Daily Tourney Talk (Final Four Saturday)

Final Four Semifinals recap

Arron Afflalo joins Aaron Gray in the first team All-Overrated!

Thank you Florida for saving the game of basketball from the disgraceful style of play (foul on every play) of Ben Howland.

Ben Howland once again disgraces the UCLA legacy with a total anti-basketball slugfest. Yes, there is a good reason there defense is so good: they foul on every possession, every hedge, they push under the basket, etc, etc... Is FireBenHowland.com up and running?

Chevy Player and Coach of the year (no shocker, both can sing): Kevin Duran(t) Duran(t) and Tony Bennett. Can CBS make that award ceremony any more dry and scripted?

Vote for your favorite plays and the winner puts some cash into your favorite school's general scholarship fund at ncaasports.com/pontiac.


By the numbers

Strange Stat: This is the first time since 1998 that no more than one team per conference participates in the Final Four.

Number of Final Fours: This a bit surpring, since Ole Roy gave NC the lead when he won it all in 2005. However, UCLA managed to leapfrog the Tar Heels with two back-to-back Final Fours. Meanwhile the Final Four drought at both Duke and Kentucky continues, while Bill Self has also failed to deliver, even though he had at least two teams that were Final Four ready (2004, 2007). Watch out, Ohio State is gonna be there every year. Thad Matta as I mentioned right after he was hired by the Buckeyes is the next big star in coaching...
1. UCLA 17
2. North Carolina 16
3. Duke 14
4. Kentucky 13
5. Kansas 12
6. Ohio State 10

Winningest coaches in their first seven years
1. Mark Few, 188 (he won more than a ...few)
2. Everett Case, 187
3. Ole Roy (Roy Williams), 184
4. Thad Matta, 183; this is his seventh year, he will get to 184 if he beats Florida in the final on Monday. And if it wasn't for the zebras giving Duke all the 50-50 calls in the 2004 Elite 8 game (Xavier vs Duke), he would have had at least one more win.


Why UCLA must lose: for the good of the game UCLA's unwatchable slugfest style of play is bad for the game. Really bad. As the Wizard of Westwood has repeatedly said, basketball is a finesse game. A game of skill, talent and preparation, not bodybuilding, weightlighting, streetfighting, and wrestling... UCLA has turned the game into a defensive slugfest interrupted by occasional fastbreaks. Even with a blazing fast point guard like Darren Collison, UCLA still plays slow. UCLA's running is deceptive, most of the times they run not to score, but to force the opposing players to scramble to run back to defense... Coaches are copycats and the continued success of this style of play at UCLA will only increase the number of imitators. And that would be bad for the game. So for the good of the game, UCLA must lose today... Fans and bloggers are not exactly the guardians of the game, but if the coaches don't police themselves, someone else has to point them to the obvious... I loved Pete Gillan's tirade today on CSTV, with "I am tired of UCLA's defense", and "they put scoreboards to score", and "fans wants to see scoring". He has said what a lot of other analysts (*cough* espn *cough*) have been hinting at while not being brave enough to say it out loud for fear of offending. Big props to Pete Gillen!


Race Issues

Some of the Georgetown players mentioned during the press conferences that some people may have been questioning whether the Princeton offense would succeed at Georgetown because of the race of the players running it

Wilborn of PTI thinks there are some underlying race issues when everyone thinks that players want to jump to the NBA for the money and don't enjoy/want to stay in college. His case in point was all the cynicism regarding Kevin Durant's decision.


Tourney Talk

Another great piece by CBS's Clark Kellogg in a very interesting and very candid interview with the two Thompsons (Big John, and Three Sticks (to borrow a Jim Rome phrase once again)... Of course some cynics may try to find a link between Patrick Ewing's complaints that his son didn't get enough playing time earlier on, and Mark Egerson transfering out.

TV note: The "10 greatest college shooters" special on CBS that was pre-empted because of tennis has been rescheduled for 2pm ET on May 13, 2007. Now that's what I call long-term planning on the fly!

Great piece by CBS (The Final Four Show) on USC's Ryan Francis.

Men's Final Four Predictions: Florida beats UCLA, still can't pick between Ohio State and Georgetown. Florida will be the national champion regardless.

Some espn video game dude's simulations picked Florida as well

Women's Final Four Predictions: Sylvia Fowles owns the paint, LSU wins and loses in the final to the winner of North Carolina and Tennessee. I predict Tennessee wins in an instant classic for the games, a triple overtime up and down extravaganza, and Candance Parker gets a triple double.

In a recent interview with Chris Meyers, John Wooden said he would like to see
all teams play in the NCAA. Interesting...

Big Brother (Myles Brand of the NCAA) has hinted at the possibility of a 68 team tourney. I guess Boeheim's whining didn't fall on deaf ears. But if the tourney is expanded to 68, please make sure the two opening around games are between at-large teams!. It would be totally unfair to put the four lowest mid-majors to square off, while mediocre "bcs" teams who refuse to play road games (SYRACUSE) get in.

Big Brother also talked about an NFL-draft-like rule. I don't think restricting players to three years in college is a good idea. While most of the players would benefit from this, it would be unfair to restrict them. Take someone like LeBron: He had to either go to college for three years or zero. Or even take Oden or Durant or Brandan Wright: They may have opted for the NBA because they didn't want to commit to three years in college.

On the other hand, the lack of college basketball experience perhaps may explain why LeBron is unable to deliver in clutch situations. The pressures of a college season, such as the single-elimination NCAA games and conference tourney games can be very helpful in getting a player to learn how to perform in such situations.

Florida's Walter Hodge on John Wooden: "that old dude". Memo to the NCAA: You should create a one-credit course in the history of college basketball that all college basketball players must take!


Coach Talk & Carousel

Seth Davis: South Florida interviewed Stan Heath, and Iowa will take a look at Dana Altman next week, which may throw some water on the Rick Majerus rumors.

Andy Katz says Chris Lowery is going to be re-upped and stay put at SIU.

Andy Katz says Kevin O'Neil is likely to be the next South Florida coach. Gottleib: "He is a grinder, but he can certainly coach on the defensive end".

Rece Davis is turning into a name-dropper: "When I talked to Donovan's agent...". Okay Rece, we know, you have arrived :-)

Vitale is propagating the Billy Donovan to the Memphis Grizzlies rumor.

Bill Walton calls on the NCAA to increase the number of fouls to six. I strongly agree!

This just in: Philip is in! According to the LA Times, Phil Jackson got in the Basketball Hall of Fame. The list of candidates and my predictions on the hall of fame at the Hall of Fame IN or OUT? post.

Don't miss the Sunday Outside the Lines (630amPT/930amET) on ESPN as it has (yet another) feature on the one and only Bob Knight. I name this one, "the softer side of Sears". (ooops, the softer side of Bob Knight)...


Kentucky Coaching Idol 2007

Vitale says that Donovan wouldn't move because his inlaws recently moved to Florida. But wait Dickie V, isn't that a good reason to get out?

Vitale continues to whine about the Tubby Smith situation (unbelievable 26.3 wins, etc, etc) but he still fails to understand why that was not good enough for Kentucky).

Billy Donovan to Kentucky continues to be a story bigger than the games. Part of it of course is Billy the Kid refusing to make any definite comments and instead saying things like "I don't have my phone".

The internet has provided new ways for fans and player's families to interact: The father of Kentucky's promising freshman guard Jodie Meeks posted at a message board to let UK fans know that his son was not thinking of transfering out after Tubby Smith transfered out to the TimberGophers.


Funny or Not?

Quotable Pete Gillan: "he has the poise of a riverboat gambler". "during my last year at Virginia my zone offense was ludacris that's why I got fired", "defense is what you put around the house to keep the cats and dogs in".

I can't help it but call the interim LSU coach "Porky". Not sure why :-) But he has done a great job in not only keeping the team together, but also allowing them to focus on the game and make it to the NCAA Final Four. I nominate "Porky" for coach of the year!

Make sure you block the Discovery Channel today if you have kids!. The Dirty Rat (Coach K) will be polluting the airwaves with his "don't practice what you preach" BS-ology in his "Center Court with Coach K" special. Please protect your kids from the brainwashings of this insane and out of control basketball coach who drains the life force out of his players. Protect your kids now!

Memo to Ben Howland: Please stop calling the "NCAA" "NC2A". You are the last remaining person who does that. So in return, I will be calling you Ben Holland, until you start saying "NCAA", not "NC2A".

Be careful ESPN when you schedule Jimmy Dykes to do women's games, his name may be perceived the wrong way ;-)

Matta on Oden/Conley communication: "better than husband/wife".

Daily Tourney Talk (Friday, March 30, 2007)

Did you know? CBS and SI personality Seth Davis wrote a book called Equinunk, Tell Your Story: My Return to Summer Camp. This is not a basketball book, but rather Seth Davis chronicles a summer at Camp Equinunk.

Billy Packer on CSTV: "tourney expansion is a political deal". He does not support expansion, "nice as it is right now". Also not very keen on the play-in game.

T-Shirt Gate 2007!. A scandal of major proportions broke out at the NIT. West Virginia played like a team, so the NIT decided to take out the "i" from "Virginia" in their championship team t-shirts ;-)

List of recruits affected by the Coaching Carousel has been updated with the Iowa and Arkansas recruits

Final Four coverage from John Feinstein at Washington Post (no registration required). Some highlights: Boeheim joked about taking the Kentucky job at $8 million per year and he probably joked about actually scheduling road games (!!!)... Folger thinks Tubby is very happy now free from the Big Blue Storm that has been around him for the last few years... Latest rumor is Kentucky offers $4m per year for Donovan... Leonard Hamilton at Arkansas?... Tubby Smith and Steve Alford joked about their exit strategies... Larry Schyatt at South Florida?... It was Schaytt that got Billy Donovan the championship after all (the defensive co-ordinator; as much as Florida denounces this)... Read all about it in John Feinstein's column!

Kentucky Coaching Idol 2007: Mark Schlabach's story at espn.com says that sources point to Kentucky making Billy "the Kid" Donovan an offer starting at $2.8m per year ($3.5m with incentives/bonuses). Donovan currently makes a mere $1.8m per year. Sources say that Florida was willing to pay Donovan up to $2.5m before the Kentucky bidding war... Meanwhile Kentucky hired the same executive search firm that got Tubby the TimberGophers job, which fuels the fire of a staged and pre-agreed upon exit strategy designed by both Tubby and Kentucky. As you may recall a few weeks ago Pitino warned Kentucky not to fire Tubby. By Tubby leaving on his own, both parties saved face (sort of)... According to "sources" the top paid coaches are The Dirty Rat (Coach K) and Ole Roy (he needs every penny for his "Coke habit")... Izzo comes third with $2.6m... This is before any retention, trigger and special bonuses are accounted for... Meanwhile, Aaron's UK basketball blog has wall to wall coverage on the coaching situation, including stories on Donovan, Calipari, Gillespie, Patrick Patterson, Jai Lucas, comments from legendary C.M. Newton, and Tubby too... Meanwhile a TCpalm.com story makes a case why Kentucky is a much better job than Florida... Let's not forget that if Billy Donovan was the Kentucky coach, he would have probably been fired in 2005 after five years of subpar performance after the 2000 NCAA final appearance...

AP Awards: Kevin Durant named AP College Player of the Year, the first freshman ever to win this award. Andy Katz on will he stay or will he go (to the NBA?). Best selling singer Tony Bennett won the singer (oooops!) coach of the year award.

Billy Gillespie's deal will be at $1.75 million per year (a jump of a mere half a million!). Billy won't sign the deal until he returns from the Final Four (perhaps waiting for the Kentucky bid after Billy Donovan quickly declines?). ESPN story. This means the pressure on Gillespie to deliver will increase now. No longer every win will be a celebration. Things like "we are paying you $2m per year to bring us championships" will start coming up... Meanwhile Arkansas has conceded that they lost Gillespie. Perhaps they should rehire Stan Heath?

Mascot Madness with Jeff Corwin and Lee Corson is coming to you on Sunday night on the Animal Planet channel. It includes a discussion of what's a good mascot, how a school decides which one to select, and viewer rankings. It will play three times on Sunday. If you miss it, it will repeat on Thursday as well. Animal Planet is typically a standard cable channel.

Girl Power! Goodyear selected one college student from each Final Four team to shoot a basket from 500 feet above the ground in a Goodyear blimp into a giant basket on the ground. Of the four, two were men, two were women. Both men missed their shot, both women made their shots!

One day before the tourney starts!

Right now, (10amPT/1pmET), coverage from the Final Four on both ESPN-News (press conferences) and CSTV (live 3-hour show from Atlanta, including team practices). If you miss it, CSTV will repeat its 3-hour show at 6pmPT/9pmET.

My predictions? Florida over UCLA, but I have a hard time picking the Georgetown vs Ohio State game...

Donovan McNabb is trying to break a record by appearing in every single show produced by ESPN in Bristol, CT, including a Sportscenter anchor audition using a shot sheet (industry term) for a basketball highlight.


Speaking of March Madness, you can enhance your college basketball dvd collections with some of these titles:

Some of these are the official NCAA DVDs produced in association with CBS Sports, some of them are produced by the individual teams, all sold on Amazon:

The pictures are links to the Amazon summary product page, with more details on these. I have not reviewed any of these (yet), so please do your research before purchasing... Some of them have full games, some of them have highlights, some have both...

1978 Duke-Kentucky NCAA Championship game

1979 Larry Bird vs Magic Johnson final

1980 NCAA Championship Louisville vs UCLA

1981 NCAA Championship: North Carolina vs Indiana

North Carolina 1982 - Flashback

1985 Villanova championship - a family's legacy

Syracuse 2003 Champions - Finally Orange

UConn Huskies 2004 Champions (ConnQuest)

2004 Women's Final Four

2005 Destination Indianapolis - Women's Final Four

2005 Lady Bear Brilliance - Official NCAA Women's championship

North Carolina 2005 Champions - Team Carolina

2006 Women's Final Four

2006 Women's Final Four in Boston

2006 Gator Glory

2005-2006 Florida Gators

Magnificent March - Official 2006 NCAA Championship, includes three full games (three Final Four games: national semifinals and final) and highlights and specials

Un4gettable the 2005-2006 LSU Journey

2006 West Virginia Highlights - Sweet Memories

Billy Donovan - Mastering the Full Court press

Mastering the Flex Offense by Gary Williams

John Wooden's UCLA Offense Book/DVD package

100 years of Duke - guaranteed to fill up your TV screen with Coach K smug-pixels :-)

Daily Tourney Talk (Thursday March 29, 2007)

Coaching Carousel

Indiana State has found a new head coach sitting on the Creighton bench, assistant Kevin McKenna

Some more names mentioned by Andy Katz for the Michigan job, including Chris Lowery (prepare for 41-39 games) (also mentioned at Iowa and Arkansas), Sean Miler, and of course John Beilein. Stallings is interested [allegedly] but only if he is offered the job (he doesn't want to interview (how nice!)).

Meanwhile TV coach Reggie Theus wants a primetime salary that can elevate WAC's status. Theus made $325K with bonuses included this season. After all New Mexico just paid Steve Alford almost $1m/year, while the most successful WAC coach (Mark Fox @ Nevada) is at $400k/yr.

AOLSportsBlog is talking about the Michigan job where John Beilein and Kevin Stallings are among the most frequently mentioned names. Beilein has a $2.5m buyout. Is Michigan willing to pay big money for its next coach?

Florida recruits are allegedly alleging that Donovan told them he is staying at Florida

Bob Knight makes $1.3million . Not sure how much extra he makes from all the ads on his red sweater :-)

The Texas A&M Board of Regents will vote on Friday on Gillespie's new deal ($2m per year thru 2012, vs $1.25m per year now).



Reader Segment (sort of)

Some readers are hoping for Tom Crean going to Iowa.

Kentucky fans are digging into Billy Donovan's past

Question: Why did OJ Mayo choose USC?... Answer: 1) For marketing purposes, so he can be at a high profile media market, 2) he wanted to play for an NBA coach and also (according to Tim Floyd) 3) he wanted to go to a place where he could create a legacy, as opposed to following other superstars (eg if he went to Carolina, Kansas, etc).

We are getting closer and closer to the Final Four. Today is "travel day" for a lot of the TV analysts, so there won't be as much coverage. But expect a barrage of stuff tomorrow, including the press conferences on ESPN News, a three-hour show live from the Final Four in Atlanta on CSTV, a 40-minute College Gamenight on ESPN...

The NIT final takes places tonight at 4pmPT/7pmET on ESPN, with Clemson trying to maintain a palmetto NIT-dynasty, while West Virginia wants to put a banner in their building (hopefully the shotgun fired at the start of each game won't tear it down).

Right after the NIT final, the 2007 college basketball skills (or is it skillz?), dunks and three-pointer contest takes places somewhere in the ATL.

Also at 1230pmPT/3:30pmET, the Outside the Lines first report centers on the ...Centers of Attention (Greg Oden vs Roy Hibbert). Also the Centerpiece ...piece looks at the Golden Anniversary of the 1957 final of Kansas vs North Carolina. Must see/record TV!


Incidentally the November 2006 issue of "Slam" magazine is a high-school basketball special issue with Kevin Love and Kyle Singler on the front cover. It's available on Amazon for $5, and eligible for free shipping with orders over $25. Also eligible for the 4-for-3 promotion.

Daily Tourney Talk (Wednesday, March 28, 2007)

Don't miss today's edition of Crystal Ball on CSTV! It features comedian-coach Phil Martelli of Philly and St Joe's as a guest. The show will repeat multiple times tonight and tomorrow on CSTV!

College Basketball Coaches Salaries
Book mark this story at USA Today!. Also includes a comparison with football coaches salaries and the impact of shoe company endorsements as a sizeable part of their payment. I will disect this story after the Final Four is over. Story was written on March 8, 2007 (before Tubby Smith left for the TimberGophers of Minnesota).


Kentucky 2007

Funny, the TV listings at FSN have changed already. The "Tubby Smith Coaches show" has been renamed to "Kentucky basketball". Tubby who??? Wow :-)

Latest Kentucky news at many places, such as Kentucky Sports Radio, AOL FanHouse, including Billy Donovan, Tom Izzo, Billy Gillespie.

The Houston Chronicle reports that Gillespie and A&M have agreed to a beefed up salary, going from $1.25m to $2m per year. With this package he would leapfrog both Rick Barnes ($1.8m/yr) and former boss Bill Self ($1.6m/yr). Interestingly on Monday they are expected to break ground on a brand new $22million basketball facility at A&M.

Ohio State AD said he would grant Kentucky permission to talk to Thad Matta if they wanted to. He may feel secure that Matta won't leave at $2m per year, but perhaps so did the people at Butler and Xavier :-)

One Billy Donovan news item that was rescinded as simply a rumor talked about a seven year deal paying him $3.5m per year (!!!) with a $3.5m loyalty bonus if he stays there all seven years.


Actual Coaching Changes/Extensions

In an actual coaching hire (for a change) UConn assistant Tom Moore will stay in the hood and take over Quinnipiac. Apparently the new $52m twin-arena (basketball, hockey) has made the Q job more attractive than usual.

Tony Bennett will stay at Washington State according to the AOL Sports Blog. An email (!!!) campaign netted a quarter million of pledges to boost his current salary of a mere $350K/yr.

Georgia's Dennis Felton (who may have inspired a certain coach-persona on a recurring Mad TV skid), got extended by Georgia. The new contract is 4 years long at $750K/per. A salary increase of $50K.

Mike De Courcy of Sportings News on ESPN News: Arkansas has offered the job to somebody (presumably Billy Gillespie), but A&M may be taking a bit longer to make a counteroffer. Oh how greedy they have become, these "teachers and guardians of the game, who all they want to do is coach the kids". Not that I wouldn't do the same thing if I was in their shoes (and shoe contracts too) :-)

Skip O'Bayless has branded the Ohio State vs Georgetown as the sham semifinal because of questionable non-calls that allowed them to advance in an earlier round.

Army's women's team wins the V Foundation Comeback Award! Congratulations!

John Thompson was contacted this year by NBA teams including the Charlotte Bobcats, which brought up the topic of contract extension. GT3 has just two years left on his contract and he has a base salary of around $450K. Can Georgetown afford him? Will we see Final Four coaches going to the NBA this spring/summer?

Air Force Jeff Bzdelik expected to meet with Colorodo AD to discuss a potential in-state move... Jeff "Grouchy-Giant" Ruland accepted the contract buyout after 9 years at Iona... Coach Gail Goestenkors may be named Texas coach. Congratulations Coach G for escaping the smug-cloud of Coach K hanging over Duke Athletics! All the best in your new job at Texas!

Andy Katz on Cold Pizza with the latest on the coaching carousel: Kentucky: Waiting for Billy Donovan... Donovan is only thinking about the Final Four, none of the contracts and other possibilities... Izzo a possibility... Stan Heath still doesn't have a clear answer as to why he was ejected... Arkansas apparently was dreaming of getting Billy Gillespie, but Arkansas AD cannot find Gillespie's phone number!!! Sean McCurdy already asked for a transfer, and promising freshman Patrick Beverly is having 2nd thoughts... Iowa: Dana Altman or Chris Lowery are possibilities...

Pete Carrill insists the Princeton offense is really old-school offense that among others the old Boston Celtics with Bill Russell were playing.

Dust up your VHS tapes, this year's final four is a rerun of last year's NCAA tourney: UCLA vs Florida was the NCAA final of 2006, while Georgetown vs Ohio State was a 2nd Round game

Need another reason why giving your son the same first name is a bad idea? ... Sidney Lowe's 21-year old son Sidney Lowe got in trouble with the law (20+ charges in two incidents). Ouch!

If Billy Donovan had been at Kentucky, he would have been fired in April 2005 for failing to deliver with the touted class of Matt Walsh, Anthony Roberson, Lee, Drejer, Appleby, and for the underperforming freshman class of Noah, Brewer, Horford, Green.

Superfrosh Kevin Durant won the Adolph Rupp player of the year trophy. On a totally unrelated note, Adolph is a rather unfortunate name for someone accused of racial bigotry...

Daily Tourney Talk (Tuesday)

Detailed CBS TV ratings for the 2nd week at the end of today's post!

ESPN the Magazine Tom Friend talks about Billy Donovan and, no, not Kentucky, no not extending his current contract, but, yes but, the Miami Heat! At 41, this would certainly be an interesting challenge for Billy, and a nice boost to his bank account(s).

Bold idea for the next Kentucky basketball coach: There's a number of promising coaches with Kentucky links that do not have the big time experience or resume to become the head coach at KY right now... So what if Kentucky hires all of them, and they work together as a triumvirate? People like Ralph Willard, Travis Ford, etc, etc... I know it's highly unlikely, but basketball is all about teamwork after all, although this doesn't seem to apply when it comes to a head coach's ego :-)

Iowa wants to talk to Bruce Pearl. About what? About the weather? About who he recommends for their next coach? Surely they don't think they can lure him out of Tennessee?. The only thing they can hang their hat on was that he was a former assistant there, and he is of the Dr Tom Davis (Ph.D) coaching tree... But in all reality this is just a PR move that helps both parties. Bruce Pearl's stock rises, and the Iowa job gets perceived as more intriguing since, well, Bruce Pearl is taking a look at it. Bruce Pearl is currently at $1.1m, going to $1.2m next year, with a $1m buyout. (m for millions!). He will receive a one year extension taking him to 2013.

Andy Katz reports that the Big East is going to an 18-game schedule next year, and every team will play each other at least once, but they won't decide on the matchups until after the NBA draft situation is settled. Having high profile games on ESPN (eg Big Monday), has its side-effects - it seems their schedule is heavily influenced by the ESPN mega-contract.

TV listings for the week are here.

DVD Shopping segment!. One day sale at Amazon, the first four seasons of The Shield are on sale for $90 (typical Amazon price is $137). Free shipping as well. The price is only good for today (Tuesday)... A brand new season of The Shield starts on FX the day after the Final Four (Tuesday, April 3, 2007).



Detailed CBS TV ratings for the NCAA tournament

Thursday
* Game 1: 6.0 rating (11%) with 9m viewers (m = millions).
* Game 2: 6.6 (13%) with 9.93m viewers (UCLA vs Pitt or Ohio St vs Tenn)

Friday
* Game 1: 5.4 (11%), 8.13m viewers
* Game 2: 6.3 (12%), 9.41m viewers (North Carolina vs USC or UNLV vs Oregon)

Saturday
* UCLA vs Kansas: 6.8 (14%), 10.22m viewers

Sunday
* The end of the North Carolina vs Georgetown gave them a nice 9.8 (19%), 15m viewers.

Week of March Madness TV Listings!

*** all times pacific unless otherwise indicated; add +3 for eastern ***
*** this will be updated throughout the week ***
*** networks may change their listings, always check with your local provider!!!
*** I am bound to have some typos or incorrect listings, always check with your local provider!!!


2008 Update!
Here are the 2008 NCAA tournament TV listings.


2007 TV listings
The listings below are for the 2007 NCAA tournament:

Monday March 26, 2007

7pm, 9pm, California high school division 1 and division 2 championship, Fox College Sports

9pm, College Gamenight (20 minutes), ESPN


Tuesday March 27, 2007

230am, Before the Bigs: Luke Walton, Fox College Sports

5am, 9am, 11am, 10pm, midnight: various UCLA at USC from 1999, 2000 and 2001, Fox College Sports

7am, 6pm: California high school division 1 championship, Fox College Sports

930am, 2am, One to One with Gene Keady, CSTV

930am, 330am, Michigan class B high school championship, Fox College Sports

10am to 1am, massive Final Four highlights marathon on CSTV, from 1991 to 2005 (one hour for each year)

12pm, 2pm, 3am: California high school division 2 championship, Fox College Sports

11am, the 1989 NCAA final, Michigan vs Illinois, ESPN Classic

2pm-5pm, Pistol Pete Diaries marathon (all six episodes), Fox College Sports. The first four episodes feature author Mark Kriegel. The last two episodes are black and white highlights of Pistol Pete baSKETBALL games.

3pm, 4pm, March Madness College Coaches Show, FSN, Fox College Sports

4pm, 630pm, NIT Semifinals from MSG, ESPN2 (corrected, not on ESPN)

5pm, In Focus Duke's 91-92 dirty season, FSN

6pm, Chris Meyers Interview with John Wooden, FSN

9pm, College Gamenight (20 minute), ESPN

1130pm, Chris Meyers Interview with Ben Howland, FSN

midnight, repeat of the 2006 dunk/3pointer competition, ESPN



Wednesday March 28, 2007

530am, 730am, Michigan class A and C high school championship, Fox College Sports

1am, 3am to 9am, Final Four highlights marathon on CSTV, 91 thru 97, (one hour for each year)

4pm, McDonalds Jam Fest (dunk competition), ESPN

5pm, McDonalds All-star game, ESPN. Men/Boys.


If you find these listings useful, you can encourage this blog to continue posting them by making your Amazon.com purchases via the affiliate link here or the Amazon logos in the blog.


Thursday March 29, 2007

4pm, NIT final, ESPN

6pm, 2007 College Basketball Skills (or is it Skillz?) competition, live from Atlanta,, ESPN

Final Four edition of the Crystal Ball on CSTV


Friday March 30, 2007

10am, Final Four Press Conferences, ESPN News

10am, 6pm: Live from the Final Four (3 hour special), CSTV

5pm, 9pm, 10pm: Final Four Salute, CSTV





Saturday March 31, 2007

1130am, Live from the Final Four, CSTV

12pm, Road to the Final Four, CBS

1230pm, The Final Four Show (2.5 hours long), CBS

2pm, Dick Vitale's All American College basketball special, 1 hour long, ABC (this will air at 130pm Eastern, and 1230pm Central). Check local listings!!!

2pm, Center Court with Coach K: Total Smugfest Alert! as Coach K teaches the mere mortals on the Discovery Channel (I kid you not!!!)

3pm, NCAA Final Four, the two semifinals, CBS



If you find these listings useful, you can encourage this blog to continue posting them by making your Amazon.com purchases via the affiliate link here or the Amazon logos in the blog.

*** all times pacific unless otherwise indicated; add +3 for eastern ***

Daily Tourney Talk (Monday)

The Coaching Carousel has been updated with an analysis of the 17 jobs that have been filled so far, comparing jobs given to head coaches vs jobs given to associate head coaches.

The 2007 McDonalds All American All Star game will air on Wednesday March 28, 2007 on ESPN. More details at Recruiting Wars.

Just announced: The Dick Vitale College Basketball All-American Special on ABC this Saturday, March 31, 2007, at 1:30pmET/12:30pm central/2pm pacific (the time varies from region to region because of live events before/after it). If you miss it, it will repeat on ESPN2 at 930am pacific on Sunday. Some of the online/cable tv listings may not be yet updated with it, so check again later on.


NCAA TV ratings on CBS for week 2

Thursday: Day 1 of the Sweet 16 got CBS a 6.9 (11%) and 3.9... Last year they got 8.2 (13%), and 4.3 in 18-49.

Friday: Day 2 of the Sweet 16 got CBS a 6.2 (11%) and 3.2, all #1s... Last year they got 6.9 (12%) and 3.9.

Saturday: Day 1 of the Elite 8 got CBS the #1 spot in the 18-49 group (2.9 rating)... Last year they got a 6.1 (11%) and 3.3 in 18-49.

Sunday: The dramatic overtime of North Carolina vs Georgetown got CBS a 10.1 (19%), with a 4.8 rating in the category advertisers love (18-49). This was #1 across the board... Last year they got a 10.1 (17%) and 4.7 in the same timeslot.



Final Four Predictions

Both Rick Majerus and Steve Lavin predict a Georgetown vs UCLA final, and both predict Georgetown to win. Bill Bradley also picks Georgetown.

Digger Phelps and Dick Vitale predict Ohio State vs Florida. Digger thinks payback will be a factor in favor of UCLA, but not enough to tilt the scales.

Jay Bilas picks UCLA over Florida in a single-elimination game. But if it was a best of seven he prefers Florida.

Skip Bayless predicts Florida beating Ohio State handily in the national title game

Andy Katz predicts Georgetown beats Ohio State.

Doug Gottleib predicts Georgetown beats Ohio State and Florida beats UCLA.


Tubby Carousel 2007

Pat Forde predicts Billy Donovan and Tom Izzo staying, and Tom Crean the most likely candidate.

Randolph Morris is making his NBA debut tonight with the New York Knicks against the Orlando Magic.

The Kentucky job opening seems to be bigger than the NCAA games themselves.

Pitino says he is not interested in returning to Camelot. He also dropped a "Roman Empire" reference. Perhaps he is watching Rome on HBO?

Florida president confident Billy the Kid will remain at Florida.


Coaching Carousel 2007

Stan Heath was caught by surprise by the firing. He was fired by the retiring AD F. Boyles. Strange? Andy Katz says Arkansas #1 choice is Billy Gillespie (good luck getting him!), while Katz thinks Doc Sandler is a good match because of his Arkansas ties. As you may recall both Gillespie and Sandler have been jumping from job to job the last couple of years, so I would not be surprised if they changed schools again.

Katz thinks Donovan to Kentucky is highly unlikely... Will not rule out Tom Izzo who Katz thinks he is high on the KY list (four Final Fours probably get the attention of Kentucky)... Others: Rick Barnes, Tom Crean, John Calipari, Mark Few, Jay Wright...

Calipari gets an extension at Memphis through 2011-2012. That of course doesn't really mean much, other than Calipari probably got a raise. Terms not announced/leaked yet. Derrick Rose is coming next year, and the only player graduating is Jeremy Hunt. It would be hard for Calipari to leave right now, even if Kentucky wanted him...

Arkansas fires Stan Heath, according to ESPN.com. Everybody wants Final Fours but only four can go each year.

Utah taps into the Tom Izzo coaching tree for its next coach, Izzo assistant Jim Boylen. No terms leaked/announced yet. Izzo has six former-assistants that are now head coaches, including Jon Stewart coaching the Daily Show on Comedy Central. (Oooops! I mean Brian Gregory coaching Dayton).

Mark Few's #2 Bill Grier officially takes over San Diego

North Dakota State gives the hc job to one of their assistants

Georgetown assistant K. Brodus to take over Binghampton!

Greg Marshall (Winthrop's coach) to remain there. I wouldn't take the South Florida either (and I'm not a coach even!). Other candidates are TV analysts Pete Gillen (Virginia coach, hey! he recruited Singletary, Reynolds, D. Byars (now at Vandy), etc), Fran Fraschilla (please hire him so we don't have to hear him drivel on ESPN, and please replace Ron Franklin with someone whose voice is not the definition of monotonous).

More on this in the Coaching Carousel, Spring Edition.



Elite 8 Day 2 recap

In an epic game for the ages, (karma?), North Carolina had a six-minute Freddie Brown extended play as they couldn't make a bucket and Georgetown-TNG has officially arrived on the national stage as a solid all-around basketball team. It was sad to begin with that one of these two teams wouldn't make it to the Final Four (who said the selection cmte did a good job? just because it was the year of the chalk...). This summer coaches from all over will start looking into implementing some form of the Georgetown-Princeton offense (unless they are busy doing the Mike D'Antoni offense).

More sad news for Carolina fans, unfortunately the student-mascot Jason Ray has passed away after being in critical for three days :-(

In a game that surprised no one, Florida's perimeter players tore up the nets with their hot shooting (literally!)- (I waited so long to write this line!). Tajuan Porter averages around 14ppg, so after his 33 point game in the Sweet 16, he almost laid an egg.


At home bracketologist

I just found out about a clever new product, a supersized reusable dry-erase bracket board, from Bracket64.com. You can see photos of the board here.

Daily Tourney Talk (Sunday, Elite 8)

Elite 8, Sunday March 24, 2007 CBS TV Listings

11amPT/2pm ET: Road to the Final Four

11:40amPT/2:40pm ET: Oregon vs Florida

2:05pmPT/5:05pm ET: Georgetown vs North Carolina

9pmPT/midnight ET: College Gameday on ESPN


Random Tourney Thoughts and Notes

Phil Martelli revealed yesterday that Ohio State wanted to fly him out for an interview back when they were looking for a coach (when they hired Thad Matta). Marteli, the St Joe's head coach, revealed this when he was a guest on CSTV's Tourney Talk.

Three great stories by Pat Forde on ESPN.com
* The mysterious ways Oregon got Malik Hairston and Tajuan Porter, aka the Detroit Ducks or the Detroit Pipeline to Oregon
* Kentucky will take its time to replace Tubby Smith
* Billy Donovan's non-answer answer to the questions about the Kentucky opening. Donovan makes around $1.7m per year with two years left, and his agent is probably encouraging him to encourage a bidding war over his services.

CSTV Tourney Talk caller "Roy from Missouri" mentioned that a certain high profile coaches's wife was "seen" in Lexington very very recently (after Tubby left)

An attempt at comedy/satire on the latest college basketball news at the College Hoops Repor(t)

Tired of the negativity and bad news with college sports? How about some Good News in college sports?

Memo to the NCAA: Time to go to six fouls. Why have the best players sit on the bench? People buy tickets and tune in to watch in order to see the best players on the court, not on the bench. Come on NCAA, wake up and smell reality for a change :-)

The state of Tennessee did well in this tourney: Three teams in the Sweet 16, and almost two in the Elite 8 (if it wasn't for the Green double-travel cha-cha-cha basket).

What exactly was Sleazo Auriemma doing there pushing and picking a fight with his assistant?

I'm sure you've seen the Dick Vitale DiGiorno pizza commercials, Coach Dirty K selling insurance, and Roy Williams talking about dimes and Coke. Well, did you catch a more casual, less buttoned-down Jim Nantz selling TVs at Circuit City? (unless of course that's his day job...)

Tim Floyd wants the USC vs UCLA rivarly to become as big as the Duke vs North Carolina. While it is certainly premature to say that, the two most high profile recruits of 2007 (not necessarily the best two) have ended up at USC (OJ Mayo) and UCLA (Kevin Love). USC also has the top player of 2008 (Brandon Jennings) and the top post-graduate player of 2007 (Devon Jefferson; if he is eligible and if he shows up; as you may recall he was supposed to go to UNLV in 2005-2006, and USC in 2006-2007. I'm not sure what his academic status is, he may be eligible for the NBA Draft as well).

Daily Tourney Talk (Elite 8, Saturday)

Wild unsubstantiated prediction #1: Rick Pitino will be the next Kentucky basketball coach.

Wild unsubstantiated prediction #2: Two "BCS" players will transfer to Minnessota by Xmas 2007.


Is FireBillSelf.com up and running???

Kansas clearly had superior talent... Bring Ole Roy back? :-)

Is the Elite 8 the ceiling for Bill Self? He is currently 0-4, including a loss with Roy's players, and a loss with a loaded McDonalds All-American team (this year).

Is the Tubby Smith story replayed at Kansas?

I know, I know, I know, it's too early, but you can't ignore some of the signs. Of course people have said the same things about a number of other coaches that turned out to win big later on, so take all that with a grain of salt (or a handful, not just one grain).



New Coaching Carousel Stories

ESPN reports that Mark Few's #2 (Bill Grier) is to take over San Diego. Few may replace him with former Utah and Eastern Washington head coach Ray Giacoletti. Is Mark Few planning his move to a "BCS" job while planning his succession at the same time? (Unlikely, but you never know)

Tubby Smith spins the contact between Minnesota and his agent six weeks ago.

Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com looks at various candidates for Kentucky, Michigan, Indiana State, Colorado, Marhsall, Harvard, South Florida and some mid-majors as well. Interestingly he mentions the possibility that if Kruger bolts for another job (his daughter just graduated as a five year senior taking advantage of the 2005-54), it would open the door for a former player/TV-star whose style is definately Vegas-style to take over (Reggie Theus).

Dick "Hoops" Weiss has a story at FoxSports looking at eight coaches who could be moving into more higher profile jobs.

Speaking of Dick "Hoops" Weiss you can read his blog and find out about Al Skinner and the NBA Bobcats, three former coaches turned TV analysts as possibilities at Iowa, South Florida and Harvard... I definately agree with Dick Weiss on wondering why isn't Corey Fisher in the McDonalds All American game while a couple of Top 50 players were selected instead... Two more UConn players may be "transfering out". For all the details, check Dick Weiss's blog!


Elite 8, Sunday March 24, 2007 CBS TV Listings

11amPT/2pm ET: Road to the Final Four

11:40amPT/2:40pm ET: Oregon vs Florida

2:05pmPT/5:05pm ET: Georgetown vs North Carolina

9pmPT/midnight ET: College Gameday on ESPN

Elite 8 nano-recap Ohio State and UCLA go to the Final Four! On the Xs and Os front, I don't know if this was by design or by necessity, but at one point Calipari was playing an intriguing line-up: Four AASAA wings (Anderson, CDR, Hunt, D. Mack) and Dozier as the center.

Transferology Skip Prosser must have found better recruits (2007, Gary Clark) because Casey Crawford (Fr), and Shermaine Dukes (So) are transferring out at the end of the semester.

Excellent Xs and Os flash-based feature at Yahoo Sports with diagramed plays by Greg Hester. It includes significant plays from Kansas vs Southern Illinois, Texas A&M vs Memphis, Georgetown vs Vandy and USC vs UNC. Great job Yahoo Sports!

Division 2 game, Division 1 drama as Barton managed to take the game from Winona (not Rider) in dramatic fashion with just under 1 second left in the game. If only the division 1 games were so exciting (oh wait, they were!)

Jim Calhoun made a guest appearance during the CBS broadcast of the NCAA Division 2 college basketball final. Perhaps that's the championship his team could have won this year :-)


Tubby Coaching Carousel Dominos

Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports thinks that ideal candidate for Kentucky is John Calipari. My favorite part of the story is this: "If you think it’s just street ball the Tigers are playing, ask any other coach or scout which team, Duke or Memphis, runs a more complicated, sophisticated offense and then watch them laugh at the comparison".


Elite 8, Saturday March 23, 2007 CBS TV Schedule

10amPT/1pm ET: Division 2 final, Barton vs Winona

12pmPT/3pm ET: Road to the Final Four

1:40pmPT/4:40pmET Memphis vs Ohio State

4:05pmPT/7:05pmET UCLA vs Kansas

9pmPT/midnight ET: College Gameday on ESPN


Elite 8, Sunday March 24, 2007 CBS TV Listings

11amPT/2pm ET: Road to the Final Four

11:40amPT/2:40pm ET: Oregon vs Florida

2:05pmPT/5:05pm ET: Georgetown vs North Carolina

9pmPT/midnight ET: College Gameday on ESPN

The College Hoops Repor(t)

Tonight, in the most controversial ever edition of the College Hoops Repor(t), former New Mexico coach Ritchie McKay finds Jesus, Robert "Joey" Dorsey calls out Greg Oden and then goes on to lay an egg, Julian Wright announces he will return next year (I didn't know NBA teams used lottery picks for forwards who couldn't shoot)... Rene Portland's no lesbian policy has a reasonable explanation (she wanted first dibs)... the Trojans are a Class Act (but isn't that a downgrade?)... Doug Gottleib calls Florida Team Clapper (I thought student-athletes medical records were supposed to be kept private!)...


Tip of the Hat

Rutgers and coach Vivian Stringer for upseting #1 seed Duke and Gail Goestenkors in the Women's Sweet 16.

Xs and Os multimedia playbook diagram at Yahoo Sports of some of the key plays from the NCAA games.

Vandy and Butler for playing great and handling themselves admirably despite some questionable calls

Billy Packer's "drenched jersey" indicator in the first half predicted that USC would tire out and get steamrolled by the Carolina depth

Oregon's Mighty Mouse freshman Tajuan Porter for a crazy 33 with 8 three pointers made.

Rick Majerus for suggesting that Georgetown retires the jerseys of the three refs who missed the Jeff Green last second walk

Spud Webb for dunking on Skip Bayless many years ago


Wag of the finger

CBS for not having Gus Johnson as one of their Sweet 16/Elite 8 play by play guys. Instead they use "traditional" play by play guys who stumble through the broadcast.

CBS for not using west coast analysts for west coast games/teams

The three referees of the Vandy vs Georgetown game who missed an obvious cha-cha walk.

Illinois AD for yelling at Bruce Weber and his players including Warren Carter

Howie Schwab for wearing an ACC shirt while appearing on Cold Pizza


On Notice

CBS for not using Gus Johnson after the first weekend of NCAA action

This post is inspired by the Colbert Repor(t)

Daily Tourney Talk (Friday, Sweet 16)

Sweet 16 games recap: The Year of the Chalk

The top 2 seeds in each region (top 8 teams in the country) are 23-1 (Wisconsin the only one losing).

The Roy "don't look at the score" and "stay the course" approach managed to win the game for Carolina as they wore down USC. Of note, the Billy Packer "drenched jersey" indicator pointing at USC getting worn out earlier in the game before the Carolina comeback wave hit them. Junior-aged freshman Taj Gibson probably made himself a lot of money by more than holding his own against Psycho-T and Brandan Wright. Tim Floyd's habit/superstition of always holding something in his hand (see Pat Forde story on ESPN.com) got him in trouble as he threw it on the floor and got T'ed up for it essentially sealing the game for Carolana. Also of note UNC managed to do all that without Terry and Hansbrough being factors in the game.

The Quack Attack survived a comeback attempt by UNLV making Oregon the 2nd Pac-10 team to advance to the Elite 8.

A valiant effort by Butler, but Florida was bigger, stronger, longer, and better. Why didn't Billy Donovan go to a smaller "4" earlier on, by playing Dan Warner or Corey Brewer as the 4 when they were unable to match up with the smaller Butler forwards?

A travel by Jeff Green and a possible palming by Jessie Sapp in the last couple of minutes broke the hearts of the Vandy players, coaches and fans. Bad zebras, but bad calls are part of the game. Should Vandy have called a timeout after the Green basket?

Memo to CBS: How about using some west coast analysts for the west coast teams/regions? Len Elmore mostly did ACC and Big East games this season, yet he was doing a lot of Pac-10/west coast teams. How about you get Marques Johnson and Steve Physioc for the west coast games?

Just updated the Coaching Carousel with the top available candidates

Happy Trails Randolph Morris. He just signed a contract with the New York Knicks, a two-year, $1.6 million contract according to ESPN News.

Quick comparison of the tenure of Tubby Smith and Rick Pitino at Kentucky
Tubby/Pitino: 10 vs 9 years, 263-83 vs 219-50, 10 NCAA appearances vs 6, 1 Final Four vs 3, both with one national championship.

Xs and Os Used-car salesman Calipari made a point during today's press conferences that his offense is not just "drive and kick". He said his offense is a combination of the Princeton offense and the european style of play, and it takes smart players to play it, it's not just drive and kick! (Thus Spoke Calipari).

Coaching Carousel Instant Update

Recruiting Domino effects by the Kentucky Coaching change

Tubby Smith gets a 7-year, $12.6 million contract with Minnesota

Steve Alford gets a 6-year $5.85 million contract at New Mexico

Wyoming finds its next coach on the Fresno State bench, former Wyoming assistant Heath Schroyer. Five-year contract with a base salary $150,000 per year, with a max of $500,000 with incentives.

Seth Greenberg's brother and assistant coach Brad Greenberg leaves Virginia Tech to take over the head coaching job at Radford. Radford is just 20 miles away from Blacksburg.

The AP has a new story on the Kentucky coaching search

Xavier extended Sean Miller for another 700 years. Will that stop him from leaving when a bigger job comes calling? No!.




Random Notes and Thoughts du jour

New Nike Uniforms record in the NCAA tourney: 5-1 (Arizona lost)

Did you know? Sean Miller (Xavier coach and former Pitt player) was the one who assisted the Send It In Jerome dunk!

If you are an NCAA team how do you know you are going to have a very highly contested instant classic game? When the brackets are announced? No!. When the TV announcers are announced? Yes, if you get Gus Johnson, you are almost guaranteed an instant classic.

Does Pitt have an NCAA ceiling?. With both Ben Howland and Jamie Dixon they have never been able to get beyond the Sweet 16 despite having 30-win seasons. And as I kept saying throughout the year, Aaron Gray was overrated!

ADs gone wild!: This time the Illinois AD yelling at players and poor Bruce Weber. Poor Bruce Weber: Kelvin Sampson "steals" Helen of Troy (Eric Gordon), his players get drunk and into accidents, his AD yells at him, his own brother won't steer his players towards Illinois,...

Ben Howland on his daughter: "she's been on a 22-year scholarship, she'd better root for UCLA". Howland admitted that he got her front row tickets for Justin TimberSync'alake. I don't think I would ever admit that on national TV. What's next? A private concert by 98 Degrees and the Backstreet Boys?

Iowa wasted their money buying "fire-coach" domain names. Steve Alford left on his own *cough* soft-landing *cough*

The Year of the Chalk, both in the NCAA and the NIT

Random Factoid: Once upon a time Spud Webb dunked on Skip Bayless, according to Skip O'Bayless

Ernie Kent is interested in Michigan while his team is playing. Is he really interested or using it too get a good deal from the Nike Ducks?

Greg Marshall's stinginess on timeouts may have cost him the game vs Oregon

Southern Illinois avenged their former boss's NCAA loss by beating Virginia Tech and sending Seth Greenberg back to the CSTV fieldhouse/studio

The Quack Attack finally gets some national respect. It would if they beat UNLV tonight

Has anyone said this yet? The Trojans are a Class Act

CBS and Basketball fans across the world are still upset at USC for taking out Kevin Durant and Texas

Four Naismith finalists: Acie Law, Kevin Durant, Fernando Alando Tucker, Psycho-T

Ref Curtis Shaw is still smarting after getting posterized by T-Will of Louisville

Did Acie Law's dad participate in one of those MTV make-over shows and got made into a Snoop Doggy Dogg look-a-like?

Steve Lavin can no longer hold it in when talking about UCLA's style of play. Not only he mentions Al Davis's "just win baby", he also said that a nice style of play gets you a pink slip.

Gary Williams refuse to comment on the officials because "we need the money here at Maryland".

Is Dave Leito drinking blue water?

By the numbers
* 40 minutes of commercials per NCAA game on CBS. 40 minutes of game-time as well. One on one!
* 39% of ESPN voters said they were glad Duke and Notre Dame lost in the NCAA
* The 1995 2nd round was the last time we did not have one of Lute Olson, Coach Dirty K and Bob Knight. If you add Jim Calhoun and Jim Boeheim in the mix, we have to go back to 1974


Coaching Changes, incoming freshmen and ...graduate school research
An incoming freshman commits to a university, not to a specific coach, but one of the main reasons a player choses a specific university is the coach. Some people think that a player should not be allowed to go elsewhere regardless of coaching changes. I disagree. Here is an example that may explain the situation a little better: "Steve wants to do his graduate research work on the sleeping habbits of elephants. Steve is very impressed with the research work of Dr Mary Tide at Auburn. Steve applies and enrolls at Auburn. While Steve is enrolled at Auburn, the main reason he went to Auburn was because he wanted to do his research work with Dr Mary Tide. If for some reason Dr Mary Tide decides to leave the university for another job, or is fired, or retires, then Steve is left in an awkward situation with regards to his graduate research project. While "college basketball" is not a "graduate research project", think of it along those lines, and then you'll see why players (at least incoming freshmen) should be allowed to leave when a coach leaves...

This also appears at ArmchairGM


The Tubby Coaching Dominos Show

You can say goodnight to the Bob Knight to Minnessota blasphemous rumor-speculation of last month. Infact with Steve Alford moving down to the Southwest as well, it's highly unlikely Bob Knight will return to the Big 10. Perhaps if Kelvin Sampson screws up Indiana and then they have to beg Knight to return to Indiana (after they fire all the people who fired Knight)?

Contract is 7 years long and $12.6 million dollars

Comments in [square brackets] below are my opinion/comments...

Tubby during the press conference announcing him as the new Minnesota head coach: "I feel the love already", "win championships", "thank all the great people back in Kentucky", "thank Jim Molinari" [crowd applauds], "not going to be easy", "high expectations but with blood/sweat/tears", "exciting, fun style of basketball and win", "students we need you!"

During the Q&A session with the media, Tubby said: "overachieve until we get [better players]..." (he stopped short of saying that), "a new challenge", "guardian/servant of the game", "live and lead by example (but I'm not perfect)", "sharing in a family of 17" [how about a Coke double-feature commercial with Roy's dime commercial???]

Conspiracy Theory???: Minnessota AD denies that a former associate (currently at KY) brokered the deal. This certainly coincides with the smoothness of the transition and smooth landing of Tubby and the 1.5 million April 3rd bonus.

Will Cole Adrich want to stay at home now that the Gophers have a high-tier coach? He did sign with Kansas though.

Calipari on Kentucky on Cold Pizza: "my name is mentioned in every AAU, high school, college and pro opening", "I'm happy for Tubby", "if they are not treating you right, go to another school".

Greg Anthony on Cold Pizza: "[Kentucky] fans have every right to be upset", and said that "you are paid millions to win".

Tubby had more NCAA appearances than the whole Minnessota program. Clearly Tubby wanted to go somewhere where every win he gets is celebrated with joy. Tubby's ball-line defense is ideally suited for the Big 10 style of play. If Tubby's record at Minnesota is anywhere near his Kentucky record, they'll build statues for him, name buildings and even name Lakes after him!!!. Tubby went from a Top 5 to a Top 125 program, but his style of coaching and play and comfort zone with pressure might prove to be a great match...

Wall to wall Kentucky and Tubby coverage at Kentucky.com

Andy Katz and Pat Forde on Cold Pizza
on Tubby and Minnessota Katz: "The process started 6 weeks ago". Thursday 230am they decided to send a plane.
on Kentucky *** Forde: 1st choice: Billy Donovan. No clearcut 2nd choice: Izzo, Crean, Few, That Matta, Jay Wright.
on Iowa *** Katz: Altman if he is offered more than $800K (he makes at Creighton), then Chris Lowery (enjoy the defense!).
on Michigan *** Katz: could go for Lon Kruger and Kevin Stallings... Pat Forde: Kruger is a mid-western guy, his lifestyle doesn't fit Vegas. Also Chris Lowery

Yesterday's wall to wall coverage here!!!

Thanks for the link to the BigLead.com, a website that covers the world of sports and has the inside scoop. A very interesting story is a change of the guard at the top on ESPN and the trickle-down effect

Recruiting Wars is now updated with a list of high profile recruits affected by the Coaching Carousel. The most high profile so far among the committed are Alex Legion (Michigan) and AJ Stewart (Kentucky), while among the uncommitted the one and only Patrick Patterson... Also, the Morgan Wootten winners are announced, the late signing period is just around the corner, and a couple of USC-related posts (OJ Mayo and Malik Story).

Homerism Defined: Howie Schwab was wearing an ACC polo shirt on Cold Pizza.


Sweet 16, Friday March 22, 2007 CBS TV Schedule

4:10pmPT/7:10pmET Butler vs Florida

4:27pmPT/7:27pmET Vanderbilt vs Georgetown

6:40pmPT/9:40pmET UNLV vs Oregon

6:57pmPT/9:57pmET USC vs North Carolina

Elite 8, Saturday March 23, 2007 CBS TV Schedule

12pmPT/3pm ET: Road to the Final Four

1:40pmPT/4:40pmET Memphis vs Ohio State

4:05pmPT/7:05pmET UCLA vs Kansas


Today's musical guest (blogs have musical guests too!) is the new Nine Inch Nails two-hour long live DVD, "Beside you in time" (24 songs), just $12 at Amazon.

Tubby Smith leaves Kentucky for Minnesota!

Tubby's move to Minnessota overshadows Sweet 16 NCAA games

This is only my opinion, but based on how often Rick Pitino changed jobs, I would not be surprised if he took the Kentucky job. He went back to the Knicks again as well. The only reason he went to Louisville was because the Kentucky job was taken at the time he wanted to return to college basketball. It would create a big kerfufle (ha!) in the Commonwealth, but it wouldn't be as shocking as the first time around he did this. Assuming of course the Kentucky AD/Selection Cmte wants Pitino... But let's not forget, Pitino himself has not been able to reproduce the "magic years" of the mid-80s (although some can point to the numerous high profile recruits that went straight to the NBA).

Will Purdue (ESPN Radio basketball analyst) chimed in by mentioning how demanding the Kentucky job is, and how high the expectations are based on past performance.

Dick Vitale makes clueless comments as usual on the coaching carousel and Kentucky. Vitale is probably re-living his firing from the Detroit Pistons once again. The last time I checked these coaches Vitale is screaming about are getting paid over $1 million per year. They are not paid that money just to be good citizens and family men and win 20 games a year, they are paid to win championships!

Pat Forde on ESPN News: On Kentucky: "good for all parties after the initial shock", "Tubby had nine years of diminishing returns", "Billy Donovan on top of the wish list", "Pitino's name will come up but unlikely"... On Iowa: look at the Missouri Valley pipeline (Altman, Lowery)... On Mecha-Cry-Baby (Josh McRoberts): "questionable decision", "wasn't happy at Duke", "wasn't fitting in very well". Doug Gottleib said the same thing.

Wendell Barnhouse of Forth Worth Star-Telegram on ESPN News: "Tubby got fed up of the criticism", "was not winning like Big Blue fans wanted to", "juicy Final Four as far as rumors", "Iowa to go the mid-major route?", "New Mexico president was at Texas Tech when they hired Knight" (I told you so!)

Seth Davis on PTI today: "Shocked but not surprised", "all happened in the last 72 hours", "Kentucky caught on their heels a little bit", "other names mentioned at Minnesota were Chris Lowery, Lon Kruger".

Andy Katz: "I would be shocked if Billy Donovan leaves Florida".

Andy Katz: "Minnesota was going after a big splash, all my leads went to dead ends, they were super-secretive".

Message Board Reaction

This looks like a pushout: Kentucky will honor Tubby's 1.5 million incentive bonus that was due on April 3. The story at ESPN has 450+ user comments already.

Seth Davis story at CNN/SI.

A good collection of links to various web links covering the Tubby Smith story at the KYBasketball blog

Louisville Courier Journal story

Scott's Shots commentary on the coaching change

Seth Greenberg (Virginia Tech coach, and CSTV analyst) commenting on the situation: "Why not go after Pat Riley?" when responding to the possibility of KY going after Billy Donovan. He said that the Florida program was "built in Donovan's image". Why would he leave?

Caller "Keith from Kentucky" on CSTV's Tourney Talk wants Tom Izzo to be the new Kentucky coach... CSTV's Hoops Insider Brian Curtis predicts Tom Crean will be the next Kentucky coach

Oh and yes, this is as shocking as shocking can be, Tubby Smith has accepted the .......... Minnesota job! I kid you not!

ESPN story on Tubby Smith leaving Kentucky for Minnesota for $1.8 million per year. Money talks!

"Sources" cited by ESPN point to the following as potential candidates: Tom Crean, Mark Few, Tom Izzo, John Calipari (and leave Derrick Rose behind), Rick Barnes, Mike Brey (what???), Jay Wright and Billy Gillespie. Billy Donovan's name will probably come up, especially since he delayed signing an extension, but with a possible repeat championship, it's hard to see why Billy Donovan would want to change jobs now that he is doing so well.

So why the Gophers instead of Michigan? Perhaps Michigan wasn't willing to pay top dollar? Perhaps not as much pressure?

I am not sure why Tubby made such a swift move. He could have easily gotten a better job (eg Michigan) or high-profile openings as a result of his move out of Kentucky, or he could also look at various NBA jobs. This is a shocker with capital A baby!. It's unbelieable!

Reaction from Kentucky Fan sites: A Sea of Blue, FireTubby.com

Recapping the Louisville Cardinals season at Yahoo Sports.

Biggest job openings as of right now: Kentucky, Michigan, Iowa, South Florida (only because they are in the Big East), and Utah

Coaching Carousel (Spring Edition)

updated 4/17

updated 4/9 with Kentucky, Texas A&M, Kansas State, Arkansas, LB State, Marshall

updated 4/5/07 with West Virginia/Kansas State, Santa Clara, Butler, Iona.

updated 4/3/07 with the Creighton/Arkansas UNDO, Louisianna Tech and Colorado/Air Force

ESPN.com keeps track of all the coaching changes, firings and hirings.


Current Job Openings for 2007-2008

Saint Louis, Texas A&M Corpus Cristi, Princeton, UC Riverside, and a few more low-majors.

None of the TV analysts left their comfy analyst chairs for a coaching job this spring.


Filled Job Openings for 2007-2008

Kentucky, Arkansas, Kansas State, Minnessota, Michigan, Iowa, South Florida, Colorado, Texas A&M, West Virginia.

MWC: Air Force, New Mexico, Colorado State, Wyoming, Utah (5 of 9 teams have new coaches!)

Valley of Darkness (MVC): Wichita State, Drake, Illinois State, Indiana State, Evansville. (Re)FILLED: Creighton. Half of the teams have new coaches.

Louisiana Tech (LaTech), St Bonaventure, South Alabama, Bowling Green, Winthrop, Butler

Everybody wants to be the next Gonzaga on the west coast: Hawaii, San Diego, Santa Clara, Long Beach State.

Ha'av'ad (Harvard), Marshall, Denver, Binghampton, Liberty, Southern Utah, Iona


Select Assistant Coach Job Openings for 2007-2008

Louisville (Kevin Willard went to Iona) FILLED: with his son!

UCLA (Kevin Keading went to Santa Clara)


Hiring Head Coaches vs Hiring Assistants Coaches (as of 3/24)

Of the 17 jobs filled so far nine were given to current/former head coaches. The remaining eight jobs were given to assistant coaches, from either the same program (2) or from another program (6).

Assistants at Georgetown, Kansas, Michigan State, Virginia Tech, Gonzaga, Fresno State got their first head coaching jobs at mid-majors.

Two #2s got promoted from within to become the head coach: North Dakota State and Drake (daddy's son)

Rod Barnes was an assistant at Oklahoma this year, but he was the Ole Miss head coach before.

One lower division coach was given a D1 job (Evansville)


Recently-fired coaches quickly get new jobs

Ricardo Patton from Colorado to Northern Illinois

Ritchie McKay from New Mexico to Liberty

Ray Giacoletti from Utah to Gonzaga as the top assistant

Stan Heath from Arkansas to South Florida

Louis Orr from Syracuse to Bowling Green

Tommy Amaker from Michigan to Harvard

Dan Monson from Minnessota to Long Beach State

Joe Scott from Princeton to Denver (pushed-out as opposed to fired?)


Top Available Candidates

TV Analysts: Rick Majerus, Steve Lavin, Pete Gillan, Steve Lappas, Perry Clark, Mike Jarvis, Paul Westphal, Fran Fraschilla (Frachilla? Franchilla? Frachila?)

Fired from the NBA: Mike Montgomerry, Larry Brown, Flip Saunders

Comeback longshots: Nolan Richardson, Gene Keady, Eddie Sutton, Dick Bennett, Dr Tom Davis (PhD)

Recently fired: Brad Sodenberg, Jim Molinari, Dan Monson, Riley Wallace, Dick Davey, Robert McCullum, Dale Layer, Anthony Solomon, Steve McClain, Brad Holland, Rob Jirsa, Dan Dakich, Jeff Ruland, and a few more

Fired last year: Rob Evans, Quin "bad hair day every day" Snyder (HA!), and a few more



Reference data

Standings of the 2006-2007 regular season.

Historic records with RPI/SOS data at KenPom RPI, going back to 1999


Who should be fired (in my opinion)

Steve McClain of Wyoming

The AD of Santa Clara for pushing Dick Davey out after 30 years at SCU. Sorry Santa Clara but you are not going to become the next Gonzaga just because you hire a 35-year old coach. Unless of course you already have an under the table agreement with Mike Montgomerry with his son taking over at some point in the future.

Cincinatti President Nancy Z and her fellow administrators/beauraucrats along with the AD for scapegoating Huggins for all their problems and issues. Clearly Huggins was only the tip of the iceberg. And unlike the real icebergs, Global Warming won't make it go away.

Matt Doherty at SMU. A corrosive and abrasive personality, has not stayed anywhere long enough and the one place he did, he almost ruined Carolina basketball (and he was one of them even!).


Coaches on the Hot Seat, Tipping Point: Success of a Rival
A number of coaches (as expected) are having average to mediocre seasons. This is happening every year simply because every time a game is played exactly one team wins and exactly one team loses. A number of these coaches manage to avoid the hot seat or avoid getting fired, but one thing that may tip the scales and force a (firing) decision is success at a rival school. Here are some examples:

Utah: If Dave Rose can take over a struggling BYU team and turn it into a back-to-back NCAA team, how come Ray Giacoletti has been struggling for two years? Decision: Fired

New Mexico: If Reggie Theus (a TV coach) comes in and brings in all sorts of transfers to New Mexico State and makes them a top-tier WAC team just by arriving on campus, how come Ritchie McKay is going sideways. Decision: Fired!

Michigan: If Thad Matta can come in and in three years turn Ohio State into the most desirable recruiting destination despite NCAA violations (albeit not as severe as Michigan's) and a Final Four contender, how come Tommy Amaker has not been to the NCAA after six years? Decision: Wait and See.

Oregon State: If the Bennetts come in and turn Washington State into a top 25 team and a contender for the Pac-10 title, how come Jay John is barely able to win a conference game? Getting CJ Giles probably bought Jay John one more year, but the further Washington State goes into the NCAAs, the more Jay John's seat will heat up. Decision: Wait and see

Kentucky: If Rick Pitino can come in and take Louisville to the Final Four, and now turn a rag-tag fleet of injured but talented players into a contender, how come Kentucky is facing yet another 10-loss season, no wins against ranked teams, an unbalanced roster, losing streaks and the like. Decision: Wait and see



Coaches potentially on the Hot Seat

This is not necessarily deserving, I'm merely guestimated based on reaction by fans, alumni and ADs, and also by their record. Names are in random order:

Tommy Amaker at Michigan, especially if they don't make it to the NCAAs (this is probably more fan-based, it seems like the university is happy with Michigan?). He still has Jay Bilas to defend him on national TV.

Stan Heath at Arkansas (lots of raw talent, fans want more tangible results)

Tubby Smith/Kentucky (fans want a Final Four every year, AD non-show of non-confidence, Tubby's frustration with the whole situation)

Ben Braun at California Berkeley. This is only based on his record. The 420 crowd seems happy with Braun. Granted he has had a boatload of injuries and premature NBA-draft entries

Jay John, Oregon State. This seems more record-based than anything else. Especially when comparing to what the Bennett's did at Washington State

Steve McClain at Wyoming. Diminishing returns and results. Been stewing on the hot seat the last couple of years. Classless reaction after the loss at TCU should seal the deal.

Leonard Hamilton at Florida State. Year 5 and despite some high profile wins and losses, still no NCAAs. Hamilton should probably be okay because of his record both as an NBA and NCAA coach, but underachieving is never a good recipe for success.

Robert McCullum at South Florida. He got a nice vote of confidence last year, and he is faced with a huge mountain to climb in the Big East, but in the effemeral world of big money college sports...

Steve Alford at Iowa. Continues to trail sideways. Probably won't be fired unless Iowa thinks they can get a better coach.

Jim Molinari at Minnesota. He is an interim coach and the expection is that he will not be picked up.

Brad Soderberg at Saint Louis. With all the success in the Valley of Darkness surrounding the city of Saint Louis and Missouri on the uptick with the exciting Mike Anderson, St Louis will be tempted to get a bigger name and become relevant again

Kirk Spiraw at Central Florida. One of the largest universities population wise, combined with an upgrade to a more high-profile conference than before. Although Spiraw had a relatively successful run there, and finished 2nd in the regular season, the temptation to get a bigger name coach and fight for the national spotlight will be there if the right candidate is available.

Dale Layer at Colorado State, high profile recruits, low profile results


Happily Off the Hot Seat

Ernie Kent at Oregon. The run and gun Ducks are winning games again.



Coming Soon

Available candidates


Archives - previous editions of the Coaching Carousel
February 2007
Late January 2006

Daily Tourney Talk (Thursday)

The Kentucky story has moved to its own post since it is so BIG!

Sweet 16, Friday March 22, 2007 CBS TV Schedule

4:10pmPT/7:10pmET Butler vs Florida

4:27pmPT/7:27pmET Vanderbilt vs Georgetown

6:40pmPT/9:40pmET UNLV vs Oregon

6:57pmPT/9:57pmET USC vs North Carolina

Elite 8, Saturday March 23, 2007 CBS TV Schedule

12pmPT/3pm ET: Road to the Final Four

1:40pmPT/4:40pmET Memphis vs Ohio State

4:05pmPT/7:05pmET UCLA vs Kansas


Sweet 16 Recap

Ohio State managed another comeback this time against Tennessee, with Greg Oden earning his (scholarship) money with a last-second block that sealed that deal... On the other game, UCLA out-slugfested Pitt in an emotionally draining game for the Dixons and the Howlands.

Clark Kellogg has taken the day off because one of his kids is playing in some high-school or peewe playoffs!

Jay Bilas is sitting there while Dick Enberg advertises CSTV. I wonder if he can't help it but say, "Hey watch ESPNU instead!".

The first block of games gave us two highly contested games that went down to the wire... Southern Illinois earned national respect even among the BCS homer as it gave Kansas all that it could handle. Bill Self breathed a sigh of relief as he avoided another NCAA loss to a "mid-major". Had Kansas lost, the FireBillSelf.com sites would probably start springing all over the place (enboldened by the Kentucky coaching change perhaps)... On the other game, Memphis (as I predicted) was able to match Texas A&M's intensity, wear out Acie Law who is famous for his clutch performance in the last four minutes, and eek out a win thanks to Antonio Anderson bothering Acie Law enough to make him miss a layup and then hit two clutch free throws. As far as the zebras taking an eternity to decide how much time it was left, they probably decided that the ball bounced in-bounds and then included the time it took for it to hit the floor out of bounds or something like, otherwise it doesn't make any sense... This win made John Calipari a lot more money as it increased his stock both at Memphis and also as a candidate for some of the big openings that have popped up or will pop up as a result of the Kentucky/Michigan dominos. His last five NCAA wins were against mid-majors and a lot of people thought he could never beat a solid "BCS" team. Not only did he beat a very solid Texas A&M team, he beat them in San Antonio, Texas, in front of a decidedly pro-A&M crowd. Two back to back Elite 8 appearances, and Derrick Rose coming in next year.

New College Basketball Drinking Game: Everytime a coach gets hired or fired. And by drink, I mean drink water, orange juice, milk, soy milk, diet soda, tea or vitamin water :-)



Draftology

Josh McRoberts is a big spoiled Dookie cry baby caught crying in a towel. Even his crying was mechanical! And oh yes, he declared for the NBA draft. Happy Trails Mecha-Cry-Baby!

Derrick Caracter announces he will return (ha! where did he think he was going? the USBL (ha!) or the NBDL or the Belgian league?)


Sweet 16 Part One today

Four games today, played two at a time, airing live on CBS

CBS TV listings press release and CBS TV listings here

Check with your local CBS station to find out which game will be shown in your city/state.

The games start at 4pmPT/7pm ET on CBS and CBS-HD

Also don't miss a 90-minute pregame Tourney Talk show on CSTV at 130pmPT/430pmET, and a recap of the press conferences right before it also on CSTV

Post-game coverage on 1) your local CBS station, 2) one hour long ESPN Gameday at 10pmPT/1amET and ensuring SportsCenter, 3) 30-minute official March Madness highlights show on CSTV, repeating throughout the night.

Sweet 16 Part 2 will air tomorrow night on CBS, starting at 4pmPT/7pm ET


Drama Queen Carousel

Illinois AD turns into a drama queen, calls player Warren Carter an idiot, and yelling at Bruce Weber and players. Now he (is forced to) apologize.


Crying Carousel Update

This time it was one of Jim Boeheim's kids caught by the ESPN cameras crying uncontrollably after Clemson beat Syracuse in the NIT quarterfinal. At least Boeheim's kid is just a kid... On the other hand, Josh McRoberts is a big spoiled Dookie cry baby caught crying in a towel. Even his crying was mechanical!


Coaching Carousel Update

Tubby Smith is out of Kentucky!

Minnessota has a new head coach, his name is .....Tubby Smith!

CSTV Insider Brian Curtis predicts Lon Kruger at Michigan

Grouchy and bitter was Jeff Ruland during their almost winningless season, just one year after being considered a hot coach leading his team to post-season play. So as all things effemeral, Jeff Ruland is out as the Iona head coach! I wouldn't want to be the AD facing him to break the news, unless I had Paul Bunyan as a security guard!

It is official, Steve Alford joins Bob Knight in the Southwest as he will become the new New Mexico head coach, hoping to turn the Pit into a strong homecourt advantage. ESPN story. New Mexico is allegedly commiting millions to upgrade the storied Pit (their home arena).

Colorado State stays in the neighborhood as they pick up the North Dakota State head coach who led ND State to an impressive debut in D1, with some very high profile road wins in the last couple of years (Wisconsin, Marquette)

Biggest job openings as of right now: Michigan, Iowa, Minnessota, South Florida (only because they are in the Big East), and Utah

ESPN's Coaching Carousel Tracker


Transferology

Cleaning house is Norm Roberts at St Johns as Ricky Torres and Avery Patterson announce their intention to transfer out. Don't be shocked if in a couple of weeks St Johns picks up two new 2007-2008 players or transfers.


OJ Mayo Mania

A recent NY Times story chronicles the recruiting of OJ Mayo, which surprised some people as OJ Mayo refused to give Tim Floyd his cellphone number.

However, Tim Floyd gave his version of the story today as he appeared (via telephone) on ESPN2's Cold Pizza. Floyd set the record straight (or gave his own spin) on the situation as he stressed that Mayo is a very mature person ("he is like a 35yo"), and Floyd explained the cellphone to "financial reasons". Floyd also said/claimed that he now has Mayo's cellphone number but does not call him frequently. Floyd pointed out that Mayo does not need the usual "babysitting" that most recruits are accustomed to. ("Babysitting" is continuing to show "love" to recruits after they commit. If a coach stops going to their games, calling, texting or writing, the recruits get insecure). Floyd also confirmed that OJ Mayo recruited himself to USC and came to him with a game plan. Floyd also chastised Wilborn of PTI for criticizing OJ Mayo's behavior based on the NY Times story.

So what really happened? The truth is out there and probably somewhere in between...

Daily Tourney Talk (Wednesday)

Recruiting News

CBS buys MaxPreps.com and puts it under the CSTV umbrella

Malik Story (2008) transfers to Oak Hill Academy

California high school basketball state championships to air on Fox College Sports and FSN

Commitment updates from the Hodge Report (CSTV)

Tyreke Evans (top 2008 player) featured on SSoT

Details and links at Recruiting Wars

NCAA Basketball TV Ratings on CBSpress release by CBS

A quick recap of the latest news in the College Hoops Repor(t)

Arena renovations at Tennessee, with luxury suits and fancy scoreboard, but that will cost, in both money and seats lost. Capacity will drop to 21,000.

Revealing in-depth analysis of Arizona's season by the Sliver Fox, Lute Olson.

Superstitious!, a column by Pat Forde on coaches and their quirky superstitions.


Sweet 16 Predictions

Kansas double-scores Southern Illinois, while UCLA beats Pitt 39-38 in overtime :)

Memphis shocks the world as they win a road game against Texas A&M (this is really a shocker since Memphis got beat on the road this season (Tennessee, Arizona)... Meanwhile Ohio State makes another strong comeback to overcome the feisty Bruce Pearls

Tim Floyd comes up with a clever game plan but there's too many players and too much talent at North Carolina and they overcome the cunning Floyd plan. Remember when USC beat Carolina last year at the old LA Sports Center Carolina was without Raymond Lawson (ooops! Tywon Felton... oops! Tywon Lawson!), and without as many offensive weapons (Wright, Ellington, Deon Neon Thompson), and USC had a solid point guard in Ryan Francis... On the other side of the bracket Georgetown will deliver a woodshed beating

On the run-and-gun side of the bracket, Florida will steamroll Butler by 25, while Oregon will outshoot UNLV in a high-scoring high-tempto affair.

These predictions should be treated as contrarian indictors :-)


Transferology

Ben Eaves transfers out of UConn. This type of thing typically happens when a coach wants to give scholarship(s) to better player(s) and "encourages" his 13th/12th/11th players to "seek out new life and civilizations and boldly go away"


Coaching Carousel

Andy Katz: Greg Marshall of Winthrop a hot commodity (New Mexico, South Florida). Of course whoever hires him has to worry that he might pull another College of Charleston on them. According to Katz New Mexico is also looking at Steve Alford, Rob Evans, and a WNBA coach. The $$$-package may be in the 600-800K range.

Tom Davis is apparently retiring again, this time from Drake, increasing the body count of fired/gone coaches in the Valley of Darkness.

Surpring everyone was Joe Scott as he returned to the state of Colorado, this time to take over Denver, leaving Princeton without a coach. Joe Scott is proving to be one of the fastest job-switchers in the industry.

So demanding is Long Beach State that they decided not to renew Larry Reynolds despite giving them their first NCAA bid in 12 years and switching to a run and gun offense. It looks like there is pressure in the WCC and Big West to become the next Gonzaga. That explains why Dick Davey was pushed out of Santa Clara after 30 years at the school (half as head coach, half as assistant).

A Kansas assistant accepts a mid-major job which promotes the delightful D-Manning to an assistant.

TV Guide

TV wars between cable and satellite for the Baseball out of market Pay Per View package

The Sweet 16 press conferences are underway, look for coverage on both ESPN News and CSTV. CSTV will be rebroadcasting their press conference highlights show throughout the day (Full Court Press)

The last two NIT quarterfinals are on tonight on ESPN2 (ESPN has NBA action), at 4pmPT/7pmET, Syracuse at Clemson, and at 6pmPT/10pmET DePaul at Air Force.