Wow, Steve Lavin goes to St John's

Holy cow! Steve Lavin is leaving TV and not for a quiet "safe" job. He is going all out at Saint John's. He was just interviewed on ESPN2 during the NIT semifinal and there he revealed that Gene Keady may come-in as well in advisory role. One of the interviewees was former St. John's head coach Franny Franchilla.

Lavin said that he wants to have a staff of seasoned assistants, including current/former head-coaches. Essentially they do the coaching, he does the public relations :-)

Lavin was gearing up to become Dick Vitale 2.0, but this disruption may set back his TV analyst career. But then again, how long is he going to last at St. John's? Many have tried, but none has succeeded there in the post-Lou era.

Zebras hand Duke Final Four berth (once again)

Why risk letting the players decide the games when it comes to the almighty Dookies? The zebras have to be the sixth-player. A very key and very wrong call towards the end of the game took a two-and-a-free-throw from Acy and an earlier fifth foul from Lumberjack-Zoubek, and instead gave the ball to the Dookies and broke Baylor's momentum. No wonder Duke has such a lovely record! It's six against one!

This of course is still not as bad as the highway robbery that was the Duke vs Xavier Elite 8 game in the early 00s, but still, this blown key call turned the momentum in Duke's favor.

Time for the 300+ NCAA colleges to DEMAND that the NCAA and referees be held accountable in a court of Law for twisting things in favor of Duke!

Congratulations to Izzo State for another Final Four trip

Tom Izzo may not be the next John Wooden, but he is certainly not the type who loses NCAA tournament games that he is not supposed to lose. He is barely winning this year, just barely, but a win is all that is required to advance to the next round. So if you string four wins together, voila, you get a trip to the Final Four. Needless to say though, the nation will be behind Butler winning and having a chance at the national title.

Let's just hope Baylor eliminates the Dookies because the way things have opened up, the Ratzilla may end up with a ring! Oh my!

Speaking of oh my, farewell Dick Enberg, this was his last NCAA tournament as a play-by-play announcer. He kinda overstayed his welcome in college basketball, but it appears now he will be busy with the San Diego Padres (see Wikipedia).

Bill Self working on Career Plan B

Bill Self understands that two or three more first-weekend exits from the NCAA tournament while being a #1 seed is going to cause job security troubles as a basketball coach, so he did some risk management and decided to try his hand as a basketball in-studio analyst at CBS this week :)

As if Kansas fans wanted a high-profile reminder of their epic fail this year, with Bill Self rubbing it in their face on TV! FireBillSelf.com?

Should Zone Defense be illegal in men's college basketball?

One of the things that is killing the game of college basketball in terms of popularity among the general sports fans and the general population is some of those 45-44 slugfests where the baskets are made accidentally. One of the reasons for slugfesting is zone defenses. That's one of the reasons why the NBA banned the zone defense.

So, is it time to ban (or at least restrict) the use of zone defense in college basketball? This will speed up the games and will let basketball skills shine - as opposed to packing it in and muscling people out of the way and getting them bored and frustrated with the game.

Congratulations (I guess) to the West Virginia Slugfesteers

Congratulations for Huggie-Bear and the West Virgina Defendeers for making it to the Final Four. Coincidence perhaps, but the last time West Virginia made the Final Four in the 50s, they also had a West in their line-up!

Statistically this was an impossible game for Kentucky to win, it's one thing to have a bad free throw day, it's another to have both a bad free-throw and a bad three-point day.

Needless to say, we hope Baylor beats Duke tomorrow, but if Duke makes it to the Final Four, we will be heavily supporting anyone-but-Duke.

Congratulations to the Butler Bulldogs

Congratulations to the Butler Bulldogs for a great basketball performance and for keeping the dream alive and making it to the Final Four! Unfortunately for Kansas State, one of the two teams had to lose. If only Kansas State was on the MichiganState/Tennessee or the Dookie Pukie bracket, then they would have also made it to the Final Four.

Butler has shown that you can play basketball the right way, with skilled players and without making the game a complete Big10-vs-MissouriValleyConference challenge ;-)

Petition CBS: Gus Johnson to do the Final Four!

Gus Johnson really represents the spirit of March Madness, the excitement, the energy, the rollercoaster ride. Please petition CBS to have Gus Johnson be the play-by-play guy at the Final Four!

Jim Nantz just doesn't scream college basketball. He's a boring old guy ideally suited for golf or other boring stuff. Jim Nantz does NOT belong at the Final Four!

Everyone email and call CBS and DEMAND that Gus Johnson become the play-by-play guy for the Final Four!

eBay specials: Bracketologist t-shirt ($10), empty brackets poster ($6)

eBay is celebrating March Madness 2010 by featuring a couple of related March Madness special items with FREE SHIPPING and handling! First up, an Official Bracketologist t-shirt, yours for $10, sold by Cafe Press. Four sizes and three colors are currently available.

Next up, for $6 with free shipping, 13x19" empty bracket poster. The brackets are completely empty so you can use them for other purposes as well, but it does say "2010 College Basketball Championship" at the very top. Created by PosterRevolution it says.

Please keep in mind, supplies are limited for the featured eBay specials, so these could be gone in a few hours (or a few days), depending on how many they have and how many people buy these.

If you are an underdog and you see Gus Johnson, celebrate!

If you are an underdog taking a higher ranked opponent and you see Gus Johnson sitting at the broadcaster's table, then you know you are in for an exciting game, which means you are going to have a chance to win the game!

On the other hand, if you are the favorite or the higher-seed, then you know you are going to be in for a thrill ride, not a 30-point cakewalk!

The Bill Self Fakery is exposed once again! Thank you Northern Iowa!

I hate to say I told you so, but I did! The Bill Self March Madness Fakery has been exposed once again, with yet another early round defeat at the hands of a team with significantly less talent and physical skills, but of course with a real basketball coach, not a polished used car salesman and professional BS'er from the School of Coach Ratzilla!

As pointed out before, the 2008 Kansas championship was a series of unfortunate events - the epic North Carolina meltdown and the Memphis Tigers meltdown. Kansas didn't actually win, both UNC and Memphis GAVE them the championship via meltdown.

And who can forget those lovely first round losses in 2005 and 2006 to the brave Bucknell and Bradley teams. Add 2010 to Bill Self's excellent resume of BSology!

Saint Mary's owns the East Coast Hype Duo

Move over Gonzaga, here comes the new Gonzaga! The Saint Mary's Irish Warriors (Gaels) put two of the most overhyped east coast teams in their place this week, as they managed to defeat both Richmond and Villanova, and they did this in Big East Country, in Providence, Rhode Island!

As you may recall, Saint Mary's had been left out of the NCAA tourney a couple of times in favor of some of the mediocre "Power 6", but this time, payback's a b*tch! :)

Speaking of the WCC, Gonzaga almost became GoneZaga, with "Tears of Ammo: Episode II" almost happening, but unlike UCLA, Florida State simply can't score, so the Zags held on and moved to the second round.

It is of interest to note that both these two WCC teams have solid centers, Omar Samhan for Saint Mary's and Sucre for the Zags...