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.