Mascot Madness: Round of 64 (Midwest)

One of the great things about March Madness is that there are so many small-name teams that you have never heard of playing on the big stage. What makes this so great is that with 347 possible contestants, we are bound to have a handful of interesting nickname/mascot combinations in the tournament year in and year out.

After all, isn't that what you look forward to the most? Spending Thursday afternoon watching the same old plain-Jane, blue-and-white Kentucky Wildcats battle the silver-green-and-red Highlanders of Western Poly Tech State?

It is common knowledge that we here at BIAH are the leaders in unnecessary college basketball information. Since we have this 64-team bracket in-front of us, we decided to try and determine the best mascot in March Madness.

Each day we will reveal a new portion of our bracket, leading up to the Championship game on April 5th, when we determine the best mascot in the 2010 NCAA Tournament.

Round of 64 (Midwest Bracket)

#1 Kansas Jayhawks vs. #16 Lehigh Mountain Hawks

Umm... talk about your first round toss-up. I'm not sure Jayhawks actually exist. Then again, Mountain Hawks aren't actually hawks either, they are eagles. Therefore, the fictitious hawk beats the fake hawk in the first round. There are feathers everywhere.

Winner - #1 Kansas Jayhawks


#8 UNLV Runnin' Rebels vs. #9 Northern Iowa Panthers

I probably should mention that it is more than likely that any mascot which wields a firearm or weapon will usually destroy/kill/mame/defeat any animal-like mascot, except gold ones. (After all, anything made out of gold cannot be destroyed.) Anyways, unfortunately for the Panthers, they aren't made of gold and their opponents are packing heat. No amount of Ali Kabooms from the UNI-bomber can save the Panthers this time.

Winner - #8 UNLV Runnin' Rebels


#5 Michigan State Spartans vs. #12 New Mexico State Aggies

This one looks like it should be a bloodbath, right? I mean, I saw the movie 300 and those guys were fighting an entire empire. Imagine what they would do to a team of agricultural scientists from New Mexico? Like I said before: bloodbath. After all, it would be quite difficult to measure the pH levels of soil when your head has been decapitated and placed atop of a spike. Spartans leave the battlefield looking like a failed science experiment.

Winner - #5 Michigan State Spartans


#4 Maryland Terrapins vs. #13 Houston Cougars

Cougars are mean and nasty. They are the largest breed of cat found in North America. They could rip the intestines out of a grown man in just one swipe. All arrows point towards Houston ripping apart the Terps is a blowout. But have you ever seen a full-sized terrapin? They are scary. Much more scary than you would expect. They could pick your hand clean off your arm in one snap. Plus, the hard outer-shell protects them from almost everything except a baseball bat. The Terps outlast the angry felines and move on.

Winner - #4 Maryland Terrapins


#6 Tennessee Volunteers vs. #11 San Diego State Aztecs

Hmm, I wonder how this one plays out. Let's see. Volunteers are usually known as helpful people, willing to support or help any friend, neighbor or person in need. While Aztecs on the other-hand, are remembered for being the most dominant, powerful, and controlling group of Mexican Indians ever known (well, before the Spanish came in and enslaved them all). Rocky Top is no match for the tribe still angry about the desecration of their entire civilization. Another bloodbath as SDSU advances.

Winner - #11 San Diego State Aztecs


#3 Georgetown Hoyas vs. #14 Ohio Bobcats

This is a really really bad match up. First off, Ohio has a boring nickname (Bobcats) and boring colors (green and white). Everything about Ohio is just sorta mehh. Then you have Georgetown, which has quite possibly the most confusing nickname is all of D-1 sports. There is no such thing as "a Hoya". I'd rather not get into specifics, because well, it's so dumb. Either way I still give the edge to the Hoyas because a) they have better colors (blue and grey) and b) they also feature a live mascot (jack the bulldog). Live mascots rule.

Winner - #3 Georgetown Hoyas


#7 Oklahoma State Cowboys vs. #10 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets

Cowboys are cool. Every young boy wants to be a cowboy when they grow up. But somewhere along the line they realize chaps and spurs 24/7 just isn't the life for them. But nobody likes Yellow Jackets. They sting and buzz, and the only way to kill them is by ruining a good magazine. The Cowboys inability to lasso the Yellow Jacket nest comes back to haunt them. Georgia Tech prevails.

Winner - #10 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets


#2 Ohio State Buckeyes vs. #15 UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos

It's the nuts versus the Cowboys in our final Midwest bracket showdown. Getting hit in the head by a falling acorn hurts allot. Gauchos might be tough, and the word "gaucho" is pretty cool, but man, getting hit in the head by a large acorn really, really hurts. Then again, gauchos wear flat-brimmed cowboy hats that would protect them from falling nuts. Plus, can I have a team named "the gauchos" lose to tOSU in the first round? Absolutely not.

Winner - #15 UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos


Round of 32 (Midwest)
#1 Kansas Jayhawks vs. #9 UNLV Runnin' Rebels
#4 Maryland Terrapins vs. #5 Michigan State Spartans
#3 Georgetown Hoyas vs. #11 San Diego State Aztecs
#10 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets vs. #13 UC-Santa Barbara Gauchos

Next bracket:
Round of 64 (West)
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Weekend Dump

- An early list of 2010 early entrants

- Defense wins (will win) championships

- Kentucky's path to the 'ship is clearing out

- This is arguably the dumbest thing I've ever read; We're we punk'd?

- Washington State forward DeAngelo Castro arrested for assault

- With 96 teams, upsets will be few and far between
- Injured WVU star Da'Sean Butler will play in the Elite Eight

- MWC coaches are a hot-commodity

- A good-read on the realtionship between Coaches Calipari and Huggins

- Nebraska program is losing three players

- Wesley Witherspoon will return to Memphis

- Wes Johnson hasn't ruled out a reutrn to school yet

- Butler is one win away from having a huge advantage

- USC coach Kevin O'Neill gives one of his assistants a promotion

- Moses Abraham might have caused a problem

- Wow, that's pretty screwed up

- A good-read on the death of Southwestern High basketball

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Butler beats Kansas State, is going to the Final Four

If you read anything about the Final Four in the coming week, I will guarantee that you will see at least a couple few dozen couple hundred references to the movie 'Hoosiers'.

And why not?

The similarities are striking. The movie 'Hoosiers' (which you have all seen and don't need me to recap, but I'm going to do it anyway) is about tiny Hickory High, a small high school in Indiana that makes a run through the state tournament and to the 1952 title. Butler is a mid-major university in the state Indiana that has made a run through the NCAA tournament and is two games away from winning a national title in the same city Hickory won their's. Butler's home gym -- Hinkle Fieldhouse -- was where the title game was shot in the movie.

While that is all well and good, the Butler story is much more similar to that of Milan High, the school that 'Hoosiers' was based on. Milan, who had all of 73 enrolled students, won the 1954 Indiana state title.

In the movie, Hickory High was portrayed as a tiny school with passion for hoops but not a lot of hopes for their team. While Milan High was, in fact, a tiny school, their title run didn't exactly come out of no where. Milan had made the state semifinals the year before and returned four of their starters. Milan had expectations coming into the season. People thought they were going to be good.

Like Butler.

Butler may be a mid-major using the dictionary definition, but Butler isn't a mid-major the way George Mason was in 2006 or Gonzaga was in 1999. This wasn't a fluke. Butler didn't get past UTEP and Murray State by accident. They didn't beat Syracuse and Kansas State because they were lucky.

Butler is a very good basketball team, and they proved quite a few people wrong with their incredible run.

Including myself.

You see, I bought into the fact that the Bulldogs are small along their front line, that they aren't a terribly deep team, and that their players don't have the physical gifts that a team like Syracuse or Kansas State does. I believed the talk that a team that is smaller and less athletic cannot win without hitting threes -- something Butler hasn't been terribly good at this year. I paid attention to Matt Howard's issue with fouls, and how the guys playing behind him don't have nearly the reputation he does.

I focused on the negatives associated with this team.

And in doing so, I completely ignored everything they do well.

Shelvin Mack and Gordon Hayward are as good as just about any point guard-wing duo in the country. Mack, who finished with 16 points and 7 boards against K-State, is a tough, strong, and underrated point guard that loves taking the big shot. He had three huge buckets in the second half that played a large role in Butler's ability to hold off Kansas State's run for so long. Hayward, 22 and 9, is long, athletic, and versatile, and was the spark that ignited Butler's run after K-State too their first lead at 52-51 with 4:51 left on the clock.

But you know about those two. Everyone knows about those two. And Butler is so much more than just those two.

They are Ronald Nored. Nored, who finished with his usual floor-game-special stat line, finishing with 4 points, 5 boards, 5 assists, and 4 steals, is the overlooked member of Butler's starting back court.

Why?

Because so much of what Nored provides doesn't show up in the box score. Well, actually its just shows up in the opposite side of the box score. You see, Nored heads up what has become a phenomenal defensive back court. Joined by Mack and Sean Vanzant, Butler held Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente to just 32 points on 11-30 shooting two nights after forcing Scoop Jardine, Andy Rautins, and Brandon Triche into an off-night.

The Bulldogs are Andrew Smith. Smith is a 6'11" freshman center that came in and played 12 excellent minutes, scoring three points and grabbing two offensive rebounds, when Matt Howard was forced to the bench with foul trouble. It was Smith's first minutes since March 9th, and his first game playing double figure minutes since Dec. 31.

Butler is the team that doesn't fold after it gives up a 13-2 run in the span of 3:02, allowing the Wildcats to take their first lead of the game at 52-51 with 4:51 left. Instead, Butler showed the poise to answer with a counter punch of their own, going on a 9-2 run to take a 60-54 lead and seal the game. It was the same run that they put on Syracuse in the second half -- twice -- when the Orange looked like they were getting ready to take the game over. It was the same counter they had ready when Murray State took a 50-47 lead with two minutes left in the second round.

Good basketball teams show poise, maturity, and the ability to execute in the clutch. Butler does.

Butler is the team that, despite being drastically smaller and less athletic, outrebounded Kansas State 41-29. They are the team that grabbed nearly three-quarters of the available defensive rebounds, limiting Kansas State, who is one of the best offensive rebounding teams in the country, to just 11 offensive boards in 40 tries.

As the Bulldogs were putting the finishing touches on Kansas State, cementing a trip to their home city of Indianapolis for the Final Four, I got this text from a friend who does radio up in Delaware (our emphasis added):

I usually don't pull for the midmajors, but Butler make me a believer today. That was basketball.

He is right. That was basketball, and that was a great performance to watch.

Tonight, Butler was just simply the better basketball team.

Maybe they were all along too.


Continue reading...

Saturday's Elite 8 preview

WEST REGION: #5 Butler vs. #2 Kansas State

I could sit here and ramble on and on for paragraphs about the subtle differences between these two teams.

I could tell you that on the perimeter, Butler actually matches up pretty well with Kansas State's high scoring back court of Jacob Pullen and Denis Clemente. Ronald Nored and Shelvin Mack are both excellent defenders.

I could also tell you about how good Gordon Hayward truly is on the perimeter, how he is 6'9" with a jump shot, the ability to put the ball on the floor and get to the rim, and the length and athleticism you don't expect to see out of a guy playing for Butler.

But when it comes down to it, this game is going to be determined by two things:

• How will Butler handle Kansas State's defensive pressure?: Kansas State is the kind of team that loves to get out and pressure their opponents, and while they force a lot of turnovers, it also results in a lot of fouling. Butler has to be aggressive in attacking this defense, especially Shelvin Mack and Gordon Hayward. Those two are good players and good scorers. The Wildcats size and athleticism up front is going to make it difficult to score in and around the basket, so instead of driving to score, per se, Butler needs to be looking to draw fouls. Kansas State, as I said, fouls a lot. Get to the line, get some of their starters in foul trouble, and Butler has a shot.


• Will Butler be able to rebound the ball?: I read Mike Freeman's article about the stereotypes given white basketball players, namely being unathletic. And while I agree to a point, I think even Freeman would grant me that Butler's front line is completely, totally, and 100% out-athleticized (no, that is not a real word) by Kansas State. The Wildcats are (much) bigger, they have longer arms, and they jump higher. Its not actually saying much -- Matt Howard is 6'8" and can't jump over a phone book, while Willie Veasley is a 6'3" power forward. They also attack the glass as aggresively as any front line in the country. Pullen and Clemente are going to get their 15-20 points, but if Butler allows the K-State front line to rebound the ball on the offensive end and get some easy buckets that way, the Bulldogs will be in trouble.
  

EAST REGION: #2 West Virginia vs. #1 Kentucky

I'm not going to lie -- I don't know if there is a game that I have been as excited to watch in this tournament as West Virginia and Kentucky. Its very possible that we are looking at the two best teams left in the tournament here.

I expect West Virginia to start in man-to-man. Its a Bobby Huggins team, and he has already said they will be going man. That said, keep an eye out for the 1-3-1 zone that he has been using of late. The Mountaineers have been very effective using that defense this season, and it is precisely the defense that Tennessee used when they played the Wildcats.

Regardless of the defense that West Virginia plays, Kentucky needs to get to the rim. WVU always has at least four kids on the floor that are forwards and have struggled at times to defend dribble penetration. If WVU is in man, John Wall and Eric Bledsoe need to take advantage of the matchups they get (Huggins has said Devin Ebanks will be on Wall). If it is a zone, the Wildcats cannot settle for threes. They have some capable shooters, but a capable shooter becomes a poor shooter when that shot doesn't come in rhythm. Get into the paint against the zone, and everything collapses, leaving open shooters and dump downs.

Kentucky has actually been one of the better defensive teams in the country this season. They have always had the athletes, it was just a matter of Coach Cal getting them to buy into playing defense. WVU, on the other hand, is not a great first-shot offensive team. What I mean is that they don't have a ton of guys that are creators -- either for their own shot or to find assists -- and with Truck Bryant injured, they really only have one ball handler on the team.

In fact, even with Bryant on the roster, sometimes WVU's best offense is actually getting the ball up on the rim and going to get the offensive rebound. This team is the best offensive rebounding team in the country, and for Kentucky to win, they will need to keep WVU's athletes from getting to the glass.

For me, the deciding factor in this game is going to be DeMarcus Cousins. West Virginia has a lot of big guys, but most of them are combo-forwards as opposed to true post players. That said, they sure do have a lot of them. I expect guys like Cam Thoroughman, Denis Kilicli, and Danny Jennings to be very physical with Cousins, send him to the foul line where he struggles, and try to get into his head. Cousins is the most unstoppable force in the country when he wants to be. Take his head out of the game, however, and you can nullify his contributions.
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So Baylor's pretty good, huh?

Well now.

That ended pretty quickly, didn't it?

For all the hoopla surrounding the St. Mary's program -- from the Australian media to their first Sweet 16 since 1959 to their big-mouthed big man -- the Gaels were a maelstrom of media for the last five days.

Seemingly every time you turned on the TV, you heard someone talking about St. Mary's. Every article you read seemed to be about a one-liner Omar Samhan dropped at a press conference. Everyone was talking about the Gaels.

Baylor looked pretty damn good last night.
(photo credit: Dallas Morning News)

And all it took was 13:17 to make everyone forget about that St. Mary's talk. At the 6:43 mark last night, LaceDarius Dunn caught an alley-oop on a fast break, capping a 6-0 spurt that had pushed the Baylor lead to 29-11.

Not exactly the start St. Mary's had hoped for.

That lead would grow to 46-17 at the half and to as big as 35 in the second half before St. Mary's finally started to play, although it was far too little to late.

While some will undoubtedly question whether St. Mary's was distracted, losing their focus in the bright lights and camera lenses that come with 15 minutes of fame, the bigger question coming out of this game may actually be "how good is Baylor?"

We've been on the Baylor bandwagon all season long.

I don't know if there are five trios better than the Bear's Tweety Carter, Lace Dunn, and Ekpe Udoh. I know there aren't five offenses that are better than Baylor's (they currently rank fourth in offensive efficiency). Baylor's 2-3 zone hybrid -- I saw hybrid because at times the zone looks more like a 1-3-1 -- is wreaking the havoc we expected all season from a team with that much length and athleticism.

That said, I don't think I've seen Baylor play better over a five minute stretch than they did for the entire the first half last night. Omar Samhan could not do anything on the offensive end of the floor as Ekpe Udoh and Josh Lomers gave Samhan fits. He missed seven of his first eight shots. Mickey McConnell and Matt Dellavedova may very well be the best shooting back court in the country, and they made just 2-12 from from three in the first half.

At the offensive end of the floor, they simply did whatever they wanted. Carter and Dunn were near unstoppable. Udoh, Quincy Acy, and Josh Lomers got open looks in and around the rim again and again. They were hitting threes, they were getting offensive rebounds, they weren't turning the ball over.

Baylor played like a team with something to prove.

They may have beaten the Wizards last night.

So while you can criticize St. Mary's all you want, make sure you keep in mind that this is a very good Baylor team that finally started clicking.
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Izzo wins again. In other news, water is wet.

Let's call it like it is: Michigan State probably should not still be playing.

Kalin Lucas is done for the season after tearing his achilles tendon in the first half in the Spartan's second round game against Maryland. Chris Allen is playing on a bum foot. Delvon Roe's surgically repaired knee has been giving him problems in the tournament, which wasn't helped by the shot he took early in the game to that knee.

This is a team that has dealt with focus, leadership, and, in reality, just about any kind of issue that can plague a team. They lost five of their last ten games coming into the tournament, blowing a three game lead in the conference at the midway point and getting knocked out in the opening round of the Big Ten tournament.

Don't be shocked when Izzo takes this team to the Final Four.
(photo credit: ESPN)

This is a team that got beaten by Illinois the last time they played without Lucas. Illinois is not the defensive team that Northern Iowa is, and Korie Lucious, starting in the place of Lucas, had six turnovers and looked overwhelmed trying to run the team.

This is a team that found themselves down 29-22 at the break, looking positively atrocious offensively in the first half, shooting just 7-22 from the field.

I doubt I'm the only one that was starting to toy with the idea of an Elite 8 involving Tennessee and Northern Iowa.

But this is Tom Izzo we're talking about.

And you don't doubt Tom Izzo in March.

They came out in the second half a different team. The Spartans were able to get the ball inside and score, which in turn opened up some space on the perimeter for Spartans shooters to get free.

All told, Michigan State hit eight of their first nine shots to open the second half, going on a 21-8 run to open the half, taking a 43-37 lead eight minutes in and nearly equaling the number of points they scored in the first 20 minutes. From then on, it was the Spartan's defense that took over, holding UNI to just 10 free throws over the final 10:22 of the game, getting a couple impressive buckets from Raymar Morgan and Lucious in the final two minutes to give the Spartans the win.

So what is it about Izzo?

The man is 28-9 in the NCAA Tournament this decade. His Spartans have been in 13 straight fields, reaching nine Sweet 16's, five Final Fours, and winning a national title in 2000. After beating Northern Iowa, he is now a win over sixth-seeded Tennessee away from making yet another Final Four. I get that this year a Final Four run will have been aided by a crumbling Midwest Region, much like his trip to the 2001 Final Four was.

But isn't that the point?

While high seeds are getting upset all around him, Izzo simply keeps on winning, the Goliath seemingly immune to the stones thrown by David.

So I ask again, what is it about Izzo that makes him so good in the tournament?

For starters, I'm not sure there is a better in-game coach than Izzo. You need a game plan drawn up, call Izzo. You're not sure what adjustments need to be made at halftime, call Izzo. Who do you go to in crunch time? Izzo probably knows.

There's also something to be said for the confidence Izzo and his team probably has in the tournament these days. Think about it like this: Korie Lucious was 2-8 from the floor on the night. With 1:30 left in the game and the Spartans up 53-51, Izzo called Lucious's number, isolating him in a 1-4 set and allowing him to go 1-on-1 and make a play.

His response?

A crossover into a spin back the other way, hitting a fadeaway off of one foot from 15 feet away. That's not an easy shot.

And Lucious buried it.

But maybe, just maybe, could it be that there is no rhyme or reason to his success?

Could it be that he just knows his players and knows how to win the tournament?

Is it too simple to say that Izzo is just a great coach?
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Duke's toughness is the reason they may actually make a Final Four this year

This is not your typical Duke team.

You see, 'Duke' has become synonymous with 'soft' in recent years. The Blue Devils have had talented players, that's not what was being questioned. What the Dukies didn't have was that mean streak. They didn't defend like a Final Four team. They didn't rebound like one. They settled for far too many threes.

You didn't fear playing Duke. You didn't go into a game against the Blue Devils thinking "win or lose, I'm going to be sore tomorrow" like you do with a West Virginia or a Kansas State.

Is it safe to say that's changed now?

There's an argument to be made for Brian Zoubek being Duke's most valuable player.
(photo credit: ESPN)

There may not be a tougher player in the country than Chris Kramer.

The guy is built like a bowling ball and plays the game like a middle linebacker. He isn't afraid of contact, relishing the role of defensive stopper for a team that prides themselves on allowing nothing easy on that end of the floor.

Yet it was Kramer that found himself laying on the court twice as a result of a big screen from Brian Zoubek, the second of which seemingly knocked Purdue's tough-guy into la-la land.

There may not be a better example of this change in demeanor than Zoubek.

Before the season started, if I would have called Brian Zoubek 'tough' or a 'mean SOB', you would have laughed in my face, and rightfully so. He was the seven footer that flopped more than Manu Ginobili, a gangly mass of flailing arms that wouldn't know a post move if it punched him in the face.

But this year, Zoubek is a guy that you don't want to play against.

Zoubek has always been big, but big only gets you so far if you are afraid to throw your weight around. Zoubek still has no offensive game to speak of, but Duke doesn't need offense out of him. They have Kyle Singler, Jon Scheyer, and Nolan Smith to get them buckets.

What Zoubek does is set a tone inside. He crashes the glass, averaging 10.2 rpg -- with 4.1 of those coming on the offensive end -- over his last 13 games. Is it any wonder that during that stretch, Duke has allowed more than 61 points just twice while going 12-1? Since postseason play began, the Blue Devils have allowed just 55.6 ppg, 5.4 points below their season average.

Keep this in mind -- toughness isn't just a physical attribute.

There is something to be said for being mentally tough.

The first half of last night's game between the Blue Devils and the Boilermakers was about as ugly as basketball gets. The game had no flow, as Duke slugged their way to a 24-23 lead. The Blue Devils shot just 24% from the floor with Jon Scheyer and Nolan SMith combining to go 2-16 from the field.

Because you know eventually, Duke's big three are going to get it going. And in the second half, they did. Smith, Scheyer, and Singler -- which sounds more like a law firm than a starting back court -- scored the first 25 Blue Devil points in the second half. And after Smith scored seven straight in the span of 1:21, Duke took a 49-40 at the eight minute mark. Purdue would get no closer than six the rest of the way.

And whether you like the cliche or not, it takes mental toughness to suffer through a poor shooting first half like that and still have enough confidence to hit big shots late.

In last year's Sweet 16, the Blue Devils found themselves down 26-23 to Villanova at the half. They tried to run with the Wildcats in the second half, and only managed to run themselves off the court, losing 77-54.

Last night, Duke out-grinded a team known for their ability to win a physical slugfest.

And that right there is the difference in this Duke team, the reason the Blue Devils have a very real shot at getting to the Final Four that has eluded them since 2004.

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Evan Turner skips the postgame handshake after losing to Tennessee

Last year in the NBA Playoffs, there was a big to-do when LeBron James skipped the hand shake line after a tough loss. Personally, I didn't take much of an issue with it. LeBron is a competitor, he had just been eliminated from the playoffs, and he was clearly upset because of it.

I'm not saying I would do the same thing, I'm just saying it doesn't really bother me.

Likewise, it also doesn't bother me that tonight, Evan Turner left the floor without shaking the hands of the Tennessee players after his Ohio State Buckeyes were eliminated from the NCAA Tournament.

Take a look:

Turner just lost what is in all likelihood his final college basketball game in fairly devastating fashion. He missed a three in the final ten seconds before having a desperation shot blocked by JP Prince.

Not the way anyone would want to remember their collegiate career.

(For those doubters, Matt at the Dagger confirmed Turner skipped the handshake with someone sitting on press row at the game: "Yes ... he did. Diagonally off the court, past the Tennessee bench and assumedly down the tunnel. He half-acknowledged a Vol who tapped him. I can't 100% confirm that someone didn't grab him and bring him back, but I doubt that happened.")

I understand the problems here. Sportsmanship, role models, yada yada yada.

But I think its ridiculous to blast a 21 year old kid for being upset about a loss like this.

It will be interesting to see if/how this plays out in the media this weekend.
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Jay Mariotti bashing and a defense of Jim Boeheim

Jay Mariotti is a punching bag for those in the blogosphere.

I guess its my turn to weigh in.

You see, Mariotti was sent to cover the Sweet 16 games in Salt Lake City last night, and he apparently spent most of the game, well, not watching. This shouldn't come as a surprise to you. Mariotti has a bit of a reputation for doing these things.

It also should come as no surprise to you that his column actually turned out pretty decent because, like him or not, the man can write.

I'm not going to bash Mariotti for not watching the game from his courtside seat. Any of you can figure out it is a disgrace to the sports writing world when he does this. If you are not a big enough fan of sports to appreciate the fact that you get paid to sit in the best seat in the house to watch what amounted to two fantastic games, than I cannot comprehend why you are in the profession. (Ok, that was a little bit of a bashing, but I'm just jealous. I wish I was at that game last night.)

I'm also not going to bash Mariotti for jabbing Syracuse in the ribs when they didn't know Ronald Nored's exact 3PT%, because I think it goes without saying that it is more important that the Syracuse players simply know that Nored is not a very good three point shooter than the fact that he hits 19%, not 15%, of his threes.

No, I'm going to let those things slide off my back, and instead focus on this line at the end of the article:

You sensed a changing of the guard, too, between the two coaches. Boeheim thought this might be his second national title team, but now, at 65, with Johnson and Rautins leaving and 34 seasons and 1,122 games in his pocket, it might be time to consider retirement and an ESPN studio seat.

Hold on a second.

Did Mariotti just say that he thinks Boeheim needs to hang 'em up?

Because that would be crazy if he did, right?

Because Jim Boeheim didn't lead a team that no one had in the top 25 to a Big East regular season title, by two games nonetheless, right? He didn't take a team that lost Jonny Flynn, Eric Devendorf, and Paul Harris and make them a #1 seed in the tournament, did he? Because this #1 seed was loaded with McDonald's all-americans, and didn't have any kids that Boeheim turned from high-major after thoughts into quality players in the Big East, correct?

Oh, I get it.

What Mariotti was saying is that Boeheim should leave before his reputation is tarnished since Syracuse is losing Andy Rautins, Arinze Onuaku, and in all-likelihood Wes Johnson. He doesn't return his back court of Scoop Jardine and Brandon Triche, a good post player in Rick Jackson, and one of the guys that will be all over 2011 breakout star lists in Kris Joseph.

He also isn't bringing in a recruiting class that is headlined by a class of 2010 star in 7'0" Fab Melo and top 50 recruit Dion Waters.

In all honesty, I don't know what Mariotti was getting at, but he wasn't the only one talking about Boeheim today.

Honestly, its ridiculous that anyone is questioning the resume of Boeheim. He's been to the tournament 16 times in the last 21 years. Here are the results:

2010 (1-seed): lost in Sweet 16 to Butler
2009 (3-seed): lost in Sweet 16 to Oklahoma
2006 (5-seed): lost in first round to Texas A&M
2005 (4-seed): lost in first round to Vermont
2004 (5-seed): lost in Sweet 16 to Alabama
2003 (3-seed): won the national title
2001 (5-seed): lost in second round to Kansas
2000 (4-seed): lost in Sweet 16 to Michigan State
1999 (8-seed): lost in first round to Oklahoma State
1998 (5-seed): lost in Sweet 16 to Duke
1996 (4-seed): lost in Championship to Kentucky
1995 (7-seed): lost in second round to Arkansas
1994 (4-seed): lost in Sweet 16 to Missouri
1992 (6-seed): lost in second round to UMass
1991 (2-seed): lost in first round to Richmond
1990 (2-seed): lost in Sweet 16 to Minnesota

While there have been a couple of times when he teams failed to live up to expectations -- 1991 and 2005, specifically -- he also took a #4 seed to the title game and won a championship with a #3 seed.

And while he loses three of his top four scorers if Johnson bounces to the league, he also brings in a talented recruiting class, has a star waiting in the wings with Kris Joseph, and a couple of talented youngsters keeping the bench warm -- Mookie Jones, James Southerland, DaShonte Riley -- while they bide their time waiting to get minutes.

Unless Boeheim decides that it is time for him to retire, he won't be going anywhere.

And any and all speculation to the contrary isn't worth your time.
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Friday's Sweet 16 coverage maps and announcer schedule

Early Games

• #2 Ohio State vs. #6 Tennessee: Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery, Edward Jones Dome - St. Louis, Green
  
• #3 Baylor vs. #10 St. Mary's: Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, Reliant Stadium - Houston, Purple
  

Late Games

• #5 Michigan State vs. #9 Northern Iowa: Verne Lundquist and Bill Raftery, Edward Jones Dome - St. Louis, Blue
  
• #1 Duke vs. #4 Purdue: Jim Nantz and Clark Kellogg, Reliant Stadium - Houston, Yellow
  

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The Little Dances: Day 7

We all know that March Madness is all about the real NCAA tournament. But while those lucky souls that managed to earn themselves a bid to the Big Dance sit back and wait for Thursday, the rest of the country takes part in what I like to call the Little Dances -- the NIT, the CBI, and the CIT.

Here's what happened on Thursday:

Not too much. In a game that was originally set to go yesterday, but was delayed so Pacific could have ample travel time (damn-near across the entire country) the Tigers won 64-56. It was not nearly as close as the score indicates.

Sorry, but that's it for the in-depth analysis on the little dances from tonight.

I mean, come on, did you watch that Kansas State game?

Did you hear Gus Johnson?

I hope you understand where I'm coming from.

C.I.T

Semifinals
Pacific 64, Appalachian State 56

Finals
Tuesday, March 30
TBA - Pacific at Missouri State


N.I.T

Semifinals
Tuesday, March 30 (New York City, NY)
7:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Ole Miss vs. #3 Dayton
9:00PM - ESPN2 - #2 Rhode Island vs. #4 North Carolina


C.B.I

Finals (Best of 3)

Game 1
Monday, March 29
7:00PM - St. Louis at Virginia Commonwealth

Game 2
Wednesday, March 31
8:00PM - Virginia Commonwealth at St. Louis

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Friday Morning Dump

- Paul Hewitt declines St. John's offer, will stay with Georgia Tech

- A little late on this, but a blogger tries to connect Worldwide Wes, LeBron, Coach Cal, and Chris Douglas-Roberts.

- Must read on the McDonald's all-america game

- After all the years of mid-major dominance, Butler is finally nearing the mountain top

- Gonzaga assistant coach is taking the Boise State position

- Epke Udoh vs. Omar Samhan. Yes! Yes!! Yes!!!

- Fordham officially introduces new head coach

- New Auburn coach Tony Barbee will make $1.5M over 6 years Doing his best to make Auburn relevant: Calling people out

- Washington might have used the road less traveled to get there, but at the beginning of the season, isnt a Sweet Sixteen bid about what we expected from them?

- Northern Iowa is doing it for all the little guys

- In the tournament, the faster team ussually prevails

- Headquarters for all your coaching rumors

- Jon Scheyer doesn't have confidence in his shooting technique

- Remember Dave Bliss?

- Seton Hall coaching news

- South Dakota Atheletic Director to take over at Kent State

- The Volunteers have been through alot this season but are staying strong

- One Kentucky fan still feels the "sparks" from that epic buzzer-beater

- Is this the year Duke makes that next step?

- Seton Hall's Jeff Robinson is going pro. Wait. What? Jeff Robinson is going pro? Wow that's pretty dumb, right? I mean, you probably don't even know who he is, right?

- Barack Obama did not bail out his brother-in-law, Beavers head coach Craig Robinson

- Moses Abraham verbally committed to Georgetown. However, he is unable to part the Anacostia River.

- The last laugh

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Kansas State and Xavier play one for the ages

I hate being cliche, and I hate even more stealing a line from the impeccable Gus Johnson, but this is March Madness. This is what college basketball is all about. This is why the BCS should go the way of my bracket.

Kansas State beat Xavier tonight in what will surely go down as one of the great NCAA Tournament games of my lifetime. For 50 minutes, two teams left every ounce of energy they had on the court. They fought, they scrapped, they made plays. Xavier probably should have lost this game three or four times. There were so many clutch shots made that Bill Raftery would have run out of 'onions'.

No one deserved to lose this game. My hat goes off to the kids from the Little Apple for advancing, while my heart goes out to the Muskies for suffering what is undoubtedly a heartbreaking loss.

One only needs to see the picture of Jason Love leaving the court, jersey pulled over his face to hide the tears, to understand how badly both teams wanted this game.

These two teams have a history.

Three times in the past four seasons they have played.

Back in the Michael Beasley era, Kansas State took a whooping at the hands of Xavier in Cincinnati, losing 103-77. Xavier got a little too mouthy during the game, laughing on the court by the end of it, leaving a sour taste in the mouths of the Wildcats.

Jordan Crawford had an incredible tournament.
(photo credit: Kansas City Star)

K-State got their revenge this year in Manhattan, beating the Muskies 71-56 in a physical game that saw Wildcat players head into the stands to high-five the students after the game.

This one started the way you would expect any rivalry game -- and yes, Xavier-Kansas State has turned into a rivalry -- with some jawing and physical play. It was a big reason why Denis Clemente and Mark Lyons got hit with double-technicals just 3:40 into the game.

Its also why you saw Xavier, who probably should have lost this game three or four times, never give up. And why the Kansas State players, who spent just as much time yapping during the course of the game as they did knocking down big shots, have nothing but kind words for the Muskies in the postgame.

Let's be clear. Xavier should have lost this game.

Jacob Pullen, hitting what would eventually be the game-winner.
(photo credit: CBC Sports)

• Eight minutes in, they were down 19-4. But Terrell Holloway and Jordan Crawford led them back (this will be a familiar theme by the end of this article) by scoring 17 of Xavier's 28 points as they closed the half on a 28-12 surge to take a 32-31 lead heading into the break.
• Clemente carried the Wildcats to a 56-49 lead with just eight minutes left. But once again, Xavier had an answer, as Crawford capped a string of four consecutive made threes by drilling a jumper from deep in the left corner to give Xavier a 67-66 lead with 2:20 left.
• Pullen buried a contested three to break a 67-all tie with 28 seconds left, then answered a Jason Love layup with two free throws. But Holloway drew a foul on a three point attempt, knocking down all three free throws to force the first overtime.
• Holloway scored eight points in 1:37 to lead Xavier back from four down with 2:27 to go before K-State scored three straight points to take an 87-84 lead with 18 seconds left. But Crawford drilled a 30 footer with 5.0 seconds left -- a shot that will probably be the most memorable of the tournament by someone not named Ali Farokhmanesh -- to force a second overtime.
  

And in that second overtime, Xavier finally succumbed to the Wildcats. After Crawford scored on a wheeling drive to the rim, Pullen ran off a triple screen on the baseline to free himself in the corner, knocking down a three to give K-State a 94-93 lead. A free throw by Love tied it, but Pullen immediately answered with another three from the top of the key to give K-State their final lead.

Xavier had a shot to tie it, but Dante Jackson's three fell short, sending Kansas State to the Elite 8 for a date with Butler.

Choose the adjective: epic, legendary, classic, memorable.

No matter how you describe it, this was a game that this writer won't soon forget.

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Butler wins, but did Syracuse beat themselves?

There are mid-major programs, and then there are programs that play in mid-major conferences.

Gonzaga is an example of this. The Zags play in the WCC, a league not exactly known for their athletics, but compete for top 100 recruits and travel all over the country to take on any and all comers. Xavier is another one. Its no coincidence that the Muskies have become the beacon of basketball in the Atlantic 10, once again reaching the Sweet 16 this season.

Butler is on the precipice of being lumped in with that group.

Is it possible tonight's game pushed them over that ledge?

For the first time in the program's history, Butler will be playing in the Elite 8, and with a win over Kansas State on Saturday, the Bulldogs will be headed to the Final Four to play what amounts to a home game.

Butler celebrates after making their first Elite 8.
(photo credit: 2nd and Short)

They deserve all the credit in the world for it.

I know I'm not the only one that doubted Butler coming into the tournament. The thinking went that the Bulldogs didn't have the size or the athleticism to compete with the big boys. Toughness and grit on the defensive end only gets you so far. Eventually, talent is going to win out, a reason why just one team in the last 40 years has won an NCAA Tournament without three guys that eventually played in the NBA on their roster.

Even with Arinze Onuaku in street clothes as he nurses a leg injury, Syracuse was the most talented team on the floor tonight.

But Butler was the team that came ready, and they beat the Orange playing Butler basketball.

Generally, mid-majors that make a tournament run do it via the three-ball. As the saying goes, the three pointer is the great equalizer. As good as Butler is, they are not a great shooting team. It showed tonight, as the Bulldogs finished the game shooting 40% from the floor and 6-24 from three.

No, Butler won because they played harder than Syracuse. They wanted it more than the Orange. They jumped on the Cuse early and had the resolve -- a word that Brad Stevens harped on in his post game interviews -- to withstand two big runs that seemingly put the Orange in control of this game. They executed and made the plays down the stretch they needed to make in order to win.

I always give credit where credit is due, and Butler deserves praise for their performance tonight.

That said, I cannot help but feel like this Syracuse team gave the game away. Lord knows they had their chances.

Syracuse's inability to make a play down the stretch cost them Thursday night.
(photo credit: SILive.com)

Two plays stand out in my mind. After taking a 54-50 lead with 5:23 left, Syracuse allowed Butler to score eight straight points, falling behind 58-54 with a minute and a half left. After the Bulldogs worked the shot clock, Shelvin Mack missed a jumper. All Syracuse needed to do was corral the rebound, but 6'3" Willie Veasley outworked 6'8" Kris Joseph for position, jumping over him for a tip-in that put the Bulldogs ahead by six with under a minute left.

But Butler, apparently in a giving mood, left the door open for Syracuse by missing free throws. So with 12 seconds left, down 63-59, Wes Johnson missed the second of two freebies, and the rebound ended up in Rick Jackson's hands. He lost control of the ball, nearly picked it back up, but bobbled it again, this time watching as the ball bounced out of bounds to Butler.

As if to add insult to injury, Willie Veasley missed both free throws, but Scoop Jardine turned the ball over, setting off the celebration.

If anything, this loss came down to a lack of leadership on the floor.

I've written about it extensively before, but the one true knock on this Syracuse team was their lack of a go-to scorer; a guy you could give the ball too when the other team was making a run, when your team really needed a basket.

Put the sluggish start aside. Put the five point deficit midway through the second half aside. All that stopped mattering when the Orange took a 54-50 lead with 5:23 left. Their next six possessions -- Scoop Jardine missed a three, Andy Rautins turned the ball over, Jardine missed a short jumper, Rautins turned it over, Rautins missed a quick three, Jardine missed a three.

All it would have for Syracuse to hold that lead was someone, anyone, to make a play -- be it score a basket, penetrate and find an assist, make a steal, get a rebound, something.

But it was Butler that made the plays late, as they did all game long.

And as a result, its Butler that will still be playing on Saturday.

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Kentucky's D leads them to a win

There were three things Cornell had to do to win this game.

The first was controlling the tempo. The Big Red simply didn't have the horses to run with Big Blue. And despite the Wildcats getting a couple run outs towards the end of the first half, Cornell did a fairly good job of keeping the pace of the game at a level they could compete. A 62 possession game is far from a track meet.

The second was defending Kentucky and finishing possessions. In other words, Cornell had to keep guys like John Wall and Eric Bledsoe from penetrating, try and slow down DeMarcus Cousins, hope that Kentucky missed from the perimeter, and then go and get the rebound. And, well, they did that. Wall and Bledsoe combined for just 20 points on 6-16 shooting, Cousins was allowed just eight shots, and Cornell grabbed 20 defensive rebounds to Kentucky's 10 offensive boards. As a team, Kentucky finished just 2-16 from three.

Kentucky beat Cornell thanks to an incredible defensive performance.
(photo credit: FOXSports)

If you worship at the altar of Kenpom like we do, then you'll appreciate that tonight was easily Cornell's best defensive performance of the tournament, the only time their defensive efficiency was below 100.

The third, and theoretically the easiest, thing that Cornell had to do was to make shots. I mean, we are talking about the best three point shooting team in the country, a team that systemically sliced two vaunted defenses in their first two games.

Tonight, the Big Red simply could not get comfortable offensively. In fact, just four days after their best offensive performance of the season, Cornell had their worst. By far.

The sweet-shooting Big Red shot just 33% from the field and 5-21 from three. They turned the ball over 15 times. They scored only 45 points. And if you believe in tempo-free numbers, Cornell's offensive efficiency was just 71.7, exactly half of what it was in their win over Wisconsin. Kentucky's defensive performance is all the more impressive when you consider that Cornell was up 10-2 five minutes into the game. Over the next 35 minutes, the Big Red mustered a mighty 35 points.

Kentucky's athleticism was the difference.

Jeff Foote was ineffective against the Wildcat bigs. Louis Dale was hounded by the likes of DeAndre Liggins, Eric Bledsoe, and even John Wall. Every time Ryan Wittman looked to shoot, he had a hand or three in his face.

John Calipari deserves to be praised for the defensive effort he got out of his players tonight.

It was that defensive effort that sent Big Blue nation into the Elite 8.

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Gus Johnson's calls at the end of Kansas State-Xavier

Well now.

That was exciting, wasn't it?

I think we all need to take a moment and thank the basketball gods that Gus Johnson called what is one of the best NCAA Tournament games I can remember.

There were so many big shots and great calls by Johnson in this game. Too many to put into any one blog post. Hit the jump for his calls at the end of regulation and the end of the first OT.

Trust me when I say, the second one is worth it:






Vids @Jose3030

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Is "Onions" appropriate for TV?

Bill Raftery is a nut.

He's like your crazy uncle. The one at all the family reunions that has one too many Manhattans and gets to his rambling, non-sensical stories that leave you laughing to hard to realize what he just said a) made no sense and b) probably should have offended you.

Doesn't mean you don't love him.

The same goes for Raft, whether he's yelling about "a little nickel-dimer", letting you know some got crossed-over and left "a little lingerie on the deck", or describing a shot off the glass with "a smooch". Can anyone forget one of the all-time classic calls? Hell, we're such fans that he even has a spot on this blog's banner.

Perhaps Raft's most famous call comes when someone hits a big shot in the clutch. When Ali Farokhmanesh hit that three to put Northern Iowa up four against Kansas, I think 75% of the people I follow on Twitter tweeted "ONIONS!!"

And if you really stop and think about it, that probably isn't something he should be yelling on a nationally televised broadcast. It doesn't take a genius to figure out he is referring to a specific part of the male anatomy used to define intestinal fortitude.

I've never really had a problem with this.

Phil Mushnick, a well-known columnist for the NY Post, does. He wrote this on Monday:

I've long loved Raftery, but his continued hollering of a crude crotch term after a big shot long ago should have ended, if not voluntarily, then on orders.

Raft clarified the meaning of the term, and addressed Mushnick's take, in a Q&A with Dan Patrick today:

DP: You're the man who gave us the term "Onions." It has nothing to do with slicing onions and making other coach or team cry with a big shot, right?
BR: It's about toughness. As you know, having many moments when there's nothing in that beautiful head of yours, things pop out. Ian Eagle claims I did it in a Nets game when they hit a jump shot.

...

DP: I saw where you got criticized by a media writer, who said you shouldn't be saying onions because of what it means.
BR: That's his interpretation. I just think these kids respond in the most difficult of moments and step up.

...

DP: Yeah, but you do "lingerie" too, instead of saying somebody got faked out of their jock strap.
BR: You know, it's funny, writers use it. I don't think anything ill of it. It's just one of those things that describes aptly what goes on. The biggest time of most of their lives cause very few will be in the NBA or Europe, it's just going to be the last stand.

I don't see the problem with this.

As Raft put it, it "describes aptly what goes on." And let's be serious, it takes a whole lot of "onions" to take -- and make -- the shot that Farokhmanesh hit. It takes "onions" to knock down any game winner, really.

For my money, anyone with a problem with Raft's saying comes off as crotchety and out of touch.

As a bonus, here's the money quote from the Q&A with Patrick:

DP: What does your wife say when you say onions?
BR: I wish you had them.

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Cornell is playing with a full "passion bucket"

I don't watch/listen to the Dan Patrick Show.

To be perfectly honest, I didn't know he had a show.

Apparently, his show has coined the phrase "passion bucket". And apparently, Cornell thinks the term is pretty funny.



Jeff Foote's reaction is the best part.
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A Kansas ticket scandal?

As if Kansas didn't have a bad enough weekend:

Federal authorities are investigating possibly illegal sales of University of Kansas men’s basketball tickets, The Kansas City Star has learned. The probe appears to be focused on whether NCAA Tournament tickets, and perhaps season ticket packages, have been taken illegally from the university, possibly for years, and sold through outside channels. Proceeds could be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

So there's that.

Kansas has also suspended an assistant athletic director, Rodney Jones, who was in charge of the Williams Educational Fund from 2004 up until his suspension this month. It is the primary way Kansas boosters acquire game tickets.

Right now, not much information has come to light publicly, and I doubt it has much relevance to the Jayhawk's basketball program.

But its probably not what Jayhawk fans wanted to hear less than a week after being knocked out of the NCAA Tournament.
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Who's the better quote?

Omar Samhan and DeMarcus Cousins aren't just the two biggest players left in the NCAA Tournament.

They also have the biggest mouths.

We've known about Cousins all season long. I mean, he plays for Kentucky. Everyone interview the guy has done can be found somewhere on the intrawebs. He's been a BIAH favorite all-season.

But Samhan?

Samhan plays for St. Mary's in Moraga, CA. Not exactly the hub of college hoops.

Anyway, we were curious of your thoughts. Who is the better quote?


Omar Samhan: "He can jump, and I can't. He's fast, and I'm not. He's strong, and I'm not. Although I’ll have trouble guarding him, he’ll have trouble guarding me."

DeMarcus Cousins: "We're not out there reading books, seeing who can read faster. We're out there playing basketball."

Omar Samhan: "Cinderella implies we're lucky or it's a fairy tale. Who do we have to beat for people to think this isn't a fluke? Even if we win the national championship, they'll say it was a weak field."

DeMarcus Cousins: "We’re here to play basketball. It's not a spelling bee."

Omar Samhan: "I have to get my own ice after practice. Baylor doesn't know my pain."

DeMarcus Cousins:

Reporter: "Chas McFarland is known as a guy that gets under people's skin. Do you think you will see a lot of him tomorrow?"

DC: "I know that question was coming." (Pauses for effect...) "Man, I'm just going to play basketball. I'm telling y'all now, I'm not trying to get into a fistfight. I'm not playing dirty or nothin', I'm just going to play ball."

Reporter: "How long did you practice that answer?"

DC: "All night."

Omar Samhan: "We're just a blue collar team that works hard, brings our lunch pail and hard hat to practice every day and gets after it."

DeMarcus Cousins: "The game is not played on computers. The game is not played on stat sheets. You have to go play the game, and whoever wins, wins."

Omar Samhan: "Are those cameras on? I love you, Taylor. You should call me. I'm a huge Taylor Swift fan. I listen to her before games. People think it's weird. But there is so much emotion and excitement before these games, it just kind of slows you down. And it keeps me mellow, because I'm just like a time bomb waiting to go off. So it keeps me mellow. Taylor, I feel like she's singing to me sometimes. (Smiling) I love her, and I'm going to keep listening to her."

DeMarcus Cousins, when asked how hard DeMarcus Cousins is to coach: "I don't know. Go ask Cal. I don't think he's that hard to coach."

Omar Samhan: "I didn't score the last six minutes of the Villanova. But all the headlines were Omar won. Omar was key for St. Mary's win. But it was these guys knocking down fadeaway bank shots from 50 feet."

DeMarcus Cousins (This one's better if you just watch the video):



Omar Samhan, on being told he was the best center in the Bay Area, including Golden State: "That's not saying much, but thank you."

Did I miss any?

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