Category: College Basketball

Just a couple of weeks ago, people all across the world began analyzing the teams, watching Bracketology, and making their predictions on the NCAA tournament. After all of the dramatic finishes, the clutch shots, and the upsets, who could have possibly had these four teams in Indianapolis.

I know I didn’t.

So, after watching only one of my Final Four teams advance to Indianapolis, I will try to make up for my sub par predictions with a perfect Final Four. But with the way this tournament has turned out, perfect is a huge stretch for anyone.

For a small public university in Fairfax, Virginia this kind of national media attention is no doubt very abnormal.  The George Mason Patriots were underestimated from the beginning.  Even their selection by the board to play in the tournament was criticized by American sportscasters like Billy Packer.  George Mason was shrouded in some early controversy as well with the suspension of Tony Skinn after punching a Hofstra player below the belt in the midst of a CAA tournament loss.  The Hofstras who beat the George Mason patriots twice in the final 10 days of the season were overlooked by the board for admittance to the tournament.  It is reasons like this that not many people were paying attention to Mason when the tournament began on March 14th.  It literally wasn’t until Denham Brown’s three point attempt overshot the rim as the final buzzer of overtime sounded that most of us could believe that George Mason University was going to be going to the semifinals.  That win made them the first mid-major team to reach the Final Four since 1979 when Larry Bird’s Sycamores and an underestimated Penn team did it as well.  

Indiana University has hired Oklahoma head coach Kelvin Sampson as its next head basketball coach.  Honest.

by Trevor Freeman

“I know you guys can shoot, but there’s more to the game than shooting there’s fundamentals and defense.”

By Sean Quinn

Part of it was George Mason. OK, a lot of it was George Mason. Still, long before the Patriots slipped on the glass slipper, nobody was rooting for the Connecticut Huskies – not even themselves.

The Huskies had as much talent as any team in the country, but they were as heartless as the girls that rejected me in high school.

LSU is back in the Final Four for the first time in 20 years after defeating Duke and Texas, the top two seeds in the Atlanta Regional. Their tight defense and great frontcourt play dominated in both games for the 4th seeded Tigers.

LSU features five starters who are from just over 50 miles from the school campus. Glen Davis, Tyrus Thomas, and Garrett Temple are all from Baton Rouge, while Tasmin Mitchell is from the small town of Denham Springs which is within five miles of Baton Rouge down I-10. The lone senior starter, Darrel Mitchell, is from the town of St. Martinville.

These five players have been playing with or against each other for years, which is one of the major advantages for a team that is one of the youngest in the country.

After a weekend that might have been the best in March Madness history, the Sweet Sixteen is set, and it is loaded with questions. Can Bradley continue their improbable winning streak? Will Connecticut finally start to dominate? Is Memphis a worthy #1 seed? Can JJ Redick possibly be any more hated? With these questions and more in mind, here are my rankings of each of the Sweet Sixteen teams in order of their likelihood of winning the nation title:

The NCAA Tourney is once again rolling along and that means college hoop fans worldwide are currently suffering from a bit of bracket fever.  For the past twenty years I’ve fallen victim to this seasonal disease and every March I’ve tried my best to predict the tournament’s ultimate champion.  Over that twenty-year span I would guess the Duke Blue Devils would be a solid pick to win it all almost every year, but they were never the last team standing in my bracket.  My Dukie hatred runs so deep that even when money and pride are involved I can’t scribble that four-letter word in the final bracket box.

Filling out your bracket and entering into online pools is one of the more fun things to do as a sports fan, and it is something unique to the NCAA Tournament. Though it is almost impossible to get even a single region entirely correct, the whole process is so addictive that I filled out five brackets in the last 30 minutes. Usually, there is at least one team you can completely trust to make the Final Four. Not the case with this year’s bracket.

By David J. Cohen

It’s that time of year again. It’s the time of year where the true passion of basketball takes center stage. It’s a time where buzzer beaters, big plays, and upsets captivate us all.

It’s also that time of year where millions of Americans try to create the perfect bracket and take home the cash from various tournament pools. And as the tournament tips off everyone feels they have the winning combination of teams to get a little richer. Then Valparaiso hits a half-court shot and, well, better luck next year.

There will be several teams that surprise millions this year. Here are the teams that will screw up millions of brackets across the nation with just a win or two.