Shaka Smart will leave Virginia Commonwealth

VCU's Athletic Director said "We're going to keep him. We will be proactive about it." But the cold hard numbers say otherwise. Take a gander -

Top NCAA Division 1A basketball coaching salaries



Bottom NCAA Division 1A basketball coaching salaries



See that highlighted name? That's coach Smart, citizens. The amount of money VCU would need to come up with just to be competitive with the current market value of coaches with his credentials would be enormous. And VCU is no University of Richmond when it comes to fundraising. To be quite frank, the Rams don't have the horses for this. The only way coach Smart returns is if he has some sense of loyalty to the program (and he wants an even bigger payday next year).

Bracket update

We are nearing destruction. Duke hurts us big time and we have only two teams in the Final Four. This has turned out to be the worst year for our bracket picks.

But not busted yet (using official M2M definition of the term "busted").

Bracket update

Notre Dame and Syracuse were teams that damaged our Elite Eight brackets but besides that no major changes from yesterday. East still looking like the genius picks followed by West.

Bracket update

First, Luke Winn is kinda right. The Aztecs are a shaky #2 seed. Remember, we felt they should have been a #3 to #5 seed. Looking at the bracket above we did not have them getting to the Sweet Sixteen because of the issues that came up glaringly in the Temple game (missed shots, unable to convert turnovers, unable to maintain leads). We said as much in our game update.

That being said we are extremely happy and couldn't be prouder at the fact that we are going to the Sweet Sixteen. We had every right to celebrate like we had won the Final Four. Because we and a lot of other people in SDSU Nation did not expect them to get this far. Go Aztecs.

Next, the Pitt thing. Ouch that hurts but we are still in it. Remember, our definition of a busted bracket is if one (or both) of your National Championship game teams lose before said game. The East is shaping up to be our best region, meanwhile the Southeast looks like absolute wreckage. Who could have predicted Richmond would look so studly? All in all this is shaping up to be one of our down years in bracket picking. We'll see what happens today.

Bracket update

Second Round analysis: Obviously the East and Southeast were our best picks and where we have the most brackets in tact. On the inverse is the other regions. Chalk is winning out so far in this tournament. We are not busted yet but we'll see what this weekend holds...

And yes, we still love that Georgetown pick (or non pick depending on how you look at it).

Pearl Watch: Tennessee/Michigan

Is Bruce Pearl a dead mam walking? For every game they play it has the possibility to be his last, so the Volunteers in essence are fighting not for a possible NCAA championship but for Pearl's career.

Game odds: Tennessee -1 1/2



Go Vols!

Bracket update

Most Damaging Picks: Louisville tanking against Morehead State and St. John's getting waxed at the hands of Gonzaga.

Most Genius Picks: Wisconsin denying Belmont the upset.

Status: Still in the game.

Our official 2011 March Madness bracket picks

Without further adieu our predictions...

Now, this First Four shit -

East #16: We have Alabama State beating UTSA and then promptly losing to Ohio State
East #12: We have Clemson beating UAB and then promptly losing to West Virgina
Southwest #16: We have NC Asheville beating Arkansas-Little Rock and then promptly losing to Pitt
Southwest #11: We have USC beating VCU and then promptly beating Georgetown

Yes, you read that right. Georgetown is going down. The Hoyas have been the most disappointing team we have seen this year. Remember, we stopped watching their games because they had gotten so bad.

Other notes: Yes, we will forever love San Diego State but we have to be honest. Penn State is to us like a full strength BYU. Talor Battle and their cast of giant killers will unfortunately prove to be too much for the Aztecs. But at least we have a good shot of making it out of the first round for this first time in school history!

Also, this marks our most boring bracket. All four #1 seeds will be in the Final Four. Good luck everybody.

Poll Dancing

Questions?

Ummm, yeah, how come SDSU is ranked so far down with only two loses and there are other teams with more loses ranked above us? Our best wins are... well... we have no best wins really. Sure we have beaten St. Mary's, Gonzaga and Wichita State but no current teams in the top 25 to speak of. However Notre Dame, Texas and Pitt have multiple wins against current top 25 talent. Frankly we still feel we are a bit too high.

Hey, BYU leapfrogs from 7 to 3 and nearly 6 spots above us. Are they really THAT good? Are you kidding us? Granted we are not top 10 talent but the fact that they have an All American/All Wooden/All World/POY type player in James Taft Fredette AND the fact that even THEY have beaten current top 25 talent makes them deserving.

Why do they keep rotating the same three damn teams into the number one spot? Why won't they let another team have it? We dunno. Hard to let go of the ones you love? Ask Gary Parrish.

Will BYU get the number one seed come tournament time? If the Cougars can win their last two games and win the Mountain West tournament then yes. If not then no. If SDSU does the same then still no. Kansas and Ohio States are locks. Pitt and Duke need to have a good showing come their conference tourney time. BYU (if they do what we said) could knock off Duke from that final number one seeding.

More tea anyone? No? Then return to your posts, citizens.

Fighting the battle of who could care less

Syracuse +5. Meh.

Will you never rest
Fighting the battle of who could care less
Unearned unhappiness
That's alright I guess

Can anyone tell us what these two teams were playing for last night?? They both are getting into the dance. They both are getting the same seeding. A loss by either team would not change this. Couple that with sloppy sloppy Big East style play and you had a game that, well, was just a game. The final minute could not make up for it. That's alright we guess.

Pittsburgh dislikes this video

St. John's 60 - Pitt 59

What is with the Johnnies and Madison Square Garden? First we were saying they were lucky beating West Virginia at home, then they turn around and make MSG a house of horrors for all opponents. In a game that folks all but gave Pitt the win, the Red Storm hung tough and beat the Panthers at their own game with vicious defense. Then with the game on the line and 11 seconds left this happens...



Yeah, we are putting St. John's as a BUBBLE BUT IN at this point.

Survival Saturday

There are two games we are particularly interested in today's ESPN Bracket Buster madness -

Utah State at St. Mary's: Both teams lost to horrible opponents this past week. Because of this (and also the lack of quality opponents down the stretch) we feel that both teams are currently looking at a BUBBLE BUT OUT situation. Another loss would be curtains for either team.

UNLV at Colorado State: We think that UNLVGirl said it all this week about the slumping Rebels. Colorado State has gotten attention but no real quality wins. While UNLV isn't exactly quality at this point it certainly will make a strong case for the Rams to be in the Tournament. The Rebels just needs some wins period to keep their hopes alive.

A dreaded "L" for any of these teams by end of day will cause some of these players to take out their frustrations in new and interesting ways...

(Internet) surfing in the USA

First, Ohio State will fall to Wisconsin at the Kohl Center. Everyone, everyone, and we mean everyone is predicting that. This is what we call a "Justify Your Existence" game for the Buckeyes.

Next, a fantastic article over at Rush The Court on our beloved Aztecs -

The Aztecs are not a great shooting team, whether from deep or from the free throw line. As a whole the team shoots 34.2% from three, a below-average mark compared to the rest of the nation. And from the charity stripe, they’re even worse, hitting just 67% of their freebies, good for #222 out of 345 teams.

Yes, it was a pro-SDSU article, but we are sticklers for the truth. And this killed us at BYU and can kill us at UNLV or versus BYU again. Does Fisher even drill them on this?!?!

Finally, over at the now mandatory Luke Winn's Power Rankings we have this: San Diego county Jack in the Box restaurants have been giving customers free delicious curly fries each time SDSU holds an opponent to under 50 points a game. And the players are using that as an incentive -

Following an 85-53 win over Utah, SDSU forward Brian Carlwell told the San Diego Union-Tribune the fries had been motivation for late-game defense. With the Utes sitting on 43 points, Carlwell told his teammates, "They can't score these seven points in seven minutes. We got to get these fries."

We don't know whether to be amused or alarmed. But I guess we should thank SDSU alum and Jack in the Box CEO Linda Lang.


Thanks, Linda. Have a drink on us.

A prediction...

Wisconsin is going to beat the fuck out of Michigan State.

Not a prediction: Gus Johnson is going to be calling that game. Joy.

BATTLE!!!

Wisconsin students drown sorrows in beer after losing to Penn State 52 to 56


Seriously. We need to start calling Penn State the ranked team assassins. Wisconsin had the game in hand but credit Nittany Lion guard Talor Battle. He single handedly beat the Badgers with a barrage of threes in the second half and this was the THIRD time he has done this. But we're assuming you guys have already saw or read all this elsewhere...

Here is what you will NOT see: We now are predicting Penn State will be in March Madness as a 12-16 seed. Deal with it.

Know your enemy

Introducing the Brigham Young University Cougars...

Attack of the clones!

The one and only key to this game?

Stopping Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette, Jimmer Fredette

We have no answer. We will never have an answer. As good as D.J. Gay, Billy White and Kawhi Leonard are they do not come close. If all three brought their 'A' games and James Rahon was shooting lights out from 3 point land then maybe. If this game was at home we would say it will be a close one but we would lose. But this being at the Marriott Center we are going to get destroyed.

Yes, we are Aztec fans and alumni. But we are also realists. Give us any shred of statistical proof that we will be victorious. If we are wrong then great. We are still a great team but we know our limits. Wonder what Vegas has for the line on this game?

Go Aztecs anyway.

Down goes "Da U"

Miami gets out-toughed again, this time by NC State losing 70 to 72 to the Wolfpack. Not that it matters much to Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe. He's a dead man walking.

And our lead story (in case you haven't heard)

Kansas loses to Texas. Does it matter the score?

It was a not so happy night for Rock Chalk Nation. Despite being down 15 points at times, Texas did not get rattled at the Phog. Instead they concentrated on what got them the number 11th ranking in the country: Defense.

So, where does that leave us. There are now only two undefeated teams in the country, #1 Ohio State and us, #6 SDSU and come Friday there will only be one remaining undefeated team...

More on that Wednesday.

Shut up!

Yes, yes, we hear the talk. SDSU may be a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament blah blah blah. Look, as far as we are concerned the four #1 seeds right now are Duke, Kansas, Ohio State and Pitt. The four #2 seeds are UConn, Kentucky, Syracuse and Villanova. The four #3 seeds are Missouri, Texas A&M, West Virginia and BYU...

We can go on with this. Where do we think the Aztecs will wind up? Right now either a 4 or 5 seed. This is based on the simple fact that all those other teams we mentioned are better than SDSU in one or many aspects. This is not to say that a 4 seed is something to sneeze at. We would get a 13th seed pairing which would increase our odds of wining a March Madness tournament game for the FIRST TIME EVER.

So, this does of reality brought to you by the true fans of Aztec basketball. Deal.

Dragon slayers

Great snippet over at Sports Illustrated on how Tennessee better watch out when they play USC today. The Vols are vulnerable. Very, very vulnerable. And USC is not.