Even More Colorado

And speaking of Colorado. Here is my clip of the day.

For those of you familiar, it will be upsetting to watch. For those of you who arent, see if you can find the error.

More Colorado

I honestly cannot get enough Colorado Football. They are slowly turning into my favorite team. I found another reputable college football preview, which states their schedules as follows:

Compare that to the schedule I mentioned earlier:

So what are the differences?

The schedule from FBS schedules has 13 games, as predicted by me. Okay, that makes sense. They would add one game, make it a home game, then, they would still be playing an odd mix of 5 home games, 8 road games, 4 non conf games, and 9 conf games....right? But look at the game that is different. They added......Cal. At home. Notice the little #1 next to Cal.....the key indicates - non-conference game? WHAT THE FUCK? Colorado just joined the Pac12. How could this be a non conference game? None of this makes sense!??!??!

First, we see that Colorado is playing 9 conf games, 3 non-conf, and only 4 home games. Then we see that they add a 13th game since they play Hawaii in Honolulu. Then, we see that the added game is against conference foe Cal, but it counts as a non conference game? Could this make any less sense to anyone?

Colorado

I was going through all the college football teams just now; seeing how many starters were returning for each team, seeing non-conference opponents, etc. I came across Colorado, an interesting team in a couple of regards. 1) They join the Pac-12 this year. 2) They have a new coach, former Redskins TE Coach Jon Embree, who has never been head coach at any level.

Shockingly, and what got me to come on here and write about them, is that they play FOUR home games. FOUR.

I'm looking all around, trying to find another source to dismiss this, but I can't. The new Pac-12 schedule gives them nine games, 4 at home, 5 on the road. Okay, they kinda get the short end of the stick there, but it's fair.

Then, they play 3 non-conference games: @Hawaii, @ Ohio State, and Colorado State at Mile High. FOUR HOME GAMES!

Odds are is that Colorado adds another game. I forgot exactly how this works, but there is usually a condition that if you play Hawaii in Honolulu, you can add a 13th game (USC did this last year). Hopefully when they do, they make sure they play it at Folsom Field.

As far as their prospects for the season; one would think that anything other than the Dan/Cody Hawkins duo would be an improvement. Both are now gone. In the last five seasons with Hawkins, Colorado made one bowl game. It was Hawkins' second year, and it was the 2007 Independence Bowl. Their opponent was Alabama, with first year coach Nick Saban. To say the programs have gone in different directions since then would be a bit of an understatement.

An article that I can no longer find highlights the lack of high quality recruits in the state of Colorado. Colorado had built its success in previous seasons by recruiting outside of the state; mainly in California. Experts are saying that Colorados inclusion in the Pac12 will re-open the state of California to them, but we shall see. I'm not sure I really understand this logic. I am from the south side of Chicago, and grew up watching the Big10, but that didnt make me want to go to Penn State or Minnesota, and in fact, I don't know anyone who went to either school. Why would this make someone from southern California want to go to Boulder, Colorado?

Colorado does return 16 players overall. Their marquee win last year was an early season upset over UGA. Their low moment came against Kansas, when they blew a 45-17 lead with 12 minutes left. This loss was the final blow to Hawkins' small chances of retaining his job. They won 2 of their last 3, including an upset over Kansas State, but finished 5-7.

Tyler Hansen takes over for Hawkins at QB. He has some experience, as he started the season at QB, and started the game against UGA. They have an experienced offensive line, featuring three seniors, and 4 returning starters. As stated above, their schedule does them no favors, but there is potential for them to win 6 games and get back in a bowl.

History.....Just History?

Lets take a quick look at the historical nature of this weekend and the upcoming final four.

First, as you probably have already heard. this will be the first final four without a 1 or 2 seed. There were only two other final fours that had no one seeds. In 2006, #3 Florida won the title over #2 UCLA, and #11 George Mason and #4 LSU lost in the final four. In 1980, #2 Louisville beat #8 UCLA, and #6 Purdue beat #5 Iowa in the third place game.

In the prior eight years, the champion was ranked either #1 or #2 by Pomeroy every year except one; 2003 when #7 Syracuse won (remember, I'm talking overall now). This year, going into today, Kentucky was ranked #6, UConn #12 (the highest the Huskies have been all year), Butler #37, and VCU #58 (they should move up, slightly).

If VCU wins, it will be the first time a double digit seed made the finals, and thus, the lowest seeded team to make the finals. Twice before, an eleven seed made the Final Four. In 1986, #11 LSU lost to eventual champion Louisville, and in 2006, #11 Mason lost to eventual champion Florida.

Pomeroy had VCU's odds of getting to the ELITE EIGHT as 500-1. Many places in Vegas offered VCU as 250-1 to win the region (obviously terrible odds, but if you had that, I don't think youre complaining right now). According to Pomeroy's log5 analysis of the bracket before any games were played, VCU was a 1 in 3300 longshot to make the final four.

VCU was certainly the biggest underdog in an elite game since 2007. That doesnt say much. The most likely next biggest was George Mason vs Uconn in 2006. I cannot find any print of this spread, but for whatever reason, I don't think it was this big. I vaugely remember it being in the ballpark of 6.5.

VCU is by far the lowest ranked team to make the final four in the past 8 years by Pomeroy. Butler's miracle season last year was great, but the BUlldogs were ranked 12th by Pomeroy. Mason was 26th in 2006. Between those two was #14 Villanova in 2009, Marquette was #16 in 2003. Did I mention VCU was #58 coming into today?

As far as Butler goes, the Bulldogs are the first team to make b2b final fours in which they were not #1 or #2 either year. They had a 1% chance of making the final four. They can try to tie Villanova in 1985 as the lowest seed to win the tournament. BUtler had a 1 in 2500 chance to win the tournament at the start. Now, they are favored to be back in the national title game.

VCU had a 1 in 203187 chance. Sit on that for a moment. For those who don't understand how this works, it says that if they played the tournament 203188 times, VCU would win it once. They play this tournament once a year. Civilization has existed for 7000 years. So three times longer than civilization has existed, is how often VCU would win. They're two games away.

UConn didnt have great odds either. They were figured to win the title game 1 in 100 times. They ended up being favored in every game, but not by much. They also benefited from Duke's loss. They will be underdogs for the first time next week.

Kentucky has become the favorite. They started as 1 in 30 longshots to win the tourney.

Butler is -3, and UK is -2 next weekend.

Basketball/Football in the same blog?!?!

That's right. This has been the busiest week of mine in recent memory. At least, the type of week where I actually can/have to do other stuff at work. But, next week I should be back in full swing with college football reporting, and a preview of the final four.

As far as this past week goes though, a few random thoughts:

Arizona played the best half of basketball I've seen all year last night. They didn't just beat Duke, they destroyed them. They made Duke look like a high school team. They ran them up and down the floor, they got every offensive rebound, and they dunked all over them.....

Hold on, I just got a tweet from Rotoworld. Braden Looper announced his retirement. In 12 years, he was 69-64, with a 4.46 ERA. He won Bronze on the 1996 US Mens Olympic team. This is probably more info about Looper you probably ever knew, or hoped to know. According to wikipedia, he lives in Palos Heights, IL (shout out..)

Kentucky has the potential to beat Ohio State tonight. With all due respect to the Big10, Kentucky is the most athletic team OSU has played all year. The emergence of Harrelson will be interesting - can he neutralize Sullinger? Both KNight and Jones have been awesome for UK.

The more I read about Alabama, the more I like about them. I read today that Trent Richardson, who in my mind was always better than Ingram, is 5'11", 225 lbs, runs a 10.5 100, and benches 500 lbs. In the photo of him, his deltoid looked bigger than my thigh.

You know my brain is really fucked up if I can't think of a great college football clip to show from YouTube. Instead, I'm going to give my most memorable Keith Jackson clips. A collection. Enjoy:


Heeee's Going for the Corneerrrrrrrrrr

Goooood Byeeeee! Hello Heisman!

Good Bye. This is also the most effortless, fastest 70 yard TD run I've ever seen. Downplayed even more by Keith's matter of fact, "good bye."

Alexandeerrrrrrr! Touchdown Michigan! & He Dropped IT! This is the anti-Bo Jackson highlight, and one of the few times you actually hear Keith really raise his voice. This one, you should FF to 4:25. Or, just be a man and watch the whole thing.

I also like how in 1990, you could just run onto the opposing teams field and touch the eventual Heisman trophy winner after he drops the game winning pass. Also, I remember seeing this game on Classic, and the Michigan bookstore had made shirts for the week that read: "No.1 vs No 1," meant to be read as "Number One vs Noone." I've been looking for one of these, and would easily pay $20+ for it.

CAUGHT! TOUCHDOWN!!! Probably the only other time he raised his voice. You should obviously take note of how Stewart throws the ball 73 yards.


1981 I included this one just cause 1981 rules. And this looks like a good game - I've never seen it in its entirety.


If you have any others, please share. Obviously a similar Musburger column is forthcoming, but that will take weeks of research to compile.

Yeah theres conference realignment - what does that mean though?

College football is going to look a lot different next year. Three of the six BCS conferences are going to be different next year, as well as the MWC and WAC.

Much of the analysis of these changes thus far has revolved around how certain teams will fare in their new conferences. How will Nebraska do in the Big10? How will Boise do in the upgraded Mountain West? Other analysis has delved into recruiting; how the Pac12 now has the states of Utah and Colorado at their disposal, and how the Big12 now doesn't have Colorado. Other commentary has poked fun at new logos, names (how the Big10 can have 12 teams and the Big12 can have 10....) or just made fun of this video; which isn't difficult to do.


But as I was reading a preview of Oklahoma, something caught my eye. The analysis included that "the Sooners don't have to play a Big12 title game anymore." Holy shit. That's right. This is pretty important, and something you would think would be included in one of the many articles about conference realignment. No more stupid BCS tiebreakers to crown a division winner. Unfortunately, no more oversised Dr. Pepper cans for players to throw balls through at halftime. Now, OU has one less game to win and subsequently sneak back into the national title, and one less game to lose, like they did in 2003. (but obviously got into the title game anyway).


Again, this is huge news. It got me thinking as to how the other schedules are going to work.

Lets start with the Big12. OU, for example, plays nine conference games now, and 3 non-conference games. Their non-conf games are Tulsa, @ F$U, and Ball State. So already, we're talking a harder schedule than they have had in the past. This also means that the Big12 has taken the place of the Pac10, and now plays a true round robin! This almost makes me like the Big12. It went from being one of the dumbest, more unbalanced conferences, to one of the better ones in terms of scheduling. OU now only has 6 home games, 5 road games, and 1 neutral in Dallas.

Conversely, the Pac10 is going from the best schedule to the worst. First, a recap of the new divisions:

North: Washington, Washington State, Oregon, Oregon State, Cal, Stanford
South: USC, UCLA, Arizona, Arizona State, Utah, Colorado

Teams will play everyone in their division once, and 4 teams from the other division. Going into this season, the North figures to be the tougher division. I don't have time to look at every schedule and determine who has the most difficult schedule, but Oregon doesnt play Utah or UCLA, so that seems like one of the harder ones right off the bat. Stanford doesnt play UCLA or ASU. Despite being in the weaker division, USC doesnt have the benefit of playing Wazzu.

There is a conference title game this year in the Pac12. It will be held in the stadium of the #1 team. I think this is pretty cool. Instead of inherently using the Coliseum, the Rose Bowl, or Sam Boyd stadium in Vegas, it gives a bigger reward to the best team. There was argument over where the game should be held. The Coliseum and the Rose Bowl are the biggest and are in LA, but they didnt want the game there for the same reason no owners want an NFL team to play in those stadiums; theres no luxury boxes. Vegas seemed like the next most logical choice, but Sam Boyd stadium only holds around 40,000 people, and there are no teams in Las Vegas. There will be debate about whether its a good idea to have the game in a home stadium - if it provides an unfair advantage for teams. It certainly could. BUt, you earn, so so what? It would be nice to see as the Big10 plans to play their championship game in the sterile, fake grass bullshit of Lucas Oil Stadium, that the Pac12 title could be decided in Eugene, or Palo Alto.

And finally, the Big10;

The Leaders Division: Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Wisconsin
The Legends Division: Iowa, Michigan, MSU, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern.

Ill reiterate the general consensus and say that these are the dumbest fucking division names ever. Even worse though, is how Michigan and Ohio State are in separate divisions, yet get to maintain their rivalry every year. I like that they will play every year, but put them in the same division then. The reason for not doing this is obvious - in short, they hooked up Michigan. Michigan now gets to play both rivals (OSU and MSU) every year, and it will only be a matter of time before there is a Michigan and OSU Big10 title game that causes Thom Brenneman to ruin football forever (the first Big10 title game is on Fox - which is good since no other big10 games are on Fox all year....dont worry, Im sure Ill be writing about this again in December). This decision to keep the rivalry in tact is a slap in the face to all the other rivalries they abolished; Wisconsin v. Iowa, Penn State v. MSU, NW v. Illinois, and Wisconsin v. Minnesota (they basically took all of Wisconsin's rivals away).

Truth be told, however, this appears to be another situation like when the ACC formed a few years ago. That is, I most likely won't know the divisions five years from now. What the fuck is wrong with these people? The Big12 was easy to remember, it was the 6 northernmost teams, and the 6 southernmost. Same with SEC, only 6 western teams, 6 eastern teams. I dont get confused that Florida and Mississippi were in the same division because they wanted to preserve some rivalry. Even the new Pac12 divisions are easy to remember, even if the geography isn't 100% correct. THe South division is the four southernmost schools; USC, UCLA, UofA, ASU, and the 2 new schools. The other division is the other 6 schools. Easy.

But the ACC and the Big10 split up their divisions with no rhyme or reason. The ACC calls their divisions the 'Atlantic' and the 'Coastal' - real fucking clever, the first two names of the conference. Here, they paid no attention to geography, as F$U and Miami are in two different divisons. Wake Forest is in a different division from UNC and DUke, and, its just a clusterfuck.
The big10 paid no attention to geography either, as Northwestern and Illinois are in two different divisions, Michigan is with Nebraska, and Ohio State is with Wisconsin; none of it makes any fucking sense.

The Big10 plans to play all your divisional teams, and 3 teams from the other division. Eight games in total. Ohio State, for example, plays Michigan, MSU, and Nebraska. Tough schedule. What I don't understand is what is going to happen when these schedules rotate. That is, all other teams have 5 games set, and it would be easy to play 3 teams from the other division for 2 years, once at home, once on the road, then for the next 2 years, play the other 3 teams. That is basically what they did before Nebraska joined. But Ohio State and Michigan are guaranteed 6 common games, their divisional games, and each other. So how are they going to rotate? Also, not only does this set-up a potential rematch between Michigan and OSU in the championship game, but the games would be back to back weeks. What a bunch of ass.

I can't think of another situation where this is possible.... If you look at the perenially good teams, their rivals, and when they play, it has never happened. One of the reasons it never happens, is because, the RIVALS ARE IN THE SAME FUCKING DIVISION. Texas plays OU in October, and theyre in the same division. Only one can advance. Alabama plays Auburn the last week, but they never had a rematch in the championship, because theyre in the same division. Never have any significant rivals played each other twice in the same year. If we look at the history of each conferences title games, the only instance in which you could make a case for significant rivals having played each other in the conference title game is:

Nebraska played Texas three times in the Big12 title game (if you even call this a rivalry game). 1996, 1999, and 2009. Only in 1999 did they meet in the regular season. Nebraska met OU in 2006, but again, had not played the Sooners in the regular season.

In the SEC, I consider all of the teams' main rivals to be in the same division. Bama & Auburn, Miss & Miss State, LSU & Arkansas, Florida & UGA, Vanderbilt and ........ BUt the point is, its almost impossible for rivals to face each other in the title game (unless you consider that in the SEC everyone hates everyone else, in which case every game, including the title game, is a rivalry.) But for the sake of argument, lets say Florida and Alabama is a big rivalry. There have been 19 SEC title games. Seven of the nineteen, and 4 of the first 5, have been Florida vs Alabama (the first two were played in Birmingham). Only ONCE out of the seven matchups have they met in the regular season. This occurred in 1999. Florida had lost to Alabama in the regular season in Gainesville, 40-39 in OT, in one of the craziest endings ever....
Later that year, Bama dominated them in the SEC title game, 34-7
Incidentally, the two went on to play two of the more memorable bowl games of our generation that same year (below).

But the point of the article is that, although the Big12 improved their schedule, the other conferences have hurt theirs greatly. Hopefully you can memorize the Big10 division alignments, and try to figure out who is playing who now.


As promised though, here are my youtubes of the day (lot of clips in this article).

2000 Citrus Bowl: Florida vs Michigan State....only clip I could find....

2000 Orange Bowl: Michigan vs Alabama.....really one of the better games of the last 10-15 years, and worth the 30 minutes to watch on YouTube.

College Football

Its March 21st, which means one thing.

Its college football season.

And don't call it sour grapes and think that I'm not following the NCAA tournament anymore because Illinois lost. Because a) Illinois hadn't won a postseason game in 5 years and I still followed all those tournaments, and b) I will still provide coverage of the NCAA tournament on this blog in the upcoming weeks. If you know me, you would know that Illinois losing would not be a "deal breaker." Also, if you don't know me, look at the fact that I spent 35 out 60 hours on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday doing livechat/liveblog for the NCAA tournament. Would someone who does that actually give up following the tournament on a drop of the hat?

That being said, the tournament has been pretty disappointing thus far. The early session on Thursday contained the most highlights; with an upset win by Morehead State, an upset by Richmond, and three buzzer beaters by Matt Howard, Juan Fernandez, and Brandon Knight. After that on Thursday, however, you would be hard pressed to find a competitive game (unless you call UCLA almost blowing it a close/competitive game), and Friday offered nothing good. The Villanova-GMU game was close but hardly good basketball, while Tennessee put up the worst performance in recent memory. The Arizona-Memphis game was surprisingly high scoring, and provided the days' highlights.

This past weekend was awful. I saw a lot of bad basketball the past weekend; which is ironic in the sense that as you get fewer and fewer teams, who are pruported to be the best teams, you would think you would see better basketball. The highlight of Saturday morning was how Kentucky came out and played great defense in the second half, setting up one of the only three games I have any interest in coming this week (more on this later). Although Temple and SDSU went to 2OTs, they didn't even go over the second half Over/Under Las Vegas posted - (SDSU outscored Temple 35-33 in the final 30 minutes of the game...). The Butler Pitt game will unfortunately be remembered for its bizarre ending, not for the way Butler played in the first half. It was definitely the game of the week, but again, not because of some asshole ref at the end. Pullen put up a good performance, but fell short. And UCONN gets flagrant fouls called in their favor if you breathe on them incorrectly, so be careful Aztecs.

Quickly going through Sunday; Washington blew the game. Period. Forget about the clock issue, although if Romar did request more time be put on the clock and they didn't, then this is a pretty serious issue. I would say Texas blew it......I didn't like how after they stopped Arizona, they called timeout. Why? Have you ever seen this? They stopped U of A, up 2, with 12 seconds left. The rebounder called timeout instead of holding it for 3 seconds and getting fouled. This allowed U of A to set up their press, and made Texas have to inbound it. Then, they get called for a five seconds call after four seconds (someone did a frame by frame, and determined the ref blew the whistle after 120 frames, which would be approx 4.5 seconds......funny, I thought we all learned how to count to five when we were 2). Then, U of A gets an and1. Then, Texas gets fouled twice on the other end with no call. After Texas was cross checked in mid-air, they rebounded, and a U of A player jumped on Texas' back with 0.5 seconds left. Too late to call a foul you say? Tell that to Butler and Pittsburgh.

So all the games this weekend sucked. Unfortunately, it isn't going to get much better. Kansas' region sucks, just plain and simple. Am I really supposed to drive home quickly, in and out of traffic, to race to go see the VCU v. F$U game? Duke should handle Arizona pretty easily. The UConn game will undoubtedly be fixed, as will the UNC Marquette game.

Which leaves the only three good games out of eight. I'm going to be interested to see if Butler can continue to play at a high level - they will need to. Jimmer v. Florida will be entertaining, and Ohio State v. Kentucky should be the best game of the weekend, no matter who wins what when. If it ends up being Duke SDSU, or BYU Wisconsin, these games would be good, but still probably not as good as tOSU vs Kentucky. Oh yeah, Kansas vs VCU would be good tooooo.......


I don't really have that much more to say, because, I think I said it all in the three live blogs I have posted below. Check those for more information. I started to think more about college football as the day went on yesterday, and I decided that Alabama should be #1, albeit after minimal research. I would never rank Oklahoma #1 at anything, and LSU loses their best player at every level of their defense (Nevis on the line, Sheppard at LB, Peterson in the secondary). Plus, while I love the potential of Jefferson, Randle, and Shepard on the offense, and no one can argue that they are great athletes, LSU has never been consistent enough to me offensively (although they did look good in the Cotton Bowl). If anyone wants to buy me an early birthday present, tickets to LSU @ Alabama on November 5th would be a good start.

Other than that, I think the hype for F$U is warranted. Emmanuel looked good in limited action last year, and the defense seems solid. Sleeper-wise I like Arizona State. They were much better than their 6-6 record even last year. They had close losses at the Coliseum and really played the Ducks as close as anybody. They run this very interesting offense that I would be surprised if it isn't seen more this year by other teams. lemme try to explain over a blog:

They line up in Shotgun, dual RBs. On the signal, the RB motions out into the flat. Only he doesn't motion, he doesn't jog and then line up in a slot, he full out sprints, parallel to the line of scrimmage, towards the sidelines. The effect of this is similar to the read option. Putting WR's and RBs in motion always accomplished the same thing; it tips what defense the otehr team is playing, and if you plan right, you can create a mismatch. This motion seems to be even more effective, however, as a RB can sprint from, say formation left, to the right side, and take a linebacker out of position, leading ASU to be able to run HB draw with the other halfback. Or, the linebacker can stay put, and ASU can snap it quickly, make a quick throw to the flat, and pick up an easy 5 yards. Again, just like any other play in football, it relies on precision and consistent execution. It is really no different than the read option that Northwestern invented a few years ago though, which countless teams now run (oregon and illinois are 2 examples). Its shotgun, put the ball in the stomach of the ballcarrier, and read the DE's movement. If he crashes down the line, the QB keeps it and runs to where the DE just was as the tackle/wr handle the backside linebacker and SS, and if the DE stays at home, you have created a wide alley for your HB to run through.


I honestly like Illinois a lot again this year as well. Again, we're looking at a team that lost their three best players; Wilson, Liuget, and LeShoure. Last year, however, they made only their third bowl in ten years. They did it with a freshman QB who got better throughout the year. THey return everyone on their offensive line. They return a RB who split time with LeShoure. They return 3/4 of their secondary. With their schedule, it would be beyond a major disappointment if they didnt return to a bowl. More importantly, the season was a success with two new coordinators. The defense wrapped up and made sound, form tackles for the first time in five years. The offense had a gameplan and stuck to it throughout the game. A 6-0 start isn't likely, but it isn't impossible either.


Finally, I am going to try and post more youtubes of classic college football moments, games, highlights, traditions, whatever, here. It would be ideal to get at least one post every single day leading up to the start of the season, but it might not be very realistic either (not for a lack of material though). I'd like to start with this one:

Michigan vs. Northwestern 2000


A great game, obviously. But it is pretty indicative of things to come; as the game came to mind yesterday, I said "lemme look that game up," and it came no surprise to me that Musburger was doing it (someone needs to have a Musburger count, and see what % of clips I post involve him). It was no surprise then, either, that Burger was rooting hard for his alma mater, and most likely had substantial amounts of $$$$ on the game. It also is indicative of youtube highlights. 99 times out of 100, when you look up the highlights for a game, it is posted by a fan of one of the teams involved, and only shows the highlights of that team. This is a major problem, and something I don't really understand. If you were a NW fan, and you had a copy of this game, why not post all the highlights? You won the game. Can't you swallow very little pride and admit that Michigan probably made a couple of good plays in the course of putting up 51 points? Why not show their highlights? Again, it shouldn't be that depressing of an experience, since as you are editing the video, you remember that they won. Some get even worse, as is the case wit the ASU OSU Rose Bowl (which will be on here eventually, and was announced by Musburger), as fans have to put the little comments on the youtube as you watch. LIke during the final drive, as Germaine throws to Boston and he is tackled in a clear pass interference, the user puts up "Pass Interference!?!?!" I get it dude. You got screwed. I can see with my own two eyes. I hear Dick Vermeil yell for pass interference. I hear Musburger breath a sigh of relief because he had money on ASU there and he dodged a bullet. I don't need your further comments telling me it was Pass Interference.

But the lack of highlights leads me to enjoy the game less. Again, even if I was the biggest NW fan watching this, I would still like to see what Michigan did. I appreciate that the user left in the Damien Anderson drop at the end, because that was obviously important, but it contributed to the flow/momentum of the football game, which is what football is all about. Why not show how Michigan jumped out to a 28-10 lead? Hear what the announcers were saying at that point? Show NW fans reactions at Ryan Field. WHY WHY WHY? When you dont show the other teams' highlights, you end up getting the equivalent of a highlight reel that they put together for end of the year banquets. All those plays NW has in this might as well just be independent of each other. I get no rhythm or flow, and don't get the same excitement of watching these highlights as I did watching that game 11 years ago (and I can rememeber this game, which is a testament to its quality, as I can't remember to check my mail and end up paying my bills two months late).

But anyway, you shold still enjoy the clip.

Saturday NCAA Live Blog

DAY 2 LIVE BLOG

Thursday Live Chat

Movie Quotes and Tournament

So I decided to do something different for the tournament preview. I decided to rank the teams 1-68, and assign a movie quote that in someway applies to their team, season, matchup, coach, player, etc. I included the link when available. I spent approximately thirty seconds looking for each clip, so if I didn't include it, it may be out there, but I didn't feel like looking. I broke the countdown into 7 parts. I dont wanna hear "that quote doesn't apply," or "you shoulda used X for team Y," because no matter what you say, my response is going to be "write your own damn blog." Hopefully the rankings are informative enough to preview the tournament, and the quotes are entertaining enough to keep you reading. I hope you enjoy:

68. Alabama State

“Mr. Kruger. 2 C’s, 2 D’s and a F, that’s a 1.25 Grade Point Average. Congratulations, Mr. Kruger, youre at the top of the Delta Pledge Class.”

- Animal House.

Kruger has about as much to be proud of for being the top of the delta pledge class that Alabama State has for winning the SWAC, the worst rated conference in the nation. Alabama State started 6-16 before winning 11 of 12. Their best win all year was 289^th ranked Texas Southern, who they beat twice. It is doubtful that Alabama State give the comeuppance to San Antonio and then Ohio State that the Delta House gives to the other fraternities and Dean Wormer.

67. Hampton

“Maybe you don’t remember me, my name is….”

“Maybe I don’t give a fuck. Maybe I don’t remember the last time I blew my nose either.”

Carlito’s Way

Hampton, who people should remember as being the last #15 seed to win. This year, they are the #16 which drew Duke. Think of them going up to Krzyzewski and asking if he remembers them. I think they’ll get the same response that Pacino gives.

66. Texas-San Antonio

“Y'all know me. Know how I earn a livin'. I'll catch this bird for you, but it ain't gonna be easy. Bad fish. Not like going down the pond chasin' bluegills and tommycods. This shark, swallow you whole. Little shakin', little tenderizin', an' down you go. And we gotta do it quick, that'll bring back your tourists, put all your businesses on a payin' basis. But it's not gonna be pleasant. I value my neck a lot more than three thousand bucks, chief. I'll find him for three, but I'll catch him, and kill him, for ten. But you've gotta make up your minds. If you want to stay alive, then ante up. If you want to play it cheap, be on welfare the whole winter. I don't want no volunteers, I don't want no mates, there's just too many captains on this island. Ten thousand dollars for me by myself. For that you get the head, the tail, the whole damn thing.”

- Jaws

Quint’s famous introduction speech lets the rest of the townspeople know what he’s all about. He is ultimately hired to take out the shark terrorizing Amity Island. While the shark is ultimately destroyed, Quint is eaten alive.

The same should be used for Texas San Antonio. They should take out a bounty, should they beat Alabama State, to destroy Ohio State in a certain way. They won’t survive, just like Quint didn’t. But if they damage them enough, the townspeople (i.e, the rest of the bracket), can go back to living their summer in peace, and pumping money into Amity Island, which I hear means friendship.

65. Arkansas Little Rock

“Where you boys from”

“Alabama sir”

“You brother?”

“No, we are not relations.”

“Hmm. Arkansas huh? I’ve been there before, Little Rock is a fine town.”

- Forrest Gump

Lieutenant Dan immediately forgets and confuses where Forrest and Bubba are from. We may immediately forget that UA-LR was in the tournament, as they have a play in game against Asheville. Despite that, Little Rock is home to Bill Clinton, and a “fine town.”

64. Boston University

“I’m ready to shoot Jack. I’m ready fucking now. It’s my big dick, I’m ready to fuck, so let’s fucking fuck right fucking now.”

- Boogie Nights

To Boston G/F John Holland, who was 13^th in the nation in FG’s attempted, but only shot 38%. Of big names who shot more than him, their ranks, and their percentage: Fredette (1, 45.6), Walker (3, 43.2), Marshon Brooks (4, 48.3), Adrian Oliver (5, 43.4), Norris Cole (8, 44.3), Jordan Hamilton (10, 44.1), Nolan Smith (11, 46.5), and Holland (13, 38.7). So, he could make or break the Terriers. Yes, he is the leading scorer of the Terriers, and the hottest commodity of the Jack Horner porn franchise, but he also shoots a putrid percentage, i.e., he could be demanding the ball/to fuck, when it isn’t warranted.

63. UNC-Asheville

“You’re just the afterbirth Eli. That slithered out of your mother’s filth. They should have put you in a jar on the mantle place.”

- There Will be Blood

This may be a little harsh on Asheville; they certainly don’t deserve the same treatment that Eli gets in There will be Blood. But the point remains; they are the afterthought in the state of North Carolina, behind every other successful program in the state. This is Asheville’s third tournament appearance.

62. UC-Santa Barbara

“Bodhi, this is your fucking wake-up call man! I am an F-B-I agent!”

“Yeah, I Know man. Aint it wild? That’s what makes it so interesting. You can do what you want, and make your own rules.

- Point Break

Using Point Break to represent Santa Barbara, which isn’t even that big of a surfing community, but whatever (its more of a wine/lame community). UCSB has the charm yet carelessness of Bodhi in Point Break. The Gauchos went 8-8 in the Big West, and finished in fifth. This didn’t stop them from rolling through the tourney, and making the NCAA tournament for the second straight year. Think of Florida as Keanu Reaves, yelling for UCSB to stop, and UCSB possibly laughing their way to an early upset.

61. Northern Colorado

“Man, I expected the rocky mountains to be a lot rockier than this.”

“Yeah, that John Denver is full of shit man.”

- Dumb and Dumber

To Northern Colorado, who is traveling from the elevation of Greely, Colorado, to the plains and desert of Tucson to take on San Diego State. Guard Devon Beitzel averages 21 ppg! He could be looking around to his teammates, saying that everyone else was full of shit to like the Aztecs, as he leads the Bears to an upset win.

Movie Quote Countdown 60-51

60. Akron Zips

““I’m the manager here, and theres no problem at all”

“You gonna give me a problem”

“no sir im not”

“You gonna give me a fucking problem?”

“I am not a hero, im just a coffee shop manager.”

- Pulp Fiction

To Akron. They may be manager, i.e. champions of the MAC conference, but in reality, they pose absolutely no threat to ND, just as the manager posed no threat to Honey Bunny in Pulp Fiction. That being said, someone may pose a threat to ND soon, just as Jules did. My feeling is that ND will be riding high, collecting everyone’s lunch money, when eventually they're gonna tell the wrong person to "put it in the bag," and next thing they know they're head is going to be on the lunch table with a gun to it. Who will that Jules be? Stay tuned.

59. Long Island Blackbirds

“Is it possible that the two yoots”
“What, what was that word. Two yoots?”

“Yeah, two yoots.”

“What is a yoot.”

“Sorry you’re honor, two yooouths.”

- My Cousin Vinny

The age-old comedy theme of culture clash is on display in My Cousin Vinny, as Vinny, from Brooklyn, and Marisa Tomei, from Long Island, appear in Alabama to defend Vinny’s nephew. The Long Island Blackbirds may feel just as out of place as they travel to Charlotte to take on North Carolina. Don’t be entirely surprised if the Blackbirds pull a Joe Pesci, and win. They play the fastest game out of any tournament participants. They should be able to put points on the board vs UNC, but will most likely not be able to stop UNC enough.

58. St. Peter’s Peacocks

“Christ. Seven years of college down the drain. Might as well joing the fucking peace corps.”

- Animal House

St. Peters is not the oldest team in the tournament. But, they are the 14^th oldest in the tournament, and are expected to do the less than all the teams ahead of them. Winning the MAAC is an accomplishment. If they want to give the rest of the fraternities and Dean Wormer their comeuppance, they can beat Purdue.

57. Indiana State Sycamores

“Forget about the crowds. The size of the school. Their fancy uniforms, and remember what got you here. Focus on the fundamentals that weve gone over Time and time again. And most importantly, don’t get caught up in thinking about winning or losing this game. If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to being the best that you can be, I don’t care what the scoreboard says at the end of the game, in my book, were gonna be winners. Okay???

- Hoosiers

More of a homer pick, picking “Hoosiers” to represent the Indiana State Sycamores. Originally, I thought that Larry Bird’s alma mater had no chance, no matter who they played. Now, I think they may have a small chance. It will be tough for them to beat Syracuse, but if they focus on the fundamentals, avoid getting caught up in thinking about winning and losing, and……oh, you know the rest.

56. Morehead State

“If he dies, he dies,” and “Look at the size of this Russian!”

- Rocky IV

To Kenneth Faried, the all time leading career rebounder. Faried is going to impress this tournament, possibly shocking Stu Nahan with his size and agility. He isn’t overly big, but he tracks the ball well (very similar to Dennis Rodman). When its all said and done, if Morehead springs the upset, (and they are capable of doing so), expect Faried to be saying “if he dies, he dies), as Terrence Jennings and Preston Knowles are carted off.

55. Bucknell Bison

“Murdoch….I’m coming for you.”

- Rambo First Blood Part II

Bucknell has a history of pulling upsets. In 2006, they beat #3 Kansas in the first round of the tournament. This year, they face #3 Connecticut, who is coming off 5 games in 5 days, and now has to play Thursday. Will the Huskies be sleepwalking? Bucknell wont be. Bucknell allows an inordinate amount of rebounds, so UConn should be okay. Just for the hell of it, I'm going to include this, which is probably the best ending to any movie ever. And since I don't have a Karate Kid reference, I still managed to include a Martin Kove sighting as the guy who gets Rambo's gun in his gut.

54. Memphis Tigers

“Spend the money quickly, Mr. Bond.”

- Octopussy

You're all lucky, because for years I couldn't find this clip on youtube.

My thoughts on Memphis, who somehow, someway, found themselves the C-USA champions and in the big dance. The Tigers finished 13-1 in games decided by 5 points or less. Think of this is as the equivalent of stealing a real faberge egg, sitting down on someone else’s backgammon game, using player’s privelege to take the bad guy’s dice, and then rolling a double six to win the 200,000 rupels. On one hand, that’s impressive. On the other, if they were .500, their record would be much less impressive and they would not even be sniffing the tournament, much less in it. I think their luck averages out soon. They actually got another lucky draw in facing Arizona, but if they somehow, someway, squeak by the Wildcats, there is no way they make the sweet sixteen. Great chance that Texas ends up playing the Indian guy who crushes the dice in their face.

53. Princeton Tigers

“What are you looking at nerd? Huh?”

- Revenge of the Nerds

To be fair, I was going to use a “Revenge of the Nerds” quote for which ever team made it out of the Ivy League. I had it narrowed down to three, depending on which team made it, and who they faced. I chose this one, because Princeton is the worse of the two Ivy League teams, and they will not beat Kentucky. Kentucky is Jefferson D’Arcy in this scene.

In the interest of full disclosure; I had “Times are changing Betty, these nerds are a threat to our way of life” had the match-up been favorable to the Ivy League team, and “Nerrrrrrds, Nerds! Nerds! Nerds! Nerds! Nerds!” if I were unsure of the matchup.

52. Virginia Commonwealth Rams

“I don’t give a fuck about your moral conundrum you meatheaded shit sack”

- Gangs of New York

This could apply in two ways to VCU. I’m pretty sure they don’t care what many people are saying about them not belonging in the NCAA tournament. I’m also fairly certain that they don’t care what USC is going through, either through sanctions, coaching difficulties, etc. They’re there to play ball.

51. Wofford Terriers

“I got a feeling fatman, I can’t miss.”

- The Hustler

Wofford is Paul Newman in this scenario, which is probably the best compliement anyone can ever receive. More specifically though, Wofford is 5^th in the nation in 3 point percentage, 2^nd of teams in the tournament behind Ohio State. If they’re hitting, they can beat anyone. They gave Wisconsin a run for their money last year. They got a terrible draw this year; they shouldn’t have been a 14 seed, and BYU is a dangerous 3 seed. Id love to see a game in the 80s between these two, and Wofford is more than capable of beating the mormons.

Movie Quote Countdown 50-41

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

“You despise me don’t you?”

“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

“Welllll….we’re waiting.”

- 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

“It’s easy to grin, when your ship comes in, and you’ve got the stock market beat. But the man worth while, is the man who can smile, when his shorts are too tight in the seat! Ahahahah ahah ahah.”

- 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.

Movie Quotes Countdown 40-31

40. Florida State Seminoles

“We got a little saying ourselves. Don’t piss on my head and tell me it’s raining.”

- The Outlaw Josey Wales

How Florida State got into the tournament, unscathed, without any potential for ever not being in, is beyond me. They hung on to the Duke win the whole year, and that was enough (but wasn’t enough for Va Tech, who split with the Noles.) FSU’s best win since Duke is Miami, who they beat twice. They beat Clemson in December. That is it. Don’t tell me they finished 3^rd in the ACC and that theyre good. It would be like pissing on my head and telling me its raining.

And for the record, FSU TAMU is one of the worst 7v10 games in recent memory.

39. Michigan State Spartans

“I’m sorry Mr. McFly. What I meant to say is, I just started putting on the second coat.”

- Back to the Future

To Michigan State. The bully now turned humble. The Spartans have now made the tournament every year since 1997. In that timespan, they have won one national title, and made six final fours. They are the bully, the Biff Tannen turned humble of the group. Will they be bowing down and apologizing for trying to con Mr. McFly about how many coats of wax are on the car?

Honestly, there is a chance they wont be. They get a favorable draw (certainly one that I wish Illinois had), playing UCLA and then Florida. For the sake of argument, I would rather play UCLA and Florida than UNLV and Kansas, but whatever…….. theyre not good this year.

38. Penn State Nittany Lions

“I don’t shine shoes anymore.”

- Goodfellas

Penn State has finally made the NCAA tournament after falling just short for so many years in a row. Are they here to stay? Can they build off of this success and get made? Or are they just walking into a room with someone waiting for them with a gun?

37. Michigan Wolverines

“Are you kidding, when I was your age I used to lug ice up five, six flights of stairs.”

“So what?”

“So what, so lets dance!”

- Caddyshack

Michigan, whos once storied program fell on harder times more recently. Now, they’re back with a young team, playing great basketball, and should be excited to be dancing. The future looks bright in Ann Arbor, as the team has no seniors. They are going to show staying power, and continue to annoy the rest of the nation with their 1-3-1 defense, just as Al Czervik kept showing up at Bushwood’s functions and annoying the judge. A major upset over Duke would be the equivalent of winning the eighty grand and blowing up the golf course.

36. Temple Owls

"Do You mind if we dance with your dates?"

- Animal House

Temple, who is ready to finally do some real dancing in the big dance. I wouldn't want to mess with Temple, as they have already played Xavier, Duke, Villanova, Texas AM, Maryland and GTown, beating the last two. They only lost twice since January 23, to Duke, and to Richmond last week. Their game against Penn State should be great, and they can pose a threat to SDSU.

35. Xavier Musketeers

“Well, so Im tending bar down there last Tuesday and this little guy comes in and says where can I find some action, Im going crazy down there by the lake. And I said what kind of action, and he says woman action, what do I look like. And I said, well what do I look like this aint that kinda place, and he says but Im going crazy. And I said yeahhh, but this aint the kinda place. And he says oh, so im some kind of jerk, only he don’t use the word jerk. Then he calls me a jerk, and says last guy who thought he was a jerk is dead now. So I don’t say nothing, and he says what do you think of that, and I say, well that don’t sound like too good of a deal for him then.”

- Fargo

This guy absolutely kills it in this scene that the words above don’t even do it justice. Xavier has become a perennial sleeper in the NCAA tournament, and could be compared to Steve Buscemi in Fargo (who this guy is talking about). Xavier always wins the A-10 regular season, just to lose in the A-10 tournament. That’s because they are looking for the big action in the NCAA tourney. The last teams that didn’t take Xavier seriously were all defeated. It would be unwise to think of Xavier as “probably nothing.”

34. Missouri Tigers

“Put an empty in that chamber. Put a fucking empty in that chamber!”

- The Deer Hunter

One of the more memorable and harrowing scenes in film, DeNiro and Christopher Walken are forced to play Russian Roulette by their Vietnamese prisonguards.

Mizzou’s style of play is like Russian Roulette. The 40 minutes of hell, full court press style goes well against some teams, not as well against others. Their matchup against Cinci should be a physical, grind it out game. They’ve lost four of five, so maybe their luck is running out. If they’re on though. Expect Calhoun’s face to be the same as the Vietnamese guy running the game when DeNiro demands they play with three bullets.

33. St. John’s Red Storm

“We all wanna know just one thing….you gonna be fucking that later on, or you gonna be a little wimp?”

- Dazed and Confused

All eyes are going to be on St. Johns this March. They are one of the better stories of the season. After years of absence from March Madness, they’re back, after finishing fifth in the Big East. They have proven they can beat just about anybody. They beat Duke. They beat UConn. They beat ND. They also lost to Seton Hall, UCLA, and Fordham. Despite being one of the more experienced teams in terms of average age, the Red Storm are inexperienced when it comes to the NCAA tournament. They’re the Mitch Kramer of the group. They have the potential to have a great night and career at Robert E. Lee High; they can easily party at the moontower, stay out after curfew, and hook up with Julie (who is a sophomore and has her own car) on the side of the road while listening to Peter Frampton (make the sweet16). Or, as Melvin would say, it could be past their bedtime, and they could lose in the first round. They can go hang out with Hirschfelder and the rest of the nerds.

32. Marquette Golden Eagles

“Ahhhhhh. Juicy Fruit.”

- One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest

SPOILER ALERT

Think of Marquette getting into the tournament as the chief being handed a stick of gum. A sleeping giant with tons of potential is set loose. All they needed was that friendship, that connection. They are set to face a good Xavier team, and then a potential rematch against Syracuse, who they beat earlier this year. They can squander their chance and continue to live like the other inmates. Or, a sweet sixteen run would be the equivalent of throwing the water fountain through the caged window.

31. Vanderbilt Commodores

“Wood drastically, Wood drastically underestimates the impact of social distinctions predicated upon wealth, especially inherited wealth. You got that from Vickers. Work of Essex County, page 98, right. Yeah, I read that too.”

- Good Will Hunting

To Vanderbilt, who may be running out of tricks. They were always thought of as a good home team; this year they lost 3 home games. Thought of as a top SEC team, they finished third in the division. Thought of as a threat in the NCAA tourney? Forget it. They seem to be the Brandt in this clip, who continuously tries to impress us, only we’re not impressed. But hey, since they go to Vanderbilt, they probably think well be serving them fries as they go on a skiing trip. Also, they will always question why they are being challenged, but ultimately say “its cool, no problem,” and just lose. Then, they have the girl theyre trying to impress get banged by someone cooler. Also, am I the only one who thinks the blonde that is totally astonished by Will’s memory and knowledge is hotter than Skyler?

By the way, you can buy any Gordon Wood book here:, and buy any “Work in Essex County” here.

Movie Quote Countdown 30-21

30. Gonzaga Bulldogs

“Gone? You think he’s gone? You think hes gone? Hes NEVER GONE!”

- What About Bob?

Thought they were dead after their 4-5 start? No? Well, then you certainly thought they were done after their 13-8 start. And again, everyone stuck the fork in them after losing to Memphis in Seattle. Since then though, they’ve won nine straight, won the WCC tourney, and are looking like a potential danger to teams again. Kenpom actually has them ranked better than the heralded 2006 team with Adam Morrison (that blew the game to UCLA as Gus Johnson screamed at the top of his lungs for five straight minutes). That doesn’t mean they will get back to the Sweet 16, of course, as they benefited largely from a #3 seed in 2006. For what its worth, the highest rated Gonzaga team ever was in 2009. They were underseeded when they got a #4 seed, and ran into the buzzsaw of UNC and Psycho-T.

29. Villanova Wildcats

“Sweet Mother Mercy, is this the end of Rico?”

- Little Caesar

An Italian gangster, Rico, realizing his end. An Italian coach, Jay Wright, might see similar writing on the wall for Villanova. After seeding 2, 3, 5, 5, 1, in the last five years, they are now seeded 9, which is pretty beneficial in its own regard. Theyve lost 7 of 9 games. After the season, they're losing their two leading scorers, Corey Fisher and Corey Stokes, and three of their top four.

I know what you're thinking. You’re saying. "Wait a minute, theres a high profile team, that has been ranked all year, who has two good players, both named corey, and they haven't been going around as 'The Two Coreys?'" This could be what ultimately doomed Nova's season.

28. Georgetown Hoyas

“You wanna talk business? Alright, lets talk businnes. First off, you’re all done, the Corleone family ain’t got that kinda muscle no more.”

- The Godfather

To Georgetown. Gone are the days of Patrick Ewing, Alonzo Mourning, and even most recently, Roy Hibbert, Jeff Green, and Greg Monroe. Even with Chris Wright returning for Georgetown, they seem to be a team on the downswing. Both Freeman and Wright, the teams two leading scorers, are leaving after the season.

27. Clemson Tigers

“Being that this is a 45 magnum, the most powerful handgun in the world, and will blow your head clean off. You’ve got to ask yourself one thing, do I feel lucky? Well? Do ya punk?”

- Dirty Harry

Clemson should answer ‘no,’ to this question. Kenpom has Clemson as the second unluckiest team in the tournament, ahead of only Washington. They have to be accountable for their own actions too; failing to score the final four minutes against UNC and blowing that game may or may not be luck. They played UNC about even this year, with an 0-2 record to show for it. Maybe, if their luck changes, they can win a couple of games.

26. Kansas State Wildcats

“We’ll uh, brace the kid – he’ll be a pushover. We’ll get that fucking money, if he hasn’t spent it already. Million fucking clams. And yes, we’ll be near the, uhhh- some burgers, some beers, a few laughs. Our fucking troubles are over, Dude.”

- The Big Lebowski

The team coming in, possibly overconfident off their elite eight run last year, primed for an upset. Plus, Frank Martin reminds me of Walter Sobczak in a way. In his crazed way to attempt to control the game/situation at all times, things will backfire. Utah State is not a pushover, and once Kansas State shows up, asks Utah State if this is their homework, and realizes that the Aggies are “stonewalling” them, what will happen?

25. Arizona Wildcats

“Get away from her you bitch!”

- Aliens

What Sean Miller might be saying to NBA scouts, agents, GMs, etc. this year, except 'him', instead of 'her'. The 'him' is Derrick Williams, 6'7" 250 lb sophomore freak of an athlete. If Miller wants to keep the rebuilding at Arizona up, he better hope Williams doesn't leave early.

And the truth is, he probably shouldn't. He doesn't figure to be the number one pick. Other than the block which won the Washington game, and he isn't great on defense (Vucevic from USC tore him apart in their meeting at the Galen Center). Despite his size and unbelievable shooting touch for a big man (shooting 61% from the field, 60% from three), he could benefit from another year in the Pac10. Also, Arizona seems primed for an early upset, and will not match up well with Texas should they meet.

24. Connecticut Huskies

“You think he’s funny? You think this is cute? You think he’s bitchin’, is that it? Lemme tell you something. Look at him, hes a bum. You wanna see something funny? You go visit John Bender in five years. You’ll see how god damned funny he is. Whats the matter John, you gonna cry?”

- The Breakfast Club

To Connecticut. More specifically, to Jim Calhoun. He may be a hall of famer, a legend, a whatever now, but look him up in a few years, and see where hes at. Will the sanctions take a significant hold on the UConn program? Will more details and evidence come out? I have never been sold on Connecticut this year, and would not be surprised if they fell to Bucknell.

23. Cincinnati Bearcats

“You truly belong here with us amongst the clouds.”

- The Empire Strikes Back

Lando Calrissean at his smooth talking best. Perhaps less is known about Cincinnati than any other team. For a majority of the season, they were considered the Big East’s least popular, yet good commodity, if that makes sense. Turns out, they’re very much in the mix of competing, and can be dangerous come tourney time. Yancy Gates is playing much better, and is capable of carrying the team.

Cinci does not have a favorable draw, however. They have to play Mizzou, and then most likely, UConn. They lost to Connecticut at home three weeks ago by eight. I don’t doubt their ability to be amongst the clouds, but they could be out just as quickly as they got there.

22. West Virginia Mountaineers

“Badges? We don’t have no badges. We ain’t got to show you no stinkin badges.”

- The Treasure of the Sierra Madre

This is apparently what Bob Huggins said to the NCAA committee this year to earn a 5 seed and get to play a play-in game winner. WV is not what would amount to the 17^th or 18^th best team in the nation.

While were at it, can someone explain the new play in games? Theoretically they should go to the best five seeds, correct? Then why is one game just randomly for the 11 seeds? Why not just make one of the other 12 seeds an 11 (like Utah State). Then, out of all the six seeds, why is it that Georgetown gets the play-in winner? They really earned it by losing every game down the stretch. This whole committee is such a farce.

21. George Mason Patriots

“Sir would you like me to suggest what you can do with that promotion?”

- Paths of Glory (FF to 4:30)

To coach Jim Larranaga. If he hasn't left yet, he may never leave. And why would he? He's coached GM to 13 straight winning seasons, with a Final Four you may have remembered in 2006. This year, he's ready to strike again. He also teaches classes part time in the MBA program at George Mason. He may continue to refuse promotions to better schools, but at least it wont be for the same reasons Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) was in Paths of Glory; namely, to cover up the French Army's execution of soldiers wrongly accused of cowardice. Their loss in the CAA tournament may have cost them a higher seed, and I certainly wouldn’t be thrilled with having to play Villanova and then Ohio State. But hey, they’ve done crazier shit before.