NCAA Tournament [8]

Two big times games going on right now. Davidson is up 57-56 on Gonzaga and Tenn is up 57-53 on American. Can you believe it? American is kinda beating Tenn at the own game. Hitting threes, getting steals.

Now the Dav/Gonz game is tied at 70-70. Both of these games are running at a high level of intensity.

NCAA Tournament [7]

Kentucky v. Marq- Great back and forth game, 36-36, right now. Crawford is a beast with 19 points. Only game of note. James is having a bad game with 4 points.

NCAA Tournament [6]

Baylor v. Purdue is about to tip-off. so is Oral Roberts v. Pitt.

Kent. St. v. UNLV- UNLV is putting on a shooting clininc so far. 16-6. Kent. St. looks outmatched.
Kentucky v. Marq.- Most intense of the games so far. Crawford looks great for Kentucky. 26-23, Marq.

Baylor v. Purdue- Good battle brewing right now. Purdue up 13-10.

ORU v. Pitt- It probably doesn't mean anything but ORU is up 10-8.

NCAA Tournament [5]

Kentucky v. Marq.- Marquette is pushing by them early, 19-14.

Kent. St. v. UNLV- SAme here for UNLV, they look crisper. 9-2, UNLV.

NCAA Tournament [4]

UGA v. Xavier- One minute left and Xavier is up 68-61. It may now be a wrap for UGA.

UGA v. Xavier- It's official Xavier wins. UGA fought hard but Xavier had a little more juice down the stretch.

Other winners include Kansas and Mich. St.

Getting ready to watch Kentucky v. Marquette and UNLV v. Kent St.

NCAA Tournament [3]

UGA v. Xavier- Xavier takes a three point lead. Horrible call on Bliss posterizing block. That's going to hurt. Bliss with four fouls.

Portland St. v. Kansas- They show KU football coach Mark Mangino on the broadcast drawing chants of "get in my belly" from the crowd.

UGA v. Xavier- Xavier is starting to exert themselves on both sides of the floor. 59-53, Xavier. It will be interesting to see what happens now as UGA has not been in this position in about a week.

NCAA Tournament [2]

UGA v. Xavier- Xavier is climbing the mountiain but they need a tangible run if they are going to win it. UGA keeps grinding.
- They get that run- two straight threes- give Xavier a 3-pt lead. 52-49.

NCAA tournament [1]

UGA v. Xavier- The Dogs continue to do everything right and are up 41-30 right now in the second half.

Portland St. v. Kansas- Kansas is beating the crap out of Portland State, 54-31.

NCAA Basketball Tournament Preview

Can I just say that I love this time of the year? There is no better time in sports than the month of March. Excitement builds with each game until its torrid creshendo in early April. I'm taking off a couple days to bask in the glory of it all. Below is my notes on the most important aspects of this weekend's games.




Georgia's entrance into the NCAA tournament ranks up there as the most unbelivable sequences of events in the history of college basketball. They were horrible this year, 4-12 in the SEC. That's why they were playing the late game on Friday. But because of tornado, which was an unbelivable scene in and of itself, the game gets pushed to noon. Leaving one team with the uninviable task of playing two games in one day to get to the finals. It was unbelivable to see Zac Swansey hit a turnaround three pointer to win against Kentucy. It was even more unbelivable to watch them outlast Miss. St. There's no way they can take an Arkansas team that just knocked off no. 5 Tennessee. Is it? Well, when they jumped out on Arkansas early you knew something could happen. The Hogs came back but I never felt that they were going to overtake UGA. It's an unbelievable run and with a very beatable Xavier team ahead of them, it could continue.

Who should be pissed right now?

Arizona St. - They definitely have an argument because Arizona got in but I want people to stop beleguering the point. It's over now, let it go! Arizona is good but they should have had a tougher non-conference. If they do well next year, they committee will make up for this year's mistake.

Virginia Tech- Thought they have been there because they were one of the top four teams in the ACC. I think when it comes down to it they didn't have enough quality wins. I though playing Carolina close would have been enough but I guess not.

The Games

UGA v. Xavier- Can the Dogs keep that momentum going. I don't think they can. Xavier is team built for the tournement with defense stopper Stanley Burrell and point guard Drew Lavendar, they will be ready to play. It is a tremendous story but I think the ride is done.

K-State v. USC- This is considered by many to be the game of the day with future NBA ballers O.J. Mayo and Michael Beasley going head to head. Advantage USC, while Beasley will do better today and better in the pros, Mayo has a better supporting cast. Look for Beasley to get his point and this to be a good game but USC to move away over the course of the game.

UK v. Marq- It's going to come down to guard play. Adavantage Marquette. Joe Crawford and Rameel Bradley are good but they can't match Damion James and Jereel McNeal over the course of a game. Should be a great one but look for James to come up big down the stretch

Bubble Report, Who's in as of Right Now

Who's in as of right now?

ACC:

UNC- They have all but wrapped up the one-seed. There may be a 1-seed overall in stake for them.

Duke- May already have a 2-seed wrapped up.

Clemson, V-Tech (Huge win over Miami), Miami (hanging by thread)

A-10:

Xavier

St. Joe- The win against Xavier put them in. They have a great shot to win the A-10 today.

Need Help: Temple needs to win today. Dayton needs Pitt to win the Big East and no major upsets today.

Big 12:

Texas- They are playing to strenthen their place as 2-seed.

Kansas- Competing for the 1-seed

K-State- Going to the dance with the nation's best player.

Okla (In), Texas A&M (Must Beat Kansas), Baylor (Prayer)

SEC:

Tenn- They are feaverishly battling for a 1-seed. W/O Vandy in the way, will the wins be strong enough?

Vandy,Miss. St.

Kentucky- Should still be in despite the loss to UGA

FL- Done, history will be made as UF becomes the first two-time defending champion to not return to the NCAA tournament the year after winning a championship.

Pac-10:

UCLA v. Stanford- UCLA wins they get a 1-seed, Stanford wins, they get a 2-seed

Wash. St.- No longer darlings but they are in.

USC- Could really make some noise in the tourney.

Ariz. St.- should be the fifth team in.

Big Ten:

-Mich. St., Wisc. Indiana (slipping , probably a first round out)

-Ohio St.- Really hasn't done enough to get into tournament.

ACC Tournament Preview

Here are excerpts from my ACC preview in today's Score Atlanta:

Tournament Locks

North Carolina- After holding Duke scoreless for the last five minutes of their game last Saturday, UNC is the favorite to cut down the nets in Charlotte. UNC have a distinct talent advantage over the league. They also have arguably the nation’s best player in Tyler Hansbrough.

Needs Work

Virginia Tech- They have come on as of late but a last-second loss to Clemson is a killer because it came against a bubble foe. Their first round bye sets them up for a potentially critical game against Miami. If they can get scoring from A.D. Vassallo they have a shot.

NIT-Bound

Georgia Tech- Jimmy Dykes has dubbed them “the team no one wants to play in the tournament”, for what that’s worth. Tech is dangerous because they have nothing to lose. Matt Causey’s shooting could be the difference.

Better Luck Next Time

N.C. State- A bunch of close losses, including Duke a few weeks back, tell their story. Another ACC tournament run for Sidney Lowe’s team would be a miracle.

Watching the game in Enemy Territory

I 'm a Florida fan from Tampa. I like the Gators but my buddy Kenny is a UT alum so when I went to Hudson Grille, I was hangin with the UT fans. It was kinda wierd at first, I didn't cheer for FL, but I didn't cheer for Tenn either. It was tough because UF was killing UT initially. Then I made a comment that was prophetic as it was fatal. I noted to Kenny how Florida was up big on Tenn. during the last game but lost by 40. Sure enough Tenn stormed back in the second half and took a 10-point lead on sharp shooting by JaJuan Smith. Of course this casued the Volunteer fans to come unglued. However, they became concerned when UF went on a 13-4 run to bring them close again. The crowd became disgruntled and I quietly rejoiced. I also quietly moaned when UT showed their championship ability, pulling through for the victory. Kenny didn't believe me when I told him I was disappointed by the loss, but I was Tennessee is a great team but Florida is home.

College Basketball- The Bubble[1]

The Bubble Report

Kent State- (MAC)- Kent scored a huge brackbusting win agsinst St. Mary's and then gave it back with a loss to Bowling Green a week later. They have 23 wins, including wins vs. George Mason and Akron. Will a win in the season finale against Akron be enough? Will going deep in the tournament be enough? I say no to both. This team's biggest win is the St. Mary's one and George Mason, which isn't all that valuable. They need to win their tourney. Bubble fading!

Baylor- (Big 12)- After a hot start, Baylor is losing in every way imaginable. Including getting roughed up by Oklahoma. To get in they will need to go on a little bit of a run at the end of season and in the tourney. They have good guards, but do they have enough to survive to the end in a tough conference?Bubble fading!

Dayton- (A-10)- Another team on fire to start the season. First, they exacted revenge on Pitt for a brutal beatdown from the previous year. Then they took Louisville to the woodshed. Both tourney teams. Since then, injuries have left them a little loss. A loss at LaSalle and a missed opportunity against Xavier cut deep, but is not too late for the Flyers. They need one more win against a quality opponent- Flat soda!

Miami- (ACC)- Started hot, fizzled a little, and has been on fire down the stretch. They have recently gotten both the signature win (Duke) and the win versus a bubble team (UVA). I think Jack McClinton and the boys have this wrapped up but another win and a strong tourney run would help. Bubble rising!

Saturday College B-Ball Minutes

March 1

This is the beginning of daily series of the wonderful world of college basketball, in this most appropriate of times; March.

Saturday Tube Rundown:

Georgetown v. Marquette- A slight upset is in the making in the nation’s best conference as the Golden Eagles lead the Hoyas 50-45 with 8:55 to play in the game.

Alabama v. Ole Miss- I have to admit that I haven’t seen Ole Miss this year. They are supposed to be good but I know they are slumping as of late. They currently leading 74-60. They are getting a big game from David (pronounced “Da-veed”) Huertas, a UF transfer, with 18 points.

George Mason v. Northeastern- Solid Colonial Athletic Assoc. action and a bit of a surprise. NU is up 54-50 on Mason. Matt Janny of NU hits a long-range three.

Texas A&M v. Oklahoma- Oklahoma is killing them, in this critical, bubblebuster match-up. The score is 54-29. By the way, BC is up big on UNC.

Wichita St. v. The Great Drake- Drake up 69-61 with a minute and a half left. They win 73-63. Drake wins their first Missouri Valley Conference title for the first time in 37 years.

Georgetown v. Marquette- Tight game Marquette up 59-57

Wake Forest v. Georgia Tech- Tech was up by 12 for most of this game but it is now going into overtime after a crazy exchange in which Zach Peacock gets injured and the clock goes out.

Georgetown v. Marquette- Wallace with a tremendous bank three in OT. Game tied at 66-66.
He then makes a spectacular pass in the paint to DeJuan Summers. McNeal keeps Marquette in it with a good put back. 69-68, Hoyas. Wake Forest v. Georgia Tech- Tech is putting this game away, up 80-76, 1:06 in OT. By the way, Arkansas is up 32-23 on Vandy!

Next up Bubble Report. . .