Nevada ain't no joke...

Maybe the blogpoll should take another look at this team. Because they seem to roll BEYOND hard.

1) Wolf Pack coach Mark Fox has a ban on his team to not go out on Saturday night

Think about that. The area around the campus is so detrimental to the team, they have to lock them down on the weekends.

2) Forward Tyrone Hanson left his dorm to go to a party on Saturday

Despite being warned by the Athletic Director and having a ban placed on them by the coach, Hanson said "screw it" anyways and left to get crunked.

3) Hanson was later found beaten UNCONSCIOUS and ROBBED

Wow. Being suspended would have been bad enough for braking a team rule, but being beaten to the point of death, robbed AND THROWN OFF THE TEAM is karma opening a can of whoop-ass on you.

Oh yes, there is more.

4) Three other party goers were shot to death

Yes. Let that sink in. SHOT TO DEATH. And we're not talking about the badlands surrounding USC or something. We are talking about Reno. RENO!

From the Associated Press:

Saili Manu and Samisone Taukitoku, both 19 of Reno, were arrested on suspicion of robbery, assault with a deadly weapon and brandishing a firearm. Their bail was set at $500,000 each.

Police said they may also be charged with the deaths of Derek Jensen, 23, Reno, a senior at the University of Nevada, Reno; former UNR student Nathan Viljoen, 23, Fallon; and Charles Kelly, 21, Truckee, Calif.

Detectives also are looking for a "person of interest" who left the scene separately.

Saili Manu, an all-state defensive tackle at Reno McQueen High School in 2005, wore his brother's Nevada football jersey to the party, police said.

Police said Hanson was arguing with Taukitoku, who had bumped him in an area where people were dancing. Taukitoku and Manu allegedly beat Hanson unconscious and stole his wallet and belongings, police said, Taukitoku and Manu both had pistols, police said.

Viljoen was shot in the kitchen, Jensen was shot in the driveway and Kelly was found in the backyard.

So there you have it. Fights. Guns. Robbery. Death. At a house party at the University of Nevada. Reno.


I guess these guys were on a break or something...

Senderoff is out!

Indiana assistant coach Rob Senderoff is gone in the wake of phone-gate.

"Rob Senderoff has decided it is in his and Indiana University's best interests that he voluntarily resign from the University," the school said in a statement. "His resignation is effective immediately."

VOLUNTARILY?!? With so much heat Kelvin GumpSampson is getting, that half a million bonus forfeit wasn't gonna cut it. Someone had to go down.

Rob, come on in. Hey look, you're a great guy and all. And a fantastic coach. But we are having problems right now with you know who. And we can't certainly get rid of the Gumpster without looking foolish ourselves for hiring him in the first place, with his past NCAA violations and all. We need a fall guy. And you're only an assistant. Can we interest you in two choices?



"Life is not fair."
- Jimmy Carter

Your Wednesday Moment of Zen

China is opening up!


Chairman Mao approves...

Should you trust Vegas?

That is where the smart money is. I mean the casinos. The sports books. They are smarter than us. If they weren't, they would be broke, the odds makers would be fired, living on the charity of the nickel slots at Binion's.


Dear God please, the Ohio State line didn't work,
I HAVE to pay RENT!

One of my favorite things to do is checking the Vegas odds on college hoops. Just as another POV mind you. And I saw this...

Mississippi State at #53 and Davidson at #64. Both teams are on the blogpoll top 25. What does that mean exactly. Nothing. It just says that Vegas thinks we are wrong. And that makes me nervous.

Oh. Hold on. My lawya wants to say something.

Disclaimer: March To Madness would never condone college sports betting nor would use Vegas odds in his own blogpoll ballot unless stated explicitly in any said post at any said time and for any said reason until rescinded or altered by March To Madness. Void in Nebraska.

Finally some sanity! The Sporting Network has it's Pac-10 preview out and puts the Trojans in a realistic view, placing them to finish 8th in conference.

Three double-digit scorers are gone from last year's squad, as Nick Young, Lodrick Stewart and Gabe Pruitt combined for 43.8 ppg. Replacing that production will be tough.

But heck, O.J. Mayo will be exciting to watch, huh? Especially come March when he is picking his nose on the sofa.

They also have Arizona finishing 4th. But they always choke come March.

The age old debate

Which conference has better lookin' women? The SEC or the Pac-10?

Something to ponder and something to make up for this coming Wednesday's Moment of Zen which is less cheesecake-y and more political.

UPDATE:

File this under What. The. FUCK?!

Crews is back!

Tennessee forward Duke Crews was allowed back to practice today after serving a month suspension for tardy pot smoking.

"Duke did well, and he was in pretty good shape considering the month away from the team," (coach Bruce) Pearl told the newspaper.

Yeah, probably the lack of Mickie D runs at 2 in the morning during that month contributed to his "good" shape.


Two all beef patties, special sauce... Whoa... Man I am fucked UP!

Monday's docket

Yes, I was pretty tipsy last Saturday when I posted this. Hence the new category "drunk". Good times.

First, this comment from Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson is definitely one of those "no shit" type deals.

UNI basketball coach Ben Jacobson says staying at home during the NCAA basketball tournament is a real motivator as they prepare for the new season.

Ummm, yeah. Losing can really get you to try harder to win. Nice comment there, coach. And being hungry really gets me to want to get something to eat.

Hey, speaking of moronic comments by coaches, this one by Kansas' Bill Self is a head scratcher...

"You get to the Sweet 16, all the teams are good, everybody can beat anybody."

Hmmmm... Yes, that would be correct, coach. I don't think I have ever sat through a Sweet Sixteen round and thought "Dooood, Team A is gonna kill Team B 80 to 30!"


Awwww man coach! You told us everyone in the Sweet 16 are pussies. Except us.

Finally, Butler is pretty irked about being left out of Top 25 Coaches' Poll. The paper is trying to spin it like they don't really care, but this comment from 3-point machine A.J. Graves says different...

"We're going to play a bunch of teams this year that aren't going to be ranked, and it still doesn't mean they're not any good," Graves said. "There's just so many rankings you can hand out...You know what? We're just trying to get better day by day and see what happens."

Yeah... They might be just a little pissed off.

Hey, A.J. We didn't forget about you. We put you at #21. We love you. You angel.

They'll still think I'm crazy

Submitted for your approval. Pat and Bruce. Think about this. Why on earth would they be hugging on each other talking about how their basketball programs will make a significant run this comming March. They are recently divorced. They have denied all the rumors.

No no. Just a coincidence that we got divorced at the same time and we hang out with each other.

Taken during the South Carolina / Tennessee football game...

Exit Sandman...

I know, we are a college hoops blog. But if we were blogging about college football, I would have given Virginia Tech our Always Be Closing Award. How can you lose a 10-0 lead with only 4 minutes left in the fourth quarter?!?!?

Congrats Boston College. You are #2 for another week.

First up, the bible gives us a preview of the Mountain West Conference. I would like to point out Mr. Pomeroy's opening statement:

This is year two of the Mountain West's grand experiment to televise its games on its own network. Unlike the Big Ten, which undertook a similar venture for the 2007-08 school year, the MWC took this step while simultaneously severing its relationship with ESPN. Because of a lack of exposure through satellite distributors, the MWC's network (called "the mtn."), and thus the vast majority of MWC basketball games, are available only to parts of a seven-state footprint in the west. The games that do appear on national television are relegated to networks that are not yet familiar to the casual sports fan (CSTV and Versus.).

In an era where the proliferation of televised games has driven the popularity of the sport to unprecedented levels, the MWC is playing a dangerous game.

Now, I said as much over a month ago when I responded to Steve Fisher's comment about getting "national" exposure:

Yeah, ummmm.... Right... I live in Los Angeles with a pretty good selection of channels on basic and cable. And I don't have The Mtn. (yes, I am pronouncing it THE MMMTNNN). Or VERSUS. Or CSTV. So how in the SAM HELL can he say we have NATIONAL TV EXPOSURE?!?!?!

Preach on, Mr. Pomeroy.

As far as what he had to say about SDSU? I'm not going to even link it. Go, just go stick your head in the sand like the rest of us and pray.


Yeah, feels good down here...

The USA Today's pre-season coaches' poll was released and it seems like universally (CSTV/Blogpoll/Coaches' poll) there are the same top five (Memphis, UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas, Georgetown), just in different orders.

Are Kentucky fans passionate or just fucking crazy? 23,313 of them showed up...for practice.


We're just talking about practice!

And it looks like Billy Donovan's back might save him from fresh technicals that the refs plan to give out this year for "bad" coach behavior. Hey, if you can't move you can't slug the motherfucker.

Hey, did you know Donald Trump (or his organization) is teaching people how to generate thousands of dollars in profit immediately? Ummmm, maybe he needs to take his own class. The man hasn't been profitable in years and has been living off of debt financing (and refinancing).

Happy Friday!

And I like cocaine!

I'm amazed Ohio State wasn't winning NCAA titles like crazy in the late 80s with those Buckeye Babes!

I mean, I'm surprised blue chip recruits weren't beating down Gary Williams' door hoping to just have some of those Buckeye Babes pose with them.

That hair, those stone washed jeans, those bangles (not the band)!



Admit it, you're going to dream about them tonight...

(HT: EDSBS)

It's Jueves, bitches!

This is shaping up to be a fun season, folks. I have a feeling the violations will be flying with the new enforcement of refs issuing technicals for coaches leaving their sideline box during games.

"You have to have some leeway," (Fordham's coach Dereck) Whittenburg said. "If you're out of the box complaining to a referee, then it's a problem.

Iona gives a straight out challenge to the refs with this comment:

"I want to see how much they enforce it," Iona coach Kevin Willard said.

Can you imagine the fits this enforcement will give people like Jim Boeheim, Tubby Smith or Bob Knight?! Knight might end up cold cockin' one of them sumbitches. Of course we here at March To Madness have a simple, tasteful yet elegant way of helping coaches comply...


A referee once tried to issue me
a technical... I ate his fucking T-shaped
hands with some hot wings and a nice 40oz.

Tired of being the door mat of college hoops, the Sun Belt Conference will start to give away coupons for free admission and two free drinks to any backwater titty bar of choice for anyone who shows up for a game.


Hey Sharon, wut time do you goon tonite? Mah cousin Billy Joe Bob
and our luv child will be there...

Well, how the fuck else are they going to hit a mandate to increase crowds and ticket sales, eventually hitting 50 percent of arena capacity for attendance and sales of 25 percent of capacity on a season-ticket basis?!?

Your Wednesday Moment of Zen

Ms. Tilly seems to be surrounded by sexual innuendos... (HT: The M Zone)

With all eyes on the SoCal fires, SDSU's coach Steve Fisher and his family evacuated their Del Mar home (nice neighborhood) on Monday and are in a hotel currently. Practice does not seem to be affected. Fisher lives next to San Diego mayor Jerry Sanders so he got the VIP treatment with the firefighters according to ESPN's Andy Katz.


You like your home? Well we like it when SDSU makes a meaningful post-season run, capisce?

UPDATE:
The Sporting News claims SDSU will finish second in the conference thereby receiving one of two March Madness bids (the first going to BYU). However March Madness All Season has a more realistic assessment.

A little confusing...

CSTV ranks SDSU number #5 in the conference, however ESPN's Joe Lunardi has them as a 13th seed. Either the Aztecs will surprise the hell out of everyone and win the conference outright, or the Mountain West is a multi-bid conference.

Multi-bid? Sure, BYU and Air Force seem a shoe-in to get into the dance.

Ok, I don't want to talk about this anymore. It gets me depressed.

Also, CSTV released their preseason top 25 poll. Just for shits and giggles I have reproduced their poll and the blogpoll top 25 done by a bunch of us.

CSTV's Top 25
1. North Carolina (31-7)
2. Memphis (33-4)
3. UCLA (30-6)
4. Kansas (33-5)
5. Georgetown (30-7)
6. Louisville (24-10)
7. Indiana (21-11)
8. Tennessee (24-11)
9. Michigan State (23-12)
10. Washington State (26-8)
11. Gonzaga (23-11)
12. Duke (22-11)
13. Kentucky (22-12)
14. Stanford (18-13)
15. Marquette (24-10)
16. Texas A&M (27-7)
17. Oregon (29-8)
18. Pittsburgh (29-8)
19. Texas (25-10)
20. USC (25-12)
21. Syracuse (24-11)
22. Kansas State (23-12)
23. Florida (35-5)
24. Arizona (33-5)
25. Xavier (25-9)

The Blogpoll's Top 25
1. Memphis
2. UCLA
3. North Carolina
4. Kansas
5. Georgetown
6. Tennessee
7. Louisville
8. Michigan St.
9. Washington St.
10. Marquette
11. Oregon
12. Indiana
13. Texas
14. Duke
15. Kentucky
16. Gonzaga
17. Arkansas
18. Stanford
19. Texas A&M
20. Arizona
21. Butler
22. Davidson
23. Mississippi St.
24. VA Commonwealth
25. USC

So there are 5 teams on their top 25 that did not make ours (Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Kansas State, Florida and Xavier). I'll take the most surprising to me with CSTV's comment, and then my comment -

21. Syracuse (24-11)
Missing the NCAA Tournament last season will have the Orange hungry to make this year's field, and with highly-regarded recruits Johnny Flynn, Antonio "Scoop" Jardine and Donte Green joining Paul Harris and Eric Devendorf, Jim Boeheim has a talented team at both ends of the court. How well Syracuse's non-conference slate prepares them for their rugged Big East schedule, however, could be the difference between an NCAA Tournament berth and another snub from the selection committee.

Hungry rookies does not a March Madness bid make. Next!

22. Kansas State (23-12)
The sudden departure of Bob Huggins at the end of last season was a surprise to many in Manhattan with the Wildcats almost making the NCAA Tournament, but Frank Martin is eager to restore the Wildcats' program in his first season as a head coach. And with a backcourt that features highly-touted recruits Bill Walker and Michael Beasley, this could be the year that Kansas State finally finds itself back in the NCAA Tournament.

I would agree with that statement had it been made before the 2008-2009 season. It's going to take a year for Martin to get his legs and mold his team. But right now they are in hell.

Finally, hey look NCAA Hoops Today! Gary Parrish is giving UAB a little love:

"On paper, UAB has as much or more talent than any C-USA program not called Memphis. But in picking the Blazers to finish second and earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, I'm putting a lot of faith in those transfers to produce immediately. That's a risky venture, I admit."

Hey, I said a little...

Sirens...

Those nappy headed hoes look like they will be fucking RANKED going into this season!!!


Thank you, Don... We'll be waiting for you by your car tonight, bitch.

With the ACC Media Days, people are talking about how N.C. State will be a force this year with Brandon Costner leading a very strong lineup. However most people are ranking UNC first, Duke second and N.C. State third in the ACC.

Really?

In reality it should be...

1) UNC
2) N.C. State
3) Duke

Think about it. What really does Duke have that could top the Wolfpack in that conference? The Bible agrees.

Tell us what you really think!

Coaches like this better be very very careful this season with the new NCAA rule banning swearing on the sidelines.


Mr. Boeheim, my my your language!

(HT: Every Day Should Be Saturday)

Not feeling too well...

Too much Vegas. But will post later today.


"One toke? You poor fool! Wait till you see those goddamn bats."

By the way

There will be no post this Friday (10/19)? Why? I will be gone. Where? I'll give you a hint. Eight actually.

Mr. Colbert, if you please...




And lets hope we don't end up like this song...



Helpin' white people dance since 1931...

Smorgasbord

Ooooooooooo-kay.

JesusO.J. Mayo breaks someone's face in practice. Later, Mayo posed with an adoring fan who could care less about anyone else on the team.


My, you sure have big...ummm......feet

No, I'm not going to talk more about coach Kelvin GumpSampson. Just going to say that Fran Fraschilla from ESPN agrees with me (you will need to be a stupid ESPN "insider" to read the article).

Notre Dame's coach Mike Brey wonders what they can do to get better for this season. Yeah, I have an idea. Get your kids to stop smoking the dope.

Remember when IUPUI was in March Madness a few years ago? People were like "Who the fuck is THAT?!" Well, according to a few sports pundits they might be back this year. Get the jokes ready!!!

Your Wednesday Moment of Zen

Fox News. Giving you a complimentary side order of sleaze with your right wing spin!

Traitor!

Et tu, Brute?

One of Indiana coach Sampson's interns reportedly turned him in...


All I wanted was to bring glory to the Hoosier Nation!

Why does the NCAA have these rules?
To ensure no competitive advantage is gained and to protect the student-athlete from a daily barrage of phone calls. The NCAA recruiting calendar clearly states when and how frequently programs may contact recruits. There are certain weeks in which no contact is allowed. During contact periods, programs are allowed to call a recruit one time per week. If the call goes to voice mail, that counts. Recruits frequently let calls go to voice mail to save time.

Sampson and his staff violated this 577 times while at Oklahoma! And Indiana still hired him!

Sampson then gets punished by being banned from recruiting trips and making recruiting phone calls.

And he turns right around and is involved in 45 more illegal calls at Indiana!

Are you a fucking idiot or something?!

From the Indianapolis Star - Once the phone records were discovered, (Indiana AD) Greenspan asked for an independent investigation by attorney Robin Green Harris and the Indianapolis law firm Ice Miller, which took two months to complete. The findings confirmed Sampson had participated in the impermissible three-way phone calls during a one-year ban.


Kelvin Gump

Did ya know midnight madness happened?

A few clips in case you were asleep, starting with the UK Cheerleaders ;)





And how could we NOT post Jerry FUCKING Rice doing Soulja Boy at Georgetown's madness!!!



(HT: Rush The Court)

Punishment Monday!

PWND! Indiana's coach Kelvin Sampson has been bitch slapped by the Hoosiers and will not receive his half million dollar raise and his team lost a scholarship for violating recruiting rules (he was doing three-ways with recruits after being banned by the NCAA).

Calls. Three-way calls. Get your mind out of the gutter.

"I am profoundly disappointed we are dealing with this matter as is coach Sampson," (Indiana AD Rick) Greenspan said. "We hope these sanctions send a strong message."

Oh really? That seems to be the non sequitur of the month! Especially when you KNEW Sampson's prior recruiting violating history!


Why is everyone picking on me?

I think Ball State will have no players left after kicking two MORE kids off the team.

Finally, the NCAA is turning into the NFL (No Fun League) by threatening technicals for bad behavior from players and coaches on the bench. Now the thing that concerns me is this nugget...

Coaches who leave the coaching box, even simply to talk to their players...will be given one warning, then assessed a technical even if their behavior is not unsportsmanlike.

Well, what are they suppose to do? Have their players carry cel phones during the game and call them? No, that would probably violate some rule. How about telepathy? Dry erase board? Hand signals? SMOKE SIGNALS?!


Soon to be at a sideline near you

That was on purpose

Yes, I did not post on Friday because I wanted my post about Basketball Prospectus to be the top post for awhile.

Be back later with discipline madness!!!

Ok, this is important!

Achtung Baby!

Basketball Prospectus is now here. A college basketball venture from Ken Pomeroy, John Gasaway (Big Ten Wonk), Joe Sheehan and Will Carroll, this site features hard core analysis and in-depth features that you would expect from these guys.

On the site they already hit you with a primer on efficiency ratings!

And it is free. All free.

Bookmark it. Love it. Worship it. You will need it come November. Henceforth we will be referring to this site as "the bible".

Picture pages

"I'm flying, mommy!!!"


Wake Forest's Dino Gaudio: "And I'm gonna kick yer ass too, jerky. Fugetaboutit."


East Carolina guard Sam Hinnant: "Who are you calling NIT worthy motherfucker?!"


UCLA's Ben Howland: "Yes. $1.5 million. A year."


Michigan's Ekpe Udoh: "Ummmmm, coach is holding my passport. Indentured what?"

And file under PWND!: Georgia's top three players suspended for academic violations. OUCH!

Blasphemous analysis

Came across this article about San Diego State's basketball team from the SD Union-Tribune. Led me to have a couple of thoughts. Walk with me, will ya?

Contrary to popular belief, Chicken Little has not secured a courtside seat at San Diego State's Cox Arena. There are no pieces of the sky to flee; there is no perceptible panic in the streets. Brandon Heath and Mohamed Abukar have left the building. Life goes on.



I'm firmly in the Chicken Little camp (without courtside seat). I mean shit, we lose the 4 players that got us to the NCAA and NIT tournaments and we are NOT suppose to worry? Sorry, I can't hop on board that President Bush mentality of going shopping to support our "war on terror". I feel like a proud alumnus by being concerned!

"We need to go out... and keep Coach (Steve) Fisher happy."
- Lorrenzo Wade

Fuck Fisher, keep US happy!!! In the end, WE hold the power over the coach's job!

San Diego State's men's basketball team, though not unarmed, opens practice Friday lacking a substantial amount of firepower from 2006-07...

That just says it all, don't it?

"It's been a long two years," (Marquette transfer Ryan) Amoroso said. "At this point, I just can't wait to get after it..."

Great. Our highly touted transfer has been benchwarming for 730 days. I'll be right back. Gotta book those first round tixs right now...

From the San Diego blogosphere comes two comments:

"Their non-conference schedule is so weak it's almost a joke. That is likely going to hurt them in conference."

"Are Arizona and Cal road games considered weak? I agree with Navy and Sam Houston but the Pac-10's should help the RPI."

I agree with the second comment (although there is some truth in the first). I even said as much. But after reading the article and really thinking about what we have that can stack up against Cal, Arizona or even BYU....

(pause)

I'm going to my happy cave I'm going to my happy cave I'm going to my happy cave...

With fingers crossed and breath held, GO AZTECS!

Send your hate mail here

George Mason's AD Tom O'Connor became the new chairman of the NCAA Selection Committee.

"Five months from now, Tom O'Connor will go on national television and explain why some bubble teams made the NCAA basketball tournament while others didn't. For many disappointed fans, he'll be the face of the big bad organization that has their team on the way to the NIT."

Ok. I'll start my letter right now...

Dear Mr. O'Connor:

A pox on your house for not selecting San Diego State! May your balls legs shrivel up and fall off. May you come home one day and find your wife in the embrace of a well endowed Black man! May a yet unknown disease afflict you to make your hands swell to the size of catcher's mitts, preventing you from mercilessly typing another team to be excluded from the big dance.

Yours in disgust,
March To Madness

I bet you George Mason will get in even with a 16-20 record...


Soon to be the most hated man in college basketball

Next up, Stanford's Brook Lopez has been declared academically ineligible for the upcoming season.

"Unfortunately, I have failed to live up to academic requirements and I take full responsibility for what has happened," Brook Lopez said in a statement.

Dude, all you have to do is go to class and play basketball. How hard is that? I had to go to class, scrounge for financial aid, take odd jobs and I had time for 3 girlfriends! Not all at once... Well, the good part is if he gets his shit together he will only miss a handful of game.

Color me relieved. < /sarcasm>

Your Wednesday Moment of Zen

March To Madness presents... Bold Bartenders

Don't order no sissy drink from her.


What can I gitcha, partner

FYI, the blogpoll participation count is climbing. Anyone wanting to join, just e-mail me with your blog info.

Basketball is my favorite sport

Especially played in 5 inch heels...

That should replace every single halftime show. But not just two playing. Make the whole cheerleading squad play! Divide them in half and have them go at it. I for one would pay good money to watch Kentucky's squad do that...


I cannot tell a lie, I've always had a thing for the UK gals...

(HT: With Leather)

Tuesday Randoms...

Hey, just because Tennessee's Duke Crews is indefinitely suspended don't count the Vols out yet.

"We're all disappointed," head coach Bruce Pearl told The Tennessean on Sunday. "Duke's gotta surround himself with better people and make better decision. The consequences are pretty severe."

Why am I wincing when coach Pearl is taking the moral high ground... Hey coach, it's just a little POT! Not like he dumped his wife for a shot at freshly divorced Pat Summitt...

Did I just type that? Apologies. Yeah.


Marriage, like a national championship can be very fleeting...

Anyhoo, he goes on to talk about how transfers Tyler Smith and J.P. Prince (cousin of Tayshaun Prince) will fill Crews' void. Smith was a power at Iowa. I think these two will give Tennessee a frontcourt boost, but I still think there will be a drop off in production by the absence of Crews. SEC Hoops feels that Crews will be back by the first game.

Vegas odds on the 2008 National Championship are out and UNC has the worst odds of +500 with a gang load of teams getting the best odds of +20000 (including SDSU of course). Maybe the blogpoll should be based on Vegas odds...

Not like I'm encouraging betting. Oh who am I kidding, if I'm in Vegas during the season I'll lay down a couple of bones.

Reporters drop and give me 20!

Michigan State coach Tom Izzo in an attempt to have the sports media appreciate his team puts reporters through a typical Spartan practice.

After putting them through drills and a 20 minute scrimmage, Izzo proceeded to berate the crap out of them by saying ziggers like -

"Were you drinking before you got here?"

I personally think he did this just to get back at those bastards.


Anyway, we talkin' about practice...

(HT: NCAA Basketball FanHouse)

The next OJ Mayo

Have you heard of Erik Murphy? He's some 16 year old snot nosed kid from New England. And he rules the recruiting landscape right now.

I mean we are talking private jets flying in to see an invitation only game featuring the kid. Billy Donovan, Roy Williams, Ben Howland, Skinner, Paul Hewitt, Tom Crean, John Beilein, Tim Welsh and Dave Leitao were all there. I think every school in the blogpoll was represented! If your team is in a rebuilding mode for the next couple of seasons, you need this kid. In a big way.

"I've never been at anything like this," said Crean, one of eight coaches who already have offered scholarships to Murphy.

Indeed.

"I try to stay humble," Murphy said. "I'm just glad I have the opportunity."

And I give it one year before that's over and he's demanding Elite Model Management talent to make Mickie D runs for him.


With extra cheese, bitches!

All kidding aside, this is just nuts. The only basketball player I can truly say was worth all the hype was UNC's Michael Jordan. We treat these kids like they're gods and then we wonder why they crash and burn. Kinda sad really.

Blogpoll, Episode II - Readers Strike Back!

Well, it's been a few days since we posted the finalized pre-season blogpoll. Let's check the mailbag to see what the public has to say! These are just a few of the reactions posted on my SI FanNation blog (which is just a mirror of this one).

"Texas at 13? USC at 25? With Gibson and Hackett returning, and the addition of Mayo, I just don't understand. USC's only downfall is that they play in a strong basketball conference with several teams that rank high all year long."
- hookem431*BS

I'll say it over and over again, USC does not deserve to be ranked, they have raw untested talent and they haven't played anybody yet. Is OJ Mayo that damn good?!

"how can pitt not be on there. sure they lost gray, but they will still be a top 25 team. they are definitely better than virginia commonwealth."
- bigdleech loves stanford

Pitt is definitely a good team deserving of a ranking IMO. I had them at 23, but some other bloggers felt that they shouldn't have been ranked so that dropped them. I can almost guarantee that Pitt will be up there after the 2nd week of the season.

"Why is OH State's basketball team not ranked. Just because we lost some major players we will still be a force to contend with in the Big 10 and the nation. Matta has some excellent recruits. If we are not ranked, then FL sure shouldn't be."
- etc

You kinda answered your own question, Etc. What kind of screen name is "Etc" anyway?!

"Weak. Butler should be top 15 easily. I have 4 Indiana teams ranked: IU, Purdue, Butler, and Notre Dame."
- IrishR#1: Addai Who?

Geez, a little biased are we? If I were to go that route then I would think that Air Force, BYU, Utah and San Diego State should be ranked. Ha!

Be back later with an insane recruiting story...

Extra Extra! Get your top 25 here!!

The 2007-08 NCAA Men's Basketball Pre-Season Blogpoll:

1. Memphis
2. UCLA
3. North Carolina
4. Kansas
5. Georgetown
6. Tennessee
7. Louisville
8. Michigan St.
9. Washington St.
10. Marquette
11. Oregon
12. Indiana
13. Texas
14. Duke
15. Kentucky
16. Gonzaga
17. Arkansas
18. Stanford
19. Texas A&M
20. Arizona
21. Butler
22. Davidson
23. Mississippi St.
24. VA Commonwealth
25. USC

Let the dissection BEGIN!


Doctor, I think the patient is still alive!

Complaints - USC has raw untested talent. I feel that is not worthy of a top 25 ranking. They were ranked higher at one point but then came a last minute push to possibly knock them down in favor of teams with seasoned veterans returning.

Not down far enough though.

And SDSU should have been a top 10 as far as I am concerned. ;)

Comments - Notice the POWER of the Pac-10! Six teams. I'm curious to see the games against the second most ranked conference, the SEC.

Click here to see everyone's vote. All bloggers who volunteered to join while we were finishing up this pre-season ranking, an e-mail will be going out to you within the next three weeks with instructions on the regular season poll voting.

And as always, any blogger wanting to join, e-mail me.

Spreads like wildfire!

Yesterday I made mention about how the Maryland basketball program scored a big fat goose egg on the NCAA Graduation Success Rate. Now everyone is talking about it, along with some others.

Not exactly the best way to become famous, eh? Kinda like when my high school had the highest teen pregnancy rate in all of San Diego County. Why was it so hard for me to get some action then?


Go Knights! This really is my high school's cheerleader squad btw...

Next, Greg Oden is thoroughly impressed with his replacement.

"He hit me with a fadeaway jump shot and he's 7 feet tall," Oden said with a grin. "I'm guarding him and I said, 'You kidding me?' I know he's really good and got really good overseas this summer. I haven't had a chance to talk to him. But I'm going to give him a call sometime soon."

Can a playa get some dap?! Kosta Koufos' stock definitely will rise from that. We'll see how that translates on the court in a month.

Happy Friday to ya!

Its a blogger fight!

So the discussion round begins for the pre-season top 25 blogpoll. Question of the moment - "Is Virginia or Villanova better than Clemson?"

First up, UCLA and coach Howland agree to 7 year deal.

"Ben is certainly deserving of this commitment by UCLA," said Dan Guerrero, the school's athletic director. "He is clearly one of the top teachers and recruiters in college basketball. He has re-established UCLA as one of the nation's elite programs, as our back-to-back Final Fours illustrate, and has built a solid foundation that will keep us at the forefront for the foreseeable future."

But is he worth $1.5 million GUARANTEED a year? Not if he doesn't bring a national championship home within 3 years.


Straight cash, homey

And oh MY, the Maryland Terps scored the LOWEST GSR (Graduation Success Rate) out of the 2006-07 Top 25 Coaches Poll!

They scored a zero. A ZERO!!!

2006-07 men's basketball USA TODAY Top 25 Coaches' Poll ranked by graduation success rate (GSR):

1. Florida (100)
2. Butler (92)
3. North Carolina (86)
4. Vanderbilt (83)
5. Georgetown (82)
6. Virginia (80)
7. Southern Illinois (79)
8. Winthrop (77)
9. Wisconsin (67)
9. Virginia Tech (67)

National average 61

11. Oregon (59)
12. Pittsburgh (56)
13. Louisville (50)
14. Kansas (45)
15. Ohio State (40)
15. UCLA (40)
15. Memphis (40)
15. Texas A&M (40)
19. Washington State (35)
19. Nevada (35)
21. Texas (33)
21. Tennessee (33)
23. Southern California (29)
24. UNLV (15)
25. Maryland (0)

The best is that the Maryland blogs are crying about how they know three or four students on the team that graduated, so the number should be higher...

First - It's a rolling average. 3 out of an incoming 50 would be, oh about .06
Second - One guy makes the following astute comment:

"Those of you defending these numbers.... You're kidding, right?

Are you seriously making excuses for this pathetic outcome?"

Right on. And for the rest of those guys...


Waa-waa. That's the sound of you crying. Illiterately.

My Pre-Season Top 25 Blogpoll ballot

Here stands my vote for the blogpoll:

1. Memphis
2. UCLA
3. Kansas
4. North Carolina
5. Georgetown
6. Gonzaga
7. Michigan St.
8. Washington St.
9. Tennessee
10. Duke
11. Ohio St.
12. Arizona
13. Texas
14. Texas A&M
15. Kentucky
16. Indiana
17. Louisville
18. Davidson
19. Marquette
20. Oregon
21. Arkansas
22. VA Commonwealth
23. Pittsburgh
24. Southern Ill.
25. Florida

The finalized poll should be released by Monday (10/8).

Moment of Zen primer

I've been receiving a few e-mails about the recurring Wednesday theme, so I thought I would take some time and answer a few questions.

"I don't understand. Why do you do this?"
Well I noticed on some of my favorite blogs they had a cheesecake section or day or whatever. So I copied them because I am unoriginal.

"It seems kind of gimmicky."
Kind of? It's COMPLETELY gimmicky!

"Some of the pictures seem very odd."
That is the whole point of my moment of zen. I didn't want to post just pictures of cute girls. It had to be a cute girl doing something strange (or in a strange moment). Check out one of my first moment of zens for a perfect example.

"Hey, are you going to do some not safe for work shit?"
No. I don't plan on it. The fact that they are weird, safe for work pics is the only thing that keeps my wife from hitting me upside the head.

"How about some pics of men for your moment of zen?"
Haven't really thought about it.

Back tomorrow with your basketball fix!

Your Wednesday Moment of Zen

Quack

The first blogpoll voting committee

We should have our pre-season top 25 blogpoll published within the next few day. For now, let me introduce to you the "founding" members of the college basketball blogosphere voting community -

SEC Hoops: The Good. The Bad. The Dirty.
March Madness All Season
Rush The Court
NCAA Hoops Today
A Sea Of Blue
College Hoops Heaven: The Big 5 & More

And moi...


Not true likeness. Or gender.

For all you bloggers who want to join, take heart. We are accepting "applications"! Just e-mail me with your blog information. Unfortunately you won't be part of the pre-season blogpoll, BUT you can be the part of the regular weekly blogpoll once the season starts.

And more on Tennessee's indefinitely suspended Duke Crews. Looks like he was into the sticky icky. That leaves us with a few things...

1) The school LIED by saying there was no law enforcement action involved
2) Tennessee still is kinda fucked by this
3) Hey, it's just a little POT!

(HT: SEC Hoops)

These are the days...

Just a couple of quick items as we just got the last votes in for the pre-season blogpoll and now must start the ranking round(s).

Vermont grabbed Jordan Clarke which now makes me believe that the Catamounts will be a deep madness team. You heard it here first! The thing that made me chuckle was his following comment:

"I really think we can do some big things up there," Clarke said. "I really think they are putting together a team that can not only make it to the NCAA tournament, but win games in the NCAA tournament."

Imagine that, not only will they make it, they will win rounds! This is just a jab at myself because all I want of the Aztecs is to just make the tournament.

Jared Neely, a HIGH SCHOOL kid knows the value of a good education! Here he talks about the benefits of athletes staying in college while playing sports.

Rob Jones, the grandson of Jim Jones is set to play basketball at the Catholic school University of San Diego. How many jokes will be made about him staying the FUCK away from the Gatorade!


You better hope not...

(HT: NCAA FanHouse)

Stop me before I post again!

Over at CHN they have an analysis of our beloved Aztecs. Some quick shots are -

Overall Rank: #46
Conference Rank: #2 Mountain West
Projected Post-season Tournament: NCAA

Also, this statement -

"The Aztecs will need everything to go right if they want to win the conference, but they will not have to win the conference to reach the NCAAs. ...SDSU should be disappointed without a postseason berth."

Hmmmm... We can dream, can't we?

The loss of Heath, Abukar and Habel made me think "NIT here we come!" I don't know much about Ryan Amoroso. We do have All-American Lorrenzo "Machine Gun" Wade as our best player, but one man cannot make a team. This is just such a "I don't know" season for us. A lot of "ifs" out there. We shall see Aztec fans!

(HT: NCAA Hoops Today)

Rick Majerus is a sexy BEAST!

So I lied. Two posts today, because I'm just so very busy.

St. Louis Coach Majerus admitted to having certain amorous feelings toward former Wright State coach Paul Biancardi.

"Paul has this genuine passion for the game and so do I. You could call it two passionate guys connecting. I guess I have kind of a man-crush on him," Majerus said with comedic pause, then a laugh.

C'mon Rick. We know what's up. We know you want to be squeezed as only a man can squeeze another rotund man.


Rick's fat is lonely and needing some man love...

Time for one quick post today

From the Indiana Daily Student - IU basketball recruit Bud Mackey spent one night in jail this weekend after being arrested at school Friday on suspicion of cocaine trafficking.

Cocaine trafficking. Cocaine trafficking?!?!?!

Damn! What were YOU doing when you were 18? Me, I was trying to get laid. A lot. I guess Mr. Mackey had that entrepreneur spirit that most of us lazy teens lacked. No suspension was issued because he has not signed yet. The best part of the article was this gem:

Many praised Mackey’s maturity in the way he responded to reporters’ questions with "yes, sir" and "no, sir" answers.

Because we all know cane slingers are very impolite.



Stay tuned this week for the inaugural Top 25 blogpoll (pre-season edition). Contact me if you want to be a member of the voting community.

Geez...

Work, a hangover and blogpoll compiling might prevent a post today.

You've been warned.