor in their region, and West Virginia knocked off Kentucky, who was a national contender. I think Duke advances to take on Butler in the championship game.

Previewing the Sweet Sixteen

After two great rounds of college basketball, we now have the final sixteen teams of the NCAA tournament. Let's take a look at each matchup.

Midwest Region:
(9) Northern Iowa vs. (5) Michigan State
The Panthers are a huge Cinderella story after knocking off #1 seed Kansas, and they will take on Tom Izzo and his Michigan State Spartans. Kalin Lucas may have torn his Achilles against Maryland, and that will set back MSU. I still think the depth of MSU will lead them over Northern Iowa.

(6) Tennessee vs. (2) Ohio State
Ohio State has played well so far, but Tennessee has looked very good in their previous games, albeit against San Diego State and Ohio. I'll take the upset and predict a Tennessee win.

East Region:
(12) Cornell vs. (1) Kentucky
Cornell, the Ivy League champs, are one of the many Cinderella's left. With Kansas out, Kentucky is a very popular pick to win it all. I think the Big Red will stick with UK, but in the end, John Wall and Co. will pull out.

(11) Washington vs. (2) West Virginia
The Huskies are showing many people how good they can be, despite a tough season for Washington. West Virginia is a very solid team, and is definitely a contender for the title. As much as I want a Pac-10 team to win, I'll go with West Virginia in this one.

West Region:
(5) Butler vs. (1) Syracuse
Butler has looked good in their first two games, but Syracuse is getting a great contribution from star forward Wesley Johnson, who scored 31 points for them in their rout of eight seed Gonzaga in round 2. I'll take Syracuse over the Bulldogs.

(6) Xavier vs. (2) Kansas State
Xavier has been one of the most consistent teams in the country the past few years, reaching the sweet sixteen for the past three years. Kansas State has quietly been playing a great tournament, led by Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. I'll take K-State in a close one over Xavier.

South Region:
(4) Purdue vs. (1) Duke
Purdue slid by Texas A&M and Siena, and have looked different without standout forward Robbie Hummel. Duke has played very well in the tourney, and looks to be firing on all cylinders. I'll take Duke to advance into the elite eight.

(10) St. Mary's vs. (3) Baylor
Another Cinderella team, St. Mary's shocked many by stunning 2 seed Villanova in the second round. Baylor has been led by Tweety Carter, and have so far beaten expectations in the tournament. I'll take Baylor in a tight one.

NCAA Tournament Wrap Up: Thursday (3/18)

Sorry for the lack of posts recently, I've had a lot of basketball and school work. I will try to do a wrap up for each day of the tournament from now on, and starting tomorrow night I will rank the remaining teams in the tournament. Let's take a look at some of the games from this afternoon and evening.

East Region
(1) Kentucky 100, (16) East Tennessee State 71
Kentucky dominated this game and showed why they were a top-ranked seed. Eric Bledsoe led the Wildcats with 29 points and Patrick Patterson had 22. John Wall contributed with a double-double (17 points and 11 assists) to lead Coach John Calipari's team to a second round berth.

(11) Washington 80, (6) Marquette 78
The Pac-10 champion Huskies won this one in dramatic fashion, as senior Quincy Pondexter sunk a game-winner with 1.7 second left in the game. Marquette failed to make a field goal in the final 4:33 of the game. Pondexter had 18 points for Washington, and Isaiah Thomas had 19 points and eight assists.

(9) Wake Forest 81, (8) Texas 80 (OT)
A last second shot from Ishmael Smith won it for the Demon Deacons.

(3) New Mexico 62, (14) Montana 57
The Lobos avoided a huge upset from the Grizzlies.

Midwest Region
(9) Northern Iowa 69, (8) UNLV 66
The Panthers, conference champions of the Missouri Valley conference, took on the Runnin' Rebels in one of the more anticipated mid-major matchups of the day. Ali Farokhmanesh led UNI with 17 points and 3 assists. The Panthers will likely play a number one seed on Saturday barring a huge upset in tonight's Kansas-Lehigh game.

(14) Ohio 97, (3) Georgetown 83
In one of the major upsets of the day, the Ohio Bobcats topped Georgetown in a high scoring game. The Bobcats were led by Armon Bassett with 32 points and DJ Cooper with 23 points. The Bobcats will take on the winner of the Tennessee-San Diego State game.

(6) Tennessee 62, (11) San Diego State 59
A close game all the way through, Tennessee pushed through at the end with fastbreak points.

(1) Kansas 90, (16) Lehigh 74
Lehigh stuck in this game for most of the second half, but the Jayhawks pulled away.

South Region
(11) Old Dominion 51, (6) Notre Dame 50
Another loss in a rough day for Big East as the Fighting Irish fall to the Old Dominion Monarchs. Frank Hassell had 15 points and 9 rebounds for ODU.

(2) Villanova 73, (15) Robert Morris 70
Villanova avoids a huge upset.

(3) Baylor 68, (14) Sam Houston State 59
Baylor looked sharp in tourney debut

(10) Saint Mary's 80, (7) Richmond 71
St. Mary's led by Omar Samhan move to ply Villanova.

West Region
(7) BYU 99, (10) Florida 92 (2OT)
Shootout won by Jimmer Fredette and the Cougars.

(13) Murray State 66, (4) Vanderbilt 65
Major upset as the OVC champs top Vandy on a buzzer beater

(2) Kansas State 82, (15) North Texas 62
K-State looked in Final Four form with 20 point rout of the Mean Green

(5) Butler 77, (12) UTEP 59
Butler takes care of business against Miners who were a popular upset pick.

NCAA Tournament Predictions

It's Selection Sunday in the college basketball world, and with conference championships wrapping up today, it's all leading up to the Selection Show tonight on CBS at 3 Pacific time. Let's take a look at who I think will make it into the Big Dance.

In the Field
America East: Vermont (1)
ACC: Duke, Clemson, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, Florida State, Maryland (6)
A Sun: East Tennessee State (1)
A-10: Temple, Xavier, Richmond (3)
Big East: West Virginia, Villanova, Syracuse, Georgetown, Pitt, Marquette (6)
Big Sky: Montana (1)
Big South: Winthrop (1)
Big 10: Ohio State, Michigan State, Purdue, Wisconsin, Illinois (5)
Big 12: Kansas, Texas, Kansas State, Baylor, Missouri, Texas A&M, Oklahoma State (7)
Big West: UCSB (1)
CAA: Old Dominion, William and Mary (2)
C-USA: Houston, UTEP (2)
Horizon: Butler (1)
Ivy: Cornell (1)
MAAC: Siena (1)
MAC: Ohio (1)
Mid-East: Morgan State (1)
MVC: Northern Iowa (1)
MWC: San Diego State, New Mexico, UNLV, BYU (4)
Northeast: Robert Morris (1)
Ohio Valley: Murray State (1)
Pac-10: Washington, California (2)
Patriot: Lehigh (1)
SEC: Kentucky, Tennessee, Vanderbilt, Mississippi State, Florida (5)
Southern: Wofford (1)
Southland: Sam Houston State (1)
SWAC: Arkanas-Pine Bluff (1)
Summit: Oakland (1)
Sun Belt: North Texas (1)
WCC: St. Mary’s, Gonzaga (2)
WAC: New Mexico State, Utah State (2)

The Big 12 gets the most teams with 7, while the ACC, Big 10, and Big East each get 6 teams in. The Mountain West gets 4 teams, and a few mid-majors get more than one team. The WAC got two teams, and so did the Colonial Athletic. These are just predictions, and I will post later with my thoughts on the tournament field once it is announced.

EDIT: Minnesota just played themselves out the tournament with a 90-61 loss to Ohio St in the Big 10 championship. The top 65 has been adjusted to reflect this, as Florida is now in.

March Madness Blind Resume Game: Part 1

Today I've decided to play a game one this blog. I'll give you three teams who are on the bubble, give you the strength of schedule, RPI rank, overall record, and conference record. In the comments, tell me which one of the three teams would make it to the tournament if it came down to those three.

Team A
Overall Record: 17-14
Conference Record: 7-11
RPI: 55
SOS: 3

Team B
Overall Record: 22-8
Conference Record: 11-5
RPI: 33
SOS: 73

Team C
Overall Record: 24-5
Conference Record: 11-3
RPI: 45
SOS: 142

In the comments, tell me which of the teams you believe should make the tournament. Remember only pick one. After a few comments I'll reveal the identity of the three teams.

Welcome to the Madness: ETSU Buccanneers

The 3rd spot in the NCAA tournament has been claimed by Atlantic Sun champion East Tennessee State Buccanneers. Let's take a look at their season.

ETSU Bucs
Record: (20-14 Overall, 13-7 Conference)
Conference: Atlantic Sun
Regular Season Finish: 5th Place
The Bucs repeat as tournament champions this year after a first round loss to 1 seeded Pittsburgh last year. The Bucs are back for more and will look to try and advance past the first round. The Bucs also have 3 players who average double figures in points per game.

Players to Watch:
G Tommy Hubbard - 14.1 PPG, 8.3 RPG
G Micah Williams - 12.5 PPG
G Justin Tubbs - 11.8 PPG

ETSU should look to be a pretty low seed with their 20-14 record, and most likely will lose in the first round. Congrats on making the NCAA's!

Welcome to the Madness: Winthrop Eagles

After another conference champion is crowned, there are now two teams locked into the NCAA tournament field. The Winthrop Eagles have joined the dance, so let's take a look at their season.

Winthrop Eagles
Record: (19-13 Overall, 12-6 Conference)
Conference: Big South
The Eagles return to the tournament after missing it last year after a 4 year streak of making the NCAA's. Winthrop beat Coastal Carolina, the favorites by far who led the conference this season. The Eagles resume isn't that good, with no major wins against anybody of note. Expect them to get a 13 or 14 seed on Selection Sunday.

Player to Watch:
G Reggie Middleton - 10.4 PPG, 3.0 APG

Congrats to the Winthrop Eagles on making the 2010 NCAA Tournament! Mercer and ETSU are in the second half of their championship game for the A-Sun at the time of posting, so a post should come up soon about that game.

Welcome to the Madness: Cornell Big Red

With many conferences coming to a close, I'm going to try to get through every automatic bid for conference champions. The first of 31 has clinched their spot in the NCAA tournament, so let's take a look at Cornell's season.

Cornell Big Red
Record: (26-4 Overall, 12-1 Conference)
Conference: Ivy League
The Big Red came into the season projected as the Ivy League champs, which usually doesn't give a team national buzz. But the Big Red did exactly that with probably the most impressive loss of any non-power conference school. They went into Allen Fieldhouse and took on the #1 Kansas Jayhawks and were up by 4 with a minute left. Despiet leaving with a loss, Cornell came as close as anyone had to beating Kansas at home in 3 years. The Big Red did not break their stride getting into conference play, and was ranked in the top 25 at one point. Despite a surprise loss to Penn late in the year, the Big Red took down their main competition for first in the conference in Harvard and Princeton. The Big Red are definitely a Cinderella to watch in the tournament.

Player to watch:
F Ryan Wittman - 17.4 PPG, 4.0 RPG, 41.2 3PT%

After today's games, we will have three more teams being added to the tournament field with the Big South championship game (Winthrop-Coastal Carolina), Atlantic Sun (East Tennessee St-Mercer) and the Ohio Valley title game (Morehead St-Murray St). Check back later tonight or early tomorrow for posts about those champions.

NFL Trades and Free Agency Live Updates

Wow, just one day into the NFL free agency and big moves have been made already. Let's take a look at some of the moves.

Ravens trade a 3rd and 4th round pick to the Cardinals for WR Anquan Boldin (Reported by ESPN's Adam Schefter, more news when confirmed)
A big trade for the Ravens, as they get someone for QB Joe Flacco to throw to, and they can put Boldin with Derrick Mason (if he doesn't retire) and Donte Stallworth, who they signed recently as well. For Arizona, they must be counting on Steve Breaston to become their second receiver.

Jets trade a 3rd round pick to the Chargers for CB Antonio Cromartie
San Diego is really dumping salaries now, letting go of Cromartie, Darren Sproles, and LT. In New York, they now have one of the best cornerback tandems in the league with Darrelle Revis across from Cromartie.

Chicago Bears sign DE Julius Peppers, RB Chester Taylor, and TE Brandon Manumaleuna
Chicago signed Peppers for 6 years, and Taylor for 4 years. Peppers is one of the most dominant pass rushers in the game, and with very little picks in the draft, they needed to make some moves in free agency. Taylor gives them a great backup for Matt Forte, and could pressure on Forte to perform this year.

ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that the Falcons sign CB Dunta Robinson
Robinson is a very solid corner, and if Atlanta can sign him he can be a valuable asset in their pass defense.

Eagles Release RB Brian Westbrook
Westbrook is just another veteran running back to be cut so far (LT, Thomas Jones), and the Eagles will probably give the starting job to LeSean McCoy, who impressed many last season.

Cardinals trade a 4th and 7th round pick to New York Jets for FS Kerry Rhodes
The Cardinals get Rhodes, who could replace Adrian Wilson if he decides to leave, or compliment him in he stays. The Jets get 2 picks in the draft where they could try a strike gold with a late rounder.

Jets cut RB Thomas Jones
Jones was cut because of his huge roster bonus this year, but http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/ is reporting that the Jets would like to sign Jones back for a lower price. If they cannot work out a return deal, they should be set at RB with Shonn Greene and Leon Washington.

I'll have more news when more of these are confirmed as well as free agency info.