50. Oakland Grizzlies
“I feel the need. The need, for speed”
- Top Gun
Oakland, who plays the second fastest game of tournament teams (behind Long Island) poses a serious threat to Texas, which is not something that should be taken lightly. Oakland played West Virginia, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan State, Michigan, and Ohio State (all losses), and beat Tennessee. They will try to run the ball and speed up the game. I doubt they can do this effectively enough to beat Texas and their sound defense, but it should be a good game.
49. Tennessee Volunteers
“So who did you go to lunch with?”
“With Jennifer”
“Where did you go”
“To the Riviera”
“What did you have”
“I had…..a salad”
“And what did Jennifer have?”
“She had the same.’
“Okay……… I want you to call Jennifer and I want you to tell her to tell you what she had for lunch, and Im going to listen in on the other line.”
“Why do you want to do that?”
“You know why I want to do it. Just do it.”
- Casino
A classic exchange between DeNiro and Sharon Stone, (who got screwed out of the best actress award that year), this shows the lack of trust between Stone and DeNiro. Despite Stone knowing the inquisitive behavior of DeNiro, she can’t help but lie, and can’t help herself from seeing James Woods.
Which brings us to Bruce Pearl. He just cant help himself from cheating and lying. In 1990, he taped telephone conversations with a recruit, Dion Thomas, who decided to go to Illinois instead of Pearl's Iowa. He submitted the tapes, and was blackballed by the other coaches. He re-surfaced in Milwaukee, guiding the Panthers to the Sweet 16 in 2005. Now, at Tennessee, he invited recruits over to his house for a BBQ. This alone wouldn't be bad enough, but then, he said that no BBQ ever took place. Following this, a picture surfaced of.......a BBQ, him and recruits and all. Pearl became teary-eyed and said he learned "he cant tell the truth just some of the time," (what a lesson for you youngsters!) Most recently, a report came saying that Pearl approached the recruit's (Kraft of Ohio State) father and told him that he knew the BBQ was illegal. Also, three days after receiving his eight game suspension, Pearl committed another violation when he visited a high school recruit before the recruits practice.
I wouldn't be surprised if Pearl's ending is similar to Sharon Stones either. IF (big IF) hes fired by Tennessee, I can see Pearl driving his car into the front of the Tennessee athletic building, escorted by police, while Pearl runs in and claims he needs to "just get one thing." He somehow gets a key to a box that has all his salary checks, the money he feels hes owed. As he's stuffing it in duffel bags hes offering the police stacks of money all the meanwhile Tennessee Chancellor Jimmy Cheek is on the telephone saying "he took it all."
Oh, by the way, Tennessee poses no threat to Duke, if they beat Michigan.
48. UAB Blazers
“I would if I gave you any thought.”
- Casablanca
A classic exchange, where Humphrey Bogart as Rick Blaine lets his disdain for Ugarte (Peter Lorre) known, letting him know he doesn’t give a shit at all about his dilemma of having the stolen visas lifted off two dead Nazi’s. Maybe I would be upset that UAB was in the tournament instead of Virginia Tech, Colorado, or Alabama. I would hate UAB if I gave them any thought to begin with. They should lose to Clemson.
47. Georgia Bulldogs
“Let’s not start sucking each other’s dicks quite yet.”
- Pulp Fiction
Georgia got into the tournament despite losing to Alabama twice in the past week. That’s great. They shouldn’t start doing what I described above, quite yet, because they have to play Washington, and then UNC. Win one game, and they could enjoy a nice quiet breakfast and talk about pork products. But if they relax, Bonnie is going to get home and find a dead body in her house.
46. Butler Bulldogs
“If I were you, you got a wife and kids, I’d say it isn’t worth it, not this heat.”
- Heat
In a movie full of awesome moments, this is my favorite. DeNiro, one of the more persistent, intelligent, methodical criminals in film’s history, tells Tom Sizemore that the next attempted robbery isn’t going to be worth it. Sizemore is shocked to hear this from DeNiro. He stares off into space, trying to fathom what DeNiro just said. He replies that the action is the excitement, and is in.
I feel this way about Butler, the team who went to the finals last year. No one would think any differently about them if they sat this year out, lost in the Horizon, played like shit in the first round, etc. We would understand. They have to play Old Dominion and Pittsburgh. It’s too much action. Tell that to Coach Brad Stevens, and he’ll probably duplicate Tom Sizemore’s crazed, psychotic look.
45. Old Dominion Lions
“Cannot form complex machines, moving parts. Relegated to forming knives, stabbing weapons.”
- Terminator 2
Old Dominion may be like the T-1000 (Robert Patrick). They may not be able to do anything fancy like form a bomb, or do anything with moving parts, but they can form sharp, blunt objects. They can rebound. They can play defense. They want to play a game in the fifties. This quote is not a knock on ODU, as I feel that they could actually be a threat to Pittsburgh, should they beat Butler. They could be the badass T-1000 form that is hellbent on making the sweet 16, or they could be some dumbass T-1000 that is easily pushed into molten lava, and lose to Butler.
44. UCLA Bruins
“It just wasn’t enough time Michael, it just wasn’t enough time.”
“We’ll get there pop, we’ll get there.”
- The Godfather
Apart from the embarrassing Oregon loss, UCLA had been playing the hottest basketball. If the season went another month or two, they would continue to get better, trend up, and most likely get a five seed. It doesn’t though, it wasn’t enough time. Michael’s quote back to Ben Howland, I mean Don Corleone, is pertinent too. UCLA has no seniors, and everyone figures to return. Next year, they will be sitting in a cabin in Lake Tahoe, refusing requests from State Senators.
43. Richmond Spiders
- Caddyshack
Richmond has not won a tournament game since 1998, when they upset #3 South Carolina (who seemed to lose every single year in the 1990s). I’m waiting for Richmond to do something special. They lost in the first round last year to St. Marys. This year, they beat Purdue early in the season. They also beat VCU, Seton Hall, and Temple. They seem to match up with perennial bust Vanderbilt pretty well, and could easily win the next game too. They shoot the three well, and could be boom or bust.
42. USC Trojans
“I have your car towed all the way over here and all you got for me is light beer?”
- Back to the Future
One of Biff’s many classic quotes. USC is traveling from Los Angeles to Dayton, to face…..Virginia Commonwealth, the team many feel should not be in the tournament. If they win, they will go on to Chicago to face Georgetown. Like Biff, USC may feel a little befuddled. They are traveling a long way to deal with bullshit. They are favored to win, but just like in BTTF, anything is possible.
41. Texas A&M
- Caddyshack
This might not even go, but I had to get it on the top 68. I will say this though, Texas A&M has a good record, 24-8, and might be smiling now, but we will see once the tournament starts. I never like A&M, and I am shocked that they got a 7 seed. While I feel it is actually a fair seed, I would have guessed they would get a 5. I had a whole line of other quotes lined up for them if that were the case, but now, I just gotta use this one.
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