The following with be a bunch of previews, altho shorter than they usually are. Nobody wants to read ridiculously long posts. Learned that this summer.
Friday
Louisville vs. UConn
UConn might have turned the corner late in the season with their win against Georgetown. The Huskies will try to get revenge against Louisville, who beat UConn in a crazy double overtime win at the end of January. Kemba Walker has been playing ridiculously, going for 31 pts and 10 assists against the Hoyas. Since that win against Georgetown, Louisville has struggled going 3-3 in their last six games, including a four point win against DePaul. Preston Knowles (15 ppg) and Peyton Siva (10 ppg and 5 apg) lead the Cardinals. Prediction: UConn 80-75
Saturday
Utah State at St. Mary's
This is by far the highlight of the BracketBusters matchups this weekend. It is between the 23rd and 24th ranked teams in the country. Utah State is 24-3, but has won 19 of its last 20 games. Tai Wesley (14 ppg, 7 rpg), Brian Wilson (11 ppg) and Brockeith Payne (11 ppg) lead the Aggies. St. Mary's is coming off of an upset loss to San Diego on Wednesday, one that might knock them out of the rankings. The Gaels are led by four players who score in double figures: Mickey McConnell (17 ppg, 7 apg), Rob Jones (14 ppg, 8 rpg), Matthew Dellavedova (13 ppg, 5 apg) and Mitchell Young (10 ppg, 5 rpg). Prediction: Utah State wins on the road, 86-80
Illinois at Michigan State
This game is HUGE for the Spartans. At 14-11, they might have to win out and win two games in the conference tournament to get into the NCAA's. What will help MSU is the four more teams in, as well as college basketball being down as a whole. The Spartans have been uncharacteristically shaky at home, already losing four times, but will need Kalin Lucas and his 16 ppg to win. The Illini are in the midst of possibly their hardest stretch of games this season and have a trip to Ohio State looming after this one. Prediction: Michigan State wins a needed game, 76-72
Michigan at Iowa
Wednesday's loss to Illinois might have been bad for the Wolverines, who are fighting for an NCAA berth. Three of their next four games are winnable, but if they lose here, that might be a killer, one that sends the team to the NIT. Iowa, on the other hand, is just looking for the season to be over, while also looking to place spoiler to teams like Michigan. Prediction: Michigan 80-67
Northwestern at Indiana
Like Michigan and Michigan State, a win here is crucial for the slim chance the Wildcats have at a spot in the NCAA. A win over Iowa put them at 15-10, but they will have to win their last four conference games to go .500 in conference play. Indiana is not an easy place to play, however, as both Minnesota and Illinois, who were both ranked at the time, lost in Bloomington. The Hoosiers are 11-5 at home. Prediction: Northwestern pulls out a win they wish could have come easier, 76-73
Showing posts with label UCONN. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UCONN. Show all posts
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Fiesta Bowl
Oklahoma vs. Connecticut
The Huskies could not have gotten a bigger challenge for their first appearance on college football's biggest stage than facing the powerful Sooners on Saturday night at Glendale, Ariz.
Connecticut's path to Arizona began in 1997, when the school voted to accept the invite from the Big East Conference and upgrade from a I-AA program.
The 25th-ranked Huskies (8-4) then joined the Big East for the 2004 season -- one year early -- after the Atlantic Coast Conference poached Miami and Virginia Tech in 2003. They earned their first bowl appearance that year, and the Fiesta Bowl will be their fourth consecutive postseason game.
Oklahoma (11-2) is making its 12th bowl appearance in as many seasons under coach Bob Stoops and 44th overall. Its 25 victories are tied for fifth all-time, and the eighth BCS bowl appearance trails only Ohio State's nine. Unfiortunately, they have lost five consecutive BCS games -- two for the national championship -- since winning the 2003 Rose Bowl. Two other defeats, the 2007 and 2008 Fiesta Bowls, came when the Sooners were heavy favorites before losing to Boise State and West Virginia, respectively.
If the Huskies have any hope in winning, their fate will ride on the legs of two-time 1,000-yard rusher Jordan Todman. The tailback had 1,574 yards and 14 TDs to earn Big East offensive player of the year honors and is second in the nation at 143.1 yards per game.
With the Sooners likely to stack the box in an attempt to slow Todman, there will be pressure on Zach Frazer to keep Oklahoma's defense honest. The senior, though, topped 200 yards just once this season and completed only 52.7 percent of his 222 passes for 1,202 yards and five TDs.
The Sooners are fourth among FBS teams in passing at 336.8 yards per game, 13th in total offense (478.1 ypg) and 17th in scoring (36.4 points per game).
Landry Jones threw for 4,289 yards and 35 touchdowns, with receiver Ryan Broyles posting his second straight 1,000-yard season. He finished with career highs of 118 receptions and 1,452 yards to go with 13 touchdowns and is Oklahoma's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving TDs.
Five players had at least 26 receptions for the Sooners, and running back DeMarco Murray is one of them. He had 1,121 rushing yards and 14 TDs to go with 69 receptions, 595 yards and five receiving scores.
Prediction: As much as I would love to see the Huskies pull the upset, I really don't see them having the horses to do so. Oklahoma 31-10
The Huskies could not have gotten a bigger challenge for their first appearance on college football's biggest stage than facing the powerful Sooners on Saturday night at Glendale, Ariz.
Connecticut's path to Arizona began in 1997, when the school voted to accept the invite from the Big East Conference and upgrade from a I-AA program.
The 25th-ranked Huskies (8-4) then joined the Big East for the 2004 season -- one year early -- after the Atlantic Coast Conference poached Miami and Virginia Tech in 2003. They earned their first bowl appearance that year, and the Fiesta Bowl will be their fourth consecutive postseason game.
Oklahoma (11-2) is making its 12th bowl appearance in as many seasons under coach Bob Stoops and 44th overall. Its 25 victories are tied for fifth all-time, and the eighth BCS bowl appearance trails only Ohio State's nine. Unfiortunately, they have lost five consecutive BCS games -- two for the national championship -- since winning the 2003 Rose Bowl. Two other defeats, the 2007 and 2008 Fiesta Bowls, came when the Sooners were heavy favorites before losing to Boise State and West Virginia, respectively.
If the Huskies have any hope in winning, their fate will ride on the legs of two-time 1,000-yard rusher Jordan Todman. The tailback had 1,574 yards and 14 TDs to earn Big East offensive player of the year honors and is second in the nation at 143.1 yards per game.
With the Sooners likely to stack the box in an attempt to slow Todman, there will be pressure on Zach Frazer to keep Oklahoma's defense honest. The senior, though, topped 200 yards just once this season and completed only 52.7 percent of his 222 passes for 1,202 yards and five TDs.
The Sooners are fourth among FBS teams in passing at 336.8 yards per game, 13th in total offense (478.1 ypg) and 17th in scoring (36.4 points per game).
Landry Jones threw for 4,289 yards and 35 touchdowns, with receiver Ryan Broyles posting his second straight 1,000-yard season. He finished with career highs of 118 receptions and 1,452 yards to go with 13 touchdowns and is Oklahoma's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards and receiving TDs.
Five players had at least 26 receptions for the Sooners, and running back DeMarco Murray is one of them. He had 1,121 rushing yards and 14 TDs to go with 69 receptions, 595 yards and five receiving scores.
Prediction: As much as I would love to see the Huskies pull the upset, I really don't see them having the horses to do so. Oklahoma 31-10
Friday, April 2, 2010
Expansion of the NCAA Tournament
A huge topic as of late has been the talk of expanding the NCAA Tournament to a record number of 96 teams. This plan can happen as soon as next year. I have one question for the NCAA: Are you crazy?!
Yes, this whole thing is about money. Right now the NCAA is in the midst of a 11-year, $6 BILLION contract with CBS. It has an option to opt out of the contract after this years' NCAA Tournament and after yesterday's Final Four press conference, it seems like that will happen.While the press conference was originally supposed to be on what the options for expanding the tournament, whether it be 68, 94 or 96 teams, it clearly became one that focused on one specific number: 96.
In today's tournament, there are 65 teams, as one game is played earlier in the week, a game called the 'Play-In game.' In the new format, the tournament will be extended by a week and to make things more ridiculous, the seeding will also change.
In the current format, teams are seeded 1-16 in four regions, with the top seeded team playing the 16th, 2 vs. 15, etc. The new format would be as follows. The top 32 seeds, so those usually seeded 1-8 in the four regions, would be given first-round byes, therefore allowing the remaining 64 teams to determine who would face any of those 32 seeds in the next round. Does this make sense? Not really, but oh well.
What truly doesn't make sense is the fact that the NCAA won't do anything about the BCS, but it will ruin the best thing they have by including 32 more teams. The tournament creates BILLIONS of dollars of revenue. All the NCAA cares about is how much more it could make. It doesn't matter that some teams that qualify for the tournament won't deserve it, but it's ok more $$$.
Under the future rules, all of the teams in the NIT, including schools such as Northwestern, UNC and UCONN would have qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Did they deserve to be included? No. They didn't prove themselves in the regular season to be deserving of a bid. The new format pretty much makes the regular season irrelevant and just seems like another way to get all the big schools in the tournament. It will get rid of the NIT and end something that made all smaller schools happy: the fact that if you won your conference regular season title, but lost in your conference tournament, you got an Auto-NIT bid. But it's ok forget about them, right?
NCAA before you do something you regret, sit back and realize the ramifications this expansion will have on the college basketball landscape. But as I have already said, neither something you nor I say will matter, so just sit back and watch the NCAA become even more greedy.
Yes, this whole thing is about money. Right now the NCAA is in the midst of a 11-year, $6 BILLION contract with CBS. It has an option to opt out of the contract after this years' NCAA Tournament and after yesterday's Final Four press conference, it seems like that will happen.While the press conference was originally supposed to be on what the options for expanding the tournament, whether it be 68, 94 or 96 teams, it clearly became one that focused on one specific number: 96.
In today's tournament, there are 65 teams, as one game is played earlier in the week, a game called the 'Play-In game.' In the new format, the tournament will be extended by a week and to make things more ridiculous, the seeding will also change.
In the current format, teams are seeded 1-16 in four regions, with the top seeded team playing the 16th, 2 vs. 15, etc. The new format would be as follows. The top 32 seeds, so those usually seeded 1-8 in the four regions, would be given first-round byes, therefore allowing the remaining 64 teams to determine who would face any of those 32 seeds in the next round. Does this make sense? Not really, but oh well.
What truly doesn't make sense is the fact that the NCAA won't do anything about the BCS, but it will ruin the best thing they have by including 32 more teams. The tournament creates BILLIONS of dollars of revenue. All the NCAA cares about is how much more it could make. It doesn't matter that some teams that qualify for the tournament won't deserve it, but it's ok more $$$.
Under the future rules, all of the teams in the NIT, including schools such as Northwestern, UNC and UCONN would have qualified for the NCAA Tournament. Did they deserve to be included? No. They didn't prove themselves in the regular season to be deserving of a bid. The new format pretty much makes the regular season irrelevant and just seems like another way to get all the big schools in the tournament. It will get rid of the NIT and end something that made all smaller schools happy: the fact that if you won your conference regular season title, but lost in your conference tournament, you got an Auto-NIT bid. But it's ok forget about them, right?
NCAA before you do something you regret, sit back and realize the ramifications this expansion will have on the college basketball landscape. But as I have already said, neither something you nor I say will matter, so just sit back and watch the NCAA become even more greedy.
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