Bagels & Biscuits

Do you prefer bagels and cream cheese or biscuits and gravy? Football on Saturdays or Sundays? Big 10 or SEC? The Braves or the Yankees? You know what? It doesn't matter. You can have it all right here.

Friday, February 02, 2007

NCAA should give more teams a chance

Earlier this month, Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury said that Kentucky isn’t what it used to be, the aura surrounding the program is gone and the prospect of playing in Rupp Arena isn’t all that intimidating anymore. It’s hard to argue with him.

The Wildcats are not even ranked in the current Associated Press poll and are second in SEC Eastern Division standings. Right now, they are just another team fighting to make the NCAA Tournament.

In college basketball’s new landscape, Kentucky finds itself in an unsavory position. Like a bully who used to dominate the playground, in recent years Kentucky has watched the pint-size kids they used to pick on suddenly become bigger, stronger and more equipped to assert themselves.

But Kentucky is not alone. Other storied programs are also being challenged for supremacy or have already surrendered in the fight. Indiana is currently in the process of rebuilding. Arkansas is still recovering after falling on hard times. Georgetown hasn’t really come close to matching the success it achieved two decades ago.

At the same time these established powers have withered, teams like Gonzaga and Vanderbilt have climbed the ranks.
Suddenly, there are a lot of pretty good basketball teams out there. But are there many great ones?

Well, not exactly. Because of scholarship reductions and underclassmen fleeing for the professional ranks, parity has been achieved in college basketball. The days of seeing Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler playing alongside each other are virtually over. The talent pool is now more spread out.

So it now comes as no surprise when a mid-major school like Oral Roberts struts into Allen Fieldhouse and knocks off Kansas — not after George Mason takes down Michigan State, North Carolina and Connecticut to make it to the Final Four.
These “shocking” events are becoming more regular. They are no longer isolated.

Yet the NCAA Tournament’s field is virtually the same as it it was in 1985. Sixty-five teams instead of 64 now get a shot to play for a national championship.

Last year, the National Association of Basketball Coaches proposed that the number invited should double. But the same NCAA that allows so many undeserving programs to qualify for college football’s ill-conceived postseason balked at the suggestion.

In this case, like so many others, the NCAA dropped the ball. An expanded tournament would remove the possibility that a team with legitimate credentials could be left without an invitation because the dancehall has already achieved maximum occupancy.

Fans have seen this happen too many times before and each year the number of teams on the bubble seems to get bigger. It’s better to be inclusive than exclusive when the circumstances warrant it. And in this case, they do.

After all, even in an expanded tournament, college basketball’s version of natural selection has to take place. That’s the beauty of a tournament.

It gives the old kings of the playground an opportunity to asset their authority while giving the new kids on the block a chance to stake their claim as well. And in this new era of parity that’s what every team wants — a chance.

Image Source: espn.com.

Thursday, February 01, 2007

Random NCAA Hoops Musings

It's been a few days since I posted my second round of NCAA Tournament projections and since then I am beginning to wonder if anyone wants the last couple of spots in the NCAA Tournament (well maybe there are a couple of teams). Here's a quick rundown of some major happenings on the bubble.

Monday
Delaware shocks Hofstra - Seriously, can a team lose a game like this and make the tournament (Delaware is 4-19)?

Pittsburgh beats Villanova - The Wildcats had a chance to make a real statement. They came close but close isn't good enough. 'Nova's RPI is still rock solid though.

Tuesday
Notre Dame beats Syracuse - Huge road win for the Irish. The Orangemen (yes, I'm still calling them the Orangemen) take a serious hit with this loss at home.

Wichita State beats Northern Iowa - The Shockers get a huge road win. The MVC is looking like it will probably get three bids, but who knows which three will be making an appearance.

Florida State beats Maryland - The Terps can't seem to win a road game. Not good.

Wake Forest beats Georgia Tech - The Yellow Jackets are fading fast.

Illinois beats Michigan State - A must-win game for the Illini and they deliver.

Wednesday
West Virginia beats Rutgers - The Mountaineers get another decent victory.

Duquesne beats Xavier - A game Xavier absolutely needed. This qualifies as a bad loss.

Hofstra beats Virginia Commonwealth - The only bubble team to make this list on the winning and losing ends. You try and figure out the Pride. I can't.

San Diego State beats TCU - Taking care of business on the road.

Iowa beats Michigan - Brutal home loss for the Wolverines.

Alabama beats LSU - Both teams were struggling. Alabama comes out with a clutch road victory, which has been a rarity in the SEC West this year.

DePaul beats Connecticut - The Huskies are fading real fast.

Kansas State beats Missouri - Solid win at home for the Wildcats.

For college hoops fans looking for some other good sources of material, Ken Pomeroy's site is a must (www.kenpom.com). I use it to look at RPI ratings and other great stats. If you're anti-BCS, check out The Mid-Majority (www.midmajority.com) and YoCo Hoops is pretty good too (www.yocohoops.com).

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Monday, January 29, 2007

NCAA Tournament Projections: Round 2

I apologize for not posting in a week. I was in D.C. for a few days, but I'm back and I'm back with my second look at the NCAA Tournament.

First I just want to clear up one thing before we get to projecting the field of 65; teams listed with the automatic bid are currently leading their conference, and thus if the tournament were to start today these teams would get their conferences’ automatic bids. My predictions are projected as if the tournament selection committee were choosing today (based on all games through Sunday, Jan. 28).

Let’s start with conferences that will absolutely be getting only one bid (these teams need to maintain their spots at the top to make the dance):
America East: Vermont
Atlantic Sun: East Tennessee State
Big Sky: Weber State
Big South: Winthrop
Big West: California State-Fullerton
Ivy: Pennsylvania
Metro Atlantic Athletic: Loyola (Md.)
Mid Continent: Oral Roberts
Mid-America: Toledo
Mid-Eastern Athletic: Delaware State
Northeast: Central Connecticut State
Ohio Valley: Austin Peay
Patriot: Holy Cross
Southern: Davidson
Southland: Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Southwest Athletic: Jackson State
Sunbelt: South Alabama

Now there are four conferences that are almost certainly only one-bid conferences, assuming the team at the top of the standings now wins the conference tournament. Potential at-large teams will have to root like hell for these four teams, because if they don’t get their conferences automatic bids, they are likely to steal coveted at-large spots.

Conference USA: Memphis
Horizon: Butler
West Coast: Gonzaga
Western Athletic: Nevada

Now for the rest of the conferences (total current bids in parenthesis):

Atlantic 10 (1):
In – George Washington (automatic bid)
On the Cusp – Massachusetts, Xavier
Long Climb Ahead – None

Atlantic Coast Conference (7):
In – Virginia Tech (automatic bid), North Carolina, Boston College, Duke, Clemson, Florida State, Maryland
On the Cusp – Virginia, Georgia Tech
Long Climb Ahead – None

Big 12 (5):
In – Kansas (automatic bid), Texas A&M, Texas Tech, Texas, Oklahoma State
On the Cusp – Kansas State
Long Climb Ahead – Oklahoma

Big East (7):
In – Pittsburgh (automatic bid), Syracuse, Notre Dame, Marquette, Georgetown, West Virginia, Villanova
On the Cusp – Providence, Louisville
Long Climb Ahead – Connecticut, Seton Hall, DePaul

Big Ten (5):
In – Wisconsin (automatic bid), Ohio State, Indiana, Michigan State, Michigan
On the Cusp – Illinois
Long Climb Ahead – Purdue

Colonial Athletic (2):
In – Virginia Commonwealth, Hofstra
On the Cusp – Drexel
Long Climb Ahead – None

Missouri Valley (3):
In – Southern Illinois (automatic bid), Creighton, Missouri State
On the Cusp – Bradley, Northern Iowa
Long Climb Ahead – None

Mountain West (3):
In – Air Force (automatic bid), UNLV, BYU
On the Cusp – None
Long Climb Ahead – Colorado State, San Diego State

Pacific-10 (6):
In – Oregon (automatic bid), UCLA, Washington State, USC, Arizona, Stanford
On the Cusp – None
Long Road Ahead – California, Washington

Southeastern (5):
In – Florida (automatic bid), Kentucky, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee
On the Cusp – LSU, Georgia, Vanderbilt
Long Road Ahead – None

Final Six In: Maryland, USC, Hofstra, Syracuse, West Virginia, Michigan
First Six Out: Georgia, Bradley, Virginia, Xavier, Providence, Vanderbilt

What team did I miss? What team doesn’t deserve to be on the list? We want to know what you think. Post your comments below.

FedEx grounded in United States

Rarely a day goes by that we don't see Tiger Woods' face plastered on something, whether it his own video game produced by EA Sports or a magazine advertisement for Buick. He's everywhere. That's what happens when you are a cut above the rest in your sport. You become very marketable, and companies want you to be their pitch man.

But if that really is the true, then why isn't tennis maestro Roger Federer receiving the endorsement deals that Tiger Woods has? Why isn't he more of a household name in this country?

Federer is every bit as dominant as Woods is. On Saturday, he defeated Fernando Gonzalez in the Australian Open final to win his 10th Grand Slam championship. He didn't drop a set during the entire tournament — the first time that has been accomplished at a major event in 27 years. Even more remarkable is the fact that Federer is 99-5 since the start of 2006. Oh yeah, one more thing. He's only 25.

Federer, though, still flies under the radar. His name only pops up when one of the four Grand Slam tournaments come around.

But what if Roger Federer was American? Would people in this country gather around a television set and watch him play tennis like they do when Tiger Woods tees it up on Sundays? I think so.

When you strip our nation's psyche down the core, it's easy to come to the conclusion that this country's people are generally very parochial and chauvinistic. Not surprisingly, Americans like to see their own do well, especially in individual sports. When tennis was a relatively popular sport in the U.S. 25 years ago, we cheered on the flamboyant and petulant John McEnroe when he faced the stoic and unassuming Bjorn Borg. We loved seeing Carl Lewis win the gold the 100 meters. We cheered when Rocky Balboa defeated Ivan Drago in a movie featuring fictional characters.

But Federer? He's Swiss. He's not one of us. So he is not as worthy of our time. Instead we've tried to prop up one of our countrymen, Andy Roddick. For the last few years, we've wanted to convince ourselves that Roddick is Federer's equal. He's anything but. That was proven again last week when Federer spanked America's great hope and sent him packing.

Roddick isn't Pete Sampras or Andre Agassi. Federer, however, may be the new and improved version of both players. Too bad he isn't American or people here might actually care. They might even buy a video game with his name on it.