Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Dead, Alive, or Zombie?!?!?!

Wednesday saw the most teams drop out of the race then any day so far.  15 teams no longer have the chance to win the title.  They were:

Coastal Carolina
Campbell
Jacksonville
High Point
Holy Cross
Navy
Colgate
Eastern Kentucky
Army
Liberty
Lipscomb
Santa Clara
Austin Peay
Fordham
Rhode Island

That leaves us with a total of 54 teams out and 290 still left with a chance.  Here is the breakdown...

ALIVE             290
ZOMBIE            0
AUTO BID        0
AUTO LOCK    0

DEAD               54

TOTAL           344

A possible 17 teams could lose out on Thursday.  And the deceased just keep coming.

Tourneys starting on Thursday and my predictions.

AMERICA EAST
I'm going to go with Vermont here.  They have split with the one seed Stony Brook this year but the time they beat them they ran them off the floor.  Also, Vermont lost to Binghamton last week and this will only get them more focused in the tourney.

NORTHEAST
I'll go with Robert Morris in this one.  Only because I watched them win at Ohio this year and they seemed to have a team of players that aren't scared to take the big shot.  They also beat the number one seed Long Island this year, so they know they can beat anyone.

MISSOURI VALLEY
Wichita State in a runaway.  They only team close to them is Creighton and from what I saw in their last matchup, they aren't even close to them.  I'd be shocked, if they didn't win this tourney.  Shocked I tell ya.

Went to the Marquette at UC game tonight.  UC played hard, they outrebounded Marquette and beat them to every loose ball.  I don't think UC is that great of a team, but I don't want my favorite team to play them in the tourney, that's for sure.

Til tomorrow....

Curt

Rhode Island guard Billy Baron (20) drives against Xavier guard Dee Davis in the second half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Feb. 8, 2012, in Cincinnati. Baron led Rhode Island with 22 points. Xavier won 84-66. (AP Photo/Al Behrman)

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Status Update Anyone?

Ok, another day of games in the books, at least the ones that matter in this exercise.  Four teams are now dead and can no longer win the title.  They are all from the Horizon league, which started its conference tourney Tuesday night.  Those teams are; Green Bay, Wright State, Loyola (IL), and Illinois-Chicago.  All the top seeds won, no upsets to speak of tonight.  That puts us at 39 teams dead, and 305 still alive. 

I was thinking, we need to have a couple more categories for this thing.  What happens when a team loses in its tourney but is still on the bubble?  I was thinking, staying with the dead or alive theme, we will put these teams in the Zombie category.  I figure you lose and you feel like you're dead, but you're still somewhat alive, haunting the other teams that are still somewhat alive, making you a Zombie.  Dumb?  Probably, but that's what we are going to use from here on out.  We'll also have to keep track of teams that have earned the automatic bids and teams that we all know will get an at large once they have been ousted from their own tourneys.  So right now it looks like this...

ALIVE                      305
ZOMBIE                     0
AUTO                         0
AT LARGE LOCK     0

DEAD                        39

TOTAL                     344
(Remember, we won't add you as an at large lock until you lose your conference tourney.)

Tourneys starting on Wednesday....

Atlantic Sun
I think I'm going to go with Mercer in this one.  Belmont won the regular season crown and beat Mercer twice, but I'll go with the old adage, you can't beat a good team three times in one season.  No other reason than that, well, other than the fact that I don't want to pick the one seed every time.

Patriot
Lehigh is my pick here.  They have won nine out of ten and beat Bucknell on the road during that streak.  The title game will probably be on Bucknells home court, so we know Lehigh can win there.

Ohio Valley
Hmmm, I think I'll go with Murray State in this one.  They get a bye to the semi's so that helps.  I just don't see how they can lose.  I could pick against them just for fun, but what is the point when you know you'll just be wrong?

West Coast
This will be a really good tourney.  The top four teams in this conference can each beat one another.  St. Mary's and Gonzaga should meet in the final but it's definitely not a given.  I think I'm going to take BYU in this one.  The tourney is in Vegas so none of the top teams have any kind of homecourt advantage.  I think that levels the playing ground and makes it one of those tourneys that anyone can win.

Wednesday has the chance to knock out well over a dozen teams.  Pretty much from here on out we'll be taking out double digits worth of teams daily.  Here we go....

Curt

P.S.  You know who took a step toward going back to the dance tonight, right?

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Comments are welcome.

Monday, February 27, 2012

Dead or Alive!?!?!?!?!

Here we go, it's March Madness time.  Yep, you get three bonus days in February. Conference tournaments start today, Monday the 27th.  For the next 14 days, teams will be playing their conference tourneys and either continuing to chase their dream, or losing out and being forced to hope next year brings a different outcome.  Selection Sunday will then set the stage for the best tournament in sports, with 68 teams hoping this could be the year.  Finally Monday, April 2 will be the end of the journey and one team will stand tall as the Champion of College Basketball.  And for once, the game won't rival Opening Day, thank God.

As of Monday night, 35 teams are officially done, leaving 309 teams still with a shot at the title.  Here are your eliminated teams:

Atlantic Sun - Kennesaw State, Stetson
Big Sky - Northern Arizona, Sacramento State, Northern Colorado
Big West - Cal State Northridge
Northeast - Fairleigh Dickinson, Bryant University, Mount St. Mary’s, St. Francis, PA
Ohio Valley - Tennessee-Martin, Eastern Illinois, SIU-Edwardsville
Southland - Central Arkansas, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Summit - UMKC, South Dakota
Sun Belt - Louisiana Monroe
Independents - Cal State Bakersfield, Seattle, Longwood
Great West - Utah Valley, Texas-Pan American, North Dakota, NJIT, Houston Baptist, Chicago State
Ivy - Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell
Big South - Presbyterian, Radford, Gardner-Webb

Remember, there are 32 conferences, 31 of them have conference tourneys. The Great West Conference doesn't have an automatic bid and the Ivy League doesn't have a conference tourney.  The Ivy awards their regular season champion the auto bid.  So in the end, there are 31 automatic bids. That leaves 37 at large bids to be handed out on Sunday, March 11th.  I'll keep a tally of auto bids on the blog once we start getting some champions.  I will also post my prediction for each conference before each tourney starts.

Big South
This tourney started on Monday, so ya, I'm late, but I don't think the outcomes of the first games are going to sway my decision.  UNC Asheville is definitely my pick to win this one.  Not only are they the class of the conference, but the tourney will be held at their place if they make it to the final.   Their tourney to lose.  Just want to point out that they got rolled in Athens by the Bobcats a couple weeks ago, but hey, who doesn't?

Horizon League
This tourney starts on Tuesday.  This will be an interesting one.  Valpo is the best team and they will host the tourney.  But you know who is lurking; Butler is a five seed and will have to win four games to get back to the tourney.  We've all seen them win four games in a row before.  I'm going to pick Valpo though, it's at their place, the Drew family has some magic going in this one, and I don't think Butler can keep it going this year.

In all, 15 conferences start their tourneys this week, should be fun.  I'm going to the Marquette at Cincinnati game on Wednesday.  Big one for Cincy, they need it.  We are also going to Ohio at Miami on Friday.  Looks like Ohio will need to win to get the two seed and a double bye in the MAC tourney next week, they need that.  If you made it this far, thanks for reading.  Let me know your thoughts on the tourneys.

Curt

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Sunday, February 26, 2012

Dead or Alive?!?!?!?!?!

Another 8 teams lost their chance to win the title on Saturday.  Those teams were:

Stetson - Atlantic Sun
Eastern Illinois - Ohio Valley
Central Arkansas - Southland
Southeastern Louisiana - Southland
Texas A&M Corpus Christi - Southland
Princeton - Ivy
SIU Edwardsville - Ohio Valley
South Dakota - Summit

South Dakota is actually ineligible due to switching to Division 1 this year, but they wouldn't have made their tourney anyway, so it's all good.

That puts us at a total of 32 teams now with zero chance to dream the ultimate dream.  Those other 24 teams?  I'll give you a quick run down here since it's Sunday and it's just a good time to give these teams one last shout out for a failed season.  Those teams are:

Atlantic Sun - Kennesaw State
Big Sky - Northern Arizona, Sacramento State
Northeast - Fairleigh Dickinson, Bryant University, Mount St. Mary's, St. Francis, PA
Ohio Valley - Tennessee Martin
Summit - UMKC
Sun Belt - Louisiana Monroe
Ivy - Brown, Dartmouth, Columbia, Cornell
Independents - Cal State Bakersfield, Seattle, Longwood
Great West - Utah Valley, Texas Pan American, North Dakota, NJIT, Houston Baptist, Chicago State
Big South - Presbyterian

No teams will become deceased on Sunday, so we go into Monday with 312 teams still with a chance to win it all.

ESPN says Championship Week starts next Saturday, but it really starts on Monday.  At least 7 conferences start their tourneys this week, a few more start later in the week.  This is where the real fun begins and teams start dropping like flies.  Stay tuned, I'll keep you updated on who is in, who is out, and some bubble talk once it comes to that.  Enjoy.

Curt

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Saturday, February 25, 2012

Dead or Alive!?!?!?!?!?!

Lost a couple more on Friday night.  Columbia and Cornell now are eliminated from winning the IVY League regular season title, and since they don't have a conference tourney, they no have chance to get to the dance.  That puts us at 24 teams officially done.  320 still have a chance, even if it is 0.00001%.  More to come this Saturday for sure as we dwindle it all the way down to one.

Curt

Friday, February 24, 2012

Dead or Alive!!??!?!?!

We had four more teams lose their dream Thursday night. These teams are mathematically eliminated from their own conference tournaments and have zero shot at an large bid. The teams are:

Mount St. Mary's
St. Francis, PA
UMKC
Sacramento State

That puts us at 22 teams now with no shot. Meaning that 322 teams can still dream. Only 17 more days of basketball until the Committee makes their much anticipated 68 team bracket. In those next 17 days, more and more teams will lose their dream for the 2011-2012 season. And I'll keep you totally informed of their status.

Curt

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Brackets

I look at four bracketology websites.  They have Temple as a four seed in two of them and a five seed in the other two.  I would definitely take a four seed, that would be sweet.  And make it Friday night, in Columbus, even better. 

No teams have lost their dream in the last two days.  Some are coming Wednesday though.  Look for that post.

Curt

Sunday, February 19, 2012

25 Man Roster Prediction....

Well, it's finally here, Spring Training.  Pitchers and catchers reported today in Goodyear, AZ.  Every team in camp right now thinks they have a chance to win it all this year.  In Cincy, a lot of people think it could actually happen in 2012.  Reds have a long way to go for that to happen but they definitely have some good pieces in place. 

Here is my prediction for the 25 man roster on Opening Day.  I'm sure it'll change week by week after the inevitable injuires pile up, but here is what I'm seeing right now.  I think they'll take 12 pitchers and 13 position players.

Starters
Johnny Cueto
Mat Latos
Bronson Arroyo
Mike Leake
Homer Bailey

Relievers
Ryan Madson
Nick Masset
Sean Marshall
Bill Bray
Sam LeCure
Logan Ondrusek
Jose Arredondo

Catchers
Ryan Hanigan
Devin Mesoraco

Infielders
Joey Votto
Brandon Phillips
Zack Cozart
Scott Rolen
Juan Francisco
Miguel Cairo
Wilson Valdez

Outfielders
Jay Bruce
Drew Stubbs
Chris Heisey
Ryan Ludwick

Notable ommissions....

Chapman won't be ready to be a starter when the season begins, and even if he is, whose spot is he taking?  Don't worry, someone will get hurt so Aroldis will get his chance, just not right out of the gate.

Frazier can't really play short, otherwise I would have him in there over Valdez.  Valdez can pinch run, switch hit, and backup Cozart so he gets the nod.

Janish, I don't see him beating out Valdez.

And for the heck of it, here is my guess at the Opening Day starting lineup...

Phillips
Cozart
Votto
Bruce
Rolen
Heisey
Stubbs
Mesoraco
Cueto

What does everyone else think?  Opening Day is in 46 days, it'll be here soon.

Curt

Dead or Alive???

Saturday had only one team lose their dream.  Louisiana Monroe is officially in last and will not play in their conference tourney and I'm guessing, they won't get an at large bid.  326 teams can still dream.

Oh, and anyone notice Temples ten straight victories?  Ya, rollin.

Oh, and great UD Xavier game.  Thought UD was going to pull the stunner.  Probably looking at the NIT now.

Oh, and I understand San Diego State and UNLV are good, but how can you be ranked when you are only 6-4 in the Mountain West Conference?

Curt

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Dead or Alive????

So going into Saturday the 18th's games we only have 327 teams left with a chance to be National Champions. 17 teams are officially gone and have nothing to dream about except where to party after your next game. Here are your deceased teams....


Kennesaw State
Northern Arizona
Presyterian
Cal State Bakersfield
Seattle 
Longwood
Utah Valley
Texas-Pan American
NJIT
North Dakota
Chicago State
Houston Baptist
Brown
Dartmouth
Farleigh Dickinson
Bryant University
Tennessee-Martin

How many more will lose their dream today?  Probably will be a couple.  Conference tourneys start in about ten days.  To me, that's when the madness truly begins, even before March.

Curt

MB vs. Vermont

Friday, February 17, 2012

Dreams Dead or Alive?

Here we are, February 17th, 2012. There are 344 Division I college basketball teams these days, and they all have one dream, to be National Champs. Well, every team has that chance before the season starts, unlike in football. But some teams dreams have already been crushed. Here are the teams that could still dream big, just not for this year.

Independents who don't have a conference and will not get an at large bid.
Seattle
Cal State Bakersfield
Longwood

Great West Conference - No automatic Conference Champion bid and will not get at large bid.
Utah Valley
Texas-Pan American
NJIT
North Dakota
Chicago State
Houston Baptist

Ivy League doesn't have Conference Tourney. Regular season champ gets auromatic bid. Team is mathematically eliminated.
Dartmouth

So there is where we stand currently. 334 teams still have a shot with only 23 days remaining until Selection Sunday.

Curt