Final 4 Thoughts

Look, these guys won't say it, so I'll say it for them...Pitoni and Calipari hate each other, they want this game...BAD. This is what makes this game so enticing...and yes I said enticing. I know I've ripped on the tournament before saying it's no longer fun to watch once your bracket is busted, but this is a good final 4. AND it doesn't need any Cinderella's to be good either.

I mean who really cares if there's not a VCU, or George Mason not involved? You got 4 name teams, and two of them - Kentucky and L'Ville - are bitter rivals.

Imagine if Oregon played Oregon State where BOTH teams were playing for the right to play in the BCS national championship! It'd be insane.

Today's Rants: Peyton Manning, Matt Flynn, College Basketball

What is up?! Hope everybody had a great weekened, as I did. A lot goin on today...you may have heard Denver has a new QB (bye Timmy). Guess Steve Young has some crow to eat because he sounded pretty sure his niners were landing Peyton as of Friday.

Seahawks are all fired up after landing Flynn (who I already said will be this year's Kevin Kolb). It's kind of a reach, but then again, it's no t really a downgrade from what you have now.

And of course you have the Ducks playing in a HUGE rivalry game against the Mutts I'll write about today, plus March madness continues...watched a few games last night. Saw Kansas get a tough win at the end after trailing nearly the whole game, and watched Cincy beat FSU in a hard fought game. Speaking of Cincy (and their hideous uniforms they wore last night), this stat kind of impressed me: Ohio (the state) is undefeated so far and his 4 team reppin the state (Xavier, Cincy, Ohio State, Ohio).

College BBall Rant (March Mardness)

Now here's the problem with the tournament...everybody says they like an upset, or the cinderella story, but the ratings don't show that. Who the hell cares when the Duke's are out? Or when multiple top seeds like Missouri get bounced early on and ruins your bracket? If you don't have a reason to watch any more, then why bother? That's the difference for me between college bball and college football...I love watching all college football PERIOD. In college bball, if the Ducks are out, or my bracket is ruined, rarely do I get caught up in it...save for an occassional top 10 showdown.

College Basektball Thoughts: Ducks Beat LSU In NIT, More

Congratulations to the Oregon Ducks after beating LSU in the first round of the NIT last night, 96-76.  Still doesn't make up for the loss in football, but I'll take it!  Up next, they host Iowa in the second round, Sunday at 2 o'clock, from Matt court.


As I talked about earlier, there is an art to filling out your bracket, and some of it is just luck.  But you never know exactly what's going to happen.  Case in point, Syracuse lost probably their best player for the rest of the tournament, Fab Melo (Big East defensive player of the year), for academic reasons.


I have Syracuse making it to the final round against Kentucky.  I was given the chance to change my picks, but I declined.  I'm a man of my word, I'm sticking to it.

Let The Madness Begin

Tuesday officially marks the beginning of all the madness that is March, and you know what that means:  time for "bracket guys" everywhere to fill out their multiple brackets for their office pools, the number of sick days at work to suddenly spike, you'll hear such terms as bracket buster, Cinderella, glass slipper, mid-major, chalk, etc., and Dicky V will go wild after some amazing finish somewhere.

First let's start with "bracket guy."  For Jim Rome's take on "bracket guy," you can check this out after you finish reading, but I'll explain it like this:  bracket guy comes in two different versions.

First there's the wannabe Andy Katz or Joe Linardi, why he's not a college basketball analyst at ESPN is anybody's guess, but he swears by his picks, and even brags about his accuracy like it's a badge of honor.  Then there's the guy in the office pool that fills out 5-10 sheets with the hopes of getting at least one of them right.

In either case, bracket guy will coincidentally come down with a cold the week of the tournament, just so he can stay home to watch the games and keep his brackets updated.  Problem is, when you pull the same act year after year, around the same time, don't be surprised if your boss catches on and fires you!

Back to the first guy, the know-it-all expert.  That's the thing, you really are wasting time spending more than five minutes researching who to pick.  There's some art to it, some strategy, but also, a lot of luck.

Case in point: in my own pool that I've been involved in for the last 10 years or so, I've won it once.  That was the first time I did it (talk about beginners luck!)  Now I watch just as much, if not more, than anybody.  I can't tell you how many times a person has won who has no idea what they're doing.  It's some gal picking teams based on uniforms or mascots.  It's frustrating for people who actually follow the sport, and make some educated guesses.   

Some things to keep in mind when filling out your brackets...going chalk is easy, but THERE ARE ALWAYS UPSETS.  You're always gonna have a 11 beat a 5 for example.  So to keep your picks honest, mix some of those in.  The trick is guessing which one, because if you're wrong, it can hurt your bracket.  If you don't really know, and don't trust yourself, it's best to do some research then guess.  For some of the expert picks (the guys who actually get paid to watch) here's some.

With that said, best of luck to you!  I will post my picks as well, and note...I ONLY FILL OUT ONE BRACKET!  Have some balls people, hold yourself to accountable to one sheet, and one sheet only!

A Special Thank You to Oregon Basketball

In my last article on the Oregon men basketball team I may have come off as sounding a little harsh or negative on them, but I'm actually proud of them.  In just a short time since becoming head coach at Oregon, Dana Altman has gone from winning the CBI in his first year, to a 22-9 record (so far) in his second year, with a tournament appearance - wherever that is - still on the horizon.


He has made Duck basketball exciting, and relevant again.  Thank you!

Ducks May Have Let An Opportunity Slip

In a perfect world the Ducks would be tourney bound.  I'm talkin March madness tourney bound, not it's poorer cousin (NIT) or second or third cousin (CBI).  But after a tough loss last night in the first round of the Pac 12 tournament, the reality is the Ducks may have left their tournament fate in the hands of the NCAA selection committee. 

"We needed to win that game and we didn't," Oregon coach Dana Altman said.  "We'll see what happens," he added.  What happens next is anybody's guess, but they're probably headed to the NIT. 

They have nobody to blame for that but themselves.

The fact is, Oregon has a weak s.o.s., and by not winning many games vs. top 50 teams (don't have the stat in front of me but I think they're 1-8) they didn't win the games they needed to, including last night against Colorado, where they fell short, 63-62.

I hate to say this but, if you look at it objectionally they probably don't deserve to be apart of March madness.  BUT I'LL ASK YOU:  after last night, does Oregon belong in the NIT or NCAA?

I Got A Problem With The NCAA Tournament

somethin's wrong with the tournament selection process when teams like South Dakota State, and Western Kentucky (who has a losing record btw) get in just for winning their crappy conference tournament, and Oregon (22-8) is still "on the outside looking in."

Big Game For Oregon This Saturday

This game is big for many reasons.  Number one, it will by my first ever trip to the Taj Mahal of college basketball arena's (Matthew Knight Arena).  But it's also big for the Ducks.


Why Oregon needs to win out and go deep in the conference tourney, just to be considered a bubble team for March Madness, is beyond me.  Oregon is more deserving than many of the teams already going, and with so many teams being invited to the thing, you would think that Oregon - at 21-8 - would be one of those teams.


But they're not.  And that's a different topic for another day.


To read more on what's at stake for Oregon, Bob Clark has this in the Register Guard.


It's as simple as this:  to keep their March madness hopes alive, Oregon must beat one of the conferences worst teams in Utah.  Tip off at 3:00.

Thoughts On College Basketball

I've always had a passing interest in college basketball (more of a pro guy), aside from the occasional Duck run in the tournament, I just don't care as much about college basketball, as I do college football.  So it comes with a great deal of surprise and pleasure when I say this but, I find myself really compelled with the current college basketball season.


Maybe it's because the Ducks are relevant again, I don't know?  But I've watched some great games this year, including three over the weekend:  KU's comeback win over rival Mizzou in the border war, Wisconsin's upset win over Ohio State in Columbus, and Oregon's one point win in the civil war at Gill.


I've also watched enough games this season to get a pretty good feel for who the best teams are, which will help when it comes time to filling out my brackets.  The last time I followed college basketball this closely was the first time Oregon went to the elite 8 under Ernie Kent (back in the early 00's).  That was also the first time I filled out my brackets with money on the line (not that I'm a hardcore gambler).  I ended up winning the whole thing, and was the most accurate!  Talk about beginners luck.


Keep that in mind as I post my own version of the top 5, and be on the lookout for my picks in a couple of weeks:

1. Kentucky
2. Syracuse
3. North Carolina
4. Duke
5. Ohio State

Some thoughts:  I think it's Kentucky and Syracuse, then everybody else.  A Kentucky vs. Syracuse match in the final would be great, but it's not gonna happen.  In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if BOTH teams didn't make it.  That's what the tournament is all about:  you don't have to be better than a team in a five or seven game series, you just have to be perfect for 40 minutes on one night.  


That's what makes March madness so fun to watch, even for the casual fan like me.