Posted: March-13-2009 at 3:01pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Look at the upsets in the conference tournaments.

In the Big 12 you had top-seed Kansas and also two-seed Oklahoma lose in the opening round. I watched the second half of the Sooners and Oklahoma State. Former Kentucky player and also former coach at UMass, Travis Ford, he's done a good job this year for the Cowboys. Maybe T. Boone Pickens will get Travis a hefty pay raise. HA HA HA HA ... The Texas Longhorns will probably win the Big 12 title.

And yesterday in the Big East, two-seed Pitt and three-seed UConn lost. The door's definitely open now for Rick Pitino's Louisville Cardinals to win the Big East and in the process secure a No. 1 seed for the Big Dance. But the Cardinals' had best not overlook Villanova. Tonight's game matching West Virginia and Syracuse, that should be interesting. Because the Orangemen have to be running on tired legs following last night's marathon against UConn.

I didn't expect to see Georgia Tech beat Clemson last night in the ACC tournament in the Georgia Dome, but they did. The Yellow Jackets almost beat Florida State today, narrowly losing 64-62.

But the biggie today in Atlanta was North Carolina coming back late to beat Virginia Tech. If ACC player of the year Ty Lawson had played for the Tar Heels, Tech wouldn't have even been in the game. Will the Hokies' 18-14 record get them an at-large NCAA bid? Nope-eeeeee, I don't believe it will. It looks like Coach Seth Greenburg will be getting the Hokies ready to play in the NIT. But at least one coaching Greenburg will be at the Big Dance, Seth's brother's Radford Highlanders.  

With Carolina and Florida State winning today, Wake Forest and Duke should each win tonight to set them up to battle in tomorrow's ACC semifinals. I believe if Ty Lawson doesn't play in the ACC tournament for the Tar Heels, either Duke or Wake Forest will win the championship. It's probably a smart move on Coach Roy Williams' part in not playing Lawson. Let him get healed before the Big Dance.

In the Big Ten, it'd be hard to go against Coach Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans. They looked good (in what I watched of them beating Minnesota today). MSU will now play Ohio State on Saturday, but the Spartans should beat the Buckeyes. The Spartans just might be a No. 1 seed in the Big Dance, but I hope Coach Tubby Smith's Gophers get an at-large NCAA bid. Illinois will probably meet Michigan State for the Big Ten championship.

Conference USA, what else can you say but Memphis is playing some high school teams. The Tigers are getting no respect for their dominance over the last few years in C-USA. The days when the conference had Cincinnati, DePaul and a couple other teams that have since defected, C-USA was a decent conference. But now it's all Memphis.

I watched part of the Southern Cal and California game last night, and USC got the win there right at the end. But the Pac-10, who really cares? UCLA plays USC tonight and Arizona State plays Washington. It'll probably be the Bruins and Huskies winning.

LSU should beat Mississippi State in one of the SEC's semifinals tomorrow. I really thought South Carolina would beat the Bulldogs this afternoon, because it was important to the Gamecocks' NCAA chances. But it was all MSU, winning 82-68.

Now tonight, I hope the Tennessee Vols beat Alabama. To be quite honest, I would've rather seen the Big Orange play Vanderbilt. But Vandy couldn't get the job done against the Crimson Tide last night. So it's now a rematch with the Vols playing 'Bama. Alabama beat the Vols in Knoxville this past Sunday, so I hope the Vols come out with guns-a-blazin' tonight. It's a fact, if the Vols don't hit their free throws tonight, they won't win. What was it, 9-22 or 10-22 the Vols were from the charity stripe last Sunday against Alabama. I don't care if you're playing Boys Club League basketball, you're not going to win shooting foul shots that poorly.

The other SEC quarterfinal game matches Florida against Auburn. I'd like to see the Gators win. I hope they get into the Big Dance with an at-large bid. But it's highly unlikely with their weak schedule they've played this year.

Well, it's time to get the snacks ready before the Vols and 'Bama come on TV. GO VOLS!!!

Posted: March-14-2009 at 6:24am | IP Logged	Tweet

So how about those VOLS RW!! When that guard from Bama (Senario Hillman) ran right through their pre-game shoot-around I figured it would be their last game. Tennessee couldn't throw it in the ocean from 3 pt land in the first half and still led by 11.

It's a final! Tennessee 86  Alabama 62...

..."around the bowl and down the hole, roll tide roll"!!!

Posted: March-14-2009 at 6:31am | IP Logged	Tweet

RW?

"The Seminoles almost beat Fla St?? LOL!!!

So "The Cuse" goes to overtime again to beat WV. What a resilient team! I think they might go far in the tourney.

Posted: March-14-2009 at 10:55pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Well "BugMan," it appears only you and I are interested in NCAA tournament basketball. I like college football, but I love college basketball ... especially when March tournament time rolls around. Because anything can, and usually does, happen. When you tip-it-up, each team has a fightin' chance until the final buzzer sounds.

With the region experiencing rainy, crappy weather the last couple of days, I've about overdosed watching basketball on TV. After the Vols played Saturday afternoon, I did go meet my sisters and aunt and uncle to eat some good barbecue at Smokey Bones, though. Smokey Bones is good stuff. I encourage anyone if you're in Johnson City to stop by Smokey Bones and eat. It's located in front of the JC Mall, beside of Olive Garden (also near Red Lobster). 

Yeah, "BugMan" ... somebody needed to slap a STUPID sign across Hillman's forehead. Maybe he thought what he did would intimidate the Vols, and I'm sure Hillman was runnin' his mouth trash-talking too. But it backfired big-time on the Crimson Tide. Vols Win! Vols Win! Vols Win!!!

The Vols also beat Auburn on Saturday to advance to play Mississippi State, who upset top-seed LSU. The Bulldogs are playing good ball of late, after getting players healthy who had been injured. They know their only hope of getting into the Big Dance is by winning the SEC title. I hope the Vols can beat 'em. GO VOLS and win the SEC championship. The Vols' have played good team ball in beating 'Bama and Auburn, I just hope they play well as a team on Sunday to beat Mississippi State. If the Vols win the SEC championship, they should be looking at between a four to seven seed for the Big Dance. Wayne Chism had an outstanding game Saturday, and Tyler Smith played well along with J.P. Prince. Bobby Maze even played pretty good ball running the point.

Upsets have continued like crazy on Friday night and Saturday. I watched some of the UCLA and USC game Friday night, and the Trojans won. And then Saturday night they came back late in the game to beat Arizona State to win the Pac-10 title, their first-ever conference championship. Tim Floyd's really done a great job with USC. Just think how awesome the Trojans would be if O.J. Mayo hadn't turned pro early? Freshman DeMar DeRozan, I watched him play in the Tri-Cities in 2006 in the Boys AAU National Basketball Tournament, when he played on celebrity Master P and his son Lil' Romeo's team based out of Los Angeles. I have Master P's and Lil' Romeo's and DeRozan's autographs on the cover of my AAU program. I remember in the championship round of the tournament, played in Kingsport at Sullivan North High School, the place wa packed. DeRozan was an unreal talent as a 16-year-old kid. I talked one afternoon between games with Master P, and he told me it was already set-in-stone DeMar would play collegiately at Southern Cal. DeRozan played great ball in the Pac-10 championship game, scoring over 20 points and grabbing several rebounds.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I was soooooooooooooooooooooo peeed when Florida State beat the Tar Heels. I can't stand that group of Seminoles. I call it as I see it, and the way they play ball, they are "thugs." They're dirty players. I hope the Duke Blue Devils beat the Seminoles like a drum on Sunday. GO BLUE DEVILS!!!

The men's tournament bracket will be announced Sunday at 6 p.m., and then the women's bracket will be released Monday night.

I wish the ETSU men and women the very best in the Big Dance. But I know in all reality they both will have their work cut out for them to win a game. But they Bucs' knocked off the Arizona Wildcats in the opening round in 1992, when the Bucs were a 14-seed. A couple years prior to that, they almost slayed Oklahoma, when the Sooners were a 1-seed and the Bucs a 16-seed. Three buddies of mine and I, we went to Nashville to watch that game. It was played at Vanderbilt, and the place was going wild cheering for the Bucs to beat Oklahoma.

Surely others are watching NCAA tournament basketball??? C'mon, let's hear your opinions. We need more discussing in this topic than just "BugMan" and I.

Posted: March-14-2009 at 11:00pm | IP Logged	Tweet

I'm tellin' ya, it was the doggone-dest thing I've ever seen. Those Yellow Jackets stung those Seminoles, and before all was said and done, the Seminoles almost beat Florida State. HA HA HA HA

And before all the stingers could be pulled out, word was released by the NCAA that a big cheating scandal had occured in Tallahasse, and possibly games are going to have to be forfeited.

And folks, as the late Paul Harvey would say - "And now you have the rest of the story." RIP Paul Harvey. I really do hate future generations won't be able to hear the wisdom of Harvey.

Posted: March-15-2009 at 5:57am | IP Logged	Tweet

I had no idea the "Noles" were this good. Call them want you want, but to beat the "Heels" playing any brand of ball is an accomplishment. NC will not have a chance to win it all unless Ty Lawson is healthy, and I don't think he will be healthy enough for the grind of an NCAA Tourney.

HOW 'BOUT DEM VOLS!? It never dawned on me that they haven't won an SEC basketball championship in 30 years. I don't think there'll be a let-down today. They'll be loose because they know they're in the dance. On the other hand, Miss. St. has to win and I think they'll be tight during both the beginning and end of the game. The VOLS should be able to handle them today and bring the SEC hardware home where it belongs!

RW, the more I see them, the more I believe Louisville has a shot to win it all. They looked awfully good in the Big East Tourney.

Posted: March-15-2009 at 10:57pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Yeah, I believe most locals in East Tennessee/Southwest Virginia were kind of surprised seeing the East Tennessee State University Buccaneers receive a 16-seed, getting paired against top-seed Pittsburgh. The Bucs most definitely have a tough road ahead of them, if they expect to win. But as I mentioned above in a previous post, three of my buddies and I, we were in Nashville back 20 years ago in 1989 when the Bucs were a 16-seed and they almost beat top-seed Oklahoma. Maybe the Bucs can beat Pitt, but to be quite honest, I'm not all that optimistic about their chances. But all the Bucs can do is play good ball for 40 minutes and see what good effort will bring them. Hopefully the Bucs will be the first 16-seed to ever beat a 1-seed.

Several of my buddies and I, we figured at best the Bucs would be a 13-seed and at worst a 15-seed. You can't tell me some of the 15- and 14-seeds are better teams than the Bucs. But it really doesn't matter, I don't guess. Because with 64 teams in the Big Dance, whether you're a 13, 14, 15 or 16-seed ... you're going to matched against a top-16 ranked team. It's called March Madness, and there's always upsets.

Much talk has focused on Kentucky and Florida not being in the field of 64 (well, 65 teams counting the play-in game). But what about the Indiana Hoosiers not being in the NCAA tournament? What an awful season the Hoosiers had. With the success the storied program had under Coach Bobby Knight for so many years, who would've thought the Hoosiers would be so bad these days. The Wildcats not making the Big Dance is big news, but look at Florida also not making the tournament ... and for the second consecutive year, too ... after winning the NCAA title for the previous two seasons. Wow!!!

There will always be fans of their favorite schools upset because their team was left out of the Big Dance. I'm thinking I heard correctly on ESPN SportsCenter a little while ago, 33 teams are in the field this year that wasn't last year. That's right at half the field this year was sitting home watching last season.

Mississippi State beating Tennessee for the SEC crown, that meant either Auburn or South Carolina didn't receive an at-large invitation. The SEC was down this year, or was it just parity and each team beat up on one another during the season? I believe the conference overall was down, but still yet ... the argument for parity amongst the schools could be a legitimate point. Anyway, the SEC only has LSU, Tennessee and Mississippi State in the tournament.

I'm telling you, the Big Ten also had a down year ... but somehow they still received seven invitations. Bobby Knight even said on TV he didn't think the Big Ten deserved seven teams in the tournament. Knight said the seedings show that if the Big East and ACC each have seven teams in the tournament, there’s "no way" that the Big Ten should have seven as well. I can see the teams the Big East and Atlantic Coast Conference got in the Big Dance, because those conferences really had some good basketball teams this year.

I'll let others give your thoughts and opinions before I give more of mine.

Posted: March-15-2009 at 11:05pm | IP Logged	Tweet

I was really shocked former ETSU coach Ed DeChellis' Penn State team didn't receive an at-large invitation. They deserved one. Being seven Big Ten teams got invitations, the Nittany Lions were at least a fifth-seventh place team in the Big Ten. They had some good quality wins this year, too.

Posted: March-15-2009 at 11:12pm | IP Logged	Tweet

Is anyone besides myself sick-and-tired of hearing the words "Bracketologist" or "Bracketology?"

Another thing, it would be real cool if we couldn't somehow have a RacersLounge March Madness contest. I always fill out tournament brackets with several buddies of mine. Each of us fills out a bracket and we pay $20 to play, with the person having the bracket picking the most winners receiving 50 percent of the pool of money, second most correct picks gets 30 percent and third gets 20 percent. Last year there were 24 of us participating. Two years ago I won.  I just don't know of any way to put a bracket on here and people be able to fll on out online.

I also each year fill out a bracket on ESPN and also on CBS Sports.

Posted: March-16-2009 at 5:46am | IP Logged	Tweet

I was hoping the inevitable wouldn't happen (ETSU getting a 16 seed), but it did. I think Belmont has been a 16 every time they've gone too. Let's face it, the A-Sun is one of the 4 weakest basketball conferences in Div-1.

I play 2 brackets every year. One is the regular bracket and the other is just wayyyy fun. You assign points from 64-1 as to who you think will do well/win the tourney. With each passing round the points double for round 2, triple for round 3 and so on. It's a blast! We usually have 80-100 on that one, and I won it in 2007. $20 bucks on that one too...I like it because you're never out of it. They pay 1-5, then special prizes for different things; for example you pick yourself to finish in "x" place when it's over. If you picked the correct spot you finished, you win a cash prize! It is way cool.

Posted: March-16-2009 at 8:39am | IP Logged	Tweet

Van_84 wrote: If the Bucs beat Pitt, it will be the first time in the history of the NCAA tournament that a #16 seed defeats a #1 seed. You know what they say though, there's a first time for everything...

Technically, it would be the first time on the Men's side of the bracket that's happened. It did happen several years ago in women's basketball when, I wanna say, Harvard beat Stanford. I can't remember the right year though.

Posted: March-17-2009 at 3:14pm | IP Logged	Tweet

We could simply create a group on the CBS site. One of us needs to captain the room and invite everyone that would want to play. That would also give us a chance to compete Nationally and win prizes.

We could call our team something like the "RacersLoungeLizards" or the "RacersLounge-Chair Coaches"