It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, March

I'm getting ready to drive back from Phoenix where I spent the last three days watching split squad baseball in spring training. Unfortunately, I also managed to contract a case of walking pneumonia which has me wiped out. I guess $8.00 beers aren't as medicinal as I thought they might be.

Sports bloggers are mandated to write about the NCAA tournament within 24 hours of the brackets being released. So in order to keep my blogging privileges, here are my thoughts on the matchups:

Expect Southern Cal, UNLV, and Miami to experience a bit of culture shock in their opening rounds, as the first two will be landing in Omaha, Nebraska and the Hurricanes will be in Little Rock, Arkansas. Can you imagine the USC Song girls (pictured) in Omaha? (Actually, if you imagine them as farmer's daughters, it's not that hard.) That's got to feel like playing an exhibition in a foreign country. On the plus side, at least their coaches won't have to worry about the players being too distracted. They just need to make sure none of their players injure themselves by using too heavy of balls at the bowling alley.

Cal State Fullerton will also be shipped off to Omaha. But as long as there's a multiplex and an Applebee's, then players will be able to recreate the Fullerton experience.

Not to jinx things, but UCLA has the easiest draw of any of the #1 seeds. This will be the first year in recent memory where anything less than a Final Four appearance will be a disappointment (assuming Mbah a Moute recovers from his ankle anjury). I'm still waiting for SI to send me on assignment to cover their games. Maybe Arash Markazi could call in sick for a few days?

Message to Ashley Judd: if Kentucky happens to lose in the 1st round in Anaheim, I'd be more than happy to buy your floor seats for round two. Or, I could buy you a beer a two to help you feel better about the Wildcats' loss. Or you know what? Screw this tournament- let's just go to Disneyland together.

Here in Tempe, most people have responded to the Sun Devils' perceived snub by hitting up the bars and drinking all night. But that's what they do every night in Tempe, so who knows how they really feel?

Might as well go on the record with some predictions: Oral Roberts finally gets that first round upset they've been seeking by beating a Pittsburgh team that's shot its wad. (Oral Roberts really frowns on shooting your wad). Portland State will have the smallest deficit of any #16 seed, but still won't come close to winning. The Big 10 will do better in the tourney than the SEC. The winner of the #6 USC v #11 Kansas State game will make it to the final four (gotta go out on a limb somewhere.)

Final Four predictions: UCLA, North Carolina, Texas, USC/Kansas St. Winner: Bruins (and yes, I know this contradicts an early prediction of mine.)

Have fun filling out the brackets. Feel free to invite me into any *pools you might be participating in so you can see how little credibility I really have.

(*offer not valid to members of the Neuheisel family.)

God and I Agree: Big Conference Tourneys Are a Waste of Time

Last night's SEC tournament was postponed by what the National Weather Service has called a possible tornado. I guess the other possibility is just a "huge, f*ckin' wind." While the league was able to resume the Alabama/Mississippi State game, the Georgia/Kentucky matchup was postponed until today and relocated to Georgia Tech's coliseum, where only players, family, cheerleaders, band, and the press will be allowed in the arena. I'm assuming Ashley Judd will also be allowed in the building as the NCAA has a contract with Kentucky stating that no televised Wildcats games are allowed to proceed without her presence.

The message couldn't be clearer: God does not like conference tourneys. Either that, or he was just going through a practice run for the Atlanta Gay Pride celebration in July. It's always tricky to know for sure with the Big Guy. But assuming it's the contrived preambles to the real tournament that He's upset with, I couldn't agree more- at least as they apply to the major conferences. For the most part, teams in these conference tourneys have a lot to lose and very little to gain (except for a few quick bucks). Take for example, the Pac-10, a conference in which each team plays each other home and away during the regular season to determine a true champion. If the Pac-10 didn't have a tournament, UCLA would probably be a #1 seed in the NCAAs and the conference likely gets six and maybe even seven bids. As things stand today, UCLA is still a #1 seed, but now are without Luc Richard Mbah a Moute for some time, Stanford probably moved up a slot or two in the seeding, but now the Pac-10 looks like a four or maybe five bid league- as Oregon, Arizona, and Arizona State may have all lost their invitations (tho I think the Sun Devils might still be safe).

The tournaments in the major conferences have only been truly significant once in the history of the modern NCAA tournament. That occurred in 1983, when NC State needed to win the ACC tournament to even qualify for the NCAA's, which it ended up winning in a magical fashion. Obviously, that was a great moment in basketball history and the sport and possibly even society (would the V foundation be what it is today without that 9 game Wolfpack run?) is better for it. But keep in mind that in 1983, the reason NC State needed the ACC tourney to qualify for a bid was because the NCAA field consisted of only 48 teams. In today's modern 65 team tournament, NC State's 17-10 overall, 8-6 conference regular season record would have been sufficient to get a bid on its own merits, and the ACC tournament would have still been unnecessary for them to make history. The last major conference team to "steal" a NCAA bid by winning its tournament was the 2005-06 Syracuse Orangemen, and they were promptly ousted in the first round of the NCAA's. But at least we got to celebrate America's favorite gritty white guy, Gerry McNamara, for a few extra days.

For the smaller conferences, these tournaments makes sense- their teams get some exposure on national tv for a week before making their early exit (George Mason, excepted) in the Big Dance. During the regular season, fans aren't going to pay any attention to the MEAC, CAA, or Summitt League. But during "Championship Week" on ESPN, fans do- and then they all decide that someone like Belmont or USD is their upset special when filling out brackets the next week. It also gives players in those leagues an opportunity to experience the joy of winning a tournament on national tv. What do the winners of the ACC, Big 12, and Pac-10 feel after they win their conference tournament? For the most part, I imagine it's relief.

So let's cancel the major conference tournaments and put the extra week to better use. Conferences that don't play a true "home and home" round robin could get closer to doing so. Or perhaps by stretching out the schedule, teams would be able to schedule marquee non-conference matchups in January or February. Or maybe, just maybe, teams could use the extra week to rest up for the "real" tournament and perhaps their players could actually go to class for one week out of the semester.

Ok, that last one will never happen, but the rest are good ideas.

Making Friends In High Places

Tom is my friend; Jim Nantz calls me friend; and now Sports Illustrated refers to me as a friend. That's great and all- you can never have to many friends- but why is it none of these friends ever return my emails when I ask for money, Final Four tickets, or to forward me the private photos of that blonde in Florida practicing yoga on her Myspace homepage?

Note to my new friends at SI: Don't you think sending a blogger on a photojournalistic exploration of March Madness would be a great feature this month? Think about it. I'll clear out my schedule just in case.

Will Jim Boeheim Please Stop Whining Now?

When the pairings for the NCAA tournament were announced, Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim appeared on ESPN as frequently as he could to air his grievances on the perceived snub his Orangemen received at the hands of the NCAA selection committee. As the weeks progressed and the N.I.T. tournament commenced, it was apparent that Boeheim still felt that his team was wronged, and that attitude trickled down to his entire team in their comments to the media. After losing in the quarterfinals to Clemson tonight in a game that was much closer than it should have been, hopefully everyone realizes that the N.I.T. is exactly where Syracuse belonged. More importantly, I hope this game is enough to shut Boeheim up... at least until the start of next season.

Why was Boeheim so upset about missing the NCAAs this year anyway? Basketball fans already saw this storyline last year when we pretended for a week that Gerry McNamara somehow symbolized all that was good about college basketball as he led Syracuse to the Big East tournament title- and then proceeded to watch the Orangemen get ousted in the first round by Texas A&M. Even if Syracuse had been invited to the tournament this year instead of a less deserving at-large team (Stanford), is there any reason to expect that Syracuse would have been able to get past the first round of the NCAA's when it couldn't even make it to the Final Four of the N.I.T.- a tournament designed for the bubble teams?

I can understand a school like Air Force being upset about not making the tournament. For a school such as Air Force, just making the big dance is a huge accomplishment in itself. But at Syracuse, the bar should be set a lot higher. Jim Boeheim is a hall of fame coach who has appeared in three NCAA championship games. Would a first round loss in this tournament really have transformed this disappointing season into a success? The University of Arizona had a season similar to that of Syracuse. I'm pretty sure that after their first round loss, none of Arizona's fans took any consolation in the fact that their team at least made the tournament. They're probably just glad it's over. Now Syracuse's season is over as well, and it's time for Jimmy to take his ball and go home...quietly.

(As an aside, if asked before the tournament started, I would have said that the N.I.T. had long since outlived its usefulness and should be discontinued. However today at both Clemson and Air Force, fans rushed the court after victories sent the home team to Madison Square Garden for the semifinals. So either college kids will get excited about virtually anything, or the N.I.T. still has some credibility afterall. Considering how happy I used to get in college about a free pizza, it's probably a little of both.)