More Pics for the CKL...

Using this blog to host some pics for the CKL, don't fret.

Final Standings

Congratulations Teigue!

18% Shooting

Putrid.

Butler did not acquit the mid-majors very well tonight.

That was a sad display.  Reminded me of Azalea Park hoops.

UGLY!

Yeah, I know, I know.  Good defense, hard to shoot in a cavernous arena, whatever, whatever, whatever.  What an outright SHITTY way to showcase this sport in its national championship game.  This is playing more like a hockey or soccer game than a basketball game.

Just a terrible display.  I don't know if I should watch the last five minutes or just go to bed, One Shining Moment be damned.

Teigue is Going to Win $380

Butler.

Damn.

Kendall's Picks for the Final Four

I'm sure you're dying to see my picks, right?  RIGHT?

Here goes...

Butler over VCU.  Three reasons: 1) Butler defends the three point shot better than any team in college basketball, 2) Matt Howard -- a player for whom I think VCU has no answer, and 3) I think Brad Stevens is a better coach than Shaka Smart.  Given a full week to prepare for this game, I like the Bulldogs.

Kentucky over UConn.  More talent on the roster, top to bottom.  Better bigs.  Kemba Walker and Jeremy Lamb will get theirs, but I just think Kentucky has too much.

Kentucky over Butler.  Just a gut call.  Plus, a mid-major winning the NCAA Tournament would be another sign of the apocalypse, and one which I sincerely do not want to face.


Good luck to everyone as the hay enters the barn today and Monday night!  GO RAMS!

Path to Victory

After about 15 minutes of lazy, Sunday morning analysis, I've concluded that only four of us still have a shot to win this thing. The probabilities for each vary wildly though.  Here is my take on each contender's path to victory:

Mickey Ogg - 65% chance to win


Mickey has a scant 17 point lead with three players remaining. His future prospects are heavily invested in North Carolina, who is currently a one point dog to Kentucky in today's contest (according to bodog.com). If UNC defeats Kentucky and his two players hit or exceed their current tournament scoring averages, Mickey will be in great shape heading into the Final Four. If a UNC Final Four berth is coupled with Connecticut taking out Butler next Saturday, the pot will go to Mickey.

Teigue - 30% chance to win


Teigue rolled deep with his Butler selections, as the rest of the drafters slept on the defending national runner-ups. With his double-points player still alive (Shelvin Mack), he continues to gain ground on Micky. He'll be in great shape if UNC loses to Kentucky and Butler defeats Connecticut next weekend.


Mike Keens - 2.5% chance to win


Keens has no shot unless VCU takes down Kansas this afternoon. Even if they do, he needs his Ram duo to outscore Nathan's money baller by over a two to one ratio.


Nathan - 2.5% chance to win


He's been on life support since losing West Virginia in the round of 32, but Bradford Burgess has been a revelation as a $ man. Nathan needs Kentucky to defeat North Carolina and probably needs VCU to make the national championship game with Burgess leading the team in scoring along the way.


Pierce/Carolyn/Rookie/Kendall - 0% chance to win


You four still have some moving/shaking to do, but I think its close to impossible for you to win.

By all means, correct me if I'm wrong!

Butler!

Awesome game.  I love this team.  Brad Stevens will be chased with piles of money this offseason.  Le Tigre -- you have a shot in this thing, brutha.

Meanwhile, I can't believe I hadn't stumbled across this treasure trove of awesome info until now: NCAA Tournament Wiki

And if you liked that, you'll love this: More awesome stuff about the NCAA Tournament.

Scores Updated - Elite Eight

Please check my work.

Scores Updated - Top 12

I totally agree with Keens---this is Mickey Ogg's to lose.

Suck it, Duke!

That was AWESOME last night.

It was also nice to see Butler advance... I guess... I don't know... I kinda like Wisconsin.


Meanwhile, I've reconciled my bitterness enough to comment on the player pool a little bit.

• These people have a good chance to win.  Call them the "contenders": Keens, Nathan, Teigue, Mickey, Pierce
• These people have an outside chance to sneak in there.  Call them the "darkhorses": Rookie, Joeogg, Carolyn, Kendall, Doug, JOE, AL,
• These people technically still have a chance, but are basically dead in the water: Bledsoe, Featherstone, Rappo, Nikki
• These people are not going to win, and that's a fact jack: Brady, Big Frank, Derrick

Anyway, HERE'S A LINK you should click on.  I promise, promise, promise it's not Rebecca Black's "Friday."

40 Minutes of Hell

I wanted to say something about this, but didn't know if it'd play better here or on Wahooze... so I'll probably post it on both.  But anyway.

Probably only Joe knows this about me... but prior to being accepted to attend UVA, I had a #1 and a #1a college basketball team.  Virginia was the #1a.  The #1 was Arkansas.  The Corliss Williamson / Scotty Thurman / Corey Beck / Clint McDaniel / Dwight Stewart / Alex Dillard Razorbacks team that won the national championship in 1994 was (is) probably my favorite college basketball team of all time.  Once those players cycled off the roster and Nolan Richardson melted down with his accusations of racism in the Arkansas administration, 40 Minutes of Hell seemed to have been lost forever.

News broke yesterday that Mike Anderson (Richardson's former lead assistant) accepted the offer to leave Missouri and head to Arkansas and attempt to restore the 40 Minutes of Hell.

And while Virginia will now always have the top spot in my heart, I now have a #2 team to pull for in college hoops.  No system is more exciting and fun to watch.  And while I'm highly invested in Virginia Basketball, and Tony Bennett's slow it down and grind it out philosophies... I'm downright giddy to watch Arkansas again, with the intense fullcourt pressure and transition offense.

40 Minutes of Hell.  Welcome back!

Sweet Sixteen

What's happenin', hot stuff?

The schedule:

#3 UConn v. #2 San Diego State, tonight, 7:15, CBS
#3 BYU v. #2 Florida, tonight, 7:27, TBS
#5 Arizona v. #1 Duke, tonight, 9:45, CBS
#8 Butler v. #4 Wisconsin, tonight, 9:57, TBS

#11 Marquette v. #2 North Carolina, tomorrow, 7:15, CBS
#12 Richmond v. #1 Kansas, tomorrow, 7:27, TBS
#4 Kentucky v. #1 Ohio State, tomorrow, 9:45, CBS
#11 VCU v. #10 Florida State, tomorrow, 9:57, TBS


My [incredibly shitty] picks:

• Uconn over SDSU -- Kemba Walker: unstoppable.
• Florida over BYU -- I'll keep picking against the Cougars, and Jimmer will keep proving me wrong.  I just think Florida's frontcourt is too tough.
• Duke over Arizona -- Nice run for Derrick Williams and 'Zona.  But it's bombs away for the Dookies tonight.
• Butler over Wisconsin -- They just find a way, don't they?
• Marquette over UNC -- Marquette is a bunch of junkyard dogs.  For whatever reason, Carolina has looked a little shaky since they peaked by beating Duke for the ACC regular season championship.
• Kansas over Richmond -- I love this Richmond team, they're playing great D and have a full head of steam... but Kansas is just too talented.
• Ohio State over Kentucky -- For my money, the Buckeyes are the best team in the tournament.  Their achilles heel is a lack of depth, but I don't think Kentucky has enough crafty vets or aggressive bigs to get Ohio State into foul trouble.
• Florida State over VCU -- Too much size and too much defense for VCU to handle in this one.

Good luck to everyone and their players.

NCAAPP11 Survey!

Click HERE to take the survey!

Scores Updated - Sweet 16

RAM-a-lam-a-ding-dong!

Scores Updated - Down to Terminal Thirty-Two

Mickey Ogg Ogg Ogg Y'all.

More Thoughts...

• I'll be shocked if Ohio State doesn't win the championship this year.  Hell of a team.  In many ways, Sullinger is better than Greg Oden was for them.
• Villanova should have been better than they were this year, with Stokes and Fisher in the backcourt.  I think Jay Wright's star lost a little shine this season.
• If Cal can convince these kids to stay and delay the jump to the NBA, Kentucky will be an incredible team next year.  This year, I think they can at least give OSU an interesting game in the Sweet Sixteen.
• Buzz Williams has quickly solidified his standing as one of my favorite coaches in college basketball.  That dude is really fun to watch on the sideline.  He reminds me of a young, redneck Gary Williams.
• I've got a good feeling about Carolina this year.  Elite Eight, maybe throw a tough challenge at the Buckeyes.
• Duke with Kyrie Irving back.  Wow.  They'll breeze through the West regional, I think.  I don't see a real test for them among the seven remaining teams in that part of the bracket.  Maybe UConn, but I doubt it.
• Time for Tennessee to go ahead and shitcan Bruce Pearl.  If they don't, it's a total joke.
• Derrick Williams is a beast.  I really like Sean Miller, and I'm quickly growing fond of his program at 'Zona.  I think they can beat Texas.
• I'm pulling hard for SDSU in this bracket.  I love to see new teams break through into elite status.  Kawhi Leonard is legit.
• Kansas looks good, but I'm still skeptical.  I think they'll lose in the Elite Eight (they cakewalk to that point, though).
• When will UNLV break through?  Lon Kruger gets them to an 8/9 game every year... and they always seem to lose.
• Richmond/Morehead will be a fun game to watch.  Really proud of these Virginia teams so far.
• Like I mentioned before, I loved this Louisville team, and thought they were Elite Eight contenders.  Shows how much I know.
• Is the clock ticking for JT3 at Georgetown?  Probably no, but back-to-back tourney flops has to hurt.
• VCU is deadly when the 3s are falling.  They remind me of Western Kentucky from two years ago.  They can beat Purdue.
• Notre Dame really should not sleep on Florida State.  It's a bad matchup for them.
• In fact, I'm kinda feeling the Seminoles right now.  If they can spring this upset over ND, I could see them darkhorsing into the Final Four.  Yeah, I said it.
• ODU deserved better than a lame 8/9 game against Butler.  If Tony Bennett doesn't work out or leaves UVA for another opportunity, I think we should make a run at Blaine Taylor.
• Jacob Pullen is playing some ball now.  I will call my shot: K-State over Pitt in the Sweet Sixteen.
• It's really becoming irritating for me to see, year after year, how much the committee loves Gonzaga.  11-seed, deserved.  But a first round matchup against sitting duck St. John's, with BYU waiting in the second round?  Cake.  Walk.
• Florida's coming out of the Southeast.  Mark my words.
• Gun to my head, my Final Four picks: Ohio State, Duke, Purdue, Florida.
• No gun to my head, and trying to be different and interesting, my Final Four picks: Kentucky, Arizona, Florida State, Kansas State (these can also be called my "dodge chalk darkhorse" picks, I guess).
• I love the NCAA Tournament.  Like whoa.
• There's nothing else to read, so click HERE.

Saturday's Schedule

West Virginia v. Kentucky -- 12:15, CBS
UCLA v. Florida -- 2:45, CBS
Morehead St. v. Richmond -- 5:15, CBS
Temple v. SDSU -- 6:10, TNT
Butler v. Pitt -- 7:10, TBS
Gonzaga v. BYU -- 7:45, CBS
K-State v. Wisconsin -- 8:40, TNT
Cincy v. UConn -- 9:40, TBS


More shitty upset picks:

• Butler over Pitt -- They've done it before, right?  And I'm just not that enamored with Pittsburgh this year.  I'm not seeing any NBA-level talent on that squad... and NBA-level talent is usually a prerequisite for a Final Four run.
• Gonzaga over BYU -- I'm realizing that I kinda hate West Coast college basketball.  You know BYU is going to lose early, with only Jimmer carrying them.  Not sure if Gonfaga is really that good this year, but Mark Few knows how to win these games.
• Cincinnati over UConn -- Just an off-the-cuff gut call.

Thoughts:

• Keens, you got lucky with the VCU picks.  Especially moneyballer Brandon Rozzell, after you were "that guy" and blundered the pick a million times before making it.  I love you buddy, but I'll be furious if you go on to win the pool this year.
• Mickey, I like what you've got going on right now.  Unfortunately, that Kendall Marshall pick will be your undoing.  And let this be a lesson to everyone -- point guards who are facilitators usually see their scoring go down - WAY DOWN - during the Tournament.
• Rookie, not sure the four guys you have left will score enough points to make you a contender.  Sullinger, yes.  Not sold on the other three.
• Nathan, you sly bastard.  You're looking damn good.  But I'm guessing Wisconsin and West Virginia both bow out gracefully today.  That said, those are two teams I am always wrong about.
• Doug, I like your chances to rise up into the mix after the 2nd round.
• Ditto Joe.
• Ditto Al.
• Ditto Pierce.
• Everyone else, suck it.  You're stuck fighting for scraps with me.

I'm going to screw around with Survey Monkey and make something fun for you guys to mess with between Monday and Wednesday, while we wait for more games.  Stay tuned for that.

And thanks again to Nathan.  With the albatross of the scoring entry off from around my neck, I am free to spread my wings a little bit.  And with two sick kids at home sleeping it off, I might have more free time than I thought.

Scores Updated Through Friday

Commentary to follow later this weekend.

Friday's Schedule

I want you to be hearing this in the background while you read today's schedule: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD2LRROpph0

Seriously... PLAY THAT SHIT.

I successfully picked two (2) upsets yesterday... out of nine I called.  Yeesh.  I really, really suck at this.

Don't care.  Doesn't stop me.

Upset picks for today:

• Oakland over Texas -- Keith Benson : Oakland :: Kenneth Faried : Morehead State.  Just sayin'.
• Hampton over Duke -- Just kidding.  But seriously, does anyone else believe that the day is coming when we're [finally] going to see that 16/1 upset?  It won't happen in this game, but I have a strong feeling that it's coming within the next decade.
• FSU over Texas A&M -- If Chris Singleton is back, Florida State is a 5-seed masquerading as a 10.  Dangerous.
• Long Island over North Carolina -- I picked two Tarheels, remember?  Kiss of death.
• Marquette over Xavier -- Fuck you Marquette.  You ruined our trip to Vegas last year, and this year I expect you to ruin our enjoyment over watching Kenny Frease trundle around in tournament play.
• Georgia over Washington -- All of the anal-ysts have mouths full of spunk over "little" Isaiah Thomas.  I think the Dawgs have the goods to win this game, just to spite Duke Vitale and Digger Phelps.
• VCU over Georgetown -- I don't care if Wright is right, the Hoyas haven't looked good in a month and a half.  I like the Rams to hit enough 3's to get it done.

Friday's Schedule:
#4 Texas vs #13 Oakland - Tulsa - F, March 18 @ 12:15 pm ET - CBS
#8 Michigan vs #9 Tennessee - Charlotte - F, March 18 @ 12:40 pm ET - truTV
#2 Notre Dame vs #15 Akron - Chicago - F, March 18 @ 1:40 pm ET - TBS
#8 George Mason vs #9 Villanova - Cleveland - F, March 18 @ 2:10 pm ET - TNT
#5 Arizona vs #12 Memphis - Tulsa - F, March 18 @ 2:45 pm ET - CBS
#1 Duke vs #16 Hampton - Charlotte - F, March 18 @ 3:10 pm ET - truTV
#7 Texas A&M vs #10 Florida State - Chicago - F, March 18 @ 4:10 pm ET - TBS
#1 Ohio State vs #16 Texas-San Antonio- Cleveland - F, March 18 @ 4:40 pm ET - TNT
#1 Kansas vs #16 Boston University - Tulsa - F, March 18 @ 6:50 pm ET - TBS
#2 North Carolina vs #15 LIU - Charlotte - F, March 18 @ 7:15 pm ET - CBS
#3 Purdue vs #14 St. Peter's - Chicago - F, March 18 @ 7:20 pm ET - TNT
#6 Xavier vs #11 Marquette - Cleveland - F, March 18 @ 7:27 pm ET - truTV
#8 UNLV vs #9 Illinois - Tulsa - F, March 18 @ 9:20 pm ET - TBS
#7 Washington vs #10 Georgia - Charlotte - F, March 18 @ 9:45 pm ET - CBS
#6 Georgetown vs #11 VCU - Chicago - F, March 18 @ 9:50 pm ET - TNT
#3 Syracuse vs #14 Indiana State - Cleveland - F, March 18 @ 9:57 pm ET - truTV


It's Friday, Friday... gettin' down on Friday... Partyin', partyin', YEAH!  Fun, fun, fun, fun.

Brady Lone Wolfe Atop Standings

But remember, we're basically comparing apples to juicy red starfruit until the end of the games on Friday.

Can't sleep.

Interesting factoid from CavsCorner:

Odds of picking a perfect bracket: 9,223,372,036,854,775,808 to 1. Or, about 9 billion billion to 1. Or, about 300x worse than hitting mega millions back to back. If everybody on earth filled out 1 billion different brackets, the odds are only 1 would be a perfect one. And that was before adding 4 teams...

OUCH!

We have our first major upset of the Tournament!  Morehead State just clipped Louisville, after the Cardinals' go-to scorer (Preston Knowles) went down in the 2nd half with a toe/foot/ankle injury.  Of course, I invested heavily in Louisville... and my favor is always the kiss of death for good teams with strong seeds in the first round.  I lost my 3rd round pick (Knowles) and my moneyballer (Terrence Jennings, such a beast).  Teigue lost Peyton Siva, and Brady lost Kyle Kuric.  While those two guys might still be alive in the player pool, I am now officially declaring my team DOA.

But WOW, what an awesome upset!  Good for Morehead!  I tear up my 1-in-19 lottery ticket, and now get to sit back and relax as I watch the rest of the action unfold.

I really liked this Louisville team, too.  Siva is the kind of tough, scrappy point guard you want.  Knowles is explosive.  Jennings is a monster.  Kuric is a deadeye shooter.  I honestly thought they had a good chance to upset Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen.  Shows how much I know!

This might leave a pretty decent path for Richmond to advance to the Sweet Sixteen.  Go Spiders.

Good God Almighty, I love the NCAA Tournament.

Today's Schedule

Today, we'll be seeing all of the 1st round (I refuse to call it the 2nd round -- what a fucking idiotic concept) action in the Southeast region, along with half of the West, and a smidge of the East and Southwest.

Because I've been mindlessly watching college basketball for three months, and because I'm so incredibly good at picking upsets, I offer you these pearls of wisdom for today:

• Penn State over Temple -- Talor Battle is kind of on fire, and Temple hasn't won a Tourney game in the last decade.
• Richmond over Vandy (but every talking head is already shrilling this one) -- Vanderbilt plays zero defense.
• Northern Colorado over SDSU -- I don't actually think this will happen, I just have a slight gut feeling it will.
• Wofford over BYU -- One-man shows don't usually last very long in the Dance.
• Belmont over Wisconsin (another popular pick designed to make "experts" look like experts) -- Belmont has a bunch of deadly shooters, and the Badgers are kind of trundling into this tournament.
• Michigan State over UCLA -- Can you rightfully even call this one an upset?  I suspect Izzo might have been sandbagging this entire season, so he can be the first coach to win the tournament with a double-digit seed.
• Gonzaga over St. John's -- Steve Lavin is a terrible tournament coach, and the Johnnies are missing a key big man.  Meanwhile, Gonzaga sort of has a history of winning these games in the tournament.
• Missouri over Cincy -- Not impressed with the Bearcats (who I think were a bit propped up by the Big East RPI), and I think Mizzou played well below its potential all season long.
• Utah State over K-State -- I love Jacob Pullen, but USU had a freaking .900 record this season.  You don't often see many 12-seeds with 30 wins.

The schedule for today, including the networks upon which the games will be featured:
#5 West Virginia vs #12 Clemson - Tampa - TH, March 17 @ 12:15 pm ET - CBS
#8 Butler vs #9 Old Dominion - Washington DC - TH, March 17 @ 12:40 pm ET - truTV
#4 Louisville vs #13 Morehead State - Denver - TH, March 17 @ 1:40 pm ET - TBS
#7 Temple vs #10 Penn State - Tucson - TH, March 17 @ 2:10 pm ET - TNT
#4 Kentucky vs #13 Princeton - Tampa - TH, March 17 @ 2:45 pm ET - CBS
#1 Pittsburgh vs #16 UNC-Asheville - Washington DC - TH, March 17 @ 3:10 pm ET - truTV
#5 Vanderbilt vs #12 Richmond - Denver - TH, March 17 @ 4:10 pm ET - TBS
#2 San Diego State vs #15 Northern Colorado - Tucson - TH, March 17 @ 4:40 pm ET - TNT
#2 Florida vs #15 UC-Santa Barbara - Tampa - TH, March 17 @ 6:50 pm ET - TBS
#3 BYU vs #14 Wofford - Denver - TH, March 17 @ 7:15 pm ET - CBS
#3 UConn vs #14 Bucknell - Washington DC - TH, March 17 @ 7:20 pm ET - TNT
#4 Wisconsin vs #13 Belmont - Tucson - TH, March 17 @ 7:27 pm ET - truTV
#7 UCLA vs #10 Michigan State - Tampa - TH, March 17 @ 9:20 pm ET - TBS
#6 St. John's vs #11 Gonzaga - Denver - TH, March 17 @ 9:45 pm ET - CBS
#6 Cincinnati vs #11 Missouri - Washington DC - TH, March 17 @ 9:50 pm ET - TN
#5 Kansas State vs #12 Utah State - Tucson - TH, March 17 @ 9:57 pm ET - truTV


Good luck to everyone today!  Once again, THANK YOU to Nathan for doing the scoring and setting up this blog (and granting me access to post).

First Four Final

Keens Rams Into the Lead

Didn't catch any of the UTSA/Bama State game last night, but the halftime score looked like an epic beatdown was brewing. The RoadRunners slowed down in the second, but still managed to hold off the Hornets, who finish the year with both a losing record and a NCAA tourney berth. Not the easiest of tricks to pull off.

Later in the evening, Keens and Nathan were rewarded for their faith in the VCU Rams (misguided though that faith might be). It was an ugly game, particularly in the first half. If any of you were awake for the second, please, post your thoughts in the comments below.

Dreams:

• Rookie's $ man lives to see another game where his squad will be slaughtered by THE ohio state university (aside: is there another threatening U in Ohio that causes all those mouth-breathing Buckeyes to absurdly emphasize the definite article? No, I haven't insulted you if you're a Buckeye, as you have no idea what I was just typing about). Too bad Rook took UTSA's third leading scorer.

• Keens late round VCU gamble pays off (a bit). It would have been pretty devastating for them to lose, though, and he really needs their offense to come alive against Georgetown on Friday night (which I think is totally winnable for the Rams).

Damages:

• Bledsoe loses his team pick and Featherstone loses Vucevic. Thats what you get for picking USC, folks.

OH SNAP, ITS TOURNAMENT THURSDAY Y'ALL. 

Who took off work? Who is going into their office, closing the door, ignoring the phone and watching the games online all day?

Enjoy the best two-day sports offering a calendar year serves up, starting now.

Will this be your one shining moment?

HELL NO have you seen my record in this thing. Gimme that paper.

Scoring Update 1

Doug shoots out to the earliest of leads thanks to Stitt's seven points in Clemson's First Four blowout of UAB.

Congrats, Doug, you're the first to depart towards Cupcake Commons. But will he make it to Candy Castle?

Up tonight:

• Mike Keens' flock of Rams and Nathan's $()er take on Ben Bledsoe's USC team and Featherstone's Ricola.

• Rookie gets lonely with RoadRunner Devin Gibson as UTSA battles AL St.