Irish Trojan in Tennessee

Another SCandal

By Brendan Loy

As if Reggiegate wasn't bad enough, now one-and-done Trojan basketball star O.J. Mayo is accused of taking cash and gifts while at USC.

Ugh.

P.S. Pat Forde asks: "So you take the Bush allegations, add a side of Mayo and ask the question: Has there ever been a more textbook definition of 'lack of institutional control'?" He goes on:

If all the allegations stand up, USC athletic director Mike Garrett and the Inspector Clouseaus who comprise his compliance staff must lose their jobs over these serial embarrassments, or the school has no credibility whatsoever. When USC's two highest-profile sports both have star players allegedly on the brazen take from agents, somebody needs to answer for it. A lot of somebodies.

I would tend to agree with that. Fire Mike Brey Garrett?

Things to think about when criticizing college athletes

By Jay Johnson

I know that I have personally been guilty of being overly critical of some college athletes about their performance on the field of play.  Someone's not giving full effort, a step too slow, or otherwise just not putting it all out there on the floor for their team and their fans.

Here's a story that should make everyone check that attitude for a minute.

Tennessee's preseason All-America guard, Chris Lofton, started off the 2007-08 season in an absolute funk.  He wasn't scoring, his play seemed a bit lackluster, and couldn't hit a three to save his life.

Well, the facts were really that he was battling to actually save his life. 

Diagnosed with testicular cancer following a random NCAA drug screen after the 2006-07 season, he fought a private battle with the cancer, with only the closest of the close among his family and friends knowing what he was going through.

Meanwhile, local sports fans and commentators were critical to varying degrees about Lofton's performance.  There were calls for him to be benched along with wild speculation about what his problems on the floor were.

I just think that this is a good opportunity to remind everyone that college athletes are young kids, from divergent backgrounds, with any number of personal problems that can impact their play.  So, before you take time to bash someone on a message board, call in to a talk show, or otherwise express an opinion without all the facts, slow down and take Chris Lofton's situation to heart.

NCAA demonstrates common sense; Hell freezes over

By Brendan Loy

Remember Barack Obama's pick-up game with the North Carolina Tar Heels? Well, technically speaking, it violated NCAA rules. But for once, the NCAA is taking a sensible line: "This was a unique situation and not an NCAA issue," said a spokesman. "It certainly was a great opportunity for the student-athletes to interact with a presidential candidate."

Obama loses the Duke vote

By Brendan Loy

Barack Obama shot some hoops with the North Carolina Tar Heels yesterday. "You guys are leaving the next president of the United States wide open," Roy Williams jokingly yelled at his players at one point.

No word on whether Williams was wearing a Hillary sticker at the time. ;)

Only 334 days till Selection Sunday!

By Brendan Loy

Joe Lunardi has published his initial, ridiculously early, meaningless yet fun, pre-pre-season 2009 Bracketology projections. (Hat tip: BK.) His #1 seeds are North Carolina, Duke, Texas and Pittsburgh. 2007 finalists Kansas and Memphis drop to #2 and #3, respectively, and UCLA plummets to a #7. w00t! :)

More importantly, Notre Dame is a #2 seed (without Gene Cross? Hmm...), Gonzaga is a #5, and USC is a #9. Frankly, those all seem high to me, but maybe I'm just a pessimist about my own teams. (Although, if so, it didn't prevent my irrational Zag-xuberance last year.)

Tennessee falls all the way to #9... where they're matched up in a brutal first-round game against #8 Davidson. (Stephen Curry FTW!) This year's mid-major superpower that almost beat UT, Butler, is on the bubble but out, as are the Washington Huskies. The UConn Huskies, though, are sitting pretty as a #2 seed. Oh, and the University of Hartford Hawks, after falling one game short in 2008, make their NCAA Tournament debut in 2009 as a #16 seed. Hurrah!

Yeah, so, we have a college football season to start -- and finish -- before I'll get really excited about any of this, but it's fun to look ahead. :)

Heh.

By Brendan Loy

Hillary Says Memphis National Champ Despite KU Having More Points: "Just because some team comes along in the last minute and scores more points than the other guy doesn't mean they're necessarily able to be National Champion on Day One." (Hat tip: GT12.)

Toledo hires ND assistant coach

By Brendan Loy

Notre Dame's men's basketball assistant coach Gene Cross, credited by some with turning Mike Brey's team around over the last two years, has been hired by Toledo as their new head coach. (Hat tip: Chris A.)

Whenever I've eaten crow and praised Brey -- whose first name, for blog purposes, used to be "Fire" -- over the last two years, Becky has countered that "he has an awesome assistant coach," choosing to credit Cross rather than Brey for the Irish's improvement. I guess now we'll find out who's right.

(Well, maybe. There is, of course, a third person whose arrival between the 2004-05 and 2005-06 seasons was also rather a big deal: Luke Harangody.)

Good news, bad news

By Brendan Loy

The bad news: O.J. Mayo is going pro. (I'm shocked, SHOCKED.)

The good news: LSU has hired Stanford's Trent Johnson, which obviously means they won't be hiring USC's Tim Floyd.

March Madness in review

By Brendan Loy

Wrapping up the men's NCAA Tournament Tuesday morning, Deadspin wrote: "Mostly: What a fun tournament. Even with all No. 1 seeds in the Final Four, we had three legitimate glories: Western Kentucky's last-second win, Stephen Curry's brilliance and Mario Chalmers' massive shot. That's three more than last year. We'll take it."

Along the same lines, yesterday morning College Hoops Journal posted the Top Ten games of the tourney, prefacing the list with the comment: "Who said it was a down year? Give me 10 games of the caliber listed below and I’ll be fine if the other 54 are snoozers."

The best of times, the worst of times

By Brendan Loy

I've been looking all day for a scan of the Lawrence Journal-World's front page, so I could do a compare & contrast with the front page of the Memphis Commercial Appeal. But the J-W wasn't on Newseum when I checked earlier. Now it is, albeit with a strangely low-quality picture. Anyway, both front pages are after the jump. Heartbroken Memphis fans, you may not want to click the link below.

Hey...

By Brendan Loy

...does this mean there's going to be a parade?? I love parades!!

UPDATE: Local news says there will be a celebration at Thompson-Boling Arena at 5:30 PM tomorrow, free and open to the general public, with doors opening at 5:00. No word yet on any parade plans.

P.S. My Facebook profile asks the question:

Jeff Freeze wins women's pool

By Brendan Loy

The Tennessee Lady Vols defeated two Indiana schools on their road to the Final Four, but their national championship means victory for at least one Hoosier: newly crowned Living Room Times women's pool champion Jeff Freeze.

Freeze, a resident of Portage, Indiana and an alumnus of Indiana, Michigan State and Notre Dame -- the latter having been one of Tennessee's tournament victims, along with Purdue -- jumped from eighth to first place tonight on account of the Lady Vols' 64-48 win over Stanford tonight. He finishes with 381 out of a possible 477 points, good enough for a two-point win over Joseph Hiegel in the 11th annual Times women's pool.

Like men's pool winner Alex Whitfield, Freeze has been an Irish Trojan reader since Hurricane Katrina. (Hiegel, on the other hand, only discovered the site earlier this month, by Googling "NIT prediction pool.")

Hiegel, of Greenfield, Wisconsin, finishes second with 379 points. F.X. McGahee of Aiken, South Carolina is third with 374 points, followed by Dan Port of Los Angeles, in fourth with 372. Port wins the prize for best two-tournament performance, as he finished second in the men's pool.

Port is also one of just three contestants to correctly predict the national champions in both the men's and women's tournaments. The others are Chris Aemisegger (51st in the women's pool, 27th in the men's) and "Loyette" Loy (85th, 234th).

Ken Stern of Thomaston, Maine -- who started the night in first place, but had no chance of winning because his national champion had already been eliminated and he was bound to be leapfrogged -- finishes fifth with 362 points. Jeff Vaca, a Cal alum and Elk Grove, California resident who would have won the pool if Stanford had beaten Tennessee tonight, instead finishes sixth with 362 points.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

UT vs. Tree

By Brendan Loy

It's Candace vs. Candice (and Smoky vs. The Tree) in the women's national championship game, and Jeff vs. Jeff in the Living Room Times women's pool, as March Madness officially ends tonight.

If the Tennessee Lady Vols, led by Candace Parker, beat the Stanford Drunken Trees Cardinal, led by Candice Wiggins, in tonight's title showdown, then Jeff Freeze, a 1992 Indiana alum, will win the 11th annual Times women's pool. If Stanford prevails, then Jeff Vaca, a 1982 Cal alum, will be the pool champion.

The game starts at 8:30 PM EST on ESPN. Gamecast here.

P.S. If Tennessee wins, there will be three contestants in my pools who correctly predicted both the men's and women's champions: Chris Aemisegger, Dan Port, and... Loyette! Heh. (If Stanford wins, there will be no such contestants.)

UPDATE: It's 37-29 Tennessee at halftime.

UPDATE 2: The Lady Vols win!

The final score was 64-48. I guess they used up all the drama in their Final Four win over LSU:

Would you pay $275...

By Brendan Loy

...for this seat?

Rock, Chalk, Ripoff!

UPDATE: Some commenters suggest the picture may be Rock, Chalk, Photoshopped.

UPDATE 2: Sports by Brooks, which originally published the image, says the image is Photoshopped, but not in a bad way. SbB says the photo is comprised of of "three images we put together that gives you the lovely panorama from section 330." In other words, it's Photoshopped, but it's also legit!

A good omen?

By Brendan Loy

Last night, Kansas won its first national championship since 1988. You know, it occurs to me, there's another storied national powerhouse that won its last national championship in 1988. Hmm... could the Jayhawks' return to glory be a good omen for the Irish?

One Shining Moment

By Brendan Loy

The Leprechaun made the cut!

Pretty decent, by recent years' standards. But I still object to the trend of cramming together all the buzzer-beaters and other assorted awesome shots in the musical bridge two-thirds of the way through the song. It cheapens each highlight to put them back-to-back-to-back like that, and it results in the first two verses feeling stuffed with "filler" -- too many shots of mascots, fans, cheerleaders, and slow-mo close-ups of balls and nets and players' and coaches' faces, and not enough, you know, basketball. Spread the love!

P.S. Don't get me wrong, I love the shots of mascots, cheerleaders and the like. But they have a place, and that place is during the intro music and maybe the first verse. Not the later parts of the song, unless they have some actual significance to the storyline of the tournament (like the shot of Stephen Curry's mom). For instance, the clip at the 1:23 mark of some guy dancing with the mascot of George Mason -- a team that was unceremoniously bounced in the first round -- is totally out of place. How about putting a basketball highlight there? (Although, that said, I have no objection to the shot of the USC Song Girls immediately afterward... hehe.)

And did I miss it, or is CDR's unforgettably awesome dunk over Kevin Love not in the highlight reel? WTF?? I could forgive the absence of Dorsey's bank-shot 3, since CBS obviously has limited time to finish editing the thing, but the absence of that Final Four highlight is inexcusable! Clearly, the song was mixed by a UCLA fan who wanted to spare Kevin Love's fragile emotions. ;)

And yes, I realize I think about this way too hard. :)

P.P.S. One last thing. What is it with Jim Nantz and his lame-o canned lines, so painfully obviously prepared in advance, announcing each team's championship? "Rock, Chalk, Championship" was actually not as bad as some of them, like "Leave it to Cleaves" (Michigan State 2000), "The 'Meka of college basketball is in Storrs, Connecticut" (UConn 2004, a punny reference to Emeka Okafor), "It started in March, ended in April, and belonged to May" (North Carolina 2005, an even punnier reference to Sean May), and of course, the worst of all, from 1999:

Folks, you gotta believe, because just when people say you can't, you can, and UConn has won the national championship!

Ugh. Would Nantz-Packer please just retire already?

The shot

By Brendan Loy

Alex Whitfield wins men's pool

By Brendan Loy

Just call it the Kansas-Nebraska Act.

Kansas won the national championship in thrilling fashion Monday night, and Alex Whitfield -- a Nebraska fan who goes by the blog nickname "CORNHUSKERS 94 95 97" -- rode the Jayhawks' coattails to win the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins.

Whitfield, a Duke alum and resident of Brooklyn, New York, finished with 392 out of a possible 477 points, the second-highest total in Times men's pool history behind Arash Markazi's 409 points last year. Whitfield correctly predicted the entire Final Four, both finalists, and the champion. (Here's his bracket.)

It almost wasn't to be for Whitfield. Kansas trailed by 9 points with 2:12 left, and until Mario Chalmers's instant-classic three-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation, it looked like Amy Greca would join her husband Tom as the first pair of spouses to each own a Times pool championship. (Tom Greca won the 2002 men's pool.) Instead, Amy Greca finished sixth in the final standings.

Dan Port, a 2004 USC alum, finished second with 379 points. N.C. State alum and Ph.D. student Chuck Wessell was third with 369 points. Ken Inadomi had 360 points to finish fourth. Rounding out the Top 5 -- all of whom picked Kansas -- is Virginia student Logan Pugh with 355 points.

Hannah McLaughlin of Portsmouth, New Hampshire, who finished 12th, is the only contestant other than Whitfield who got the entire Final Four, both finalists and the champion correct. Port and Pugh got both finalists and the champion right, plus three of the Final Four.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

Finally, a good game?

By Brendan Loy

It's halftime in the national championship game between Memphis and Kansas, and thus far, the predicted blowout (for whichever team) has failed to materialize. It's 33-28 Jayhawks at the break.

20 minutes till One Shining Moment!

P.S. If this is true, it would be the greatest "shining moment" of them all: "Nantz seemed to go out of his way to mention Packer’s 34th-straight Final Four broadcast. It does seem like this could be his last." More here.

UPDATE: OVERTIME!!! Memphis couldn't hit its free throws down the stretch (missing 4 of its last 5), opening the door for Kansas to tie it on an AWESOME three-point shot with 2.1 seconds left by Mario Chalmers. The Jayhawks finished regulation on a 12-3 run. And now the Tigers have to play OT without Joey Dorsey, who has fouled out.

UPDATE 2: Rock, Choke, Tigers?? Memphis has totally collapsed here. In addition to the free-throw woes, they haven't scored a field goal in over 5 minutes, and it's now 69-63 Kansas with 2:29 left. Poor Jay. He must be losing his mind right now. The Tigers had a national championship within their grasp -- I was already working on the "Amy Greca wins the pool" write-up -- and they let it slip away. Can they get it back?

UPDATE 3: Kansas wins!

Sorry, Jay. :(

P.S. Here's what my current list of TypePad blog posts looks like. The little pencil icon indicates a draft post.

Amy Greca wins! Dewey Defeats Truman! Heh.

P.P.S. I understand John Calipari wants to praise his players and blame himself, but um, how can he say "they did everything they could" when they missed 4 of 5 free throws in the final minute, any one of which would have been enough to win the game?

P.P.P.S. Let it be known that, after an incredibly weak start, I actually won the Loy Household Sub-Pool, thanks in large part to my correct prediction that Kansas would win the championship. (I believe that's the first time I've correctly picked the national champ since UConn won it all in '99.) The final standings were:

Brendan 266
Becky 213
Toby, Sasha & Butter 197
Loyette 194
Robbie 133

Yes, I'm bragging about doing better than my three-month-old daughter, my cats and my dog. :) Hey, when you finish tied for 122nd place in the overall pool, this is what you're reduced to!

If we expand the field a bit, to include all immediate family, we get:

Ginny 310
Ted 290
Leanna 287
Brendan 266
Soren 257
Becky 213
Toby, Sasha & Butter 197
Joe 195
Loyette 194
Jen 174
Robbie 133
Casey 35

Congrats to Ginny! And to Casey! :)

Tonight: Alex Whitfield vs. Amy Greca

By Brendan Loy

It's a battle of the sexes tonight in the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins, as Alex Whitfield, a lifelong Nebraska fan who goes by the blog nickname "CORNHUSKERS 94 95 97," goes head-to-head with Amy Greca, a Newington, Connecticut resident who professes to "know absolutely nothing about basketball."

If Kansas wins the national championship, Whitfield will win the pool, rewarding his faith in the Big 12's best team. If Memphis prevails, Greca will win; the bracket that she put together "in probably less than 2 minutes" will be the best of the pool's 245 entries.

Whitfield lives in Brooklyn, New York, is a Duke alum, and has been an Irish Trojan blog reader since Hurricane Katrina. Greca, originally of Farmington, Connecticut, is married to Tom Greca, a high-school classmate of pool administrator Brendan Loy and the designer of this year's pool logo. Tom Greca has been competing in Times pools since their inception, and he won the seventh annual men's pool in 2002; if Memphis wins tonight, the Grecas would be the first-ever husband & wife pair to each win a Times pool championship.

Whitfield finished tied for 19th out of 263 in last year's men's pool; Greca finished tied for 97th. Whitfield finished 49th out of 104 in last year's women's pool.

It's Vaca vs. Freeze in women's pool

By Brendan Loy

Rachel Wetherill was 0.7 seconds away from clinching victory in the 11th annual Living Room Times women's basketball pool -- and putting a UCLA stamp on both of this year's NCAA pools.

Instead, the Bruin alum was mathematically eliminated when Tennessee's Alexis Hornbuckle hit a putback with 0.7 ticks left on the clock, knocking out Wetherill's predicted national champion, LSU. That sets up a "Battle of the Jeffs" in the pool, dependent on the result of Tuesday's title game between Tennessee and Stanford.

Jeff Vaca, a 1982 Cal alum who now lives in Elk Grove, California, will win the pool if his alma mater's archrival, Stanford, wins the championship. Jeff Freeze, a 1992 Indiana alum who now lives in Portage, Indiana, will win the pool if Tennessee repeats as champs.

Go Huskies & Lady Vols!

By Brendan Loy

The women's Final Four is underway, and UConn-Stanford is a good game early. The nightcap will be Tennessee-LSU. Although this Final Four isn't as "chalky" as the men's, it's just as stacked with talent: each team in tonight's semifinals has one of the five AP first-team All-Americans (Maya Moore, Candice Wiggins, Candace Parker and Sylvia Fowles, respectively).

I'm rooting for the Huskies and Lady Vols, so we can see the Geno vs. Pat grudge match in the title game -- in which, of course, I'll be rooting like crazy for UConn and its AP Coach of the Year. :)

UPDATE: There will be no dream matchup -- or clash of "Evil Empires," depending on your perspective -- in the national title game. Stanford wins, 82-73. :(

The Cardinal's victory eliminates Joseph Hiegel, Kevin Pilz, Kevin Hauschulz, Josh Krause and Gerry deSimas from any chance of winning my women's pool.

If LSU beats Tennessee tonight, UCLA alum Rachel Wetherill will clinch the pool. If Tennessee wins tonight, it'll be a battle of the Jeffs in Tuesday's title game, with Jeff Freeze winning if Tennessee captures the championship and Jeff Vaca winning if Stanford wins. Freeze is a graduate of Notre Dame, Michigan State, and Indiana; Vaca is a Cal alum.

Kansas wins; Whitfield vs. Greca in pool

By Brendan Loy

Incredibly, after falling behind 40-12 with seven minutes left in the first half (and having Billy Packer declare, "This game is over"), North Carolina has rallied to within eight points of Kansas, 54-46, with 12:16 left in the game. "It looks like panic is setting in" for Kansas, Jim Nantz says.

UPDATE: Now 54-48. UNC is on a 12-0 run, and more broadly, a 36-14 run. "We've seen some comebacks, Jim, but I have never seen anything like this," says Packer. "This would be the mother of all comebacks," Nantz agrees.

UPDATE 2: After pulling within 4 points at 54-50, North Carolina has gone cold, Kansas is on a 26-11 and 13-0 run, and it's 80-61 with under two minutes left. What a weird game.

UPDATE 3: Kansas 84, UNC 66, final. So it's Kansas vs. Memphis for the national title -- and Alex Whitfield vs. Amy Greca for the championship of the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins.

Whitfield (a.k.a. "CORNHUSKERS 94 95 97"), a Duke alum and Nebraska grad who lives in Brooklyn, New York, will win the pool if Kansas wins the championship. He is currently in first place with 367 out of a possible 452 points.

Dan Port, a 2004 USC alum, is in second place with 354 points, but he cannot pass Whitfield because they both picked Kansas to win.

Greca, a resident of Newington, Connecticut and wife of the man who designed the pool logo, Newington High School Class of 1999 Tom Greca, is third with 352 points, and will win the pool if Memphis wins the championship.

Rounding out the current Top 10 are Chuck Wessell (344 points), Ryan Morgan (336), Ken Inadomi (335), Liz Janelle (332), Shari Long (332), Chris Mulvey (332) and Logan Pugh (330). Long and Mulvey were eliminated by Kansas's win -- in Long's case, sparing her an agonizing decision over whether to root for her favorite team, Memphis, or for her own pool prospects (she picked UNC).

Full standings here and after the jump.

P.S. For posterity's sake, it should be noted that the original title of this post was "Rock, Choke, Jayhawk?"

Will Kansas make Roy Williams cry?

By Brendan Loy

It looks like the OMG BEST FINAL FOUR EVER is on the verge of turning into a total dud, as Kansas leads North Carolina 33-10 with 8:44 left in the first half. Yikes.

UPDATE: With 7:32 left in the first half, and Kansas leading 38-12, Billy Packer declares, "This game is over."

UPDATE 2: Wow! UNC rallied within 42-27 just before halftime... though Kansas got a layup at the buzzer to make it 44-27.

Meanwhile, Jay sends along this photo from the first game, of Kevin Love getting pwn3d by Chris Douglas-Roberts:

Nice.

Beat the Bruins!

By Brendan Loy

It's Memphis 56, UCLA 47 with 10:31 left. As Jay would say, GO TIGERS GO!

UPDATE: Memphis 78, UCLA 63, final. WOO!!! Three straight Final Fours for fUCLA, but no championships. Are the Bruins becoming the Buffalo Bills of college basketball?

Meanwhile, for all the talk about this being OMG The Most Stacked Final Four Ever, that wasn't exactly an instant classic. Kevin Love was basically a non-factor in the second half, foul trouble killed Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook, and the whole Bruins team went ice-cold down the stretch. All credit to Memphis for forcing fUCLA into those problems, of course, but this wasn't exactly a memorable clash of titans; the Bruins looked overmatched. It's like I said: a whole bunch of powerhouse teams advancing to play one another doesn't guarantee great games, any more than the presence of a Cinderella team guarantees blowouts. That concept is just a silly fallacy.

Also, apparently Memphis can shoot free throws. I almost think John Calipari instructed them to miss on purpose during the Conference USA schedule, just to lull everyone into a false sense of security. :)

P.S. Updated scenarios for who can win the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by, ahem, the UCLA Bruins:

If UNC beats Memphis for title: Shari Long wins
If Memphis beats UNC for title: Chris Mulvey wins
If Kansas beats Memphis for title: Alex Whitfield wins
If Memphis beats Kansas for title: Amy Greca wins

Joseph Hiegel, Robert Dokes, Chuck Wessell and Keith Evans were mathematically eliminated by UCLA's loss.

Current standings here and after the jump.

Final Four tonight

By Brendan Loy

With the men's Final Four tonight, just a reminder of the stakes in the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins:

If UNC & Memphis win: Title game is Shari Long (UNC) vs. Chris Mulvey (Memphis)

If UNC & UCLA win: Title game is Joseph Hiegel (UNC) vs. Robert Dokes (UCLA)

If Kansas & Memphis win: Title game is Alex Whitfield (Kansas) vs. Amy Greca (Memphis)

If Kansas & UCLA win: Title game is Chuck Wessell (Kansas) vs. Keith Evans (UCLA)

In other news, Tulsa won the inaugural CBI last night, and fans rushed the court. (Hat tip: Chris Newbury.) As for the WNIT, I, er, misspoke earlier: the title game is tonight.

tOSU wins NIT

By Brendan Loy

Your 2008 NIT champion is The Ohio State University. Say it with me, Buckeye fans: "We're #66! We're #66!" (Okay, so it's more like "We're #49," really; nobody was ever suggesting that the NCAA auto-bid teams seemed lower than #12 are better than the top-tier NIT teams. Although, tell it to San Diego and Siena...)

Anyway, here are the final standings of the 4th annual Irish Trojan NIT Pool. As I mentioned already, Gary Kirby won the pool. Kirby, a resident of San Bernadino, California and a former USC student, finished with 273 out of a possible 317 points under the pool's 7-10-15-20-25 scoring system. That's five better than the 268 points he got in winning last year's pool, and represents a new NIT Pool record. He made only four mistakes in the entire bracket. Kirby, a.k.a. "gahrie," is celebrating over on his blog.

Joshua Krause of New Britain, CT finished second with 258 points, just ahead of Mark Gardner of Fredericksburg, VA, who had 257. Jeff Burch of Syracuse, NY was fourth with 253, and Ginny Zak of Gold Canyon, AZ was fifth with 250.

Patrick Roach and Derek McDonald (243 apiece), Katrina Lewonczyk (235), Steve Ivey and Larry Caplin (234 each) round out the Top 10.

I finished dead last, 62nd place, with 76 points. :) Behold my hideous bracket! Heh.

Complete standings here and after the jump. 

CBI & WNIT update

By Brendan Loy

In case you somehow missed it, Bradley beat Tulsa in the CBI yesterday, to force a decisive Game 3 of the best-of-three "championship series." The Braves and Golden Hurricane will meet again Friday, in Tulsa, to determine who's number... um... let's see here... 65 + 32 = 97... who's #98! Go Bradley!! :)

In case you're wondering, attendance was 9,014 (out of a capacity of 11,060), up from 7,337 (out of 8,355) in Game 1. That ain't half bad for a tournament that looks at the NIT and thinks, "If only we were that cool." I wonder if Game 3 will be a sellout?

Meanwhile, in news that's sure to completely and utterly soothe Marquette fans who are upset about losing Tom Crean to Indiana, the Marquette women advanced to the WNIT final for the second time in three years. They'll play in-state foe Michigan State on Friday for the WNIT championship.

Man, if only I had more free time, I'd totally run pools for these lame-o tournaments... :)

UPDATE: Ahem. I mixed up my Marquettes. Although there is a Marquette in Michigan, the Marquette in question -- Marquette University -- is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Sorry, my bad.

Memphis senior suspended for Final Four

By Brendan Loy

Memphis's backup point guard, senior Andre Allen, has been suspended from the team for a violation of team rules -- reportedly, he failed a drug test -- and will not play in the Final Four.

Allen is described as a "tenacious defensive player who comes off the bench to be a stopper. ... Not having him is a big deal with Memphis facing UCLA's Darren Collison and Russell Westbrook on Saturday."

According to the Memphis Commercial Appeal, head coach John Calipari "did not rule out the possibility of Allen... becoming available Monday if the Tigers reach the NCAA championship game."

WNIT + CBI = OMG excitement!

By Brendan Loy

With the NIT title game not until tomorrow, and both the men's and women's NCAA Tournaments on hold until Saturday and Sunday, respectively, you might think there's no college basketball tonight. But you'd be wrong! Try to contain your excitement, but tonight features the WNIT semifinals (N.C. State vs. Michigan State, Marquette vs. Colorado) and Game 2 of the best-of-three CBI championship series (Bradley vs. Tulsa). Tulsa won the first game, 73-68 on its home floor, but now the series moves to Peoria, where Bradley will try to tie it up and earn a return trip to Tulsa for a decisive Game 3 on Friday. WOOO!!!! :) And, best of all, you can watch tonight's thrilling CBI action live online for the low, low price of $6.95, which is only $6.95 more than CBS charges to watch the entire NCAA Touranment online!

UConn women back in Final Four!

By Brendan Loy

UConn survives! The Huskies mounted a huge comeback against Rutgers to reach their first Final Four since 2004. Hurrah!

Among other things, this means the Geno vs. Pat Championship Game Grudge Match is still a possibility! All it takes now is for UConn to beat Stanford and Tennessee to beat LSU. (If it happens, I'll be rooting for the Huskies, Becky will be rooting for the Lady Vols, and I'm pretty sure she'll buy Loyette some sort of Tennessee onesie for the occasion... harumph!)

Latest women's pool standings here and after the jump. Also after the jump, updated scenarios of who can win, and how.

Kirby repeats as NIT Pool champ

By Brendan Loy

For the second year in a row, Gary Kirby is the Irish Trojan NIT Pool champion.

Kirby, a.k.a. "gahrie," clinched when UMass knocked off Florida to advance to Thursday's championship. Kirby actually picked the Gators to win this game, but he had them losing to Ohio State in the title game, while Brian Dupuis, a.k.a. "DUP," picked Florida to win the title -- and needed them to do so in order to overcome Kirby in the standings.

In 2006, Kirby was the runner-up in the second annual Irish Trojan NIT Pool. Last year, he won the third annual pool, and now he's the champion of the fourth annual pool as well.

The Ohio State-Ole Miss semifinal is still underway. Complete standings here and after the jump.

Lady Vols win; UConn losing

By Brendan Loy

Tennessee is going to the Final Four despite an injury to Candace Parker. Will UConn join them, putting the Huskies and Lady Vols one win each away from an epic Geno vs. Pat showdown in the national championship game? So far, Rutgers isn't cooperating with that plan.

After the jump, a look at where things stand in my pool.

Your chance to do me a solid...

By Jay Johnson

As most of you know, I'm a die-hard Memphis Tiger fan, and as such, I like to take the opportunity to show some Tiger pride when I can.

Now, all of you USC (and other folk, too) can take an opportunity to strike a mighty blow for Tigers everywhere.

You see, there's a Mascot competition at the Chicago Trib's website, and this round features my beloved Memphis Tiger Pouncer against the reviled, drunken, moronic Stanford Tree.

I'd certainly appreciate a little love for Pouncer. That would greatly rock.

Here's the link.

Not a joke: Tom Crean to Indiana

By Brendan Loy

Even as I was engaging in some April Foolishness, claiming that ESPN's Andy Katz was reporting that Indiana would hire Mike Brey, Andy Katz was actually reporting that Indiana would hire Marquette's Tom Crean -- and that has now been confirmed.

Meanwhile, "El Kabong" at ND Nation has taken some heat for his Brey-to-Indiana April Fool's joke, which he now admits was a joke. (Money quote: "Part of me thinks the only thing I should be embarrassed about is the joke is so hackneyed a twit like Brendan Loy apparently thought of it too." Heh.)

Mike Brey reportedly Indiana-bound

By Brendan Loy

Breaking news: ESPN's Andy Katz is reporting that Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey, the back-to-back Big East Coach of the Year who used to be such a frequent subject of Irish Trojan criticism that you'd have thought his first name was "Fire," will be introduced tomorrow morning as the new head coach at Indiana.

The last time rumors cropped up of Brey's possible departure (for N.C. State, in that case), I said they were "too good to be true." Now I actually think this might be a big loss for the Irish. I just hope Brey won't take assistant coach Gene Cross with him to Hoosierland!

Anyway, I'll have more on this after work, but Katz has more details.

Chalk, Interrupted

By Brendan Loy

If you want to see some non-#1 seeds in the Final Four, look no further than the women's NCAA Tournament.

#2-seed LSU upset #1 North Carolina last night, and #2 Stanford upset #1 Maryland, to earn spots in the Final Four. The ACC is out, and Stanford is the first Pac-10 team to reach the women's Final Four since 1997.

Admittedly, both #2 seeds were playing closer to home than their top-seeded opponents (LSU in New Orleans, Stanford in Spokane), and both had reasonable cases to be #1 seeds in their own right, so these are not exactly stunning results. Nevertheless, the women's Final Four is officially less "chalky" than the men's.

So, what does this mean for the 11th annual Living Room Times women's basketball pool?

Where should Davidson be ranked?

By Brendan Loy

Here's a question for y'all: when the final USA Today coaches' poll rankings are released, after the NCAA Tournament ends, where should Davidson be ranked?

I think it's pretty obvious that the top 4 teams from the final regular-season poll will remain the same, in whatever order, in the post-tournament poll. After all, they all made it to the Final Four. But after that, then what? Who else, if anyone, should be ranked ahead of the Wildcats?

Davidson, which was ranked #23 in that final poll, knocked off #26 Gonzaga, #8 Georgetown, and #5 Wisconsin en route to the Elite Eight, and damn near beat #4 Kansas. And that's on top of almost beating North Carolina, Duke and UCLA in the regular season, and going 20-0 in their conference.

Chalk rides again

By Brendan Loy

If you think the men's tournament is Chalk City, check out the women's bracket: the Elite Eight consists of four #1 seeds and four #2s. (Admittedly, chalkiness is more common on the women's side, where parity is less pronounced than among the men. But still.) #1-seed Tennessee sealed the deal last night with a 74-64 win over #5 Notre Dame, which is now 0-16 all-time against UT.

The Irish gave the Lady Vols a much better game than they did in an 87-63 loss back in January at the Joyce Center. In this one, ND led at halftime, 33-31. But between about the 18-minute mark and the 13-minute mark of the second half, Tennessee went on a 17-1 run, and Candace Parker wound up with a career-high-tying 34 points. That was just too much for the Irish to overcome.

In my 11th annual women's pool, six contestants correctly predicted the "all chalk" Elite Eight: Ken Stern, Kevin Pilz, Tom Caputi, Carol LaPlante, Joseph Hiegel and Lisa Velte.

Stern currently leads the pool with 316 out of a possible 352 points. He took first place from Chuck Wessell when #3 Texas A&M beat #2 Duke last night. Wessell, who had picked the Blue Devils, is now second with 313. Pilz is third with 311. Those three contestants are the only ones ahead of the "all favorites bracket," which would have 309 points. Complete standings here and after the jump. Information on who's still alive to win the pool -- 21 contestants in all -- here.

Incidentally, I forgot to mention this before, but in the men's pool (presented by the UCLA Bruins, blah blah blah), 28 contestants got the "all-chalk" Final Four right. Their names are listed after the jump.

GOOO IRISH, BEEEAT LADY VOLS!!!

By Brendan Loy

Notre Dame and Tennessee are about to get underway in a Sweet Sixteen showdown. The #5-seed Fighting Irish are the last chance to prevent an "all chalk" Elite Eight in the women's NCAA Tournament; so far, all the #1 and #2 seeds have won.

Incidentally, the women's pool standings and scenarios are updated through seven Elite Eight games. Ken Stern currently has the lead. The standings are after the jump as well.

8 still alive in Times pool

By Brendan Loy

For the first time ever, the men's Final Four will feature four #1 seeds. And for the first time ever, a Living Room Times NCAA pool will enter the final weekend with a different potential winner for each remaining scenario -- meaning eight people are still mathematically alive to win the contest.

Currently, Alex Whitfield (a.k.a. "CORNHUSKERS 94 95 97") leads the 13th annual Times men's pool presented by the UCLA Bruins with 327 out of a possible 412 points. But Whitfield will only win the pool in one scenario: if Kansas beats Memphis in the title game. In the each of the other seven scenarios, someone different will overtake him.

The other contestants still alive are Joseph Hiegel (currently in 2nd place), Chuck Wessell (3rd), Robert Dokes (4th), Amy Greca (T-9th), Chris Mulvey (T-9th), Shari Long (T-9th) and Keith Evans (T-20th).

Complete standings, possible outcomes, what-if scenarios and other information after the jump.

Finally, a close game?

By Brendan Loy

Will we finally get a close, entertaining regional final game, courtesy of Kansas and Davidson? It looks good so far. After starting the game with good defense and ice-cold shooting -- it was 4-2 Kansas six minutes in, and at one point Davidson was 1-for-10 from the floor while Kansas was 2-for-10 -- the Jayhawks and Wildcats are both making big plays (on both sides of the ball), and it's 28-28 with 2:00 left in the first half.

UPDATE: Kansas 59, Davidson 57 with 36.3 seconds left. GO WILDCATS!!!

UPDATE 2: 16.8 to go, Davidson ball, still Kansas by two. Curry for 3 at the buzzer?? C'mon, I want to hear Gus Johnson so NUTS!!!

UPDATE 3: ARRRRGH. Not a good final possession at all by Curry and Davidson there. Good defense by Kansas, I guess. But, argh.

For the first time ever, all four #1 seeds are going to the Final Four!

Davidson, the last anti-chalk hope?

By Brendan Loy

With Memphis looking nigh unstoppable early -- they're up 39-24 over Texas with 2:00 left in the first half -- it's looking increasingly likely that Stephen Curry and the #10-seed Davidson Wildcats will be the last hope for the non-#1-seeds.

It was #1-seed Kansas that blew the chance for an first-ever "all-chalk" Final Four last year, losing to #2-seed UCLA in the second game of the Elite Eight. (#1-seed North Carolina subsequently lost, too, to #2 Georgetown.) But that was against a Bruins team that effectively had home-court advantage and arguably should have been a #1 seed itself. Losing to tiny Davidson, when a win would put four #1 seeds in the Final Four, would be a much bigger upset -- and a much bigger stain on the already oft-smeared record of Bill Self and the "Rock Choke Jayhawks."

And yet, would anybody really be stunned if Davidson pulled it off? At this point, who dares doubt Stephen Curry?

UPDATE: Memphis wins, 85-67. Davidson is our last hope!

One ballsy tie

By Brendan Loy

Is the key to Davidson's success Kyle Whelliston's tie?

Little did I know I was in the presence of talismanic greatness last year at BracketBusters!

On a more serious note, here's Whelliston's ESPN article on Stephen Curry, who, it bears repeating, is not only a transcendent superstar, but just a really nice and humble guy. Apropos of which, Whelliston's Mid-Majority blog post about the Wildcats' win over Wisconsin concludes:

We haven't had a breakout basketball star like Curry in a generation, and he's helping undo the damage that the past 20 years have done to the idea of basketball stardom. There are kids out there who are now 10, 11 years old, spending this afternoon in driveways copying the fallaway 3-pointer that gave Davidson that early lead at 13 minutes of the first half. Here's hoping that they'll keep emulating him, carrying themselves with perfect humility.

P.S. After Curry, who is a sophomore, led Davidson to their first-round victory over Gonzaga -- that's two upset wins and 63 points ago -- Rush the Court wrote a post titled "Is Stephen Curry becoming a March legend?" which noted:

[Curry] isn’t a big-time NBA prospect (according to scouts) because he isn’t that tall, strong, or athletic. In fact his biggest attributes are his shooting and intelligence, which are two things the NBA scouts don’t seem to care about these days. We are assuming that his family is doing ok financially given the fact that his father (Dell) had a long and distinguished career in the NBA. When you combine all of that, it seems like he might be one college star who remains in college all 4 years. In this day and age, that might be enough to make him a legendary player in March by the time he finishes his college career in 2010.

I'd say Curry is well ahead of schedule on the "legendary player" bit. But it can always get better. Three years of this? Pinch me.

Notre Dame advances to Frozen Four!

By Brendan Loy

One year after rising to the #1 ranking in the country only to be stunned by Michigan State in the NCAA regional final, the #12-ranked Fighting Irish of Notre Dame got their revenge tonight, beating the Spartans 3-1 (after previously upsetting the top seed, New Hampshire) to advance to their first Frozen Four in school history! WOOHOO!! (Hat tip: NDLauren.)

The Irish will play the hated Skunkbears of Michigan, whose football team lost to Appalachian State last year, in a national semifinal in Denver on April 10. Michigan is ranked #1 in the land.

[UPDATE: Folks in the South Bend area are encouraged to assemble at the Joyce Center around 4:30 AM to greet the team upon its return. (Hat tip: John.)]

Now... can the Fighting Irish women's basketball team pull off an even more monumental upset tomorrow by upsetting #1-seed Tennessee in the Sweet 16? The Irish are 0-15 all-time against the Lady Vols. How does two milestones in 24 hours sound? GO IRISH!!!

P.S. Speaking of women's basketball, the ladies are now halfway to the Elite Eight after another quartet of non-upsets. In my pool, Chuck Wessell continues to have the lead. Complete standings here and after the jump. Information on who's still mathematically alive to win the pool here.

All chalk?

By Brendan Loy

So... we head into the second day of the Elite Eight facing the still-active possibility of all four #1 seeds making the Final Four for the first time ever. Last year, that prospect still existed at the start of the Elite Eight's first day, but #2-seed UCLA's win over #1-seed Kansas on Saturday night guaranteed that it wouldn't happen. Now, after tonight's wins by #1 seeds UCLA and North Carolina, only #2 Texas (vs. #1 Memphis) and #10 Davidson (vs. #1 Kansas) stand in the way of the all-chalk Final Four.

Pool update shortly.

UPDATE: Ryan Morgan still leads the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins, but he'll be eliminated if #1-seeded Memphis beats #2 Texas tomorrow.

For now, 12 contestants -- Morgan, Mark Gardner, Joseph Hiegel, Chris Mulvey, Keith Evans, Lisa Velte, Chuck Wessell, Alex Whitfield, Shari Long, Steve Hartranft, Amy Greca and Robert Dokes -- are still alive to win the pool.

But Morgan, Gardner and Hartranft would be eliminated by a Memphis win, while Evans would be eliminated if Memphis wins and Davidson beats Kansas. On the other hand, Hiegel, Mulvey, Whitfield, Long and Greca would be eliminated by a Texas win; Velte would be eliminated if either Texas or Kansas wins; Dokes would be eliminated if either Texas or Davidson wins; and Wessell would be eliminated if Davidson wins, regardless of the Memphis-Texas outcome.

If both of the #1 seeds, Memphis and Kansas, win tomorrow, the pool will be as wide-open as is mathematically possible heading into the Final Four, with eight scenarios remaining and a different winner in each of them!

After the jump, complete standings and additional scenario information.

All hail Appalachia

By Brendan Loy

Man, oh man, has it been a great year to be an unheralded, small-conference school in western North Carolina, or what?

First Appalachian State beats Michigan in the Big House. Then Gardner-Webb beats Kentucky at Rupp Arena. And now Davidson -- Appy State's conference-mate -- is going to the Elite Eight.

Just call it the Bermuda Carolina Triangle:

"Abandon hope, all ye major-conference foes who enter here!"

Heady days in western Carolina. HOT! HOT! HOT!

If Memphis & Kansas win...

By Brendan Loy

With Memphis and Kansas leading at halftime by scores of 50-20 and 41-22, respectively -- and with myself being exhausted and about ready to sleep -- I'm going to risk a "Dewey Defeats Truman" moment, assume that both the Tigers and Jayhawks will in fact win, and post the updated pool standings based on that assumption. If either team somehow loses, you may consider this post null and void, and the linked standings inaccurate. :) So, without further ado, my slightly-premature pool update:

Ryan Morgan leads the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins at the conclusion of the Sweet Sixteen, and would win in 34 of the 128 remaining scenarios. Dan Port and Mark Gardner are tied for second place, and would win in 26 and 11 scenarios, respectively. Eighteen other contestants are still mathematically alive to win the pool, each owning between one and seven possible winning scenarios.

Meanwhile, former leader Khalil Aboukhaled fell from first to fourth place, and was mathematically eliminated from any chance of winning the pool, when Memphis won. (He had picked already-eliminated Pitt, and needed Michigan State to upset Memphis in the Panthers' stead in order to keep his hopes alive.)

Complete scenario information can be found here, sorted by statistical chances of winning. Complete standings are here and after the jump. Also after the jump, information on who'll be eliminated tomorrow, depending on how the North Carolina-Louisville and UCLA-Xavier games turn out.

GO DAVIDSON!!!

By Brendan Loy

Wisconsin and Davidson are tied at the half. WOO!!! Go Wildcats!!!

UPDATE: Davidson leads by 15 points with 10:08 left!! WOOOO!!!

UPDATE 2: Stephen. Curry. Is. Awesome.

UPDATE 3: Davidson wins, 73-56! Wildcats to the Elite Eight!! YAAAY!!!

Davidson has officially achieved Gonzaga status. Up next: George Mason status?!

UPDATE 4: Only two contestants in the entire pool picked Davidson to reach the Elite Eight, and both are way down near the bottom of the leaderboard: Jessica Osborne of Denver, currently in 236th place, and our cats, Toby, Sasha & Butter Zak, currently in 238th place. Both brackets have Davidson losing in the Elite Eight (to Kansas, in Osborne's case; to already-eliminated Clemson, in the cats' case).

UPDATE 5: After the jump, complete standings of the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by UCLA. Khalil Aboukhaled is still in the lead, thought he would win in only 1.6 percent of the remaining 512 scenarios (up from 0.4% of 2,048 scenarios as of last night). Ryan Morgan is second, and Mark Gardner, Bill Reece and Dan Port tied for third.

Vols losing; Hilltoppers threatening

By Brendan Loy

It looks like Louisville is about to beat Tennessee. Meanwhile, Western Kentucky has mounted a big rally to pull within six points of UCLA with 7:07 left. GO HILLTOPPERS!!!

UPDATE: Louisville wins; Khalil Aboukhaled leads the pool. Jeff Belisle is second; Ryan Morgan drops to third. Full update after the UCLA-WKU game.

UPDATE 2: A valiant effort by Western Kentucky -- and damn, if that three-pointer rattles in, back when it was a four-point game with 5:17 left, who knows? -- but the Bruins win, 88-78. So it'll be UCLA vs. Xavier in the West Regional Final... just like my original bracket predicted (I had Xavier beating the Bruins and going all the way to the title game), before I changed it at the last minute to have UConn beating UCLA and going to the Final Four over the Musketeers. Harumph.

UPDATE 3: As mentioned earlier, Khalil Aboukhaled of South Bend, Indiana (a.k.a. "fezafou") leads the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins. He has 247 out of a possible 312 points. However, his chances of winning the pool are statistically quite small -- just 0.4% -- in large part because his predicted national champion, Georgetown, has already been eliminated, as has another of his Final Four teams, Pitt.

The mathematical favorite to win the pool is Jeff Belisle of Brooklyn, New York, currently in second place with 242 points. He has a 14.5% chance to win. Belisle is followed in the current standings by Ryan Morgan of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, who had a 14-point lead at the beginning of the day, but went just 2-for-4 on Thursday, having picked neither Xavier nor Louisville. He has 241 points, and a 10.4% chance to win.

Dan Port, Lisa Velte, Bill Rece and Mark Gardner are tied for fourth with 239 points apiece. Alex Whitfield is eighth with 237, Joseph Hiegel ninth with 235, and rounding out the top ten are Kevin Hauschulz, Chuck Wessell, and brother & sister Matt Thomsen and Danielle Thomsen, all tied with 234 points each. Hauschulz and Danielle Thomsen are already mathematically eliminated from winning the pool, however. Here's a full list of possible outcomes.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

March Madness: it's baaaack!!

By Brendan Loy

Our (three-day-)long national nightmare -- in which all we had to satisfy our hunger for college basketball was the NIT, the CBI and the largely upset-free opening weekend of the women's Big Dance -- is over. The Sweet 16 begins tonight. Whee!!!

All I can say is: GO WESTERN KENTUCKY!!! BEAT FUCLA!!!

(Also: Go Tennessee! Go Xavier*! Go Wazzu!)

*Or West Virginia. Whatever.

UPDATE: Xavier won in overtime; North Carolina won easily, again.

In the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by UCLA, Ryan Morgan still leads, but his margin is down to 4 points because of West Virginia's loss. Everyone else in the Top 7 -- Khalil Aboukhaled, Matt and Danielle Thomsen (brother and sister, tied for third), Chris Mulvey, Jeff Belisle and Joe Swiderski -- picked both of tonight's early-game winners. Morgan only picked the Tar Heels.

If Louisville beats Tennessee, Aboukhaled will take the lead. If the Vols win, Morgan will remain on top.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

Davidson offering students free tickets, travel, lodging for Sweet 16, Elite 8

By Brendan Loy

Sweet, indeed:

Davidson College students who want to go to Detroit to see their basketball team in the Sweet 16 can do so for free.

In an e-mail to students Wednesday, school President Tom Ross said the school's trustees will pay for tickets, travel and lodging for Davidson's Midwest Regional semifinal game Friday night against Wisconsin at Detroit's Ford Field. Students also get tickets to Sunday's regional final -- win or lose.

The gift will not come from Davidson's endowment, said Stacey Schmeidel, director of college communications. "At least one person on the board stepped up and said, `I want to do this for the students,' " Schmeidel said.

As of Wednesday night, hundreds of students had signed up for the offer, so many that college officials were scrambling for extra tickets and buses. The offer includes a 660-mile bus ride to Detroit leaving Friday morning and returning between 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. Monday -- just in time for classes.

Heh. Awesome. (Hat tip: anonamom.)

The only downside: they aren't cancelling classes on Friday. The school's president urged students to "please consider going to the game ONLY if this is, academically, the right decision for you." Riiiiight.

UPDATE: Here's the full text of the president's e-mail, courtesy of Davidson blogger Will Bryan. But now it seems the school sent out "a second email a few hours later saying that not everyone who responded to the first will be able to go since they don't have enough tickets." Heh. That's according to AOL Fanhouse, quoting Bryan. A commenter on Bryan's site confirms:

They said they could give free tickets, transportation, and lodging to everyone, but now they are saying that they can't meet the student demand (and they should have certainly expected FULL demand). Things are really up in the air right now as people are hoping that Davidson will keep its word on this. A lot of people who were really excited are now pretty disappointed. Don't make promises you can't keep.

The commenter also quotes from the latest e-mail from the college: "We have been overwhelmed by the response. There will not be enough time before Friday morning to respond to each email. We are keeping track of the requests in the order they come in. If we have a ticket for you, we will email you directly on Thursday. ... We apologize, but we will not be able to take every student who wants to go to Detroit."

P.S. In other basketball-related news, I'd just like to clarify, in case anyone was wondering after last night's David Schnauzer Letterman Top Ten list, that the reason we've chosen to conceal Loyette's true first name on the blog is not because we named her "Gonzaga." ;)

Time for a new garish blazer?

By Brendan Loy

The Bruce Pearl to Indiana rumors are officially on.

It's Kirby vs. Dupuis in NIT Pool

By Brendan Loy

Gary Kirby is one Florida loss away from winning his second consecutive Irish Trojan NIT Pool.

Kirby, a.k.a. "gahrie," got the entire Final Four right -- something only he and Katrina Lewonczyk can claim -- and he now has 228 out of a possible 252 points. That puts him 15 ahead of Josh Krause, 16 ahead of Mark Gardner, 22 ahead of Brian Dupuis and 23 ahead of Ginny Zak.

Only Dupuis, a LSU alum, still has a chance to win, however. Both he and Kirby, who attended USC in the 1980s, predicted a Florida-Ohio State title game, a rematch of last year's NCAA championship game. But whereas Kirby (along with everyone else near the top of the current leaderboard) picked the Buckeyes to win, Dupuis picked his Tigers' conference rivals, the Gators.

So if Florida follows up its two consecutive NCAA championships with an NIT championship, Dupuis -- winner of the Irish Trojan college football bowl pick 'em contest in 2005-06 -- will win the pool. If anyone else wins the title, Kirby will repeat as NIT Pool champ.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

NIT Pool down to a Final 3

By Brendan Loy

Ole Miss beat Virginia Tech tonight to become the third straight NIT #2 seed to knock off a #1 seed on its home floor -- and in the process, the Rebels eliminated Josh Krause, Dan Port, Pat Caplin, Jeff Burch and Joey Perucki from any chance of winning the 4th annual Irish Trojan NIT Pool.

The pool is now down to a final three: defending champion Gary Kirby ("gahrie"), who attended USC from 1983-1987; Brian Dupuis ("DUP"), a 2004 LSU alum; and Chris Bravo ("cdbavg400"), a 2007 USC alum and current Arizona grad student.

Bravo needs Dayton to beat Ohio State in a game that's still in progress. If the Flyers win tonight, Bravo will win the pool if UMass wins the NIT and the total number of points scored in the title game is 128 or less. On the other hand, if the Buckeyes win tonight, Bravo is eliminated. Meanwhile, regardless of tonight's outcome, Dupuis will win the pool if Florida wins the NIT. And Kirby will repeat as pool champion in every other scenario (including the one where UMass wins a title game in which 129 or more points are scored).

I'll post a full update tomorrow, but that's where things stand in terms of the scenarios.

Krause, defending champion Kirby tied atop NIT Pool; Gardner eliminated

By Brendan Loy

Barely 24 hours removed from pursuing a perfect bracket, Mark Gardner is suddenly out of the running in the Irish Trojan NIT Pool -- and defending champion Gary Kirby is back in the catbird seat.

Kirby, a.k.a. "gahrie," is tied with Josh Krause for first place, and is statistically the most likely to win the pool, prevailing in 14 of the 32 remaining scenarios. He is also the only contestant guaranteed to still be mathematically alive after tonight's final two quarterfinals. For now, however, eight contestants are  alive to win: Kirby, Krause, Dan Port, Brian Dupuis (DUP), Pat Caplin, Jeff Burch, Chris Bravo and Joey Perucki.

Gardner, who was perfect until the tournament's 22nd game and entered last night's action with a 23-1 prediction record, was mathematically eliminated by a pair of quarterfinal upsets: wins by #2 seeds UMass and Florida over homestanding top seeds Syracuse and Arizona State, respectively. The Syracuse loss especially hurt, as the Orange were Gardner's predicted runner-up. He can now finish no better than third place.

Kirby, for his part, appears to have an uncommon gift for predicting the NIT. In addition to winning the 2007 pool, he finished second in 2006. (He did not compete in 2005.) This year, he has gotten only two games wrong to date.

Chuck Wessell leads women's pool

By Brendan Loy

Chuck Wessell, a Ph.D. student at N.C. State, leads the 11th annual Living Room Times women's basketball pool heading into the Sweet Sixteen.

Wessell picked both of last night's mild upsets -- by #5 seeds Notre Dame and Old Dominion, both in overtime over #4 seeds -- to break the deadlock at the top of the standings. He has 243 out of a possible 272 points. Maryland alum Josh Rubin and Evansville alum Jeremy Gist are tied for second place with 240 points. The pool is scored on a 5-7-10-15-20-25 basis. Complete standings here and after the jump.

44 of the 91 contestants -- nearly half -- are still mathematically alive to win the pool, as you can see on the Possible Outcomes page. (To sort that page by mathematical likelihood of winning, instead of by current rank, click twice on the column header "# First.")

I'll post an NIT Pool update later today, sometime before tonight's last two quarterfinals tip off at 7:00 PM EDT.

ND beats OU in OT; Tennessee next

By Brendan Loy

#5-seed Notre Dame and #4-seed Oklahoma -- playing in West Lafayette, Indiana -- are tied 72-72 in overtime in the second round of the women's tournament. Winner gets Tennessee in the Sweet Sixteen. GO IRISH!!

UPDATE: IRISH WIN!! Notre Dame is Sweet 16-bound!! Wooo!! GOOOO IRISH, BEEEEAT LADY VOLS!!

I'll update the pools in the morning.

Vegas odds & Cinderella bandwagons

By Brendan Loy

Vegas has tabbed two of the better-seeded Sweet 16 teams as underdogs: #3 Xavier (by 1 point to #7 West Virginia) and #2 Tennessee (by 2.5 points to #3 Louisville).

Meanwhile, the Vegas oddsmakers -- much like yours truly (see my current Facebook status at right) -- have jumped on the Davidson/Stephen Curry bandwagon. The #10-seeded Wildcats are only 4.5-point underdogs against #3 Wisconsin. WOOO!! Goooo David(son), Beeeeat Goliath!!!

(Curry, incidentally, isn't just a freakin' awesome player who scores like a bazillion points a game and who looks like he's about 16 years old. He's also apparently a really nice, genuinely humble guy.)

The other Cinderellas aren't so highly regarded. #1 Kansas is an 11.5-point favorite over #12 Villanova, and #1 UCLA is favored by 12.5 points over #12 Western Kentucky. That comports with history; top seeds are 16-0 all-time against #12 and #13 seeds that manage to reach the Sweet Sixteen, and it hasn't usually been close. (Twelve of the sixteen games have been decided by double figures.)

But College Hoops Journal says we shouldn't sleep on WKU: "All they’ve got going for them is some late-game mojo (first true buzzer-beater since Drew Nicholas in '03) and a UCLA team that has escaped three of their past five games with terrible non-calls from officials. How vulnerable is UCLA? They only scored 51 points against Texas A&M and clearly can’t shoot when someone’s not afraid to punch back. ... The Hilltoppers are in the perfect position of being able to fly under the radar (as much as any 12-seed can right now) and finally take the stake to UCLA’s heart."

Personally, I'm not buying what CHJ is selling, but man oh man, it would be awesome if the Hilltoppers could topple the Bruins.

Perfection in jeopardy

By Brendan Loy

Dayton is threatening to bust Mark Gardner's perfect NIT bracket.

UPDATE: Dayton wins! So there will be no perfect bracket. Gardner's streak ends at 21 straight. (He did get Ohio State's win.)

I'll update the pool standings (NIT and women's) in the morning. Suffice it to say, however, that Gardner's lead has shrunk from 14 points to 4. Josh Krause, in second place, picked Dayton.

P.S. The wins by tOSU and Dayton also mean there will be all-Ohio regional final between the Buckeyes and Flyers, in Columbus. Fun.

UPDATE, 3/25, 8:03 AM: I've updated both the women's and NIT pool standings. Both are also after the jump.

In the NIT pool, Gardner went 3-for-4 on the day and effectively increased his lead back to 14. (Technically, he's only seven points ahead of Ginny Zak, but their picks are identical for the remainder of the tournament and thus she cannot pass him.)

Meanwhile, the big story yesterday in the women's pool was Carolyn Blessing, who went 8-for-8 on a day with two upsets (#6 Pitt over #3 Baylor and #6 GW over #3 Cal) to move within one point of the co-leaders and their "chalk" brackets.

Those co-leaders -- Tom Caputi, Ken Stern, F.X. McGahee, Chuck Wessell and Kay Torg -- haven't predicted a single upset thus far, and their risk-aversion has largely served them well, as 18 of the first 24 games have gone according to seed. But now others are moving within striking distance. Moreover, the co-leaders' brackets finally begin to diverge tonight, over a pair of 4-5 games. In the Notre Dame-Oklahoma game, Stern and Wessell picked the #5 Irish, while the others picked the #4 Sooners. In addition, Wessell picked #5 Old Dominion over #4 Virginia; the others picked the Cavaliers. So those games will largely determine who has the lead heading into the Sweet 16. There is also a scenario where Michael Rosenkrantz, currently in 12th place, could take sole possession of the lead -- if Oklahoma and Old Dominion win, and #5 Kansas State beats #4 Louisville.

Gardner's quest for the perfect NIT bracket continues tonight

By Brendan Loy

With the men's NCAA Tournament taking a three-day breather, the NIT steps boldly into the breach tonight with four Sour 16 games (hey, they can't exactly be "sweet," it's the freakin' NIT). That means Irish Trojan NIT Pool leader Mark Gardner's perfect bracket will be put to the test. Gardner is 20-for-20 and leads the pool with 152 points, 14 more than his nearest competitors.

Tonight's games are #4 Cal at #1 Ohio State, #3 Dayton at #2 Illinois State, #5 UAB at #1 Virginia Tech, and #3 Nebraska at #2 Mississippi. The first two games are at 7pm EDT, the second two at 9pm. Gardner picked the favorites: tOSU, ISU, VT and Ole Miss.

After tonight, only seven games will remain, so if Gardner goes 4-for-4 tonight, his mathematical chance of finishing with a perfect bracket (assuming all teams have an equal chance of winning) would improve from 1-in-2,048 to 1-in-128.

Also tonight is the first half of the second round of the women's NCAA Tournament. In my women's NCAA pool, it's a seven-way tie for first at the conclusion of the first round, with F.X. McGahee, Chuck Wessell, Kevin Curran, Tom Caputi, Michael Rosenkrantz, Ken Stern and Kay Torg all having 145 out of a possible 160 points -- the same total as the "all favorites bracket." Complete standings here and after the jump.

One frog's shining moment

By Brendan Loy

In the aftermath of Duke's win over Belmont on Thursday, the NBC affiliate in the Raleigh-Durham area bypassed the CBS/NCAA embargo on tournament game highlights by re-enacting the game using dolls:

Heh! Somebody get this guy a network gig. And I want to see that frog in One Shining Moment, dammit.

(Hat tip: AOL Fanhouse.)

Ouch.

By Brendan Loy

North Carolina 108, Arkansas 77, final -- and it was only that "close" because Arkansas ended the game on a 10-5 run. UNC led 103-67 with 3:14 left. Like I said: ouch.

So, the greatest four-day weekend in sports is over -- and it was a good one. The first day evoked unpleasant memories of last year's largely upset-free, mostly undramatic opening weekend, but Friday, Saturday and Sunday made up for Thursday in a very big way. Two titans, Duke and Georgetown, went down, as did sexy sleeper picks Pitt, UConn, Clemson and USC (sigh); three double-digit Cinderellas, Davidson, Villanova and Western Kentucky, moved on; a whole bunch of high seeds had a whole bunch of close calls; and game after game was hyper-competitive and extremely enjoyable. Hurrah! Long live March Madness!

Pool update shortly -- including, for the first time, the "Possible Outcomes" page showing who's still alive to win. (Now that there are "only" 32,768 scenarios left, my pool software can calculate this.)

UPDATE: Here are the standings of the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins. And here's the possible outcomes page. (To sort the possible outcomes page by mathematical likelihood of winning, instead of by current rank, click twice on the column header "# First.")

As noted earlier, Ryan Morgan is in first place, 12 points ahead of Ken Wagner. Impressively, Morgan wins in 20% of the 32,768 remaining scenarios -- a very high percentage for this early in the tournament. However, 86 of the 245 contestants, including everyone currently ranked in the Top 30, are still mathematically alive to win.

(The highest-ranked contestants not still mathematically alive are Ken Inadomi and Nathan Evangelista, who are currently tied for 31st but can finish no better than second. The lowest-ranked contestant who still has a shot: George Heidkamp, currently 223rd out of 245, who would win the pool in exactly one of the 32,768 possible scenarios.)

Current standings thru 48 games are after the jump. The maximum possible number of points to date is 272. The pool is scored on a 5-7-10-15-20-25 basis.

Catholics beat Methodists

By Brendan Loy

The Notre Dame men were eliminated by Washington State yesterday, but the Notre Dame women are still alive, headed for a Tuesday second-round matchup with Oklahoma after beating #12-seed Southern Methodist this afternoon. Go Irish!!

In my women's pool, there's a five-way tie for the lead among Kay Torg, Ken Stern, Tom Caputi, Chuck Wessell and F.X. McGahee -- and, in a tournament that has seen only two upsets in 24 games, those co-eaders are also tied with the "all favorites bracket." Complete standings here and after the jump.

Ryan Morgan extends men's pool lead

By Brendan Loy

Ryan Morgan predicted both of the NCAA Tournament's biggest upsets to date -- West Virginia over Duke and Davidson over Georgetown -- and now he's got a sizable lead in the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins. (You can see his bracket here.)

Morgan, a Drake alum and Wisconsin fan who lives in Milwaukee and surfed onto the Irish Trojan's Blog just a week ago, has a 12-point lead over his nearest competitor, Ken Wagner of Nashville. The pool is scored on a 5-7-10-15-20-25 basis.

Morgan has 200 out of a possible 251 points. Wagner has 188. Liz Janelle, Robert Dokes, Khalil Aboukhaled, Alex Whitfield and Amir Sadaghiani are tied for third with 186.

Aboukhaled (a.k.a. "fezafou") briefly tied Morgan, who had led overnight, when Villanova won Sunday's early game. (Morgan picked Clemson.) But when Tennessee beat Butler in overtime, Morgan retook sole possession of the lead (Aboukhaled picked the Bulldogs), and he increased that lead a few minutes later when Davidson stunned Georgetown.

Morgan picked Memphis, North Carolina and Louisville in the final three second-round games. Everyone near the top of the leaderboard made the same picks, so major changes tonight are impossible. Morgan is guaranteed to remain in sole possession of first place heading into the Sweet Sixteen.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

Tennessee, Butler battle

By Brendan Loy

In the battle to determine my rooting interest for the remainder of the tournament, Tennessee leads Butler, 53-49 with 7:53 left.

In the other games still ongoing, it looks like Texas, Western Kentucky and Georgetown have the edge (though I'm still hoping for a Davidson comeback in the latter game). And earlier, Villanova beat Siena. I'll post a pool update after the conclusion of all four of the games currently underway.

UPDATE: What a great bunch of games those turned out to be!! Texas survives a furious Miami comeback, Western Kentucky does the same against San Diego, Tennessee wins a thriller in overtime over a game Butler squad, and Davidson rallies to stun Georgetown! WOO!!!

I realize it's easy to second-guess the committee after the games have been played, but man, Butler is way better than a #7 seed, eh? They should have been able to reach the Sweet Sixteen without playing a team as good as Tennessee (which arguably should have been a #1 seed). But alas. Great win for the Vols. They certainly had to earn it. I'll be rooting for them from here on out -- unless they meet Davidson in the Final Four (not totally implausible) or Western Kentucky in the title game (umm, kind of implausible), in which case I'll probably revert to my usual mid-major lovefest.

Anyway, pool update coming shortly.

Siena, are you ready for your closeup?

By Brendan Loy

Somehow, when they set the schedule for tomorrow's games, I don't think CBS was expecting to lead off with a nationwide broadcast of #12 Villanova vs. #13 Siena. Heh.

What a game!

By Brendan Loy

UCLA just won an instant classic, 53-49 over Texas A&M.

Absolutely incredible finish. UCLA's rally was remarkable: their defense was just superb, and it seemed like they scored on three or four straight possessions when they absolutely needed to, often on very tough shots (including one Jordanesque fadeaway by Kevin Love). Then, down the stretch, both teams just kept making huge plays on both sides of the ball. It was exactly what you love to see in the NCAA Tournament. One "shining moment" after another.

Utterly heartbreaking loss for the Aggies, obviously. As for the Bruins, will this be their "great escape" en route to a Final Four and perhaps a national title? We shall see. They now face the winner of a #12/13 game in the Sweet 16, and then if they win that one, either a #3 or a #7 in the regional final.

As for the 13th annual Living Room Times men's NCAA pool presented by those selfsame UCLA Bruins: updated standings are here and after the jump.

Ryan Morgan leads men's pool

By Brendan Loy

Ryan Morgan, a Drake alum and Wisconsin fan, took sole possession of first place in the Living Room Times men's pool when Michigan State beat Pitt moments ago.

Morgan, who lives in Milwaukee, has 172 out of a possible 209 points in the 13th annual pool, presented by the UCLA Bruins. He will stay in first place tonight regardless of the UCLA-Texas A&M outcome.

Kevin Pilz of Newington, Connecticut and Ken Wagner of Nashville, Tennessee are tied for second with 167 points. Liz Janelle, Alex Whitfield and Khalil Aboukhaled -- previously tied with Morgan for first place -- are now tied for fourth with 165 points. (They picked Pitt.) Complete standings here and after the jump.

Trouble's Bruin

By Brendan Loy

Texas A&M leads UCLA 29-26 at halftime. w00t! Go Aggies!

Incidentally, in my pool, I've added four "dummy brackets" for comparison purposes: the "all favorites" bracket, the "aggregate picks" bracket, John McCain's bracket and Barack Obama's bracket.

I've added the "all favorites" and "aggregate picks" brackets to the women's and NIT pools, too. You can see how the actual contestants compare to the dummy brackets by looking at the various pools' standings. (Men's, Women's, NIT.)

Four-way tie thru 38 games

By Brendan Loy

Six games into the second round, there's a four-way tie among Khalil Aboukhaled, Liz Janelle, Alex Whitfield and Ryan Morgan for the lead in the 13th annual Living Room Times men's NCAA pool sponsored by the UCLA Bruins.

Argh.

By Brendan Loy

Wazzu 61, Notre Dame 41, final.

You don't win too many games scoring 41 points, least of all in the NCAA Tournament.

So all three of "my teams" are gone within the tournament's first three days. All four if you count UConn. Harumph. I guess now I'm rooting for... Davidson? The Butler-Tennessee winner? And of course, whoever's playing UCLA. :)

Meanwhile, we've got a thriller in overtime between Marquette and Stanford. Go Pac-10!! GO DRUNKEN TREES!!!

UPDATE: Stanford wins!! Brook Lopez hit the game-winner with 1.3 seconds left. One of the best games of the tournament for sure. And the Trees won despite losing their coach in the first half.

P.S. Incidentally, Notre Dame's loss knocked Khalil Aboukhaled out of sole possession of first place in the pool, back into a four-way tie with Liz Janelle, Alex Whitfield and Ryan Morgan. That's still the situation after Stanford's win, which all four of the co-leaders predicted. Full update coming after the Kansas-UNLV game ends.

Fire Mike Brey?

By Brendan Loy

I kid, I kid! :) But Notre Dame clearly isn't playing too well, down 32-19 at the half. Though we missed almost the entire first half because Purdue-Xavier took so long to finish. Speaking of which,
Khalil Aboukhaled (a.k.a. fezafou) now leads the pool.

UPDATE: Harumph. With the Irish trailing 38-28 with 14:08 left, CBS has switched us over to the closer Stanford-Marquette game. Off to MMOD I go.

Morgan, Janelle, Aboukhaled tied for first

By Brendan Loy

I've updated the standings of the 13th annual Living Room Times men's NCAA pool presented by the UCLA Bruins, reflecting Duke's glorious loss to West Virginia. It's now a three-way tie between Matt Kagan Ryan Morgan, Khalil Aboukhaled and Liz Janelle, all of whom correctly predicted the Mountaineers' upset win. Complete standings here and after the jump. (Now corrected! -6:30 PM)

[UPDATE: Someone will take sole possession of the lead shortly, depending on the outcome of the Purdue-Xavier game. If Purdue wins, Liz Janelle will take the lead; if Xavier wins, Aboukhaled will take the lead. Morgan is bound to fall behind because he picked Baylor, who lost on Thursday.]

In addition, the women's pool standings are updated through the first six games, including Hartford's upset win over Syracuse. (Woo!! Connecticut pride!! Jen Rizzotti!!) Those are after the jump, too.

P.S. This may be my last pool update for a few hours, as I'll want to focus on watching the Notre Dame game this evening. GO IRISH!

Go Huggy Bear! Beat Duke!

By Brendan Loy

Bob Huggins's West Virginia Mountaineers are threatening to beat Duke. I have the Blue Devils in my bracket, but who cares about that? Go WVU!! Duke sucks!!

P.S. Apparently Bob Huggins's "hometown" is "West Virginia." Heh.

UPDATE: Mountaineers win!! Woo!! They're burning couches in Morgantown tonight!!

How excited is UCLA right now? If they beat Texas A&M tonight, they play the winner of a #12 vs. #13 game in the Sweet 16... and now the #2 seed in their region is eliminated. Now watch Purdue beat Xavier and completely bust that bracket.

Gardner still perfect in NIT Pool

By Brendan Loy

Twenty games into the NIT, with half of the quarterfinalists decided, Penn State alum Mark Gardner is still perfect.

Gardner, of Fredericksburg, Virginia, is 20-for-20 with 11 games to go. He has 152 points in the 4th annual Irish Trojan NIT Pool, 14 ahead of Gary Kirby, Patrick Roach, Derek McDonald and Josh Krause, who are tied for second place with 18-for-20 prediction records and 138 points apiece.

Full standings here and after the jump. Scenario info here.

10-way tie atop men's pool

By Brendan Loy

Ten contestants are tied for first place in the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins, with 26-for-32 prediction records at the end of the first round.

The ten co-leaders are Matt Kagan, Khalil Aboukhaled, Liz Janelle, Amir Sadaghiani, Ryan Morgan, Robert Dokes, Carolyn Blessing, Joe Swiderski, Benjamin Rumery and Alex Whitfield. Each has 130 of a possible 160 points. 24 contestants are tied for 11th place with 125 points apiece, and 42 contestants are tied for 35th place with 120 points each.

The pool is scored on a 5-7-10-15-20-25 basis, so the 7-point second-round games today and tomorrow will probably begin to break many of the ties.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

Women's pool reminder

By Brendan Loy

The deadline to enter my women's NCAA pool is noon EDT on Saturday. If you're like me and have already seen your men's bracket totally fall apart, it's a chance for redemption!

UPDATE, March 22, 12:34 PM: The deadline has passed. You can view everyone's brackets here.

Tampa is Upset City

By Brendan Loy

After a mostly upset-free day yesterday, we've already seen wins today by #10 Davidson, #12 Western Kentucky and #13 San Diego... and now #13 Siena is leading #4 Vanderbilt at halftime -- in Tampa, the same place where the WKU and USD wins occurred -- and in what would be a bigger upset than the seeds indicate, #9 Oregon is ahead of #8 Mississippi State.

UPDATE: Mississippi State came back to beat the Ducks. But Siena won! Pool update shortly.

UPDATE 2: Through 28 games, Alex Whitfield and Ryan Morgan are tied atop the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins, with 120 points out of a possible 140. Nine contestants are tied for third place with 115 points apiece. Full standings here and after the jump.

This may be the last pool update of the evening. I'm exhausted (I've pulled several late nights during the week getting various aspects of the pool set up, and I was up early this morning, dealing with a fussy baby), so I may go to bed before the final wave of games is over -- once I'm satisfied that UT-Arlington is hopelessly behind Memphis. (I'd never forgive myself I were to miss the first-ever #16 seed victory over a #1.) If so, I'll update the standings in the morning.

San Diego stuns UConn in OT

By Brendan Loy

#13-seed San Diego, carrying the flag for the WCC after better-regarded conference-mates Gonzaga and St. Mary's lost earlier today, is in overtime with #4-seed UConn. Although we've already seen three double-digit seeds win David vs. David (Drake-Western Kentucky, Gonzaga-Davidson) and Goliath vs. Goliath (USC-Kansas State) games, this would be the first tournament upset that really feels like a big upset. It's also the second straight overtime game in the Tampa pod. Winner gets #12-seed Western Kentucky. Could it be: the Sun Belt tourney champ against the WCC tourney champ for a spot in the Sweet 16? UCLA fans have got to be pretty happy about this potential development.

Elsewhere, easy wins for Georgetown, Texas and Butler. Pool update may be a little delayed, depending on the length of Loyette's current nap. :) Bear with me.

UPDATE: Toreros win! 70-69.

So it'll be #12 vs. #13 in the second round on Sunday. Heh.

This is the second straight NCAA Tournament that ended for UConn with an overtime loss to a mid-major. Two years ago, George Mason beat them in overtime in the Elite Eight. Last year, they didn't make the Big Dance.

UPDATE 2: I've updated the standings. It's now a five-way tie in the Times pool presented by UCLA, with co-leaders Alex Whitfield, Carolyn Blessing, Ryan Morgan, Jeff Belisle and Khalil Aboukhaled at 21-for-24 (or 105 points out of a possible 120). Complete standings after the jump.

Meanwhile, here are the latest Loy household standings:

Loyette - 95
Toby, Sasha and Butter - 90
Robbie - 80
Becky - 75
Brendan - 60

Heh.

Getting schooled by a two-month-old

By Brendan Loy

I think I'm going to just start rooting for Loyette's bracket. While I'm tied for 243rd place out of 245, with a dismal prediction record of 9-for-20 (!), Loyette went 4-for-4 in today's early games -- she picked Davidson and Western Kentucky! -- to improve her record to 16-for-20 and move into a tie for 30th place, which means she's only 10 points (two first-round games' worth) off the lead. Remember, her bracket was picked via the modified coin flip method.

ONE SHINING MOMENT!!

By Brendan Loy

Western Kentucky!! Woo!!!! Woooooo!!!!!

Pool update, etc., coming in a bit.

UPDATE: Video clip here:

Meanwhile, UConn just lost A.J. Price to what looks like a serious knee injury. Great. So now if either San Diego or Western Kentucky beats the Huskies, they'll get no credit for it from the mid-major hater crowd. "They're just another overrated, overhyped mid-major, they only beat UConn because Price was out, then they lost to UCLA, they suck."

Anyway... here are the updated standings in the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins.

It's back to a multi-way tie at the top after last night's co-leaders, Carolyn Blessing and Matt Kagan, got two and three picks wrong, respectively, in today's first quartet of games. Blessing is now in a seven-way tie for first place with Ryan Morgan, Ken Wagner, Matt Thomsen, Alex Whitfield, Khalil Aboukhaled and Jeff Belisle. Each has 90 of a possible 100 points. Kagan, meanwhile, is now one of 22 players tied for eighth place with 85 points.

Complete standings here and after the jump.

Day 2

By Brendan Loy

The first wave of Friday games is underway. ESPN.com's writers are hoping for some excitement: "Day 1's 16 NCAA tournament games were decided by an average of 16 points. Will Day 2's slate bring a return to the Madness?"

You know, if South Alabama beats Butler later this afternoon, Tennessee might have to beat American and USA to reach the Sweet 16? Unpatriotic bastards! :) Right now, though, they're struggling with American, which is outrebounding them 12-4. Huh?

Also underway: Gonzaga-Davidson. GO ZAGS!!!

Also, Drake-Western Kentucky and Miami-St. Mary's. It's mid-major hour! Only two BCS-conference teams are in action at the moment.

P.S. The latest NIT Pool standings are up, after last night's wins by Syracuse (over Maryland) and Arizona State (over Southern Illinois). Mark Gardner is still perfect, with an 18-for-18 record and 132 points. Ginny Zak is now alone for second place at 17-for-18 and 125 points. Eight contestants are tied for third with 118 points.

USC postmortem

By Brendan Loy

Conquest Chronicles: "One and Done...Are you Kidding me?"

All Things Trojan: "Was O.J. Mayo's freshman campaign a success?"

Also, let the "will they stay or will they go?" speculation -- about not just Mayo, but also Jefferson and Gibson -- begin in earnest.

Notre Dame 68, George Mason 50, final

By Brendan Loy

George Mason will not be this year's George Mason. Or even this year's Winthrop, for that matter. :) Hurrah! Admire Mike Brey!

Don't fret, Coach! You won!

Up next: Wazzu, Saturday at 6:40. GO IRISH!!

Well, hey, my bracket may be shot, and I may be tied for 242nd out of 245 in my pool, and I may have seen all my major predicted upsets come and go without happening... but at least one of my alma maters won today!

Kagan, Blessing tied atop pool

By Brendan Loy

NDLS 3L Carolyn Blessing and 2004 pool champion Matt Kagan are tied atop the 2008 Living Room Times men's basketball pool with perfect 16-0 prediction records through one day of NCAA Tournament action.

Blessing, a.k.a. "internatlgirl," and Kagan, a Newington High School Class of 1999 grad and Southern New Hampshire University alum who won both the men's and women's pools in '04, each have the maximum possible total of 80 points. They are followed by a tie for third place among twenty-two contestants with 75 points apiece.

Complete standings of the pool, which is presented by the victorious UCLA Bruins, can be found here and after the jump.

Goooo Irish, Beeeeat Patriots!

By Brendan Loy

Notre Dame and George Mason are underway. Go Irish! I want my alma maters to at least go 1-for-2 today...

P.S. Also: Go Fullerton!! The #14-seed Titans are about to tip off against #3 Wisconsin. After all this carnage in my bracket, is it too much to ask that I get my one totally absurd upset pick right? :)

UPDATE: Good news: Notre Dame has jumped out to a 23-7 lead over George Mason. Bad news: CBS has deemed the game a blowout, and sent us out to a different game. Good news: The game they sent us out to is Wisconsin-Fullerton; the Titans lead by 3!

UPDATE 2: 33-21 Irish at the half.

UPDATE 3: And 30-28 Wisconsin. Go Fullerton!!

UPDATE 4: Damn. The Badgers are on a 15-3 run, and just like that, it's 45-34 Wisconsin with 12:19 left.

Three still perfect in pool

By Brendan Loy

Through 11 games, it's a nine-way tie for first place. Meanwhile, BYU and Texas A&M are going down to the wire. Go Mormons!

UPDATE: Make it a three-way tie, after Texas A&M's win. Carolyn Blessing, Chuck Wessell and Matt Kagan are 12-for-12. Thirty-five contestants are tied for fourth at 11-for-12.

P.S. In tonight's last four games, the three co-leaders all picked UCLA, Wisconsin and Notre Dame to win, but they differ on the West Virginia-Arizona game. Blessing and Kagan picked West Virginia; Wessell picked Arizona.

Complete standings of the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins here and after the jump.

Duke sucks

By Brendan Loy

Okay, forget what I said below. I totally want Belmont to win. Seriously, how awesome would it be if DUKE lost to a #15 seed? Go Bruins!!! (There's something you don't hear from me too often...)

Meanwhile, USC is hanging in there with Kansas State, but with Taj Gibson now having four fouls this early in the second half, I'm not too optimistic. Nevertheless: Fight on!! Beat the Wildcats!!

UPDATE: Okay, so USC is totally going to lose. Arrrrgh.

But Belmont leads Duke by 1 with 1:40 left, and they have the ball! GO BELMONT!!!

UPDATE, 9:15 PM: AAAAHH!!! Duke by 1, Belmont ball, 4 seconds left!!!

UPDATE 9:17 PM: ARRRRRRGH.

UPDATE, 9:19 PM: Missed free throw! Timeout! Another chance! Two-point-something seconds left, Duke by 1, Belmont ball on the opposite end of the floor... one shining moment, anyone?? Either Duke is about to win, or we're about to witness an all-time NCAA Tournament highlight.

UPDATE, 9:21 PM: It was the former. :( Duke wins, 71-70. Damn.

Oh, and Kansas State beat USC, 80-67. :(

Figures.

By Brendan Loy

The one time I want Duke to win easily, they're getting a tough fight so far from #15-seed Belmont.

Belmont had better either: a) fade soon, or b) win. If I miss the whole USC-Kansas State game just to watch Duke pull out a narrow victory, I'm going to be super-annoyed.

Now, to try MMOD...

UPDATE: MMOD is working well, but the USC Trojans are not. They're down 8 with four minutes left in the first half, and -- far more devastatingly -- Taj Gibson just picked up his third foul. When the foul was announced, I said: "That's it, they're going to lose." Argh.

Through seven games...

By Brendan Loy

...no surprises, a bunch of blowouts, and a 48-way tie atop the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool presented by the UCLA Bruins.

The leader in our household? Loyette, whose modified coin flip method bracket has her at 6-for-7. Becky is 5-for-7, as are the cats; Robbie's 4-for-7; and I'm bringing up the rear at 3-for-7. LOL! D'oh!

Complete standings here and after the jump.

Meanwhile, there's one afternoon game still underway: the Brainiac Bowl, a.k.a. the Shades of Red Showdown, between the Stanford Cardinal and the Cornell Big Red, which just got started out in Anaheim. Possible X-factor: Cornell, to my knowledge, does not have a drunken dancing Tree.

Go Duke!!

By Brendan Loy

I don't root for Duke very often. But with the Blue Devils tipping off against #15-seed Belmont at the same time -- 7:10 PM EDT -- that my Trojans are tipping off against #11-seed Kansas State, and with local TV headlining the Duke-Belmont game because the Bruins are a Tennessee team, I'd really like to see Duke open up a big lead early and never look back. Then we might actually get to watch the second half of Mayo-Beasley on TV, rather than on a small MMOD screen, which may or may not stutter and buffer, and which will always be 30 seconds or whatever behind the real action. (This matters because CBS's little score ticker thingy updates in real time, so if you're trying to watch TV and MMOD at the same time, you risk being exposed to "spoilers.")

So anyway, yeah, GO DUKE!! :)

Through three games...

By Brendan Loy

...it's a 179-way tie for first place. :)

Meanwhile, my brother-in-law Casey is alone in last place, with an 0-for-3 record. Though, um, I'm not sure if his was really a serious bracket...

P.S. It's early, but the second set of games is looking pretty disastrous for me right now. Pitt and UNLV have opened up big leads over Oral Roberts and Kent State, respectively; and Purdue leads Baylor by 5. The only bright spot is Marquette's 4-point lead over Kentucky at halftime. But going 1-for-4 in the second wave of games -- for a 3-for-7 Thursday-afternoon record, pending the result of the Brainiac Bowl between Stanford and Cornell -- would not exactly be an auspicious start. Let's go, Baylor! C'mon, Kent!! GO ORAL!!!

P.P.S. The score of the UNLV-Kent State game at halftime is 31-10 Rebels. 31-10?!? Really?? Good lord, Golden Flashes, you guys are not helping the mid-major cause here!! Argh!!

MMOD question

By Jay Johnson

I'm watching the game live on TV, plus two separate computers with MMOD running. Sweet.

But, as I recall in the past, I have been able to take the MMOD screen to fullscreen. Now, I am not able to find it, using both my Mac and my Windoze lapper.

Is it gone, or am I just not seeing it? Little help, please...

Let the games begin!

By Brendan Loy

The NCAA Tournament is underway (woooo!!!), and so is my 13th annual men's basketball pool, presented by the UCLA Bruins. I'll get the links to everyone's brackets online ASAP.

[UPDATE: Here's the bracket index. Each contestant's name is a link to his/her bracket. Also, here's the pool standings page, currently sorted in alphabetical order, as everyone is obviously tied at zero.]

The most popular champion picks are the four #1 seeds: North Carolina (33%), UCLA (18%), Kansas (14%) and Memphis (8%). The most commonly predicted first-round upset winners: #10 St. Mary's (62%), #9 Texas A&M (57%), #9 Kent State (54%), #11 St. Joseph's (47%) and #10 Davidson (45%).

We have a total of 244 contestants -- a number that may fluctuate slightly if I end up having to disqualify anyone, or if I get any slightly late entries with, um, sufficient indicia of reliability, as we might say for evidence purposes. :) Regardless, this is the second-largest Living Room Times pool ever, behind last year's 263 but ahead of the previous year's 218.

The total of 244 includes five entries that you might call quasi-contestants: two dog brackets (one for Robbie Loy, my dog, and one for Willie Wheaten, Ken Inadomi's dog), two cat brackets (one for Kristin's kitten, Zoe West, and one for our cats, Toby, Sasha & Butter, who collaborated on a single bracket this year), and one baby bracket (for Loyette Loy -- yeah, I made an exception to the "no nicknames" rule for my own daughter, so sue me). In order to maintain the "one entry per person" rule, these contestants are ineligible for the championship t-shirt, and if one of them were to win the pool, I would probably treat the top, uh, adult human contestant as at least a co-champion for historical purposes. :)

P.S. Jenna Auriemma, daughter of Geno, isn't the only kinda sorta famous person in the pool. We've also got the "West F***in' Virginia" guy, Eddie Regan. Who did he pick to win the national championship? West F***in' Virginia, of course!

We've also got a Notre Dame law professor, Rick Garnett, and two judges on the Tennessee Court of Appeals in the pool: my boss, Charles Susano, and his colleague, Sharon Lee. Judge Lee is pretty excited right now because she picked #14-seed Georgia, which leads #3 Xavier 35-26 at halftime. Personally, I'm just really, really glad I changed my mind about Xavier going all the way to the national championship game. Otherwise I'd be a complete wreck right now.

T-minus 3 hours and counting...

By Brendan Loy

Is anybody else a little bit excited? :) If not, this video might help...

One last time: the deadline to enter my men's NCAA Pool (presented by the UCLA Bruins... sigh) is 12:20 PM EDT today. In case you're wondering, we're at 215 entries and counting. It doesn't look like we'll beat last year's record of 263 entries, but I expect we'll easily surpass the second-highest total, 218 in 2006. There's always a steady stream of entries in the last few hours before the tournament tips off.

Here's hoping for a whole bunch of buzzer-beaters, upsets, and assorted shining moments... and of course, wins by USC, Notre Dame and Gonzaga. :) GOOOO MY BRACKET, BEEEEAT OTHER BRACKETS!!

UPDATE, 10:45 AM: We're now officially at 223 entries. Incidentally, one of those entries is from college-basketball royalty: Jenna Auriemma, daughter of UConn women's coach Geno Auriemma (and fiancee of my high-school classmate and two-time pool champion Todd Stigliano), is in the pool! Heh.

Gardner still perfect in NIT Pool

By Brendan Loy

With 15 first-round NIT games finished and one still in progress -- Cal leads New Mexico 56-54 with 7:19 left -- Mark Gardner remains in sole possession of first place in the Irish Trojan NIT Pool with a 15-0 prediction record. Randy Styles, Sean Sullivan and Ginny Zak are in a three-way tie for second at 14-1.

Gardner picked Cal over New Mexico, as did Styles and Zak. But Sullivan picked the Lobos, and thus he would tie Gardner for first if they win. If the Bears win, Gardner will finish the first round with a perfect 16-0 record.

UPDATE: Cal won, so Garner is officially 16-for-16! Well done! Full standings here and after the jump.

Her father's daughter

By Brendan Loy

Heh. I just filled out Loyette's bracket using the modified coin flip method described earlier, and I kid you not -- I swear I didn't rig this -- she's got USC going to the Elite Eight and Notre Dame going to the Final Four. :) That's as far as they possibly could possibly gave gone, given her pre-determined national champion pick of Kansas.

Her other Final Four teams: Kansas, of course; Pitt; and BYU. Her only truly absurd first-round upset pick: UT-Arlington over Memphis. Yeah, that one came up tails three times in a row. Oops.

Now to do the cat and dog brackets...

UPDATE: Robbie predicts an all-Bulldog Final Four of Butler, Gonzaga, Mississippi State and Georgia, with Butler winning it all. Toby, Sasha and Butter, who are collaborating on a single "cat bracket" this year, have two sets of Tigers (Clemson and Memphis), a set of Cougars (Washington State) and a set of Wildcats (Arizona) in this Final Four, with Memphis cutting down the nets.

UPDATE 2: As for my bracket... here it is. I think I'm done messing with it now. :) It's relatively non-ridiculous, by my standards. I have one #12, one #13 and one #14 pulling first-round upsets; one double-digit seed in the Sweet Sixteen (#13 Oral Roberts); #6 USC and #7 Butler in the Elite Eight; and a Final Four featuring two #1s, a #2 and a #4. Hey -- I said relatively. :) It's still pretty wacky, I admit, but I've definitely done wackier.

Incidentally, in regard to those questions about Drake and Xavier, I ultimately answered them in the negative, simply because I don't know enough about those teams to take such huge leaps of faith in them. So I picked UConn to make a surprise run to the Final Four instead, beating both the Bulldogs and the Musketeers along the way. That'll get me back to my Connecticut roots, cheering whole-heartedly for the Huskies! (Now watch them lose to San Diego...)

I'm sticking with Fullerton, though. Oh, and I decided to pick Gonzaga over Davidson (and Georgetown). I know, I know. I can't help myself. GO ZAGS!!!

UPDATE, 11:15 AM SUNDAY: Let the record show that Robbie made a couple of last-minute changes to his picks this morning. He now predicts that the UConn Huskies will beat the Georgia Bulldogs in the West Regional Final, and he is also picking the Huskies to beat the Mississippi State Bulldogs in the Final Four before losing to the Butler Bulldogs in the title game. Apparently Robbie is upset with Georgia for trying to invade his home state, and he likes Connecticut because I'm from there. So the all-Bulldog Final Four is kaput.

In addition, he decided to pick the Georgetown Hoyas, whose mascot is a Bulldog, over the Gonzaga Bulldogs, who generally call themselves the "Zags," in the second round. Thus, he has substituted the Hoyas for the Zags/Bulldogs on his bracket all the way to the Final Four. So his new Final Four is Butler, Georgetown, Mississippi State and UConn.

Obama's bracket

By Brendan Loy

John McCain isn't the only presidential candidate filling out his bracket.

Meanwhile, TPM's David Kurtz makes an analogy between March Madness and Hillary Clinton's campaign:

[Hillary's] goal is to put superdelegates in the position that the NCAA tourney selection committee faces each March: Who deserves to be in the big dance more -- the team with the better overall record on a late season losing streak or the one who started the season slow and is finishing on a roll.

Is it too late to get Direct TV?

By Brendan Loy

The trouble with living in a state that has five NCAA Tournament teams is that you're locked into watching a lot of first-round games involving those teams, whether or not they're the most exciting game in progress. I mentioned this before with relation to Duke-Belmont pre-empting USC-Kansas State tomorrow night, but it's an even bigger issue on Friday, when all four time slots will occupied by games involving Tennessee teams, only one of which (Vanderbilt-Siena at 7:20, a 4-13 game) figures to be potentially competitive. The other games are: #2 Tennessee vs. #15 American at 12:15, #2 Texas vs. #15 Austin Peay at 2:50, and #1 Memphis vs. #16 Texas-Arlington at 9:40.

According to the local CBS affiliate, "At the network's discretion, all games BUT the Kentucky vs Marquette game [Thursday at 2:30] and the Tennessee vs American Game can be switched from/to during play to a better game of the network's choosing." (The Kentucky game gets higher "regional" priority than any of the non-UT teams from Tennessee? Weird.) So, once Texas and Memphis open up big leads, they'll take us out to other games at some point (like maybe Butler-South Alabama in the 2:50 slot). That's a relief. But I'm doomed -- unless I go to a sports bar, which is a chancy proposition when you've got a baby -- to have virtually zero chance of watching any of Gonzaga-Davidson, Miami-St. Mary's or Drake-Western Kentucky, all of which I really want to see, but all of which are scheduled opposite Tennessee-American. Arrrgh.

(I tried MMOD at home the other day. It works okay -- better than it did with our ridiculously slow connection in South Bend -- but I still don't think it'll be acceptably smooth for live, fast-moving basketball action. It's a wee bit jerky, to an extent that might not be bothersome in some contexts, but will, I think, be problematic for watching live sports.)

Pitt: Elite Eight team, or first-round flameout?

By Brendan Loy

As we enter the final hours of my annual ritual of bracket agonizing, I find myself fretting about the top right-hand corner of the bracket, the upper half of the South Region. I've got Pittsburgh penciled in as an Elite Eight team because -- with apologies to Jay -- I've felt ever since the Tennessee game that Memphis's inability to shoot free throws is going to knock them out of the tourney early, and Pitt seems like the logical team to do it.

Only one problem: I really don't feel comfortable picking Pitt to go that far. In fact, I'm not even convinced they'll make it out of the first round. Oral Roberts is good; indeed, after several years of unjustifiably low seedings, they're the classic "quality small-conference team with something to prove." They'll be ready to play. Pitt, meanwhile, is the Big East Tournament champion, which means they're a trendy pick that's probably overvalued. (Chatting with ESPN's Andy Glockner the other day, I said that the Big East tourney champ is "sometimes overvalued." He shot back, "I think you misspelled 'always.'" Heh.) More importantly, it's entirely possible they're overvalued in their own heads, in which case this could be a classic trap situation where ORU rises up and nips 'em.

The thing is, if I knock Pitt out in the first round, I have a #12 vs. #13 second-round game between Temple (which is going to beat Michigan State) and Oral Roberts, which in turn leaves me with nobody plausible to knock off Memphis before the regional final... unless I want to really double down on the South Region Chaos Theory, picking either Mississippi State or Oregon to knock off the Tigers in the second round, thus producing a Sweet Sixteen game between a #8 or #9 and a #12 or #13. Dare I predict that the bracket will blow up to such an extreme degree? Seems a little wacky, even for me.

I dunno. I think maybe I'll do the Oral Roberts/Temple thing, grudgingly advance Memphis to the Elite Eight without actually having to play anybody (cough cough, Bradley), and then have Texas knock 'em out in the regional final. (Argh, I can't believe I'm putting myself in the situation of having to root for Texas in order to preserve my bracket...)

Other things I'm fretting about: Gonzaga or Davidson? And can I really justify putting Drake into the Elite Eight? And can I really justify putting Xavier in the title game? And am I out of my mind with the Fullerton thing? And, Gonzaga or Davidson???

The fandom that dare not speak its name

By Brendan Loy

While watching a SportsCenter commercial last night featuring the Tennessee Lady Vols' head basketball coach, I came to a horrifying realization:

I think I'm starting to like Pat Summitt.

This is simply not acceptable. Pat Summitt is the enemy! She is UConn's nemesis! She is the anti-Geno! She is the devil-woman! It is the solemn duty of every good Connecticutian to resist the Evil Pat and all Her Works! I'm allowed to grudgingly respect her, but under no circumstances am I supposed to like her! Must... resist...

"We are the Big Orange Army... you will be assimilated... resistance is futile..."

Nooooooooo!!!!

It's all about Cal State Fullerton, baby

By Brendan Loy

College Hoops Journal tries the coin flip bracket. The result? Three of the four #1 seeds lose to #16 seeds, and the Final Four is Stanford, BYU, George Mason and Cal State Fullerton, with Mason winning the national championship.

Dane did a coin-flip bracket once, in 2004. I remember because he had me flip the coin for him, and enter his bracket accordingly. He finished 67th out of 76. That means he beat nine people! Well, okay, six people and three cats. :) And I'm pretty sure Craig Stern, in last place, was trying to get everything wrong. But the coin-flip bracket legitimately beat five human contestants who were trying to win -- including my wife. Sorry, Becky. But hey, she picked Hampton in 2001, so I really can't talk. (She'll hold that one over my head till the day I die, because it was the first pool she'd ever entered and, when I saw her bracket, I rather condescendingly informed her that it wasn't a good idea to pick #15 seeds. Heh.)

Anyway, speaking of Cal State Fullerton (and, more generally, of crazy upset picks that are utterly ridiculous on their face, but who knows?), I'm not predicting a Final Four run for the Titans, but I do have them penciled in over Wisconsin on my bracket. I have no logical basis for this whatsoever. (I don't think "it's Bea's alma mater, and I want to see the USC vs. Fullerton Long-Duque throwdown" counts as a logical basis.) Then again, I didn't have a logical basis the last time I picked a #14 to beat a #3, and that worked out okay. (And clearly, that's a good reason to hope for lightning to strike twice... is it any wonder I always lose my pools, usually spectacularly?)

P.S. The key to an effective coin-flip bracket, I think, is to stack the deck a little bit. Suppose heads is for the favorite and tails is for the underdog. For games involving a #16 or #15 seed, you should pick the favorite unless it comes up tails three straight times. For games involving a #14, #13 or #12 seed, you should pick the favorite unless it comes up trails twice in a row. For all other games, just do a straight coin flip. Under those modified rules, I bet you could get some intriguing, non-DOA brackets with the coin-flip method.

P.P.S. Hmm... maybe we can use the above-described, modified coin-flip method to make a bracket for Loyette! With one exception, though: she is definitely picking Kansas to win the national championship. She told me so. Well, to be more precise, I asked her on Selection Sunday who she thinks will win it all, in response to which she promptly gurgled something to the effect of: "Gaaa." Using my powers of babyspeak translation, I interpreted this as meaning "Kansas." So I asked her, "You think Kansas, huh?" She immediately smiled back, a super-cute, heart-melting smile. So clearly, Loyette is picking Kansas. But that only accounts for 6 of the 63 tournament games. Her other 57 picks could be determined by the modified coin-flip method...

Mark Gardner leads NIT Pool

By Brendan Loy

Mark Gardner has the lead in the 4th annual Irish Trojan NIT Pool with a perfect record through seven games, and will hold onto sole possession of first place unless Arizona State blows its 53-38 lead with 8:52 left against Alabama State in the night's final game. (Brandon Minich would tie Gardner for first if Alabama State wins.)

UPDATE: The Sun Devils won, so Gardner does indeed maintain his hold on first place. 22 contestants are tied for second. Complete standings here and after the jump.

NIT Pool standings online

By Brendan Loy

The NIT pool standings are up. 62 contestants entered the pool -- 58 of whom are currently tied for first place, through 2 games. (Alas, I'm one of the four tied for last place. Damn you, Stephen F. Austin!!!)

You can view each contestant's picks by clicking their name in the standings. Here's a summary of everyone's picks. The most common champion picks are the four #1-seeds: Ohio State (17), Arizona State (13), Virginia Tech (10) and Syracuse (6).

UPDATE: Now current through 4 5 games (of 8 tonight), standings here and after the jump.

Play-in game madness!!

By Brendan Loy

The NCAA Tournament is underway! Er, sort of.

Mount St. Mary's wins. Woo.

Tonight: NIT, CBI, play-in game. Woo!!

By Brendan Loy

If you're looking for online resources to consult before filling out your men's NCAA Tournament bracket, MSNBC's "Beyond the Arc" blog has an incredibly thorough roundup.

Incidentally, don't forget, if you want to enter my NIT Pool, you have exactly one hour left to do so! That's because the first game of the NIT, #7-seed Stephen F. Austin at #2-seed UMass, tips off at 6:00 PM EDT, kicking off a full evening of scintillating hoops action that also includes the NCAA play-in game (7:30 PM on ESPN) and the first four games of the CBI. Don't pretend like you're not excited.

P.S. No promsies about exactly when I'll get everybody's NIT Pool picks online (and the initial standings, etc.), but I'll try to do it sometime tonight.

New option: pick by mascot!

By Brendan Loy

For those who might like to consider filling out their NCAA and NIT brackets based on the teams' mascots, I've created special entry forms containing mascots for the men's NCAA, women's NCAA and the NIT pools. :)

I typed in the mascot names manually, and in many cases from memory, so please let me know if you spot any mistakes!

Women's pool delayed online!

By Brendan Loy

The women's NCAA Tournament bracket is out. Due to technical issues, however, I will be unable to get the pool entry form online until sometime tomorrow (Tuesday), probably in the evening.

UPDATE: Nevermind. The women's pool is now online!

Meanwhile, don't forget that the deadline to enter my NIT Pool is 6:00 PM EDT tomorrow (Tuesday).

Can you beat John McCain's bracket?

By Brendan Loy

John McCain is running his own NCAA pool. You can "Win Great McCain 2008 Prizes!" Heh. (Hat tip: Eric Soskin.)

I'm guessing McCain will pick Arizona to upset West Virginia and Duke. Just a hunch.

Arrrrrgh.

By Brendan Loy

The good news is, the Notre Dame-George Mason game will be the primary ~9:30 game on the Knoxville CBS affiliate Thursday night. Sweet!

The bad news is, contrary to what I guessed last night, USC-Kansas State won't be the primary ~7:00 game. I guess they think Belmont, a Nashville university with 4,700 students, has a large enough following in East Tennessee that it makes sense to prioritize #2 Duke vs. #15 Belmont over the super-frosh showdown of Mayo vs. Beasley. Ugh.

I just hope our Comcast connection can handle MMOD. (Speaking of which, if you want a "VIP pass," you'd better sign up now -- they're 86% full!)

Enter my pools!

By Brendan Loy

Just to reiterate, here are the links to enter my free, "moneyless" men's NCAA pool and women's NCAA pool.

The NIT pool deadline has passed. Standings are here. The men's NCAA pool deadline is 12:20pm EDT Thursday. The women's NCAA pool deadline is noon EDT Saturday.

This post will stay on top of the homepage until further notice; new posts will appear below.

The other other tournament

By Brendan Loy

The inaugural CBI bracket was released overnight. Please, try to contain your excitement. :)

With Washington in the CBI, Arizona State and Cal in the NIT, and of course, UCLA, Stanford, Wazzu, USC, Oregon and Arizona in the NCAA Tournament, fully nine-tenths of the Pac-10 will be playing in the postseason. (Somehow, 6-24 Oregon State, RPI #269, was snubbed. EAST COAST BIAS!! ;)

P.S. Seriously, how bad is Oregon State? According to the RPI, they played literally the worst non-conference schedule in all of D-1... and they went 6-5 against it. And that's not including their loss to Division II Alaska Fairbanks!!

Tournament schedule unveiled

By Brendan Loy

The NCAA Tournament first-round schedule for Thursday and Friday is out. And guess what? Just in case Georgia wasn't tired enough from their incredible three-wins-in-30-hours run through the SEC Tournament, their game with Xavier is the first game of the tourney, tipping at 12:20 PM EDT Thursday. LOL!  [CORRECTION: Er, that's the "first game" not counting the play-in game, of course.]

USC-Kansas State is at 7:10 PM Thursday. I imagine it will be the national game, given the Mayo-Beasley matchup, and I'm glad it's not opposite a Tennessee, Vanderbilt or Memphis game, in which case it probably would have been pre-empted here in Knoxville. I'm hoping Belmont won't get special TV coverage for their game against Duke beyond the Nashville market.

Notre Dame-George Mason is at 9:50 PM Thursday (or, more precisely, 30 minutes after the conclusion of the Wazzu-Winthrop game, which tips at 7:20). In terms of which contest will be the national game in that time slot, I think it'll be between ND-GMU and Arizona-West Virginia, but I'd put my money on the latter.

Annoyingly, three of the first-round matchups I'm most interested in watching are all in Friday's first block of games, and all opposite Tennessee-American, which will of course get wall-to-wall coverage here. I'll be at home, as I have Good Friday off, but I'll have to rely on MMOD to watch any of Gonzaga-Davidson, Drake-Western Kentucky or Miami-Saint Mary's. Harumph.

NCAA, NIT pools now online

By Brendan Loy

The 13th annual Living Room Times men's NCAA pool, presented by the UCLA Bruins, is now online and ready to accept your brackets! The deadline is Thursday at 12:20 PM EDT.

Also, the 4th annual Irish Trojan NIT Pool is online as well. Its deadline is Tuesday at 6:00 PM EDT.

Complete pool rules are here. As always with my basketball pools, I ask that contestants please use their real names, first and last. Anonymous, pseudonymous, first-name-only, and first-name-last-initial entries are NOT allowed. If this rule presents a problem for you, please e-mail me and we can hopefully work out some sort of compromise.

If you enter and then later decide to change your picks, simply re-enter from scratch. The last entry received before the deadline will be treated as your final entry.

The women's NCAA pool will begin Monday night.

P.S. One minor technical thing that's different from previous years: after you submit your picks, you'll be presented with a confirmation page displaying your bracket. At the top of this page, it will say, "To send these picks to your OfficePool Manager, select the button below," followed by a "Send Emails" button. Clicking this button is not required; your entry is already entered into the pool database by the time you see the screen I'm describing. However, although not required, clicking the "Send Emails" button is highly recommended, because otherwise you will not receive an e-mailed copy of your picks.

P.P.S. Earlier, I was planning to have a pool for the new CBI as well. However, I've changed my mind. It turns out they reseed their Final Four, which makes it way too difficult to have a pool, especially considering that no one cares about the CBI anyway. :)

David vs. David, Goliath vs. Goliath

By Brendan Loy

Ugh. The NCAA selection committee has once again bracketed the tournament in such a way as to prevent many potentially compelling matchups where mid-major and low-major teams would be able to test their mettle against big-conference teams.

Among the 8-9 games, two are Goliath vs. Goliath (Indiana-Arkansas, Mississippi State-Oregon) and one is David vs. David (UNLV-Kent State). Only one is sort of a David vs. Goliath (BYU vs. Texas A&M). Would it have killed them to flip a couple of those teams, producing, say, UNLV-Arkansas and Indiana-Kent State?

Among the 7-10 games, it's a similar story, as we get two David vs. Davids (Butler vs. South Alabama and Gonzaga vs. Davidson) and one Goliath vs. Goliath (West Virginia vs. Arizona), and only one David vs. Goliath, Miami vs. St. Mary's -- which isn't really that interesting anyway, as Miami is hardly a traditional basketball powerhouse. Again, would it have killed them to pit, say, Butler vs. Arizona and West Virginia vs. South Alabama?

I won't complain about the 6-11 games, since there really wasn't anything to work with there; all of those teams are from power conferences, except St. Joe's. But what about the 5-12 games? Again, we get Clemson vs. Villanova in one bracket, while Drake faces Western Kentucky in another. Why not flip them, so it's Clemson vs. Western Kentucky and Drake vs. Villanova? Much more compelling.

I realize the committee supposedly doesn't look at matchups, but this is the second consecutive year they've done this, and it really detracts from the drama of the tournament's opening weekend. Nobody tunes into the first round to watch David vs. David and Goliath vs. Goliath. We all want to see how the "little guys" stack up against the "big guys." Instead, the committee has created a situation where the mid-majors are inevitably going to cannibalize each other.

CBS's Seth Davis said during the Selection Show that "some of these non-power-conference teams need to step up and win some games." But this bracket denies them a ton of potential opportunities to do just that, against major-conference opponents at least. Is anyone in the mainstream sports media going to give proper credit to Western Kentucky if they upset Drake, or South Alabama if they upset Butler, or Davidson if they upset Gonzaga? Of course not. And that's a damn shame.

This unfortunate bracketing really takes away from one of the very best things about the NCAA Tournament. I don't know if the committee is doing this on purpose, or just by accident, but like I said, it has now happened two years in a row. They need to make an effort to prevent this from happening so commonly in future years if they want the tournament's early rounds to remain the most compelling four days in sports.

NCAA Pool coming shortly

By Brendan Loy

I'll get my pool entry form online as soon as possible. It may take a little longer than in past years because of Loyette. :) Stay tuned.

P.S. That would be the 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool, presented by the UCLA Bruins. In case anyone was confused...

Selection Show! Wooo!

By Brendan Loy

No surprises in the #1 seeds. North Carolina is #1 overall, and the top seed in the East Region; Memphis is tops in the South; UCLA in the West; and Kansas in Midwest. Tennessee probably got knocked out of the spot now occupied by the Jayhawks when they lost to Arkansas yesterday.

Selections coming up!

UPDATE: #5 Notre Dame vs. #12 George Mason!

And a possible second-round rematch with #13 Winthrop!

UPDATE, 6:11 PM: How does Tennessee get stuck with North Carolina?? That's not fair. The Vols cannot have been the #8 overall seed. Lame.

UPDATE, 6:15 PM: South Alabama gets in! And as a #10 seed, matched up with Butler in Birmingham, Alabama. So it's another mid-major vs. mid-major matchup (ugh). I'm not too upset about Butler's #7 seed, though. They're overrated in the polls. But the matchup is annoying. Hopefully that's our only "David vs. David" matchup.

The other bubble team in so far is St. Joe's, as an #11 seed. One region down, three to go...

UPDATE, 6:25 PM: ARRRGGH!!!! More stupid mid-major vs. mid-major matchups!! #8 UNLV vs. #9 Kent State and #7 Gonzaga vs. #10 Davidson!

If Gonzaga can reach the second round, a possible Battle of the Jesuits looms against Georgetown... and if they can reach the Sweet Sixteen, they could face USC, the ultimate Brendan Loy dilemma. But I doubt that will happen; I will probably be picking Davidson. More likely, the Sweet Sixteen could pit USC vs. my dad's alma mater, #2 Georgetown. But only if the #6 Trojans can get past #11 Kansas State (Mayo vs. Beasley!) and then probably #3 Wisconsin.

Meanwhile, Villanova gets in. Joe Lunardi is perfect on the bubble teams so far. The Wildcats were his "last team in."

It's now pretty much impossible for Arizona, Arizona State and Oregon to all make it, unless somebody from the "very likely in" list doesn't make it.

Two regions down, two to go.

UPDATE, 6:29 PM: A decent David vs. Goliath matchup, sort of, in #7 Miami vs. #10 St. Mary's.

Note also the Battle of the Brainiacs, #3 Stanford vs. #14 Cornell.

Oregon is a #9 seed. That suggests so much respect fpr the Pac-10 that you'd almost think Arizona and Arizona State will both get in. But that would require either Baylor or Texas A&M to not make it.

Glad to see Oral Roberts finally get a decent seed (#13).

UPDATE, 6:31 PM: With one region to go, here's where things stand on the bubble: four teams from the "true bubble" category have made it already, leaving only one spot left, unless one of the two remaining "very likely in" teams -- Baylor or A&M -- is left out.

Among the bubble teams still waiting to hear their names called: Arizona, Arizona State, Illinois State, Ohio State, Virginia Tech, VCU. Again, only one of those teams can make it, unless Baylor and/or A&M doesn't.

Lunardi is still perfect. He has Arizona as the only unannounced team getting in.

UPDATE, 6:35 PM: Joe Lunardi PERFECT for (I believe) the first time ever!

Very interesting that Oregon gets a #9 and Arizona gets a #10, but ASU gets left out. Clearly the committee penalized them for the terrible non-conference strength of schedule.

"Some of these non-power conference teams need to step up and win some games," says Seth Davis. Well, it's a bit hard for them to prove anything when they're all matched up against each other... sigh...

UPDATE, 6:51 PM: Is Billy Packer a d**k or what? He keeps talking about how the Big East gets 8 teams in, versus the ACC's 4, without mentioning that the Big East has 16 teams to the ACC's 12.

Final Scoresheet Update

By Brendan Loy

I've updated the Official BrendanLoy.com Bubble Scoresheet to reflect the Georgia win and the Illinois loss. Here's the PDF version, and here's the Word version.

Selection Show liveblogging coming up!

Selection committee puts political correctness ahead of basketball, again

By Brendan Loy

Whatever happens with the bubble teams, the NCAA Tournament selection committee has already made its most outrageous, indefensible, egregiously absurd decision of the year. According to ESPN's Andy Katz, Tuesday's play-in game will feature MEAC champion Coppin State against NEC champion Mount St. Mary's -- not SWAC champion Mississippi Valley State, which is, by any objective measure, one of the two worst teams in the NCAA Tournament.

There is no basketball-related explanation for this decision. None. The only reason they've done it is because of their reluctance to pit two historically black universities, the MEAC and SWAC champions, against one another. This kowtowing to political correctness, despite the MEAC and SWAC consistently producing the two worst teams in the field, has been a recurring theme since the play-in game was created in 2001. But never has the situation been so blatant as this year.

Mississippi Valley State is 15-15 against Division I competition, #229 in the RPI, and #318 (out of 341!) in the Pomeroy ratings. Mount St. Mary's is 18-14, #159, and #169, respectively. Mississippi Valley State won the worst conference in America, according to the conference RPI ratings. Mount St. Mary's won the ninth-worst conference.

Coppin State and Mississippi Valley State aren't just the two worst teams by far in this year's tournament, they're two of the worst teams ever to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. There is no possible justification, under the selection committee's own criteria, for putting any other two teams in the play-in game. Yet the committee has done exactly that -- because they care more about Jesse Jackson's approval, apparently, than about following their own rules and procedures and creating an intellectually honest bracket.

Jim Nantz and Billy Packer will probably focus their annual inquisition of the committee chairman on the alleged "snubs" of various mediocre major-conference teams. If so, they'll be missing the boat completely on the day's real scandal. They need to ask the chairman about this decision, because it is totally ridiculous, and it's about time someone held their feet to the fire for this egregious nonsense.

Baby's first Selection Sunday!

By Brendan Loy

Heh:

Actually, that photo was taken on Thursday during the Pac-10 tournament. But I have a feeling it will be a common scene both tonight and throughout the next few weeks. :)

(Just before the picture was taken, Loyette was actually staring straight at the TV screen for several minutes. It was really cute.)

Oh, and yes, we realize our entertainment center isn't remotely baby-proofed. But we should have a little while yet before she starts crawling around and that becomes an issue...

Cinderella's chance

By Brendan Loy

SEC East last-place team Georgia, trying to win its third game in 30 hours to win an automatic bid to the Big Dance, leads 28-9 (!) over Arkansas, the SEC West's second-place team, with 9:15 left in the first half. This is an ideal scenario for the Bulldogs; if they can build up a huge early lead, they might be able to hang on even if exhaustion takes hold in the second half.

Meanwhile, in the Big Ten title game, first-place Wisconsin has a 20-18 lead over 10th-place Illinois.

Also underway: the Big 12 title game between Kansas and Texas, which may be a play-in game for a #1 seed. Texas leads 46-45 at halftime.

Updated Bubble Scoresheet

By Brendan Loy

I've updated the Official BrendanLoy.com Bubble Scoresheet to mirror Joe Lunardi's final(?) "Bracket Math" column. Lunardi thinks there are only 12 "true bubble" teams, not 15 as in my earlier scoresheet, and I think he's probably right, so I've moved Kentucky into the "very likely in" column, and Dayton & Ole Miss into the "very likely out" column. I could see either the Flyers or Rebels getting in, or the Wildcats being left out, but it would certainly be a surprise.

The new version of the Scoresheet also displays Lunardi's S-curve rankings, from +6 to +1 (last six in) and from -1 to -6 (last six out). Here's the PDF version, and here's the Word version.

Joe Lunardi's S-curve

By Brendan Loy

His last six in, from safest to least safe: South Alabama, Saint Joseph's, Oregon, Arizona, Villanova, Virginia Tech.

His last six out, from closest to furthest from the cut line: Illinois State, Arizona State, Ohio State, New Mexico, VCU, UMass.

P.S. The experts are getting all keyed up to be outraged about Arizona State's possible exclusion. I'd love to see the Sun Devils make it, but I'd also love to see some intellectual honesty from those who object strenuously to their exclusion, if indeed they're excluded.

For example, it's fine to emphasize ASU's big wins (Xavier by 22 at home, Stanford in OT at home, USC by 14 at home), but you can't just ignore their bad losses (Illinois, Nebraska, Cal at home), nor their utterly horrible non-conference schedule (ranked #298, or 46th-worst in Division I), nor their 2-7 record against the Pac-10's top four teams. You need to make a case that takes into account all of the pertinent facts, not just the ones that are helpful to your argument.

Similarly, it's fine to point out ASU's head-to-head sweep of Arizona, but you shouldn't "double-count" those wins by saying, "They beat Arizona head-to-head and they finished ahead of them in the Pac-10 standings," as if those are two independently significant accomplishments. They're not; they're just two ways of saying the same thing. ASU finished one game ahead of Arizona in the Pac-10 standings because they beat 'em head-to-head. Outside of the head-to-head games, the Sun Devils were 7-9 in their other conference games, while the Wildcats were 8-8.

P.P.S. And as for Virginia Tech, I wonder if the experts who think they should definitely be included in the field of 65 -- or the head coach who believes that those who disagree with his fuzzy math are "certifiably insane" -- all because the Hokies almost beat #1 North Carolina yesterday, would have extended the same courtesy to Davidson (which almost beat North Carolina, Duke, UCLA and N.C. State) if the Wildcats hadn't won their automatic bid? For that matter, I wonder if they'll use the same logic vis a vis South Alabama (which almost beat Vanderbilt and Ole Miss)? Heck, if almost winning games is such a key factor for NCAA considering, Notre Dame should have been a freakin' #1 seed back in 2005-06...

I will see your Georgia, and I will raise you a Coppin State

By Brendan Loy

I e-mailed ESPN's Andy Glockner last night, asking him whether he agrees with me that a Georgia victory in today's SEC championship game would, in light of the bizarre circumstances that have caused the last-place Bulldogs to need three wins in 30 hours to reach the NCAA Tournament, be "the single most incredible story in the entire history of Championship Week."

He replied, "No, I think that's Coppin State, which won the MEAC tonight by winning four games in four days by a total of six points. They beat the top three seeds in the tournament on successive nights and closed by winning 12 of their last 13 games after starting the season 2-19 in D-I games. Unreal."

I still think Georgia is the better story, but there's no doubt Coppin State is an incredible one, too. Even with their torrid 8-out-of-9 finish to the regular season, the Eagles were the seventh-place team in the second-worst conference in America. They enter the NCAA Tournament with a 16-20 record (14-20 against D-I opponents) -- making them the first 20-loss team ever to go dancing -- and an RPI ranking of #217.

It'll be interesting to see whether the committee does the right thing and matches up Coppin State against Mississippi Valley State, the champion of the worst conference (the SWAC), in the play-in game. The selection committee has been reluctant to pit the SWAC champ against the MEAC champ in the play-in game, because those are the "historically black college" conferences, and it's seen as politically incorrect to put both of their champions in the play-in game, even though those conferences pretty consistently produce the two worst teams in the field. (Last year, the committee did Niagara a massive injustice by putting the MAAC champ Purple Eagles, RPI #136, who should have been a #14 or #15 seed, into the play-in game in place of the SWAC champ Jackson State, RPI #168.)

This season, though, I don't see how you can deny, with a straight face, that MEAC champ Coppin State (14-20 against D-I, RPI #227) and Mississippi Valley State (15-15 against D-I, RPI #229 are by far the two worst teams in the field. RPI-wise, the next-closest contender is #159 Mount St. Mary's, surprise champion of the NEC, which has an 18-14 record. That's 68 spots behind Coppin State -- equivalent to the difference between North Carolina and IUPUI. If there's ever going to be a year when the committee puts basketball ahead of politics, and puts the two worst teams in the play-in game regardless of what Jesse Jackson might think about it, this is that year.

Bubble Scoresheet

By Brendan Loy

It's Selection Sunday!!! Whee!!!!

With no bubble teams in action today, the bubble pecking order is now pretty well fixed, so I've gone ahead and created the Official BrendanLoy.com Bubble Scoresheet (Word format, PDF format).

OMG!

By Brendan Loy

Georgia, the last-place team in the SEC East, which won four conference games all year, is 45.5 seconds away from winning its second game today (over a team playing its first game today) and advancing to the SEC championship game! Unbelievable!

UPDATE: GEORGIA WINS!! Woo!! Incredible!! Two upset wins in 11 hours!!

(Specifically, according to ESPN, Georgia/Kentucky tipped off at 12:11 PM; the game ended at 2:30; Georgia/Mississippi State tipped off at 8:45; the game ended at 10:42.)

P.S. Did I mention the first game went to overtime? So they had to play eighty-five minutes of basketball today? All against superior basketball teams? And their best player fouled out of both games? And they won? Amazing!

P.P.S. As I said earlier, if the Bulldogs win tomorrow, this could be the most incredible story in the entire history of Championship Week.

P.P.P.S. The Big Ten and SEC title games are both scheduled to begin at 3:30 PM tomorrow. Both feature teams with no at-large hopes (Illinois, Georgia) playing for an automatic bid. Something I've always wondered: what happens if one of those games goes to overtime, perhaps multiple overtimes, and continues past 6:00 PM, when the Selection Show is supposed to start??

Temple wins A-10

By Brendan Loy

Temple is the Atlantic 10 champion. Will the team they beat, St. Joe's, also get a bid? What about UMass? Dayton? We'll find out tomorrow.

Also, UCLA is the Pac-10 champ. And Arkansas upset Tennessee, on a last-second shot, to earn a spot in tomorrow's title game.

Georgia: team of destiny?

By Brendan Loy

I know it's unlikely, but if SEC East last-place team Georgia -- which beat Kentucky in overtime in this afternoon's tornado-delayed quarterfinal on a game-winning shot by unlikely hero Zac Swansey -- plays its way into the NCAA Tournament with three wins in 30 hours, it will be one of the greatest stories in the entire history of Championship Week, no?

Incidentally, if Georgia wins the Battle of the Bulldogs tonight against Mississippi State (on five hours' rest or whatever it is), the selection committee will have two bubble contingencies to plan for: the aforementioned Big Ten headache, and another headache in the SEC. That's because the SEC title game has been moved from 1:00 to 3:30 PM, in order to give the competitors from tonight's weather-delayed semifinals a little more rest.

But what would Georgia's seed be? They're #141 in the RPI, which puts them below a bunch of teams that Joe Lunardi has estimated as #14, #15 and #16 seeds!

UPDATE: The Bulldogs (15-16 overall, 4-12 SEC) aren't the only sub-.500 major-conference team still alive for a bid. Illinois (16-18 overall, 5-13 Big Ten, RPI #112) just advanced to the Big Ten final. I love it!

Georgia Dome tornado footage

By Brendan Loy

Here's the live TV broadcast from last night's Alabama-Mississippi State game as a possible tornado struck the Georgia Dome:

It just goes to show that the SEC is a war. ;)

Close-up view of the moment the storm hit here. And here's a video taken by a fan in the stands.

Big Ten upsets create bubble headache

By Brendan Loy

The Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals yesterday saw a couple of big upsets: #10-seed Illinois over #2 Purdue, and #6-seed Minnesota over #3 Indiana on a miracle Christian Laettner-esque buzzer-beater:

These upsets mean that today's second semifinal will feature two teams with no shot whatsoever at an NCAA at-large berth: the 20-12, RPI #101 Gophers and the 15-18, RPI #125 Illini. (NIT-ology currently projects Minnesota as a #7-seed in the NIT, and Illinois as not being invited to either the NIT or the CBI.)

The winner of the 4:05 PM semifinal will advance to tomorrow's 3:30 PM title game against either #1 Wisconsin or #4 Michigan State, both of whom are safely in the field of 65. So it's guaranteed that the championship game will be between an at-large lock and at an-large non-contender.

This means the NCAA selection committee will have to create an either/or bracket, dependent on the outcome of the Big Ten title game, which won't be decided until mere minutes before the Selection Show. The "last team in," whoever it is, will instantly become the "last team out" if today's Illinois/Minnesota winner steals a berth tomorrow afternoon.

If that happens, it'll be interesting to see how the Big Ten's surprise winner gets seeded. By rights, based on their RPIs, the Gophers or Illini should be around a #13 or #14 seed (maybe even a #15, if it's Illinois). But in the interest of simplifying the bracketing process, given the timing issues, the committee might simply give them whatever seed the would be "last team in" was going to get, which would-be an #11 or #12.

It'll also be interesting to see whether Ohio State is the bubble team that gets left out if Illinois or Minnesota earns the auto bid. The committee always says it doesn't add up the number of teams per conference, but it's still hard to believe the Big Ten would get six teams (possibly the same as -- or more than?!? -- the Pac-10) -- and with Ohio State squarely on the bubble anyway, it would be awfully convenient for the committee to designate the Buckeyes as the team whose fate is dependent on whether the Illini/Gophers win tomorrow. Regardless, I daresay tOSU fans will be rooting awfully hard for either Wisconsin or Michigan State tomorrow, just in case.

The only other possible major-conference party-crasher still standing is Georgia (14-16, RPI #137), the last-place team in the SEC East, which is still alive in the SEC Tournament. But thanks to the severe weather problems in Atlanta, the Bulldogs would need to win three games in about 27 hours to earn the auto bid.

Possible tornado hits Atlanta, damages Georgia Dome, halts SEC tourney

By Brendan Loy

Yikes: "The Mississippi State/Alabama overtime was already exciting, but it got even more exciting when what was either a hailstorm or a tornado -- referred to here as a 'hailnado' for convenience -- ripped past the Georgia Dome sometime around 9:45 p.m., halting play on the court and scaring the living daylights out of the SEC crowd." In addition to ripping a hole in the Georgia Dome roof and causing a ton of other damage in and near the arena, the storm also damaged CNN Center and caused all sorts of other havoc in downtown Atlanta. (Hat tip: NDLauren.)

They managed to finish the Mississippi State-Alabama game (the Bulldogs won), but the night's final SEC quarterfinal, between Kentucky and Georgia, was postponed till tomorrow morning. The winner will then have to play again tomorrow night, in the semis against Mississippi State. The SEC has no choice in this, really; its title game is on Selection Sunday afternoon, so it's not like they can delay the semifinals by a day.

Coming soon...

By Brendan Loy

The 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool, presented by the UCLA Bruins.

Ugh. Ugh. Ugh.

Showtime at Staples

By Brendan Loy

They're underway in L.A.

FIGHT ON, TROJANS!!!!! BEAT THE BRUINS!!!!! WIN ME THE BET!!!!!

(I think I'm going to use that bear for every anti-UCLA post from now on. Hahaha.)

UPDATE: USC leads at halftime, 34-29. I'm not too happy, though. Frankly, the margin should be bigger. The Trojans' defense was great, and the Bruins' shooting was cold until the last couple of minutes, yet USC's offense wasn't clicking on all cylinders. From the 16-minute mark to the 9-minute mark of the half, UCLA only scored 4 points (increasing their total from 7 to 11), which would have presented a great opportunity for USC to build a big lead, but they only managed to get up 17-11 during that stretch. I feel like the Bruins have a good run in them sometime in the second half, and I'd like to see the Trojans build up enough of a lead beforehand that they can withstand it.

Also of concern: Hackett and Jefferson each have 2 fouls. Hopefully neither of them picks up a quick third in the second half. You don't want to put your fate in the hands of Pac-10 refs!!

Meanwhile, UCLA's Luc Richard Mbah a Moute went down with an ugly-looking injury. Hopefully he's OK and will at least be back for the NCAA Tournament.

UPDATE 2: Aaaaand, while I was in the other room helping Becky with the baby, UCLA opens the second half on a 17-4 run. They're up 46-38 with 14:43 minutes left. Yikes. Oh, and Hackett just got his third foul. And Gibson has 3, too. Crap, crap, crap.

UPDATE 3: Trojans within 5 points with 3:43 to go. Gibson and Jefferson both have 4 fouls. I'm so nervous. I feel like I have such a huge personal stake in the outcome of this game... stupid bets with Mike Tran...

I just really, really hope the Pac-10 refs don't decide this one.

UPDATE 4: UCLA by 3, USC ball, 39 seconds left. My heart is pounding. I swear I'd be less nervous if I had a couple hundred dollars on this game, rather than having my pool's honor riding on it.

UPDATE 5: DAMMIT.

DAMMIT.

DAMMIT.

That was a weird strategy at the end there...

Ugh.

Dammit.

Finally!

By Brendan Loy

A bubble team that actually wants to go dancing!

American wins Patriot League

By Brendan Loy

For the first time ever, American University is going dancing.

Bubble update

By Brendan Loy

Florida State: done.

Virginia Tech: still alive.

Ohio State: still on the bubble.

(If not for yesterday's carnage, I'd say Ohio State is "done," but since nobody within spitting distance of the "cut line" can win a damn game, some conference-tournament flame-outs are going to have to get bids -- they've still gotta invite 65 teams -- so you can't count the Buckeyes out yet. Florida State, though, was way down near the bottom of the pecking order anyway, so they're done for. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, was also pretty far down the S-curve, so this win doesn't get them in, necessarily. A win over North Carolina tomorrow, though, probably does, since it would make them the one and only major-conference bubble team to achieve anything worth a damn during Championship Week.)

Now, all bubble-watching eyes turn to the Atlantic 10. If Xavier and Charlotte win, could that conference be, as Andy Glockner suggests, a one-bid league?! I don't know, but personally, I'll be rooting for St. Joe's and Temple. It would be nice to see someone actually earn their way into this tournament.

P.S. Apparently it is now Irish Trojan policy that all posts' titles shall begin with the word "Bubble." ;)

Bubble Scoresheet preview

By Brendan Loy

Sometime on Sunday afternoon, I'll publish this year's version of the Official BrendanLoy.com Bubble Scoresheet, which provides an easy tool for bubble-watchers to use while watching the Selection Show, to make sense of things as the regions are announced. I figured I'd briefly plug it now, to encourage y'all to come back Sunday afternoon. :)

By specifically keeping track of how many "probably in," "bubble" and "probably out" teams have been selected thus far, I find that it's much easier to figure out what the stakes are, and what the as-yet unselected teams' chances are, as the show proceeds.

For example, two years ago, during a commercial break 3/4 of the way through the Selection Show, I was able to write definitively that "either Northern Iowa or Cincinnati is NOT dancing. The bubble is tapped out." Thus, when Northern Iowa's name appeared in the final region, I knew that Cincy was doomed. And last year, again 3/4 of the way into the show, I noted that "unless either Syracuse or Xavier [both of whom I had listed in the 'probably in' column] is left out ... the rest of the bubble teams aren’t going to the tournament." As a result, when CBS announced the inclusion of Xavier and then of bubble-team Stanford, I knew immediately that Syracuse had been, stunningly, snubbed.

Bubble carnage!

By Brendan Loy

Yesterday morning, Joe Lunardi said there were 25 teams on or near the bubble, competing for 11 spots. Of those 25 teams, 18 were in action yesterday -- and they went a whopping 6-12! (And that's not even including Baylor!)

But it gets worse. The ten teams closest to the "cut line" -- the "last five in" and "last five out" -- went an incredible 0-7, with only Ohio State, Illinois State and VCU managing not to lose (because they were idle; in the Redbirds' and Rams' cases, their seasons are already over).

Here's a graphical representation of yesterday's carnage, using Lunardi's Thursday-morning pecking order as a starting point. The teams are listed in S-curve order, from best to worst, as of yesterday morning. Green means they won yesterday, red means they lost, italics means their season was done before the day started. Here goes:

• IN: Miami, Texas A&M, Arizona, UNLV, Arkansas, South Alabama, Oregon, Massachusetts, Illinois State, New Mexico, Arizona State

• OUT: Ohio State, Florida, VCU, UAB, Dayton, Saint Joseph's, Villanova, Mississippi, Syracuse, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Temple, Houston

So, where does this leave us?

Does anyone want to go dancing?

By Brendan Loy

This is unbelievable. Fans of South Alabama, Illinois State and VCU ought to be jumping for joy, because today has been an absolute disaster for the bubble teams still in action. Almost nobody is playing their way in, and a lot of teams are playing their way out. If there is ever going to be a year when four low- or mid-majors (i.e., the three above-mentioned teams plus St. Mary's) can all reach the Big Dance despite disappointing conference tournament finishes, this is that year.

The list of bubble teams that have lost today now includes Oregon, UMass and -- in humiliating fashion -- Florida, in addition to the ones I've mentioned previously: Dayton, Villanova, UAB, Houston, and Arizona State... plus Baylor, which wasn't even a bubble team this morning, according to Joe Lunardi, but may be one now. (On the other hand, maybe not; who's going to take their place?)

The only bubble teams that have won today are Miami (which was at the very top of the bubble, per Lunardi, and presumably can now be considered a lock), Florida State and Temple (both of whom were at the very bottom of the bubble, but may have a realistic shot in this crazy environment), UNLV (barely!) and St. Joseph's.

Bubble teams with unfinished games tonight: Texas A&M (winning), Arizona (hasn't tipped off yet), New Mexico (hasn't tipped off yet), Mississippi (losing) and Maryland (losing).

Bubble teams who start their conference tournaments tomorrow: Arkansas, Ohio State, Virginia Tech.

What a crazy day of basketball this has been.

UPDATE: Of the five "unfinished" teams mentioned above, only Texas A&M won. Arizona, New Mexico, Mississippi and Maryland all lost! Unreal!

This reminds me a bit of a really compressed version of the last few weeks of college football season, when all one BCS contender after another kept losing, thus opening the door for teams who thought they'd been definitively eliminated from the championship picture. Remember when Illinois "crushed" Ohio State's title hopes, and when Arkansas "knocked out" LSU from any possibility of reaching the title game? Well, yesterday's bubble "eliminations" are similarly suspect, thanks to all the other losses. Arizona State, Villanova, UMass, etc. -- you may yet get in. After all, somebody's gotta! They aren't going to shrink the tournament to 60 teams just because no one seems to want the final few spots.

Goooo Irish!

By Brendan Loy

Beeeeat Eagles!

Winner gets Pitt tomorrow at 9:30.

UPDATE: Marquette wins, 89-79.

Oh, it's on.

By Brendan Loy

USC 59, ASU 55. UCLA 88, Cal 66.

You know what this means: my season-series bet with Mike Tran will be decided in a dramatic Pac-10 semifinal rubber match, an intra-city battle royale at the Staples Center tomorrow night at 9:00 PM EDT.

As specified by the terms of the bet, if UCLA wins, I have to change the name of my men's basketball pool to "The 13th annual Living Room Times men's basketball pool, presented by the UCLA Bruins." I have to include the "presented by the UCLA Bruins" in every full-fledged pool update that I post on the blog, and UCLA also has to appear somewhere in the pool's official logo.

If USC wins, Mike has to go to Tommy Trojan and get his picture taken in front of Tommy, doing the victory sign and wearing a USC shirt of some kind (with "USC" in big letters, clearly visible). He has to get me this picture by next Wednesday, and I get to post it on my blog as often as I want during March (and early April, i.e. Final Four weekend).

FIGHT ON, TROJANS!!! BEAT THE BRUINS!!!

And the winner is...

By Brendan Loy

The winning logo in the NCAA pool design contest comes from Tom Greca, the designer of last year's logo, who strikes again with this nifty-looking design:

At my request, Tom also made a simpler version that will work better for the 200-pixel-wide thumbnail that'll eventually go in my left-hand column:

Some additional minor tweaking is possible -- and of course, in according with my bet with Tran, something about UCLA will have to be added if the Bruins win tomorrow -- but that's the basic gist.

Thanks, Tom! And thanks to the other entrants as well.

Baylor stunned

By Brendan Loy

As of this morning, Joe Lunardi had Baylor listed as a lock. Does that still hold after the Bears lost -- albeit in double overtime -- to last-place Colorado in the Big 12 first round? Yikes!

On the other hand, Baylor can't very well lose its spot in the Big Dance if nobody rises up to claim it. So far, the question today has been, "Does anyone want it?" Bubble teams losing today: Villanova, Dayton, UAB, Houston and Arizona State. The only bubble winners are Florida State, which is just barely on the radar, and St. Joe's, which likewise probably needs at least one more win. (Although, with all this bubble carnage, who knows?) Oh, and Miami won, too, but they're a near-lock anyway. Likewise, West Virginia solidified its position. But among the teams truly on the bubble, nobody's distinguishing themselves. If things continue in this vein, the committee is going to have some very tough decisions to make.

Oh, and with UAB and Houston going down in the quarterfinals, how freakin' easy is Memphis's road to a C-USA title? Good grief.

Pop!

By Brendan Loy

...goes UAB's bubble. And Dayton's and Villanova's, probably. Good news all around, so far, for the VCUs and Illinois States of the world.

But what about Arizona State's bubble? Fight on Trojans! Pop Beat the Sun Devils! (Actually, I hope ASU loses, then makes the Big Dance anyway.)

UPDATE: Uh-oh... another controversial ending to a Pac-10 game?

I don't know what the rules are on over-the-back fouls, and the FSN announcers are doing an absolutely horrible job of explaining what's going on. Can someone fill me in? I really hope the Trojans aren't winning this one illegitimately.

UPDATE 2: USC won 59-55. Here's the ending:

What do y'all think?

Design contest & open thread

By Brendan Loy

One final reminder that the design contest for my NCAA pools' logos ends at 5:00 PM EDT today; that's the deadline to submit your entries. I've already got some good choices, but the more, the merrier! Details here.

Also, if any of y'all are in front of a TV watching this afternoon's basketball games -- lucky dogs -- or otherwise want to comment on the results, feel free to do so on this thread. There's solid basketball from noon until after midnight today, with bubble implications galore, so there's plenty to talk about. God, I love March. :)

P.S. Here is Joe Lunardi's current assessment of the bubble, with 25 teams competing for eleven spots. They're listed in "S-Curve order," so the higher on the list your team is, the better. Italics indicate the team's season is over.

• IN: Miami, Texas A&M, Arizona, UNLV, Arkansas, South Alabama, Oregon, Massachusetts, Illinois State, New Mexico, Arizona State

• OUT: Ohio State, Florida, VCU, UAB, Dayton, Saint Joseph's, Villanova, Mississippi, Syracuse, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Florida State, Temple, Houston

Of course, a whole bunch of those teams have games today -- every non-italicized team, in fact, except Arkansas, Ohio State and Virginia Tech, all of which have byes until tomorrow -- so the situation is very fluid.

NOTE: This post will stay on top all morning & afternoon. New posts will appear below.

Oh, no, they didn't! Tattle-tale Tennessee reports UConn recruiting violation

By Brendan Loy

In the latest escalation of the Pat Summitt-Geno Auriemma War, Tennessee recently reported UConn for an alleged recruiting violation -- arranging a tour of ESPN's studios in Bristol for star freshman Maya Moore  back when she was a recruit who was heavily prized by both schools.

ESPN, obviously keen to avoid "becoming the story" again in the future, says that "to avoid future incidents, our tour policy will now prohibit high school athletes from receiving tours at the request of a college or university athletic official."

But the bigger story here, in my mind, is the Summitt-Auriemma angle. It has become increasingly clear that these two really don't like each other. In fact, here is some exclusive footage of Pat and Geno going at it before a recent ballgame:

Correction: I'm told those are the Oral Roberts and IUPUI mascots. My bad. But if Connecticut and Tennessee meet in the Final Four, that's pretty much what it'll be like.

Cal beats UW; Bruins next

By Brendan Loy

Cal will get a rematch tomorrow of its controversial season regular-finale against UCLA.

That'll be at 5:30 PM on FSN, right after the 3:00 game between USC and Arizona State. I'm hoping to get to work early tomorrow, and to work through lunch, so I can come home for at least the second half of that one. :)

If the Trojans and Bruins both win, then my bet with Mike will be decided Friday night. If, on the other hand, either team loses tomorrow, the season series remains split 1-1 and the bet's a wash.

Also tomorrow, at 9:30 PM on ESPN: Notre Dame vs. Marquette or Seton Hall. All in all, it's going to be a big day in Irish Trojan land...

Stunning upset in women's MWC

By Brendan Loy

Wow... just wow:

In by far the biggest upset so far this March, the 3-27 Colorado State women's team beat 27-3 Utah in the quarterfinals of the Mountain West Conference Tournament. ...

To give an idea of how big an upset this was, the Sagarin ratings ranked Utah as the 18th best women's basketball team in the country and Colorado State as the 305th best. The corresponding upset in men's basketball would be Farleigh Dickinson beating Connecticut.

In regular-season conference play, Colorado State was 0-16; Utah was 16-0.

P.S. Put another way: if Oregon State were to beat Arizona tonight in the men's Pac-10 tourney, it would be not as big of an upset as CSU over Utah was. (Oregon State is #240, according to Sagarin; Arizona is #29.)

UB football on ESPN2 on Election Night

By Brendan Loy

The University at Buffalo football team will play a home game on ESPN2 on Election Night against Miami of Ohio. It'll be Buffalo's first nationally televised game since moving to Division I-A, and the first-ever nationally televised game out of UB Stadium. And according to UB grad Weston (pictured below with yours truly on the night of the Buffalo-Rutgers game last fall), they're calling it the "Blue vs. Red Game," in reference to its Election Night timing. Heh.

Speaking of Buffalo, the Bulls are currently trying to extend their men's basketball season in unlikely fashion. At 3-13 in conference play and 10-19 overall, UB is the lowest seed in the conference, #12, but they're leading aforementioned Miami, the #5-seed, by a score of 51-42 with 11:39 to go. Can Buffalo get four wins in four days to win the MAC Tournament? Um, probably not. But hey, you never know. Crazier things have happened -- like the UB football team winning five games in a season. :) Winner gets #4-seed Ohio tomorrow.

UPDATE: Buffalo loses, 69-68. :(

Mount St. Mary's upsets Sacred Heart

By Brendan Loy

Moments ago on ESPN2, #4-seed Mount St. Mary's defeated #3-seed Sacred Heart, 68-55, on SHU's home floor in Fairfield, Connecticut, to earn the Northeast Conference title. So that leaves just Hartford and UConn still alive from the Nutmeg State. (Hartford plays for the America East title on Saturday morning. UConn plays West Virginia in the Big East quarters tomorrow, but is, of course, going dancing regardless.)

The NCAA bid for the Mountaineers is their first since 1999. Between Mount St. Mary's from the NEC, St. Mary's from the WCC, and Notre Dame from the Big East, the Blessed Virgin will be very well-represented in this year's NCAA Tournament. :)

Bobby Knight is not a mid-major fan

By Brendan Loy

ESPN's newest basketball analyst, Bobby Knight, made his SportsCenter debut tonight. His analysis of the Villanova-Syracuse game was underwhelming -- his expert opinion was that the momentum 'Nova built by finishing the first half on an 8-0 run was, er, important -- but he'll probably get better at saying slightly more insightful things as he gets more used to his new role. What was more concerning was his answer when asked his opinion about the respective at-large merits of Villanova and South Alabama, and, more generally, how he feels about the always-vexing question of comparing major-conference teams from the middle ranks of the standings with top-tier teams from mid- and low-major conferences.

Knight's answer was -- and this isn't an exact quote, but it's a close paraphrase -- that he pretty much always favors major-conference teams, whenever they're anywhere near the bubble, because they play tougher schedules.

Needless to say, he didn't address the fact that those tougher schedules are already taken into account by the fact that we're comparing mid-major teams with records like 26-6 to major-conference teams with records like 20-11. As far as Knight is concerned, schedule strength is apparently pretty much the only thing that should matter. The fact that the non-major teams under consideration at least partially made up for their weaker schedules by winning more games apparently doesn't even figure into the equation.

So basically, if it were up to Bobby Knight, teams like St. Mary's, Illinois State, VCU, South Alabama, and (if they lose the MAC tourney) Kent State would all be out, replaced by mediocre BCS-conference squads like Syracuse, Maryland, Virginia Tech, Florida and Ole Miss. Oh, that'd be thrilling. An NCAA Tournament utterly devoid of potential Cinderellas. Awesome.

Luckily, Bobby Knight isn't on the selection committee. But on top of the possible Great Billy Packer Eruption of 2008 over on CBS, I guess we can look forward to Knight's grumpy commentary on ESPN, wondering how a team like St. Mary's could possibly get in over a team like Ohio State. I hope ESPN lets Knight and Dick Vitale appear on-air together at some point during the post-selection show. It would be fun, in the seemingly inevitable event of a major-vs.-mid-major selection controversy, to watch the always-energetic champion of the little guy go toe-to-toe with the chair-throwing defender of the BCS conferences.

Syracuse is NIT-bound

By Brendan Loy

That "pop" you just heard was Syracuse's bubble bursting.

Including today's game, the Orange finishes 9-10 in Big East play. They couldn't even win 10 f***ing games.

This is excellent news for teams like Illinois State and VCU, and other bubblers like Arizona State, Oregon, Ohio State, UMass, etc. Although today's Villanova-Syracuse game was widely described as an "elimination game," the Wildcats came into it lower in the bubble pecking order, by most accounts, than the Orange did. Syracuse might have been able to get into the tournament just with a win over 'Nova, and perhaps a close loss to #1-seed Georgetown tomorrow. Villanova almost certainly needs to beat Georgetown, or else they, too, will be NIT-bound, and the Big East will be a seven-bid league. In which case, a spot opens up for somebody else.

Year of the mid-major?

By Brendan Loy

Y'all know where I stand on the perennial big-conference vs. small-conference debate: I'm firmly on the side of the little guy, and I love to see teams from low-major and mid-major conferences excel in March. For me, a 12-over-5 upset in which, say, Texas A&M beats Syracuse or Missouri beats Miami, always feels sort of cheap and anticlimactic. Those are power-conference teams, not cuddly underdogs! Give me Pacific over Providence, Wisconsin-Milwaukee over Alabama, Butler over Mississippi State, etc. Those are upsets I can feel good about. I also love to see well-seeded mid-majors confirm the hype and prove their mettle, which is why it was so great that Butler and Southern Illinois advanced to the Sweet Sixteen in last year's otherwise rather underwhelming NCAA Tournament.

This year, as events have unfolded, I think there are going to be a lot of opportunities for the little guys to crash the party in a big way. There is a quality crop of mid-major and low-major conference teams who should be seeded on the 13-line or better -- in several cases much better -- giving them a real opportunity to make noise in the NCAAs. I just hope the committee, this time, sets up the seeds and brackets in way to give them a fair shot.

Design contest reminder

By Brendan Loy

Just a reminder that I still need entries in the Irish Trojan design contest for the 13th annual Living Room Times basketball pools' official logos. The deadline is 5:00 PM EDT tomorrow. Details here.

NOTE: This post will stay on top of the homepage for a while. New posts will appear below.

ORU, WKU, Butler win auto bids

By Brendan Loy

The states of Tennessee and Indiana failed yesterday to pad their totals of NCAA teams, as IUPUI lost to Oral Roberts and Middle Tennessee State lost to Western Kentucky. So it'll be five Tennessee teams (UT, Memphis, Vandy, Belmont, Austin Peay) and, barring an unlikely run to the MAC title for #10-seed Ball State, four Indiana teams (Notre Dame, Purdue, Indiana, Butler). Only California, with nearly twice as many Division I schools, will have more teams dancing than the Volunteer State.

Speaking of Butler, they won the Horizon title game, thus earning the automatic bid and preserving an at-large spot for some bubble team. The Bulldogs, who went to the Sweet Sixteen last year as a #5 seed and damn near beat eventual champion Florida, will probably get a similar seed this year. Lunardi currently has them as a #5; maybe they'll be a #4 after this win. Either way, watch out for these guys -- they can ball.

Brey, Harangody win Big East honors

By Brendan Loy

Luke Harangody, as expected, is the Big East Player of the Year -- and Mike Brey is the conference's Coach of the Year for the second straight season. (Hat tip: JohnMac.)

Brey was apparently unsatisfied by the crow I ate last year, and decided to continue coaching like a champion, thus making me look like even more of an idiot for my endlessly repeated demands back in 2005, 2006 and 2007 that he be fired. :)

Seriously: Great job, Coach Brey! Fire Brendan Loy! Go Irish!

The perfect Billy Packer storm?

By Brendan Loy

It occurs to me that bubble-related events may be conspiring to produce a Billy Packer Eruption on Selection Sunday that will make his 2006 explosion look like a walk in the park.

Think about it: with San Diego's win and South Alabama's loss yesterday, it looks very likely that the West Coast Conference will get three teams in the NCAA Tournament, and the Sun Belt Conference will get two. Meanwhile, several huge "name" programs from Packer's favorite conferences are in precarious positions: Syracuse could be left out (again!) if it beats Villanova but loses to Georgetown; Ohio State is probably out unless it beats Michigan State in the Big Ten quarters; Maryland could very well advance to the ACC semifinals, maybe even the final, and still be left home; Florida is in much the same boat as Maryland in the SEC. Heck, even Arizona, which played the #1 schedule in the country, could be in trouble if it loses badly to Washington State Stanford in the Pac-10 quarters, or, heaven forbid, loses to Oregon State in the first round tomorrow.

Imagine Packer's blubbering outrage if two or three of those teams just barely miss the tournament, while the WCC gets three bids and the Sun Belt gets two. OH, THE HUMANITY!!! It would truly be a sight to behold.

LSU contacts USC coach Tim Floyd

By Brendan Loy

Not content with pissing all over USC's football championships, now LSU wants to steal our basketball coach. :P

Floyd responded with a non-denial denial. I'm sure Les Miles will be rushing to the microphone any minute to castigate the media for reporting on such rumors when Floyd is busy trying to focus on winning a Pac-10 and NCAA championship. ;)

(Hat tip: Jay.)

Unwatchable Zags

By Brendan Loy

La Rev on last night's Gonzaga-San Diego game:

I think it's safe to say that the Virginia game last season was probably the only time the Mark Few Zags have ever been as completely unwatchable as they were last night. They were pathetic, and I don't care to ever talk about it again.

Gonzaga has had an unfortunate habit of not bringing its "A" game to the WCC tourney in recent years. They've barely skated by several times, but last night, it finally caught up with them. Hopefully they find their "A" game sometime between now and next Thursday/Friday.

La Rev also predicts St. Mary's will be snubbed by the selection committee. "Nothing the Committee has ever done dictates that they'll let three WCC teams in," he says. "Every year there's got to be a snub that all the media-types get all huffy-puffy about for the TV audience, and this year, I think it's going to be Saint Mary's."

Lunardi has St. Mary's as a #9 seed, safely away from the bubble. So if they aren't picked, it will indeed be quite a kerfuffle -- particularly since the only plausible explanation for such a snub would be the three-WCC-bids thing, which would blatantly contradict what the committee always says about how it "doesn't look at conferences."

Lunardi: Syracuse, ASU bubbles burst

By Brendan Loy

Joe Lunardi's updated Bracketology page is out. He thinks South Alabama is still in, but drops them from a #9 seed to a #11 seed, just barely avoiding the "last four in" list. (The seed implies that they're one of the "last seven in.") Yesterday's bubble-bursting wins by MTSU (over USA) and San Diego (over Gonzaga) ousted Syracuse and Arizona State from the field, according to Lunardi.

Of course, the Orange and Sun Devils can still play their way in. ASU probably just needs to beat USC (which raises the intriguing question of who Becky roots for, under the circumstances), while Syracuse may need to defeat both Villanova and Georgetown. In potentially deeper trouble are the bubble teams whose seasons are finished, like Illinois State, which has dropped into dangerous territory as one of the "last four in" (and also a #11 seed), and VCU, which Lunardi has now dropped to the bottom spot on the "last four out" list.

Tennessee: center of the basketball world

By Brendan Loy

With the state of Tennessee having such a great basketball year, I've been wondering how we stack up against other states in terms of our number of NCAA Tournament teams. Now, thanks to this nifty Wikipedia map, I have the answer.

If Middle Tennessee State knocks off Western Kentucky tonight in the Sun Belt title game, Tennessee will have six teams in the NCAA Tournament -- meaning exactly half of its 12 Division I schools would be dancing. (MTSU would join at-large locks Memphis, UT and Vanderbilt, and automatic bid winners Belmont and Austin Peay.) If that happens, Tennessee would probably finish tied with California for the largest number of teams in the Big Dance, and would either tie Indiana or finish first all by itself for the percentage of its Division I teams going dancing (among states with at least five Division I teams).

Wanted: basketball pool logos!

By Brendan Loy

All right, artsy readers, it's time for another Irish Trojan design contest.

My 13th annual men's basketball and 11th annual women's basketball pools will be starting up on Sunday, and once again, I need a logo. Two years ago, Marel Nasinnyk won the design contest, while last year, I skipped the contest process and simply commissioned Tom Greca to create the logos, in Halliburton no-bid-contract-like fashion. :) This year, I'm going back to the open contest model.

[Details after the jump. This post will stay on top of the homepage for a while. New posts will appear below.]

USA loses; Gonzaga, too

By Brendan Loy

Will South Alabama join VCU and Illinois State on the list of mid-majors sweating bullets on the bubble after conference-tournament losses? USA is losing by 4 to Middle Tennessee State with 1:45 left.

UPDATE: MTSU wins! Does South Alabama still get a bid? Yikes. The bubble picture keeps getting murkier and murkier. (And it could get murkier still: Gonzaga trails by 3 at halftime. On the bright side for bubble teams, Davidson's up by 8 at the break.)

UPDATE 2: Down goes Gonzaga, 69-62. The bubble carnage continues! The Zags are a lock, as are their conference-mates St. Mary's, so the WCC will be a three-bid league for the first time ever -- and somebody else who would have gone dancing, won't.

Well, at least Davidson won. Bubble teams will be rooting like crazy for Butler in the Horizon final against Cleveland State tonight (Tuesday) at 9:00 PM on ESPN. Also, Kent State needs to win the MAC and Memphis needs to win C-USA. Out-of-nowhere winners in the Atlantic 10 and/or Mountain West -- or any of the major conferences, for that matter -- would also be trouble.

P.S. As an aside, it's absolutely silly to say that San Diego "stunned" Gonzaga. The Toreros are good, they were competitive with the Zags in both regular-season meetings, they had more to play for, and the tournament was played on USD's home court. At most, this was a mild upset.

They're baaaack

By Brendan Loy

George Mason is going back to the Big Dance.

Just sayin'

By Brendan Loy

One of the big bubble debates of the next week will revolve around Virginia Commonwealth, which won the Colonial Athletic Association regular-season title, then lost in the semifinals to William & Mary last night. VCU is now firmly on the bubble, and will be hotly debated right up until the field of 65 is announced on  Sunday -- and beyond, probably. If they don't get in, the mid-major-loving blogosphere (ahem) will erupt in rage, while if the Rams do get in ahead of, say, Syracuse or Maryland, Billy Packer's head will most likely explode. In the latter scenario, the presence of VCU's athletic director on the selection committee will figure prominently into the commentary.

Anyway, I just thought it might be worth noting that this isn't the first time a CAA champion or co-champion has triggered intense debate after being eliminated in the semifinals of that tough conference's tournament. In fact, it happened a mere two years ago, causing me to write at the time:

With the NCAA selection show exactly 100 hours away, the most intriguing question right now — supplanting the whole Missouri Valley vs. power conferences debate — is what the selection committee will decide to do with George Mason.

Ahem. I think we all remember how that decision turned out. :)

In fairness, this isn't actually a valid argument for letting VCU in -- nor is the fact that they beat Duke last year. We mid-major-philes always insist that previous years' records shouldn't matter (in contrast to the Billy Packers of the world, who think teams should be rewarded for what they did in 1985), so to be consistent, we really shouldn't advocate letting VCU in as a bubble team just because George Mason got in as a bubble team in a superficially similar situation two years ago, and pretty well proved they belong.

Still, I couldn't resist mentioning it in passing. ;)

P.S. Speaking of George Mason, the Patriots lead William & Mary 27-26 at the half in the CAA title game.

When raccoons attack

By Brendan Loy

The Tennessee Lady Vols managed to win the SEC Tournament over the weekend despite Coach Pat Summitt's lingering injury from a raccoon attack. (Hat tip: Michael Silence.)

Personally, if I were a raccoon, I wouldn't tangle with Pat Summitt. (And if I were Erin Andrews, I'd stay the hell away from Bruce Pearl. But that's another story entirely.)

USD beats SMC, faces Gonzaga for title

By Brendan Loy

WCC #3-seed San Diego beat #2 Saint Mary's in double overtime early this morning -- an "upset" in name only, as San Diego finished a close third in the regular season and is playing the conference tournament on its home floor. So it'll be a Gonzaga-USD final, again in San Diego, tonight at 9:00 PM on ESPN. If the Toreros can pull another "upset," the West Coast Conference will almost certainly be a three-bid league, as the Zags and Gaels are both considered NCAA "locks." Could the WCC get more bids than the MVC and the CAA combined? It's possible. Illinois State and VCU, along with all other bubble teams, need to root hard for Gonzaga tonight!

There are three other conference-title games tonight, as Championship Week (or Fortnight) really kicks into high gear. At 7:00 PM on ESPN, it's #3 George Mason vs. #5 William & Mary for the CAA crown. At the same time on ESPN2, the top two seeds in the MAAC, Siena and Rider, face off. Then at 9:00 PM, while ESPN broadcasts the Zags-Toreros showdown, the Deuce will have the Southern Conference title game between #1-seed, #25-ranked, bubble-if-they-lose Davidson (25-6) and #7-seed, #231-RPI Elon (14-18).

Also tonight, the semifinals of the Summit League (formerly the Mid-Continent Conference), #1 Oral Roberts vs. #5 IPFW and #2 IUPUI vs. #3 Oakland; and the semifinals of the Sun Belt Conference, #1 South Alabama (a bubble team if they don't get the auto bid) vs. #4 Middle Tennessee and #2 Arkansas-Little Rock vs. #3 Western Kentucky. (Don't let the division-based seeds fool you: Western Kentucky is the clear favorite in that matchup.) Personally, I'm hoping that South Alabama and American University somehow end up playing each other in the Big Dance. It'd be U.S.A. vs. American! :)

Nutmeg pride & George Mason's return

By Brendan Loy

NEC #3-seed Sacred Heart this evening became the second Connecticut men's basketball team to reach a conference championship today, joining Hartford from the America East conference. Sacred Heart beat #2 Wagner to set up a Wednesday meeting on ESPN2 against #4 Mount St. Mary's. Because SHU has the better seed, they'll host the title game on their home floor (an unexpected treat made possible by the Mount St. Mary's upset of #1 Robert Morris).

In other Championship Week news, I mentioned earlier that #5-seed William & Mary upset #1 VCU, putting the latter on the bubble -- well, now we know who will be the Pride's opponent in tomorrow night's CAA title game, and it's none other than #3-seed George Mason. This will be Mason's second straight year playing in the CAA final; last year, they made a Cinderella run as a #6 seed, but lost 65-59 to VCU. (In 2006, the year they went to the Final Four, they were actually booted in the semifinals of the CAA tourney!) Tomorrow's game will be at 7:00 PM on ESPN.

Also tomorrow night, at 9:00 PM on ESPN2, it'll be Southern Conference top seed Davidson vs. the Cinderella story of this year's Championship Week to date, #7 Elon -- a team with a 14-18 record and an RPI of #231, now one win from the Big Dance (or rather, the play-in game).

Gonzaga hopes they'll be playing tomorrow night at 9:00 PM on ESPN, in the WCC title game. But first they need to beat Santa Clara in the semis, and right now they're trailing 35-34 with 13:04 left. Go Zags!

UPDATE: Gonzaga wins, 52-48! Not a great game for the Zags -- Pargo only scored 4 points -- but they survived and advanced (albeit with the help of yet another terrible call by the refs down the stretch, as a blatant charge was wrongly called a defensive foul, increasing Gonzaga's lead from 1 to 3). Tomorrow, they'll go for their ninth WCC title in ten years against either St. Mary's or homestanding San Diego.

American beats Army in patriotic clash

By Brendan Loy

American University's quest for its first-ever NCAA berth moved a step closer to fruition this afternoon as American beat Army, 72-60, in a conference semifinal showdown that put the "patriot" in Patriot League. I bet it was enough to make even Michelle Obama feel proud. ;)

American, the #1 seed, will play #3 Colgate in Friday's title game, at 4:45 PM on ESPN2. Colgate dispatched with Cinderella-minded Bucknell, 54-40, today. 'Twas Bucknell, of course, that ended the potential for a patriotic championship game by knocking out #2-seeded Navy last week in a stunning upset ending with a miracle shot.

Also advancing to a low-major conference title game: the #2-seeded University of Hartford Hawks, who beat Boston U. 59-52 this afternoon, and will face top-seeded UMBC at noon next Saturday on ESPN. Go Hartford!

UPDATE: Big bubble news from the Colonial Athletic Association, as regular-season champ Virginia Commonwealth loses in the semifinals to William & Mary. VCU now sits squarely on the NCAA bubble, and, like Illinois State, will now have a very long week of watching & waiting. Here's what Glockner said this morning about the Rams:

The Rams closed out the season in style, winning eight of their last nine to take the CAA by three games over George Mason and UNC-Wilmington. They're now into the CAA semifinals and may be one win away from having a very legit claim to an at-large bid. They beat Akron, Houston and Maryland in nonconference play, so there's some good stuff there, too. The committee seems to value conference regular-season championships, especially by multiple games in good leagues, so this bodes well for VCU's ability to overcome a conference tourney loss.

One thing's for sure: either #5 seed William & Mary, #2 UNC Wilmington or #3 George Mason will be going dancing as the CAA champion. (The latter two are about to tip off in a semifinal game. The title game is tomorrow at 7:00 PM on ESPN.)

Drake routs ISU in MVC final

By Brendan Loy

Illinois State, the alma mater of Irish Trojan contributor Mike Quinn (a.k.a. "isuquinndog"), is fighting for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in the Missouri Valey Conference tournament championship game on CBS right now. I assume Mike is at the game; he goes to Arch Madness every year. Anyway, if he is there, he can't be happy that Drake has the early lead.

Even with a loss, though, Mike's Redbirds have a pretty decent chance of getting an at-large bid -- which is pretty amazing, considering that they had previously been an MVC bottom-feeder (as had Drake, for that matter) during the conference's recent rise to glory. But Drake's a lock, ISU is a bubble team, and everyone else is out. (NIT-ology has Southern Illinois and Creighton as NIT teams and Bradley as a CBI team.)

[UPDATE: Drake wins, 79-49. Ouch! Andy Glockner, who writes ESPN's Bubble Watch, wrote this morning that "[b]arring a disaster against Drake, the Redbirds should like their chances [of an at-large bid] at this point." I'm thinking that a 30-point loss in a nationally televised game would qualify as a "disaster," and Illinois State will have a looong seven days watching other bubble contenders play and wondering what the committee will do.]

In other mid-major action later today, Gonzaga plays Santa Clara and Saint Mary's plays San Diego in the West Coast Conference semifinals at 9:30 PM and midnight, respectively, on ESPN2. Both the Zags and Gaels are almost certainly NCAA-bound, so bubble teams around the country need to root against Santa Clara and San Diego, who could potentially crash the party and turn the WCC into a three-bid league.

Speaking of bubble teams, Kentucky got a huge win over Florida today. The loss probably eliminates the Gators from at-large contention, barring a deep SEC tourney run. Meanwhile, the Wildcats improve to 12-4 in the SEC and 18-11 overall. If they happen to flame out early in the conference tournament, they'll make for fascinating debate fodder on Selection Sunday. Which matters more: their horrible non-conference start, or their strong performance in the (admittedly weaker than usual) SEC?

Irish tie for second in Big East

By Brendan Loy

Notre Dame edged South Florida on Saturday to finish tied for second place in the Big East -- ND's best finish ever. The Irish went 24-6 overall, 14-4 in conference. Woohoo!

Black & Green writes: "Coach Brey is third behind only Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim in all time Big East victories. There's a good trivia question for your next party. A guy who was on the hot seat two years ago is now going back to a top seed in the Big East tournament and could win his second straight Coach of the Year award."

Next comes the always-exciting Big East Tournament, starting on Thursday. Notre Dame will be the #3 seed, and will play the winner of Wednesday's 6-11 game between Marquette and Seton Hall (or Cincinnati?). Go Irish!

Upsets roil Southern Conference

By Brendan Loy

It was Upset Saturday in the Southern Conference, as the #5, #6 and #7 seeds advanced to the conference semifinals.

The wins by UNC Greensboro, Charleston and Elon (over #4 Appalachian State, #3 Georgia Southern and #2 Chattanooga, respectively) presumably clear the way for top seed Davidson, which walloped #8 Wofford 82-49, to waltz to a conference championship, NCAA automatic bid, and possible 8/9-ish seed in the Big Dance.

On the other hand, the upsets also raise the stakes for the #25-ranked, #44 RPI Wildcats (24-6), who would be a bubble contender if they were to need an at-large bid, because a loss in the conference tournament would now mean that they fell to a very bad team. The other remaining semifinalists are #138, #204 and #246 in the RPI.

In fact, if Davidson's going to lose (which they haven't done yet in conference play; they were 16-0 in the regular season), it might be better to do so in the semifinal against Greensboro (the #138 team) than in the final against either #204 Charleston or #246 Elon. But Charleston might be the biggest threat to pull the stunner, despite their distinctly unintimidating ranking and 16-16 record, since the tourney is being played in their back yard, in North Charleston. The semis are Sunday and the title game is Monday.

In other low-major conference tournament news, two Connecticut teams faced potential elimination Saturday, and one was in fact eliminated, while the other lived to play another day. MAAC #5-seed Fairfield lost to #4 Loyola, ending the Stags' season. But America East #2-seed Hartford beat #7 New Hampshire, and will face #6 Boston University in the semis Sunday at 2:30 PM. Also in semifinal action on Sunday: Connecticut's other remaining non-UConn team, NEC #3-seed Sacred Heart, which plays #2 Wagner in the semifinals at 7:30 PM.

USC gets #4 seed in Pac-10

By Brendan Loy

USC's Pac-10 tournament seed hangs in balance as UW and Wazzu head to overtime. If Washington wins, the Trojans will be the #3 seed, with a quarterfinal game against tonight's Arizona-Oregon winner and a likely semifinal against Stanford. If Wazzu wins, they'll be the #4 seed, with a quarterfinal game against Arizona State and a likely semifinal against UCLA.

All this because of USC's impressive win over Stanford earlier today, which gave them a shot at the #3 seed.

UPDATE: Despite multiple chances to win, the Huskies coug it, and Wazzu wins 76-73 in 2 OTs. So it'll be #4 USC vs. #5 ASU in the first round of the Pac-10 tourney, with the winner taking on either #1 UCLA, #8 Washington or #9 Cal in the semifinals.

Fight on Trojans! Beat the Farm!

By Brendan Loy

USC leads Stanford, 45-35, with 16:51 left at the Galen Center. If the Trojans win and Washington State loses to UW tonight, USC will be the #3 seed in the Pac-10 tournament, and any possible Loy-Tran bet-deciding USC-UCLA game wouldn't happen until the conference final. If USC loses or Wazzu wins, the Trojans will be the #4 seed, setting up a possible semifinal matchup with the top-seeded Bruins.

In other news, last year's Notre Dame-conquering Big South champion, Winthrop, earned another auto bid to the NCAAs, joining Cornell on that short list and sending regular-season champ UNC-Asheville to the NIT as that tournament's first automatic qualifier.

Later today, three Tennessee teams will try to earn automatic NCAA bids of their own, as Cinderella story #6 seed Tennessee State, 15-16 and #215 in the RPI, faces #1 seed Austin Peay, also from Tennessee, in the Ohio Valley title game (ESPN2, 5pm), and Belmont, yet another Tennessee school, faces Jacksonville in the Atlantic Sun final (ESPN2, 7pm)

Referees strike again: ETSU robbed

By Brendan Loy

One night after Stanford was blatantly robbed of a possible Pac-10 title share by a foul call so bad that even the UCLA players admit they got lucky, highly questionable refereeing struck again in the lower-profile, yet in some sense higher-stakes, setting of the Atlantic Sun quarterfinals.

Unlike NCAA-bound UCLA and Stanford, A-Sun semifinalists Belmont and East Tennessee State were fighting to extend their respective seasons -- win or go home -- when, with 19.4 seconds left and ETSU holding a 1-point lead and the ball, an official took it upon himself to completely change the course of the game by calling a technical foul on ETSU player Kenyona Swader, who appeared to lose his temper slightly after being fouled by a Belmont player. Belmont hit both technical free throws to take the lead, and ultimately won the game.

The TV announcers on Comcast Sports Southeast mostly defended the call, with the analyst repeating several times that Swader "swung an elbow." But his elbow made no contact with anyone, and it didn't even look like he's intentionally doing anything aggressive with it. I don't know what he said, of course, but unless it was about the ugliest, most egregious thing anyone's ever said in the history of college basketball, I'm not convinced that it justifies calling a game-deciding "T." All in all, to me, it looked like a very weak call, and one that's pretty ridiculous to make in that situation. But judge for yourself:

Good grief. Let the players, not the refs, determine who wins and loses. Is that so much to ask?

Gardner-Webb won't be going dancing

By Brendan Loy

#2-seed Jacksonville beat #6 Gardner-Webb in the Atlantic Sun semifinals tonight, ending any thought of an unlikely trip to the NCAA Tournament for the RPI #192-ranked team that stunned Kentucky at Rupp Arena earlier this season.

Jacksonville will play the winner of the ongoing Belmont-East Tennessee State game. I've been half-watching it with the sound down on the local Comcast Sports network, and it's been insanely entertaining, particularly in the first half, when very little defense was being played and both teams were raining 3s. For example:

That ridiculously long-range ETSU three-pointer, with tons of time left on the shot clock, reminds me of what Ruth Riley used to do for the Notre Dame women's team, back in the day. Amazing range, to be able to effortlessly swish a shot from that distance.

Speaking of amazing shots, here's the video of that Bucknell miracle shot to beat Navy the other night:

Sabres fans, note the Rick Jeanneret reference at the end of the clip!

Meanwhile, in today's big(-ish) Championship Week upset so far, #6 Valparaiso beat #3 Wright State in the Horizon League quarters.

Blogroll suggestions?

By Brendan Loy

In a sure sign of the changing "seasons" here on the Irish Trojan's Blog -- the lull before the Pennsylvania  Primary and the approach of Selection Sunday means that, inevitably, politics will increasingly take a back seat to basketball this month -- I've updated and expanded my College Basketball blogroll, and bumped it up above the Politics blogroll.

As I did with the Politics blogroll, I'd like to ask for your suggestions. Fellow hoops fans: what sites am I missing? Which ones should I take out? I haven't really been reading basketball blogs very much this season, so I don't know what's the new hotness in the CBB blogosphere. Any thoughts will be much appreciated!

And never fear, fellow political junkies. I'll still blog about politics. :) Just maybe not quite as much... but I think there'll be plenty of time for USC/ND/Gonzaga-rooting and Hillary-bashing!

USC will be #3 or #4 seed in Pac-10; possible bet-deciding UCLA game looms

By Brendan Loy

Although the Pac-10 regular-season title was decided in UCLA's controversial overtime escape against Stanford across town, USC's overtime win over Cal was arguably more important. Both the Bruins and Cardinal are, obviously, mortal locks for the Big Dance, and were just fighting over NCAA seeding and Pac-10 bragging rights. But the Trojans have been trying to get off the bubble and into the "lock" category for weeks, and last night's win probably did it.

With the win, USC clinched at least fourth place in the Pac-10, and will finish no worse than 10-8 in what's widely regarded as the best conference in the country. (Put another way, they're 8-8 in the Pac-9. Sorry, Oregon State.) Andy Glockner's most recent Bubble Watch said USC "probably only need[s] one win [in this weekend's homestand against the Bay Area teams] to feel very good about their chances." Well, they got their one win. w00t!

Admittedly, it would be better if they can avoid losing to Stanford and then following it up with a first-round Pac-10 tourney loss, which would leave them at 19-12 overall, with that season-opening loss to Mercer preventing them from reaching 20 wins. But even then, it's hard to imagine the committee leaving home the fourth-place team in the Pac-10, especially given USC's quality wins (and two very impressive near-wins against Top 5 teams), and particularly in this "weak bubble" year. Joe Lunardi currently has the Trojans as a #7 seed, and I very much doubt that two losses to quality teams (Stanford and probably Arizona State) would drop them from that perch all the way out of the tournament.

The bigger question is what the Trojans' Pac-10 tournament seed will be, which has major implications for my bet with Mike Tran. As you'll recall, Mike and I made a high-stakes bet on who would win the season series between USC and UCLA -- if it's the Bruins, I have to rename my NCAA pool after UCLA; if it's the Trojans, he has to humiliate himself in front of Tommy Trojan and photograph it for posterity -- and because the teams split during the regular season, a possible matchup in the Pac-10 tournament would be the decisive rubber match.

UCLA will be the #1 seed. USC and Washington State are tied for third at 10-7 in conference play right now, but the Cougars own the head-to-head tiebreaker, having swept the Trojans. That means the Trojans will be the #4 seed unless they beat Stanford and Wazzu cougs it against Washington in the teams' respective Saturday finales. In that scenario, USC would be the #3 seed. Obviously, the big difference is that USC being the #4 seed would make a semifinal matchup with UCLA highly likely -- the Bruins would simply need to beat the #8 or #9 team, probably Washington or Cal, and USC would simply need to beat the #5 team, probably Arizona State -- whereas USC being a #3 seed would increase the chances that one or both teams would get knocked off before they can meet in the title game (thus causing the bet to be a wash).

Gardner-Webb two wins from Dance

By Brendan Loy

Gardner-Webb -- the team that shocked Kentucky at Rupp Arena back in early November, then went 14-15 for the rest of the season and finished sixth in the Atlantic Sun conference -- is suddenly two victories away from the Big Dance after upsetting #3-seed Stetson in the quarterfinals of the A-Sun tourney yesterday.

The Runnin' Bulldogs will play #2 Jacksonville in the semifinals tonight, and if they win that one, they'd face either #1 Belmont or #4 East Tennessee State in the championship game on ESPN2 tomorrow night at 7:00 PM. All games are at Nashville's Allen Arena, home floor of Lipscomb (whom ETSU eliminated yesterday).

You have to think the ESPN powers-that-be are rooting for Gardner-Webb to reach the title game. They've probably got more name recognition than any team in the history of the Atlantic Sun, thanks to their win over Kentucky. And a possible Cinderella run to the Big Dance by the Wildcat conquerors would be quite a storyline -- and would probably boost ratings for that game -- especially with Kentucky now an improbable bubble contender! It would be like if Appalachian State had somehow been invited to a minor bowl game or something.

Anyway, the rest of yesterday's Championship Week action went according to form. That's bad news for Central Connecticut State and Quinnipiac, the #6 and #5 seeds in the NEC, who gave us such a memorable March Madness-ish moment in late February, but who both lost yesterday in the conference quarterfinals, thus joining Yale on the list of Connecticut Division I men's basketball teams whose seasons are over. (Still alive: UConn, obviously; Sacred Heart, which beat CCSU and advances to the NEC semis; Hartford, the #2 seed in the America East; and Fairfield, the #5 seed in the MAAC. Both the Hawks and the Stags begin conference tournament play on Saturday; Sacred Heart's semifinal is Sunday.)

The lack of upsets yesterday is good news, however, for the Big South conference, which saw its two best teams, #1 UNC Asheville and #2 Winthrop, advance to Saturday morning's title game. Winthrop, as my fellow Domers will recall, knocked off Notre Dame in a 6-11 game last year. However, despite the lack of upsets in the conference tourney, it doesn't look like this year's Big South champ will get such a good seed. Joe Lunardi has UNC Asheville as one of the teams in the play-in game, and Winthrop's RPI is basically the game (#132 rather than #135), so it's pretty likely the winner will be a #16 seed, barring a rash of upsets in other low-major conferences. (E.g., teams like RPI #192 Gardner-Webb making it to the Dance.)

So, what's on top today? Well, there's first-round action in the CAA (the 8-9, 7-10, 6-11, and 5-12 games), MAAC (8-9 and 7-10), America East (8-9), Southern (8-9, 7-10 and 6-11), and the double-byed WCC (5-8, 6-7). There's also the two quarterfinals of the similarly double-byed Horizon League tourney, the Tennessee-dominated semifinals in the Ohio Valley (#1 Austin Peay vs. #4 UT Martin, #2 Murray State vs. #6 Tennessee State -- all of those schools except Murray State are in the Volunteer State), the aforementioned Atlantic Sun semis (with both Belmont and ETSU also representin' Tennessee). And, last but not least, the quarterfinals of Arch Madness -- the Missouri Valley Conference tourney.

Walk a mile in a tree's, uh, shoes

By Brendan Loy

Pat Forde was the Stanford Tree for a day during the Cardinal's game against Washington last week. Heh.

Although I must say, if he was sober at the time, I'm not sure he really got the true Stanford Tree experience.

Bucknell stuns Navy on 40-foot bank shot in third OT

By Brendan Loy

One week ago, when Navy beat American to take over first place in the Patriot League, it looked like the Midshipmen were en route to their first regular-season conference title since 2000 -- and, more importantly, guaranteed home-court advantage throughout the league tournament, putting them in the driver's seat for their first NCAA Tournament berth in a decade.

But then on Saturday, Navy lost to Colgate, American won over Lafayette, and suddenly the Eagles were the conference's #1 seed, despite having been swept by the Middies in the season series. Still, the #2-seeded Midshipmen just needed three wins in the conference tournament, and all that would be forgotten.

They couldn't even get one.

Last night, playing at home against #7-seed Bucknell -- the team that wowed the college-basketball world four years ago with a win over Kansas that I predicted :) -- mighty Navy lost in about the most heartbreaking fashion imaginable, blowing a 17-point second-half lead and ultimately losing in triple overtime on a desperation half-court heave at the buzzer:

[After taking the inbounds pass with 2 seconds left, down 86-84, Bucknell senior John] Griffin got just across halfcourt before heaving a 40-footer. The ball banked off the backboard and swished through the nets, giving the seventh-seeded Bison an 87-86 3OT win over second-seeded Navy that was every bit as improbable as that 2004 NCAA Tournament win against the Jayhawks.

"Thank goodness the Navy backboards are soft," Griffin said. "Whatever it takes at this point, that's what every team is saying at this point -- do whatever it takes to play another day." ...

"It's sort of like a dream that replays in your mind," Griffin said. "Everyone who's played basketball has envisioned himself in that environment."

The official Bucknell site is calling it a "miracle" shot, and "one of the most improbable finishes in Bucknell basketball annals":

Griffin's game-winning shot was the last in a flurry of clutch plays from both teams in the final seconds. Only a minute earlier Griffin hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key that tied the game at 81. Chris Harris answered with his own 3-pointer to put Navy ahead 84-81 with 58 seconds left, but Bison freshman G.W. Boon hit the shot of his life, a tying 3-pointer with 41 seconds left. Harris tried to win it with a three for Navy, but T.J. Topercer put back his miss with three seconds left to give Navy an 86-84 lead.

Justin Castleberry then inbounded to Griffin on the run, and Griffin juked around one defender before letting fly from just inside the "N" logo at center court. The ball hit the center of the box on the backboard and banked in, setting off a wild celebration from the Bucknell bench.

Wow. It sounds like Quinnipiac's win over CCSU, except it happened in a single-elimination, win-or-go-home conference tournament. Anybody know where I can find a video?

Although it was the most dramatic, Bucknell's stunner over Navy wasn't the only upset in yesterday's Championship Week action. Also in the Patriot League, #5 Army topped #4 Lehigh, 64-61 in OT -- so, improbably enough, Army (6-8 in conference play) is still alive for an NCAA bid, while the season is over for archrival Navy (9-5). I'm sure this fact is lost on no one at either academy.

Also pulling an upset yesterday were the Troy Trojans, the worst team in the Sun Belt, knocking off homestanding Louisiana-Lafayette in a 12-over-5 shocker. Everything else went according to form in the Sun Belt, Patriot League and Atlantic Sun, the three conferences with tournament action yesterday.

So, what's on tap today? Well, we've got two more Atlantic Sun quarterfinals (the #1 and #2 seeds play the day before the #3 and #4 seeds, I guess to give them a day's rest as a reward for their regular season success), the Big South semifinals (featuring the top 4 seeds -- #1 UNC Asheville vs. #4 Liberty, #2 Winthrop vs. #3 High Point), the NEC quarters (including #6 Central Connecticut State at #3 Sacred Heart, 7:00 PM), and first-round action the Missouri Valley (#7 Missouri State vs. #10 Evansville, #8 Indiana State vs. #9 Wichita State). Complete schedule here.

Oh, and if you're wondering what's next for Bucknell, Army, and the rest of the Patriot League: the semifinals are Sunday (#5 Army at #1 American, #7 Bucknell at #3 Colgate) and the championship game is next Friday, March 14.

It's Championship Week!

By Brendan Loy

You may have missed it amid all the political drama -- I know I did -- but Championship Week, which actually lasts the better part of two weeks, began yesterday with first-round games in the Horizon League and quarterfinals in the Big South and Ohio Valley conferences. There were two upsets: #8 Loyola over #5 Wisconsin-Milwaukee in the Horizon, and #6 Tennessee State over #3 Morehead State in the OVC.

The action continues tonight with the Sun Belt first round, the Patriot League quarterfinals, and two of the four Atlantic Sun quarters. Probably the most interesting storyline comes out of the Patriot, where #2-seed Navy is looking for its first NCAA bid in a decade. They host recent Big Dance (and Brendan Loy) darling Bucknell, the #7 seed, in the quarters tonight.

Here's the full schedule. Tomorrow, the first of "my teams" puts its season on the line, as NEC #6-seed Central Connecticut State travels to #3 Sacred Heart for a conference quarterfinal. The Blue Devils haven't had a great season, but all they gotta do is win three straight (probably against #3, #2 and #1, in that order), and they're in! God, I love March.

Zags, Irish win; Trojans lose

By Brendan Loy

I'd be remiss in my basketball-blogging duties if I didn't point out that Gonzaga beat St. Mary's yesterday to take the WCC lead and probably wrap up an NCAA at-large bid, if they need it. As long as the Zags beat 6-7 Santa Clara tomorrow night, they'll win yet another regular-season conference title.

Also, Notre Dame eked out a win over DePaul. Joe Lunardi currently projects the Irish as a #4 seed, Gonzaga as a #6, and USC as a #7. (But that was before 'SC lost to Arizona State yesterday.)

Cornell on verge of Big Dance

By Brendan Loy

Tomorrow night in Ithaca, New York at 7:00 PM, the Cornell men's basketball team, currently undefeated in Ivy League play, will host Harvard. Why am I mentioning this? Because if Cornell wins, they'll clinch this season's first automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament -- and will become the first Ivy League champion in 20 years not named Penn or Princeton.

Classy Arizona fans strike again

By Brendan Loy

Fans in the Arizona student section, a.k.a. the "Zona Zoo," got themselves in hot water earlier this month for loudly chanting "F*** the refs!" during a nationally televised basketball game against Stanford. The university responded with an effort to crack down on such misbehavior. As part of that effort, interim head coach Kevin O'Neill sent out a video message to his school's students earlier this week, urging them to "be positive" in their chants:

O'Neill also apparently gave the students an in-person lecture about the vulgarity issue before last night's game against USC. And he told the Daily Wildcat in an article published yesterday: "I'm going to encourage them not to use vulgar profanity directed at anyone. The bottom line is we have the largest student section I've ever seen, but I think we need to carry ourselves in a first-class manner indicative of what our university, athletic department and basketball program are."

But alas, during the waning moments of USC's 70-58 win over the Wildcats last night, some bozo in the Zona Zoo decided it would be a good idea to throw a full water bottle at the USC bench -- nearly hitting head coach Tim Floyd. Here's the video:

To his great credit, O'Neill quickly grabbed the microphone, vigorously scolded the perpetrator, and apologized to Floyd and the Trojans. Good for him. Hopefully Arizona can get this nonsense under control.

On an unrelated note, I love how ESPN named O.J. Mayo the "Rogaine Player of the Game." LOL! I'm sure he deeply appreciates the honor.

Almost March

By Brendan Loy

It's February 28, but who says "March Madness" can't get started a little early? Check out this wild ending in New Britain, Connecticut:

Wow.

It's unlikely we'll be seeing either Quinnipiac -- which is better known for polls than for basketball -- or Central Connecticut State in the Big Dance, but they're certainly doing their best to whet our appetites for it anyway. Anybody else excited for next month?

GOOOO IRISH!!!

By Brendan Loy

BEEEEAT CARDINALS!!!

That is all.

UPDATE: Um, so yeah, it's not going too well. Louisville 42, Notre Dame 27 at halftime.

UPDATE 2: Louisville won, 90-85. They were way ahead for most of the game, but Notre Dame mounted a valiant comeback late, with five three-pointers in the last minute-and-a-half -- three of them by Luke Harangody, who hadn't hit a three all season! Harangody ended up with 40 points.

UPDATE 3: USC-Arizona is now underway on ESPN. The Trojans lead early, 26-14.

UPDATE 4: Trojans pick up a huge road win, 70-58. Sweet!

D'oh!

By Brendan Loy

The orange blazer had no magic last night, as #1 Tennessee lost to Vanderbilt.

So, who'll be #1 in the polls next week? Does Memphis take it back? Or perhaps North Carolina? More importantly, is Tennessee still a #1 seed? I'd think that, if they win out (including the SEC Tournament), they'd have to be.

Now, enough of this Go Big Orange business. :) It's time to start getting excited about tomorrow night's Notre Dame-Louisville game. GO IRISH!

#1 Tennessee visits Vandy tonight

By Brendan Loy

Barack Obama isn't the only frontrunner who will be on national TV tonight trying to defend his recently acquired top-dog status against a rival's onslaught. At 9:00 PM EST -- the same time as the Democratic debate on MSNBC -- the #1-ranked Tennessee men's basketball team will face #18 Vanderbilt on the Commodores' home floor. The game will be on ESPN, and Bruce Pearl will be in his orange blazer.

Go Vols & Go Barack!

P.S. I'm looking ahead a bit now, but take a gander at the Big East standings, and then ponder for a moment Thursday night's big game: Notre Dame at Louisville, 7:00 PM on ESPN. Holy cow. Mike Brey's boys playing, maybe, for a Big East regular-season championship? I love it! Oh, and did I mention it's part of an Irish Trojan doubleheader? USC visits Arizona at 9:00 PM Thursday, also on ESPN. Sweet.

BracketBusters / UT-Memphis open thread

By Brendan Loy

I'm expecting a busy afternoon and evening, and thus probably won't be able to watch as much basketball as I'd like. But there's plenty to talk about, with the day's biggest games being Drake @ Butler at 5:00 PM on ESPN2 (the BracketBusters marquee game) and, of course, Tennessee @ Memphis at 9:00 PM on ESPN2. Although, don't sleep on Kent State @ St. Mary's at midnight on the Deuce, which Kyle Whelliston says is potentially the most consequential 'Busters game of them all, bubble-wise.

Anyway, here's the scoreboard. If you're watching the games and you feel like commenting, fire away.

P.S. Nice wins for USC and Notre Dame on Thursday night, eh?

P.P.S. Check out 4th through 9th place in the Pac-10 standings. Wow. Is that conference balanced or what?

UPDATE: Tennessee wins, 66-62! Come Monday morning, the Vols will be #1 in the nation for the first time in school history. (Er, on the men's side, that is.)

And so ends Memphis's bid for an undefeated season. The Tigers were 8-for-17 from the free-throw line, and they didn't hit a single three-pointer after their white-hot start in the game's first 12 minutes.

Oh, and Drake beat Butler in another very exciting game.

Sampson out at Indiana

By Brendan Loy

Indiana head coach Kelvin Sampson is walking away from Hoosierland -- a $750,000 walk of shame.

Dan Dakich is IU's interim head coach. It remains to be seen whether anything will come of the threatened mutiny by the team's players.

UT goes to war with News-Sentinel

By Brendan Loy

On the eve of perhaps the most important college-basketball game in the history of the state of Tennessee, tomorrow night's #1 vs. #2 showdown between Memphis and UT, the sports world here in Knoxville is, as you'd expect, abuzz with talk about... football.

Wait. What?

Well, it seems Knoxville News-Sentinel sports editor John Adams has created a mighty kerfuffle with his commentary on the Tennessee football team's recent discipline problems. On Tuesday, Adams wrote that Phil Fulmer should be fired for allowing his team to become "the college equivalent of the Cincinnati Bengals." He harshly criticized Fulmer for responding to punter Britton Colquitt's arrest by suspending him for five games, rather than dismissing him from the team. "Keep in mind this wasn’t Colquitt’s first brush with the law. Or second. Or third," Adams wrote. "How could Fulmer not dismiss Colquitt from the team after what could be fifth alcohol-related offense? Answer: Colquitt is a starter."

Oh, snap!

But Fulmer didn't take this lying down. Oh, hell no. He's a man! He's 57! So, in today's paper, at the very top of the sports section, there is a column by, ahem, guest columnist Phillip Fulmer. Explaining that the importance of the issues raised in Adams's column "compels me to do something I have never done in my career - respond directly in writing to a negative column in the newspaper," Fulmer writes:

Mr. Adams has never sat next to me in a prospect's living room, looking his mother or grandmother in the eyes and promising to treat the young man like he was my own child - giving him tough love when necessary and an opportunity to straighten up when that's in order. It is a promise I take seriously and will never abandon to please any columnist.

Ouch! He goes on:

Tennessee news

By Brendan Loy

Three items of news today (or in one case, yesterday) concerning the Volunteer State. First, as you may already have heard, Georgia has declared war on Tennessee -- er, legislatively speaking -- in a border dispute over water. To arms! Fear, fire, foes, awake!! The Georgians are coming, the Georgians are coming!!!

Second, the epidemic of Tennessee coaches getting divorced continues, as Titans coach Jeff Fisher is divorcing his wife of 21 years. Vicky Fulmer, you may want to get a lawyer, just in case. ;) No, but seriously, that's sad. Divorce sucks.

Last but not least, Lady Vols superstar Candace Parker is skipping her senior season to go pro.

Hoop heaven

By Brendan Loy

Not only did Duke lose yesterday, which is always a good thing, but anticlimax was avoided as Memphis and Tennessee rolled over Tulane and Auburn, respectively, to set up Saturday's epic #1 vs. #2 battle for the Tennessee state championship.

Alas, Saturday's other marquee game -- the BracketBusters Battle of the Bulldogs between Butler and Drake -- lost a bit of its oomph Tuesday, as Drake lost to Bradley, its second loss in three games after winning 21 straight and starting 13-0 in the Missouri Valley Conference. What once looked it might potentially be an showdown between two mid-majors ranked in the Top 10 will instead pit #8 Butler against #18-and-soon-to-fall-further Drake. (Butler, for its part, won yesterday to enter BracketBuster Saturday on a nine-game winning streak.)

Regardless, it's going to be a helluva weekend of hoops -- starting tonight, with nationally televised games for both the Irish (vs. Pitt at 7pm on ESPN) and the Trojans (vs. Oregon at 11pm on FSN). Here's the full BracketBusters schedule, and here are the full Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday schedules. A few highlights, with BracketBusters games marked as "BB":