Irony in St. Louis

The 2009 College Hoops Tip-Off Marathon ends tonight in St. Louis with the Naismith Hall of Fame Classic as Louisville plays Arkansas and Memphis takes on Kansas.

The name is quite ironic given what happened this summer, don't you think? You see, all four teams taking part in the event had far from an ideal off-season.

Memphis lost their coach, his recruiting class, four of their own players, and their trip to the national title game.

Kansas not only had two kids get DUI's, they had multiple brawls with the football team that not only made national headlines, but ended up with Tyshawn Taylor missing three weeks with a broken thumb.

Arkansas has had a laundry list of issues over the past two years, which culminated in John Pelphrey handing down suspensions to five players prior to the start of the season.

Louisville had to deal with Rick Pitino's extortion case, the accusations and eventual admission of his affair and abortion, and as if they were adding icing on the cake, Terrence Jennings and Jerry Smith got arrested for scuffling with cops in Indiana.

At least they aren't playing in the Role Model's Classic...