NCAA thoughts

The selection show for the NCAA tournament is only 10 days away now, so here are a few things that I am marinating on:

1) Memphis will get a #1 seed - This is an absolute travesty of epic proportions. Memphis will now coast into the Sweet 16. The only good news is that their bracket will be the easiest to pick. Memphis will get used by whatever 4 or 5 seed that they play, and then the 2 seed from that bracket will make the Final Four. Just a little insight into why Memphis is garbage. They have beaten 1 (that's right 1) top 25 team. They beat Gonzaga who is garbage also by 18. The biggest wins they have besides that are against Tennessee (18-10) Cincinnati (18-12) and Seton Hall (15-14). Right now they are 2-2 in Big East play, UCONN and Louisville are 15-2 in Big East play, and this team is supposedly on the same level?

2) The SEC should only get 3 teams - Florida and Kentucky were somehow in the NCAA tournament before tonight. Well Kentucky lost at home tonight to 11-18 Georgia, and Florida lost to 17-12 Mississippi State. With how terrible the SEC is this year, they should not be allowed to have a team with more than 7 losses in, but Tennessee will get in because they actually played a decent non-conference schedule. Florida's only big win was at Washington. They lost to Syracuse and Florida State, and have lost 7 games in conference. Kentucky is even worse. Their biggest wins have been against West Virginia and Kansas State, only one of which will make the NCAA field. Beating Tennessee twice doesn't really matter when you lose to VMI, Mississippi and Georgia. LSU, South Carolina and Tennessee should be the only teams in, but I'm sure that either one of Florida or Kentucky will make it as a 12 seed. This is also what upsets me with the Media in college basketball. Illinois and the Big Ten get slammed constantly for not scoring, but nobody is trashing Kentucky for letting Georgia drop 90 on them!! Instead it is just another bad loss. All of the sudden losing isn't as bad as long as you look good doing it. To equate this to life, it is like saying that a man being ugly and having a small penis is cool as long as he is rich, or a woman being stupid and having no personality is fine as long as she is hot and has big boobs. But if you are good looking and have a normal package, if you are broke, then you might as well stop playing!! This is why mainstream media is garbage, they are more fickle and superficial than a 19 year old Theta!

3) Mizzou could get a 2 seed - Which ever team out of Oklahoma, Mizzou, or Kansas wins the Big 12 Tournament will get a 2 seed. Oklahoma losing tonight to Mizzou pretty much killed them as a 1 seed. However, their might actually be 2 Big 12 teams with 2 seeds. In order for Kansas to become a 2 seed, they would have to win the Big 12 Tourney because they shit the bed tonight against Texas Tech, but Mizzou by beating Oklahoma tonight can get that seed without a conference title. They would have to make it to the Finals, but it is not that far fetched. The media (ESPN) is absolutely in love with Blake Griffin, so they would have to lose to Oklahoma State, and then their first round game of the Big 12 to get anything worse than a 3 seed. If Kansas beats Texas on Saturday they have pretty much locked up a 3 seed. It really helps when the bottom 1/3 of your conference is a combined 12-48 in conference play. If Rick Barnes losses in the First Round of NCAA's this year, will high school kids stop committing to him? God I wish Daniel Gibson was a flop in the NBA, but instead he is good, and has by far the best nickname since "Air". Damn you Rick Barnes!! And double damn you "Boobie" Gibson!

4) Marquette is Done - Losing Dominique James has destroyed this team. 4 games ago it looked like they were a lock for at least a 3 seed. They have lost 3 in a row without James. Albeit those 3 games were against UCONN, Louisville and Pitt, but this late in the season it is hard to find another person to step up and fill the void. They were in the game tonight against Pitt, and they still have 3 great players, but this late in the season, I just don't see them adapting well to playing without James. They have Syracuse left, and then most likely a Bubble team looking to get a signature win, so there is no easy game to get some momentum. This is a gut feeling, and it is sad really, because I thought that this was a Final Four team for sure. They had amazing guard play, shared the ball well, and played really good defense. If they get anything below a 5 seed (which they will) I think they are out in their second round game.

5) Northwestern is 2 seconds away from being a Tournament Team - Take your pick, but they should have beaten Illinois and Purdue at home. Either one of those games makes them 18-10 and 9-8 in Big Ten play. That would include wins over Michigan State on the road, Purdue on the road, and Florida State at home. Losing at Iowa really hurt this team. Here is a question though: If Northwestern wins @ Ohio State on Sunday are they in? That would be at least 5 wins against tournament teams, and really only bad losses to Stanford and Iowa. If Minnesota makes it that would be 6 wins. A lot of teams in other conferences are trying to get in with worse records and resumes. I doubt it too, but you never know. They have the offense and defense to obviously surprise teams. A win at Ohio State, and a Big Ten Tourney win, and they are on the Bubble and could be dancing.

6) UCLA will make a run - They do it every year. Like I said before, they are the anti-Texas. Shipp and Collison are Seniors now, and between them, they are 13-3 in the NCAA tournament with 3 Final Fours in a freakin row!! (read that last sentence again and let in sink in) I am penciling them into the Elite 8 at least, I don't care if they are playing the Celtics in the Sweet Sixteen, they are going to make the Elite 8. Their records heading into those tournaments were 27-6, 26-5, and 31-3 respectively. They are 22-7 right now, so they are not really that far off, but no matter what, having 2 guards who have been there 3 times is unprecedented! They are the one team you do not want to see as a 4-6 seed in your bracket!!