Newly commissioned BCS executive director Bill Hancock argues that the current college football BCS/Bowl System is waaaaay better than the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
We need to talk to Hancock's dealer because he's giving him some strong ass shit.
Needed to take a break to enjoy the holidays. We'll resume posting substantial stuff tomorrow (depending on what you think is substantial).
(HT always to our inspiration EDSBS)
During the Michigan/Creighton overtime game we noticed a sort of seat of your pants style by the Wolverines. Sloppy paint play, an over reliance on an almost non-existent 3 point game. We thought "They can't keep living like this..."
Well, Michigan's bill became due today with a loss to Marquette. Their junkie like dependence on three point shots bit them this time.
"Didn't do it very well today, did I?" (Michigan coach John) Beilein said, laughing, when asked about his plan.
Not so funny when your team falls in the rankings next week.
They needed a desperation shot against Miami of Ohio to win.
They needed overtime to beat Stanford.
Both times super frosh John Wall pulled their asses out of the fire.
Can we call them Cardiac Cats yet A Sea Of Blue?
Currently watching the Gonzaga / Wisconsin tussle in Maui when we heard this. The audio is more important than the video here. We listened to this several times and this is what we THINK Mr. Raftery said:
Sean McDonough: We're under way, Gonzaga in blue controlled the tip.
Raftery: Arm and hammer! Jay Bilas! Wisconsin go! Bee piss!
Jay Bilas: ???
If anyone has any better translation we would like to hear it.
Well, we know the Maui Invitational lacks star power this year... And this has led some coaches to be a little ornery.
When asked about the overall weakness of the teams participating this year Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan had a few snark words:
"You are trying to tell me we are not ranked? Or Arizona isn't ranked?" he asked. "I didn't know that."
Ohhhh, burn baby. This has also led some other coaches to have dilutions of grandeur. When asked the same question Maryland coach Gary Williams redefined being optimistic:
"I think there will be three or four teams out of here that'll be in the top 25 at the end of the year."
Colorado, Gonzaga, Cincinnati, Vanderbilt, Chaminade, Maryland, Arizona and Wisconsin... Really?
Over at Rush The Court they had a comment that made us fall out of our collective chairs snickering:
We're currently watching the beatdown Syracuse is giving UNC and we just heard Dickie V. say the following:
Oh, c'mon George Mason. Well, we've got our first award for the season.
For you Patriots, leading 6th rank Villanova until the final minute of the game whereby you had an epic collapse of judgment. You get the Always Be Closing award.
Where was Blake during that collapse...
1) Kansas, Michigan State and Kentucky won their games against unranked opponents by a combined total of 8 points. Although it is not time to panic, this season is going to be a wild one with lots of changes in the top 5 spots.
2) SDSU is who we thought they were.
3) The SEC are who we thought they were.
4) ESPN might be on to something with that 24 hours of basketball. Each year we say "Ain't gonna do it," and each year we succumb to it nonetheless. So sleepy...
5) This is NOT a rebuilding year for Memphis.
All we can say is John motherfucking Wall. With Kentucky tied with Miami of Ohio and only 0.5 seconds left, Mr. Wall just calmly takes the ball down the length of the court and shoots the game winning 2.
Amazing.
Here is the scene from the nosebleed section:
We were seriously discussing waking up at 2 am tomorrow to watch our beloved Aztecs take on St. Mary's as part of ESPN's 24 hour College Basketball Tip-Off. And we were damned close to saying yes. We were ready to get some cocaine Red Bull and call in late to work. Until we read this:
Oh yeah, we're gonna lose. Whenever people are expecting us to win we never fail... to disappoint.
Hopefully they'll prove us wrong.
Something we failed to mention on Friday. We think it was so cool that Mr. Denzel Washington came to watch his son play basketball for the University of Pennsylvania. Malcolm Washington is a freshman guard there.
Too bad he actually didn't play and the Quakers lost to Penn State.
Mississippi State, the 19th most powerful team in the country gets upended by... Rider??
The Bulldogs never led once in the second half. Once. They were completely blown out. At home.
"People don't understand how good Rider is," MSU Coach Rick Stansbury was quoted as saying earlier today. Yeah, I guess we didn't...
Did we mention this was the night the Bulldogs received their conference championship rings? The overrated S-E-C strikes again!
What do you do if you are close to being thrown off your team for burglary and assault?
Why you commit more crimes of course!
Police are investigating Gophers power forward Royce White as a possible suspect in a Saturday night burglary on the University of Minnesota campus, school spokesperson Garry Bowman said Tuesday night.
White already is serving an indefinite suspension after he was arrested Oct. 13 for shoplifting and fifth-degree misdemeanor assault at the Mall of the America.
The parents of the university student who called police about the burglary said their daughter said someone entered her dorm room and stole a laptop computer.
"I don't think we have any comment," the student's mother said. "She simply had her laptop stolen.
We obtained a reenactment of the events:
Here's another sad story of the NCAA going way out of bounds. Indiana State was pretty excited getting Dwayne Lathan, a star swingman transfer from LSU. Nice kid, clean cut. He even participated in charity events.
Unfortunately for Lathan, the NCAA added a chapter that ruined the story.
Lathan has been suspended by the NCAA for the first two games of the season. Lathan, who transferred in 2008, participated in an unsanctioned 3-on-3 charity basketball event while he was still a student at Louisiana Tech in April 2008.
Suspended for a charity event. Think about that...
The No. 12 Golden Bears start the season at the top of the list because on paper, they're loaded and they've displayed few weaknesses during the offseason and trouncing D-II Chico State 84-42 in their lone exhibition.
- Percy Allen, The Seattle Times
This year, mostly because the team's senior-heavy roster has had more time to learn the nuances of second-year coach Mike Montgomery's system, Cal has been tabbed as a squad that should contend for the conference title.
- Jeff Goodman, The Daily Californian
...the California Golden Bears have so much returning talent. The Pac-10 favorite has a solid, experienced backcourt in Jerome Randle and Patrick Christopher. Mike Montgomery's team will be heard from all season long.
- Dick Vitale, ESPN
Cal nearly gets clobbered by that powerhouse Murray State.
- M2M
Should have thought twice if freaking Dickie V liked them.
North Carolina doesn't give a shit about Isiah Thomas' mother, beats FIU like drum.
Deon Thompson scored 20 points to help No. 6 North Carolina spoil Isiah Thomas' college coaching debut and beat Florida International 88-72 on Monday night.
His debut came on the same day his 86-year-old mother, Mary, had open-heart surgery in Chicago. He spent Sunday with her, then arrived in Chapel Hill early Monday for the Golden Panthers' shootaround at the Smith Center. He said before the game that he expected to return to Chicago on Tuesday.
And on another note we are back now, in full posting mode. Moment of Zen Wednesday to begin next week.
