03.15.07

“I can’t live in a world where Vanderbilt is a Sweet Sixteen team.”

Posted in Sports, JD, The Diesel at 11:27 am by Diesel The

For the past week virtually all the talk between us bloggers on the site has revolved around March Madness. So now, moments before tip off of the first games of the 2007 NCAA Tournament, I thought I’d share with you, dear readers, the email conversations between myself, TD, and fellow blogger JD concerning all things college basketball. But mostly Ohio State (GO BUCKS!). We kick things off with an update from JD on the OSU-Michigan Big Ten Tournament game last Friday. Enjoy.

Oh, and the quote in the title? That was Tommy Boy, reflecting on the perils of filling out a tournament bracket. I love March.

Friday, March 09, 2007 1:48 PM
JD: Buckeyes won

Friday, March 09, 2007 4:53 PM
TD: I saw. Think they can rattle off another 8 straight?

Friday, March 09, 2007 1:59 PM
JD: No. we’re too young. We’ll struggle against tougher teams like the winner of tonight’s Wisconsin-MSU game (which in my estimation will be our opponent in the championship game). We might have trouble with Indiana too. And really, Purdue spanked Iowa, so you never know.

Monday, March 12, 2007 11:41 AM
TD: So Sunday I woke up with a start at 11:45. Or is it 12:45? Or 10:45? And what time is the Ohio State game? 2:30 eastern? 3:30? And what time is it here? 10:30? Am I missing the game? Wait? What? Who? Should I check online? Huh? Screw it, I’ll just turn the TV on. Long story, short (too late) I had missed 5 minutes or so of game time. [This was the day of the time change and TD is in the Pacific Time Zone]

Sunday was almost entirely devoted to college basketball, which was great. I still don’t understand why Florida was the #1 seed in the Midwest and OSU in the South — seems strange to me. Also, I’m a little shocked OSU wasn’t the #1 overall seed. I guess the early season losses to Florida and North Carolina (either without Oden entirely or when he only had one hand) did them in. But at the same time, Ohio State has beaten every team they were supposed to. And their games against Wisconsin show how far they’ve come: L at Wis by 3, W at OSU by 1, W on Neutral Court by 17!

Anyway, if they win the NCAA tournament, they’ll finish with a 23 game winning streak.

Monday, March 12, 2007 9:33 AM
JD: Nice reference to Clue in your recap.

I watched the end of the OSU-Wisconsin game. We annihilated them. How we aren’t the number one seed overall is a mystery. It’s ludicrous. Number one team in the Nation should be the number one seed in the tournament. And Florida got a cakewalk to the Final Four. March 18th I’m going to be the biggest Arizona Wildcat fan out there. But worst case scenario they play Maryland after that. Are you kidding? How does Maryland get a 4 seed and UCLA drops to a 7? [A 2 seed, but potentially #7 overall] I know they lost 2 games in a row at the end, but Florida lost 3 in a row before recovering to win their tourney. And another thing. Everyone said what a light schedule the Big Ten was this year and how tough the SEC and Big 12 were. Well the SEC, despite being a conference of like 875 teams, got 5 bids. And the Big 12 only got 4. So the Big Ten (or 11) has less teams and more teams in the tournament then the supposed “great” conferences of the SEC and Big 12. Makes sense. But, like in football, the SEC is overrated and is leading to Florida’s postseason status. Lame. Same could be said of the PAC 10 by the way, who also got 4 bids.

Several columnists have already picked the Midwest as the Easiest bracket (though a couple picked the South also).

Oh well. We have 2 of the 3 major factors for being a good tournament team. We have a good (near dominant) big man, we have outside shooting to hurt the other team if they double said big man but we don’t have experience. That’s the one thing we’re lacking. Plus we have an awesome coach. Should be entertaining

Monday, March 12, 2007 1:03 PM
TD: The other terrible thing about Florida being #1 overall? It makes Billy Packer right. Also on the subject of OSU not getting the #1 overall seed, some columnist on ESPN or Fox Sports said that OSU hasn’t had any big wins, not counting Wisconsin twice (which is like saying “Saving Private Ryan” didn’t have any good scenes except for the opening battle and the closing battle). But, okay, aside from Wisconsin, a 2 seed and a top 10 team all season (which OSU, again, beat by 17!? on a neutral court) the Big 10 was down a bit. However, if you look at ESPN’s bracketology and click on OSU, it shows their “quality” wins and they’ve beaten a ton of teams in the top 25 in RPI (Mich St (twice), Indiana, Tennessee) and a bunch more in the top 50. And, most telling of all, they have ZERO bad losses. In fact, I think all three losses are to teams in the top 10 of the RPI, not to mention the human polls. They lost to 2 of the other 3 #1 seeds and a #2 seed, all on the road. It’s ludicrous.

Florida is #1 overall due to last season, not this season.

And don’t forget the other supposed important part of a good tourney team – guard play. How about Mike Conley, Jr. and Jamar Butler? Those guys can run a team. And Conley might be the faster basketball player I’ve ever seen.

As for our bracket, Texas A&M scares me a bit, just cause I’ve heard so much about that Acie Law IV dude. And I hate that we may be playing Xavier so close to Cincinnati. Then again, I think OSU will travel pretty darn well. We’ve already beaten Tennessee and I hadn’t heard a single thing about Virginia all season. And who the heck knows if Memphis is any good? On the plus side, I think we cause mismatches against everyone we play and that’s the key to college sports.

Monday, March 12, 2007 12:41 PM
JD: Well Billy Packer changed his tune about the time we pushed the lead to 15 or 20 yesterday and said you know what I think Ohio State is the number one overall based on what I’m watching here. Then Nantz disagreed and pointed out his hypocrisy. It was about time that Jim Nantz stood up to Packer. It was ludicrous the way he just sat there when Henderson threw that elbow and didn’t say Billy, you’re wrong. I’m not getting back into that though. And you make a very good point, sometimes sports polls aren’t about quality of wins as much as not having “unquality” losses. Did you beat the teams you were supposed to beat? Or did you crap the bed against Florida State, Vanderbilt and LSU? All of which are teams that they should’ve beaten. As you said, all of our losses came to top seeds in the tourney, ok one came to a 2 seed, while half of theirs came to schools that didn’t even make it. Ok, no more talk about Florida, I hate them.

You’re right, last season is why they are number one. They pulled this same crap last year but the competition is much tougher and they have no guard play, as you said.

Acie Law is sick. I’ve seen him play a few times and he is just amazing. He’s Allen Iverson but left handed. Lightning quick and can hit from anywhere. He shoots a higher percentage than Iverson I’m sure. Don’t be worried about Xavier. They might not even get by BYU. I know I won’t be picking them. Tennessee has improved a lot toward the end of this year. And don’t sleep on Virginia. They shared the ACC regular season title with North Carolina. They are tough. And Memphis should have been a 1 seed over UNC. They’ve won 23 or so in a row. And they’ve beaten the teams they are supposed to. Not a lot of quality wins against solid clubs though. Conference USA is down, what can you say? They are really good, though. But you are right about the mismatches.

Monday, March 12, 2007 1:30 PM
TD: I didn’t notice Billy change his tune. Ah well. He’s an idiot. At least he and Nantz didn’t yell at the head of the committee this year. That was ridiculous – very unprofessional.

I think polls, especially basketball, are all about beating the teams you should beat and playing close the teams equal or stronger than you, especially on the road. I actually am hoping OSU gets a rematch with North Carolina and with Florida in the tournament. I think we win this time. Plus I just want another chance to stick it to Florida. I hate that school almost equal to Michigan.

So you’re with me in thinking that the scariest team in our bracket is Texas A&M?

I wasn’t saying anything bad about Virginia other than they’re a team nobody has talked about all season.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 9:16 AM
JD: I hate Florida as much as you do. I don’t even want them to get a chance to have any praises sung. Joakim Noah is the most overrated player in the history of basketball that didn’t or doesn’t go to Duke.

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 9:38 AM
TD: My Florida/bracket dilemma: Do I stick with my usual plan of picking all Big 10 teams in the first round (worked out terribly for me last year) and have Purdue beat Arizona and then have them beat Florida (which I can’t see). Or do I have Arizona finally start playing to their potential, beat Purdue and then Florida. I think Arizona has the better talent than Purdue and probably has the better shot to knock out Florida, but even Lute Olson seemed to be down on his team. And, foolish or not, I don’t want to put Florida in the Sweet 16.

No disagreement on Joakim. I laughed when someone on ESPN was talking about him as a “high energy” guy. He’s friggin’ the French Anderson Varajeo! Should he have been a top 3 pick in the draft?

I love when the tourney falls on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s like Christmas and my birthday rolled into one.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:11 PM
JD: Thanks for the well wishes on basketball. [JD was hoping the weather held out so he could play ball outside after work. Instead, a tornado touched down a few blocks from his office.] It should be a good time. I showed flashes of my “old” self the other day, but overall it was nothing spectacular. My team only won once or twice, but I had one particular stretch where I took over the game for about 5 possessions. It started with going up strong for a defensive rebound and an outlet pass. Then I trailed the play, got the ball back around the top of the key, crossed over and made a tough left handed lay up. Then I got another rebound on D came back down and posted up my guy (3 inches taller than me) and used an up and under move to get to the hoop for a short hook shot/lay up. Next time down I think they scored and I went and posted up again. This time I faked to the baseline (where I’d gone the previous time) and shot a turn around fadeaway to my left which I dropped in. Then I got a defensive rebound came down and hoisted a “heat check” 3 and drilled it. It was a good stretch for me. Of course I got greedy the next time down and stepped back even farther and missed. But oh well. It was fun while it lasted.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 2:39 PM
TD: Real quick, because I have to submit my bracket in half an hour – how do you feel about Butler? They’ve actually been playing poorly of late, but they are a five seed. Currently, I have them in the elite 8, which I feel is too high. However, the other option is Arizona, whom I have beating Florida in the second round. I also have Maryland getting upset by Davidson, but I hate taking low seeds much farther than round 2. It just happens too rarely. But by knocking out both Florida and Maryland, Butler is the last choice for the elite 8. I can’t see Arizona or Purdue making it that far. Or Old Dominion, if I have them upset Butler (a popular choice, I’m sure). Then again, if I’m having Arizona beat Florida, maybe I should ride them a little further into the final 8. Hmmmm.

Thoughts? Comments?

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:04 PM
JD: The way you have it set up, I would absolutely have Arizona in the Elite 8 over Butler. I think Zona has more upside plus they have a veteran coach, plus they’ve been playing well lately which is probably because the Frosh have been jelling. Plus it’s probably one and done for most of the Frosh on Zona because they’ll go to the draft and thus want their stock as high as possible. I think if they squeak by Florida they’ll absolutely beat Butler. That’s my thought. I could see Davidson upsetting Maryland too and I could see ODU knocking off Butler, so I think in the interest of knocking Florida out, you should pick Arizona. that’s my thinking anyway. Then again, Maryland played in a really tough conference and won seven in a row at the end of the year. Maybe that’ll pay dividends in the tournament where Gary Williams has a pretty good record. I just can’t get myself to pick against him as a coach in the first round.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 3:07 PM
TD: Thanks. I needed that.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:09 PM
JD: Hope it help(s/ed)

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 3:09 PM
TD: It did. Well, it prompted me to make to make a change I wanted to make anyway, but that I now feel more confident about. Of course, if Butler goes to the elite 8, I’m blaming you.

It’s funny because I have that Midwest bracket with all kinds of upsets and the other three are pretty tame.

Did you end up sticking with your 2 #1s and 2 #2s in the Final Four?

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:43 PM
JD: I have for the time being. But I’ll be going back through it tonight and editing I am sure. There is no way that will happen.

Wednesday, March 14, 2007 12:54 PM
TD: Nope. Although the odds are probably better for getting 3 out of 4 or 2 out of 4 right. My guess is 3 teams that are 1 or 2 seeds and one team out of left field.

Back to the present:
So, dear readers, let’s hear some comments. Are JD and I full of shit? Should we have more to do with our lives? Who are your Final Four picks? What method do you use to fill out your bracket?

I also just want to remind everyone to enjoy the basketball responsibly, wear green on Saturday (with a little scarlet and grey), and if you’re a pretty girl – kiss me, I’m Irish.

And If you’re Julius Caesar, don’t forget to “Beware the Ides of March.” Which is today, March 15.

Until next time . . .

Permalink