Recap of the last block of games

The NCAA must be worried. They sent a secret memo to the zebras instructing them to call six fouls against Binghampton in the first three minutes of the game. Yes, you read right! Six fouls in the first three minutes, that's like two fouls per minute. Just to make sure that their starters get in foul trouble and their game plan is derailed, giving the Dookies a must better chance at winning and giving CBS some good ratings in the next rounds :)

But that's okay, AJ Abrams and space-eater Pittman will be waiting the Dookies on Saturday and hopefully Texas will beat Duke!

The most exciting games were probably the two games that many had circled on their calendars, and it is no coincidence CBS scheduled them at the end of the day, in order to bring in a bigger audience.

VCU looked toast after the first half, but slowly and steadily they chipped away at UCLA, and they came very close, oh-so-close, one jump shot close to pulling yet another NCAA tourney upset. We tip our hats to the VCU Rams! Their 2007 victory over the Dookies will remain priceless through the centuries. And that Larry Sanders dude is gonna make some big bucks when he goes professional!

The other dramatic game was Western Kentucky's "how to guide" on falling apart and losing a game you had already won. A bad out-of-bounds call by the zebras did not help the Hilltoppers but ultimately they managed to hold on to dear life and make it to the second round where they'll face SoftZaga but not GoneZaga.

Pettigrew was the one who solidified the victory for W.Ky from the free throw line. He was 1 of 4 from the line, but at a very critical juncture at the end of the game he went 2 from 2, giving his team a breathable margin.

We keep pounding the selection committee for picking all these ugly and undeserving Big Ten teams, and once again, Illinois without Chester Frasier was clearly not a #5 seed. In-fact, they were probably not a #5 seed with him. But without him, were they really a better team than St Mary's with Patty Mills?

And since we are back to St Mary's, we would like to politely tell the NCAA selection committee with its clueless chairman who doesn't even know college hoops has an exhibition season: F-U NCAA SELECTION COMMITTEE OF 2009. YOU SCREWED UP THE MID-MAJORS for the sake of crappy Big-Ten teams (Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois).

The fourth game of the nightcap was Oklahoma playing the "reformed" Todd Bozeman club. The most dramatic part of that game was a wild wrestling move on Blake Griffin. Just like the NFL protects quarterbacks and the NBA protects star players, the NCAA should come in and hand out big punishments to "thuggish" moves like that, so as to discourage future recurrence. By "big" we mean long suspensions, not just a slap on the wrist with an ejection. We mean blocks of games, like 10 or more games! This is not the NHL or WWF/WWE!

Louisville vs Western Kentucky: It's awesome with capital A!

The game wasn't awesome, but it was very dramatic in that the outcome was uncertain, and it wasn't Western Kentucky who was trying to steal the victory but Louisville. Perhaps this game would make a good argument why polls shouldn't start until January, but unlike college football, polls are something fun for the fans and experts alike to debate and discuss.

Fox College Sports scored big with this game, as it was their "exclusive", piggy-backing on their satellite network thingy they have with Western Kentucky. Some may have needed a translator to understand what the analyst was saying, but who's complaining? :)

Louisville looked like a miserable experience. They looked like Gonzaga does when they get 0wned in the NCAA tournament by tougher teams who want it more. Only thing missing was the Louisville equivalent of Ammo crying before the final whistle blew :)

But of course Rick Pitino is a veteran of all these, and you betcha he is goin to get mavericky and make the most out of this loss in getting his players focused and motivated. Not to mention scaring all the NBA hopefuls about their future if they deliver performances like that.

But Pitino shares a lot of the blame. For one thing, he is the head coach. For another, his team was having major problems shooting, yet he was very reticent in bringing Will Scott or Katie Curic off the bench. Granted, Will Scott got owned big time in an ISO, so that perhaps may be the reason he didn't want to play him longer, but hey, if you can trade-off three for two, why not? Especially when during most of the game they were trading off zero for two!

But don't cry for the Cardinals. They have plenty of talent, although they are a bit thin on the inside, with just Samardo Samuels and a couple of freshmen. But also, Earl Clark and also T-Will can also play the five and four if needed - especially if playing a smaller team. Also.

AJ Slaughter made it big during this game as he managed to single-handedly carve the Pitino defense like an after-Thanksgiving clearance-sale pumpkin. Considering they just lost to Murray State, what does that say about W-KY? And what does it say about UL?

Well, no one really knows, because these are not best of seven series, they are unpredictable single-instance games of youngsters who can barely decide what they want for lunch.

Sweet 16 Preview and Predictions, Day 1

You can get a two hour preview of the NCAA Tourney games on CSTV, today at 2pm pacific (5pm eastern), but you can also get a preview right here. For all the TV stuff, be sure to check our March Madness TV listings.


West Virginia vs Xavier
The first wave of games tips off with a good old rivarly, Bob Huggins vs Xavier. As you may recall, Huggins was the head coach at Cincy, and they had an annual intense rivarly game every year. We now love West Virginia even more, after they beat up the Dookies, and we are planning a blogging celebration for them later today :) And because of that we want West Virgina to win and move along. But Xavier, just like Texas, is one of those crazy teams that can beat anyone and can lose to almost anyone. They already showed early tournament onions by making comebacks against Georgia and Purdue.

But ultimately we think the combination of outside shooting, Joe Alexander, and Bob Huggins toughness will get the Threepointers over the top and send the Musketeers home. And the X-men will have to worry some more, as their head coach may be poached by one of the BCS schools. Indiana is not the only major program looking for a head coach, and the impressive success of Herb Sendek at Arizona State may tempt other Pac-10 schools to go after one of his former assistants. We are talking potentially Oregon, California or USC. But let's leave that for the coaching carousel discussion :)


North Carolina vs Washington State
In the other game, North Carolina will face Washington State. This is the ultimate contrast in style, although the young singer is not a ...dick like his dad, he lets his team run when they have the advantage. We've said all along that Washington State, just like Wisconsin, are operating in a narrow band. They usually beat the teams they are supposed to beat, and lose to the teams they are supposed to lose to.

If you don't think so, be sure to check Washington State's record, courtesy of Ken Pom RPI. They are 0-5 against Sweet 16 teams (UCLA, Stanford), but they beat up NCAA teams that lost in the first week (Baylor, Zags, USC, Oregon). Arizona is an exception because when they had their full complement they were playing like a Sweet 16 team. But injuries and such derailed them. But that's a story for another day.

Ultimately we think that UNC will overmatch Wazoo. Derrick Low may give them some headaches, as neither Lawson or Q are ideally suited to guard him. Kyle Weaver on the other hand will have his hands full having to deal with Ellington on defense and Ginyard and Green on offense. Hansbrough will probably be limited by the Wazoo interior play and defensive scheme, but the combination of Lawson and Green/Ellington, and possibly Deon Thompson's bank shots will be the difference.


Louisville vs Tennessee
This is a game we have a hard time getting a read on. Both teams are deep, both press and run and gun. We would have preferred that this was a Final Four game instead of a Sweet 16 game.

But let's consider Tennessee's history in the NCAA tourney in the Bruce Pearl era and Pitino's history. That does not look favorable for Tennessee, but one could have easily made the same argument for Texas A&M vs Louisville last year at Rupp Arena, and Billy Clyde Gillispie pulled out a tough win at his future home court beating Pitino on his former home court. Or to use Pitino-speak, his former home cot :)

But there's something else that goes against Tennessee: Consider how they did not only in past NCAA tourneys under Bruce Pearl, but also in other tourneys. This year they got blown out by Texas in a pre-season tourney in New Jersey. Last year they lost to Butler in the pre-season NIT. They haven't done well in the SEC tourney either.

Obviously the three point shot can be a determining factor and if there is a big difference in the shots made, we think that the team with that advantage will probably win the game.

Other than Lofton - if he is having a wild shooting game - we don't see any potential matchup advantages for the Vols.

Ultimately we think that Padgett and T-Will will be able to make up for the potential shortcomings of the Cardinals guards crumbling under the Vols pressure, and Derrick Caracter and Earl Clark will be too much for the Vols big men to handle. Louisville will win, we predict, but it could be a very close game.


Western Kentucky vs UCLA
We badly want Western Kentucky to win, but we are afraid that UCLA will be too much. Duke West has been getting a series of "friendly" calls by the zebras, not just the highly visible controversial calls, but also the multiple fouls per possession the UCLA wrestling-forwards commit on screens on offense and double teams on defense.

We have enough material now to convict Ben Howland of ruining the game of basketball. You have two of the fastest guards in the country in Collison and Westbrook, and the most smartest (LOL) big man in Kevin Love, and yet you try to win the games in a slugfest, the same way a desperate low-major coach of a 300+ RRI team is clinging on to dear life. For crimes against basketball, Ben Howland, you have been convicted to lose in the Elite 8, and never make it to the Final Four again :)


Friday's Games
We will be posting our preview and predictions for the four day two games later today! Update! The time is Later! Here is the preview and predictions for day two of the Sweet 16 (Friday).